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Author Topic: Ospreys' Ragnarok  (Read 3173 times)

Offline spacecowsmith

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Ospreys' Ragnarok
« on: May 22, 2019, 06:23:05 AM »
Hi!

I picked up a copy of the new Osprey game, Ragnarok the other day and was wondering if anyone else is finding the rules as baffling as me?

The layout of the rules are a bit odd and it makes mention of stuff in the overview like the HQ phase that doesn't seem to appear anywhere else in the rules (despite saying Check Additional Rules specific to Ragnarok).

Similarly, there's only sketchy examples of how the concepts work and the Success Table does not live up to its name and the combat rules are leaving me scratching my head as to how they actually work.

Am I being thick or have the rules been somewhat jumbled in and could really have done with being more clearly laid out?

http://talesfromfarpoint.blogspot.co.uk/

An Adventure in small scale gaming and 2nd Edition 40k!

Offline Tactalvanic

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2019, 11:13:40 AM »
Looks like not many people tried it yet, and its not on my near future list.

But

He is on FaceBook at

https://www.facebook.com/tim.korklewski

and twitting

https://twitter.com/xskullstudios?lang=en-gb

so you might be able to reach out to him directly for some clarity.

Offline Gallahad

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  • Posts: 294
Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2019, 04:09:11 PM »
Huh, that is sad to hear. I was looking forward the game. Bad layout and copy editing really ruins my enthusiasm.

Offline Jagannath

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    • Blades and Blasters
Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2019, 04:37:18 PM »
Oh no - that's a shame!

I guess I'll just stick to reskinning Rogue Planet for similar dark age heroics...

Offline D. Brownie

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  • Posts: 279
Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2019, 05:37:14 PM »
Just prebought.... :'(
And I'm painting many Vikings....
I'm probably going to cancel my order... :'(
« Last Edit: May 22, 2019, 05:57:13 PM by D. Brownie »

Offline spacecowsmith

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2019, 06:19:50 PM »
Sadly there seems to be rather a lot of rules based questions getting asked on the facebook page at the moment which doesn't bode well.

As an example, rules for combat seem to be split over three different sections, none of which have any examples of how said rules are supposed to work, or indeed what stat's one should be comparing. The writing is also a bit on the unclear side with some ropey choices of wording which muddy the waters further.

Sadly I think I'll be giving it a miss as a ruleset...

Offline gibby64

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2019, 07:55:43 PM »
Seems odd to me that Osprey would let that one through should it be that confusing... We've all been spoiled by osprey always having very thought out, straight forward, and not overly complex systems for all time periods... i guess there can be the occasional dud... hopefully the creator can chime in and clear everything up (even if that should have already been done in the actual rule book).
Owner, Temple of the West
www.TempleWest.co

Offline Manchu

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2019, 08:30:43 PM »
Holy groupthink Batman!

One guy posts ASKING if anyone else is having trouble understanding the rules and three people respond giving up on the ruleset for that reason??? You guys will feel pretty bad if it turns out OP is just easily confused!

 lol

I have the book in front of me here. It’s not written with examples. I suspect it’s not written for people who have never played minis games before and uses tona of acronyms. But it’s not anything significantly heavier than what vets are used to, either.

Offline spacecowsmith

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2019, 09:18:52 PM »
Sadly I'm not easily confused and have been gaming for 25 years and have playtested quite a few rulesets too but have found Ragnarok to be rather a poorly laid out affair.

I don't think it's unreasonable to show a bit of caution about a rulebook that cost £25.



Offline Manchu

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2019, 09:37:02 PM »
Apologies if it seems like I was casting aspersions at your gaming experience when I was just trying to poke fun at folks scaring so easily. At least you actually have looked at a copy of the rules before criticizing them, and of course criticism itself isn’t a problem. But even if one considers the structure of the rules an obstacle that isn’t a necessarily a knock on the rules themselves. If people can understand THW rule sets, they can certainly grok this set with a bit of patience.

Offline spacecowsmith

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2019, 09:55:09 PM »
Quite alright!

I think the problem is £25 is quite a lot of cash for folks to shell out to just pick up a copy and give it a try.

I'm reminded of Rogue Stars where there was lots of buzz about it before it's release and when people sat down to try it, they were struck by the high quality of the artwork and the poor rules (and I love A Song of Blades and Of Gods and Mortals by the same author).

As for the rules themselves, they really needed to have some sense checking when they were written as they feel a bit ill defined and poorly explained and life is too short for confusing rulebooks. I can't help but feel that one shouldn't have to strain one's brain when playing with toy soldiers. It should be a fun experience not one that leaves you cross!

Offline Manchu

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2019, 10:16:35 PM »
I recently picked up Badgers & Burrows, a fairly simple and cleanly written text (helps that Osprey’s book is the second printed edition IIRC) — but even then I immediatley ran into a rules question. Thanks to FB and Michael Lovejoy’s generous engagement with players what could have been a frustrating moment turned into a fascinating conversation. As to Rogue Stars, I was pretty hip to that one when it came out and I agree there are some problems at least relative to my personal tastes but I think they can be solved if you like what’s good about the game, the push your luck activation mechanic. I think Rogue Stars got a bad rep way too quickly and it is still not all that deserved.

Ragnarok is going to confuse a lot of gamers, especially people who are brand new to minis gaming. It takes me back to cracking open D&D manuals for the first time. It was many years before I had any idea what it was supposed to play like. Ragnarok won’t be remotely as difficult but it’s true that some folks have moved past more arcane rules writing styles and want an “out of the way” approach, like perhaps Fistful of Lead or Starport Scum. Ragnarok is not going to necessarily appeal to that sensibility.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2019, 10:18:06 PM by Manchu »

Offline LeadAsbestos

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2019, 02:05:59 PM »
Our first few games of Dracula's America were difficult, searching endlessly thru the book for rules that weren't where they "should" be, but once we had a few games under our belts, it became a favorite, and turned out to be very well designed, just different to our expectations.

Hoping for that experience w this one too!

Offline spacecowsmith

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2019, 02:15:14 PM »
I'd love to hear other folks opinions of the game as I'm still not getting it. Alas posting on Ragnarok's page doesn't seem to have any forthcoming explanation of the turn sequence and how specific rules (especially combat!) works.

Offline AkumaKaze

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Re: Ospreys' Ragnarok
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2019, 01:29:24 AM »
Hi all,

I am Tim Korklewski, author of Ragnarok. There was a specific example that was omitted from the rulebook for some reason. As far as the response time on Facebook, I had to attend a work convention during the launch of the game so of course my response time was almost non-existent. Apologies to any who did not understand the rules. I have answered many of the questions that people have had and, unfortunately, I will need to post an errata to include the example that people need as well as change wording on a few abilities back to their original meanings.  Luckily with the internet the errata can be easily posted for those to find and apply.

If any questions pop up, ease feel free to reach out to me on the Facebook page, email, or just PM me on Facebook.