AE: Bounty (By Darkson Designs)

[Major_Gilbear]

Well off the strength of some limited reviews (like WarGameGuru's) I bough AE: Bounty last week and have been reading up on it this weekend.

After visiting the official forum and looking around fro the model availability here in the UK (I was curious about purchasing the base inserts), I have found remarkably little!

I've seen about three crews (some nice 15mm ones by HRE Joseph III I think!?), and not much else. I haven't even found a UK supplier (I got the rulebook through Amazon).

So I thought I'd post here and ask for your collective experiences.

My initial reading is that it is pretty straightforward, and seems to be quite flexible. CC appears to be strong but risky, Green troops appear to be hard to use (only one Action Point!) and the list templates/crew selection had me scratching my head for a good while!

I'm itching to try some Star Wars style skirmishes, and I also reckon that some not-Firefly would work well too. I even got some of Heresy's Hurn to try out a Predator-style game! 

So what do those of you who've played think about the game? Can any of you post some pix of the crews you've used and any other general info on the game?

[WarGameGuru]

As for models for the game, the possibilities are endless really.

I was looking around at making a 15mm crew as well, but in 28mm I've used everything from MERCS Minis and Shock Troopers from Wargames Factory to 40k models, Pig Iron Productions models and AE Bounty's own models. Zombiesmith makes some models sculpted by the same guy doing the AE Bounty models that look rather nice too if you like the look and feel of the AE Bounty ones alone.

Aside from the rulebook, what you pick up to use to play it is pretty much up to you, which is part of what makes it so flexible and fun.

[Momotaro]

I picked it up from Amazon after WGG's review here as well.  Just finished reading it too!

In the UK, Allsorts Emporium sells Darkson's AE: WWII minis, but not any of the AE:Bounty minis.  Ask nicely?  I'm not so interested - I'm not as keen on the Darkson SF minis.

As WGG said, though, there are tons of minis out there for you to mix and match, but I'm planning to do this for a couple of gangs:

1) A couple of boxes of the new GW Dark Eldar will make a really nice "wasteland warriors" or "reavers" (as in Firefly/Serenity)-themed gang;

2)  Start converting.  Pick up a couple of GW boxes, scavenge some bitz (or, indeed, bitz) off Ebay/friends, buy some extra heads/weapons, and start mixing and matching!

A good start would be GW Cadians plus a couple of sprues of WFB Empire Militia for civilian crew torsos and different heads.  I've done this in the past for Dark Heresy RPG characters and it works really nicely.  Throw in some ragged WFB Empire Flagellant bodies for that ragged/crazy/cultist look, Kroot for alien barbarians, or Tau for a cool merc force.  Or look at the Warhammer fantasy Lizardmen, or even Skaven - the new WFB starter set has a real steampunk vibe to some of the skaven minis.  Mix in some weapons from Hasslefree or Heresy, and heads from Black Cat Bases or Micro Art (in Poland, but the service is good).

[manic _miner]

 I got my copy from Amazon too.

 Critical Mass games do some nice alien miniatures in 15mm.I think Joeseph used some of them on his blog.They are really cool little sculpts.If you  are after some buy them before the 18th as prices are due to go up then.

[Major_Gilbear]

Well, I'm not really massively interested in buying Darkson's models right now - nothing wrong with them, but I already have plenty to be getting on with. I was really more interested in their £ pricing, the weapon packs and the base inserts. I do have plenty of useful bits for weapons and bases, but I'm always on the lookout for anything that catches my eye in that regard, and the base inserts at least looked nice.

I hadn't thought of using the Dark Eldar Wyches as the basis of Firefly Reavers, but it is an excellent one! I was thinking that some LOTR Uruk Hai might be a good start, and I reckon that with some Dark Eldar bits you would be pretty much set.

Finding decent 28-30mm Star Wars models has been... Difficult. I know about the pre-painted stuff though. I might see about doing some repaints if that turns out to be the best answer.

As for playing with crews, has anybody noticed any crew template or type being more powerful/weaker than others? Or is balance generally good? I'm rather interested in hearing people's thoughts on fluidity and game balance in more specific terms.

[Wolfslord]

So I thought I'd post here and ask for your collective experiences.

My initial reading is that it is pretty straightforward, and seems to be quite flexible. CC appears to be strong but risky, Green troops appear to be hard to use (only one Action Point!) and the list templates/crew selection had me scratching my head for a good while!

I'm itching to try some Star Wars style skirmishes, and I also reckon that some not-Firefly would work well too. I even got some of Heresy's Hurn to try out a Predator-style game!  

So what do those of you who've played think about the game? Can any of you post some pix of the crews you've used and any other general info on the game?

CC depends greatly on how you equip your crew. With the right equipment you can create characters that are nearly invincible, but this of course takes several gear slots. Therefore I think this balances out a bit.

Green troops on their own seem pretty weak, but imagine a lot of them. Although one action per turn isn't much, when 1-2 squads of green guys is in position you still get 2-3 shots. The quantity of action points you get from several green squads pays off in mid or late game.

In my opinion AE Bounty Hunter truly shines with a Gamemaster and two players. Ths is because AE Bounty Hunter is so flexible, that you can create ridiculously strong models or crews (if you leave aside common sense, style and background) that are hard to counter. If you like games that solely rest on the principle of "who creates the uber-combination", then feel free to go this way, but I don't like such games.

An alternative is to let the miniatures/background or one player dictate the crew/equipment/race template choices.

As for playing with crews, has anybody noticed any crew template or type being more powerful/weaker than others? Or is balance generally good? I'm rather interested in hearing people's thoughts on fluidity and game balance in more specific terms.

I think pirates are bit more difficult to handle at first, if you field a lot of miniatures. Bounty Hunters appear strong, but can be countered well enough. For example, a Bounty Hunter crew with three veteran guys, can still be beaten if you suppress them. Even one regular squad can reliably suppress one of this guys and you kill them slowly or go for the objective.

Objectives are a very important factor and one should never play without them. Even three one-action-point pirates can be decisive in terms of the primary or secondary objective. So in my experience balanced crews are perhaps less "kill-y", but have a better chance at winning the game.

My advice, just play AE Bounty Hunter is one of those games that you have to play to truly understand the mechanics and strategies. There are myriads of possibilities to go after your objectives and disrupt the plan of your opponent by knowing the secondary objectives in general.


Miniatures:

I'm a total 15mm fan:

-Ground Zero Games has the Not-Serenity Crew (which looks great)
- 15mm.co.uk has nearly everything
- Khurasan makes great stuff
- Rebel minis look great and he has a shipping flatrate of 5$
- Blue Moon Manufacturing has some cool stuff (even some Dark Eldar, Reaver stuff)
- Critical Mass has a superb range of mercenaries
- thescene.co.uk has some great robots and Men in Black

In short you'll find stuff in 15mm that no 28mm manufacturer has even thought of (e.g. truly unique aliens) and the price is great. For AE Bounty Hunter a mere 5 pound can give you enough miniatures for both players

[dijit]

Ae Bounty is a great game. One of the nice things about it is yes you can build a killy crew, but it'll tend to lose most of it's games due to the victory conditions. Pirates whilst difficult to make into dangerous crews can often win by pinning their opponent and running off with the loot!
Here's is one of my first games:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=20932.0
This was before I'd really got to grips with suppression, and whilst the bounty hunter crew is nasty, now I know it's just a case of suppressing the models and going after killing them one by one whilst completing the mission.
My current crew is a mixture of Darkson, G.O.T. (Antenociti Workshop's minis) and Infinity minis, which in my eye seem to work well together.
Hope that helps!
Duncan

[WarGameGuru]

Ae Bounty is a great game. One of the nice things about it is yes you can build a killy crew, but it'll tend to lose most of it's games due to the victory conditions. Pirates whilst difficult to make into dangerous crews can often win by pinning their opponent and running off with the loot!
Here's is one of my first games:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=20932.0
This was before I'd really got to grips with suppression, and whilst the bounty hunter crew is nasty, now I know it's just a case of suppressing the models and going after killing them one by one whilst completing the mission.
My current crew is a mixture of Darkson, G.O.T. (Antenociti Workshop's minis) and Infinity minis, which in my eye seem to work well together.
Hope that helps!
Duncan

Oh yes that would make a nice crew, and I can see how G.O.T. and Infinity would visually work well together. Nice call Duncan.

[bandit86]

Zombiesmith has some nice figures for AE Bounty.  I used one figure to make a whole crew.
http://www.quarinvasion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1135

[dijit]

In my opinion AE Bounty Hunter truly shines with a Gamemaster and two players. Ths is because AE Bounty Hunter is so flexible, that you can create ridiculously strong models or crews (if you leave aside common sense, style and background) that are hard to counter. If you like games that solely rest on the principle of "who creates the uber-combination", then feel free to go this way, but I don't like such games.

I'm not sure about this. Yes you can create tough characters, but they'll often lose a game not through lack of destruction but because they'll get suppressed and whilst they're there the opponent will go about completing the objectives. The objective system is what really balances AE Bounty out. Some crews are better at some missions, whilst others better at other missions, but with the random table of missions you're always best served with a balanced crew that can do a little of everything.
Duncan

[Major_Gilbear]

In my opinion AE Bounty Hunter truly shines with a Gamemaster and two players. Ths is because AE Bounty Hunter is so flexible, that you can create ridiculously strong models or crews (if you leave aside common sense, style and background) that are hard to counter. If you like games that solely rest on the principle of "who creates the uber-combination", then feel free to go this way, but I don't like such games.

I'm surprised to hear this! You think AE:B is more like a roleplaying game then?

I would have thought that unless you were playing a stranger (in a tournament for example, or perhaps somebody new at a games club), you'd have a reasonable idea of what to expect from your opponent(s). That said, if you create a super-powerful three-man crew, wouldn't it get suppressed all the time? And If you create a crew of mostly green troops, wouldn't you struggle to complete objectives or perform meaningful actions with them each turn?

What sort of crews/choices do you specifically feel are overpowered?

I'm not asking because I like to play the most competitive possible crew in every game, but rather because I often find that when I randomly choose a crew I always seem to build or pick at least one strong model!
I am likely to use Necromunda models for my initial game or two, as I have them painted up - Van Saar equipped for close-range combat are really nasty in Necromunda, and I have a feeling that if I proxy their weapons, I'm going to end up with at least one nasty model (I'm guessing the Leader with a Plasma Pistol and Chainsword would translate to a Beam pistol and a sword at least, plus maybe the Mono-wire Gear choice for the sword?).
I'd prefer to work around a nasty combo to find something more engaging for my opponent if that's the case.

Zombiesmith has some nice figures for AE Bounty.  I used one figure to make a whole crew.

Wow, that's a great looking crew - and all from one figure! I see you used some of the Heresy Sci-Fi pistols too? Good choice; I picked some up a while back and forgot all about them...

@ dijit:
Yes, I saw your battle report! Good read, and nice to see some custom models too - I enjoyed them a lot.

Models-wise, I have thought about GOT (I reckon the Wales & West boxed set would be aces for this game!), and I also spotted the Zombiesmith aliens too. I don't know about shipping them from US stores though, as Customs nails me every time! Ebay's usually the best place for these things I guess.

As for scales, I do really like the look of the 15mm stuff and I know it is very cost/space effective model-wise, but I don't have the time/space/inclination to have another set of 15mm terrain when I have everything else scaled to 30mm. I know a lot of natural terrain features cross over well, but buildings and such look daft when they're twice the size they should be!

[bandit86]

Another good place is the Cronoscope line from Reaper.  There is a nice Firefly type crew and the Nova troopers would be cool for a human team. There are grey aliens and big brain head types like in Mars attacks (ack ack ack)  and I  am hoping that they make more of the illyrians that they have I really like those. They also have a bunch of others that would make good crew and bounty hunters.

[Wolfslord]

I'm not sure about this. Yes you can create tough characters, but they'll often lose a game not through lack of destruction but because they'll get suppressed and whilst they're there the opponent will go about completing the objectives. The objective system is what really balances AE Bounty out. Some crews are better at some missions, whilst others better at other missions, but with the random table of missions you're always best served with a balanced crew that can do a little of everything.

I agree that those uber-crews won't much games, because of the objectives. Nevertheless they make a very boring and frustrating game for the opponent, therfore they should be avoided.

I'm surprised to hear this! You think AE:B is more like a roleplaying game then?
I would have thought that unless you were playing a stranger (in a tournament for example, or perhaps somebody new at a games club), you'd have a reasonable idea of what to expect from your opponent(s). That said, if you create a super-powerful three-man crew, wouldn't it get suppressed all the time? And If you create a crew of mostly green troops, wouldn't you struggle to complete objectives or perform meaningful actions with them each turn?

I think it is more suitable for story-oriented or fun-driven, not competitive gameplay. Suppressing strong/small crews is a viable counter, but it's not so easy that they don't stand a chance. In short, I think it's quite balanced.

If you have a large gang, you can bind/slow the enemy down with the green squads and go for the objective e.g. with the Pirate Captain or Quartermaster.

I'm not asking because I like to play the most competitive possible crew in every game, but rather because I often find that when I randomly choose a crew I always seem to build or pick at least one strong model!
I am likely to use Necromunda models for my initial game or two, as I have them painted up - Van Saar equipped for close-range combat are really nasty in Necromunda, and I have a feeling that if I proxy their weapons, I'm going to end up with at least one nasty model (I'm guessing the Leader with a Plasma Pistol and Chainsword would translate to a Beam pistol and a sword at least, plus maybe the Mono-wire Gear choice for the sword?).
I'd prefer to work around a nasty combo to find something more engaging for my opponent if that's the case.

No it does not translate into the Beam pistol and sword. Strong CC models have the problem that you have to get them in CC. I think a stronger fun-killer are heavy weapon guys with rapid reloader, a high RC due to Assasin plus a lot of armour. Still as said, they won't necessarily win the game, but make it boring.

As for scales, I do really like the look of the 15mm stuff and I know it is very cost/space effective model-wise, but I don't have the time/space/inclination to have another set of 15mm terrain when I have everything else scaled to 30mm. I know a lot of natural terrain features cross over well, but buildings and such look daft when they're twice the size they should be!

I started 15mm from scratch and it is possible (due to the scale) to build a great piece of terrain in under one hour. I created more 15mm terrain pieces in 2 months than most of the 28mm players I know in their whole gaming life