Xenos Rampant is coming!

[eilif]

18” range? Really?

I’ve been playing a bunch of sharp practice lately (Napoleonic Skirmish) and muskets fire to 24” and rifles out to 36”

Hmm,  for a game of the size Xenos seems to be going for, that does seem a bit short.   

[Hobgoblin]

Hmm,  for a game of the size Xenos seems to be going for, that does seem a bit short.   

It's especially odd because there are 24" and 36" ranges in The Men Who Would be Kings.

[Warren Abox]

Hmm,  for a game of the size Xenos seems to be going for, that does seem a bit short.   

That is the standard. You can purchase upgrades to extend ranges for certain units. For example, snipers can shoot 24 in. It does have rules for spotters, and artillery that can shoot up to 48 in.

[eilif]

That is the standard. You can purchase upgrades to extend ranges for certain units. For example, snipers can shoot 24 in. It does have rules for spotters, and artillery that can shoot up to 48 in.

Hmm.  Not making me want the rules more.  Not to say that I won't be convinced and pick them up later, but as I acquire rules that I quite enjoy it becomes harder to lure me into new games if I know up front there are red flags. 

Perhaps I missed it, but has there been mention of a recommended table size?

[Warren Abox]

Again, I'm going solely by an unofficial beta test PDF and the rest of the rules in the Rampant family. They generally call for a standard 6 ft by 4 ft table.

I use a table half that size and cut all ranges and movement in half, primarily because that's the space I have, but also because I play the game in 15 mm.

[eilif]

Again, I'm going solely by an unofficial beta test PDF and the rest of the rules in the Rampant family. They generally call for a standard 6 ft by 4 ft table.

That size table does seem an odd pairing with 18" standard ranges.   

[Marine0846]

Interesting this rule set coming out when it is.
I just used Lion Rampart with  modifications to play Star Wars.
It worked well.
It does change to more of a shooter game.
Not much hand to hand fighting.
With more terrain and objectives to capture would increase the hand to hand.

[nozza_uk]

Interesting this rule set coming out when it is.
I just used Lion Rampart with  modifications to play Star Wars.
It worked well.

I actually converted Dragon Rampant to play Judge Dredd. Had a roster for the Justice Dept, various Juves, an Ape gang and some renegade robots.

Hopefully won't need to much rework for Xenos Rampant.

[Commander Roj]

I have been quite excited about this but I am not quite sure about it. We have skirmish “crew” games in the shape of Stargrave and Rogue Stars. So we are talking about a larger skirmish, which I hope gives us some vehicles but not (and it clearly isn’t) an armoured clash.

As above, I am want to use it for 15mm. I am really not sure about it in 25/28mm. In 15mm you could argue that the 18 inches represents effective shooting range (although I would still want to consider doubling it). I very much feel that this falls into Fistful of Lead territory, so why do I want this? I am hoping that it will give me a smoother sci-fi experience than Tomorrows War did and feel a bit more military perhaps than FFOL (which I do like very, very much).

Am I hoping for too much?

[nozza_uk]

Based on my Dragon Rampant experience, I regularly fought battles with 60+ figures a side. Does that count as large skirmish? However, those battles had nicely lined up units of 12 figures, so I'd be interested in how Xenos Rampant organises its units for the table.

[Commander Roj]

Based on my Dragon Rampant experience, I regularly fought battles with 60+ figures a side. Does that count as large skirmish? However, those battles had nicely lined up units of 12 figures, so I'd be interested in how Xenos Rampant organises its units for the table.

60+, I guess it does. That transition from unit “lines” will be very interesting.

[Warren Abox]

I'm very curious to see how the use of indirect fire and spotters changes the game.  Also, whether off-board artillery barrages will be an option.  Those will really help solidify the game as a modern/future ruleset with different fundamental assumptions than the previous Rampant titles.

[Warren Abox]

The pre-release review copies are out, and the first "review" of XR is live.  From the looks of things, they have changed activation and free actions.  Now, a unit has to succeed with a normal (move/attack/shoot) action first, and then can follow up with their free action. 

That would mean assault troops with "shoot" as a free action can, if they succeed on a move activation, can move into position and open fire on the enemy in the same go.  Or a speedy unit with a free Move activation that succeeds on its initial activation roll could move twice in the same turn.  That might make for some pretty speedy units indeed.

Also, every unit can "shoot back" when fired on, but they have to succeed at a 7+ "return fire" activation to do so.  Similar to the charge and counter-charge system already in use from the looks of it.

[craigjonwoodfield]

My copy is in the post, so looking forward to playing it.

[danmer]

I'm on a rare foray to LAF and have just seen this thread. Please note that the discussions about range and free actions discussed above are not accurate. Maybe that's unsurprising as the book hasn't published yet!

Range extends beyond those distances quoted here - see the extreme range rule on page 61/62.

And the description of Free Actions is also not correct. A Free action means that you don't need to dice to carry it out. You don't get a second action. See page 54.

Regarding table size, we leave this open to accommodate all comers but suggest at least 48” x 48”. Different table sizes produce games that play out very differently to one another, the same as many rules. See pages 8 and 59.

For those of you who haven't dismissed the rulebook based on what you've read above (!), I hope you enjoy it.