Home › Forums › Sci Fi › General Sci-Fi › HorizonWars – Hard SF Wargaming from Osprey Publishing/Precinct Omega
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28/02/2016 at 22:03 #38885Robey JenkinsParticipant
the game does involve rolling multiple d12s, so that may be a lot more fiddly than it’s worth.
R.
29/02/2016 at 15:26 #38897ThuseldParticipantThat is a really interesting idea about the two dice. I like that. I have, however just purchased a large number of 12 sided dice…
Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/
Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com
29/02/2016 at 19:44 #38907Mr. AverageParticipantIt’s not so much a system as an expedient, and as mentioned it breaks down if there are multiple simultaneous rolls to be made.
02/03/2016 at 18:14 #38948Alexander WasbergParticipantThe more I find out about Horizon Wars the better it seems!
Really looking forward to this Robey, and the closer it gets the more impatient I get 😉
http://lasersandbroadswords.blogspot.com My project blog
02/03/2016 at 20:19 #38951Robey JenkinsParticipantI ran a demo for a local group the other night which went brilliantly.
I’ve spotted a couple of errata points, but they’re comparatively minor and easily fixed.
R.
07/03/2016 at 22:49 #39177StroezieParticipantLooks interesting.
Two quick qestions:
- does the book have any solo rules?
<li style=”text-align: left;”>How well do you think it would handle smaller VOTOMS/Heavy Gear type mecha combat?
Thanks.
08/03/2016 at 07:00 #39179Robey JenkinsParticipant- No, but I’ve played it solo many times during development. There’s almost no “hidden” info.
- Not sure what you mean. It’s a wargame with mechs in it. If you want your mechs to be smaller, either they can be little mechs or they can be big heavy infantry or some other conventional element.
08/03/2016 at 08:42 #39182StroezieParticipant- Ok, if there’s no hidden info it should be easy to slap on one of the bolt on solo rules I have already.
- Let me put it this way, can I build forces of light mechs which can go toe to toe with conventional forces, heavy mech forces etc. To me VOTOMS fall somewhere between light(scout) mechs and heavy power armor, so highly mobile, reasonable damage output and can take some pounding but a really (un)lucky roll can take one out. Is the builder granular enough to let me make different light mechs (ie. grunt,sniper,heavy weapons…) without them all feeling the same or turning into huge point sinks compared to more conventional units.
All that being said, I’ve been looking at Polyversal, Age of Tyrants and HorizonWars and from what I have seen so far I like the feel of HorizonWars best (the price to ) so I’ll probably get a copy anyways.
08/03/2016 at 08:48 #39183Robey JenkinsParticipantAh, right.
Yes, you’ll find the rules for designing your own mechs will make specialist mechs perfectly feasible. Your VOTOMs sound like high M, high D, low F, A1, perhaps with an upgrade like stealth suite, jump frame or a shooting upgrade.
08/03/2016 at 09:14 #39184Angel BarracksModerator08/03/2016 at 12:27 #39193Robey JenkinsParticipantIt has been described by others as being like a skirmish game, but not like KR16 is a skirmish game: more that it plays with a similar pace and urgency to a 28mm skirmish game.
R.
21/03/2016 at 17:21 #39759Robey JenkinsParticipant12/04/2016 at 16:07 #40558Robey JenkinsParticipanthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs5o7KewpE0
Playthrough video is up, just in time for the big pre-release at Salute this weekend!!!
R.
12/04/2016 at 16:48 #40561Angel BarracksModerator7:24 into the video looking at rolling for defence.
Do you only remove attacker’s dice that you have an exact match with?So say the attacker rolls 5 dice and gets a 1, 2, 8, 9, 10.
And the defender rolls 3 dice and gets 11, 11, 12.The attacker would not have any dice removed?
Forgive my ignorance, I am just typing as I watch…
12/04/2016 at 20:31 #40569Mr. AverageParticipantI preordered my copy. I like the look of this, and even just for the sake of having it in my library it seems like a good bet!
13/04/2016 at 16:10 #40607ThuseldParticipant7:24 into the video looking at rolling for defence.
Do you only remove attacker’s dice that you have an exact match with?So say the attacker rolls 5 dice and gets a 1, 2, 8, 9, 10.
And the defender rolls 3 dice and gets 11, 11, 12.The attacker would not have any dice removed?
Forgive my ignorance, I am just typing as I watch…
Judging by what I have just watched, it looks like you need to roll an exact match to cancel out an attack die. They only seemed to remove one if there was an actual match. But the beauty is that removing that one die may negate the attack or not. I am quite excited by these rules now.
Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/
Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com
13/04/2016 at 16:17 #40608ThuseldParticipantP.S. I just pre-ordered this. Now I am going to have to start basing some of my guys together. I shall start collecting 2p coins.
Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/
Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com
13/04/2016 at 17:09 #40609SpuriousParticipanthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs5o7KewpE0 Playthrough video is up, just in time for the big pre-release at Salute this weekend! R.
Thanks for that, the vid certainly helped bring this to my attention. I quite like how that worked in action, the ticking down of stats is certainly more appreciable with a good lot of examples.
13/04/2016 at 17:23 #40611Robey JenkinsParticipantThat’s exactly correct, Mike.
13/04/2016 at 19:39 #40624Alexander WasbergParticipantGreat to see some in-action of a game, looks just like what I was hoping for!
http://lasersandbroadswords.blogspot.com My project blog
13/04/2016 at 20:58 #40631Steve JohnsonParticipantThe game certainly looks interesting. Will you be at Salute Robey with the prelease book to have a look at? If so, where?
14/04/2016 at 07:27 #40647Robey JenkinsParticipantI’ll be at Salute on the Osprey booth with boxes of copies to sign and sell. I think I’ll be at the booth from the start for about an hour, after which I’ll be wandering around. I should have my “demo kit in a bag” with me, so I’ll try to find a quiet corner or cafe table to run games during and after the event.
R.
14/04/2016 at 09:28 #40655Steve JohnsonParticipantI’ll try and pop by first thing to say ‘Hi’ and to have a look at the book.
15/04/2016 at 01:16 #40691Mr. AverageParticipantI watched the playthrough and this looks like a really great title for pickup games and small forces. It might actually revitalize all my old CAV miniatures which never made it to the table. Looking forward to getting my copy on Tuesday!
15/04/2016 at 11:39 #40718ThuseldParticipantI spent last night looking online for good Mecha miniatures for this game. I bought the em4 28mm five pack, which look good, but does anyone know of other manufacturers that won’t break the bank, or toys I could use? I have looked at Battletech, but that seems expensive.
Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/
Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com
15/04/2016 at 16:58 #40755Mr. AverageParticipantI don’t think you can do a lot better than EM4. Reaper’s CAVs are about 20% less than Ironwind Battlemechs, but still running about $10-12 each. I happen to have a bunch left over from years ago that I’m reprinting for the occasion.
Microworld does some very cool mechs, though a bit smaller than the Big Stompy kind – somewhere like 35mm tall, more like Standing Tanks than super-big mecha.
HowEVAHHH… There is always 3mm scale, which opens up a ton of other options. Robots at 28mm scale suddenly become the Big Stompy mechs we all crave – and a whole setup becomes much more cost-effective. Not everyone’s cup of tea but I’m just saying. Look at Macunaima’s Grey Army for a fine example of integrating scales like this.
15/04/2016 at 20:52 #40758Robey JenkinsParticipantfor sheer value, EM4 is untouchable. And mechs are tricky. One of the reasons I wrote MechaWar in the first place was to have a cheap game I could play with cheap mechs, and there was a serious dearth of cheap mechs and still is.
However, there are now a couple of new options. Sayiner Microtoys is a little Turkish company that’s just getting started, but they are collaborating with a Canadian designer to put some really nice-looking mechs on the market. If the prices of their current range is anything to go by, you can expect great value. Not EM4 value, but close.
The other one to watch is Brigade Models. They have been re-tooling their 15mm range and are now replicating that across their 6mm stuff. Their 15mm mech has yet to appear in 6mm, but I’m told it is coming. And as their value has always been amazing, I expect that to continue.
15/04/2016 at 23:50 #40761Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantHere’s my New Vistula Legion force: this is about 60 USD of figures and includes some ten mechs, thre big stompy ‘bots and a lot of tanks and infantry, along with a fast attack and air element.
100 dollars will see you with more stuff than you know what to do with in 3mm.
http://www.leadnobleed.blogspot.com.br/search/label/New%20Vistula%20Legion
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
16/04/2016 at 15:10 #40773Mr. AverageParticipantYeah, THAT is what I mean. And I see no reason the conversion couldn’t work 1-to-1 into centimeters. Or just play it as-is, since the play areas look very manageable for HW.
For 6mm scale I agree that Brigade and EM4 are going to be tough to beat. For a more “Post-Apocalyptic” faction, Angel Barracks would be superb. Some potentially stompy mechs are available for the PHR faction in Dropzone Commander, but there’d only be one side worth of design styles – not bad for a Civil War milieu though. Other good off-the-shelf mechs are Dream Pod Nine’s Heavy Gears, which are 12mm scale I think, but do a decent job at 6mm scale. Not too terribly cheap, but around half the price of Ironwind Battletech mechs on a mech-for-mech basis.
I’m really happy I had these CAVs though – I cleaned out a game shop that was running a clearance on them years ago, and got them for a song. I knew I’d find them useful one day – Earthlight Division and Blue Helix are getting some mechs and no mistake!
16/04/2016 at 15:15 #40774Robey JenkinsParticipantplaying in cm is definitely a way to approach the 2mm game if playing on a 2×2 board or smaller. If you want a “grand sweep of battle” game, though, play it in inches over a 4’x6′.
16/04/2016 at 22:14 #40787Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantJust curious: how many units can you run per side in this game ans still finish it in an afternoon?
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
16/04/2016 at 22:42 #40788Robey JenkinsParticipantdefine “afternoon”.
if you’ve got three or four hours to play, you could comfortably play up to battalion level. That’s three companies of three platoons of three elements, plus support, so 30-ish?
R.
20/04/2016 at 02:02 #40890Mr. AverageParticipantGot my copy today! It’s a really nicely laid out and easy to read. And I’m liking the look of the game so far – looks like it’ll work great for my 3mm Pocket Armies as well as my up-and-coming 6mm forces. Love it!
20/04/2016 at 17:35 #40970Robey JenkinsParticipantJust a reminder that the Horizon Wars Facebook page is the best place for regular updates, FAQs, clarifications and a heads-up on new material coming soon for Horizon Wars:
20/04/2016 at 17:57 #40972Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantHow do tanks and infantry work in the game, Mat?
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
20/04/2016 at 19:16 #40975Mr. AverageParticipantSimilarly to Ogre – they have set stats, with a few possible customizations you can apply. However there seems little reason (so far as I have yet seen) that Mech rules can’t be used for typical units themselves, like cybertanks and so on. It’s a tool for buffing mechs and aircraft and keeping conventional forces secondary, like in Battletech.
20/04/2016 at 19:29 #40976Thaddeus BlanchetteParticipantDo conventional units basically work like mechs, then? With hit points and whatnot?
We get slapped around, but we have a good time!
20/04/2016 at 19:43 #40978Mr. AverageParticipantYes. The idea seems to be that you just have more of them, so their stats as compared to a Mech are weaker to some extent, and there are fewer avenues of customization. But they have the same basic attributes, and again, it seems to me you could build a vehicle as a mech, CALL it a vehicle, and then you’re on a level playing field. Again I’ve only skimmed the rules so far so I’m not totally sure I have that quite right.
Within the game’s idiom it seems totally plausible and I kind of like it. It elevates big, sophisticated units to the forefront and puts “conventional” units in a secondary but still very important role. Which keeps the Mechs or their equivalent from being just another tank, and keeps them special. It’s appealing to me in the same way as the Ogre-versus-Armor Units thing is.
20/04/2016 at 20:06 #40986Robey JenkinsParticipantThe definition of what constitutes a “mech” is somewhat loose. But I don’t mind saying that just running up some “mech” stats for a non-mech and calling it a mech isn’t really in the spirit of the game.
Of course, don’t let me tell you how to play! But without being technical about it, there are thematic reasons why conventional elements are built differently to mechs.
that said, the super heavy expansion gives rules for building super tanks at P4+.
20/04/2016 at 20:12 #40987Mr. AverageParticipantYes, I just saw that – looking forward to seeing what you cook up. Meat for your first expansion, anyway – Horizon Wars: SUPERTANK!
Personally I have no problem with playing the game just as it is. I like the idea that mechs are in a separate class and have their own tier on the battlefield. I’m just saying, for those who do NOT like them, yet still like the rules, TECHNICALLY the option is there. But if you mix the two I can see how the theme would break down – mechs would be just another armored vehicle and would lose their specialness – and conventional commanders wouldn’t have to face as many tough choices about how to compose their forces, either.
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