Thoughts on E3 2013

I don't write all that much about video games on here, although they pop up briefly from time to time. However, with E3 just over and done with and two new consoles being released later this year I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the cool new games heading our way!

Of course there were a bunch of sequals being shown and I'm quite looking forward to several of them, but right now I think it would be more interesting to have a look at the new IPs being developed for the Xbox One and PS4. I'll make one exception, as you'll see later. The three games I most like the look of are Titanfall, Destiny and The Division. They are all shooters but come with a varying degree of multiplayer, co-op and roleplaying as well. Because I love big mechs, let's have a look at Titanfall first.


Titanfall

This game was made by the guys who made the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare after they got fired from Infinity Ward by Activision (although I think that might be an oversimplification), and it certainly shows. The setting is completely new, modern warfare has been replaced by future warfare, but the look and feel of the action feels familiar in a good way.

It's sci-fi and besides the usual stuff like high tech weaponry and equipment (jet packs!) there are also the titans from the title: roughly eight meter tall mechs of the VOTOMS/Heavy Gear variety. That is to say, they are quite nimble and bring all kinds of mecha sized weaponry to the battlefield. Awesome! The game also features AI "popcorn" enemies to fill out the ranks of both sides fighting which I actually think sounds pretty cool. At the moment it's exclusively for the Xbox One, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it turn up on the PS4 during 2014 or so.

Take a look on the gameplay trailer below and tell me you don't want a piece of that! The dual layer of pilot (infantry) combat combined with mecha combat looks great! There's a good article on Titanfall over at Polygon.com.

Destiny

Alright, if Titanfall was pure shooter (although there is a singleplayer campaign in there) we're entering rpg territory with Destiny. It's the new game from Bungie, you know, the guys who've been stuck doing Halo for... forever! It must feel so good being able to do something else.

Anyway, as far as I can tell Destiny basically takes the basic idea of Borderlands and runs with it. Four(?) player co-operative gameplay in the form of a first-person shooter in a sprawling post-apocalyptic world. Of course everything has been taken to the next level and although I love Borderlands I can't wait to play a similar game from a company who really knows how to do a shooter!

The gameplay looks good although there's nothing really revolutionary in the makeup of it. You explore the world, kill enemies and gather loot and XP to further customize your character. What is new though are the MMO-esque components. The world is constantly changing and new quests and events will be held post launch. During some of these (or always? I don't know) several groups of players (fireteams) can team up to fight an overwhelming force. Overall it looks pretty damn nifty, and the world Bungie have created is beautiful!

It's being released for all the platforms, including PS3 and Xbox 360 as far as I can tell, although I can swear I read somewhere about Destiny being Sony's baby. Not rightly sure. Check out this gameplay:

The Division 

The Division snuck right by me and I didn't discover it until after E3 was over, but I think this might be the big surprise winner of the show. What we have here is another co-op roleplaying experience, but instead of going to the far fantastic future we see in Destiny this is simply the near future after a global pandemic has caused the collapse of the civilized world. You work for the (remnants of) the US government trying to get back into control. Looking at the gameplay below it kind of feels like what you'd get by crossing Borderlands with Rainbow Six, set in the world of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Ubisoft have done a great job in capturing a dilapidated New York with refuse and debris everywhere and some scared civilians scurrying away as gunshots are heard in the distance. Again you play as a small team who take on missions as well as go on sidequests or simply explore the city. A pretty neat feature is the way you can join from a smartphone or tablet and help out as a drone. Toward the end of the video we also get to see a tiny bit of player vs player combat so there's that opportunity as well.

As far as gameplay is concerned it's third person and seems reminiscent of other Tom Clancy games like GRAW but with a bit more "grit" to it. I think The Division might be a nice alternative after the crazy hijinks of Titanfall and Destiny. A bit more down to Earth. A small detail I quite enjoyed is how they talk in the clip below - they are talking as three friends playing a game, but for an outsider listening it might as well (almost) be what their characters are saying. Of course, no-one really talks like this, but it's close enough. I like games where what you say actually reflect the actions you take in the game. EVE Online is another great example of this and, I think, Netrunner (the card game) might be as well. I like that, makes it feel more real in a sense.

Also it's being made right here in Sweden. Woo! If the above teaser trailer left you feeling meh, check out this gameplay trailer. It's looking great!

So those are the three new IPs that really made me sit up and pay attention. Of course there were a bunch of other new stuff as well, looking more or less interesting. Some things that looked cool but that I need to see more of to decide were The Order: 1886 (steampunk action-horror), Quantum Break (time travel/manipulation), Mad Max (MAD MAX!!!), Star Wars Battlefront (awesome teaser!) and Beyond: Two Souls (action game from the makers of Heavy Rain).



Of course, the best announcement during the entire show was this...

Yepp, after many years of rumours and teases we finally have confirmation of a new Mirror's Edge! Wooo! The first was was a solely unique gaming experience that punished the casual player but greatly rewarded the ones who persevered and got it to 'click'. An amazing gaming experience!

The new one seems to be a reboot of sorts, where you get to play through Faith's origin story. It has also been touted as more of an open world action adventure. Sounds intersting. Not entirely sure what to think of Faith's new appearance though, as I quite like her old self.

So yeah... some good stuff to look forward to!

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Torchbearer

A few days before Deadzone came to an end another Kickstarter had its deadline: Torchbearer. It's a new roleplaying game from Thor Olavsrud and Luke Crane and is labeled as "A dungeon crawl roleplaying game and love letter to Basic D&D" - in fact, at first it was called Dungeoneers & Dragonslayers! Which would have been awesome, except they were worried about litigation. Anyway, Luke Crane, as you might know, is the mind behind Burning Wheel, Burning Empires and Mouse Guard. Thor Olavsrud has been a long time collaborator but has this time taken the reins with Luke working more as an editor.

So what is Torchbearer? Well, it's a dungeoncrawler built on the foundations laid out in Mouse Guard and Burning Wheel. It's designed for classic D&D style play but with a more modern system. In regards to the rules it's described as advanced Mouse Guard, but not quite as involved as Burning Wheel. The largest addition is a level of resource management that is not really common in rpgs.

Thor has mentioned that he went spelunking a few years ago and how that experience heavily inflluenced his design choices in Torchbearer. Basically, it was nothing like you see on tv and in movies, or how you usually play it in roleplaying games. Instead it was claustrophobic, dark and your life depended on what you brought with you. Today we have all kinds of electronic gizmos to help us out, but imagine going into a cave 500 years ago, where you literally have to crawl to squeeze through and if you loose your torch it's complete and utter darkness!

One side of the character sheet, with the inventory slots at the top.

So while you will be fighting dungeon denizens and gather treasure a large part of the game seems to be the struggle against the environment and what you bring with you in is vital for your success. Each character has a certain number of slots to put equipment in, kind of like a videogame - there's a head slot, a chest slot, several backpack slots, slots for your hands etc. So everything you carry with you is allocated to these slots and different things take up different amount of slots. A small pouch of gold coins might only take up one slot, but a chest will take up several! Are you prepared to leave some of your equipment behind to be able to bring that treasure with you? 

Thinking about it now the Torchbearer seems to have quite a few elements of the Survival Horror genre in it - limited resources, monsters lurking in the darkness and a deadline creeping ever closer (you track how long each torch burn!). Of course the Mouse Guard system is robust enough to adapt to any situation and I think Torchbearer won't be much different. Switching the dungeon for a dark and oppressive forest or an icy mountain during a snow storm would likely be easy, although removing the threat of the environment might perhaps lessen the game.

When I first read about Torchbearer I was intrigued but thought that I would simply go for the PDF as the international shipping was quite... steep. But as I read more about it and noticed the special linen bound hardback that Thor and Luke are producing I just had to go for the dead tree version! Apparently the pair is finishing up the final manuscript as I write this and they are hoping to send it to the printer by the 15th! This is quite a quick turnaround when it comes to a kickstarter project. This also means that us backers should have the PDF in hand somewhere around that time. So more on the Torchbearer when I've actually read it!

What also appeals to me is the opportunity to play through classic D&D modules that I've heard a lot about, but simply avoided because of the D20 system, which I really don't like. Thor himself recommends Keep on the Borderlands, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, The Village of Hommlet (also available as part of The Temple of Elemental Evil), The Secret of Bone Hill and Horror on the Hill... among others. There are loads over at dndclassics.com!

There are a couple of excellent articles on Forbes about the new game so head on over if you want to read more about it.

Being fired up about Torchbearer I've gone back and started reading Burning Wheel Gold again, this time with some better understanding of the basics of the system, thanks to Mouse Guard, and I'm getting very eager to try it out! I'm just about finished with the Hub and Spokes and as always Luke's design ethos really speaks to me. Something about his way of thinking and writing appeals to me enormously! I don't know what will hit the table first though, Torchbearer or Burning Wheel. Remember, you can download the Hub and Spokes (basically the whole basic game of Burning Wheel!) for free right here!

I also emailed Archaia and asked them about the upcoming re-print of the Mouse Guard RPG Boxed Set (review here) and they told me that although the date keeps slipping they will have it done before Christmas. While I have the box I really want to pick up a few dozen more dice and I wouldn't mind getting the rulebook as a hardback as well. 

Speaking of dice, I just ordered 40 regular D6 and some fudge dice from EM4 Miniatueres for use with Burning Wheel and FATE respectively. All that, plus a box of plastic "crystals" was cheaper to order from the EM4 in the UK than it would be getting half as many locally. Weird.

Finally, here's a sketch of the cover for Torchbearer by Peter Mullen. Looks awesome!

EDIT: Alright, so now I've actually managed to play a game and we had a great time! First impressions and session report here.

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May Releases for Infinity!

A little late on account of the Deadzone kickstarter ($1,200,000!) here are my thoughts on the new May releases for Infinity. We've got a new starter box to have a look at as well as some other assorted goodies. Let's have a look shall we?

Let's start with one of the aliens - the Tohaa Sakiel with Spitfire. Well, it's another Tohaa rocking the Tohaa style and while I quite like that style I kind of feel that the Tohaa miniatures are a lot more homogenous than the other factions. This is good in that the army has a unified look, but it can also make them look a little... samey. Still, this is a cool looking model carrying a spitfire - a weapon you can't go wrong with! The Sakiel are impetuous light infantry who are quite quick and unusally tough, thanks to their symbiont armour in effect giving them two wounds. This rounds out the Sakiel boxed set released earlier.

What's better than a PanO Santiago Knight when you need to get some pesky Tohaa off your back? Well, some Kuang Shi is my answer to anything, but a Knight would do in a pinch. Anyway, here we've got a nimble little thing sporting a combi rifle and a newish style helmet that reminds me of Rocketeer. Seeing that and the backpack thingy I thought "hmm... do Santiago Knights have combat jump" but I suppose it has something to do with their Zero-G skill. I've never been a fan of the odd looking PanO combirifle, but this slightly re-sized variant looks better to my eyes. The pose is quite dynamic with the guy running and gunning, and this time I think they've managed the loin cloth fairly well. Still not perfect, but better than many of the other PanO models. One of the better knights I think.

More aliens, I hear you cry (or is that just SinSynn?!) and indeed there is more! We've seen two nice looking miniatures so far, but it's time to turn up the dial to Corvus Belli's trademarked level 11! The Shasvastii Haiduk with a MULTI sniper rifle is absolutely brilliant! First off I'm sure you've noticed the large scenic base, something not all people like. However, it's been a trend using it on models with the Sapper skill. I think the sculpt and the... feel of the model makes it all worth it though! This is how I imagine the Shasvastii - skulking in the shadows, aiming a sniper rifle at your gonads (or simply impersonating your granny and stabbing you in the spine!). The pose looks comfortable and uncofortable at the same time, that's what you get from alien anatomy I suppose. It looks like the Haiduk is making some slight adjustments to his scope as he's tracking his target. Awesome!

In game the Haiduk makes for a relatively inexpensive sniper. He's not the best, with a BS of 11, but for a sniper BS is usually less important than positioning and with Sapper the Haiduk can be positioned anywhere and still benefit from Mimetism and Partial Cover. Pretty cool! Might have to get this guy simply for painting.

Next up is Diomedes, Ekdromoi Officer of ALEPH. Corvus Belli do like the just-touching-down-from-a-super-jump pose and although it happens that it doesn't really work, this is one of the times that it does. It looks like Diomedes has slowly glided through the air and are now taking that first step back to mother Earth. It's a beautiful sculpt but all these ALEPH characters have made me a little blazé. There's really nothing I seriously can complain about though. Oh, and the Mk12 looks awesome!

Diomedes is basically a souped up Ekdromoi who work well as their heavier backup. An extra wound through No Wound Incapacitation and armament that covers any situation (Mk12, Nanopulser and assault pistol?! Yes please!). AD troops are often specialized in different ways, but Diomedes really could play any role successfully - quite impressive!

Finally the star of this month's releases; the Nomad Corregidor Jurisdictional Command starter box. This has been in the cards for quite some time, as well as many of us wishing for some resculpts of the older Nomad models. Here we get both. Three Wildcats, an Intruder, a Hellcat and an Alguacil hacker, all with combirifles and all new sculpts! Lovely! The Wildcats follow the ones we've seen (Spitfire and Missile Launcher) and look just as good as them - nice poses, awesome armour and sporting the recently re-designed combirifles first introduced in the Reverend Moiras box set. One of the miniatures most in need of re-design in the Nomads range have long been the Intruder. It's a great model in game, probably the best medium infantry of all, but has been stuck with old stiff looking figs that look more and more out of place as newer, more dynamic models are released. This guy looks seriously badass though! The helmet, the armour and the pose simply all work!

The Hellcat of course builds on the one released a few months ago, armed with a boarding shotgun. The sculpt is of the girly pose variety but I quite like it as she still looks like she could kick your ass up and down the block. Finally we've got a good old Alguacil... again re-designed to fit better in with the more modern Nomads of today. All the details have basically been re-sized and made to look more realistic and in scale. She's wearing some kind of helmet and sports a pose that would fit right in in any nineties anime. I've seen people complaining about her, but I think the sculpt has a lot of character!



So May... quite a good month! Awesome looking Haiduk Sniper and an extraordinarily cool Corregidor starter box! I've talked about my plans for starting a merc heavy QK army... but this new starter might make me rethink that. Then again, I might be able to buy my friends vanilla Ariadna starter for cheap so there's that possibility as well. Hrmm... need to ponder this a bit more.

In other news I've been painting some 15mm, I've invested in Torchbearer (PDF in two weeks hopefully!) and have started prepping for running the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game this month. Should be fun!

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Deadzone - The Game For You!

 The recently revealed Rebel Terraton Brawler!

Well... the Robotech kickstarter didn't pan out as I had hoped. Or rather, in the end it DID include loads of minis and the rules seemed decent enough, but I simply felt that I wouldn't have the time to get into another miniature game at yet another scale. And being the only guy in my group investing in it to boot! The huge amount of stuff included also, paradoxically, made me wary - I'm not big on large wargames and painting that amount of large miniatures would have taken ages!

Now... Deadzone on the other hand, I'm behind 100%. I'm going to try and explain why in this post and see if I can't make you realize that it's the game for you too!

First off, Deadzone is produced by Mantic Games and is a part of their expanding Warpath universe. If you are now thinking "Eurgh... Mantic" I understand you completely. They made their name by making cheaper almost IP-infringing models that could be used by people who didn't want to shell out the crazy money GW want for their models. I've bought some of their models in the past; the ghouls and zombies are great looking and makes for excellent conversion fodder. My eyebrows also went up when they released their Corporation troopers and Enforcers for Warpath.

As far as I was concerned Mantic made decent looking knock-offs and had some kind of phone-in version of a rules pamphlet for their Kings of War and Warpath "games". But then... as I started looking deeper into Deadzone I realized that they are actually trying to carve out their own little niche of IP and more original stuff has started appearing. While I would have been a lot happier if the Marauders were simply Marauders (instead of Orx) Asterians were Asterians (instead of Xeldar) and the Forge Fathers were Forge Fathers (instead of Sxuats) the fluff Mantic is writing for them makes me ok for me. And no they are not actually called that... except for the Orx.

The Marauders!

Sure the Asterians are a dying race and blah, blah, blah, but the cool upside is that they only send one actual Asterians to fight - and she controls a bunch of mechanical drones! Pretty cool! The Forge Fathers are good artisans and blah, blah, blah, but the cool upside is that they use their superior technology as a way of controlling the lesser races - providing enough tech for them to get by, but not actually releasing any of their trade secrets (also, not all of them have beards). Marauders are big and strong and like to fight, but that's about where the similarities end - they were once on the payroll of the Corporation as shocktroops, until they one day realized that they could take care of themselves, revolted and became mercenaries for hire. They are not the mindless goons of the GW settings but rather a lot more like the Krogans of Mass Effect.

All I need is a Phantom and a Mech and I've got my own Cerberus army!

Speaking of Mass Effect - the Enforces that could easily have become a facsimile of the Space Marines have a lot more in common with the sinister Cerberus organisation from the video game. Even down to the units they can field and the paintjob Mantic has given them! They are the true stormtroopers of the Warpath universe, unquestionably obeying the will of the corporation. In response to the oppressive dictatorship in the Co-Prosperity Sphere humans and all kinds of aliens have formed motley crew of rebels. This seems to be the most popular faction thus far and I can see why, as the models look pretty cool - having a kind of Firefly plus Babylon 5-vibe to them.

Finally there's the Plague. Again something Mantic could easily have made into their version of the Tyranids

instead became something a lot more akin to the Necromorphs in Deadspace. An alien(?) virus that transforms its first victim to a huge behemoth who then proceeds to create second generation monstrosities who in turn create third (and final) generation plague, who still retain some humanity. There are also the plague zombies - the victims who weren't killed by the virus but didn't turn either. While the third generation models are a bit so-so (as far as I'm concerned) the first and second gens are great looking! And the plauge teraton that has just been unlocked looks like it could be spectacular looking!

Plague reinforcements...

Wow... didn't mean to write so much about the fluff. What about the game? The game, dude!!?

If I know my dear readers I have feeling that many of you used to play GW games (and some of you probably still do) and while you have slowly been more and more turned off WHFB and 40k you still have a special place in your heart for the GOOD games, like Necromunda, Mordheim, Blood Bowl, Epic and Battlefleet Gothic. Am I right, or am I right?

After Epic Space Marine, Necromunda is by far my most played GW game. When that was released pretty much all other miniature gaming activity ceased as we just played it to death (I guess we managed some games of Blood Bowl as well)! Most of the people in my group painted multiple gangs and we had several campaigns going with loads of off-table chatter between games. Basically, it was pretty much all I had wished for in miniatures game.

There are great deals on some Antenociti terrain as part of the Kickstarter as well!

So why don't we simply dust off our old 'Munda minis? Well, the system that worked well for us then feels a bit dated and clunky when looked at today. And getting everyone fired up about getting their old minis out from the attic has proved tricky. Not to mention that it takes up a lot of room and the paper terrain (that I love personally) have turned one or two buddies off the game.

Enter Deadzone. This is Mantic's attempt to fill the void left by Necromunda and Deadzone. However it actually is something new, rather than simply carbon copying an old ruleset and peddling it to people stuck in the nostalgic late nineties. Just like Dreadball proved to be a solid game in itself, and a very different beast to how Blood Bowl plays, Deadzone is aiming for a particular gap, but is bringing new ideas and ways to play with it.

The way I see it, Deadzone is not filling the skirmish game gap. There are loads of those around these days and many of them are truly great game (Infinity, woot!). The gap being filled is instead of the campaign game - something that has been missing since 'Munda/Mordheim were murdered slowly. Sure there are games like Judge Dredd that are trying to fill that niche, but I think the setting is a bit too specific and Mongoose don't have the clout to really make it into a "mainstream" game. Mantic on the other hand have an excellent opportunity to create a large fanbase with the kickstarter and thanks to the success of Dreadball I think miniature games are starting to take them seriously as a miniature games company, rather than simply a miniatures company.

Another gap that Deadzone is filling is one of accessability. While I love Infinity and would recommend it to anyone, it is a game with a bit of a threshold when you start out. The naming conventions are confusing, there are loads of different skills and pieces of equipment and even the tactical depth can be intimidating! Even my friend Anders, who once asked "Why play anything other than Infinity?", grew disinterested of the game when I pressed on a bit too quickly and he had a hard time keeping up in the "arms and rules race". I hear Malifaux is similiarly tricky to get into at first, and so is Heavy Gear.

Rebel scum...

Deadzone on the other hand is fairly straight forward with the dicepool and versus rolls. Another HUGE thing is that you play it on a 60x60cm gridded mat and don't need a measuring tape! While I was initially sceptical about this, as I found Dust Tactics too abstract and boardgamey, the way it works in practice pretty much combines the best of both worlds and it plays quickly while still retaining the importance of terrain and positioning. Of course, you can expand on this and play on four mats put together, or six mats - some of the recently revealed stuff (like a mortar!) are specifically aimed for larger games. But the core game is played on a small board, crammed with terrain and you are normally done within the hour. This is accessibility.

The terrain is another big draw, and it's actually the reason I had a look at Deadzone in the first place. I wanted to see if the terrain would be suitable for Infinity. Well, it's suitable for pretty much anything considering it's modular and you can build what the hell you want with it! Is it the best looking terrain available? No. There's a lot of beautiful stuff out there and more is being produced everyday in the form of MDF stuff. On the other hand, it's not bad looking by any stretch of the word - it's solid looking hardish sci-fi terrain that could be used to create any kind of battlefield. I would love to get an Infinity table crammed with Warmill stuff, but I'm more than happy to use the Deadzone tiles instead. Cheaper and more flexible.

This is what we're aiming for, or actually with a little bit more terrain.

Alright, I'll try and round off this post now. Getting a bit long...

I've been blathering on about Deadzone, the different factions, the rules and the filling of gaps, but what really convinced me was when I got to try the Alpha rules and got the same kind of feeling that I used to get when playing Necromunda fifteen years ago! Tight, scenario based skirmish battles in a cramped environment. Little stories and vignettes being told as you played and knowing that your guys were getting better the more after a battle. The ease of getting into when there are only a handfull of models needed to play and rules that can be explained in 10 minutes.

It's pretty cool stuff. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty cool stuff. And right about now on the final stretch the Kickstarter is starting to explode. Yesterday it jumped more than $32,000 and it's already passed that amount today, with more than half the day left! I wouldn't be surprised to see the meter tick past $800,000 by tonight and that's still before the 48 hour email goes out. Dreadball pulled in $133,000 on its last day and I don't see any reason why Deadzone would be any different. Will it break the million mark? With 53 hours to go I'd bet on it...

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Deadzone Alpha Rules - First Impressions

Yepp... another kickstarter I just couldn't resist. I went into Deadzone mainly for the terrain and some of the miniatures, for use with other games. But soon discovered that Deadzone the game proved to be very interesting indeed! Now having found a couple of friends to split it with we've gone in on the Fire Team level and are getting all kinds of excited!

I'll keep this short as it's getting late and I have work tomorrow, but I'd like to talk a little bit about the alpha rule set that Mantic have just released. These are of course bare-bones but provide us with a solid idea about what we can expect from the gameplay itself.

First of all, it's area based, meaning movement and ranges are handled by squares marked out on the gameboard, similar to Dust Tactics. However, in contrast to Dust Tactics, which I found too abstract and boardgamey, Deadzone uses true line of sight and positioning within a square is very important. Jake has basically tried to remove the fiddlyness of measuring ranges while keeping the freedom that makes it exciting. Has he succeeded? Well, I need to test it to really know but I think that this sounds like a pretty damned good compromise! One thing's for certain, no need for measuring makes for a quicker game.

The Plague. Love the 1st generation (big guy) and the 2nd generations (not shown), but the 3rd generations are a bit meh. Not bad.... but not as good as the rest. Might replace them with undead legionnaires from Warzone.

The game is based on a dice pool mechanic using D8s (normally three of them) and you often roll against your opponent in versus rolls and counts successes based on a basic stat, like Fighting 5+. In some ways it reminded me of Infinity, but thinking more about it I wonder if it's not actually closer to Heavy Gear Blitz. Anyway, depending on how well you roll (failed, beat your opponent or rolled twice as well as your opponent) you get different results, and since you can also often choose which stat to use when defending (Fighting or Surival for breaking off a melee for example) these results can be quite different.

For example, trying to break out of melee using your Survival skill and rolling twice as many successes as your opponent means you get to make a free move out of the square and then take a free suppression fire action against the enemy you left behind. Pretty cool I thought!

Enforcers. Great looking! The elite jackbooted corporate thugs who are sent in to "contain" a plague outbreak. Of course, by now the stretchgoals have added twice as many models.

The difference in rolls also correlate to damage, so if I roll three successes against my opponent's one success I have a potential damage of two. Subtract the opponent's armour and you get the final damage. Models can take one damage and remain in play, while injured, but die after a second damage. Of course stuff like armour piercing weapons and headshots come into this. However, there are really no weapon stats as such. A basic rifle simply has long range, and a pistol short. An assault blade has AP1 but that's it - it's more about the stats on the models and what you roll than the stats of the weapons. At this point in time at least, I think people like weapon stats and wouldn't be surprised to see them expanded before release.

There's a simple but effective suppression/morale mechanic with models being (in ascending order) Pinned, Alert, Enraged or Berserk. Instead of shooting to kill you can use Blaze Away (suppression fire) to lower an enemies morale level. Being Pinned gives you a penalty to most rolls and you must use your first action to raise your morale to Alert when it's your turn.


There's equipment strewn around the battlefield that you can pick up, mostly grenades and ammo (which gives a bonus to suppression fire). Grenades are pretty cool and could be really devastating! Since models actually get knocked away from the blast they can be used for clearing enemies out of cover or off rooftops. Neat!

The system is of the I-GO-U-GO model, but with a twist. Besides being able to put models in overwatch

you have a deck of Battle Cards as well, specific to your faction, that allow you to take extra actions during your turn and sometimes also interrupt your opponents turn. While not in the Alpha, there will also be a deck of mission cards that you draw secretly from your opponent. These are also faction specific so the rebels will usually centre around scavenging meds and equipment, while the Enforcer's missions will probably be more of the 'kill every infected and everything else before they get infected' variety.

Finally there will be rules for accumulating experience and getting better as a team, so it seems like the great void left by Necromunda and Mordheim might finally be filled.

I'm thinking the rules for sniper rifles will be armour piercing and perhaps bonus to overwatch.

Hmm... yeah, I think that covers most of the important stuff. While the individual mechanics are perhaps not innovative in and of themselves, I think the way they fit together make for a fairly unique gaming experience. I will report back after trying these rules out (next week hopefully) but right now I think they seem very cool! It seems like these rules will excell at telling little stories within the game, very much like Infinity, but at an average game clocking in around an hour it's a lot quicker.

Alright... those are my thoughts. Now why don't you go and jump aboard the Deadzone kickstarter?! Just look at this guy!

Maurader mercenary!

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April Releases for Infinity!

Good evening fellow Mayanauts! I'm a little late with my thoughts on the new Infinity releases, but I wanted to let the Robotech article stay on top for a bit. Anyway, this month we have a good mix of stuff including a character that people have been clamouring for since... well, for a long time! Let's have a look...

First out is a Ariadnan Scots Guard armed with a missile launcher. This miniature was teased ahead of the main release and when I first saw it I almost didn't think it was an official CB model. Even looking at it now (in this much better picture) I still think something feels off. There are several small things, like that flow of the coat, the hunched head, the stiff looking left arm and the wonky missile launcher that throws me. It is not like all these details are really bad it's just that they "muddle up" the mini in my mind. Then again, I might change my mind entirely when I actually get to see it in the flesh. I has happened before! It's certainly not a bad model but it lacks something I've come to expect from CB. Then again an angry Scotsman with a missile launcher should be on everyone's wishlist!

To weigh up the bad start let's look at the PanO special character Kirpal Singh! Now this is a miniature who lives up to CB's high standards in every way! I've always felt PanO to be a little bland, nice looking, but bland. With some exceptions of course, like the Bagh-Mari and the Akhalis Sikh Commandos. And here we have a Akhali character - turban and all! The armour looks great, the new re-sized rifle looks a lot better as well and the assault pistol definitely means business. Love the pose as well as you can really see the heft of the rifle and the way he's nonchalantly aiming the pistol - like he's taking potshots at a retreating enemy. The head and face is a welcome departure from the bland (again!) faces of many other PanO minis. This guy not only is a character, he has character.

The armour has been re-designed and looks quite different from the originalr Akhali Sikhs. But considering their age this is to be expected. The biggest departure is probably that the fins on the backs of the old ones have been replaced by the jetpack(?) thrusters. I'm all for it as that is one of the things I really liked about the Crusader Brethren. It also helps visually identifying miniatures with combat jump. The redesign also makes me wonder if we might see a box of newly sculpted Akhali Sikh Commandos in the not too distant future...

Alright, with all that awesome I need to cool down a bit with the Haqqislam Support Pack. "Yawn, just another repack" you might think, but then you'd be wrong! While the Nasmat helper bots are the same both the Doctor and the Engineer are new sculpts. While the old ones were servicable there's no denying that these new miniatures blow them out of the water! They retain the same essence as their forebears but have become a lot more detailed and simply put, look more realistic. Although I can't help wondering why they issued the Doc with a childrens flak vest...

Another special character! Domaru Takeshi "Neko" Oyama was one of the first special characters I memorized simply because his name kept popping up everywhere on the forums when I started playing. I've seen a number of conversion for him, and I'm happy to say that the official model looks nothing like them! Not because the conversions were bad in any way, I just feel that a special character should be just that - special. While you can see the Domaru power armour beneath, Neko like to dress with panache so have put on some traditional samurai armour and a vest (jin-haori,if I remember my samurai correctly) on top. This really makes the model stand out and I think it looks awesome!

I've seen some comments about the "weird" way he's holding the sword (left hand at the very end of the hilt) but this is at least common in kendo, both in single and two sword fighting. To me it looks fine. The biggest debate has been about his face and hair though! Apparently the entire model is an homage to Mugen from Samurai Champloo anime, and pulling up pictures of him the similarites are certainly there. It's not what I expected but seeing Takeshi's background as a young roughian who don't really care much for tradition I think it fits. In game he's basically a souped up Domaru, meaning he's even more of a melee monster! Definitely a mini I will pick up.

Finally, what would an Infinity release be without something for the Tohaa? This time we get a neat box of Chaksa Auxiliars. I don't know what I expected of the chaksa, but it certainly wasn't this! They kind of look like classical 'Grey aliens' on 'roids, except there are some elements of the EI in there as well... except softer and more... human looking. Overall they look pretty badass and I can imagine a lot of people being disappointed that they are actually merely the Tohaa versions of remotes. In mostly any other game miniatures like these would come with heavy armour and devastating weaponry, but if you look at them you see a lot of bare skin. And I don't care how big you are... bare skin spells doom in a gunfight! So having them at ARM 1 seems perfectly appropriate to me.

They basically correlate to the standard remotes of the other factions, although a bit slower but more well armed. They have decent PH as well so are able to dodge reasonably well which is nice. All in all a pretty cool box!


Another good month, although I still haven't figured out that Scots Guard. My favourite model this month is probably Kirbal Singh, closely followed by the Chaksa and Oyama. The Haqqislam specialists are great sculpts as well, but don't quite pack the same punch as the other guys. I'm not sure when I'll be able to buy any of these for myself as there are three kickstarters I'd like to invest in but... Oyama at least will be mine!

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