The splendid figures from Monoliths Batman: Gotham City Chronicles just cry out to be painted. And so I am plodding along....
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Friday, May 10, 2019
Batman: Gotham City Chronicles review
Some
readers of this blog may remember my review of Conan the Barbarian, a boardgameby Monolith that came out as a Kickstarter a few years ago. Since then Monolith has brought
out the Mythic Battles: Pantheon game and has now revisited the
Conan game engine in spectacular fashion with a board game called Batman Gotham
City Chronicles.
Learning
curve
In
the release of Batman, Monolith has shown to have learned much since Conan, not
least in logistics and organisation. One may recall Conan was delayed for more
than a year but Batman arrived exactly in the period that was promised. And,
coincidentally, in time for my birthday.
Also,
Batman offered an all-in-one buy deal that included all stretch goals (free
Kickstarter "rewards" that become available as the funded amount
rises above certain thresholds) as well as all available add-ons. This avoided
the Conan KS problem of people not being able to afford all add-ons in the KS and
hoping to buy them later only to discover some sets would never be released in
retail (bye bye Black Ones…)
But
the game itself showed many improvements as well. Let's visit them below.
Game
context
Batman
is a semi-cooperative board game for 2-4 players. One player plays the Villain,
one to three other players play the Heroes. The game is, of course, set in
Gotham City and features the endless crime fighting war of Batman and his
allies against the arch-villains and their many henchmen that infest Gotham
like rats. The Hero players cooperate against the Villain in mission-based
scenarios.
The
game offers locations in Gotham to play in as well as Wayne Manor and Arkham Asylum. The Batmobile is
included as a game piece, there is a Campaign included and a Versus box through which
two players can play against each other in the Villain skirmish mode. But I get
ahead of myself. Let's explain more of the mechanics.
Game
mechanics
The Hero players control
individual characters (and the occasional ally) that must combat criminals and
complete missions. They use Character cards that hold all Hero information as well as item cards for weapons, Bat gadgets and such. Skills and equipment enable you to do special things
or roll extra dice. An improvement over Conan is that Batman included dashboards
that will hold all character cards as well as Energy cubes (see below)
conveniently together.
There are many Heroes available
in the game and their skills and possibilities vary wildly. Combining Heroes is
a skill all on its own. The scenarios usually offer a choice out of a few
Heroes per player as a suggestion (which is also an improvement over Conan).
Each Hero has a limited amount of Energy (plastic gems) that enable the hero to take actions. A Hero may take any action he wants in any sequence and as often as the Hero's stats will allow. However, each action costs Energy and when a Hero's energy is exhausted, the Hero is as well and no more actions are possible. Reclaiming Energy by resting takes time and to keep things interesting Heroes spend Energy a lot faster than they reclaim it! This prompts interesting choices. While a Hero can take a breather instead of a turn full of action, this will still not give him back all his Energy, so energy management is a crucial element of this game.
Each Hero has a limited amount of Energy (plastic gems) that enable the hero to take actions. A Hero may take any action he wants in any sequence and as often as the Hero's stats will allow. However, each action costs Energy and when a Hero's energy is exhausted, the Hero is as well and no more actions are possible. Reclaiming Energy by resting takes time and to keep things interesting Heroes spend Energy a lot faster than they reclaim it! This prompts interesting choices. While a Hero can take a breather instead of a turn full of action, this will still not give him back all his Energy, so energy management is a crucial element of this game.
After the Hero turn is done the
Villain may direct his Legions of Crime. He has about the same amount of Energy at
his disposal as a Hero, but reclaims it faster. This is no luxury at all, since
his Energy must power ALL adversaries. This may run up to 10-15 figures, some of which may be reinforced during the game. There are even more Villains to choose from than there are Heroes. Scenarios offer suggestion for Villain forces as a rule.
The Villain uses a Command Board, that
is his version of the Character dashboard. The main feature is "The
River" where he keeps his character cards. The more to the left a card is
placed, the cheaper it is to activate. Once activated. the card moves to the
right and can only be activated against a bigger Energy cost. The entire
"River" then flows to the left. So the Villain can (twice per turn)
activate every card he wants but the Energy costs may vary enormously. Here,
too, energy management is the key.
The skill and
combat system has cleverly and completely done away with modifiers by using
special coloured dice. These come in four colours and some colours are more effective than others. No math is required, just pick the right number of dice of the right
colour and roll them!
All this makes for a game full of well-pondered decisions while still flowing fast enough to get that action-packed feel that perfectly fits the rainy streets of Gotham.
All this makes for a game full of well-pondered decisions while still flowing fast enough to get that action-packed feel that perfectly fits the rainy streets of Gotham.
The Versus box, by
the way, offers a second Command Board and the possibility for the players to
play against each other using a Command Board each (so a unit of characters
instead of individual ones) or reversing the game and playing individual
Villains against units of Heroes. This too is a big improvement over Conan
where one has to buy a second Base Game to acquire a second board.
Game components
The game comes in
six boxes that contain all boards, miniatures and game components. Actually it
is possible to store everything in the boxes even after punching all the
counters (a somewhat rare affair and way better than Conan) but for convenience
sake I use a separate counter box that can be passed around the table more
easily.
Boxes, boards,
booklets and counters are all quality stuff. There is a separate cassette to
store the rule booklets in. Playing boards are large foldup affairs that are
printed on both sides, providing maximum variation with a minimum of material.
The several booklets contain a bunch of scenarios, much more than there were initially included in Conan.
The rulebooks are IMO a great improvement over the Conan books. The initial Conan rulebook was dreadful, badly translated from French and very much incomplete. Monolith actually reissued a new ruebook for free for all backers.
The Batman rulebooks are much better. They are complete, much better translated and contain lots of examples of play. The internal artwork and layout are not to everyone's taste and to be honest the pages can be so busy with pics and colours it takes some effort to find the information at some points. But apart from that the rulebooks are comprehensive, complete and set up with logic behind them.
The rulebooks are IMO a great improvement over the Conan books. The initial Conan rulebook was dreadful, badly translated from French and very much incomplete. Monolith actually reissued a new ruebook for free for all backers.
The Batman rulebooks are much better. They are complete, much better translated and contain lots of examples of play. The internal artwork and layout are not to everyone's taste and to be honest the pages can be so busy with pics and colours it takes some effort to find the information at some points. But apart from that the rulebooks are comprehensive, complete and set up with logic behind them.
The game comes with
its specialized dice and even the extra dice were included in the All-in. Point
of critique for the genuine Batnerds: there was no Batman dice bag in the
Kickstarter. I had to buy one from a separate source of course. I am sure this
will be amended in Season 2……
The miniatures
… are excellent!
Let the pictures speak for themselves. They come assembled and ready to play
with and take paint very well after a few hours in some dishwasher liquid and a
good scrub with a toothbrush. The tough plastic they are made from does not
break easily. There were some warped parts (a problem caused right after casting by the still-warm
plastic cooling off too quickly) but this can be easily remedied by dipping the
miniature into hot (near-boiling) water for a few seconds, bending it in the
right shape and cooling it off under a cold tap. Preferably before painting, by
the way….
You will meet Joker and Harley, Pinguin and Riddler, Batman
and Robin and all the major Heroes and Villains, as well as the more (or even extremely) obscure characters like
Batcow and the Animatronic T-Rex, the biggest figure in the game. Although
Clayface is not to be trifled with either. The Batmobile is superb and hails from the Fears comic if I am not mistaken.
Season 2 and The
Second Chance
On June 4th Season
2 of the Batman Kickstarter will go live. This will include a second
chance to buy Season 1 as well as -of course- the first chance to buy Season 2.
The contents of Season 2 are still clouded in mystery as I write this, but more
Heroes and Villains from the sheer inexhaustable stock of the Batman Universe
can be expected. Me, I have set my hopes on a Tumbler Batmobile and/or a Batpod
motorbike as well.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Spectre Operations: a review of the 2nd edition
When
playing a modern wargaming ruleset my impression always is that the bar for
realism is raised just that much higher. After all, while we must always assume
stuff when playing historical games (and the further back in time, the more
assumptions we need) we can see and know modern warfare from the news, the Internet
and, if we know such people, from conversations with veterans and active
military personnel. So even when we have not served in active military duty, it
just takes that bit more to “feel right” when playing a modern wargame.
When trying to achieve this, the first pit fall for the game designer is to over-detail things and end up with a hyper-realistic but unplayable ruleset of daunting complexity and glacial playing speed. It takes quite some skill and creativity on the part of the designer to avoid this and still come up with a game that answers to our demands for realism and offers a great game at the same time. Spectre Operations is a skirmish ruleset that strives for this. Having reached its second edition recently, I thought it time for a more thorough review.
When trying to achieve this, the first pit fall for the game designer is to over-detail things and end up with a hyper-realistic but unplayable ruleset of daunting complexity and glacial playing speed. It takes quite some skill and creativity on the part of the designer to avoid this and still come up with a game that answers to our demands for realism and offers a great game at the same time. Spectre Operations is a skirmish ruleset that strives for this. Having reached its second edition recently, I thought it time for a more thorough review.
Context
Spectre is a skirmish game on a 1-on-1 figure scale set in the present day (which means from the Cold War days onwards to the near future). So the game supports and features the most modern weapons, equipment, vehicles and tactics. Think mini-drones, heat-sensitive gunsights and realtime battlefield communications. All of this of course existing alongside older technology that should also function in the game.
Spectre is a skirmish game on a 1-on-1 figure scale set in the present day (which means from the Cold War days onwards to the near future). So the game supports and features the most modern weapons, equipment, vehicles and tactics. Think mini-drones, heat-sensitive gunsights and realtime battlefield communications. All of this of course existing alongside older technology that should also function in the game.
It is obviously also meant to play current conflicts, some of them even going on at
this moment. This, I know, is not for everyone, but this review will not
address that aspect of the game. I will assume that everybody who wants to play –or
plays- Spectre has no problem with that.
Spectre
works best when playing scenarios with mission objectives. As it should, since
the usual wargaming standard of “pitched battle to the death” rarely features
on the real battlefield.
Spectre
also assumes that the defining aspect of the modern warrior is his or her
training and experience. Troops are divided in quality classes (Levels) ranging
from untrained civilians to elite special forces troops. Troop level determines
skills, but also generally available weapons and equipment, reactions to events
and certain types of behavior. For example, Untrained troops have better morale
when operating in units of 10 or more and Elite troops do not have to adhere to Unit Cohesion and may operate individually.
Finally, available actions are severely influenced by Commands given before the "real"action phases. Whether troops are Alert (aware of imminent action) or Unalert (aware of possible action, but not specifically) greatly influences possible commands and actions.
Finally, available actions are severely influenced by Commands given before the "real"action phases. Whether troops are Alert (aware of imminent action) or Unalert (aware of possible action, but not specifically) greatly influences possible commands and actions.
Mechanics
Spectre is turn based, each turn divided into phases that define a moment to make decisions, take actions or suffer the consequences of those actions. Turns are repeated until the victory conditions of the scenario played are met and the scenario ends. Phases include Initiative, Commands, Movement & Tactical actions and Combat (Ranged- and then Close-)
Spectre is turn based, each turn divided into phases that define a moment to make decisions, take actions or suffer the consequences of those actions. Turns are repeated until the victory conditions of the scenario played are met and the scenario ends. Phases include Initiative, Commands, Movement & Tactical actions and Combat (Ranged- and then Close-)
Actions and
their success are determined by rolling a D6 against a skill number. Skills
include things like shooting, agility and command. Environment and
circumstances usually cause modifiers to be added or subtracted.
Turn phases
In the first phase Initiative is determined by a die roll plus the highest Command value in each force minus Suppression effects. The highest score starts each phase of that turn.
The role of commanders and/or highly trained troops comes into play through the second phase of the turn; the Command phase. In this phase Commanders may issue orders to troops they can communicate with if they can test successfully for Command. This enables larger numbers of troops to take special actions in the phases to come, like Overwatch fire (during the opponents movement phase), breaking up squads into smaller squads, Rallying or scanning for hidden stuff.
Players may move their troops in Initiative order and may perform Tactical actions before or after movement like running, sneaking, breaching doors or whatever seems fitting given the situation or scenario. And all these things might be interrupted or enhanced by Command driven actions.
Finally troops may combat by shooting, throwing grenades and fighting melee (in that order). The shoot system is an opposed die roll of Shooting skill plus die vs Defence plus die. Models can be killed instantly or become wounded and more or less incapacitated. This is determined by a roll on a table.
Virtually any kind of weapon used by Man can be handled by the weapon lists. However this is elegantly done by reducing any weapon to a small number of stats: range, lethality and one or two special rules like Rapid Fire (more shots per salvo) and such.
All kinds of actions can be tested by using the stats given to each figure. Command is used by tests of willpower for example, while Agility is used when performing physical tasks. This prevents the need for extensive skill tables and such and results in an elegantly simple mechanism that can tackle virtually anything.
Suppression
Units gain Suppression points when their members are being shot at. As soon as a Force's point total equals its commanders' Command skill the unit must test against that Command skill. Failure will result in a higher Suppression Level. This has an enormous influence on the game. First, the Level of your units' Suppression counts against your Initiative roll for the entire next turn. Second, Suppression levels severely limit the effectiveness of members of the suppressed unit, as they will lose skill points and movement when suppression levels mount.
While Suppression points start at zero each turn, Suppression levels stay and can only be lowered by Rally Commands. They must be managed carefully as otherwise they will slowly paralyze your force and make you lose all Initiative until units are pinned or routed.
Miscellaneous
The rules include the use of all kinds of vehicles and other equipment. Vehicles are equally simple to use, behaving like big models and having a few special rules to handle things like (un)boarding and armour.
Advanced rules are provided to represent special situations like weather conditions or covert operations.
In the first phase Initiative is determined by a die roll plus the highest Command value in each force minus Suppression effects. The highest score starts each phase of that turn.
The role of commanders and/or highly trained troops comes into play through the second phase of the turn; the Command phase. In this phase Commanders may issue orders to troops they can communicate with if they can test successfully for Command. This enables larger numbers of troops to take special actions in the phases to come, like Overwatch fire (during the opponents movement phase), breaking up squads into smaller squads, Rallying or scanning for hidden stuff.
Players may move their troops in Initiative order and may perform Tactical actions before or after movement like running, sneaking, breaching doors or whatever seems fitting given the situation or scenario. And all these things might be interrupted or enhanced by Command driven actions.
Finally troops may combat by shooting, throwing grenades and fighting melee (in that order). The shoot system is an opposed die roll of Shooting skill plus die vs Defence plus die. Models can be killed instantly or become wounded and more or less incapacitated. This is determined by a roll on a table.
Virtually any kind of weapon used by Man can be handled by the weapon lists. However this is elegantly done by reducing any weapon to a small number of stats: range, lethality and one or two special rules like Rapid Fire (more shots per salvo) and such.
All kinds of actions can be tested by using the stats given to each figure. Command is used by tests of willpower for example, while Agility is used when performing physical tasks. This prevents the need for extensive skill tables and such and results in an elegantly simple mechanism that can tackle virtually anything.
Suppression
Units gain Suppression points when their members are being shot at. As soon as a Force's point total equals its commanders' Command skill the unit must test against that Command skill. Failure will result in a higher Suppression Level. This has an enormous influence on the game. First, the Level of your units' Suppression counts against your Initiative roll for the entire next turn. Second, Suppression levels severely limit the effectiveness of members of the suppressed unit, as they will lose skill points and movement when suppression levels mount.
While Suppression points start at zero each turn, Suppression levels stay and can only be lowered by Rally Commands. They must be managed carefully as otherwise they will slowly paralyze your force and make you lose all Initiative until units are pinned or routed.
Miscellaneous
The rules include the use of all kinds of vehicles and other equipment. Vehicles are equally simple to use, behaving like big models and having a few special rules to handle things like (un)boarding and armour.
Advanced rules are provided to represent special situations like weather conditions or covert operations.
The 1st edition provides a point value that has been omitted from the 2nd. This might not be to everyone's taste. I understand that Spectre's website will feature a points list in time. It is no problem in my eyes since I tend to write and play scenarios and the book supports that just fine.
The book offers scenarios and how to make them as well as a chapter on modern tactics to enable the less militaristically schooled player to emulate modern warfare in the way the rules are supposed to support them. Brief and enlightening, it is a very valuable addition to the book.
The 2nd edition offers a chapter on Campaign play as well, which is new compared to the 1st edition.
Comparison 1st and 2nd edition rulebook
Both are sturdy paperbacks in full colour. The improvement in the 2nd edition however is MASSIVE.
It sports an extra 40 pages compared to its predecessor and when comparing them the numerous examples and diagrams of play immediately stand out. These were sorely missing in the first book and they are invaluable for making the game more accessible to new players and clarifying the rules. In my opinion the best of the improvements, but not the only one.
The book's sequence now follows more logically the sequence in which one needs the rules to play a game. And there is an Index! Only one page, but nevertheless it was missing from the 1st edition.
The Suppression rules have been completely overhauled. In the 1st edition Suppression was an individual score that influenced the units. Spectre had no equivalent for a Morale/Break test of sorts but oddly I never missed that. Terrified troops "just" being immobilized instead of magically fleeing the table perfectly fitted the scale of the game. This did however require some bookkeeping and Suppression counters or dice all over the table that are no longer needed now.
Finally several rule texts have been cleared up. For example, the 1st edition was somewhat
ambiguous in whether you could perform a tactial action only before or after movement or during as well. This has been clarified quite well. Spectre obviously has taken the feedback from its fans to heart!
What is good?
Spectre is an accessible game, quick playing and able to handle (but not needing) quite large numbers of miniatures and vehicles. It now has an excellent rulebook to support it. It has a very flexible game mechanism that enables it to do anything one would expect to encounter on the modern battlefield.
This results in an immersive tabletop wargame that plays like one feels a modern engagement should play out on a wargames table. Playing time could be anything from an hour up to a day depending on how big you want your game. It scales perfectly up or down.
It covers all known protagonists of the current age as well as all the weapons one might wish to use in a game.
Last but not least the ruleset is supported by one of the best 28mm modern miniatures ranges on the market at this time: Spectre Miniatures. There are of course other producers for this period, but even if you choose to limit yourself to Spectre Miniatures you will be painting and collecting to your heart's content for quite a while.
It sports an extra 40 pages compared to its predecessor and when comparing them the numerous examples and diagrams of play immediately stand out. These were sorely missing in the first book and they are invaluable for making the game more accessible to new players and clarifying the rules. In my opinion the best of the improvements, but not the only one.
The book's sequence now follows more logically the sequence in which one needs the rules to play a game. And there is an Index! Only one page, but nevertheless it was missing from the 1st edition.
The Suppression rules have been completely overhauled. In the 1st edition Suppression was an individual score that influenced the units. Spectre had no equivalent for a Morale/Break test of sorts but oddly I never missed that. Terrified troops "just" being immobilized instead of magically fleeing the table perfectly fitted the scale of the game. This did however require some bookkeeping and Suppression counters or dice all over the table that are no longer needed now.
Finally several rule texts have been cleared up. For example, the 1st edition was somewhat
ambiguous in whether you could perform a tactial action only before or after movement or during as well. This has been clarified quite well. Spectre obviously has taken the feedback from its fans to heart!
What is good?
Spectre is an accessible game, quick playing and able to handle (but not needing) quite large numbers of miniatures and vehicles. It now has an excellent rulebook to support it. It has a very flexible game mechanism that enables it to do anything one would expect to encounter on the modern battlefield.
This results in an immersive tabletop wargame that plays like one feels a modern engagement should play out on a wargames table. Playing time could be anything from an hour up to a day depending on how big you want your game. It scales perfectly up or down.
It covers all known protagonists of the current age as well as all the weapons one might wish to use in a game.
Last but not least the ruleset is supported by one of the best 28mm modern miniatures ranges on the market at this time: Spectre Miniatures. There are of course other producers for this period, but even if you choose to limit yourself to Spectre Miniatures you will be painting and collecting to your heart's content for quite a while.
What could be better?
Well, not much. The Index could be more comprehensive. There could have been a point system for those who want that. Mere details really.
Conclusion
If you want to play Modern Day wargames, buy and play this. It is certainly worth your time and money.
NB: Spectre Miniatures has announced it wil cease supporting Spectre Operations as a ruleset, since it was licensed from its author and that license will expire soon. The author has made it known he is working on a successor ruleset under the working title of Assymmetric Warfare. I refer to the Facebook group for news.
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Battletech: Classic, Modern Classic or Alpha Strike. A comparative (and now complete) review
Sometime halfway the 90ies I came upon the boardgame Battletech by FASA. Having gotten some taste of Robotech this game of big robots stomping around and hurling laserbeams and missiles all over the place immediately caught my fancy.
I bought the 1992 edition, found other players (and a friend for life) and played it absolutely to bits. On the printed maps at first, on the tabletop in later years.
Over the years the interest waned, other games came along, my friend passed away and the Mechs gathered dust in their boxes. Until one day a friend of mine got caught with the Giant Stompy Robot Bug and began inquiring which rulesets would be suitable. Eventually we ended up with Batletech Alpha Strike (BTAS). Huh? What was that?
It turned out that during the 15+ years I had looked the other way Battletech had had quite an evolution. There were several new editions, IP transferred from collapsing FASA to a German company and then somehow back again to a new US company. There emerged a Quick Play Battletech that seems to have developed into BTAS. Same Mechs. A lot more of the same Mechs actually, as BTAS was supposed to be a Big Battle Ruleset! But different rules.
So I acquired them to look them in the eye up close and try them. It was a different beast indeed. Since I had trouble myself finding a coherent and clear review of the game compared to Classic Battetech I thought I would do at least someone a service by writing one myself.
I will not go into the enormous amount of fluff published, the video games, the spinoffs, the Unseen and other exotics, but will instead concentrate on the game mechanics of the two most dissimilar incarnations: CBT en BTAS.
This game is, as games go, a venerable old gentleman. In the words of Wikipedia:
BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, and owned since 2003 by Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech (originally named BattleDroids) by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III and has since grown to include numerous expansions to the original game, several board games, role playing games, video games, a collectible card game, a series of more than 100 novels, and an animated television series.
So CBT is 35 years old this year. Let's take the 3rd edition from way back in 1992 -or to be more precise; the 1995 Battletech Compendium that wrapped up all the rules- as a good example of the Original Classic Battletech. It was quite similar to the original Battledroids game and gives a good impression of a boardgame from the 80ies/early 90ies.
The mechanics
CBT is a turn-based game in which units move and fire alternately. The turn officially has several phases: Move, Reaction, Shooting, Combat (physical melee), Heat Phase and End Phase (things blow up and shut down and such). All are taken in the order of Initiative, determined by a D6 roll. The winner moves and fires last (although fire is supposed to be simultaneous and any consequences happen simultaneously as well).
CBT is a very layered game. The player can make a lot of choices, all with their respective pros and cons. For this you must know that all actions a Battlemech (one of those Big Stompy Robots) can take cause heat because of the energy use powered by the 'Mechs fusion reactor. Mechs can only vent so much heat in a turn and excess heat can have dire consequences. Damage suffered can enhance heat effects. Standing in water helps cooling down faster. So choices must be made wisely.
On top of that Mechs are equipped with a wide array of weapons for various ranges. Few weapons function well at all ranges. Ammo using weapons cause less heat than energy weapons for about the same damage, but of course ammo bins may explode when hit, which is usually enough to obliterate a Mech entirely.
Finally, speed is a factor. The faster you move, the harder it is to hit something with your weapons. But also it becomes harder to hit YOU. So maneuvering has an important function in the game.
Shooting is a complicated affair. You roll 2D6 against the pilot's Gun Skill (usually 4) plus your own movement plus your targets movement plus incidental cover plus the effects of range on the weapon you are firing. And all this for EACH weapon you want to fire.
For physical melee all this is repeated sans the range modifiers. You can ram, kick or punch your opponent or simply jump on top of him. Great fun all around.
Mechs have a complicated construction. They are built up around an interior construction (Internal Structure or IS) that carries all equipment, reactors, engines, weapons and other stuff and is covered in Armor from head to toe. A Mech has 8 Hit Locations at the front and another 3 on his torso at the back.
A Hit is then scored on the frontal, left, right or rear of the target and hits a randomy determined location. It might only cause loss of Armor, but once the Armor is breached, the IS suffers and the chance to score Critical Hits on bits of weapon, ammo or equipment appears. In turn this has all kinds of effects on the Mech's functioning.
This way Mechs can be gradually worn down or explode in a blast of ammo or fusion energy depending on the Critical hit effects.
After all that shooting excess heat needs to be determined, which influences speed and accuracy and might even shut down the reactor alltogether to cool down and only restart after that, leaving you an immobile 30 meters high target on the battlefield......
Choices.....
So CBT is not an easy game to either play or master. Lots of things have to be taken into account before deciding how to move and what to do with all those awesome guns and missiles.
To play CBT you need to cram A LOT of information into your head. The available equipment and weaponry has lots of intricate detail that separates it from the other weapons and equipment. Of the dozens and dozens of available Mech designs no two are the same or even comparable. Many are designed with a specific tactical purpose in mind. Lightning-fast 20-ton scout Mechs are no match for hulking 100-ton Assault Mechs in a toe-to-toe fight but when the goal of the mission is speed this might not help the 100-tonner much.....
But this is also why I love this game so much. The player constantly has to balance actions versus consequences to remain a difficult target to hit while hitting his own targets at the same time and still be able to keep functioning in the next turn. It is a very challenging game in that respect.
However, the criticism is easy to understand. CBT is difficult to learn and slow to master. It is a physically slow game. 2-Player clashes of 4 Mechs per side are about the maximum one can play in an evening and larger battles require at least a day of playing time. And that is not to everyone's liking in these hectic and rushed modern times (although we considered them hectic and rushed in 1992 as well, I remember....)
Published in 2013 BTAS catered to the critics that thought CBT was way too slow to be enjoyable and wanted lots of Mechs on the table without having to share an appartment for a week....
The designers decided to turn BTAS into a tabletop wargame instead of a boardgame. Like I explained above, this did not in itself matter much to the actual gameplay. It just looked better. Neither did the basic mechanics of CBT change much in BTAS. There were still turns, Initiative, Shoot and Combat phases et cetera.
But then BTAS made some daring choices to speed up the game. First all the separate weapons on a Mech were clustered together in three groups based on range. So a Mech would do 4 damage at Short Range, 3 at Medium Range and 0 at Long range for example. A salvo is now just one 2D6 roll. Weapons also do not have a specific location on a Mech anymore. All weapons fire forward and directly sideways. The rear 180 degrees has become a blind spot.
Second the Heat effects were dismissed, Mechs would now only heat up when the player willfully chose to Overheat while shooting (and do extra damage). Simply moving and firing did not have any Heat consequences anymore. Heat is virtually gone as a tactically relevant factor, unless specifically chosen to be one.
Third the separate hit locations were cancelled and replaced by one: the entire Mech. IS and Armor are still there, but scoring hits on IS now only causes a roll on the Critical Hit table to see what happened. No more rolls to see where you hit. Just cross off the damage.
Lastly the effects on the Mech's own speed were dismissed and the effects of the target's speed are now limited to three situations: Immobile (after a shutdown), Standing (practically) still and At Speed (for which only the available speed is relevant, not the actual one).
These four major changes enabled the game to move at least 3 to 4 times faster than CBT. Fielding Companies of 12 Mechs per player is now possible in an evening's game. Day-long games could now handle Battallion strength forces. Huge tables with dozens of Mechs appeared in games offering spectacular visual appeal!
And indeed BTAS is a very quick-playing game that is easy to learn and also a lot easier to master than CBT.
This is also the price for BTAS' speed. Players' choices are now limited to "Where do I move to get a shot in, preferably from some cover?" and "Do I overheat ?" Where Mechs in CBT usually took many turns to get destroyed in BTAS a Mech can be obliterated in one. Retreat is not an option anymore, because the loser is usually destroyed before he can even reach the edge of the table. Initiative advantage is all-powerful since it enables you to slip behind a opponent and fire at him with impunity.
This is supposed to be the Modern Classic Battletech game. Published in 2019 here is the review of BTaGoAC (haha).
BT19 (as I shall call it in this review) has benefited greatly from modern layout and graphic design. It is a clear-written full colour softcover booklet of 48 pages. The book contains the rules for the boxed game in its entirety so far as Mechs are concerned, up to and including designing your own Mechs. .
Rules for vehicles, Aerospace units and infantry have to be found elsewhere (presumably in the Total War Compendium). This is consistent with CBT which also offered a Compendium fur the complete rules including CityTech, Aerotech and all kinds of innovative and experimental equipment and weapons.
The rules are virtually indistinguishable from CBT. There are a few minor differences.
I might have overlooked something, but even so, it is clear that BT19 is virtually the same game as CBT. So everything detailed above and below about CBT applies to BT19.
As I am quite fond of CBT I have little to complain about BT19. Still I feel that the opportunity could have been seized to simplify the Mech Data sheets. However, when people have been using them for 30 years, maybe I am just too demanding.....
It has become clear to me that CBT and BTAS, although on the tabletop they may appear virtually the same to the naked eye, are two vastly different games.
BTAS is a low-treshold quick game that can be easily picked up and applied to lots of terrain and miniatures in relatively short amounts of time to produce a relatively straightforward game. It would put it a bit strongly to call it a beer-and-pretzel game but it comes close.
CBT on the other hand is a slow and complex game in comparison, does however offer many tactical dillemmas and choices and with that a much more challenging game.
In theory both rulesets could be used in the same Campaign to play engagements of various sizes. One needs to realize however that the casualty rate in BTAS is so high it might derail the Campaign altogether.
Of course fans and players have tried to upgrade BTAS' complexity and to slow down it less desirable consequences. The BTAS Companion book even offers official rules for this purpose. Ironically most rule adaptations hark back to the CBT rules, like re-introducing Target Speed Modifiers from CBT.
So know that CBT and BTAS are two very different games that offer very different kinds of enjoyment.
The answer to the question: "Should I play CBT or BTAS?" is not dependent on which game is better, but what you want to get out of it.
I bought the 1992 edition, found other players (and a friend for life) and played it absolutely to bits. On the printed maps at first, on the tabletop in later years.
Over the years the interest waned, other games came along, my friend passed away and the Mechs gathered dust in their boxes. Until one day a friend of mine got caught with the Giant Stompy Robot Bug and began inquiring which rulesets would be suitable. Eventually we ended up with Batletech Alpha Strike (BTAS). Huh? What was that?
It turned out that during the 15+ years I had looked the other way Battletech had had quite an evolution. There were several new editions, IP transferred from collapsing FASA to a German company and then somehow back again to a new US company. There emerged a Quick Play Battletech that seems to have developed into BTAS. Same Mechs. A lot more of the same Mechs actually, as BTAS was supposed to be a Big Battle Ruleset! But different rules.
So I acquired them to look them in the eye up close and try them. It was a different beast indeed. Since I had trouble myself finding a coherent and clear review of the game compared to Classic Battetech I thought I would do at least someone a service by writing one myself.
I will not go into the enormous amount of fluff published, the video games, the spinoffs, the Unseen and other exotics, but will instead concentrate on the game mechanics of the two most dissimilar incarnations: CBT en BTAS.
Classic Battletech (1984-1992)
This game is, as games go, a venerable old gentleman. In the words of Wikipedia:
BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, and owned since 2003 by Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech (originally named BattleDroids) by Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock III and has since grown to include numerous expansions to the original game, several board games, role playing games, video games, a collectible card game, a series of more than 100 novels, and an animated television series.
So CBT is 35 years old this year. Let's take the 3rd edition from way back in 1992 -or to be more precise; the 1995 Battletech Compendium that wrapped up all the rules- as a good example of the Original Classic Battletech. It was quite similar to the original Battledroids game and gives a good impression of a boardgame from the 80ies/early 90ies.
CBT board- or tabletop game?
Officially CBT was a boardgame, played with miniatures on a hex map with terrain printed on it. The 1995 Compendium contained a tabletop conversion chapter that was quite straightforward. All distances, ranges and speeds were converted from hexes to 2" per hex. Terrain came in standardized height levels and of course was required to replace the printed maps.. Other than that, playing CBT on a tabletop was basically the same game as that played on the map. Only better-looking. 
The mechanics
CBT is a turn-based game in which units move and fire alternately. The turn officially has several phases: Move, Reaction, Shooting, Combat (physical melee), Heat Phase and End Phase (things blow up and shut down and such). All are taken in the order of Initiative, determined by a D6 roll. The winner moves and fires last (although fire is supposed to be simultaneous and any consequences happen simultaneously as well).
CBT is a very layered game. The player can make a lot of choices, all with their respective pros and cons. For this you must know that all actions a Battlemech (one of those Big Stompy Robots) can take cause heat because of the energy use powered by the 'Mechs fusion reactor. Mechs can only vent so much heat in a turn and excess heat can have dire consequences. Damage suffered can enhance heat effects. Standing in water helps cooling down faster. So choices must be made wisely.
On top of that Mechs are equipped with a wide array of weapons for various ranges. Few weapons function well at all ranges. Ammo using weapons cause less heat than energy weapons for about the same damage, but of course ammo bins may explode when hit, which is usually enough to obliterate a Mech entirely.
Finally, speed is a factor. The faster you move, the harder it is to hit something with your weapons. But also it becomes harder to hit YOU. So maneuvering has an important function in the game.
Shooting is a complicated affair. You roll 2D6 against the pilot's Gun Skill (usually 4) plus your own movement plus your targets movement plus incidental cover plus the effects of range on the weapon you are firing. And all this for EACH weapon you want to fire.
For physical melee all this is repeated sans the range modifiers. You can ram, kick or punch your opponent or simply jump on top of him. Great fun all around.
Mechs have a complicated construction. They are built up around an interior construction (Internal Structure or IS) that carries all equipment, reactors, engines, weapons and other stuff and is covered in Armor from head to toe. A Mech has 8 Hit Locations at the front and another 3 on his torso at the back.
 |
| A CBT Mech diagram: this is only 1 Mech.... |
A Hit is then scored on the frontal, left, right or rear of the target and hits a randomy determined location. It might only cause loss of Armor, but once the Armor is breached, the IS suffers and the chance to score Critical Hits on bits of weapon, ammo or equipment appears. In turn this has all kinds of effects on the Mech's functioning.
This way Mechs can be gradually worn down or explode in a blast of ammo or fusion energy depending on the Critical hit effects.
After all that shooting excess heat needs to be determined, which influences speed and accuracy and might even shut down the reactor alltogether to cool down and only restart after that, leaving you an immobile 30 meters high target on the battlefield......
Choices.....
So CBT is not an easy game to either play or master. Lots of things have to be taken into account before deciding how to move and what to do with all those awesome guns and missiles.
To play CBT you need to cram A LOT of information into your head. The available equipment and weaponry has lots of intricate detail that separates it from the other weapons and equipment. Of the dozens and dozens of available Mech designs no two are the same or even comparable. Many are designed with a specific tactical purpose in mind. Lightning-fast 20-ton scout Mechs are no match for hulking 100-ton Assault Mechs in a toe-to-toe fight but when the goal of the mission is speed this might not help the 100-tonner much.....
But this is also why I love this game so much. The player constantly has to balance actions versus consequences to remain a difficult target to hit while hitting his own targets at the same time and still be able to keep functioning in the next turn. It is a very challenging game in that respect.
However, the criticism is easy to understand. CBT is difficult to learn and slow to master. It is a physically slow game. 2-Player clashes of 4 Mechs per side are about the maximum one can play in an evening and larger battles require at least a day of playing time. And that is not to everyone's liking in these hectic and rushed modern times (although we considered them hectic and rushed in 1992 as well, I remember....)
Battletech Alpha Strike (2013)
Published in 2013 BTAS catered to the critics that thought CBT was way too slow to be enjoyable and wanted lots of Mechs on the table without having to share an appartment for a week....
The designers decided to turn BTAS into a tabletop wargame instead of a boardgame. Like I explained above, this did not in itself matter much to the actual gameplay. It just looked better. Neither did the basic mechanics of CBT change much in BTAS. There were still turns, Initiative, Shoot and Combat phases et cetera.
But then BTAS made some daring choices to speed up the game. First all the separate weapons on a Mech were clustered together in three groups based on range. So a Mech would do 4 damage at Short Range, 3 at Medium Range and 0 at Long range for example. A salvo is now just one 2D6 roll. Weapons also do not have a specific location on a Mech anymore. All weapons fire forward and directly sideways. The rear 180 degrees has become a blind spot.
Second the Heat effects were dismissed, Mechs would now only heat up when the player willfully chose to Overheat while shooting (and do extra damage). Simply moving and firing did not have any Heat consequences anymore. Heat is virtually gone as a tactically relevant factor, unless specifically chosen to be one.
Third the separate hit locations were cancelled and replaced by one: the entire Mech. IS and Armor are still there, but scoring hits on IS now only causes a roll on the Critical Hit table to see what happened. No more rolls to see where you hit. Just cross off the damage.
Lastly the effects on the Mech's own speed were dismissed and the effects of the target's speed are now limited to three situations: Immobile (after a shutdown), Standing (practically) still and At Speed (for which only the available speed is relevant, not the actual one).
 |
| An BTAS Mech card: smaller than the CBT Critical Hit locations alone.... |
These four major changes enabled the game to move at least 3 to 4 times faster than CBT. Fielding Companies of 12 Mechs per player is now possible in an evening's game. Day-long games could now handle Battallion strength forces. Huge tables with dozens of Mechs appeared in games offering spectacular visual appeal!
And indeed BTAS is a very quick-playing game that is easy to learn and also a lot easier to master than CBT.
This is also the price for BTAS' speed. Players' choices are now limited to "Where do I move to get a shot in, preferably from some cover?" and "Do I overheat ?" Where Mechs in CBT usually took many turns to get destroyed in BTAS a Mech can be obliterated in one. Retreat is not an option anymore, because the loser is usually destroyed before he can even reach the edge of the table. Initiative advantage is all-powerful since it enables you to slip behind a opponent and fire at him with impunity.
Battletech A Game of Armored Combat (2019)
This is supposed to be the Modern Classic Battletech game. Published in 2019 here is the review of BTaGoAC (haha).
BT19 (as I shall call it in this review) has benefited greatly from modern layout and graphic design. It is a clear-written full colour softcover booklet of 48 pages. The book contains the rules for the boxed game in its entirety so far as Mechs are concerned, up to and including designing your own Mechs. .
Rules for vehicles, Aerospace units and infantry have to be found elsewhere (presumably in the Total War Compendium). This is consistent with CBT which also offered a Compendium fur the complete rules including CityTech, Aerotech and all kinds of innovative and experimental equipment and weapons.
The rules are virtually indistinguishable from CBT. There are a few minor differences.
- The Reaction Phase is gone. Torso twisting (to move part of your field of fire into your, left, right or rear) has now been incorporated into the Combat Phase and the fire sequence. Funny thing is this is exactly how we used to play it as we did away with the Reaction Phase immediately. Obviously the redesigners felt the same.
- Movement dice (dice that indicate the Mech's movement modifier after moving) have found their way into the rules. This too is how we used them in the 1995 edition.
I might have overlooked something, but even so, it is clear that BT19 is virtually the same game as CBT. So everything detailed above and below about CBT applies to BT19.
As I am quite fond of CBT I have little to complain about BT19. Still I feel that the opportunity could have been seized to simplify the Mech Data sheets. However, when people have been using them for 30 years, maybe I am just too demanding.....
Conclusions and comparisons
It has become clear to me that CBT and BTAS, although on the tabletop they may appear virtually the same to the naked eye, are two vastly different games.
BTAS is a low-treshold quick game that can be easily picked up and applied to lots of terrain and miniatures in relatively short amounts of time to produce a relatively straightforward game. It would put it a bit strongly to call it a beer-and-pretzel game but it comes close.
CBT on the other hand is a slow and complex game in comparison, does however offer many tactical dillemmas and choices and with that a much more challenging game.
In theory both rulesets could be used in the same Campaign to play engagements of various sizes. One needs to realize however that the casualty rate in BTAS is so high it might derail the Campaign altogether.
Of course fans and players have tried to upgrade BTAS' complexity and to slow down it less desirable consequences. The BTAS Companion book even offers official rules for this purpose. Ironically most rule adaptations hark back to the CBT rules, like re-introducing Target Speed Modifiers from CBT.
So know that CBT and BTAS are two very different games that offer very different kinds of enjoyment.
The answer to the question: "Should I play CBT or BTAS?" is not dependent on which game is better, but what you want to get out of it.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Prehistorics: Paleo Diet Review
Last Friday we played the first of the prehistoric rulesets. I chose Paleo Diet by Ganesha Games as the most promising.
Instead of picking one of the 10 scenarios provided in the PDF we played a generic mammoth hunt. Three groups of 3 hunters and a dog each (I watched the movie Alpha recently so the dog was a must) sneaking up to a herd of Mammoth.
One group would drive them towards the other two groups with fire. The other two groups would hen try to kill at least 2 of the giants.
Activation works per figure or per small group placed close apart. Roll 1, 2 or 3 dice and to Activate (and get as many Actions as successes rolled) and the failures give Actions to the beasts. The more failures, the more beasts get Actions. This mechanism is a staple phenomenon in games from Ganesha.
Another one is the pleasantly simple measuring system. Three measuring sticks (Short, Medium and Long) take care of all distance measuring for you.
Which action the beast takes is determined by its type, its surroundings (fire or hunters nearby for example) whether it is wounded and finally a D6 roll on the correct table. It might for example just move away from the hunters, roar to chase them away or even attack them!
Attacking is a simple affair. Roll a D6 and overcome the to hit number of the beast. A hit takes away a hit point or Bulk point. Once reduced to 0 Bulk the beast dies and joins the Paleo Diet.
It produced a quick and pleasant game where the mammoth were indeed driven towards the hunters. Killing mammoth however proved not without its risks as two hunters were trampled. 4 mammoth were killed nevertheless, so the hunt was bountiful!
The rules set in my case is a pleasant 58 page PDF acquired for $10 with cartoonesque illustrations and clear explanatory diagrams. It provides rules for prehistoric hunts, as the above would suggest. Hunters can be equipped with various weapons like spears, clubs, bows-and-arrows and stones.
Beasts and prey are grouped in types: giant grazers, herd grazers, apex predators, pack predators and individual critters. Each type behaves differently when confronted with humans.
Things like fire, terrain effects and even a campaign mode are included in the game, so you can collect, buy, paint or build paleolithic terrain, hunters and wildlife to your heart's content.
This game will certainly be played again. Recommended!
Next one in the preview queue will most likely be Prehistoric Settlement by Steve Barber.
Instead of picking one of the 10 scenarios provided in the PDF we played a generic mammoth hunt. Three groups of 3 hunters and a dog each (I watched the movie Alpha recently so the dog was a must) sneaking up to a herd of Mammoth.
One group would drive them towards the other two groups with fire. The other two groups would hen try to kill at least 2 of the giants.
Activation works per figure or per small group placed close apart. Roll 1, 2 or 3 dice and to Activate (and get as many Actions as successes rolled) and the failures give Actions to the beasts. The more failures, the more beasts get Actions. This mechanism is a staple phenomenon in games from Ganesha.
Another one is the pleasantly simple measuring system. Three measuring sticks (Short, Medium and Long) take care of all distance measuring for you.
Which action the beast takes is determined by its type, its surroundings (fire or hunters nearby for example) whether it is wounded and finally a D6 roll on the correct table. It might for example just move away from the hunters, roar to chase them away or even attack them!
Attacking is a simple affair. Roll a D6 and overcome the to hit number of the beast. A hit takes away a hit point or Bulk point. Once reduced to 0 Bulk the beast dies and joins the Paleo Diet.
It produced a quick and pleasant game where the mammoth were indeed driven towards the hunters. Killing mammoth however proved not without its risks as two hunters were trampled. 4 mammoth were killed nevertheless, so the hunt was bountiful!
The rules set in my case is a pleasant 58 page PDF acquired for $10 with cartoonesque illustrations and clear explanatory diagrams. It provides rules for prehistoric hunts, as the above would suggest. Hunters can be equipped with various weapons like spears, clubs, bows-and-arrows and stones.
Beasts and prey are grouped in types: giant grazers, herd grazers, apex predators, pack predators and individual critters. Each type behaves differently when confronted with humans.
Things like fire, terrain effects and even a campaign mode are included in the game, so you can collect, buy, paint or build paleolithic terrain, hunters and wildlife to your heart's content.
This game will certainly be played again. Recommended!
Next one in the preview queue will most likely be Prehistoric Settlement by Steve Barber.
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