Old Coast's Otherworld Skirmish- Village of Blackbarrow

[Galadrin]

Thanks for the report, it seemed very deadly! Can you comment about how long a model can be expected to survive in an average game? Was there a significant difference between weaker and tougher models?

Also it seems like there may have been a few rules errors... I was under the impression that you can only Set Traps once per encounter and Activations cost 2 Fate points, not 1...

Edit: Just read part 2 and saw you caught those issues! To answer your question, Otherworld Skirmish calls a single game an "encounter," so no, your Thief can only use the Set Traps ability once per game. The weird naming system in the rulebook threw me off at first... When they say "faction" they mean "your warband," but everyone else on Earth thinks of faction like "the Drow race" or "the Undead Empire."

Part 2 brought up some other rule questions though... It seems there ar several moments where your adventurers attack three times (particularly the constable and the warrior when they charge). How did they get three attacks? I'm seeing the first action to move into melee (with a free attack for charging) and the second action for a normal attack... That should be only two attacks, right..? I thought the only way to get a third attack out of any model is the rage ability (which, along with luck and dodge, might be the best ability in the game).

Also, there's no need to buy extra Activations with Fate points at the beginning of the turn; rather, this should be done by each player at the beginning of their respective action phases (before placing all the activation tokens).

[Old Coast]

Thanks for the report, it seemed very deadly! Can you comment about how long a model can be expected to survive in an average game? Was there a significant difference between weaker and tougher models?

Also it seems like there may have been a few rules errors... I was under the impression that you can only Set Traps once per encounter and Activations cost 2 Fate points, not 1...

Edit: Just read part 2 and saw you caught those issues! To answer your question, Otherworld Skirmish calls a single game an "encounter," so no, your Thief can only use the Set Traps ability once per game. The weird naming system in the rulebook threw me off at first... When they say "faction" they mean "your warband," but everyone else on Earth thinks of faction like "the Drow race" or "the Undead Empire."

Hi Galadrin, thanks for commenting!
I think I am square on the Set Trap thing,  Encounter = per game..makes the ability nowhere as useful IMO- I may house rule that in my own games with additional uses perhaps for more gold.  As far as survivability, I think models are relatively durable it is a D6 game where for the most parts hits and damage are 50% accurate...like other similar games the Defense stat is absolutelykey to sticking around , as well as multiple hits. The stock legend characters seem very tough, let alone the "suped up" one that are allowed. (my next game pits 2 Legends and 2 Companions against a host of nasty monsters we will see how they do!) Things like the Berserkers Def 2, with 1 hit died easily, even Goblins Def 3 with the Shield ability have better chance to stick around although in this game they didn't

Part 2 brought up some other rule questions though... It seems there ar several moments where your adventurers attack three times (particularly the constable and the warrior when they charge). How did they get three attacks? I'm seeing the first action to move into melee (with a free attack for charging) and the second action for a normal attack... That should be only two attacks, right..? I thought the only way to get a third attack out of any model is the rage ability (which, along with luck and dodge, might be the best ability in the game).

Hmm, I read "charge" as you get a "free" attack...so implying that attack is additional to the normal attack you receive from a single action. So with one action, when you charge. You  get a Free attack at -1 to hit and then your regular attack, Third attack is from the second action, IF you'll notice in part one when I was dealing with the Berserkers and Rage, they got a further additional attack with the won the rage roll off...meaning they had three attacks from in the 1st action.  I mention in Part I during the Berserkers early turns where I had either forgotten to take the second action in One case or just didn't use in another in turn (deciding to stay put)
IF the author meant (which they might have, I am just saying this how I am interpreting it) for a charge to be a single action where your single attack is at -1 to hit, there would be no incentive to charge.
So in the end I read it as if you "charge", you receive 3 attacks if you use both actions, If the character has the "rage" ability there is the potential for Four!

Also, there's no need to buy extra Activations with Fate points at the beginning of the turn; rather, this should be done by each player at the beginning of their respective action phases (before placing all the activation tokens).

Yep I got cleared up on that after I played Part I as well, I just bought them at top of the turn in part 2 as I am playing both sides..so it was just easier...I'll lay it out correctly next write up!, Thanks.

[psullie]

One of the differences between 7th Voyage and Otherworld is Charging. With Otherworld the attack is penalised but you are allowed to attack without spending another action.

As you only get two actions moving into combat costs an action so you'd only get to attack once. Without the Free attack those who initiate melee would be at a disadvantage, and those already in melee can make two attacks. So the free attack (at -1) is there not to penalise too much getting into the fight first.
So you move (get the free attack) and one action then get a second action.

Having played both I prefer Otherworld's take on things

[Old Coast]

One of the differences between 7th Voyage and Otherworld is Charging. With Otherworld the attack is penalised but you are allowed to attack without spending another action.

As you only get two actions moving into combat costs an action so you'd only get to attack once. Without the Free attack those who initiate melee would be at a disadvantage, and those already in melee can make two attacks. So the free attack (at -1) is there not to penalise too much getting into the fight first.
So you move (get the free attack) and one action then get a second action.

Having played both I prefer Otherworld's take on things

I do see what you are saying, I'm used to other games where a charge constitutes a move into combat and an attack as a single action, breaking it down to specific single actions , move into combat, (1st action) and the  attack (2nd action), it make more sense..where'd you'd normally move into combat and get a single attack, by charging you get now two, one being the listed Free one at -1.  I'm adding an extra attack to process.
Although in practice that does seems to play pretty well, 
I'll update this for my next round..

[Galadrin]

Well your setup and painting skills are phenomenal; I can't wait to see the next installment!

[m4jumbo]

Looking forward to the next installment.

[SgtHulka]

Looking forward to the next installment.

Me too!

Old Coast, one thing to consider in your upcoming legends versus monsters game...the way morale works strongly favors companions and legends. You're only allowed a morale roll if you have a legend or companion. So if, instead, you have, say, a dragon and a bunch of goblin or kobold minions, a viable strategy is to ignore the dragon and attack the kobolds. If you can kill 1/3 or 1/2 of them you are guaranteed victory.

The solution is to either house rule that any minion over, say, 25 gold counts as a companion for morale purposes, or to add a companion to the monster forces (like a goblin wizard or whatever).

[Old Coast]

http://plasticlegions.blogspot.com/2016/01/otherworld-skirmish-burn-baby-burn-part.html

Hey guys, Part I of the next installment is up, I should have part 2 posted before its back to work Monday...Happy New Year!

[psullie]

lovely looking game! that scenario would work well for solo play too
I agree that some of the profiles need reviewing for cost - I hope that the Minion Manual includes updated profiles and an errata, thanks for posting

[Galadrin]

Very cool, love the Hirst dungeon. I third the weird gold costs, although I'd note that in the case of the Giant Spider the high cost is probably because the model has mutliple hits and Venom is a great attack class. The Web ability looks weak, but it is somewhat useful if you mob a single victim with several Giant Spiders... The first throws down the web and the rest of the attacks are much easier to hit. Web also soaks up one of the enemies actions, so it is a fairly easy way to deny the opponent the full chance to attack back. Still, nine times out of ten you will be going for Venom instead of Web.

Other weird costs include Orcs vs Hobgoblins. The latter is 75% the cost of the former and is otherwise identical, except the Orc has Brutal (best of 2d6 to wound) and Unwieldy (cannot charge) and the Hobgoblin has Onslaught (reroll to Hit) and Thrust (best of 2d6 to hit large/massive). I think the Hobgoblin is the clear winner in that match up, especially against large opponents. It's also kind of odd that there is no option for Orcs to take shields, even though nearly every Otherworld Orc is modelled with one (although I do understand that this option would clash with the two-handed weapon rules and potentially make Orcs too tough).

[Ray Earle]

Another nice report. 

Looking forward to seeing how the battle with the boss goes.

[wulfgar22]

Brilliant! 

[SgtHulka]

I can't wait to see how the fight goes with the behol- erm eye tyrant.

I also really liked how you based the spiders so they're climbing walls.

[PhilH]

Finally got some time to read your review and it was great fun. Looking forward to part two. Well done

[m4jumbo]

A good read for part one, I do like a good dungeon crawl.