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Tuesday, 6 February 2018

Rogue Planet - Tactics 2

Last week I introduced a mate to Rogue Planet/R40k and in doing so had cause to review a few of the rules.  It's a little embarrassing to suddenly appreciate one has been misapplying some rules since Day One.  Oh dear.  Well, my application didn't hugely deviate from the published rules; however like a lot of things in life, it's the little things that can ultimately matter.


So what was the particular rule?  It was to do with Units moving into 'engage' so they can commence a melee.  I've been playing that a Unit can engage with any target with which they can Move to i.e. if you can trace a line-of-sight to a Target, then you can typically Move and Engage with them with a single Move.

I was wrong: a Unit can only Move to Engage the nearest Target with the exception that an already Engaged Target can be ignored.  That opens up a whole new world of tactical decisions and play... I've almost got rugby set pieces going through my mind.  I think a couple of illustrations are in order...

Setting: a ravening xeno horde has bludgeoned its way through Libuscha Prime's defences leaving the Garrison falling back in disarray.  The Dusk Confessors Chapter are bearing the brunt of onslaught in a desperate attempt to buy the Imperial time to regroup and launch a counter-attack.  We join the action with Captain Havelock and Battle-Brother Nixios locked in combat with the Dakagog Grimrot and his boyz.

Rogue Planet-style rules:  This might be part way through a Rogue Planet Strike game where victory is awarded upon eliminating the opposition's Leader.  For the interest of completeness, I've detailed the Unit profiles for the two Forces here, with the four Orks @ 226 Credits vs the two (remaining) Marines @ 190 Credits - that would suggest that the Imperials had already suffered losses to the tune of about the cost of a single Lasgun-armed Imperial Guard.  It's worth noting that whilst the Orks could attempt to outshoot the Marines, the Orks poor shooting skill (RAT), poor ranged weapons (Fantasy Ranged) and the Marine's superior armour (Medium + Powered Armour) means that... hell, it doesn't matter: given a choice Orks will charge into the fight rather than sit back, taking considered tactical shots at their enemy!
The models were painted by me and the terrain is papercraft, mainly
sourced from Dave Graffam Models available through Wargame Vault.

Disposition: The two forces are facing off one another.  Battle Brother Nixios is attempting to screen Captain Havelock, but that's a tall order when outnumbered 2-to-1.  You'll note that Nixios is the closest to the Orks which is important point given Rogue Planet's move-to-engage rules.

Rogue Planet's Turn sequence is materially different to many other games - if you're interested in understanding it, I've explained it both in this post from mid-2017 and also in my write-up of playing a solo game here.

Let's have a look at how things could transpire and the options available to each Force.

First of all Action Points.  Upon resolution, the Orks have 4 Actions and the Marines 3 Actions available for the Turn.  Given the Orks have more Actions, they get the choice as to whether they want the Initiative (i.e. work through their Actions first) or not (i.e. force the Marines to expend their Actions first).  That decision alone is fraught with many considerations but given I'm trying to play an Orkie mindset, let's say the Orks take the Initiative and therefore are required to complete their 4 Actions first and their immediate is to engage with Captain Havelock and smash 'em!

Given the rules, an Ork will only be able to Engage Captain Havelock once they've moved closer to him than Brother Nixios i.e. it will take no less than 2 Ork Actions to successfully engage Havelock.

Ork Action One


In this illustrative example, Ork #1 declares a Move Action to scoot past Nixios and close-in upon Havelock's left flank, with the intention of using the 2nd Move to Engage Havelock.
Ork #1's intended path is traced from left-to-right using the green tokens.

One of the clever things about Rogue Planet is Counter Action mechanism.  It allows the Force without the Initiative to react to their opponent's Actions, but it reduces their available Action Points for the Turn meaning they erode their ability to direct the flow of the battle... it really brings the whole initiative concept to life, without any unnecessary complication, more so than any other game I've played.  Also, it keeps ensures maximum player interaction and involvement during each Turn - which is a real drawcard when it comes to making for an immersive gaming experience.

Given that the Ork's next Action could be to order a 2nd Move and engage Havelock, the Marines need to consider whether they should counter this opening first Move.  Legitimate counters to a Move action include Op Fire (trying to gun down the opponent - which might fail) and Intercept which results in an automatic Engagement, locking the two Units into a Melee.  It's important to note that only a single Counter Action can be applied in response to any Action e.g., you can't try Op Fire and follow it up with an Intercept in response to a single Move.

If Nixios was to Intercept Ork Boi #1, that would certainly put a dent in that Ork's plans to smash Havelock (it would have to first attempt a Disengage Action (costing 1 Action Point) which might also fail).  But that wouldn't really concern the Orks because they would mean they can disregard Nixios whilst he is engaged and therefore Moves directly to engage Havelock effectively unopposed.

Whilst the Marines would have a chance of successfully shooting the Ork, the hit may not be debilitating and also could stagger the Ork (shifting it away from it's intended target) - the odds of an Op Fire result generating a useful outcome for Nixios is about 60%.

The Marines declare an Op Fire counteraction, designating the Attack location at the Ork's point of origin and the Ork resolves a Rogue Die modified Skill Check (one roll using 3d6).  Assuming the Gods of Chance are on a tea break and have left probability to the Demon of Standard Distribution, we'll assume that Op Fire was successful and whilst the Ork wasn't disabled (there's a number of circumstances in which this may occur) it was Staggered.  An FX roll yields a Standard FX Range and the Marines push the Ork further away from the battle proper.
The red gem signifies the selected fire location and the green gem the Orks
starting position.  As a result of the Op Fire Counter, the Ork #1 is shifted to the
board's far-left.

Now the Orks have 3 remaining Actions whilst the Marines only have 1 remaining Action.

Ork Action Two


For the Ork's second Action, they attempt a similar maneuver.  If the Marines were to apply their final Turn's Action as a Counter, maybe trying another Op Fire, then the Orks could use their remaining 2 Actions to (Action 3) Move then (Action 4)Move/Engage Havelock at the Turn's conclusion - an unopposed.

This time the Marines forgo the opportunity to Counter the Ork's 2nd Action and the Ork Boi #2 is now closer to Havelock than Nixios.
Ork #2 moves from the board's right to directly to the left
of Captain Havelock, 12 o'clock to Brother Nixios.

Ork Action Three


The Ork's 3rd Action is to Move Ork #2 to engage Havelock (touch bases) providing an opportunity to declare a Melee attack as their final Action for the Turn.  Upon declaring that intention, the Marines have the opportunity to declare a Counter Action once again - using their last Action Point.  Once again, the Marines declare an Op Fire result which successfully staggers the Ork Boi #2 - the Marines push him such that it's now blocking Havelock from Dakagog Grimrot's lumbering advance.
Ork #2 is staggered to the left, blocking
Dakagog's path to Captain Havelock.

The Ork's 4th and Final Action


The Orks now have one remaining Action Point and the Marines none i.e. the Orks can now Act without needing to concern themselves with any Counter Actions by the Marines.  The interesting outcome now is that the Orks are now unable to Engage Havelock as they're one Action short.

As illustrated in the following image, Ork #3 could (for example) Move just shy of direct base-to-base contact with Havelock, but they don't have the additional Action Point to bridge that gap.
Ork #3 might close in on Havelock unopposed, however
it's unable to actually connect/engage with him during this Turn.

Some reflections...


Firstly the situation was absolutely contrived: The Orks had more Units and more Actions and in Rogue Planet, that's not necessarily the case.  For example, the Orks might have only had a single Action available to them for the Turn, or as many as 6.  Similarly, the Marines could have had anywhere between 1-6.  Either side could have decided to take the default 3 Actions for the Turn - if the Marines had done so, they'd have had an additional Action with which to Counter or employ at the conclusion of the Ork's Actions.  Clearly, the number of Actions available and how the Initiative is allocated/decided can have a dramatic impact on how the Turn transpires and each Turn introduces a host of tactical choices from the go-get.

The result of the various Skill Checks (relating to Op Fire counter actions) could have changed things as well.  Should the first Op Fire result resulted in a miss, then Ork #1 could have attempted to Engage with Havelock with a 2nd Action.  The Marines might then consider countering that particular Move with an Op Fire.  Even if that 2nd Op Fire result was successful, another Ork could spend their Action Points 3 and 4 to close in then engage Havelock unopposed.

Another sequence that I didn't explore was the Orks to attempting a Charge Action - something that suits the whole Ork Waaagh!! mindset.  Charging in Rogue Planet is exactly that: shoulders down and barrel into one's target and it can result in collision damage and/or stagger the involved units.  Significantly, unlike a Move to engage so a Melee can commence, a Charging Unit need not Charge their closest enemy.  Conceivably that the Orks could have attempted 4 separate Charges (provided they had a clear path etc) on Havelock, bypassing Nixios altogether.

A Charge Action does provide the opposition with various counteraction alternatives.  They could attempt an Intercept (Nixios might leap out to block Havelock from screaming Ork, but that would leave him tied-down and engaged) and Op Fire (the Marines try to gun down the green filth) - both those counters are described above.  Being a Charge the Marines could also try a Counter Charge (useful, because it need not result in the countering model being tied up and engaged and the more heavily armoured Marines would have an advantage against the Ork Boyz) or Havelock could attempt a Dodge (which if successful it would allow Havelock to be repositioned, maybe to an altogether more advantageous or at least protected position).

Finally, there's the Command Action that allows (subject to some very specific criteria) up to three Units to be Moved simultaneously for the cost of a single Action.  It wasn't until I explored the above scenario that the following passage from the Rogue Planet ebook (pg19) finally rang true and made sense:

Commands can be very powerful in the hands of an experience player.  If your gaming group is extremely competitive and tactically inclined, then you should be ready to use commands and limit your opponent's ability to perform them.  Breaking up and engaging these triads is key.  Killing your opponent's leader also works!

Those familiar with Rogue Planet would appreciate that Command provides a player with the Initiative to Move 3 Units and only allows their opponent a single Counter Action.  E.g., I could use Command to have three of my Units engage with three separate targets simultaneously with my opponent limited to a single Intercept or Op Fire Counter Action.  I can't wait to employ a Command Action as the means to break through an opponent's ranks in a future game!

That's about enough on this particular aspect of the Rogue Planet rules and I trust you've enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the exploration.  With the above in mind, it's certainly opened my mind to some more sophisticated play in what is already an extraordinarily tactical ruleset.

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