AK People's Edition Rules Queries

[martin goddard]

Hello Dex

Good luck with navigating  the confusion I am emanating.

1. Extra items can be split. e.g a pair of mortars might go one to a militia unit and the other to a regular unit.
2. You might find it tricky to hit the 17 but no overspend is allowed. No benefit at all from not spending it all.
3.All vehicles and guns operate pair=unit. If you buy 4 technicals you have created 2 units. You cannot buy two pairs and mix them. They stay in the pair as bought.

martin

[Dex13]

Good luck with navigating  the confusion I am emanating.

martin

Thanks Martin. I'll let you know how things go this evening.

[Dex13]

Okay. So got a first playtest in at the club last night with Terry; version L. To keep things simple we just played with regular units.

I will confess to being sceptical about grid games but I have to say it all seemed to work out logically in the end. I was absolutely slaughtered in the game but I fundamentally did enjoy the process!

We had several moments of confusion about how things should work, clearly got some aspects wrong, but also ended up with a couple of eureka moments! Particular highs were when the penny dropped on how the pinned mechanism works. That was a genuine sublime moment where we both said "Wow, that subtle and clever!"

Some specific elements that seemed unclear (or we just have not found the right bit in the text):

Unit deployment
When initially placing units on table we could not find any written direction on whether the entire unit has to go in one square or you can spread it across several. The section on reinforcements indicates you can place a single unit across two. However we could not find anything specific on initial deployment. We played it as the entire unit deployed in a single square and this led to automatic overcrowding.

Unit leaders
The mechanisms for replacing unit leaders seem clear enough. However we couldn't see anything to indicate how unit leaders might become casualties other than by dint of being the last base in a square. Or can the firing player choose the UL as a target base in the same way they might target a heavy weapon stand?

Fall backs
This addition refers to pursuers but I couldn't see any indication of who could pursue when. For example, if defending bases win against an assault, do they automatically exit their square and occupy the square the attackers came from? And, if attackers win their assault, do they pursue into the square the defenders have fallen back into?

General observations
Admittedly, this is from a sample on one! In our game, the defender deploying up to row four felt like leaving little maneuver options for the attacker. The defender occupied some key terrain and it became a slog for the attacker effectively deploying and going straight into close action. Casualty rates for the attacker seemed high as a result and the game felt particularly bloody.

The communications mechanism was interesting but, whether it was just our dice rolling, reinforcements was the dominant result meaning virtually all our toys were on the table very quickly.

We dispensed with bonuses on our initial reasing as this section appeared unfinished and confusing to the uninitiatiated. Re-reading it again this morning it makes more sense. However, there may be merit in highlighting these are effectively generating specific 'counters/markers' which you then use later in the game. A specific separate list of those counters might be useful.

Finally, the special terrain idea is a good one but a 3in width feels very restrictive, especially compared to other terrain templates. There is also a reference to Spain on page 44.

Cheers

Dex

[martin goddard]

Excellent Dex
This is exactly what is needed.
I often assume things which do actually need an explanation.
I will update all of the things you suggest. Good stuff.




Unit deployment
Reinforcement units can use one or both of the arrival zone squares.
At the game start the attacker units can be spread out in any way. This usually results in units being spread over 3 squares.


Unit leaders
The owner chooses who is hit.
The leader often gets hit because the number of hits equal or outnumber the target bases. I often put a hit on the leader if the save score is poor because a +1 can really help.

Fall backs
I will make the "after assault" moves clearer.

General observations
If the defenders deploy all up front then the attacker can choose where to set up and move up. The attacker can decide where to attack before the defender can react.

Communications
Players can choose 0,1,2,3,4 etc before the D6 roll.
If a player chooses 0 then only a roll of 6 will create reinforcements.
If a player chooses 5(if he has that communication level) then 1,2,3 will get reinforcements.
In N more stuff is off table.


The communications mechanism was interesting but, whether it was just our dice rolling, reinforcements was the dominant result meaning virtually all our toys were on the table very quickly.


Special scenery
The 3 inch width gives space for players to deploy bases on the 12x6 template without needing to heap on any particularly tricky special piece. Also, a 10 x3 will obviously have been made specially for AK. That is intentional. Otherwise,  a canny player will slap any old scenery piece he owns on the table and claim. Players will probably enjoy the challenge?
At the simplest level, players can stick a bridge on a  10x3 base . Then add a vehicle and sign. All done. The extra victory points are few but specifically designed to reward players who make the effort to enhance the game.
I have done an example piece and it works well.

This all makes progress, thanks Dex.

martin

[Sean Clark]

On defender deployment, the layout of the templates has a big impact. So as an attacker keeping things out of row 4 where possible might be a tactic as the defender is unlikely to want to put his men in the open.

The Communication mechanic is for me quite a subtle phase where you can weigh things in your favour by working on averages.

Having played and playtested RFCM rules for around 20 years now, I think I make certain assumptions. It's great to have you on board Dex as I think you see the wood AND the trees 😄

[martin goddard]

Agree with all of that Sean.

martin

[Dex13]

I haven't got another game (with an opponent) planned just yet but was re-reading 'O' (no, not that story!) this morning.

A couple of penny drop moments. However...

Page 43; Game length. Having both players roll for countdown is a departure from the previous sets.

Query 1: Are both players maintaining independent totals or both reducing the same total? I couldn't see this specified.
Query 2: If the latter, isn't this making for a much shorter game (which may be the intention)?
Query 3: Re-rolls are allowed but is this just for your own die roll or could you force this on the opponent? Again, I couldn't see this specified.

[John Watson]

If it is similar to other recent rulesets then at the end of your own turn you roll a d6. You can accept the first roll or roll again. You must accept the re-roll result. It is your choice to re-roll, not your opponent's. The countdown is shared; so in a single complete game turn the countdown is reduced twice by a total of between 2 and 12.
John

[martin goddard]

Thank you John.  Sorted.

Dex, I will put an eg in the rules. Good comment from you. I do tend to "assume" quite a bit. Whoops.  Onwards.


martin

[Sean Clark]

Dex,

I think the intention is for around 5 turns each. That would be the average with no rerolls. I'm not sure what the impact rerolls has on this. Typically the defender wants higher rolls and the attacker lower rolls  although this can switch depending on how well a player is doing.

[Nick]

Queries from game today - version Q...
Bonuses - A-D make sense. E (random) though, am I right that this one is different, i.e. you only get it once and the number you win by shows what you get? (I had the storm (2) - found it a bit unwieldy in the game to be honest)
Taking cover - perhaps needs more in the rules on this - its own little section for clarification.
Saving rolls - scattered buildings aren't specified, only solid buildings. Assumed 1 for scattered, same as partial cover ?
Assaults - unit leader gets +1 die, does the general get this too?
Reinforcement arrivals - not sure about reinforcements pushing enemy bases out of the way, especially when taking cover in a template.

All good though. (Really like the Communications idea in these rules)

regards,
Nick

[Nick]

Also, tried the new Light Armour with heavy gun (Panhard armoured cars). Thought that worked well.

Nick

[martin goddard]

Thanks for the notes Nick.
I will put them in R


martin

[Sean Clark]

1. Correct regarding the random event. The only one I've seen used so far is the dust cloud. I think these are meant to be rare occurrences during a game that create an interesting challenge. I suppose with both ayers agreement you can ignore this...or invent your own if you don't enjoy it 

2. I think Im right in saying Take Cover first appeared in Fighting for Mexico. It is one of the newer concepts in RFCM games. It's impact is to in effect turn an open square into partial, or partial into a solid building (not blocking line of sight obviousley) as it improves the save roll by 1. But this only applies if nothing enters or leaves that particular square during a turn. Defenders start the game Taking Cover.

3. You are correct in that scattered buildings are in effect partial cover that blocks line of sight.

4. I don't have the rules open, but if I remember correctly the general gets no bonuses in an assault.

5. Regarding reinforcement arrivals, I think the reasoning here is that it would be too easy to block reinforcement areas. Removed bases get to claim Take Cover, can choose the direction and get to take their bodies with them as compensation.

6. Comms is my favorite part of the rules at the moment. I think better players will make better use of this than others.

7. I'm cautiously optimistic about the vehicle changes but not tried them yet.

[Dex13]

Version R - Partial scenery.

Page 49 "A player may  place partial scenery on top of jungle, hills, road or non-templated
squares. "

Page 58 "A player may not place partial scenery on top of jungle, gullies or buildings."


Curious as to which is correct. Also,I quite like the idea of being able to open templates up a little by the placement of partial scenery.