Game play, game setting and game balance question

[Renaud]

Dear LAF members  ,
We had our first 3 games of In Her Majesty's Name, one with two players (Lord Curr and Black Dragon), and two with 3 players (Lord Curr, Black Dragon and Thule), each company "out of the box". Each time the Black Dragon faction won, although played by different players. We had a fairly clustered setting:


Some characters of the Black Dragon Company have a very high speed, being able to overrun every one with 11', and they could arrive very quickly at the objectives. The "Dragon Wing" power of Wu-Jen is very powerful, and negates any cluster.

In the course of the game, nearly everybody was moving at each turn, making it very difficult for the shooters, who also had to move if they wanted to keep a line of sight with the enemies (therefore the machine gun was almost useless). Even the strategy to charge some of them to "fix them" proved quite unsuccessful, because of the ease of evading, especially for the best characters (and everybody learned quick to move them at the end of the turn only, to retain the ability to evade).

So, is there a better game setting to make it more balanced? Retrieving artifacts seems too easy for speedy and flying companies, or maybe we played it badly?

[fred]

Cool looking table, I'd like to play IHMN on it.

I've got BDT and have found them generally rather good at the run up and grab something scenarios. They are also good in hand to hand.

But good shooting companies (like Thule and Currs) can generally do well to. I have played Foreign legion quite a bit and they do well.

The rules are not too clear about crossing terrain, or penalising for running round corners and through gaps - which helps fast gangs.

We tend to have had better games were there is some reason for everyone to have to come together - this forces contact, and stops a smash and grab raid by the speedy characters. The ones with a central objective that has to be held or taken seem to work better.

We have found that the quick grab scenarios can be over that quick, that you can just play again using a different scenario. Also some of the complications mix things up nicely.

[Craig]

Let me say first - excellent terrain there  

Right, onto business. Did you only play the first scenario, i.e. 9.1.1 Objectives? I ask this because most of the other scenarios would not favour the fast runners quite so much.

The Black Dragon Tong's main advantages are speed and serious mystical powers. Most of their troops have either a Lined Coat or no armour at all, and not particularly good pluck rolls, so making them very vulnerable in Fighting and Shooting. They also have little in the way of firepower. Many people actually struggle to win using them.

I have run them a few times and find that I have to sacrifice the boxers and tong, while using Water Bullets, to get my heavy hitters (Master Wu Jen, the Dragon Warrior and the Yeti) into combat.

[Renaud]

Many thanks for your answers . We were indeed playing the first scenario of the rulebook. Here is the moment when each company grabbed an objective (green gem). The Black Dragon Tongs having secured one of them already in the last turn are now easily backstabbing Lord Curr's Company, already busy facing the Thule Company. The Yeti has landed on one roof thanks to Dragon Wings and is preventing shooters to access, while Wu-Jen kills one by one the unfortunate shooters at the gate between the two trees.

[Silbuster]

Currently, most of our players opt for military factions with a heavy emphasis on firepower. They offset their disadvantage with regards to speed and capturing objectives by steadily advancing in line and mowing down anything approaching the objectives. Hand-to-hand armies are not favoured at the moment. Even Diamond Annie's pins lie mostly unemployed as all her girls are now armed with a heavy 9mm version of the Mauser (equivalent to a repeating crossbow) just to stay in the running. I am, however, presently painting my next cunning plan for a team to take on these candidates for world war zero with cold steel. More on that when I spring the surprise.

[Craig]

More on that when I spring the surprise.

I am aquiver with anticipation... 

[Irishrover13]

I play a home made league with all speedy, low armor melee duelist and no ranged  I have had mixed results. If I get into close combat I usually do well but if I get bogged down in terrain or swarmed I tend to lose men quick. Just bog him down and use your superior range to drop him, he might run fast but bullets are faster.

[chrixter]

Currs company have some serious problems; high pluck, slow and really stinks in h2h.  This really puts a lot of focus on Curr himself (and to some extent Mohan) to do all the heavy lifting.  I find Currs company quite difficult to play since the list is somewhat one-dimensional.  Not saying that it cannot perfom stellar but rather that it doen't do it automatically. 

[maxxon]

Fab terrain!

Be aware that some mystic powers, especially if you let people choose them after seeing the scenario, can seriously derail the game.

I had set up a game in a maze and one player brought two mummies with the short range teleport power...
luckily he didn't think it was fun either and agreed to select some other power.

[Craig]

Currs company have some serious problems; high pluck, slow and really stinks in h2h.  This really puts a lot of focus on Curr himself (and to some extent Mohan) to do all the heavy lifting.  I find Currs company quite difficult to play since the list is somewhat one-dimensional.  Not saying that it cannot perfom stellar but rather that it doen't do it automatically. 

If a company performs well 'automatically' then we have got the game balance wrong honestly Different companies do work for different people. Some need a bit more experience and finesse than others and companies such as Lord Curr's and the Brick Lane Commune are amongst these.

Lord Curr's company is not a H2H company, but it excels at range. Concentrate on having at least half a dozen Incorrigibles in two to three fire teams, Mohan to take on the heavier threats and Curr to pick off the enemy leaders. Set up fire lanes to dominate objectives and use the range of the Hunting Rifle, the Military Rifle and the Machine Gun to effect. I have seen Curr wipe the board of most enemy troops with the remainder too scared to leave cover.