Squig Game vs One Page Rules

Yesterday, Matt suggested we play Squig Game using the Grimdark Future set from One Page Rules. If you are not familiar with idea, you set a up a fairly conventional game (in our case, Matt's space dwarves against my Genestealer Cult Soul-Snatcher Cult 😉) but...

There are 30 juicy squigs scattered across the table. While the rules play pretty much as normal, you can only score points for each model you destroy with a squig. So, against squishy infantry, you might be able to collect points easily. Against "multi-wound" models such as characters and vehicles, things are more difficult. You only get the points if the squig causes the killing wound. You might need to weaken them with conventional weapons and then use your squig to finish them off...and you get points for each wound. But you run the risk of killing with your conventional weapons before you throw in the squig...and lose all those potential points!

But, how do you use the squigs? Well, you can pick one up when a unit touches one during movement. You roll a d6 and they might object to being picked up (I know I do) and they will attack you doing d3 unsavable wounds to that unit. They might run off and join the nearest enemy unit instead. But most of the time, they seem happy to be picked up and have a fuss made of them.

When you shoot or fight in close combat, you can use the squig for free except the same risks note dabove may apply (they could attack your own unit or go to join the enemy) but, mostly they will hurt the enemy for d3 points of damage.

Now, it seems silly, doesn't it? But, in fact, it somehow smooths out the swingy-ness of a typical game. Powerful units may take out their opponent but won't gain any points. Mobile units that can hoover up and lob squigs suddenly become very powerful, and your opponent will be reluctant to wipe them off the table (and miss out on points).

In the end, our game came down to whose unit activated first in the turn and then how many points of damage a single squig did...it was that close!

I'm a big fan and look forward to playing again.

The Cleansing of Priestus Hive

A few months back, we played some Necromunda and had some spare time in the evening. We decided to throw a bunch of Genestealers into the hive (the results can be found here).

We had a great time and decided we should follow up the game with another scenario where Space Marine Terminators are sent in to flush out the hive. Unfortunately, not everyone could make our last games day so instead we send in some poor Imperial Guard and a handful of Marines to deal with the Genestealer Cult that had caused the infestation.

They met heavy resistance from cultists and purestrain genestealers

However, a single Guardsman and a Marine Captain were able to make it to a beleaguered Adeptus Arbites fort in the centre of the hive.

In our most recent game, the Terminators finally arrived to fend off the Genestealers and escort the Arbites, that surviving soldier and a Colonel out of the city. A secondary objective was to investigate a cryo-pod which had been left in the hive when the infestation escalated.

The Arbites, Colonel, soldier and Ultramarines Captain.

A squad of Ultramarines Terminators teleport in, locking onto their Captain's homer. They start taking out the purestrains attacking the fort.

They are quickly overwhelmed as aliens ascend to higher platforms. 

With his back up depleted, the Captain orders the Colonel and other humans to jump to a nearby platform rather than leaving the fort at ground level. Two Arbites slip and fall their deaths.

Fortunately, Termniators from two more Chapters (the Blood Angels and Dark Angels) arrive.

The Blood Angels appear right by a comms bunker allowing future squads to teleport in wherever they want.

This allows the Hawk Lords to lock on to the bridge next to the fort which was lost to the aliens. They succeed in taking back the bridge. 

Even so, stealers have hopped onto the fort from another walkway and leap again to catch up with the fleeing Colonel. He fights them off with help from the Hawk Lords and Judges.

At ground level, Angels Dark and Bloody team up to to clear the way for the POI to descend. Leaving at the higher level was probably a good idea as genestealers are still active around the fort... 

...including a brood lord.

While the Angels are busy dying on the ground, the Space Wolves make a surprise appearance. They find a Squat engineer in the cryo-pod and (slowly) help him to the exit. 

Elsewhere, purestrains mass up near the exit. One of the last Dark Angels unleashes a salvo from his cyclone and takes many of them out. This thins down the escape route at the base level.

Meanwhile, stealers have over run the fort and look to follow on the heals of the Colonel. The Hawk Lords, who have supplied much needed covering fire from above, bar their way.

The Colonel has now made it to the ground and his cyclone ally (the last of the Angels) fight through the much thinned ranks of stealers and cultists. Unfortunately, at this point, the Space Wolves and Squat are eliminated after a valiant fight. The Hawk Lords above are now gone.

But the fighting prowess of the Colonel and Ultramarines Captain ensures that the Colonel makes it to safety. The hive is still overrun and Exterminatus is ordered a while later to destroy all life on the hive world.

We used 40k 2nd Edition rules to play this out. The quirks of that edition's close combat rules meant that the Colonel was able to hold his own even against genestealers. We joked at one point that he could probably have walked out on his own without having 25 Terminators killed.

Even so, it's a good set of rules where different races seem distinct without special rules for each and overwatch mitigates the old-fashioned Igo Ugo turn sequence.

Oh...and there was a fleeting bromance between a Dark Angel and a Blood Angel.

Protect the Patriarch

Last week we used the excellent Clash on the Fringe rules to set up a fight between some tyranids and a genestealer clan. I had just finished painting up my clan figures so I couldn't resist and James was happy to oblige.

We rolled up the objective "Monster" on the random scenario table and decided that the bloated Genestealer Patriarch was already starting to send a psychic beacon to attract his parent Hive Fleet to come and assimilate the world he had conquered. The invading nids, however, were from a different hive - the patriarch didn't want their fleet to come in place of his own. So, my mission was to capture one of the Tyranid Warriors to send a "false alarm" message so their fleet would pass us by. The invading tyranids had to capture the patriarch and alter his beacon to alert his fleet that the world was ripe for the taking.

The Magus boards his limo, ready to lead from (almost) the front.

My lascannon guards one of the long streets.

My full deployment.

The Tyranids deploy mostly to the centre and their right flank.

The Tyranid swarm surges forward, scuttling over buildings.

I spot a lone Tyranid Warrior on their left flank...

...so I focus the assault on my right. My hybrids move diagonally left (by the small dishes) to lend support. I also move a truckload of Brood Brothers up. It's risky as fierce gaunts are nearby but allows them to get support where it may be needed.

The truck also spotted for my mortar which won a lucky hit on the gargoyles in the distance (along with some gaunts bunched up with them)! 

The surviving gargoyles leapt from building to building posing a serious threat.

Below them, out of shot to the right, another warrior with gaunt support were harassing the brood brothers by the three tanks.

The brothers were ultimately killed leaving the gaunts free to look for the Patriarch. They were no longer much of a threat, though.

The remaining brood brothers disembark in the middle of the table to prevent anyone hindering the final advance on the lone warrior.

That said, the warrior is no pushover and takes out all but one of the advancing genestealers.

As the brothers from the truck move in, their small arms prove useless against the warrior. The last genestealer tries to take it down in close combat but is pushed back. The Magus arrives in his limo to watch the battle.

It is ended as a hybrid armed with a plasma gun downs the beast. The clan is safe for now.

Thanks to James for a fantastic game. I think we possibly had too many figures on the table and, if I'm honest, I probably had a slightly more powerful force. It was also James's first time with the rules and we are both going to revise the build of our forces now we've had a chance to use them with CotF.

Clash on the Fringe - First Game

Adam and I tried a game of Nordic Weasel Games' recent addition: Clash on the Fringe last night. Ivan at NWG admits this is unashamedly a return to the days of Rogue Trader and the like. CotF shies away from huge battles where special rules, maths and metagaming win the day and attempts to play out something narrative with sound tactical considerations.

This will be more of a light battle report than a review of the system (which I will do at some point). Even so, I'll interject with some system related observations as I think they really affected our enjoyment of the game (in a good way!).

My force, The Jury, has interpreted the law such that advanced AI is illegal. They are aware that a scientist is developing an intelligent droid and will hunt it down and destroy it. The prof has called in mercs to defend him but they too, are unsure where he is exactly. If I find the droid, I win; Adam must defend it.

The droid is in one of the four low buildings.

Adam has a mech behind shed 2 (right) and has a string of infantry along the far table edge. I have a small unit out of shot to the left and a team with ant-vehicle capability to the right.

My plan was to send the leftmost team past the cylindrical towers and on to the front of the left objective building with the team by the barrels supporting them (maybe scaling that building then searching the middle building). The teams on the right would hold the mech at bay, while advancing to the look inside the comms tower building.

Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle in the family Lucanidae...

The team on my left flank were weakened by some luck long shots (CotF has unlimited ranges but higher chance of failure over the the weapon's optimal distance - nice!).

With the left team pinned and at half strength, their support team decide to search the middle building instead. The droid is not here. The team also has a plasma weapon so moving them right might position them better to deal with the mech.

These are the swines that took out my left flank. Adam advanced half of them, as the game went on meaning I had to focus on the centre of the table for my advance.

My anti-vehicle team are still out of shot below the image. They do hold the mech up but the missile launcher has a heavy rail gun fire at him. A nice feature of the game is that there are very few auto wins/fails due to a natural roll of x. If something hits you that should kill you, you will die!

My anti-infantry team (by the three containers) move up slowly and heavily suppress Adam's chaps under the walkway of the comms building. They cover the advance of the team above them who will search the comms building then move onto the building X5 (by the distant satellite dish). It nearly works.

The lead man checks out the comms building. The Prof and his droid are not there.

The team drop from 5 to 2 men. Luckily their resolve holds - the word of the law is with them!

Adam had given up on his unit below the walkway. CotF makes use of Heads Down markers to represent pinning and suppression. I had thoroughly suppressed them. However, the presence of an inspiring leader and a well-timed regroup action brought them back from the brink and allowed them to halt my advance.

One of my survivors peeks from the behind the far cylinder. Adam's team stay here. This is the back of building X5. If they go forward and turn left, they set up a crossfire with their team under the walkway (mentioned above).

On my left flank, my beleaguered unit are pinned behind cover. Adam's "under the walkway" team and the those pictured above effectively cut off off my two depleted teams from searching the last two buildings.

I lost.


So, what did we think of the game? We really enjoyed it. Some highlights of the system that stood out for us:

• No unit coherency. Although it benefits you to stay close to the team leader (as Adam's suppressed team discovered), you can make proper use of cover instead of "stringing" your self across gaps.
• Automatic rifles have a template. This means if you shoot a "conga" line of targets, your rounds don't miraculously stop in mid-air just behind the last man. Bunching up and advancing through narrow gaps is lethal...as it should be.
• Deciding who activates a unit next is random but heavily influenced by the training level of your force's best unit(s). This means you might have alternating activations or runs of the same player activating. There is a strategic element in deciding whether you use the better teams early on since their bonus to the roll is lost once they act. There is also the chance that both players will have to select a unit that "failed to activate". This is a nice "fog of war" element.

What I've written above fails to convey how well the game works for casual and narrative scenarios. It certainly does achieve this and I look forward to using it for all sorts of skirmishes and dust ups in the future. I'll cover this more when I write my review along with a look at the other content such as force generation and scenario ideas.

The game we played here was to get our head around the rules and use some much neglected figures without an oppressive ruleset spoiling our fun. We succeeded. We've found only a couple of very slight issues we'd like to tweak but, this is a very capable system with rules that seem sensible and "right".