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
Black Ops is, as its name implies, about military commando actions and has its roots firmly in historical background. The Iranian Embassy in
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
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....
