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Author Topic: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.  (Read 3744 times)

Offline eilif

  • Scatterbrained Genius
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    • Chicago Skirmish Wargames
Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« on: August 05, 2014, 09:29:31 PM »
The club and I got together last week to try Nuclear Renaissance.  I've had my eye on this ruleset for several years now and finally picked up the rulebook and supplement "Tome of Tridlins" via on of his kickstarters.  As with every first playtest, we learned a few things to do next time (play on a smaller table, use more terrain, vehicles are really helpful) but It was a great time and I am looking forward to playing again. 

We've tried alot of (at least a half dozen or more) post-apoc rulesets, but this one might be the one to dislodge Wastelands from my top spot.  There's really nothing ground-breaking or particularly innovative about them, but the rules just seem to work well and give a good game.

Full Batrep and lots of pictures here:
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2014/08/nuclear-renaissance-game-report-and.html
A few pics to entice you to visit:




Offline kidterminal

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    • Fends in Waistcoats
Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2014, 10:14:13 PM »
Can you be more specific with why you like these rules vs others.

Offline eilif

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Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2014, 01:47:11 AM »
As luck would have it, we just posted some more of our thoughts on the NucRen following our second game.
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2014/08/more-musings-on-nuclear-renaissance.html

But as to other games.

-I find the rules to be more streamlined than games like This is Not a Test and easier to grok.

-It more easily accommodates more minis per side than Wreck Age

-It has vehicle rules that are at least as useable, and perhaps a bit faster flowing than Wastelands, my other favorite.

-It reminds me alot of Necromunda, but with alternating activation and vehicle rules that are less clunky than those in "Ash Wastes" but not as random as Gorkamorka.   I do wish it had something of the "territory" campaign mechanics of Necromunda though.  All the advancement in Nuc Ren (mostly found in the "Tome of Tridlins" supplement" is related specifically to income and character advancement.

-It's all around better developed and complete than Neutron York 3000, and more refined than In The Emperor's name, which is a not specifically post-apoc, but a ruleset I like and one which the club tried post-apoc with.

In the end, the list of post-apoc games that include vehicles is fairly small, and this is definitely one of the best I've tried.  Anyone wanting to play such a game owes it to themselves to try both this and Wastelands.

NucRen is free here:
http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/nuclear/downloads.html

Wastelands is free here:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/forum/996833/

Offline SerialMoM

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 299
  • War never changes
Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2014, 09:25:50 PM »
Fantastic reports, fantastic scenery and minis.
Please help me with my Fallout rules, picture heavy!!
leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=47609.0


Offline sundayhero

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2452
Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2014, 09:37:37 PM »
The realistic ranged weapons, alternate turns and vehicles sounds really interesting !

You said that the campaign rules were included in an addon, could you give some details on how they work, compared to necromunda or wastelands ? Are they focused on characters, territory, "jobs", scavenging, surviving, conquest, etc... ?  Can we upgrade and promote characters or vehicles ?


I may take a deeper look on this game. I really like the very unique and baroque aspect of the minis, and general background.


thanks


Offline eilif

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    • Chicago Skirmish Wargames
Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2014, 01:55:20 PM »
You said that the campaign rules were included in an addon, could you give some details on how they work, compared to necromunda or wastelands ? Are they focused on characters, territory, "jobs", scavenging, surviving, conquest, etc... ?  Can we upgrade and promote characters or vehicles ?

The campaign rules are pretty straitforward.  Gang acquires income through victory's and scenario conditions and uses it to buy advances that the player chooses.  The only limitations come from a given gang type and there aren't many limitations.  There is no territory, jobs, scavenging, etc. a'la Necromunda or Wastelands.

Vehicles can be upgraded and characters can level up from goon to ganger to hero. Aside from buying a higher profile after leveling up (first you level up, then you can pay for the higher profile) I don't think there is a direct stat upgrade mechanic. However, functionally there is, since stats can be boosted by the purchasing of various gear and abilities. The campaign rules (simple though they are) and the wide range of gear and abilities is one of the best reasons to purchase the "Tome of Tridlins"  expansion, though it also has rules for squads, military, zombies, mutants, and lots more.

The only drawback to this is that it's entirely at the player's choice, so I imagine that gangs can power up pretty quickly and my assumption (we've not played a campaign yet) is that gangs will gravitate toward certain advances.  There's none of the semi-randomness of Necromunda where you're not quite sure exactly how your gang will advance which results in more variety of abilities and stats among the various characters.

I'd definitely recommend downloading the rulebook ( it's free) and giving it a go.

Offline sundayhero

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Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2014, 10:55:59 PM »
Thank you for your detailed answer !

i'll take a look, we'll see.

Offline eilif

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Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2014, 04:17:30 AM »
Glad to help.  Hopefully you find that it -or another game- scratches your Post-Apoc itch.

We did a post apoc campaign last year and before it, we tried out the following rulesets as possibilities.
-Wastelands
-Neutron York 3000
-In The Emperor's Name
-Blasters and Bulkheads
-Wreck Age
before settling on:
-This is Not a Test (a game we got from the author that still hasn't been released.)
http://worldsendpublishing.com/this-is-not-a-test/rules/
Let me know if you have any questions about any of them.

Offline GnomesofZurich

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 83
Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2014, 10:48:28 AM »
Eilif, this looks like it was a lot of fun. I've had a copy of Nuclear Renaissance for a while, and have a few things purchased from Ramshackle, but after reading this I broke down and bought a copy of Tome of Tridlins. Lots of options in there! I was wondering if you would be willing to share the lists your group ran with - I find myself gravitating to certain configurations (similar to your list with a vehicle and only a few figures), but did anyone else in your group go for the opposite end of the spectrum (lots of lower powered characters)? Always good to see what other people are doing for inspiration!

Offline eilif

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Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2014, 11:57:53 AM »
I don't have the exact list for me or my friends' lists, but here's the basic list I used for the second game, with a few tweaks to it just before the game. I think just added additional soldiers and goons until I got to the 1000 points. Really nothing special and very few special rules, but here it is anyway.  It's almost the same as the first game's list except that I upgraded the vehicle's weapon from an engine cannon to an HMG.

My opponent in the second game went for a fairly balanced list. He had a group of fairly low powered cc-only troops a couple basic shooters, a soldier with an Assault rifle, one with a flame weapon and a medic. His choice of vehicle was a buggy.

I don't recall all the first game lists, but most folks had fairly small forces with guns. Almost no CC-only forces in that game.

Offline GnomesofZurich

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Re: Our first go at Nuclear Renaissance.
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2014, 09:01:57 PM »
Thanks! Looks pretty straightforward.

 

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