Brink of Battle - Official Thread - New TRAIT pg 7!

[Faust23]

Brink of Battle: Skirmish Gaming through the Ages is on sale NOW!!!

You can find it here http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/brink-of-battle/12393447

This is the official Brink of Battle discussion thread.  Professor Witcheimer says if we have enough interest, he'll set up a child board for us!

Please, share your thoughts, ask your questions, and learn more about this exciting new rules set!

Noch Weiter!

Robert Faust

[Faust23]

I also created a Facebook page and a Group you can join here http://www.facebook.com/groups/276411602433983/#!/groups/276411602433983/

[Da_Drew]

Greetings Lead Adventurers!

I have lurked around this site a bit and have recently joined. I am here to support my good friend Faust23 and to share my thoughts on Brink of Battle.  In a nutshell I love this game.  While it is intended for historical war games it can be adapted to suit any scenario you can dream up.  The rules allow for unfettered creativity while building the members of your various skirmish groups.  In the course of play testing I would often substitute my elven models to play a period 1 forces and my Eldar minis for period 3.  I find building a roster completely enjoyable because there is no set list telling me how my elves are built and equipped.  The only limitations are the model in terms of WYSIWYG, and point value caps for reasons of game balance. The game itself plays in a dynamic and satisfying way with both players contributing to the outcome of critical actions.  Once familiar with the game mechanics tense and strategic games can be played very quickly.  I would strongly urge anyone looking for a rule set that will fill in the gaps to check this system out.  I believe you will find a platform that any conceivable skirmish level campaign or setting can be built upon.

-Drew

[jackwrench]

Like Da_Drew above me, this is my first time posting on the forums, though I really haven't been lurking around for too long.

I am one of the two graphic designers who worked with Faust on this book, and I had a small hand in the playtesting as well. I can say without a doubt that it is one of my favorite set of skirmish rules to date, and the flexibility is absolutely unparalleled by anything else I've played. You can make any force you want in any time period you want, and soon, it will go far beyond that, letting you create your own worlds and tell your own stories through the coming fantasy and sci-fi supplements.

Truly, this system is poised to be the next big thing. To borrow and oft-used quote among us, you can either be the first of your gaming group to tear into these rules, or you can be the last.

-J

[Faust23]

We had a question come up over the weekend about whether or not you could Ambush behind a Smoke Token.  You cannot.  To Ambush you must end your movement within 1" of a piece of Terrain that provides Concealment.  Since Smoke Tokens and Markers are not Terrain pieces, you can't hide behind them with the Ambush Action.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

You got a copy of this from lulu? Is it good? How did you do the layout? Did you have bleed etc on the master?

[Faust23]

You got a copy of this from lulu? Is it good? How did you do the layout? Did you have bleed etc on the master?

Yeah, I published it through Lulu and it looks great.  As my friend Bob put it, "It looks like something you'd buy from a STORE!"   

I was very happy with the results.  We all had just printed word docs for the playtesting.  Adding the graphics and diagrams that Gib and Alan cooked up was a bit of a bitch, but once it got to Lulu it came out looking sweet.

Very happy with that.  Now we just have to figure out their pdf ebook thing.  I had some issues with it the other day and their live chat has been down for a couple of days.  I don't like that I can't talk to a person on the phone like us old guys are accustomed to doing.   

You'd have to ask Jackwrench about the bleeding master bit; I'm a writer not an Engineer!  (Makes best McCoy face)   

[Rhodes]

Hello,
I have a question about the gear for the different periods.  I would like to use the rules for a Darkest Africa game.  The native troops would be outfitted with outdated weapons.  Would it be necessary to modify the sp cost of the weapons from the different periods?

Thanks, Chris

[DoctorPete]

I got my copy recently and am reading it through now.  So far I am very happy with the rules and am looking forward to my first game.  These rules give me an opportunity to get a few figures from a bunch of different historical periods and play with minimal investment.  The quality of the book is good.  Nice job, guys!

[Faust23]

@DoctorPete - Thanks for your business, and glad to hear you like it!  Be sure to friend Bob Faust on Facebook and I'll add you to our Brink of Battle group.

@Rhodes - Thanks for your business, and glad to hear you like it!  So, you've hit on what I call the 'Grey Areas' of History.  Always a difficult thing to cross pollinate balanced Gear for these scenarios.

I'm assuming for Darkest Africa you are using Period 3 for one side, and Period 2 weapons for the other?  If so, you should be able to use the Period 2 Costs for all non-Firearms without any changes.  I didn't include them in the Period 3 list because most of the time, this doesn't come up for Period 3.  However, this is now your game, so feel free to modify it as you feel best suits the historical forces.  If reducing the cost of Period 2 Firearms sounds reasonable to you, then go for it.  Let me know what your results are like, because I'd like to be able to share your feedback with others gaming that period.  I'm not an expert for all periods and openly welcome customer feedback when drilling down into specific conflicts in history, especially when they're not my areas of study.

As we develop this game further, we will release micro-supplements to zero in closely on a particular conflict or gaming scenario.  I'll be looking for customers who have expertise in gaming those conflicts to help play test, and/or develop the supplement.  I'd be happy to get with you down the road when we do Darkest Africa.

Noch Weiter!

Bob

[Rhodes]

Thanks for the reply. 

Chris

[Poiter50]

My copy arrived today in OZ, sent by Lulu from Port Melbourne.

[Faust23]

My copy arrived today in OZ, sent by Lulu from Port Melbourne.

Cool! Thanks for your business!

I'm glad to hear they do send it in country. 

[Faust23]

I just updated the BoB blog page.

You can see it here http://brinkofbattle.blogspot.com/

[Faust23]

Hi! Here's the cut and paste of our first official Frequently Asked Questions list.  

Question:  Are there rules for Vehicles in the main book?

Answer:  No.  Next year one of the supplements will be for Vehicles.  It will cover Motorcycles through light tanks.  It will also have rules for Anti-Tank weapons, etc.  The vehicles book will release prior to the Sci-Fi book, so that sci-fi vehicles can be included, such as grav bikes, hovercraft, etc.

Question:  Where do I find the Supply Point costs for Ratings, Traits, and Gear?

Answer: All costs for those items are listed in the Tables section in the back of the book.  This was done intentionally, so that if any of those numbers were to change in the future, you would still be able to use the information in your main rules text without having incorrect numbers.  You can also find these tables in the Resources section of our website at www.brinkofbattle.com

Question:  I would like to use the rules to play skirmishes with forces that have different weapons from different periods.  Can I use the Gear costs as they are, or do I need to modify them to reflect the lower technology of the more primitive force?

Answer:  This falls into what I call the ‘gray area’ of history.  Some types of skirmish themes will straddle two different Periods.  Examples include, Darkest Africa, Colonials vs Zulu’s, or certain types of weapons in the American Civil War that show up earlier than listed in the game, but aren’t as widespread as they would need to be to fall into Period 2, like early revolvers as an example.  

The best way to handle this is to remember one of my design principles: you and your friends get to haggle over the ‘historical accuracy’ bit!  My recommendation is that you do what makes the most sense to you.  Period 3 weapons don’t include the more common hand combat weapons like spears, swords, etc from Periods 1 & 2.  You can use the cost for those items from the Period 2 Gear chart, and still have your Colonials or Great White Hunters using the most current weapons of their Period.
 
Question:  When I am playing a Campaign game, and my model earns Experience points, how do I increase his Ratings?
 
Answer: Experience Points are a type of Supply Point that is used by models in Campaign games.  As noted on page 126 you need to consult the Rating Increase Chart.  And then I didn’t put one in!  Just subtract the Supply Point cost of your model’s current Rating from the cost of the next higher Rating and that’s how many Experience Points you need to spend to make the increase.  For example, a CBT 4 costs 10 SP’s.  To increase it to a 5, you need to subtract 10 from 15, which is the cost for a CBT 5 Rating.  So your model must spend 5 Experience to increase to a 5 CBT Rating.