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| Canlastrian Retained charge into close combat! |
This week in Patrol Angis playtesting it was close combat and lots of it. Following up on week two's second lot of general rules testing we got specific on melee before we move onto the more exotic in week four.
Here is the general impression of close combat in a few choice round ups of comments and questions:
- Why is it more complex than Ranged Fire?
Half of the test group came down on the side of the rules as are and the other half want a faster system for melee as they fell their slightly more complex nature compared to ranged fire slows the game. Melee is more complex as I wanted to match up foes and have them face off. I will try out alternate systems suggested.
- I want Retained Knights to do better in fist fights!
Power Armoured Troops should smash up Musterman like mush. So say some testers. I am looking at a bonus for powered armour in hand to hand just for wearing it.
- Should be being in a bigger Troop Element count for more?
Interesting this one. Currently a larger TE gets more attacks and this carries over to potentially more harm to the foe but if the TE in question is twice the size of the other combatant TE in close combat? I will think on a blanket bonus.
- Melee Centric Weapons are not powerful enough!
Currently +2 on Roaz Axe and such powered purpose made melee weapons is thought enough be most testers. I will try it will +3 and +4 to see what occurs.
- Should Close Combat just not be allowed in Patrol Angis?
One tester stated this. In some other wargame systems melee is just not allowed. I think I want to keep it and indeed many said that they wanted Patrol Angis to be more lethal and in close too. Get those Knights in with their swords!
There was not a lot of imagery this week as no table set up was technically required but I did get a complete little scenarios from Ian Hoffman along with some pictures of his testing so this week I will give Ian centre stage with a transcript and his images. A fair reward for his extra playing efforts in week three:
Terra Verte is currently in the midst of a low-intensity conflict between Baronial troops and the forces of the Aeddan. That could all change if either Canlaster or Yordan were to become involved.
An advance scouting post of Retained from one of the Leagues has crash-landed on the planet's moon and have been fighting off the aggressive native vegetation ever since (the reason the lunar colony has been abandoned...). They now have no jump jets and only 1 round of shooting per model per weapon. They start near some colony buildings (forming an impassable wall meaning they cannot retreat) and would ideally like to escape from the very table edge the Muster are arriving from. Speaking of which, a larger patrol force of Prydian Muster has arrived to investigate the thermal signature of the shuttle crash.
The aim of the Retained is to break or wipe out the Muster (so their League's position is not given away, and so they can capture a transport). A secondary goal is to satisfy the Code Gallant and enter Melee combat where possible. Above all else avoid being captured alive, but it would not be Gallant to simply throw their lives away.
The Muster on the other hand aim to break (ideally, not wiping out) the Retained so they can hopefully accept the surrender of one or more Retained and learn about the new presence in the sector.
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| The scenario begins! |
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| In the thick of it! |
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| Last Stand! |
The game ends with a loss for the Retained, although they achieved their secondary objectives.
There are changes brewing in the rules and that is excellent as it was and is the point of this testing phase. Again thanks to everyone who is taking the time to play Patrol Angis. Salient opinions across two dozen people who are importantly not speaking to each other and only to me. These changes are in several main areas but more on this in the future.
I am sending out the mid point files for the exotic testing this week. All playtesters now have them. One is the solo play bolt on as already posted about and the other...well it ties into the second title for Patrol Angis and the ancient foe of Humanity in The Ion Age. More on this in another posting.
Happy Testing Everyone!
GBS
Great report and that is a beautiful board Mr. Hoffman. It is very terrain heavy though; is that how you normally play? Does that make manoeuvring more critical to victory?
ReplyDeleteHi Rhaksha, thanks for the comment! There are a few things about that board that make it more terrain-heavy than normal, but I do like to use a lot of terrain for reasons I'll go into in a minute. Firstly, this time round I used my smaller board (just 2 feet long on each side) so the terrain helped block line of sight and stop any one nonspecific heavy weapons team (*cough Anvil 888*) from dominating the entire board. Secondly, the aim of this game was to allow and even encourage melee combat (both sides charged in at various points during the game). Finally, the dense foliage just seemed to fit the lunar jungle theme I decided on for this game.
ReplyDeleteAs to why I like a lot of terrain? Well, that means more different types of terrain on the board at once (with all that implies in terms of game effects and visual spectacle). This helps reinforce the scifi-theme (in general) and more specifically the Ion Age background setting of the game. We have scifi armour, weapons, rank structures, and worlds ... why not also populate those worlds with suitable houses, transport vehicles, jungles, food crops, water condensers, laser fences, floating minefields, or whatever your imagination can come up with? To me, fantastic scenery is just part of the grand adventure that science fiction can take us on.
Well said!
DeleteGBS