On the topic of Reconnaissance units, I have been able this week to complete a German Reconnaissance unit using two motorcycle kits by Zvezda. They are very nice models and pretty straight forward to put together.
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| Newly added German Reconnaissance unit |
My activation rules for units in my house SciFi rules (based on one-hour war-game format again) has both players rolling and the player with the highest score activates a unit. Both sides can activate up to 6 units and this does not include are counterattacks when units are attacked. I was asked "why 6?" By Captain Kobold who has tried out the rules with his W40K Epic models. I generally game with between 8 to 12 units, and I didn't want all units activating every turn so a limit of 6 seemed about right. However, the Kaptain's question got me thinking, as the rules disadvantage larger armies.
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| A test game in progress |
Option 1 - Half Units Activate
The game is played in a series of turns with control passed between players as they roll for the initiative & command units. This continues until half a player’s units (rounded up) have had an opportunity to perform an action.To start the game roll a dice (D6) & the highest score begins in control.
When in control a player can command a unit the following actions: a) move, b) attack or c) move/attack. Units perform one action per turn.
After a unit has taken an action players roll again for control. This continues until half the units on both sides have had the opportunity to perform an action.
Even when one player has used all their actions, they continue to roll for control, because if they win with an odd number a player can command a unit to action even if half their units have performed commanded actions.
Units which have not performed an action are able to counterattack. They cannot perform other command actions after counterattacking & counterattacks do not count as part a player’s activations.
Option 2 - Variable Activations Per Turn
The game is played in a series of turns with control passed between players as they roll for the initiative & activate units. This continues until both player’s units on the table (not those in reserve) have had an opportunity to perform an action, or a score of 1 on the Turn dice (D6) ends the turn earlier.A Turn D6 is rolled when players roll their D6 for gaining control of the next action. This means a turn’s duration is unpredictable.
To start the game roll a dice (D6) & the highest score begins in control.
When in control a player can command a unit the following actions: a) move, b) attack or c) move/attack. Units perform one action per turn.
After a unit has taken an action mark the unit as being activated. When the Turn D6 scores a 1 and the turn ends remove all activation markers.
Units which have not performed an action are able to counterattack. They cannot perform any actions if they have counterattacked.
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| Reserves Deep-Strike into the game |
And the preferred option is...
Having played both options I have gone with option 2 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is quick and no stopping to count units. Secondly, the Turn D6 presents an interesting opportunity to add special events when a 6 is scored. For example, the winning player who has a Turn D6 score of 6 can be allowed to place an activation on an enemy unit rather than performing an action themselves.
Doesn't Option 2 still penalise larger armies, though? It also makes for far shorter turns (in terms of number of units activated) than, say, activating six units per side. I'm wary of the variable end happening in such a way as you describe, since it's quite possible one side may not get to act at all in a turn.
ReplyDeleteYou could have the players roll their own Turn Dice, so only their activations end; the other player carries on their turn (and I have them roll a D6 for each activation, because some game effects require you to know with what roll a unit was activated). until their Turn Dice scores a '1' as well.
I do like the event dice though, where you place an activation on an enemy unit. That could almost be a unit ability of some kind as well (a weapon effect that, if it scores a certain number of hits on an enemy unit, prevents the unit from activating at all that turn).
Hi Kaptain - yes you are correct, larger armies are still at a disadvantage, a lesser disadvantage as with the luck of the dice they can move all their units. I may use a 6 on the turn dice to allow two units to move to try and compensate this further. I do believe larger armies should have some level of disadvantage to a smaller force, I am not sure where that balance is yet. Thanks for your questions as I think the activation mechanism is better than what I had previously.
DeleteRegards, Peter
Nicely done, love your German Reconnaissance unit...
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil - I now just have to find the opportunity to have a game with them during the week. Regards, Peter
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