Alien War - Continued

Alien War – Continued 

This is the second post about the new rules Alien War, available at Defiance games.

       

http://defiancegames.com/index.php/alien-war 

Alien War weapons are rated for range, impact, and how many dice you get for firing while moving or standing still.  Support weapons are counted as suppressive weapons, which means they count double for determining if the target it pinned down.

If the number of shots fired (dice thrown) equals or is larger than the number of figures in the target area, there is a chance for the target to be pinned down.  This has nothing to do with how many casualties are caused, its simply the weight of fire.  I like this feature of the game.

To determine how many of the shots are hits, you cross reference the shooter quality with the target type.  This gives a number from 1 to 5.  You need that number or less on a 6 sided die to hit. 

You then divide up the hits on the target figures, and go to the “cheating death” table.  This was a bit confusing at first, because I think there is a bit of left over text from a previous version.  The process is to subtract the impact of the weapon from the armor of the target.  This gives you a column on the table you roll against.  That column is shifted right or left depending on factors like troop quality, sniper fire, and artillery fire.  The range of results is out of action, wounded, ok and retaliate.  This is essentially a saving roll.  I am not a big fan of saving rolls, but it looks like it will work.  There aren’t a  ton of factors, so it shouldn’t bog down the game much.  The retaliate result is the target immediately shooting back at the firing figure.  You only retaliate once each time you are targeted.

If you get a wounded or out of action result, you roll on another table to determine how serious it is.  You may return to the battle or the other end of the spectrum is gory death.  Wounds can be treated by medics. 

Again, I am not a huge fan of including battlefield casualty treatment in a wargame (damnit Bones, I am a combat officer, not a doctor) but these rules are pretty straightforward, and there are good reasons for treating casualties. 

There are special weapons like grenades.  There are also flame throwers, limited to 3 shots per game.  Getting hit while carrying a flame thrower means you risk a fiery death. 

I like that the chance of being pinned is not directly tied to casualties.  Its more a function of the weight of fire you are taking.  The different charts you use in the casualty process are easy to understand.  The modifiers are column shifts as opposed to a lot of numbers to keep track of.  I am going to be really interested in seeing how this plays.

Close combat, because of the sequencing of moves by element, allows you to fire support weapons at the target the same turn you assault.  You do have to pass a test against the highest rank combat value before you charge.   You perform any fire you wish with other elements, and the defender tests as normal from that fire.  There is a reaction test against the CV of the defending side.  If they fail, they cannot fire and run to defensible cover.  If they fail by 3+ die points, they run and end up facing away.

Close combat is a firefight at close quarters.  The number of dice you roll is increased, unless you are weapons crews, flamethrowers, etc fighting with pistols at close range.  You figure up the casualties as normal. 

There are points you figure out from the combat, and you are trying to double the opponent to determine the winner. 

My third post for this rules set will be after we play the game.   I am looking forward to it.