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Author Topic: Horizon Wars - any news?  (Read 13681 times)

Offline Dalcor

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 181
    • Wargaming ASP Club
Horizon Wars - any news?
« on: September 16, 2015, 05:39:07 PM »
Do anybody of you guys new about horizon wars? I like David Webber and Jack Campbell books so I hope I can use another great Osprey game to represent them...

Offline precinctomega

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 144
  • Roll dice. Change the world.
    • Precinct Omega Publishing at Wargame Vault
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2016, 06:32:53 PM »
I know this is an old post, so forgive me for resurrecting it, but as the author of Horizon Wars, I have some news on the subject.

Horizon Wars is a 6mm hard SF platoon-to-company+ battle game.  It'll be released at Salute this year and I'll be doing the rounds of as many conventions as I can manage for the following 12 months.

If you'd like any specific details about the game, please do ask.  I'm in full "charm offensive" mode, so am likely to be free with the details and quick to respond.

R.

Offline Splod

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 676
  • Flittering from one project to another
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2016, 08:30:09 PM »
Awesome! I've been holding out for this one for a while. Can't wait to see how it pans out.

Offline precinctomega

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 144
  • Roll dice. Change the world.
    • Precinct Omega Publishing at Wargame Vault
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2016, 06:35:08 AM »
I should add: it's already on pre-order at Amazon and Waterstones.

Offline nic-e

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2073
    • Mystarikum
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2016, 12:33:22 AM »
Looking forward to this one, any details on the mechanics?:)
never trust a horse, they make a commitment to shoes that no animal should make.

http://mystarikum.blogspot.co.uk/

Offline precinctomega

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 144
  • Roll dice. Change the world.
    • Precinct Omega Publishing at Wargame Vault
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2016, 09:01:07 AM »
It's an integrated turn and uses d12s as the primary randomizer.  Elements have two actions per activation but can also use these to interrupt the turn of another element (reactions).

The most innovative mechanic (IMHO) is the shooting system, which combines range, accuracy and volume of fire into a single digit that represents the number of d12s you roll.  Your target number is range plus armour plus cover and you then add up groups of d12s to match or beat this figure.  To counter this, the opponent makes a Defence roll of a number of d12s, seeking to exactly match dice rolled by the attacker.  Any exact matches are removed from the attacker's Firepower dice.

For example, I have Firepower 7 and a target is 10" away, with Armour 4 and light (+1) cover, so I roll 7 dice needing to score 15 or more.  I roll 12, 10, 8, 8, 4, 3 and 1.  I could form groups of 12+3, 10+4+1 and 8+8 for three hits (and the one with a 12 is a critical hit).  But my opponent has Defence 3 and rolls 12, 7 and 3.  So I have to remove the 12 and 3 from my results, leaving me with 10, 8, 8, 4 and 1.  I recombine the results so that 10+4+1 and 8+8 give me two hits, neither of them critical.

Damage reduces elements' stats and elements can (sometimes) attempt to repair themselves as part of their activations.

The rulebook also includes an extensive system for randomized missions, of which I'm rather proud.

R.

Offline von Lucky

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 8796
  • Melbourne, Australia
    • Donner und Blitzen Wargaming
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2016, 08:11:56 PM »
Sounds interesting. I think scenarios/missions are needed to make a ruleset interesting.
- Karsten

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Blog: Donner und Blitzen

Offline Evil Doctor

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 70
    • Evil Doctor's long-dead lead
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2016, 11:23:57 AM »
Hello, sounds interesting!

Does it include rules for vehicles? And could it be played with 15mm figures? I have lots of those but no 6mm...

Cheers,

EvilD
Check out my blog - Long-dead Lead!

http://evil-doctor.tumblr.com/

Offline pocoloco

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 3848
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2016, 11:58:15 AM »
Sounds like an interesting system. Are the opposing forces build with same amount of points or how does that work?

Offline precinctomega

  • Librarian
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    • Precinct Omega Publishing at Wargame Vault
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2016, 01:15:37 PM »
Yes, lots of rules for vehicles: aircraft (of all sorts), tanks, light tanks, APCs/IFVs and artillery.

However, the rules are deliberately fairly abstracted into battlefield roles: so a light tank might count as Heavy Cavalry or Light Cavalry depending on what role you want it to fulfil; an IFV might count as Light Cavalry of Mobile Infantry; a squad of bikers might count as Mobile Infantry or Recon; etc.  For this reason, I have deliberately not tried to market the game as viable at 15mm.

Is it playable?  Yes, of course it is.  But you may find the abstractions at 15mm make the game narratively blurry compared to much more granular combat games like Tomorrow's War.

On the plus side, though, you can buy a box of five EM4 Miniature mechs (that feature rather heavily in the book) for less than £3.00 and have a 9-point (a smallish HW army) with change left over for some new d12s.

As for opposing forces...

Assuming you're playing a competitive game in which you want a "balanced" start point, then yes you each build to a force value budget.  However, your mission - should you choose to accept it - will affect how much of your selected force actually makes it to the table.  This is all balanced out by rules over who decides on how much of the table's terrain and what missions you are trying to achieve.

I've tried to design the game so that players who are new to miniatures wargaming can easily get started with a handful of plastic mechs and some simple "set-piece" battles, whilst players who are longer in the tooth can really get their heads into an array of strategic and tactical challenges.

Offline Evil Doctor

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 70
    • Evil Doctor's long-dead lead
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2016, 01:27:57 PM »
Sounds really cool. And I've just remembered the 3mm Germy tanks and infantry from GZG painted and based in the loft...

EvilD

Offline joe5mc

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1095
    • The Renaissance Troll
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2016, 03:28:02 PM »
If no one minds, I'll just leave this here:


Offline Evil Doctor

  • Bookworm
  • Posts: 70
    • Evil Doctor's long-dead lead
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2016, 03:30:07 PM »
That looks rubbish  8)...NOT!

I'm really looking forward to this now. How many pages does it weigh in at, and hardback according to Amazon?

EvilD

Offline precinctomega

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 144
  • Roll dice. Change the world.
    • Precinct Omega Publishing at Wargame Vault
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2016, 07:02:34 PM »
Yes, hardback.  It was originally supposed to be 96 pages, but I think it's a little over that, now.

@joe5mc - Thanks for posting that.  I'd not seen the ad before.  I'd better go and re-post it to all my social media feeds...

R.

Bunny

  • Guest
Re: Horizon Wars - any news?
« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2016, 10:51:11 AM »
Looking forward to this one

 

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