Tanks and Infantry

A plumed enemy solider darted across Freidrich's field of vision, hazy through the thick glass of the vision block.  He reversed desperately, feeling the treats slip and spin in mud or blood or water.  A clattering roar filled the compartment as Willie, sweating, worked the loader's hull machinegun from side to side. Above him, half-seen, Jans fired the turret self-defense gun in short, measured bursts.  Muffled screaming sounded from outside, and an alarming banging resounded against the side of the tank.  Did the enemy have bombs?  Friedrich wondered desperately?  The tank's rotation brought the enemy solider into view again.  The strange Roman-looking soldier knelt, and in both hands he hefted a heavy triangular weapon Friedrich had come to fear and loathe.

" Grenade!"  he screamed, and then the compartment exploded with smoke and fire and shrapnel.

Introduction
 

A Light Tank and its escorting infantry.

The mathematical relationship between Tanks and Infantry constitutes one of the most important balances in Sabre and Raygun.  Infantry should be rightly terrified of tanks, with their armored hides, bristling weapons, and terrifying crushing weight.  But tanks should also fear infantry, who can make great use of terrain and assault the nearly-blind flanks and tops of a vehicle if they get too close.  Mathematically, tanks should have a fearsome damage output, but suffer a significant chance of being destroyed in Assault Fire and Melee with infantry.

In Sabre and Raygun, the players have choices with their vehicles and must decide how aggressively they wish to field them.  First, they must decide whether to Button or Unbutton their tanks -- that is, whether to run them with hatches open and the crew scouting for threats, or closed, protecting the crew but reducing visibility.  Unbuttoned tanks shoot more effectively, but are vulnerable to small-arms fire.  Second, the player must decide how close to the enemy they wish to drive.  The machine guns and cannon of a Tank are most effective in Assault Fire distance, where all models suffer from reduced Cover Saves.  However, at such a close range, Tanks are more vulnerable to enemy weapons, and are in Melee distance.  Tanks do not like Melee at all, where they are liable to be rudely destroyed by enemy grenades, firebombs, or other improvised attacks. 

Let us examine the threats and advantages Tanks face at difference distances.

Shooting Distance

If the Tank is over 6" from the enemy, it will fire at the enemy with normal Shooting Phase rules. 
 At this distance, all enemy models receive their normal Base Cover Save of 3+ (or 5+ for vehicles).  This may be modified for Soft or Heavy Cover.  The Tank will tank a long time to kill enemy infantry at this distance, but it will do so pretty reliably with its main gun firing high explosive.  Doctrines may help it to target and destroy threatening enemy models, such as guns or grenade launchers.

At this distance, the Tank will be very hard to kill.  All shots will likely hit its formidable Front Armor.  If it is Buttoned, it will be invulnerable to small arms.  Even Unbuttoned, it will probably out-range most normal infantry weapons, leaving it vulnerable only to long-ranged heavy machine-guns or other weapons. If a weapon rolls a 6 to-Wound, followed by another 6, it will Stun the tank regardless of AT value.

Assault Fire Distance

A Medium tank in the Assault Fire phase.

If the Tank is within 6" of the enemy, both sides will fire simultaneously.  Both sides will suffer reduced Base Cover Saves of 5+ for infantry, and no save at all for Vehicles.  A Tank at this distance can easily slaughter enemy infantry with its machine-guns and cannon.  (For you FoW players, consider this equivalent to a FoW assault phase.)

However, the Tank is potentially more vulnerable, too. All shots will hit its weaker Other Armor.  Weaker AT guns become much more dangerous at this range, and, since both sides fire simultaneously, the Tank cannot count on destroying them before they can act.  Moreover, all small arms have a minimal chance of hurting the tank.  If a weapon rolls a 6 to-Wound, followed by another 6, it will Stun the tank regardless of AT value. 

A Tank close enough for Assault Fire is also close enough for Melee.  It had better hope that it Suppresses or destroys any enemy before they can Charge.

Melee

Squish! Bang!

Tanks do not like Melee.  Infantry may fear being crushed beneath its mighty treads, but from a tank's perspective, if it is close enough to squash someone under its treads, it is in a deadly precarious position.  Tanks in Melee can be hurt by any weapon.  Unbuttoned Tanks, or Stunned Tanks, hit in Melee are automatically destroyed.  (It is assumed that the enemy kills or captures the crew.)  Buttoned Tanks suffer from double-sixes.  If a weapon rolls a 6 to-Wound, followed by another 6, it will Destroy the tank regardless of AT value.

Tanks in Melee are reduced to trying to crush opponents -- which they may do at a low rate of Attacks.  Should they survive, they are well-advised to back away from combat, which they may do freely.

Customizing the Free Cities: Spells and Doctrines

Sabre and Raygun allows you to customize your army with special abilities.  Even forces with the same skill and equipment may play very differently, based on their Doctrines.  The Free Cities book adds an additional layer -- spells, a special kind of optional Doctrine that can buff an enhance your force in multiple, exciting ways.

Doctrines

Wikipedia.

The Free Cities employ many elite, specialized units.  Their Doctrines reflect the differing military traditions of the cities, and, in particular, their approaches to combined arms. 

• The Deadly Doctrine enhances the damage output of your Force in shooting and melee.

• The Flexible Doctrine enhances squads of mixed troop types, emphasizing combined arms at the lowest tactical level.  It lets you, as the commander, take best advantage of your ability to mix basic troops into new formations.

• The Specialist Doctrine enhances homogenous squads, rendering each troop type more effective at their best ability.  This is combined arms, too, but with an emphasis on the platoon, rather than the squad, level.  

• The Proud Doctrine enhances squad morale, making them less likely to break or suffer suppression.

• The Winged Doctrine enhances the Vehicles, Cavalry and Monsters in the Free Cities' force, perfect for players who like their armies fast.

Spells

Wikipedia.

Hare for hiding,

Falcon for seizing

Jackal for its mate,

Dragon for might,

Beast for endurance,

Serpent for mysteries.

Worm hates them all.

-- Martian Proverb

The Free Cities introduces a new type of Character, the Priest.  Priests can cast spells, which work just like Doctrines to buff units in powerful ways.  Each Priest chooses a Great Power to worship, each of which confers a different list of spells.  In addition, Priests can try to counter enemy spells when they are cast. 

• Hare, the trickster, interferes with enemy Morale.

• Falcon, the swift hunter, enhances a squad's to-Hit.

• Jackal, the scavenger, grants a squad concealment.

• Dragon, the fanged, enhances a squad's to-Wound.

• Beast, the enduring, enhances a squad's Toughness.

• Serpent, the immortal, foils an enemy's attempt to-Wound.

• Worm, the devourer, weakens an enemy's Saves.

The Free Cities in Brief

The Free Cities are independent outposts of Martian humans, who survive in the shadow of the Ancients through stealth, tenacity, and misdirection.  Like the Greek city-states of ancient Earth, they are small societies, with a keen sense of martial pride.

In designing the Free Cities, I emphasized the following core traits:



Techno-Primitive

The Free Cities look archaic, with the swords, shields, ships and spears of ancient Greece or Rome, but they actually have higher-tech than the Colonists.  The shields contain force-field generators, the ships fly on anti-gravity, and the pikes fire blast rays.  The humans of the Free Cities do not understand the science of the technology they have stolen from the Ancients, but they know how to use it.

Specialists

The armies of the Free Cities are combined-arms forces.  Each Triad consists of a mixture of troop types, specialized to a particular role:

• The Lanceatores are long-ranged specialists.  Their raygun pike has a high Rate of Fire 3 when stationary, but only Rate of Fire 1 when moving and a lowly Rate of Attacks 1 in melee.

• The Scutari are close-combat specialists.  The lack any ranged armament, but have heavy armor, and  a high Rate of Attacks 3 in melee.

• The Venatores are maneuver specialists.  They have short-ranged gun with a Rate of Fire 2 either moving or stationary, but with a shorter 18" range.  They don't fear melee either, with a respectable Rate of Attacks 2.  There's no reason not to move these guys, and keep them moving.

In addition, they have a selection of elite, specialized support units, such as cavalry, light vehicles and monsters.

The Free Cities' player will need to use the strengths of their troops in combination to achieve victory.

Elite

 Free City forces are highly-skilled.  The regular, standing Legio troops are Skill 3.  Even the militia, drawn from the citizen population, are Skill 2, equal to most colonists.  The elite Praetorians are Leadership 3+.

Swashbuckling

The Free Cities love a good swordsman.  They have a strong melee element, suitable for the clash of sabres on the deck of a flying ship, or a duel with enemy warlords or dastardly minion.

All Free Cities forces wear armor.  Most of them are rated Armor 2, meaning most weapons will need a 3+ to wound them.  The heavy Scutari and Cataphracti are Armor 3, meaning most weapons will need a 4+ to wound them.



You can find the Free Cities Force Book PDF here.

When It's Such a Train-Wreck You Can't Look Away: 40k 7th Edition Thoughts

My Space Marine Collection

First Impressions

So the new, unexpected edition of Warhammer 40k is now out, and I've had a few days to process it.

Overall, I am somewhat disappointed.  One book in the set is just a bunch of pictures.  The background book has exactly the same background (and mostly the same text) as 6th edition, but with different pictures.  The rules are mostly the same as 6th edition, with the most notable changes being a new Psychic phase and an even more permissive army selection system.  Maddeningly, some of the most obvious problems with 6th edition remain unchanged: assault is too weak, massed fliers are too difficult to counter, weapons that ignore cover bypass core game mechanics, combinations of certain characters are ludicrously power, and psychic powers can buff a unit into near indestructibility.


What Was GW Thinking?

As a game designer (albeit an amateur one) I have to wonder, why does GW persist in leaving so many obvious problems in place, particularly when it would be quite easy to fix them?  It's tempting to dismiss GW as caring only about sales or just to write them off as completely incompetent, but I don't think either response really explains the new edition.  I notice that they did fix certain elements of the game, just not all of them.

For example:

Zoom!

• Monstrous Creatures can no longer charge they turn they go from flying high to gliding.  It used to be that they could have all the advantages of a flier's protection, then slam straight into melee at the start of their next turn.  

• Jetbikes and Skimmers now must choose between getting a Jink Save and being able to shoot effectively the following turn.  This could be abused in all sorts of ways, particularly when combined with abilities that enhanced Cover Saves.

• Vector Strikes were toned down, so that fliers can no longer zoom around with impunity, decimating any units without leaving the safety of being a flier. 

• Vehicles are now harder to kill with single-shot weapons, like meltaguns.  In 6th edition, most vehicles died to stacked hull-point loss, but if you got close with a meltagun, or lucky with other weapons, you could pop a vehicle easily.  

• The Psychic phases has been modified so that, if you have fewer Psykers, it is harder to cast most spells.  In 6th, cheap Psykers almost never failed to cast, and could have major effects on game play. 

This suggests to me that GW is sensitive to certain balance issues, some of the time.  The issues they have chosen to fix, however, are those that you will might encounter in casual play.  If you have a small collection, or some restraint in building lists (say a list with only one Riptide or a combined-arms Marine or Eldar list) these are the sorts of problems you would notice and want fixed. 

On the other hand, GW seems stunningly indifferent to the sorts of problems that only occur for players with large collections or who are pushing the mathematical limits of the game. A Tau or Eldar army's capacity to stack lots of Ignores Cover only becomes evident if a player takes lots of the relevant units.  As Reecius points out in the link below, it is only when you have lots of Psykers that the new phase becomes absurd. Special characters' combinations only become evident if you play with them frequently and choose them for game-mechanical benefits rather than their background.

So I think what we're seeing is a game design that only cares about the center of the bell-curve of possible armies, and is indifferent to problems on the extremes.

Boom!

Where to Go from Here?

People are already considering how to adapt to this edition.  Over at Frontline Gaming, Reecius has sketched out this article on the rudiments of tournament modifications for 40k:

http://www.frontlinegaming.org/2014/05/28/is-7th-ed-40k-a-new-beginning-or-the-beginning-of-the-end/

His analysis is spot-on, and I do hope that the community develops a standard(ish) set of standards for open play in tournaments and leagues.  I suspect I will not be playing in any tournaments either way, however, as I am not especially interested in competitive list-design.

I prefer to win than to lose, of course, and I like to play with lists, but what I really want out of a game is for the victory to depend on decisions players make at the table: on maneuver and tactics and a little luck.  If the armies reflect the background, with a preponderance of troops and support, and not just a few tooled up super-units, I think that's desirable too.  On a scale of 1-10, between fluff (1) and unlimited competition (10), I'd put myself at a 6 or a 7.  

I am more interested in  how to create an environment for drop-in or league casual play: a system that encourages people to show up with a moderate list, but avoids puppy-stomping extremes.

Clash of Arms

To inaugurate the finished Free Cities Force Book, I broke out two small forces for the following battle report.

The Forces

The Colonists [743 points]



Core:

Command Squad w/5 models [50 points]
Infantry Squad with 8 infantry and 1 gun team [122 points]
Infantry Squad with 8 infantry and 1 gun team [122 points]
Infantry Squad with 8 infantry and 1 gun team [122 points]
Infantry Squad with 8 infantry and 1 gun team [122 points]

Support:
Medium tank with Medium Gun [205 points]

The Free Cities [775 points]

Core:

Lanceatores with 3 Lances and 2 Reaper Heavy Rayguns [112 points]
Scutari with 7 models [98 points]
Venatores with 7 models and 2 launchers [258 points]

Support:

Draco w/ Ramus Raycannon [265 points][



The Game

I decided to try a new scenario (see below), one that brings the foes into combat more rapidly.

Deployment

I treated each base as providing Concealment but not Cover.  The ruins offered Concealment and Hard Cover to anything firing across their walls.

One objective went in the woods close to a table edge.  The other went in a ruined structure in the center.  Both players put their troops as far forward as possible, while still being protected by cover.  The two armored vehicles faced off in the center, but the Colonial tank had the benefit of concealment.

Turn One

The Colonists went first and advanced their four infantry squads up to the cover of the rockfields and walls on both flanks.  Their LMGs fired at reduced RoF at the Scutari and Venatores.

The Scutari were in Concealment, and of higher skill, so the Colonists needed 6s to hit them.  On the other hand, they only needed a 5 to hit the Venatores.  All the Free Cities models had armor, making them harder to wound.

The buckets of Colonial fire cut down three Venators, including an important Launcher, but failed to do much of anything to the Scutari.


Turn Two

In the second turn, the Venatores advanced into the ruins on one flank, and the Scutari into the ruins on the other.  On the far flank, the Colonists seized a building of their own, with the squad there laying down covering fire.  The other unit and the Command Squad took on the more dangerous task of advancing through the woods.  There they seized control of the red objective.

The ruins granted a 1+ cover save for units inside; both sides endeavor therefore to Suppress rather than kill the squads opposite them.  The Lanceatores and the Draco had clear line of sight, decimating the Colonists in the open.

Turn Three

The Draco took a risk by turning its firepower against infantry instead of the Colonial tank.  If either vehicle could destroy the other, the survivor would be free to wreak havoc for the rest of the game.  The Colonial tank managed to miss again.  

Turn Four 

This was the critical turn.  If the Free Cities legionaries could not contest the red objective, then the Colonists would win at the start of their next turn.  The Draco moved up to the objective, into Assault Fire range.  The Venatores, too, abandoned the cover the ruins to participate in the firefight.

In Assault Fire, the participants all have reduced cover saves.  The resulting exchange of fire wiped out the Venatores.  It killed the Colonists completely, so no one was left to charge.  A good thing too, because in Melee, an open-topped Vehicles is automatically destroyed!  It's a risk getting that close, but one the Free Cities Triarch felt he had to take.

On the other flank, the Scutari were close enough to assault the remaining Colonial squad near the Blue objective.  After inconclusive Assault Fire, the Scutari charged into melee.  There, their superior skill and three attacks each massacred the Colonial infantry, but they ended the Phase Suppressed.


Turn Five

Make or break time for both sides.  If the Colonists could not contest both objectives, the Free Cities would win. The heroic Colonial tank Buttons up and drives towards the reorganizing Scutari.  It kills five of them, and then Charges into Melee.  Neither side is willing to back down, and each combatant makes a ludicrous number of saves over a several Continuing Melee phases, but eventually the tank squashes the defiant Triarch beneath its treads, and the tank rolls forward onto Blue objective.

On the other flank, the Colonists move their last squad into Assault Fire range with the Draco. Because it is Opened-Topped, it could be Stunned on a double-six.  The Colonists are not so lucky, and the Draco kills all the soldiers near enough to assault.

With no remaining enemy troops close enough to contest it, the Draco claims the Red objective for victory!

Closing Thoughts

This game was more of nailbiter than I expected.  (Especially since I was playing both sides.)  The Free Cities infantry are durable, but not unkillable, especially in the open.

The Clash of Arms scenario is I think a great success.  Too often the Symmetrical scenarios end up like WWI with both sides dead crossing no-man's land.  But starting closer leads to more exciting Assault Fire in only a few turns.  I may make it my new default Scenario.

Clash of Arms Scenario

In this Scenario, the players attack each other.  Both their Forces are on the offensive, and have collided.

Attacker and Defender

 Both players build an Attacking list based on 100% of the Points level.

Setup and Objectives

Set up Terrain however you like.

Roll off.  The winner becomes the nominal Attacker.  (This designation has no effect on their list or its support options.)

The Attacker picks a table edge.

His Deployment zone is within 18" of his edge.  The Defender takes the opposite table edge.  His Deployment zone is within 18" of his edge.

The Defender places one objective anywhere on the center line of the table, 24" from both long table edges.  The Attacker places one objective anywhere on the center line of the table, 24" from both long table edges. 

Deployment

The players alternate placing squads in their deployment zones.  Roll off to see who places first.
Game PlayRoll off to see who has the first turn. 

Victory Conditions

Either player wins, if, on or after turn four, at the start of his turn, he has a Unit within 6" of an objective, and the enemy does not. 

If either army breaks or is completely destroyed, then their opponent wins.

If neither player has won by the end of 10 turns, the game ends in a draw.

The Free Cities Force Book

The Free Martians are humans from independent city-states scattered across the ruins of Mars.  These walled communities use stolen or recovered Ancient technology, hand-crafting arms and equipment from materials they barely comprehend.  With their swords and airships, they defend their homes and loved ones against the nomads of the wastes and shield them from the predations of the Ancients.

The Free Cities Force Book is now available by clicking on the picture above, or through the Rules page on the drop-down bar.  

A Rose by Any Other Name...

My nameless game now is named.

Further developments soon to follow.