Rogue Planet by Brent Spivey?

[MachinaMandala]

Any comments on this? Anyone done any reviews?

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Any comments on this? Anyone done any reviews?

Expecting Una Stubbs to Give Us A Clue...

[Ultravanillasmurf]

This: https://bombshell-games.com/rogue-planet/.

[bermanj]

Yeah, I'm a huge Rogue Planet fan - it has been my game of choice for the last year or more. 

What do you want to know about it?  Just ask 

[Hobgoblin]

It's a great set of rules. I recently blogged about it here - not really a review, but some thoughts on the game.

The game's very fast-moving, very colourful and very dramatic. The last time I played, we used the psionics and sorcery rules, which I hadn't used before, and they were a blast.

It's also a game that pretty much any fantasy or sci-fi gaming enthusiast should read, purely for the wealth of original ideas.

[bermanj]

I probably should have included a link to my blog... Truth be told, it 90% Rogue Planet related (fan boy).

https://southernbermanblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/R40k.html

That particular page deals with how I play W40k type games using Rogue Planet aka R40k. In addition to some (surprisingly few) house rules, I've also written a  couple of 'tactics' type articles that tease out the sophistication of the system's mechanics.

There are also a dozen battle reports, scenarios and - what has been evidently very valued by other people - detailed faction lists with Unit Cards, ready to print-off and play.  You've got most of the 40k staples ready to go including Marines, Orks, Guard, Eldar and even an Inquisitor Team. Enjoy!

[Hobgoblin]

There are also a dozen battle reports, scenarios and - what has been evidently very valued by other people - detailed faction lists with Unit Cards, ready to print-off and play.  You've got most of the 40k staples ready to go including Marines, Orks, Guard, Eldar and even an Inquisitor Team. Enjoy!

Your blog is great - I read a fair bit of it before our most recent Rogue Planet games - and the unit cards are really useful.

As I've been arguing in the Mayhem thread on the fantasy board, the one real weakness in Brent's games is the lack of sample stats. It's not that statting up individual models isn't a great way to proceed; it's just that 'time to table' is hindered by having to start from scratch when you fancy a quick game.

[tomrommel1]

I couldn't find anything about vehicles. Are vehicles and flyers possible? If you want to represent 40 K battles you would need them I think.

[bermanj]

Cheers champ, I am happy to hear that you found it useful.

I agree - punters expect minimal work to get a game going and the absence of any pregen forces etc would contribute to the "bought and read the rules, they look great but I haven't played a game yet" syndrome.

It's not like the mechanics of unit creation is hard in Rogue Planet - far from it! - rather I think it has to do with having a sense of relatively. If you have never played the game, how do you know whether Space Marines should have a RAT of 4, 5 or 6?  Get it 'wrong' and it could result in a poor gaming experience.  I found that only once I had played more than a few games did I start appreciating how to define Units that reflected their W40k origins.  Things kind of snowballed from there...

I've been playing around with some further mods to the system including a Cyberpunk theme that feels like it has some legs and that has rolled back into some additional experiments within the R40k setting... I've found that side of the hobby very rewarding but can understand why others are put off.

Will there be more R40k faction, Units and Teams released? Most certainly! It's great to hear that people use them and are even pointing out my editing errors 😊 that's the core of a hobby IMHO.  But short of selling precut unit cards with miniatures and terrain myself, I don't think we can make getting started any easier.

[bermanj]

I couldn't find anything about vehicles. Are vehicles and flyers possible?

The Flyer Unit trait exists in the game - it... works?  There's nothing about it that's particularly 'different' to what you'd anticipate if you've played a miniature wargame previously.  I've had little call to use it to date BUT my next batch of Eldar includes a squad (flock?) of Swooping Hawks, so they'll have the Flying trait and that would suggest I'll be seeing some more aeronautical action in the near future.

The rules have been written so that vehicles can be accommodated.  I use the word "accommodated" deliberately: I don't think vehicles at this sort of micro-skirmish (low independent unit count) games work particularly well.  E.g., my gang of 10 cultists vs your three Imperial Guard driving a tank?  Either I'm going to get squashed or lucky and chances are neither of us are going to think it a balanced game.  Things like bikes are another matter altogether: you could look at a bike as more of an augmented person - faster and maybe able to carry more gear... the rules suggest that you might reflect that by increasing the Unit's Armour from Light to Medium or Heavy and Size from Small to Medium and maybe provide the Charge buff and Agile trait... the sandbox provided is deceptive - despite the relatively few gear choices, mixing and matching can have a profound effect on how a Unit can and need be played.

If you want to represent 40 K battles you would need {vehicles and flyers} I think.

I agree - W40k battles often include things like tanks (plural).  Again, I don't think Rogue Planet is the right system to replace the battles of a size that you may encounter/play in W40K - in the same way that attempting to play a W40K 1,000 point game using Kill Team rules would be sure to leave you bleeding from the eyes, cursing Games Workshop for all eternity (it would probably take you at least that long to play it as well!).  Rogue Planet is more micro, more heroic, more intuitive and less about 101 special faction and situational rules... the attraction for me is it draws me into the play and keeps me there throughout the game.  I recently played Kill Team and I felt there are more Rogue Planet-to-Kill Team parallels - but there's plenty of difference.  Rogue Planet is a lighter, less rule intensive system that Kill Team but that's not to say it compromises on the tactical play... maybe it's one of those things that needs to be tasted before it can truly be appreciated?

That being said, there are plenty of W40K games that don't include tanks or flyers.  Battle at the Farm anyone?  Only a month or two ago I GM'ed the same using R40k and it was a hoot.  Check the battle report if you're interested: https://southernbermanblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/Battleatthefarmr40kbattlereport.html

[bermanj]

As I've been arguing in the Mayhem thread on the fantasy board, the one real weakness in Brent's games is the lack of sample stats. It's not that statting up individual models isn't a great way to proceed; it's just that 'time to table' is hindered by having to start from scratch when you fancy a quick game.

Yeah, I just read that thread then and I agree with the sentiment.  Good to hear that another bloke has done something along the line I what I have done for Rogue Planet to fill the 'codex' void.  I was just looking through my Mayhem files and there at least was a battlescribe-compatible .bsr files included in the bundle... but I couldn't see them in available for download in the latest version of Battlescribe... I'd give the old Battlescribe a go myself if I knew how to go about preparing a .bsr.

I've never actually played Mayhem (I'm more of a sci-fi than fantasy guy) but on a read of the rules (I got them a while back out of interest), I can certainly appreciate their appeal.

Speaking of Mr Spivey's games, have you tried The Battlefield?  That's a sleeper project for me: generating a full deck of cards to complement what's otherwise a VERY different take on miniature wargaming.  The few games I've played have been lots of fun and I think with the right gaming aids (a better Quick Reference Guide, Unit Cards etc) it would be materially more appealing.

[tomrommel1]

thanks for the info

[Hobgoblin]

I've never actually played Mayhem (I'm more of a sci-fi than fantasy guy) but on a read of the rules (I got them a while back out of interest), I can certainly appreciate their appeal.

They play really well: fast and lots of manoeuvring thanks to the overdrive mechanic. The only hurdle is getting an army statted up. What would help the game hugely, I think, is the sort of online 'warband generator' that Ganesha Games has for Song of Blades, etc.

Speaking of Mr Spivey's games, have you tried The Battlefield?  That's a sleeper project for me: generating a full deck of cards to complement what's otherwise a VERY different take on miniature wargaming.  The few games I've played have been lots of fun and I think with the right gaming aids (a better Quick Reference Guide, Unit Cards etc) it would be materially more appealing.

No - that's the modern-warfare game, right? I might take a look at it once my sci-fi forces are a bit better established!

[bermanj]

An Overdrive mechanism is also employed in The Battlefield which makes for some tough tactical decisions eg tradeoffs like either activating 3 units once OR 1 unit twice.  Very clever and worth an exploration.

The Battlefield's card-related needs are a tad different to Mayhem and Rogue Planet: it could do with a deck of Cards that describe the various traits and load-outs that are used along with the 4-odd standard unit profiles. A one piece of paper type thing just wouldn't cut it as unit load outs and force composition constantly changes during the course of the game.  With the right card deck available, it could be a breeze.