There's plenty to read about online that describes the game at a macro level - how it borrows from many computer first person shooters (FPS) and real time strategy (RTS) games. Well that's true, it most certainly does - I'll likely do something of a review/battle report in due course. The game has got some rather innovative mechanics as well - different from Rogue Planet (which we've been playing during the course of the year) - and I thought I'd touch on some of the same with a bit of
teaser. Enjoy!
Command Action Points and Overdrive
Post-script: I've subsequently realised I wasn't calculating Overdrive CAP costs correctly. Rather than working out at the power of the order count (Base CAP ^ Order Count) it should be a multiple of the order count (i.e. Base CAP x Order Count). Rather than rewrite the entire post, I'll just revisit the first example below. Whilst the application was incorrect, the outcome was spot-on: the more orders you give a single Unit during your Turn, the less your Force will be able to collectively achieve/action.The Battlefield's defining mechanism is the concept of Command Action Points ("CAP") and Overdrive. Each Turn, each player is allocated a finite amount of CAP with which they're able to issue orders to their units like Move, Shoot or even order an artillery strike. The Overdrive mechanism makes the cost of issuing orders exponentially more expensive the more a given Unit is employed during a player's Turn.
For example, ordering a Unit to perform a standard measured Move costs 1 CAP. If that same Unit was ordered to Move twice in a Turn, the total CAP cost would be 3: 1 CAP for the first Move and 2 CAP for the second. Should a Unit receive three consecutive Move orders in a Turn, the total CAP cost would be 7: 1 CAP for the first Move, 2 CAP for the second and 4 CAP for the third.
For example, ordering a Unit to perform a standard measured Move costs 1 CAP. If that same Unit was ordered to Move twice in a Turn, the total CAP cost would be 3: 1 CAP for the first Move and 2 CAP for the second. Should a Unit receive three consecutive Move orders in a Turn, the total CAP cost would be 6: 1 CAP for the first Move, 2 CAP for the second and 3CAP for the third.So the only thing limiting what you might try and accomplish with a single Unit is that a given Unit's efficiency suffers the harder they're pushed. This is where the tactical options come into play...
Imagine I've 4 Units (Unit A, B, C and D) approaching an Objective and I've got 12 CAP available - 4 Units/12 CAP being something of a default in the game . I could...
- ...push Unit A ordering 3 Moves for a total cost of (1+2+4) 7 CAP and Unit B ordering 2 Moves (1+2) for 3 CAP and use the remaining 2 CAP to move both Units C and D once apiece; or
- Move all four Units as a united front twice ((1+2) x 4 Units) for the same cost.
So how important is my force's coherency? Is it more advantageous to approach the Objective sooner with fewer Units or later with more? I love that type of turn-by-turn tactical play - it provides many opportunities for a narrative that can make all an otherwise ordinary game memorable.
The above example only touches upon one application of CAP during the game. Just today I came to appreciate another interesting facet of the The Battlefield's rules involving CAP, Spotting and Shooting.
Spotting in The Battlefield
Before a ranged attack can be made upon a Unit, the target first needs to be "Spotted" i.e. identified and acquired as a legitimate target. Spotting costs CAP and is (typically) subject to the gods of chance.
A successful Spot requires 4 successful Spot Checks. Spot Checks accumulate, so whether the Spotting is the result of one or more Spotting Actions matters not; however a Spotting Action are subject to Overdrive and can be augmented. Sounds complicated? It isn't really, and the mechanics are easily illustrated using a simple example.
During a routine patrol, Fire Team Alpha happen upon a Squad of Chaos Marines emerging from the depths of the spaceport. Before they can open fire, Team Alpha need to positively identify (aka 'Spot') the Marines, confirming that indeed they are cruel, minions of the Chaos gods.
A 4-model Unit's default Spotting Action involves rolling 4 dice (one for each model) with each 4, 5 or 6 generating 1 success. A total of 4 (cumulative) successes are required in order to designate a target as Spotted.
Scenario 1
So for Team Alpha's first Action, a standard Spotting attempt is declared at a cost of 1 CAP. Rolling 4d6 yields a 2,3,4 and 5 = 2 spotting success.
Team Alpha then attempt a second Spot/Action in the turn, costing 2 CAP (due to Overdrive kicking in). Rolling a further 4d6 yields a 2,6,6 and 6 = 3 additional spotting successes, which accumulate to a grand total of 5. 4+ spotting success mean the Target has been acquired, so now Team Alpha can declare a shooting Action.
Shooting's base CAP is 2, but because this is the Unit's third Action for the Turn, the Overdrive effect increases the cost to 8 CAP (2 Base, 4 as 2nd Action, 8 as 3rd).
So the above scenario has Team Alpha successfully Spotting and then firing at the Chaos Marines by employing 3 Actions at a total cost of (1+2+8) 11 CAP.
Scenario 2
Team Alpha's first Action is an Augmented Spot: allocating additional CAP to a Spot Action means that additional spotting dice are rolled. So as a first Action, Alpha attempt a Spot with 4 Augmentations i.e. an additional 4 dice are added to the default 4, resulting in 8d6 being rolled available. The total cost of this Action is 1 CAP + 4 CAP = 5 CAP.
Team Alpha's spotting attempt generates 2,3,4,5,6,6,6 and 1 i.e. 5 successes and 3 failures, therefore the Chaos Marines have now been confirmed/acquired as targets.
Team Alpha's second Action is to fire upon the Marines. Shooting has a base CAP of 2, but as a second Action, the CAP cost doubles to 4 CAP.
So Scenario 2 had Team Alpha successfully Spotting and then firing at the Chaos Marines by employing 2 Actions at a total cost of (5+4) 9 CAP i.e. 2 CAP less than in Scenario . Also, Scenario 2 has also left the Unit with a lesser Overdrive impact for their Turn's next Action, being the 3rd for the Turn.
So there you have it a rather nice example of how The Battlefield's Overdrive mechanism makes for some dramatic tactical choices during the course of the game. Players need to continually consider what it is they intend to do, their available CAP and work out a sequence of Actions with
*If you're already familiar with The Battlefield, you'd appreciate that a few other factors come into play, but I've deliberately kept it simple .
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