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Author Topic: Osprey's The Doomed  (Read 11575 times)

Offline Mr. White

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Osprey's The Doomed
« on: January 27, 2023, 05:31:28 PM »
There was a recent announcement of another post apocalyptic ruleset. I'm not familiar with any of the authors. Thoughts on this so far?

https://ospreypublishing.com/us/doomed-9781472854254/

Offline TheDaR

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2023, 07:35:34 AM »
There was a recent announcement of another post apocalyptic ruleset. I'm not familiar with any of the authors. Thoughts on this so far?

Chris McDowell has been primarily an RPG author up until now.  He's most famous for his Into the Odd/Electric Bastionland books, which are an interesting extremely minimalist take on D&D type games.  This carries over into his other works, and he's got a pretty keen eye for boiling a game down to the very minimum core necessary to convey his vision.

I watched Doomed go from initial playtest (where it started as "Grimlite", a minimal take on Necromunda), and then slowly developed the current more survival-horror sort of theme.  It's pretty heavily narrative and light on crunchy mechanics.  There's a lot of cleaving toward cooperative interpretation of the rules, more like an RPG than a boardgame.

Mechanics tend somewhat towards A Song of Blade and Heroes, with most units having single primary rating (Quality) plus some additional extra per-model or per-weapon special keyword rules, and then rolling to activate for attempting various action types.  Somewhat like Crossfire, there's no measuring of distances, movement is a straight line until you hit some other terrain or something stops you like coming within attack range of an enemy, likewise range for missile weapons is just line of sight.

There's a lot of emphasis on the mix and match of the particular Horror you're facing off against plus the "scene" (the battlefield layout, objectives for the board, etc).  There's plenty of advice on how to create your own horrors or reskin the default factions and horrors.

It's an interesting little game if you're willing to give a try to something a bit more narrative in your skirmishing.  If you're looking for a tournament ruleset with the promise of a ton of future expansion content, it's probably a pass.

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2023, 03:39:43 PM »
Great review! Thank you...

Mike Demana

Offline zemjw

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2023, 11:50:10 AM »
From the Amazon pre-release page (probably Osprey as well, I couldn't be bothered fighting the cookies to find out  :-X)

Quote
A quick-playing, rules-light skirmish wargame of Horror hunting set in a bleak sci-fi world on the brink of impending doom.

Hunger, Hatred, Domination, Oblivion, and Ruin. The world is dying, poised on the brink of falling to one of these great dooms. Factions pursue their own interests, as likely to be the heralds of the world's destruction as they are its saviours. Horrors - monstrous abominations that defy logic, science, and nature - roam the land. Bands of hunters follow bold leaders, seeking out and destroying Horrors, gaining fame as word of their deeds spreads amongst the desperate survivors. Rival bands compete for prestige, clash over ideology, and pose as much of a threat to each other as the Horrors they hunt.

The Doomed is a quick-playing, rules-light skirmish wargame in which small warbands of hunters compete to hunt unique Horrors in a bleak sci-fi world. Scenarios are defined by the Horror being hunted and by the Conflict in which the hunt takes place. Each Horror has its own strengths, weaknesses, and tactics, often breaking the rules in unique ways, and must be approached carefully - stealth, cunning, and brute force will all have a role to play. Each Conflict, meanwhile, provides a distinct set-up for the scenario and a secondary objective that pits the warbands against each other as well as against the Horror. Campaigns build towards a climax, with hunters gaining prestige and renown, offering access to new, unique options for their warband. In the background, the five dooms also grow in power, threatening to deliver their own climax to the campaign if the hunters are not successful enough.

Looks like it could be interesting. On the downside, it's another 176 page hardback costing £25.00 :(

Offline robh

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2023, 05:35:38 PM »
It is available now from the usual outlets, including Osprey themselves.

Chris still has the original version of the rules and scenarios for download on his blog:
https://www.bastionland.com/search/label/GRIMLITE

Does not cover everything in the published version but should give an idea on what to expect.  It is a very cool little ruleset and a perfect game for creative figure converters/scratchbuilders.
Just get a bunch of different big monster type things for the bosses and go hunting. Very cheap options on loose plastic boardgame figures off eBay.

As mentioned Grimlite is its earlier title, there was a version prior to that as well but I forget the name of that iteration (was more PvP rather than PvScenario)

Offline Ultravanillasmurf

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2023, 05:28:27 PM »
Our gracious host had it on special for preorders.

The review above covers it quite well.

I have built a warband from the recently released Scavengers with heads from the Mercenaries sprue.
Not really sure about other warbands (until the Wargames Atllantic's Damned turn up).

Horrors are a bit more difficult, there are probably some Great Womble plastics that might be suitable if costly.

I am looking at some Crooked Dice Shoggoths and protoplasmic horrors as one option.

North Star Chronohounds are another one (or three).

Offline Hobgoblin

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2023, 06:01:30 PM »
I got hold of it last week - a lovely-looking book with lots of kitbashes and painting by Blasphemia Blackwood of this parish. The game looks lots of fun, and the author reprises his terrific Into the Odd trick of giving you just enough detail to fire the imagination.

For horrors, I reckon there's lots of potential in some of the chunkier Reaper Bones monsters (some, like the Bathalians, will work well without conversion). I'm also looking at kitbashing things like the Mantic sci-fi rat-ogres, GW and Wargames Atlantic giant spiders, and tyranids and genestealers.

Offline Ultravanillasmurf

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2023, 07:32:46 PM »
Mantic has some interesting items.

The Mind Screech (Nightmares) has a definite Angel look.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_Neon_Genesis_Evangelion

The Abyssal Dwarf Charnox also would work.

Not sure what to use for minions and nexus.

Offline Reboot Guillotine

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2023, 03:38:19 AM »
This sounds like it might be a great opportunity to use models from CMON's The Others and Death May Die.

Offline Hobgoblin

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2023, 11:40:14 AM »
This sounds like it might be a great opportunity to use models from CMON's The Others and Death May Die.

Yes - board games are a fertile source for this. I was having a look through a box of Reaper and boardgames miniatures and noted that the elementals from Descent 2nd edition would work well for at least a couple of the horrors. I've already converted a Descent ettin to be a two-headed ork thing, and he'll work well for one or two as well. Tyranid hormagaunts will do as the twin leapers - and as minions for some of the other horrors.

Mantic has some interesting items.

The Mind Screech (Nightmares) has a definite Angel look.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_Neon_Genesis_Evangelion

The Abyssal Dwarf Charnox also would work.

Not sure what to use for minions and nexus.

Yeah, there's loads of weird stuff in the Mantic catalogue - and there are now hard-plastic Nightstalker sprues, which are perfect horrors.

Offline Ultravanillasmurf

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2023, 06:22:11 PM »
Yeah, there's loads of weird stuff in the Mantic catalogue - and there are now hard-plastic Nightstalker sprues, which are perfect horrors.
Definitely, especially for Forsaken.

Crooked Dice' The Weed and The Fungoids (not a popular beat combo) are another combination.

Offline 3Fingers2

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #11 on: September 16, 2023, 09:12:42 AM »
I have seen some interesting conversions of adding skittari heads and equipment to Cawdor bodies which is the route I would of gone if I done this , but I think I would of used the Cawdor weapons with maybe a skittarri one reserved for the band leader ?

Offline NickNascati

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2023, 12:37:31 AM »
Osprey already has Zona Alfa, which is a great game. Why create another one in the same genre?

Online carlos marighela

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2023, 10:29:52 AM »
Osprey already has Zona Alfa, which is a great game. Why create another one in the same genre?


$$$$$$,£££££££££££££££,€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€€,$$$$$$$$$ That's why.

Rules lite, 176 pages and twenty five quid. What a bargain!
Em dezembro de '81
Botou os ingleses na roda
3 a 0 no Liverpool
Ficou marcado na história
E no Rio não tem outro igual
Só o Flamengo é campeão mundial
E agora seu povo
Pede o mundo de novo

Offline Hobgoblin

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Re: Osprey's The Doomed
« Reply #14 on: September 17, 2023, 12:57:29 PM »
Osprey already has Zona Alfa, which is a great game. Why create another one in the same genre?

The Doomed isn't remotely in the same genre as Zona Alfa. It's not 'post-apocalyptic' in the conventional sense - the background is only hinted at, but it's set on some far-flung planet haunted by (possibly) Lovecraftian horrors. It's a science-fantasy game; the 'apocalypse' is whatever has allowed the supernatural entities into the world.

Rules lite, 176 pages and twenty five quid. What a bargain!

Having paid for it, I'd say it's a pretty good deal. The rules are simple and take up only a few pages, but the bulk of the book is scenario content: the 36 horrors, each of which have different behaviours and - in most cases - minions; and the 36 'conflicts' (objectives). These are typically combined, so you get a huge number of potential set-ups. There's also what looks like a fairly robust campaign system.

I've really enjoyed it so far: I think the scenario-heavy content is a refreshing change from the many, many games in which the rules are the main deal and the scenarios are bland afterthoughts. And the set-up, with players competing against each other but also having to cooperate against the horror, is interesting in itself.

 

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