Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Houseruling suggestions.

As you might have read in my review of LD:ZA I wasn't very happy with how the rules turned out. But they did have some very attractive points. 

So, like with a sexy sportscar that has quirky handling but looks oh so lovely I decided to collect, develop and test a number of houserules to solve the games most impactful (in my eyes at least) shortcomings.

Each houserule should provide a more interesting dilemma than the original rule and/or mitigate an effect that is undesirable for enjoyable gameplay (in my opinion at least). 

Cover

There are two types of cover:

• Hard cover: -2 To Hit (most of the figure obscured by cover) or
• Partial cover: -1 To Hit (most of the figure visible despite cover)

Desired effect: decrease effects of firepower. Enhance effects of tactical manoeuvring. Tested.

Movement

Prone: 

• additional -1 To Hit (on top of existing cover modifiers) 
• takes 1 AP to go Prone and 2 to get up. 
• Prone Characters must spend 2 AP to crawl 1" . 
• Going prone may obscure a character behind cover completely by laying down the figure.
• Prone characters may fire and/or spend AP on other actions as normal.

Desired effect: decrease effects of firepower. Enhance effects of tactical manoeuvring. Tested. 

Dogs

Dogs may Run. 
Dogs may learn from Experience. 
Dogs may pick and develop Skill types from the Athletic and CQC tables. 
Dogs may pick up and move loot after acquiring the Heavy Lifter skill. They may not use any other effects of that skill. 
Dogs may learn to walk or run silently after acquiring the Stalker Skill.  

Desired effect: get a dog and enjoy it! Untested. 

Lock & Load

When firing in Lock and Load modus during your opponent's Move you get a -1 additional To Hit modifier for each shot fired with that Action. 

The L&L counter is then not removed but flipped over and left on the table. The character may not fire again in either the Move-,  Shoot- or Menace Phase that follows.

Firing in L&L modus in the Shooting phase by a character with an unflipped L&L counter gains the character a +1 To Hit. Then Flip the counter and leave it on the table. The character may not fire again in the Menace phase. 

Firing in L&L modus in the Menace phase by a character with an unflipped L&L counter gains the character a +1 To Hit. Then remove the counter. 

Desired effect: Decrease effects of firepower. Tested. 

Zombies

Use this rule instead of the zombie specifications in the scenarios. 

Zombies appear at the start of the game or during the game.

At the start of the game place 1 + D6 zombies per player on the table. Each player places one zombie alternately anywhere on the table until all are placed. They may not be placed in a deployment zone.

Noise counters generate zombies. Roll 1D6 per noise counter. On a 4+ a zombie appears 8" from the noise counter in a random direction. Use a scatter die of some sort and skip the noise counter modifiers. 

When Downed by a zombie, do not roll on the Injury Table but apply an automatic Infected Result (11). First Aid has no effect here. 

Zombies actions for (in that order)

·         Nearest survivor in LOS within 12"

·         Loudest noise within 12" (Closest when tied) 

·         Loudest noise (Closest when tied) 

·         5" in a random direction

Zombies do not block LOS to other zombies. If they can't reach a survivor due to other zombies in the way they simply queue up.  

Desired effect:

Make zombies a tactically relevant factor in the game. Create the need for tactical manoeuvring. Tested. 

Loot

Add to the miscellaneous Actions Table: Search a house or other closed piece of scenery. 

Searching costs 2AP. Then Roll 1D6: 

• On a 1 there will be 2 zombies inside
• On a 2 there will be 1 zombie inside
• On a 5-6 there will be Loot. 

A piece of scenery may be Searched only once. 

The Loot counters found in pieces of scenery count against the total number of Loot counters for that scenario. So place some on the table and leave some out to be found through Search. Once all the Loot is picked up or found, none remains. 

Desired effect: More zombies or more Loot. It's a win-win! Tested. 

Cars

It has been a while since civilization stopped and the zombies took over. So most cars will not work anymore. However, some might. 

Starting and driving a car
When trying to start a car roll a D6 for present keys. On a 6 there are still keys present. If not, the car must be hotwired. 

• Getting into a car takes 1 AP
• Starting a car with keys takes 1 AP. 
• Starting a car through hotwiring takes 4 AP. 
• The car starts on a 5+. 
• Only one character may try to start a car or drive one in any one turn. 
• A starting car gets 3 noise tokens on the start location. 
• A car with running engine gets 1 per turn which follows the car. 

Characters moving in cars may move 3" per AP. Drivers may drive-and-shoot if they choose but lose control of the car on any roll of 1 (either To Hit or for Damage). 

Cars offer Hard cover to passengers. Cars never Run and never get a -1 Run modifier due to their size. 

Out of control, collisions and crashes
All characters and zombies hit by a driving car suffer a Strength 5 CQC hit. On a Damage roll of 1 the car is out of control. 

A car hit causes 1 additional Noise counter at the collision location. 

Out-of control cars move 10" in a random direction and then stall (or crash into an object on the way). All characters in a crashing car suffer a Strength 3 CQC hit. 

A crashed car will not function again. A car crash causes 5 Noise counters. On a 6 the car alarm malfunctions and starts blaring. 1 Noise counter per turn. 

Any To Hit roll on a car and its passengers of an unmodified 6 does not hit a passenger or driver but a vital part of the car instead. The car hit this way then gets out of control and will not function again. 


Desired effect: Baby you can drive my car! Untested. 

EDIT September 14th 2018: 

Tested the house rules tonight. They worked very well. The numbers of zombies increased dramatically and put an end to any static tactics we might be inclined to. So no more time to gun down your opponents and pick up the loot. Not in the least because employing terrain for cover actually made sense now and groups of zombies would surround you and wear you down.  

The new L&L rules offered a nice choice between mobility, firepower and a fast shot in your opponents move or an aimed shot in the shooting phase. 

The faster dogs made great noisemakers and zombie-killers. 

In the course of the game small groups of zombies roamed the table, slowly increasing in numbers and forming a small horde, making the table look like a small zombie apocalypse at last! 

Searching houses produced as much loot as it did zombies. We didn't get to try out a car unfortunately. 

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse. An Unhappy Review

Lately Osprey has increased its menu of wargames rules with the zombie variant and published Ash Barkers' Last Days: Zombie Apocalyps.

Since I am a great lover of the zombie gaming genre but good rules are few and far between I inquired after these rules, read some (positive) reviews and, encouraged, proceeded to buy and play them. This resulted in a pleasant Friday night game of about 90 minutes in excellent company. However, how did LD:ZA conduct itself?

What was good? 

LD:ZA is a pleasant looking hardcover 108 page book with full colour interior. Font is pleasant to the eyes,  The book has a fine systematic layout in the approximate order you will follow when starting a game. This will inevitably sometimes run counterclockwise to the order in which you do things but I generally was able to quickly find the required rule while leafing through during my first game. Character sheets and refuge sheets are included in the book. A 2-page Quick Reference Sheet is downloadable from the Osprey site as are the sheets.

There are some points that are less than obvious however. The Rarity number of weapons for example is the maximum number of that weapon you may have at the start of the game. It can be deducted from the rules but isn't actualy stated anywhere.

Note the difference between Skill Type and Skills. A Skill Type is an area your character may develop in. This does not actually give him any Skills at start. Actual Skills are noted under (somewhat confusingly) Special Rules. It took me some time to work that out....


The book has comicbook style artwork which does great things for the atmosphere.

Character generation
In a skirmish game I like my characters properly distinguished in skills and equipment. LD:ZA has a comprehensive character generation system in which you can quickly and easily generate a team/gang. A 100 point team will give you 6 to 8 characters and reasonable equipment. LD:ZA is set at the high point of zombie infestation and you don't start with a frying pan and a kitchen knife. The characters even have a kind of character type (like Selfish or Trained). Although this only seems to be used in combining team members in likely combinations.  Each team has a hideout that also gives benefits and can be used in scenarios.

Most characters are pre-generated. However, choosing Survivors enables you to tailor-design your team with skills and equipment you can choose yourself, which is a good balance between convenience and possibilities.

Campaign
LD:ZA has a Campaign system (which is an absolute must have in my book) that is simple enough. Loot, feats and injuries are rolled for afterwards and yield bonuses or penalties that influence future scenarios. Quite a few skills you can award your characters play no role in the game itself, but in the Campaign phase. The Campaign also develops your characters skills through earned XP.

The book includes 6 scenarios, ready to play.

Mechanics
The mechanics are well tried and simple. LD:ZA is an alternate activation IGO-UGO game where characters have Action points to be spent on actions. Downtime during play is limited that way and interrupting actions during your opponents turn can be done through Lock and Load which enables you to fire in your opponents turn.  The game has a Menace (zombie and other misery happens) Move and Shoot Phase that each start after the former has been completed.

Characters have stats for things like shooting and close combat. Action tests consist of a D6 die roll plus a stat value that must overcome a threshold to succeed (usually 7). Hits may translate into damage depending on the damage value of the weapon, the target's Endurance and a D6 roll. So there is a To Hit + To Wound sequence. Shooting and close combat are nevertheless quick affairs and easily handled.

Zombies are summoned by making noise like running or shooting. The more noise, the more zombies.

It is meant to be played on a 3x3 foot table and urban terrain. Most skirmish games require lots of terrain and this is no exception.

Where is the errata? 
It is in the Last Days official Facebook Group.

What could be better? 

There is a story somewhere
Ash Barker emphasises the narrative as an essential aspect of a good skirmish game. I agree with him fullheartedly. However using pre-generated characters and refuges somewhat diminishes this. The links between games and campaign events are a bit abstract to my taste. You can lose your refuge to zombies on a roll of a table for example. It is a shame to play such a dramatic event only in that way. I understand the reason however, since zombies would be absolutely incapable to overrun a refuge in a real game. Getting taken out by zombies should be lethal, but actually is hardly a problem. See below.

I have a feeling some opportunities were missed here.

Where do I hide? 
What makes a skirmish game interesting in my book is maneuvering figures and interacting with terrain in a tactically interesting way. This is usually prompted by the presence of ranged weapons and the need to take cover from them. So you need to maneuver for a good firing position or, lacking that, for evasion and/or close assault. A good skirmish game usually sees a lot of movement taking place within firing range to successfully evade enemy fire.

Firing ranges in LD:ZA for long-range weapons (available from the start of the game) range from 24 - 30" and thus cover most of the 3x3 table within sight. However, since any form of cover behind which you can still be seen only decreases the shooting roll with 1 point, taking cover is largely pointless. Hits are usually scored on a roll of 3-4 (Shooting skill 3-4 being average) which only rises to a 4-5 for any form of cover. Firing rates for long range weapons are initially usually 1 but rise to 2+ as soon as more equipment is found or immediately by starting with Survivors with the Double Tap Skill (may reroll Shoot or Damage rolls). So being hit in cover is quite likely and indeed happens all the time. I had three of my characters running through a field of fire behind the cover of cars the entire time and still all three were killed. In this game running is just as effective by the way (also a -1 to hit) as taking cover. The problem is you cannot shoot in that turn.

This unsurprisingly resulted in a game where the teams more or less remained in their starting zones and fired at each other. Enhancing the effects of cover would have solved this.

What is bad? 

Has anyone seen my zombie? 
You start the game with a few zombies on the table. These die quickly and easily (zombies are hit +1) and that is OK.

However, zombies are quite rare in this game. A noise counter doesn't produce a zombie but only a +1 on the zombie roll (that needs a 7). So you need 3 to 4 noise counters in one location to reasonably summon a zombie. And even then none may appear. In this game zombies seem to be outnumbered by the survivors! You will certainly not encounter a horde anytime soon.

Zombies are also rather weak in close combat. They are slower than humans (no runners here) and have a lower Close Combat stat. This wouldn't be a problem if only they were actually menacing. But even getting taken out by zombies just earns you a roll on the Campaign Injury table with a very good chance of survival. You can get infected through such a roll but being killed by a zombie has no effect on that whatsoever. I miss a narrative opportunity here.

So zombies are far from lethal. Leaving them out altogether would hardly change the game. All this kinda makes them no more than a mild annoyance in the background and the idea of a Zombie Apocalypse a bit hard to swallow to be honest. A rather fatal flaw for a zombie skirmish game in my opinion.

Overshooting things
In a game where shooting is so effective Lock and Load (the "Overwatch rule") that lets you shoot in your opponent's movement phase is obviously quite powerful. But this is compounded by the fact that having fired through Lock and Load during the Move phase (without any penalty on To Hit by the way) you can fire AGAIN during the shooting phase (again without any penalty). L&L therefore gives you twice the number of shots for just 4 AP.

And since maneuvering and taking cover doesn't make much sense, sitting tight and L&L is the obvious alternative and not even a dilemma. You can even move for 2 AP AND L&L.

The fact that multiple shots (more than 1) only cause a -1 for all consecutive shots make automatic weapons not only powerful but as accurate as a normal rifle.

In my opinion (and this is a matter of taste, I know) this contributes to the fact that LD:ZA quickly becomes a rather static shootout. This may be realistic, but not very interesting game-wise.

A dog's life
You can pick a dog as your team member. That is great! It has 8 AP (2 more than a human) and is a good close combat fighter.

However, dogs (the Animal Skill/Special Rule is in the errata) may not run, cannot learn from experience and may not retrieve loot. Which makes them slower than humans (?!) and a lot more useless. Even a human burdened with loot can stay ahead of a dog! Picking dogs as team members seems rather pointless that way. A missed opportunity IMO that doesn't do justice to Man's best friend.

Who's gonna drive me home? 
There are no car rules. Enough said. Another missed opportunity.

Conclusion
LD: ZA could have been a very good, fast and furious zombie skirmish game due to its simple and effective mechanics. But the irrelevance of zombies and the overpowered ranged weapon rules force it into a rather static shooting game with an occasional zombie to swat away while you shoot at your human opponents from somewhere around your starting zone.

It is also a shame that none of those cars littering the table can be used to run people over or flee: they cannot move, there are no driving rules and you would be a close and ill-protected target inside a car anyway. There is too little interaction with terrain in general.

I think a lot of opportunities were missed here; rules wise as well as for the benefits of the narrative. My impression is that too much was sacrificed for simplicity's sake. House ruling can fix most of it, but it needs quite a bit of it to result in an interesting game that suits my tastes. A separate blog dedicated to house rules for this game can be found following this link.

I will play an additional test game soon and include scenario play to see if this makes a significant difference. 

*****Stars Review! Pedal to the metal to get Gaslands!

Not for the first time on this blog will I sing the praise of the Osprey rulesets. One of their latest publications once more proves that, in the immortal words of Goethe: "Limitation shows us the master".

Despite their diminutive format, limited 64 pages and Not-Always-50+-Friendly fonts their choice for Gaslands is an excellent one!

Readers of this blog will know that I collect rulesets and am always on the prowl for that elusive combinaton of innovative rules, fast play and fun games. This is such a combination.

Gaslands is about racing in postapocalyptic cars. Think Mad Max meets Death Race 2000. The fluff is minimal (capitalistic Martian plutocrats enforce their dictatorial rule over Earth's population through racing games) but let's be frank: postapocalyptic car racing is its own fluff and doesn't need any other. The game's theme is actually the only thing that isn't innovative, since postapocalyptic car racing has been a love interest for a growing number of people ever since Roger Zelazny wrote Damnation Alley in 1967.






























Enough about fluff. Let's get to the rules!

Gaslands is built up in turns which are in turn built up in 6 Gear phases. Players take turns (the First Player or player in Pole Position usually changing each turn) to move their vehicles. The higher the gear you drive in, the faster you go since you must move a vehicle in the Gear Phase that is equal or lower than your current Gear. So a vehicle in Gear 3 moves in Gear Phases 1 through 3 and a vehicle in Gear 6 moves in all of them. Once you complete the move of the vehicle, the vehicle may fire its weapons if it has any.

Shifting gears
A vehicle may roll 1 or more Gear Dice up to its Handling Factor. These dice give you either maneuvers or the opportunity to change Gear. The more Gear Dice you roll, the more options you will have and the more maneuverable you become. Or... the more risks you take to skid, slip & spin... Since you can cancel unwanted maneuvers with Shifts, but also need Shifts to accelerate and stay in the higher Gear Phases and never know how many Shifts you will roll, there are all sorts of choices to make.
























Maneuvers
The vehicles move along movement templates that differ with the gear you drive in. Your maneuvers can be spoiled in all kind of interesting ways with Slides and Spins, although these not always yield unwanted results. It's just a matter of whether that collision is desirable now, or a bit later....

Depending on the maneuver and the current Gear you get either bonus Shifts to enhance your maneuverability, or Hazard counters. Hazard Counters can be discarded with Shifts, but when not, stack up and as soon as you collect 6 your car will "Wipeout" as you lose control and the vehicle comes to a standstill in a cloud of swirling dust (when you are lucky) or a ball of flames (when you are not!).

You need higher Gears to stay in the turn, but also to acquire some maneuvers that are only allowed in higher Gears
























Models and scale
Gaslands is essentially scalefree. However the author encourages to use Hotwheel scale (if there is such a thing) cars to play with. The advantage is that these are roughly 1/67 scale which can be combined with 20mm figures and terrain. As you can see you can really go to town building all kind of terrain.
























Damage
Damage is caused by collisions, less succesfull wipeouts and enemy fire. This uses a simple system of chassis squares. Once they run out, you have been Wrecked!

Suffice to say this game is heartily recommended!

Triple Osprey Review: Broken Legions, Rogue Stars and MWWBK

Recently I acquired a few new rulesets by prolific publisher Osprey Publishing and this trio offered such interesting contrasts I couldn’t help myself but write the last review of 2016.  All three sets are the standard Osprey format: a softcover full colour quarto format, 64 page complete ruleset.

So without further ado let’s start about:

Broken Legions by Mark Latham

As soon as I saw the announcements of BL I knew I had to have it. And that is not because BL offers a lot of interesting stuff in the games mechanics department. On the contrary: BL’s mechanics are nothing if not very recognizable. But let’s not get ahead of myself.

BL is a skirmish game made for 28mm figures. Players play with teams of 7 to 12 figures. This allows for detailed stats per figure and each figures has a stat line with seven stats like Melee, Accuracy and Fate. Each stat has a numerical value and succeeding in using a stat is a matter of rolling a D10, adding the stat and getting a result of 10 or more (give or take some modifiers). Some dice rolls are opposed, like rolling for damage (Physique vs Armour) after a successful hit in the sense that both players roll and the best result wins. Sounds familiar? It should. Several rulesets of several ruleset producers use the same mechanics, but with small differences in names, die types and such.

A novelty is found in the Fate stat, which is a kind of pool of Luck. When you get down to your last wound, you may roll for Fate in order to survive. The Fate stat gets lower each time you do so, so your Luck runs out at one point…. 

Also, the turn sequence is alternate, so you get to do a lot of fancy tactical manoeuvring in this game, which is a big improvement over the usual straightforward IGO-UGO.

There is magic in BL, called Miracles. Performing Miracles is based on rolls on your Presence stat. And there are lots of Miracles to perform. So nothing new here. This does not mean this is a bad ruleset. Far from it! The system is tried and tested and makes for a good game. But it is nothing new. So why would I have fallen so fast for BL?

The answer is, dear reader, the fluff. 

BL has an absolutely BRILLIANT premise in that during the Roman Empire it was well known by the Emperor and his advisors that there was a lot of supernatural Evil in the world. To combat this, a secret order was founded to fight this hidden war against the forces of Evil. The Soldiers of the Eagle, a kind of commando/legionnaire Ancient Delta Force with magical support troops and sometimes supernatural auxiliaries, battled monsters all over the Ancient world, raided temples, torched dangerous tomes and thwarted sorcerers. They, in turn, were of course assaulted by other secret orders like the Order of Set et cetera. Want to play Ancient Cthulhu? Want to raid the Cursed Black Pyramid of Rama-Tep and brave hordes of undead mummies? This is your ruleset!

The rules offer army lists for Romans and other orders, supernatural auxiliaries like werewolves and centaurs and lists of Miracles and skills to flesh out your figures. You only play with about a dozen of them, so individualizing is no problem and adds to the experience. 

Having participated in the Kickstarts of Zombicide Black Plague, Conan and Mythic Battles, lots of monsters are available to me in addition to the humans that can easily be found in the ranks of figures normally used in Ancient wargaming. There is a lot of fun to be had!

From this very cinematographic rulesets to one that has been directly inspired by movies:

The Men who would be King by Daniel Mersey

MWWBK cites as research about a dozen movies that I not only have seen, but own all of them but one. And on top of that the game is about colonial skirmishing, so I couldn’t skip this one. 

MWWBK is intentionally and deliberately written to play and enjoy fast games with some handfuls of figures (units are about a dozen figures strong) that remind you of the movies they were inspired by. Based in part on Lion Rampant the rules are simple and quick and armies are built out of standard units that perform more or less uniformly but may be fleshed out by giving their leaders (and thus their behaviour in combat) specific traits. Also, they may receive some additional skill by adding points to the standard unit cost. An average unit may cost 6 point, and an average army about 24 points. So army creation is fast and easy as well.

Figures roll a D6 per figure whether shooting or in Melee and hits are kills. Nice and quick. Units may get Pinned by casualties or mayhem in the vicinity and then you Rally them or the run away. Turn sequence is classic and straight IGO-UGO. Fights tend to be bloody and quick affairs.

There are scenarios, solo rules (or rules to enable you to get all players to battle a non-player opponent) and a wink here and there to notorious movie scenes. I tell you, I never realised how terrifying Highlanders could be until I saw Carry on up the Khyber!

The book offers army lists for all the well known colonial forces, be they European or Native and the United States’ colonial wars aren’t skipped either. Even Danny and Peachy’s Kafiristan’s “army” is included. This means nothing to you? Shame on you sir!  Go see “The Man Who Would Be King” on the double!

For quick and fun skirmish games with that typical cinematographic colonial flavour this is a pleasant set, written with love and humour, and completely geared to fast and easy play at the expense of detail.

Regarding detail and complexity, the next game is placed on the utterly opposite end of the spectrum 

Rogue Stars by Andrea Sfiligoi

As you might or might not know, Dungeons & Dragons evolved from a miniature wargames ruleset called Chainmail so  –despite all efforts of purist wargamers and RPGers to keep the twain separated- the dividing line between wargaming and roleplaying can be quite vague at times. In Rogue Stars this dividing line might have disappeared altogether!

RS is basically a miniature Sci-Fi skirmish game. But that is definitely selling it short. For example, the base rules are covered in about 25 pages. The rest of the book is filled with Traits, Equipment, Environmental rules, Missions, Character and Squad creation and Campaign rules. Creating your Squad alone covers a whopping 20 pages!

For a game with such a level of detailing, the base rules are brilliantly simple. Figures essentially have one Stat, called Target Numbers (TN) and may roll 1 to 3 D20s to Activate. The TN for an Activation is 8 but may be modified. Each success means the figure gets an Action. So figures may get quite a few Actions in one turn. However, a Failure means your opponent gets the chance to react! If a Reaction is successful, it precedes your Action or may even take the Initiative from you altogether!  So calculate your risks carefully…

This also means that, apart from determining starting Initiative, the turn sequence may ebb and flow depending on (bad) luck. No IGO-UGO here.

But after the Activiation or Reaction the details start. You can choose from about 20 possible Actions (amongst which are very SciFi things like Quantum Leap or Psi Attacks) and those are just the simple actions you may complete in one go!

The Actions themselves are equally detailed. Combat may target specific locations on an opponent’s body and you may choose various weapons with various effects that may vary even more sometimes depending on atmosphere and environment. There are dozens of Character Traits, different weapons and other equipment to use in one of 20 missions in one of 20 locations, all described and randomly determinable.

It is no wonder that RS games only deal with a handful of figures per side and terrain is very important. Tables are small, about 100x100 cm. These figures are highly individualized and creating your team is a real and rewarding investment in that regard. It would perhaps not be saying too much when I think that the border between RPG and Wargame has disappeared in this game. And why not? Why should that be important, when one can enjoy a challenging and intricate game on a lovely table with great figures?

I am also very curious how the game works out, combining so much intricate detail with such a simple game mechanism. It might play a lot faster than I might expect. An intriguing and definitely recommended ruleset for some new gaming experiences!  I promise a AAR at the first opportunity. 

En Garde review: touché!

Once more Osprey has released one of their little gems in the Osprey Wargames series. A Rennaissance successor to Ronin called En Garde is the latest addition. 

En Garde is a tabletop skirmish wargame based on the Ronin rules "engine" en set in the Rennaissance period. Meant to be played with some 5-20 figures per side it covers the historical period from around 1550 to 1750. That means fans of the Three Musketeers, Alatriste, the Border Reivers and all kinds of small actions in the English Civil-, Thirty Years- and Eighty Years War have finally found their ruleset! 

Cardinal's Guards sneaking through an alley

It is written in the standard Osprey format: A5 booklet in full colour across 64 pages providing a complete ruleset. Apart from the rules the book offers special rules, army lists as diverse as Conquistadores and Aztecs, Musketeers and Turkish Janissaries, scenarios and some tips on making your own army lists and reading.

But how does it play and how does it compare to its parent ruleset Ronin? 

Just like in Ronin a turn has a Priority (Initiative + Morale) , Movement, Combat and End (Combat results) phase. The Action Phase however has been dismissed. 

Also like Ronin the game has an alternate turn sequence. Players move their figures alternately starting with the player with highest Priority moving one first, then the other player moves one et cetera until all figures have been moved. 

Aramis in serious trouble....

This achieves the same tactical depth in the game, as figures strive to maneuver into the best positions one by one. Unlike Ronin, En Garde enables group Activations by ordering groups around a Commander (an Attribute for high-ranking figures) to execute the same action all at once. Deadly musket volleys ensue! 

D'Artagnan escaping through the back door of the tavern

Missile weapons only fire once per turn in En Garde and usually must be reloaded, which also takes a turn. As the Action Phase has been removed, firing and reloading missile weapons now happens in the Move Phase instead of Moving or (modified) after a Short Move. Miscellaneous actions happen in this Phase as well, instead of or alongside a Move. 

The terrific Combat system from Ronin has been transplanted and improved. While in Ronin combatants could use chits from their Combat Pool to simply enhance attacks or defences, in En Garde opponents may choose from a number of specific enhancements. Parries, Feints, Ripostes and Mighty Blows all cost Combat chits but deliver different benefits and penalties. Selecting your Combat Pool is now only the beginning. 

This results in opposed die rolls where the difference between the rolls determines a succesful attack or defence. Only succesful attacks may cause damage and the larger the difference, the more serious the damage. 

Poor old Planchet laid low by a musket volley

In practice this results in a tense and quick game wherein a skilled Musketeer can hold his own against a horde of knife-wielding ruffians, may play for time by Feinting but may still be overwhelmed by their numbers before reinforcements show up. 

The black powder firearms are slow to reload, but have range and are especially lethal at short range. Interestingly, pistols may play a part in close combat. 

The book includes 8 scenarios and a simple campaign system. Inspiration for more scenarios is not hard to find in movies and books of the period. There are even tips for adding Fantasy elements like witches, werewolves and Revenants and a certain duo of large Barbarian and wiry Thief. 

As yet untried is a simplified Attack procedure also included in the book to facilitate larger group actions. 

Conclusion: like its predecessor Ronin En Garde is an interesting, quick playing game with lots of athmosphere for the period it is placed in. Recommended! 

I already have a Dutch Revolt table in mind.......

En Garde

64 pages paperback

By Craig Woodfield

Osprey Publishing 2016

Need to know basis: Black Ops reviewed

The best thing that can happen to a wargaming fanboy is to get hold of a new ruleset prior to publication. This happened to me with Black Ops, the coming new release by Osprey Publishing. Unfortunately it took me several weeks to find the time to play it, as I eventually did at Crisis in Antwerp. So I completely blew my scoop! Despite of that, the game is defintely worth a review.

Black Ops is, as its name implies, about military commando actions and has its roots firmly in historical background. The Iranian Embassy in London and the attack on bin Laden's mansion; this set can handle it. It could even extend to the near future, because the latest technologies have been included.
There are also rules for Morale, hidden units (duh), all kinds of terrain and a multitude of weapons, troops and vehicles.

Ruleswriter Guy Bowers demonstrating his rules at Crisis 2015

Osprey used to be known mainly for its historic pocket books but over the last few years has released some impressive little gamesets. All published in the well known Osprey rules format: slightly larger than A5, full color and 65 pages long with beautiful photos and ditto illustrations. And always a complete game: the book will get you everything you need ruleswise. 

Cards on the table ...

The basic rules have a card driven turn system, using ordinary playing cards, in which the Ace figures have more options than common soldiers (a minor nod to Hollywood). These Aces move on (you guessed it) the Aces, heavy weapons on Kings, soldiers on Jacks and so on. On top of that Aces get an additional action on a Joker. Each character has an individual stat line ​​for skills and such. Players  handle units of 4-10 figures.

One thing that stands out is the use of militaresque abbreviations. For someone abbreviationally challenged like me this can be tough, but it does add athmosphere. So man-to-man combat skill is not called Combat, but CQC (Close Quarter Combat). 

The system uses D6 and employs the usual method for shooting and fighting by throwing against a minimum value (the skill) plus or minus modifiers for things like cover, darkness, distance et cetera. Once hit by a bullet the target may roll a Save. CQC (heh) uses opposed die rolls and a result table to determine the outcome.

Combat is often about waiting and reacting to your opponent. The Reserve rule enables figures to occasionally act in their opponents Action phase in response to something they see like shooting or moving. The game has a unique Suppressing rule (at least I have never seen it before) in that Suppressing counters accumulate around the target but only cause damage if the target decides to do something aggressive. Unlike most games you don't roll for Suppression effects; you are allowed to take your chances and face the consequences ....

What you don't see...

The best part of the rules are the Stealth rules. Because let's face it: Black Ops is supposed to be about elite commandos sneaking into heavily guarded bases to do something bloodcurdingly difficult. And that requires a lot of crawling around among unsuspecting sentries who are there to say "arrgh" at the right time when you stab them in the back or -failing that- are there to raise the alarm at an inconvenient moment.

As a major selling point of Black Ops these rules are well fleshed out. Sentries have a (very) limited freedom of movement which increases as the attackers get more visibility and/or make more noise. Which ultimately will always be necessary of course.

Tables and a D6 regulate what a unsuspecting sentry can do. At worst, they can only move randomly. But as the defender gets luckier with his die rolls and/or the attacker needs to take more actions (he needs to make noise and make himself visible), the defender gets the opportunity to move with more purpose ("Did you hear that?").

Being the attacker you know that despite all your sneaking at some point bullets will go flying. That's often when the defender's Aces wake up, sound the alarm and all hell breaks loose. The defender then gets complete control over his figures and can even call up reinforcements. The game will turn into a "normal" wargame and for the attacker life will get very interesting very fast from then on!

While this may sound a bit passive from the defender's point of view, trying to discover the attackers and sounding the alarm is actually very tense! Aside from the fact that this is an inspiring ruleset on its own, for me the Stealth rules alone make it worthwhile, even for use alongside other rulesets.

The book contains three ordinary and six Stealth missions. It also gives suggestions for a six tabletops which can be used for missions and also serve as a basis for a campaign. The system is written for 28mm scale, but is easily adaptable to different scales. Especially in 1/72, there is an abundance of figures, vehicles and terrain which is a very cost-effective alternative.

How did I get hold of this so early? I can tell you, old chap. But then I'd have to kill you.....

By the way, I played this game for the first time at Crisis Antwerp. After the game I set out to buy a copy. And damned if it wasn't sold out EVERYWHERE!

It's a sign....