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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Scale and Scope

This game is designed for play with 28mm space fantasy models.

It covers games from Platoon to Battalion-sized.  I’m assuming most games will be played at around Company size of 100 to 150 models.  (A bit bigger than an average Warhammer 40k game.)  I’m also assuming bigger is better, and gamers are going to want bigger forces more often than smaller ones.

Therefore the game is designed to be played on a big board.  You can use 4’ x 6’ for small games, but you will probably want most games on a 6’x 8’ an 8’ by 8’ table or larger.

Even with a big board, 28mm models are going to be at pretty close range, visually and practically.  There won’t be a lot of room for sweeping maneuvers or long-range tank duels.  So this is a game of close-in battle.  The forces involved are assumed to have already undertaken their preliminary dancing around and have closed in for a ghastly clash.  So the length of the battle will be shorter than that represented by a typical Flames of War game (which one can imagine representing a full day of battle) but probably a longer than that represented by a typical game of Warhammer 40k (which one can’t imagine being more than an hour of real combat).

The world represented is space fantasy, where soldiers, creatures and vehicles of wildly varying capabilities clash at rather unrealistic close quarters.  Although the combatants possess rapid-firing guns, melee weapons remain viable battle-field options.  We will assume that our little soldiers will spend most of the time shooting each other, but a bit of sword-play will happen too.  Some creatures will be noticeably tougher, better armored or otherwise superior to human beings, a fact which the mechanics will incorporate.  How (and how well) our toy soldiers fight should be as important to the game as their equipment.  Skill, leadership and doctrine will all play a major role.

Despite the advanced technology, squads will be organized and maneuver more or less like they did in the second World War.  Since tanks are ludicrously huge in 28mm, this will be primarily an infantry game, with armor in support.  Since our battlefield will appear quite small from the air, air (and space) power will play a minimal role.  We will also include rules for magical or quasi-magical powers.

I may at some point develop lists for use with models from particular universes, but the core rules assume a generic universe.

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