Very true on the "turtle" aspect.

There is already an element with that in our games. Over watch option could only increase that.

Maybe as a specific ability for a character?

Hey Sundance - did you see my follow up post?

Regards

Nhoj

Nhoj said:

Would you spend the VP when you were going to be attacked? or is it a "gamble"

A gamble methinks.  A character would place a 'Counterattack Ready' counter instead of taking an action on his own phase

I think I may playtest this idea as a solitaire project over the weekend sometime

Nhoj

I really like the gamble of spending the VP to go into an overwatch mode.  It makes its use finite and one can't just turtle the whole game.  Players would have to make strategic decisions on when to use it to prevent hit and run assassin attacks.  One difference is in Space Hulk there is facing, while not in this game.  I'm not sure if that will make it overly powerful but spending the VP to go into that mode helps to keep it balanced at least.

Are we talking true Overwatch mode where every step is a potential attack?  I would think one attack per character turn is a more balanced mechanic.   If it is every step then the lowest value will be a necessity and some of the line of sight rules might need a tweak- I can't imagine being able to overwatch from the back and fire through all your comrades... but maybe that is why it is from the lowest attack value then. 

How about spending 1 VP for a Charakter who hasn´t attacked this turn to attack an enemy entering his path with his lowest combat-scores or 2 VPs for someone, who has attacked this turn? Would make things a lot easier instead of a special counter.

I was thinking (and maybe didn't explain fully) that a character could use their action to put down the 'ready' token and then got to use their action later. I did not intend for it to be Space Hulk style Overwatch. I can see that as being unbalancing.

This should probably be a bonus token.

So Doc, would this token come from your character and take up an item slot?  That's what I was thinking initially but maybe that is too limiting and selective as you don't want all your heroes to get stuck with only 3 other slots open.  I guess it doesn't have to be though, it could just be a generic token that is placed on the board (one of the extra tokens with that characters pic on it would work).  Then you remove it when you issue your attack or start that characters next turn.  Camping/turtling might still be an issue.  Also, I haven't played with the Russians yet, would this cause any balance problems when using them?

Some interesting discussion here.  My own idea is only slightly from the Docs.

'Counterattack ready'

"Any character armed with a weapon which is capable of a counter attack may spend 1 VP as his/her action phase to become conterattack ready.

Any such character when attacked may launch a simultaneous attack against the attacker.  If the attacker does not attack the counter does not happen (both parties taken by surprise?)

In the event of a counter attack, under THIS rule, the defender may elect to use current combat value (and lose the ability) or lowest printed value, and retain the ability"

This rule should prevent turtling for two reasons

. VP is required, these are finite

. Attacker does not need to attack and can therefore still advance

No new counter would be necessary for this option - I will be using a small red bead to designate this state in my upcoming playtest

Regards All

Nhoj 

Well it didn't take much playtesting for this rule to need adjustment as it does not in the above state prevent the kind of scenario that the Doc pointed out.  

Here is the revised rule

"Any character armed with a weapon which is capable of a counter attack may spend 1 VP as his/her action phase to become counterattack ready - CR

CR can be activated whenever any enemy figure enters or moves onto the same path as the figure with the counter. For each circle entered first the defender (the figure with CR) then the attacker can announce an attack. If Either player announces an attack the opposing player can, but is not required to, announce a simultaneous attack.

If the CR decides to fire – there are one of two options
 

a) use normal combat including modifiers and lose CR status
b) use lowest printed combat value (which can only be modified by on the board status and nothing else    ie smoke, certain combat circles etc) and retain CR status

in any case the CR player may only fire at each individual attacker once. The moving player is allowed only one attack as usual."

I'll try this out and report back

Regards

Nhoj
 

@ URD

In the very most games I playes Barrys guns and Frags are rarely used, if at all.

Really ? yikes . You need his gun + battery for the instakill on 9 and 10 . I'd imagine the Reich win all your games . If you're not utilizing his weapon at all and the Union is winning then your opponent playing the Reich needs to sharpen his skills a bit .

As for frag grenades , I love moving up , tossing a frag at a target ( or two ) , then back out is a great way to weaken the opponents . Even if the shock prevents damage the frag gets one unblockable hit anyways , and sure it may not kill the intended target but it can force the opponent to use up their valuable VP's to heal .

Honestly , rethink your approach to 'nades and Barry in general :) .

The Sundance Kid said:

Agreed with all your points Sundance . My buddy and I frowned at some of the instakill abilities and how many times one of us said " hmm , that sucked I didn't even get to use him/her " . So we were thinking that the 10's ( 9 and 10 for Barry ) if not met with a 10 in shock , would constitute a ' double damage ' idea ( anyone remember the natural '20' double damage in D&D?) . Now that can lead to a high damaging hit anyways but the kill isnt instant and can lead to , like I said before to URD , you forcing your opponent to play and use up their VP's to keep the target alive . Any hits resulting in odd # of successes are rounded up . If a 10 is rolled in shock then the combat follows normal procedure and the double damage is cancelled . All of these points apply to Eva's Strafe too .