ScrapYard Armory

The year is 3058 and both the old and the untested warriors of the Jade Falcons are clamoring for battle.  Operational Turning Points Falcon Incursion covers the series of hit and run raids into the Lyran Alliance ending at Coventry.

Nicholas Marsala is at the reigns of this Operational Turning Point.  Falcon Incursion is the third Operational Turning Point PDF to be released.

Beginner’s Luck

The opening fiction for Falcon Incursion sees the cadets of Coventry Military Academy pressed into quick service to defend against a faceless and menacing Clan Jade Falcon.

The entire sequence covers a firefight against multiple targets and is entertaining to the last.

Introductions

The Introduction section is standard boiler plate for the Turning Points series.  Set in 3058, Falcon Incursion draws inspiration from the novel Malicious Intent by Michael Stackpole and an accompanying Battlecorps fiction “Something More” by Jason Hansa.  Coventry is already captured in BattleTech lore via the Coventry scenario pack.  Seeing the full conflict from beginning to end given the Chaos Campaign makeover is well deserved and is another notch in the BattleTech time-line.  Almost all eras are represented in some fashion through turning points pdfs.

Atlas

No less than five planets are covered in the Atlas section each with a list of attributes and a few paragraphs of description and history.

Most of the information in this section will only be used by role players or campaign builders.  There is ample information to craft additional scenarios in various eras based on the sprawling histories of these planets.  That said, they are not needed to play the games included in this pdf.  Still, they are a welcome addition to the story telling tome.

Rounding out the section are a set of terrain tables, one for each planet.  Tactical Operations additions are also recommended where appropriate which include the likes of mud, planted fields, and ultra heavy woods.

RAT

Random Assignment Tables are provided for the three forces involved in the battle with a new double entry feature which in effect provides some unique variations based on the selected force.

The end effect are psuedo unique tables for Mercenaries, Wolf’s Dragoons, Jade Falcon, Lyran, and Militia.  It’s good to see Catalyst innovating here and not just punching  the stamp to produce the same old tables.

The Falcon’s Incursion

This section provides a matter of factly description of the events that occured during the Falcon’s campaign towards Coventry.  It provides the framework around which the tracks will delve into.  What it lacks is a deeper explanation of why these events occurred.  I found the first paragraph of the section to be shockingly blunt, like reading out of a dated history book.

Those who have read the books concerning this battle may not be so surprised.  I felt a little out of touch.  As good fortune (or design) would have it, the very next section provided some of the details I was seeking.

Personalities

As is due process for the Turning Points series, the leaders of the dueling forces are presented with a brief history, artwork, and A Time of War special abilities.

For the Dragoons, we have the commander of Delta Regiment.  The Falcons have the infamous Marthe Pryde including a summary of the motivations that led to the decision to invade so suddenly without regard for keeping anything they captured.

Combatants

Seventeen units are described with unit commanders, experience, RAT, unit abilities and notes.

I love this section for the subtle clues and bits of story interlaced within.  The notes section in particular is not to be skipped.  The special abilities range from the mundane to the spectacular.

The unit abilities in Falcon Incursion are some of the best I’ve seen.  Not content to rely solely on Tactical Operations additions, Mr. Marsala has crafted an excellent array of unique and well thought out abilities.  From the overly defensive tendencies of the Neerabup Periphery Militia to the desperate measures employed by the Jade Solahma Cluster, you will find many uses for these unique abilities.

This section in particular suffered from copious missed references (See Page X) which were quickly edited and the pdf updated before I could get this review out.  A good thing about BattleCorps is that all updates to a product are made available to you to download.  Make sure you check the box after purchasing to enable email alerts when an update occurs.

How to Use the Campaign

This section gives the setup rules for each side of the conflict and lays the groundwork for modifications to the Chaos Campaign specific to this campaign.

New in this episode of the Turning Points series is an option to spend Warchest points during unit creation to re-roll RAT or random pilot skill roll results.  Another innovative and interesting addition to the series.

The Tracks

We have two generic track in this campaign.  That is two less than either of the previous Operational Turning Points.  Don’t worry, the eleven Touchpoint missions more than make up for the lack of generics.  Even so, owners of the other two Operational Turning Points will be able to easily inject those generic missions into their games for a truly epic length campaign.

Together, the Operational Turning Points pdfs include Recon, Raid, Scout, Flank, Assault, Defend, Interdict, and Strike.  A few of them include variations, like Defend and Assault.  I’m surprised that it was not mentioned in the How to Use the Campaign section that the generics from any series are able to be plugged in.

That is of course assuming this campaign was not meant to be played exactly as presented.  In such a case, the generics will become increasingly tedious compared the more numerous Touchpoints.  And maybe that’s the point.  This campaign was not a drawn out fight on any planet.  Battles were quick and decisive and then the Falcons moved on.

In the end your playing group should find the right balance.  As it stands, eleven Touchpoints with a few raids and recon missions interlaced will keep you busy for quite a while!

Both generic tracks offer non-standard games which will keep things interesting between Touchpoints.

New historical notes mixed into specific tracks help to guide players who may be looking for a more faithful interpretation of a battle for a one off scenario.  A welcome addition for players who are not as interested in a drawn out campaign.

From the very start we are given a very well thought out series of Touchpoints.  Neerabup is a curious chess game of sorts where protecting your command centers comes at the cost of Militia armor.  On to Bucklands where otherwise mundane objectives are spiced up by the inclusion of modified IndustiralMechs piloted by old but cantankerous veterans of a bygone era.

Australia offers mixed objectives and optional defenses available to the Lyran Militia, but only if they take infantry in their unit selection.  A devilish twist that encourages combined arms tactics.

Coventry Military Academy pits ill-trained forces against each other is a battle that forces you to consider very different tactical options.  A disorganized force without leadership is always easier to kill.  Just don’t lose your own leaders in the process!

It goes on and on.  From beginning to end, the Touchpoint tracks are fantastic.  There are linked tracks.  There are air battles.  There are combined arms.  All of them are brilliant combinations that will force you to think and shake up the monotony of “destroy the other guy” objectives.  Falcon Incursion has the best set of tracks ever produced in the entire Turning Points series.

Record Sheets

Three record sheets are provided to enhance your campaign experience.  The first is a curious IndustrialMech modification.  All of two heat sinks is all you have to support a variety of bolted on SRMs and Autocannon.  For such an awful excuse for a ‘Mech, it overflows with character and slips into the Bucklands Touchpoint in the event that players can’t or don’t want to modify their own Industrials.  This is a great example of providing an interesting hook for a track and giving players the tools to immediately jump into the action.

A BattleMaster, complete with unseen artwork, is the personal ride of Rogers of the Waco Rangers.  It is a brawler with astonishing critical hit seeking armaments.  Nothing says keep your distance like seven Streak SRM-2s.

The last entry is a mixed tech Nightsky used by the Dragoon Delta Regiment commander.  It’s mixed tech so as you would expect it is a beast.  The redeeming feature is it’s just slightly off heat scale.  It can produce a stunning amount of damage but will have to stagger weapons to avoid overheating.

The Bottom Line

By far, this is one of the best of the Turning Points series.  Each track is original and extraordinarily well written.  That by itself makes this PDF well worth the price of admission.  Seeing such a successful formula repeated eleven times over makes it a must buy.

For those not so in love with the Chaos Campaign series as I am, Falcon Incursion adds to the burgeoning selection of eras to play in.  If you love the Clans or love to hate them, Falcon Incursion will provide opportunities to play out a massive campaign culminating within the industrial complexes of Coventry.

Catalyst, if you are listening, Nicholas Marsala did a masterful job on this pdf (a drastic improvement over JTP:Tharkad).  Do yourselves a favor and give the man more work.  I’d love to see what other magic he can conjure in other eras.

This game was inspired by events portrayed in the PDF exclusive Jihad Hot Spots: Atreus.  While not directly tied to any particular track, the scenario was built from various pieces of information.

The broken warriors of the Free Worlds League are under assault from the elite of the Word of Blake.  Sneak attacks, sabotage and genocide are now common place in the fragile nation.

Word of Blake forces are planning to attack the capital but a brave commander has marshaled a force of Free World’s League Militia to stand in their way and aim to prevent their advance.  The Word of Blake will not be denied and send a force to press the League’s defense.  Can the Militia hold out?  Can they stop the onslaught or will they be yet another ineffective speed bump on the road to desolation?

Free Worlds League

Command Lance

• AWS-8Q Awesome (Piloting 3, Gunnery 2) Commander
• P1 Perseus Prime (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• MR-5M Cerberus (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• ON1-M Orion (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)

Chase Lance

• DV-6M Dervish (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)
• HER-2M Hermes (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• HMR-3C Hammer (Piloting 3, Gunnery 2)
• WTH-1 Whitworth (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)

Support Lance

• Striker Light Tank (Driving 4, Gunnery 3)
• Achileus Battle Armor, Machine Gun (Gunnery 3)
• Achileus Battle Armor, Laser (Gunnery 3)
• Achileus Battle Armor, Flamer (Gunnery 3)

Word of Blake

Primus Level II

• LGC-01 Legacy (Piloting 3, Gunnery 2)
• C-SRP-O Seraph Invictus (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)
• TSN-1C Tessen (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)
• ST-8A Shootist (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• BL-12-KNT Black Knight (Piloting 3, Gunnery 2)
• LGH-4Y Lightray (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)

Dominus Level II

• GUR-2G Gurkha (Piloting 3, Gunnery 2)
• RDS-2A Red Shift (Piloting 4, gunnery 3)
• Purifier Battle Armor (Gunnery 3)
• Purifier Battle Armor (Gunnery 3)
• Nephilim Assault Battle Armor (Gunnery 3)
• Phalanx Heavy Battle Armor (Gunnery 3)

SPECIAL RULES

The following special rules were in effect during this game.

Heavy Rain and Lightning

All to-hit numbers and piloting rolls were modified by +1.  Each turn there was the possibility of lightning strikes.  The location of lightning strikes were randomly determined with the aid of a cell phone random number generator.  Lightning Strikes can be seen on the battlefield marked by yellow chips.

Fire for Effect

The Free Worlds League have access to three artillery units: a Long Tom, a Sniper, and a Thumper all within 1 turn artillery flight time.

Watch Your Step

The Free Worlds League may plant 6 conventional mine fields and 3 EMP mine fields.

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Cutting Off the Head

The Word of Blake must destroy the Free Worlds League Commander’s Awesome.

Moving On

After the League commander’s ‘Mech is destroyed, the Word of Blake forces must exit at least 50% of their ‘Mech forces off the map edge opposite their starting edge.

The Word of Blake achieves a Minor Victory if they destroy the League commander and a Decisive Victory if they can achieve both objectives.  Any other result is a Free Worlds League Victory.

ENGAGEMENT

Turn 1 – Free Worlds League Wins Initiative

Both sides advance towards the other with malicious intent.  The Word of Blake spreads wide with the heavier slower units heading down the middle while the Leaguers concentrate in the middle of the battlefield protected by ample woods.  The Word of Blake Gurkha is the first to find a minefield but shrugs off the damage.

Weapons fire is sporadic with a few long range shots hitting the mark but nothing to warrant concern at this point.

Six lightning strikes reach earth but none threaten either force.

Turn 2 – Word of Blake Wins Initiative

The Militia press the center of the field with their heavier units while stabbing forward with faster units.  To the North a Whitworth, Striker Tank and Hermes attempt to blunt the overreaching Tessen.  To the south, a lone Dervish foolhardily jumps far from support.  Blakist forces seize the advantage and swarm the Dervish with the speedy Lightray, Gurkha, and Red Shift.

The remaining Blakist forces slowly make their way towards the fight.  Along the way the Legacy walks through two minefields, one of which goes off for minimal damage.

The first round of artillery falls in a tight grouping around the slowly moving Seraph doing moderate damage from two of the three rounds.

The Nephilim BattleArmor, who began the battle ahead of the main Blakist line, opens up with all missile tubes to the Whitworth’s rear.  The torso armor crumbles under the impact.  Critical hits strike an engine but spare the ammunition stored close by.  The Militia Dervish is spared major injury by poor shooting by the three Blakist ‘Mechs surrounding him.

Minor damage is spread around to almost all combatants.  The Free Worlds League has particularly bad rolls.  The only bright spot is a lone PPC shot to the BlackKnight which kills a Purifier squad occupying a torso location.

Ten lightning strikes litter the battle field but leave both forces unmarred.

Turn 3 – Word of Blake Wins Initiative

The Militia units continue to press the center and move to flank the larger Legacy allowing the Tessen to move uncontested towards the Free Worlds League Commander.

The faster Blakist units to the south swarm over the hill to surround the Awesome from the rear as the heavier Blakist units continue to approach from the front all but completely ignoring the supposedly diminutive militia units the League’s commander is hiding behind.

Artillery lands in a grouping between the Seraph and the Black Knight but only dealing minimal damage to the Black Knight after the rounds scatter.

The Blakists suffer poor rolls but do manage to slag several tons of armor off the Awesome.  The Legacy has it’s rear armor stripped but no internal damage results.  Concentrated fire on the Blakist Shootist strips the armor off the right torso and badly damages other locations.

The Gurkha misses a sword attack on the Awesome which retaliates by kicking off the Gurkha’s left leg.

Seven lightning strikes stab the earth, this time getting very close to some of the Free World League ‘Mechs.

Turn 4 – Free Worlds League Wins Initiative

The Blakist Legacy attempts to move forward to put it’s back (now a gaping hole) against a wall and fire at the League Commander but activates an EMP mine field with it’s first step.  The mammoth electromagnetic pulse instantly shuts down the ‘Mech for five turns.

The Militia heavies hold the center of the battle field while the faster ‘Mechs wrap around to the Seraph’s rear.  Word of Blake forces are now surrounding the Militia but cannot seize the advantage due to the loss of initiative.

Several artillery rounds surround the Blakist Black Knight, but are not close enough.  Another round scatters far enough to nick one of the Free Worlds League ‘Mechs and the adjacent  0ne-legged Gurkha on the ground.

Poor results continue for the Word of Blake who just can’t seem to score meaningful hits against their opponents despite the partial C3i network.

The Hermes behind the shutdown Legacy easily hits with everything to cause the ‘Mech to fall.  Combined fire from the majority of heavy militia units gut the Shootist, critically hitting most of it’s weapon systems but sparing it from the junk heap for now.

All Word of Blake units concentrate fire on the Militia Commander in his Awesome and manage to slag off all remaining armor in the right torso but still cannot score critical damage.

The Seraph is pummeled from the rear but avoids catastrophic damage.

In the physical phase, the Orion kicks off the Shootist’s left leg, adding the the misery befalling the Word of Blake force.

Three lightning strikes occur and one is close enough to do damage.  The Orion and Shootist both receive scars from the adjacent lightning strike.

Turn 5 – Free Worlds League Wins Initiative

The Free World League forces form a tight circle to corral the undaunted Seraph which obliges and walks into yet another minefield.  The Commander in his Awesome waits for the right moment and runs towards heavier cover and the protection of his lance mates where the ring of ring Blakists has collapsed.  The rear armor is prominently displayed to all enemies which has more armor than the front at this point.

The remaining Word of Blake do their best to anticipate but cannot reach optimum distance for their weapons and failing C3i network.  The League Cerberus marches into the fray and gets behind the cautious Tessen.

The guns of the artillery are now silent as the action heats up and the danger of friendly fire increases to unacceptable levels.

Almost the entire Marik force pours fire power into the Seraph which quickly accumulates engine hits until the great machine falls silent.  The Cerberus meanwhile rips through the rear armor of the Tessen and turns it’s gyro into scrap.

Return fire from the Word of Blake concentrated once again on the Awesome strips yet additional armor but cannot generate critical hits to even slow it down.

The Legacy is swarmed by a squad of Achilieus which scramble to the head of the immobile ‘Mech and aim to rend it from the torso.

End Game

The game is called as the Word of Blake finds themselves battered and their objective escaping their grasp.  Meanwhile, the greater battle for Atreus is not going so well for the Free Worlds League.  For every battle won by the League like this here, there are dozens more where the best of the League are hunted down and slaughtered.

This was a good game with incredible mine rolling by the Free Worlds League player.  Damn near every minefield the Word moved through detonated.  The EMP mine on the Legacy was more salt in the wound as more and more ‘Mechs were legged by the aggressive Militia forces.

Another round of miniatures to add the the ever burgeoning collection of reformed misfits for a friend.

These Word of Blake Militia add to the Shadow Division units painted previously.  The Protectorate Militia form the anvil against which the hammer of the Shadow Divisions pound their enemies.  No Word force is complete without at least a few Militia to swell their ranks.  The white is a bit dirtier than I wanted but it works.  I began with a pure white base.  It may have been better to begin with gray, but what’s done is done.

From there, I washed with black and dry-brushed back up with the white, adding details where I felt appropriate.

Simple execution and ready for the tabletop.  I hope they are well received.

I may be taking a break from Word of Blake and try to finish off some Lyrans next.  I still have quite a backlog to paint my way through.

BattleTech is no longer a single game, but a universe with game rules that scale combat to almost any size conflict.  The BattleForce rules allow massive regimental level battles.  Standard Total Warfare rules cover games with forces between a lance and a company.  BattleTroops, released in 1989, is BattleTech at the infantry skirmish scale where individual soldiers battle it out.  It was followed by ClanTroops in 1991 which added advanced rules for Battle Armor.

A Time of War is a combination and update of BattleTroops and ClanTroops. It is at it’s heart a RPG and not an infantry combat game.  The rules for combat are extensive, but certain situations break under scrutiny.  For a better infantry combat game we’ve made a few tweaks…

Warning, House Rules Ahead

This post is meant to provide additional options for players who want to dive into a BattleTroops type game with additions and tweaks that the ScrapYard believes make the game more balanced and fun.  As always, agree with your buddy before your games what rules are being used.

Turning The World Upside Down

One of the more annoying elements of A Time of War is the use of a static to-hit number.  This may make a lot of sense, but for most of us already familiar with a variable to-hit number in Total Warfare, it can be frustrating.

Negative is good.  Positive is bad.

That’s the way I like it (and the way the rest of the BattleTech universe works) so that is the way I play the game and will introduce it to others.  From here on out, I will use the familiar Total Warfare style to-hit modifiers.

Reduced Lethality Through Armor Effectiveness

I have a bone to pick with the current personal armor system.  There are a few things that just seem off.  First, armor does very little to protect the individual.  The damage reduction it provides under normal game situations is very minimal.  Second, weapons with a higher Armor Piercing rating do not matter so long as the total of the AP and BD values add up the same.  Lets see an example.

A Free Worlds League Soldier armed with a Magnum Auto-Pistol (3B/5) is face to face with a Lyran operative armed with a M&G Service Auto-Pistol loaded with armor piercing rounds (5B/3).  Each wears personnel armor with a ballistic rating of 5 BAR.  Both manage to get off a shot which hits the other.

The Free Worlds League soldier’s armor cannot resist the high AP of the armor piercing round from the Sterns and he will take the full 3 damage and the obligatory 1 fatigue.

The Lyran’s armor provides some protection against the Magnum.  The difference between them (5BAR – 3AP = 2) is subtracted from the base damage.  The Lyran also takes 3 damage and 1 fatigue.

What we end up with is a marginalization of many of the weapon systems in the game.  There is far less variety within weapon classes beyond the sum of the AP and BD values.  We need a change.

I’ve used the following system in my personal games and it works great.  While slightly more complex (adding 1 more step), it creates a more varied experience.  Different weapons will have different outcomes based on their AP/BD values even if they have the same sum.

RULES

After reducing BD as normal, convert remaining damage to fatigue damage for every point the BAR exceeds the AP of the weapon.  This cannot reduce the remaining damage to less than 1 and does not replace the normal 1 fatigue suffered every time a character takes damage.

EXAMPLE

Lets take a look at how this house rule changes things.

The FWL soldier is still under armored against the armor piercing round from the Sterns and takes the full damage from the attack, 3 damage and 1 fatigue.

The Lyran’s superior armor reduces the incoming damage to 3 damage and 1 fatigue as normal.  In addition we also convert the damage remaining to fatigue for every point the BAR exceeds the AP (this would be 2, same as the original damage reduction).  The final damage suffered is only 1 damage but 3 fatigue.

All of a sudden we have a more diverse choice in weapons because the damage they inflict is more varied.  Effective armor now further reduces the damage taken, however, you are also more likely to find yourself in situations where you are forced to duck for cover to recover fatigue or risk getting knocked out prematurely.  More strategy and risk vs. reward to consider during the game.

Burst Firing for Accuracy

Accuracy through volume.  Effectively trading ammo for a better chance to hit rather then more damage, the way standard Bursts works.  This is not meant to replace the rules as written but rather be an additional option.

RULES

Declare you are Burst Firing for accuracy at a target (a Simple Action).  For every 3 rounds fired you gain a +1 bonus to your to-hit (round down, maximum +3).  Damage is applied as though a single shot was fired (do not use the burst fire damage value).

EXAMPLE

You are firing a TK Assault Rifle at a target behind half cover from medium range and declare you are Burst Firing for Accuracy with 6 bullets.  You need a 6 (assume Target Number of 3, Range:+2, Cover:+2, Recoil: +1, Accuracy: -2).

Now you’re firing the TK Assault Rifle at a target at long range behind heavy cover so you declare you are Burst Firing for Accuracy with 9 bullets.  You need an 8 (assume Target Number of 3, Range:+4, Cover:+3, Recoil: +1, Accuracy: -3).

Grenades

Grenades and satchel charges are overpowered.  Almost all of my games from the Beta were settled with a single grenade throw.  The fact that they explode immediately after being thrown has an unbalancing effect on the game especially when high initiative characters are the ones doing the delivery.

ENFORCING THE RULES AS WRITTEN

One mistake I made early on is to allow the use of grenades without preparation.  Make sure you follow the guidelines presented in the Action Complexity Table (page 167).  It costs a simple action to ready or stow a weapon.  You have to ready a grenade before you can throw it and more importantly you have to stow any weapons you are using before you can even ready that grenade.

Of course it’s an option to simply drop your primary weapon (incidental action) to be able to ready and throw in one turn, but then you have to spend a simple action later to pick up your weapon or ready a secondary weapon.

NEW RULES

Grenades do not explode immediately.  A thrown grenade will explode after X completed activations, where X is half the number of active characters in the game when the grenade was thrown (rounded up).

A character may “cook off” a grenade with a simple action.  This will prime the grenade causing it to explode immediately after being thrown or after the character throwing the grenade completes his next simple or complex action, whichever comes first.

Suppressing Fire

The suppression fire rules were tweaked from the Beta release and are much better for it.  Though it still needs adjustment.  The mechanic should be about area denial and a true threat to your opponents.  As it stands, suppression fire is very weak, and ends up underutilized.

RULES

Suppression fire lasts until the shooter activates again (or cannot fire).  Any unit attempting a skill check while in or after passing through Suppressing Fire must add a +2 modifier to the attempt.

Overwatch (Held Actions)

Winning initiative is a very big deal in A Time of War.  In middle to end game situations you need it to clear stuns, run for cover or finish off a wounded opponent.  However, before forces have mixed it up in earnest, there is an overwhelming temptation to hold action with every soldier you can in order to act last.

To avoid turtle tactics, we can inject a little variability into this game mechanic.

RULES

After electing to interrupt another character’s action, an opposed reflex attribute check is used to determine which character gets to act first.  The losing character must act immediately after the winner.

Leadership

The leadership rules in A Time of War are necessarily abbreviated due to the RPG nature of the system.  Any meaningful effect of leadership skills can and should be role played by the players and the GM.  For an infantry skirmish game, we can live with a little extra complexity to give players a reason to use this skill in their games.

RULES

If not using team or squad initiative, a character with the Leadership ability may use a simple action to “Lead” a friendly character.  The following turn, the affected character may add half the Leader’s Leadership skill to their initiative roll (round up).

Stealth

The stealth mechanic needs a retooling in order to bring skill rolls into line with what is reasonable.  In any infantry game, the ability to remain unseen is a huge advantage.  However, once the lead starts flying the ability to remain unseen should quickly diminish.  The Stealth ability and it’s associated modifiers need to be carefully selected to keep game play balanced.

RULES

A hidden character may not be targeted directly by opposing units.  A perception check must be made against the target’s stealth skill to spot the target.  Once spotted, the target is revealed to every other unit.  A character with the Stealth skill may re-hide with a Stealth skill check as a complex action if no opposing units have line of sight.  A character with Stealth may begin the game hidden if no opposing units can draw a clean line of sight.

The following table replaces the Vision Based Action Checks section of the Action Check Modifiers Table (page 41).  It adds two condition modifiers when trying to spot a stealth’d character who fired a gun in his/her last activation.

I’m not very confident regarding the stealth rules and I’m sure they will need some additional play-testing and tweaking to get the balance just right.

Consciousness Checks

A curious change made late in the development cycle (post Beta) was a revised KO Check.  The change had the effect of making each and every character in the game (with few exceptions) exactly the same and imposing a very harsh first hit KO check roll of 7+.  The change saps variety from the selection of characters.  Here are the values I use in my games which has worked well.  Knock outs are still a threat but only after you are either very unlucky or very beat up.

RULES

A consciousness check target number is 12 – Body – Willpower + Injury Modifier + Fatigue Modifier.

Give the Game a Try

A Time of War is a great system with seemingly endless customization options.  The gritty feel of the universe compliments the overall game.  Give the game a try and see how it all works.  You can easily pull together some of the Sample Characters from A Time of War for a demo.

• Kicking the Tires
• BattleTroops Miniatures from Iron Wind Metals
• Infantry Recon
• Side Show