Frostgrave, Halo Ground Command and other tabletop minis

[Hahma]

Yep

[Tornado]

Thanks gentlemen. WD is getting some traction again in C3G land.

[Hahma]

Cool!

[Hahma]

Waited until everyone went to bed the other night, before choosing a scenario for my solo learning game. I chose Attack and Defend.

I used some homemade objective tokens that I made for Frostgrave. The central one is at the edge of the swamp in the middle of the board. Artifacters placed theirs first, on the roof of the the square building to the right of their deployment zone, figuring one could walk up the stairs of the nearby security wall, and leap across to the roof with the objective token. It seemed like an easier spot for them to get to. The one placed by the Bondsmen, is behind them he ruins on the right of their starting zone. Easy for them to get to, and the Artefacters can't walk around the board edge side to get to it. They can shoot around the corner at anyone in base contact with the objective, but would have to do a lot of maneuvering to get to it to claim it.

I just got deployment done and infiltration last night, and will start playing for a little bit this morning.

Gersla Feated her infiltrate roll, and to the Artifacters dismay, she infiltrated on the wall of the defensive position near the building with the objective on it that the Artifacters placed. Plus she starts with an extra action token for Feating. Meanwhile, Slethssk failed his roll and had to start in the Artifacters starting zone. Well, he still plans to go up the stairs of the defensive position and then shoot Gersla while he's in Stealth with his Ruger.5. If she gets to the objective, but she has to leap for it, just like him.

Since I cheaped out during the kickstarter and only got one set of tokens, only enough for 1 faction, I'm glad I saved the cubes from Pandemic Legacy after finishing it. There are 24 yellow (action tokens), 24 red (wounds), 24 blue (swimming ) and 24 black (stealth). There are a bunch of orange translucent pill looking ones that will be fire tokens.

Here are the starting positions, and bags of Pandemic Legacy cubes I'm glad to have saved.

















Gersla, with 3 activations thanks to Feating her infiltration roll, will start off the game by trying to leap to the roof of the building with an objective. 4 inches needed to get her base fully on the roof. He pass move is 4 inches so all she has to do is pass her agility roll of 6 or less on d10s.

Wow! She Feated again. Failing the attribute die with a 9, but rolling feat symbol (1) on the feat die. Will get yet another action, and leap across plus 2 more inches because nailed it move is 6 inches. She wasn't quite ti the objective, so she used next action to move into base contact with it, next action to interact with the objective and keeping her last action to use as a reaction, just in case. Her ranged attack is with the teardrop template, which is only 6 1/2 inches, so wouldn't have been able to shoot anyone. She could have gone around the corner to attempt to reveal Slethssk from is stealth condition, but being in Nailed It range might have been a wasted effort at this point.

Corian moves over flat ground 7 inches towards the little corner ruin. Then for his 2nd action, he leaps onto the upper part of the corner ruin.

Alaya moves onto the stone block next to the truck, then leaps onto the top of the defensive fortification. She needed to use the stone block, because where she wanted to go was over 3 vertical inches from the ground. She only passed, but was able to get where she wanted to go.

Sage moved forward and then leapt to catwalk of ruins. He nailed it, so he got his nailed it move instead of his normal move of 6.

Fancagne just moved twice to get into some decent cover for now.

Nix declares she will use a Command ability to try to take an action token from Ana. She succeeds and takes 1 actuon token, at a point during her move that she could see Ana. She only passed, so only takes 1 action token. She continues forward, then leaps to the planking connecting 2 pieces of ruins. She could keep 2 action tokens to react with vs Limossk if need be, but she decides she'll take a shoot action at Alaya. Alaya is barely inside Nix's nailed it range of 18 inches, and Alaya has the reflexes 1 ability to reroll 1 die when saving damage, plus the Bondsmen faction ability of Tactical Advantage that grants Reflexes 1 when being targeted at nailed it range. So she gets to reroll an additional die vs Nix. The crate is soft cover, so -1 to Nix's shoot value of 7 down to 6. She barely fails with a 2 on her feat die, but a 7 on her attribute die. Now to save last action token for a reaction.

Jorra runs up a hill and leaps to upper floor over columns then attempts to shoot smoke with a large template to hopefully hamper Nix's reaction shot vs Limossk when he takes his turn. He Feated with double 4s , both under his shoot value of 5. He gets an extra action and the template doesn't scatter, like if he failed or only passed.

Slethssk used both actions to climb up the stairs and remains in Stealth mode.

Limossk moved up the ramp but first move it cover by smokescreen was outside Nix's range. Move to flat part was behind smoke and at nailed it range and cover, Nix missed. Limossk had used a Command action to take Jorra's extra action token on his way to the upper part over the columns. Then Limossk missed both shoot actions vs Corian, who was not in cover but at long range from Limossk.

Ana only had one action token left after Nix took one, and just moved forward by the car.

End of round 1.

Edit. Scoring in this scenario happens at the end of rounds 2, 4 and 6.

1 VP for controlling the objective token you placed.

2 VP for controlling the objective in the center of the board.

3Vps for controlling the objective the enemy had placed.. All you have to do to take control of any objective, is to be in base contact and spend an action to interact with it.

Once you spend an action to control an objective, you can move away from it and do whatever. However, if an opponent moves into base contact with that objective, they can spend an action to take control of it. So it's a balancing act of when to try to control an objective and then what do you do once you control it. Considering scoring is at the end of even rounds, timing is pretty important.





















































Don't mess with the Bondsmen up close, they are brutal in close combat.

[Tornado]

Looks fun.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Looks fun.

It's a great game.

Essentially, each side here has the five models from each faction starter set. They both have the same specialists,

1 Leader (with Command ability to be able to try to give and take action points from other members of their faction, allowing for certain members to get more actions to do more cool stuff, but taking them from someone that may not need it as much).

1 Medic, who can try to heal themselves or others they are base contact with.

1 Mechanic, who can attempt to fix a weapon that jams, as well as interact with certain objectives.

1 Scout, who has a chance to deploy further ahead than their faction starting zone.

1 Tough, which are the Berengi (gorilla troops) and they are just beefier with health and such.

Each character starts with 2 action tokens, except the leader, who gets 3 to start. But they also have a max number (4 or 5) listed next to their starting number. This is the most they can have at one time. So when a leader tries using his Command ability, he can't transfer more than the max allowed to a character. There are also dice results that are considered "Feats" and that automatically gives the best result but also gives that character an additional action token (basically replacing the one spent to do something that resulted in that Feat).

It's an alternating activation system of I go, you go. You roll for initiative at the start of the round and the winner gets to choose who goes first. You also count how many conscious models you have in play, and the one with the fewest (if not tied), gets a pass token for each one fewer. This allows them to pass on their turn in order to do something after the other player does something, as it may matter. This way, the player with the most models left won't necessarily be able to stack a bunch of model activations at the end of the round.

They all have stats, such as close combat, agility, marksmanship, intelligence and toughness. Some also have Armor. The game is a d10 system game, so the ability values are generally from 5-7 (dinosaurs may have some lower intelligence than that). The Toughness is usually from 2-4. The armor is from 0-3. When a character is hit by an attack and say is hit for 3 damage (hits), they would roll 3 d10s. They add together their toughness value (say 3) and armor value (say 1) for 4 total in this example. Now that 4 is the number they have to roll equal to or less than to save each wound. There are modifiers to that as well, as some weapons have Rend ability with a number usually 1-3, which will lower the target's armor value by that much. Some weapons have Pierce, usually 1-2 and lower the target's toughness value by that much. Soft cover reduces the shooter's marksmanship by 1 and hard cover reduces their marksmanship by 1 but and also adds 1 to the target's armor value. There are abilities that allow defensive or offensive rerolls.

You have 2 move values, say 4/6 and usually 2 range values, say 12/16 and 2 damage values, say 3/4. If you move on flat ground your entire move, or move over an obstacle 1 inch or less, you can automatically move your max move. If you are swimming or crawling, you can only use the lesser move. if you want to do some jumping (up to 3 inches) or climbing as part of your move, you roll 2 d10s of different color. One is the attribute die and one is the feat die. If you roll equal or lower than your agility on the attribute die, you pass and can move your model the lesser move value along that path as far as it will take you. If you roll both dice equal or lower than agility, then you Nailed It and move your max move to where you announced your intended destination is. If you fail your rolls, you can only move as far as your lesser distance, but only on the flat ground and can't to any part of it jumping or climbing.

Shooting works similarly with range. Pass means you can only reach your shorter range and nailed it means you can reach your longer range. If you target a model in your short range and Nail It with the roll, then you do the higher damage. If you just pass at either range, then you use the lesser damage, or if you nailed it at long range as well.

Opponents can react to your actions, and shoot back, or dodge. So you announce an action and your opponent can spend an action token from a reacting model to try to dodge an attack or shoot back. Then it's an opposed roll, and they both roll their 2 d10s. The best result of passing roll wins and the other doesn't.

Lots of other cool stuff, but I have to go to work now.

[Tornado]

Sounds like some cool mechanics.
Trying to roll low is a little weird but I understand why that did that with the attribute rolls.
I had to create a chart for stat checks for my RPG so it required a high roll to pass instead of a low one.
Having to roll low on a few things (like the fall chart) was one of the few complaints I got at Gen Con. Unfortunately switching around the Fall Chart was easier said than done but I think it works pretty good. Not as brutal as the old one though.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Sounds like some cool mechanics.
Trying to roll low is a little weird but I understand why that did that with the attribute rolls.
I had to create a chart for stat checks for my RPG so it required a high roll to pass instead of a low one.
Having to roll low on a few things (like the fall chart) was one of the few complaints I got at Gen Con. Unfortunately switching around the Fall Chart was easier said than done but I think it works pretty good. Not as brutal as the old one though.

Yeah, rolling low is different, but makes sense in this system. It's consistent, so it's not like having to roll high for some checks and low for others. I'm not sure why he did it this way, but it works. Though I think it makes sense, because otherwise you would look at the character card and see values that would look weird being low and needing to roll equal or higher. To see someone's marksmanship as a 3 being better than a marksmanship of 5 would be more awkward and not intuitive. Same with toughness and armor. If needing to roll equal or higher, a current toughness of 3 would need to be a 7, and a current toughness of 2 would need to be an 8. Looking at someone's stat, one would think the 8 would be better than a 7. Then you would have to subtract your armor from your toughness, because lower would be better.

It just works really well for his 2 d10 system.

I forgot to mention a couple things. If when rolling for a test, you either roll a 1 on the feat die (regardless of what you roll on the attribute die ) or you roll doubles equal to or less than your tested number, thenit's a feat as well. When you get a feat, you get the same results as a nailed it roll (which is best results for the test), but you also gain an extra action token , essentially paying for the action you just tested for.

Conversely, if you roll doubles higher than your tested value, something bad happens.

Of the couple hundred pages (roughly ) in the rulebook, maybe half to two thirds is fluff. Back stories for the characters and factions. The different races and creatures are discussed. The economy, resources and the rest of the world is laid out. He mentioned in an interview, that he may adapt an RPG for it, as it already has the world and such. The way it is currently already has some RPG elements, as far as doing a lot of cool things like jumping and climbing and such, and all the tests for them.

Good luck with your RPG, I imagine it's a ton of work. I've started playing DnD this past spring (can teach an old dog new tricks ), and am used to needing to roll higher rather than lower. But in that, you aren't rolling against your stats for checks, your stats can boost your rolls though.

For falling in The Drowned Earth, if I recall correctly, you take 1 wound plus 1 damage for each inch of falling, minus one. Something that gives wounds are automatic wounds, whereas damage is something you can roll to avoid some by rolling equal or less than your combined toughness and armor. Though falling into water doesn't hurt you atall, though there may be some mega piranhas in there And if you are on fire, jumping into water will put it out.

[Tornado]

On fire rules? Love that.

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Tornado

On fire rules? Love that.

Yep! Nix, the leader of the Artefacters faction (she's the one with bow and arrow), has a separate leadership card besides her normal card. It's 2 sided. One side allows her faction to gain +1 inch move when they dodge (as long as she's still conscious ), and there normal dodge is 1 inch. Or, she can use the other side of that card that let's her shoot fire arrows. When she hits with her bow, regardless of inflicting damage, the target is set on fire. At the end of the round, someone on fire rolls a single defense roll. If they succeed, no wound and the fire marker is removed. If fail the roll, take 1 wound and still on fire. Or move into water and it's put out.

Limossk, the leader of the Bondsmen faction, has a flaming sword that can put someone on fire also.

There are smoke launchers that you can place smoke in places. They don't block LoS, but do put decent penalties for shooting through etc. They can also deviate and go exactly where you want them, bases on roll.

[Hahma]

Also, there are weapons and other effects that can stun an enemy. Like the fire effect, the attack has to hit (though Gersla, the one on the roof that knocked out Nix, has a weapon that uses a teardrop template and automatically hits those under the template,
not auto wound, so they still get to defend, and it's a minimal damage attack ), and the Stun takes effect. All it does is remove an action token from the target, thus taking away one of their actions when they activate that round. Of course, if the target already activated that round and used all their action tokens, then it doesn't have a stunned effect.

But, you don't have to use all your action tokens on your turn, because if you want a chance to react to an enemy action (be it a nive, shoot, interact, charge etc) you have to have an action token to spend on the reaction.

There are optional rules for destructible objects, swinging on vines, traps and more.

There are also mounted versions of some leader characters. So far, the Artefacters have their leader Nix, mounted on a Yuttaraptor. The leader of the Firm faction is mounted on a giant praying mantis, and the leader of the Militia faction, is mounted on something like what Sigourney Weaver was on in Alien. It's a walker of sorts. They don't have one for the Bondsmen yet.

There are rules for mounted characters to mount and dismount, and different character card versions for when they are mounted, with cool things their mount can do.

I'm about to order a new character for the Artefacters and Bondsmen each, as well as Nix mounted on the Yuttaraptor. Also ordering a bunch of dinosaurs, which are mostly of the smaller types.

2 Dilophosors , the ones that spit and stun.

2 Domeheads, that ram.

4 Oviraptors, that use their beak to attack.

4 Troodons, that use tear with claws.

2 Yuttaraptors that bite.

They each have stat cards like characters and some special abilities. They range in cost from 5 points to 12 points (Yuttaraptor).

The dinos can be part of your army, but not be able to do certain things characters can or have action tokens moved via the leader's Command ability. They can also act as NPC's in some scenarios.

[Tornado]

Good stuff.
Looking forward to the Dino pics.