Xenos Rampant First Games (another 3 player game added 07/01)

[TWD]

Played a couple of quick games of Xenos Rampant






More on the blog: https://tomstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-games-of-xenos-rampant.html

[armchairgeneral]

Interesting battle report. Similarly I have just bought XR out of curiosity as I enjoy playing LR. I also don’t play Sci-fi but I thought they would work for WW1.

Btw you say you don’t play sci-fi but you have 40K stuff?

[Warren Abox]

Been using Khurasan's mid-tech power armor as proxy Space Marines in my games, and they don't feel quite right.  With a 3 squad minimum you only have 8 points per 7nit in a standard sized game.  That's not a lot of points left over for upgrades.

I think to get the right feel for Space Marines you need a minimum of 30AP per side.  That would let you do a little more customization on the squads.  It would also let you field enough large mobz of boyz to really give them a go.  The extra five guys don't make mobs stick around that much longer, but the Attack bump means you actually have a shot at wounding Elite Infantry.

[TWD]

Btw you say you don’t play sci-fi but you have 40K stuff?

Probably should have qualified that to "...any more."
I worked for GW, so own quite a lot of 40K (though WFB was always my game).
I played quite a lot of 40K 8th when it first came out with my sons and buddies, but we all stopped when the rules started multiplying and you needed about six books to play the latest version of Marines.
I'm far too old and grey and stubborn to really wrap my head around 40K TBH, so Xenos was just an excuse to use the toys again - pleased to say it works

[TWD]

Been using Khurasan's mid-tech power armor as proxy Space Marines in my games, and they don't feel quite right.  With a 3 squad minimum you only have 8 points per 7nit in a standard sized game.  That's not a lot of points left over for upgrades.

I think to get the right feel for Space Marines you need a minimum of 30AP per side.  That would let you do a little more customization on the squads.  It would also let you field enough large mobz of boyz to really give them a go.  The extra five guys don't make mobs stick around that much longer, but the Attack bump means you actually have a shot at wounding Elite Infantry.

I think you just have to compromise at 24 points and take some scouts or a support weapon or something (as the two Marine squads will come in at over 8pts each probably). Two  5 man squads and a Rhino or (as we did) two 5 man squads and some scouts.
The Marines won the first game easily and the second was a bloody draw. Elites are *tough* at 24 points. Facing three squads of them would not be a lot of fun

[Pattus Magnus]

I enjoyed the battle reports. It looks like Xenos will work quite well as a sandbox game that can be adapted to a wide range of settings ( I’m certainly hoping so anyway).

[andyskinner]

I have pulled out Dragon Rampant multiple times, but have just never gone with it.  I think it is because of the way it does full strength attacks until at half strength and then half-strength attacks until gone.  I feel like it would bug me here.  While the number of figures still says (big) skirmish, it doesn't feel like a skirmish game to me with that abstraction.

Have you had such a concern, and did you find a way past it?  Or maybe I'm misreading?

andy

[Ragnar]

I have pulled out Dragon Rampant multiple times, but have just never gone with it.  I think it is because of the way it does full strength attacks until at half strength and then half-strength attacks until gone.  I feel like it would bug me here.  While the number of figures still says (big) skirmish, it doesn't feel like a skirmish game to me with that abstraction.

Have you had such a concern, and did you find a way past it?  Or maybe I'm misreading?

andy

I've played many Rampant games and it occurs to me that you could roll dice equal to the remaining points of a unit if you wish.  It will not break the game.

[TWD]

I have pulled out Dragon Rampant multiple times, but have just never gone with it.  I think it is because of the way it does full strength attacks until at half strength and then half-strength attacks until gone.  I feel like it would bug me here.  While the number of figures still says (big) skirmish, it doesn't feel like a skirmish game to me with that abstraction.

Have you had such a concern, and did you find a way past it?  Or maybe I'm misreading?

andy

I'm comfortable with that level of abstraction so have never thought to change it. It keeps things nice and simple and straightforward.
In TMWWBK however it is "one dice per man", so only 9 dice if you've suffered three casualties. R&P has yet another way of doing it!

You could do similar in the other rule sets, but it would have an impact on the relative value (points) of the different units, especially the ones at the ends of the spectrum. Elite units in Xenos would become less powerful more quickly - as written they continue to kick out ten powerful attacks until they've lost three models - degrading would mean they'd be down to just six after two casualties.
Likewise large units (some can be fifteen strong in Xenos) typically the weaker ones, would stay stronger for longer.

But the Rampant series are very much a "toolkit" type game - if you and your opponent want to give it a go and it works for you, all good and very much in keeping with how Dan M. sees the games I think.

[armchairgeneral]

I've played many Rampant games and it occurs to me that you could roll dice equal to the remaining points of a unit if you wish.  It will not break the game.

We roll the number of dice for the figures remaining. It seems to work okay. For skirmishers 6 dice (as only 6 in units) but they can shoot as a free move. The Rampant rules almost encourage house rules so change what you don't like.

[fred]

I have pulled out Dragon Rampant multiple times, but have just never gone with it.  I think it is because of the way it does full strength attacks until at half strength and then half-strength attacks until gone.  I feel like it would bug me here.  While the number of figures still says (big) skirmish, it doesn't feel like a skirmish game to me with that abstraction.

Have you had such a concern, and did you find a way past it?  Or maybe I'm misreading?

andy

I like this - saves having to constantly count figures - it also makes the series easy to use with multi-based figures.

[TWD]

Another game played - this time using a scenario and 30 point forces





More here:
http://tomstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2022/12/xenos-rampant-in-jungle.html

[Major_Gilbear]

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

I wonder if the Assault Marines might have been better off with Skimmer (plus High Mobility?) rather then Flyer rules?

The Ork Dread is a bit of an odd one, as the base rules for armoured vehicles seem to assume something more like a tank. Out of curiosity, what rules did you give it?

[DivisMal]

Very nice pictures of a game right from the time when I still actively collected 40k! Haven’t had time yet to play, but a common problem many AARs point out seems to be that Elites are a tough nut to crack.

[TWD]

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

I wonder if the Assault Marines might have been better off with Skimmer (plus High Mobility?) rather then Flyer rules?

The Ork Dread is a bit of an odd one, as the base rules for armoured vehicles seem to assume something more like a tank. Out of curiosity, what rules did you give it?

That's exactly what we did in the next game - I think we were mislead by the description of Flyers which explicitly mentions Jet Packs. The 40K version of a jet pack is much more like the skimmers rule.

We gave the Dredd walker (obviously) then we've played with a few different upgrades - including the close combat one - still not sure we've got it exactly "Orky" though