Victory Decision- Future Combat - "Rival Species" 3rd example unit

[Agis]

It is about time to give you all some new information where Rival Species is standing.  
The good news, the book is fully written and all minis are painted that I want to use in the book.
Some more proofreading and the layout will follow. The book WILL come out in April. Mostly because I don’t have access to my camera and desktop equipment at the moment...
So what is in the book?  

This book brings utterly Alien Species to the Victory Decision line of products.
The book is a broad-stroked attempt to let you play with the typical bioengineered Alien Xenomorph races of the Science Fiction genre.
One more general thing: To keep the game nomenclature as consistent as possible the original names of the Future Combat book are kept. So an Alien with an exploding bone splinter weapon that can be thrown over a short distance still has the Grenades Ability. Or a telepathic lifeform that can disrupt enemy communication that has the ECM Ability. By using this way a lot of fancy but redundant new descriptions were avoided.  

New Special Rules / Abilities / Features:
Units from Rival Species are able to use an Assault Action as an Overwatch action!
Many units in Rival Species are untrained creatures that are controlled by the more evolved leading aliens. In game effects we have the new Hive Mind, Hive Relay and Swarm Abilities. To improve the survivability of the controlling aliens the new Regenerate Ability is introduced.
To round things up we have the new Underground Deployment Ability. Very handy if you want huge alien worms attack your enemies from below the surface!
A unique weapon feature for Rival Species is Entangle. It limit the actions of the target unit. This is usually accomplished by ensnaring creatures with strong limbs, tendrils or nanotechnology devices.  

New Psi Powers:
All in all Rival Species brings you 6 additional Psi Powers (Rival War players have also access to the 4 High Tech list Powers!): Mind Control, Mind Killer, Psi Discharge, Psi Puncture, Psi Spotting and Terror.
Mind Control gives you short time control (surprise) about an enemy model, while Mind Killer is a direct Ld based attack against an enemy model. Psi Puncture and Discharge are Psi based ranged attacks.
Terror is used to let an enemy unit become immediately Shaken. All very handy!  

The force list
The force is not governed by a strict military structure in the way other races are. The group intelligence or hive mind of the Aliens allows them to integrate a huge amount of swarms until their armies become immense forces, crushing every resistance that comes in its way.
A Bioengineered force is divided into 0-2 HQ, 2-6 Combat and 0-4 Special Elements for every 1500 points in your army.

HQ Elements
Rival Species includes 4 different HQ units, from a mid sized infiltration leader, big sized Hive Queens and Kings to a highly specialized Hive Brain unit. All are able to be customized as already established in the core rulebook. If you count all unit options you can created over 25 different HQ Elements! I am very confident that you can configure the alien HQ unit you want…

Combat Elements
Combat unit are divided into Assault/ CC units and ranged combat units. Again they start with tiny group based critters up to big Size/2 and even giant sized Size/3 units! So whatever you like to field, from huge hordes of cheap units to an elite alien attack cadre, it is all up to you.
You have 9 units all in all that can be individually enhanced or modified. I dare not start to estimate the overall number of creatable units…

Special Elements
The book includes 9 special elements with additional options. You have two different creatures that can carry smaller creatures with or in them and even a flying creature that can be used to deploy other units.
2 units are able to burrow below ground and have a unique Underground deployment and re-burrow rule. So if you want Sandworms, Burrower Bugs or who knows what in your force – you are covered!
Same goes for giant sized assault or ranged combat creatures. Then there are Brainworms, a Brainworm is capable of penetrating a victim’s central nervous system; taking control of enemies. And the Lurker! A very specialized stealth unit that can ambush enemies, scouting infiltrators in the vanguard of the Hive advance.
And finally the Overhead unit. The Overhead is a frail creature with an atrophied body and an overgrown head that is held upright by its own titanic Psi abilities. Overheads are only bred to be a focus of the Hive Minds Psi powers on the battlefield.


So whatever you have in mind for your alien or monstrous army, Rival Species will have a lot if not everything included.   Over the next days I will show some example units to give you a better feel what is coming to your gaming table!
BTW - some of the above names might change in the final book! If you have any questions - fire away!  

[Conquistador]

You are not going to make my ignoring this easy are you?

 

Gracias,

Glenn

[Agis]

Just the usual blatant marketing ploys... 

[The_Beast]

Just the usual blatant marketing ploys... 

Now, now, you know how we hate false modesty. We recognize the strong talent of your Jedi mind tricks.

However, you have not yet realized the full power of the dark side of the really, really cheap! 

'I'm skint...' 

Doug

[Keeper Nilbog]

And, again, another reason to make ViDe-FC my go too Sci-Fi rules (it was grunts - but I can use both, I suppose)

[Agis]

OK, first example unit: Space Demon Infiltrator.

Since the Infiltrators are basically human sized I start with the Size/1 Assault Swarm for  80 points.

Basic statline looks as follows:
Assault Swarm: 5 Assault Warriors.
Name                Move   CC/ Assault   Critical   Hit   Save   Ld   Ability
Assault Warrior   5”     2xD6 or D10   7+           5+   5+   4   Ferocious, Swarm, Untrained

Since I want my Assault Warriors more deadly, I choose the Alert and Deadly option for +40 points. The unit gains the Alert and Night Vision Abilities and all its Damage Dice benefit from the Save/-2 Feature.
The Infiltrator option is also fitting, so the unit is upgraded to Infiltrators for +30 points. Infiltrators benefit from the Infiltrate, Stealth/24” and Unseen Abilities.
The pictured unit has 8 Warriors. Consequently I add 3 more Warriors for 31 points each. Overall unit cost: 80 + 40 + 30 + 93 = 243 points.

[Conquistador]

This is a mistake... but what is the average point cost for skirmish/small battle?

Largest battle that the game handles easily point values?

If limited to two hours play, what size forces are practical?

Gracias,

Glenn

[Agis]

I simply quote chapter 18.1 of the ViDe FuCo rulebook:
"18.1. Choose Scenario and Points Limit
Before you can choose a force for a game you will need to agree with your opponent upon a scenario and the total number of points each of you will spend on your force.
This is a very convenient way of gaming. You just agree on a point limit and both can plan their armies. The recommended Points Value is 1.500 points per side. This will allow you to field a full platoon with command unit and some supporting units. It will give you a 2 hour game on the average – depending on your playing style, how much you know the gaming table and your opponent etc.
The smallest game size recommended is 500 points. You may only field 2 Squads and very limited support, one mistake and your patrol is gone. The game will last between 30 minutes and 1 hour.
The biggest games we played were 3.000 points using 2 Force Organisation Charts per side. Fielding 2 full platoons and a lot of supporting units resulting in a conflict on the Company level. It was always fun but is definitely more time consuming.
So which points you choose is up to you and your gaming group. "

Hope that helps! 

[Agis]

2nd example unit: Space Demon Shockforce.

Again the Shockforce models are only a bit bigger as 15mm humans start with the Size/1 Spiter Swarm for 75 points.

Basic statline looks as follows:
Spitter Swarm: 5 Spitter Warriors with Acid Needles.
In support of the assault warriors are the Spitter Swarms. A general term for all bio constructs that use ranged attacks, be it spitting acid, bone shards or splinters over short distances.
Name                Move   CC/ Assault   Critical   Hit   Save   Ld   Ability
Spitter Warrior      5”     D6-1           7+           5+   5+   4   Swarm, Untrained


The pictured unit has 5 models so no additional models to add. Since one model has a biger gun I decided to equip one warrior with the more devastating Acid Droplet Gun for +7 points.
Overall unit cost: 75 + 7 = 82 points.

[Agis]

3rd example unit: Burrower Warrior .

The mini shown is from Rebel Minis (http://www.rebelminis.com/sandwurm.html)
IIRC it is the old Mongoose SST Burrower Bug. Rebel Minis bought the casting rights.

Rival Species has 2 burrowing creatures, the Behemoth and the Warrior. While the Behemoth is a truly giant Sz/4 HP/6 creature the Warrior is more fitting.

Basic statline looks as follows:
Burrower Warrior (unit leader).
A Burrower Warrior is the smaller cousin of the Burrower Behemoth. It is still a formidable opponent but cannot lead other alien units underground.
Name                 Move     CC/ Assault Critical Hit   Save   Ld  Ability
Burrower Warrior   4”        2XD10+2      9+      6+   5+    4  Underground Deployment, HP/4, Individual, Single Minded, Size/3

Underground Deployment is a new Ability. These Aliens can lurk underground and launch devastating attacks from below. A unit using the Underground Deployment Ability is not deployed at the beginning of the game. The unit can be activated from game turn 2 on as normal. The exact location deviates like a Blast, so a deviation of 1” to 5”.
The model is then placed at that location on the table and acts as normal.

[Doomsdave]

Those worms are fantastic.  Very Nice.