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Rogue Hammer. Gothic scifi miniatures gaming
by Torsten B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/28/2024 06:11:33

This review is based on v 1.12.

I've never played Squad Hammer, but here are my thoughts and feelings about Rogue Hammer: Basically, it's a game with straight-forward and easy to pick up rules and it plays surprisingly quickly too. Even though you have to keep count of morale and mana and stuff, that is. Unfortunately, the quick and easy nature of the game also means it will sometimes feel a bit basic - even with random events and exploration events. I like how ranged combat was fleshed out with three ranges and a dynamic "melee" style firefight in which the enemy can (and will!) shoot back. All the random event possibilities and exploration markers are much appreciated. I really like the basic and easy to use armylists. They all feature one special rule for each army's infantry and one for its vehicles. This helps make the game feel less standard and more individual without you having to double-consider each choice or look up a unit's special rules. I do think the game could profit from some more in-depth rules concerning weakened units and weapon profiles though. Possibly also a more dynamic or less rigid cap on the total number of controllable units per side could be a good thing. If that's not beside the game's point. In my games, damage dealt tended to be on the lower side, so units rarely got destroyed and that felt a bit unsatisfying, actually.

As it stands, Rogue Hammer is in a bit of an odd place for me - limiting you to play with 4 units per side, fighting skirmish style battles, but with groups instead of individuals. Gameplay is nice and quick and the additions to the rules keep rolling in. All in all, I would say it feels a bit basic and limited at this point in time, but it does have cool capabilities of further individualisation through narration and events.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Rogue Hammer. Gothic scifi miniatures gaming
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FiveCore Brigade Commander
by Aubertin L. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/14/2023 15:16:26

Excellent rules. Simple and effective. Well done.After also purchasing 'Not Just a Brush War', which is just as good for your campaign, I ended up also purchasing 'FiveCore Company Command' to be able to play my campaign at multiple engagement levels. And I think I could use 'FiveCore 3rd edition. Skirmish Gaming Evolved' to resolve my special ops attacks.I finally found my Holy Grail.Thank you Mr. Sorensen.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
FiveCore Brigade Commander
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Clash on the Fringe Revised Edition
by jerry W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/09/2023 15:08:06

A Review of Clash on the Fringe (CotF)

Bottom Line Up Front: Get this game.

This is a highly recommended purchase if you have never played CotF and enjoy up to platoon level sci-fi action, or if you have the original version and enjoy playing it as the improvements to navigation alone improve readability and the overall experience of interacting with the rules of the game.

Inside this product you will find 159 pages of sci-fi goodness in a wonderfully laid out and illustrated package and well bookmarked throughout with rule sections linked and available from the PDF readers bookmark menu or from the PDF’s table of contents. This is a major revision in the packaging and presentation of CotF with some added clarity to the rules themselves. This is not a major revision to the CotF rules.

The core rules for game play are fitted into about 52 pages of the manual. Playable factions are presented in 26 pages of the rules. Factions are top level descriptions like Hulkers, Swift, and Bots - easily fitting your sci-fi miniatures collection into one the fourteen factions presented. If you are familiar with Five Parsecs from Home - these will be mostly familiar to you.

Troop types are infantry, vehicles, and monsters. Troop types are formed into units which may be a squad of infantry or crew served weapons, individual characters like leaders and heroes, vehicles, or individual monsters. All figures in the game are intended to represent individuals with the intent that each player will have 3-8 units fitting CotF into a platoon or platoon reinforced ruleset, a couple of small five man squads with a leader is a great start. A squad can be mixed and may have three riflemen, a leader, and heavy weapon support.

The mechanic. For each figure attempting an action, roll a d10 and score equal to or under figure’s modified characteristic relevant to the action being taken. There are five characteristics for units and all of them are important.

Units act on one of five orders which define movement and firing capabilities during their activation. This is the general stance or attitude of the unit. Leadership is exercised again when a unit leader or an individual leader activates and may issue additional commands to specific figures which may allow additional firing, movement, or rally opportunities. The unit order and leadership mechanics of CotF shines through and offer a player relevant choices that will impact success or failure.

There are no rules forcing cohesion within a squad, cohesion is emergent from the leadership rules which are critical to the game. Squad members too far away from a leader will be able to act, but will be significantly less effective overall and more brittle.

Fire and close combat will produce pins called Heads Down or may result in figure removal as a casualty. Casualties force Morale checks which may result in accumulated Stress hits on the unit. Stress will degrade the overall effectiveness of the unit until eventually they quit the field.

CotF finishes up by offering several additional features including:

1. Force point buy structure allowing the player to fully stat their own factions and units from the ground up for scenario design. 2. A scenario generator containing several d100 tables that quickly establish objectives, participants, and added twists. 3. Mechanics for solo play 4. A section for Campaign play including the earning of points that may be spent to improve forces in linked scenario play.

CotF is easy to learn as the game concepts are not complex and it uses a unified mechanic, it is the interaction of the subsystems that create interesting decisions for the player with the order, leadership, and unit status mechanics being gems. For the rules tinkerer, CotF is easily hackable within the sci-fi genre, or to any era featuring squads, leaders, gun play and vehicles. This ruleset contains a ton of sci-fi wargaming fun.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Clash on the Fringe Revised Edition
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Chrome Hammer Ascension
by Teemu H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 09/07/2022 11:46:25

This is currently my favorite miniature game. Very "your dudes" heavy with many customization options, special actions and random events during campaign turn. Sneak and reinforcement system makes balancing during scenarios fun. Do I risk exposing myself and giving more reinforcements to my enemies or should I play more carefully and miss additional loot/lose time/risk things elsewhere? I can heartily recommend this solo experience.

My only gripe (and reason for 4/5 instead of 5/5) is that rulebook is a bit fiddly to use and rules could be written more "solid". Still, best cyberpunk miniature game action I've ever had!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Chrome Hammer Ascension
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Squad Hammer Core - Peoples Edition
by Marco R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/17/2022 05:34:44

Imagine to wake up and be a kid again. Not simply going back in time, rather being able to feel again the awe and wonder of seeing the world for the first time, but with the full consciousness of the experienced adult you are now. You would get with a friend and play a game with toy soldiers together. A joyful, simple and intelligent game that feels profoundly "yours". That game would be Squad Hammer Core.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Squad Hammer Core - Peoples Edition
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October Hammer. RCW gaming on the cheap!
by Daniel A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/04/2022 17:44:29

I played a solo game tonight to figure out the rules. Very easy to pick up and fast paced. It took around an hour and a half to play through 6 turns (rear guard scenario from Trench Hammer using Friekorps vs Baltic Nationalists) with a bit of paging through the rules. It seems like it will be very easy to scale up from the 4 units per side that I used - going to give this another try soon with some more troops and players but so far I'm impressed.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
October Hammer. RCW gaming on the cheap!
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Five Klicks From the Zone Chapter 1
by Earl W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/26/2021 18:24:52

I got into Five Klicks because I liked the idea of a solo game set in a post-apocalypse that focuses on fighting your way up from the bottom in a world circling the drain. What I got was a hobby I now love, and a gateway to so much more. I've played almost fifty campaign turns between my main campaign and other, differently-flavored campaigns using the same system, and I've loved every minute of it all. Absolutely my most favourite game ever, and I'm excited to see even more content for it in the future.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Five Klicks From the Zone Chapter 1
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Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
by Marco R. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/20/2021 04:53:15

Simple rules, fast gameplay and plenty of narrative aids to build a gripping story for your campaign as well as the characters involved in it, both your heroes and the villains. The game has plenty of "sub-systems" that help conveying the feeling of progression and growth of your abilities and at the same time let you begin with fewer things to keep track, which is a godsend for the solo gamer. This way the player doesn't feel overwhelmed by too many little options all at once, as they gets added to your "arsenal" once your pilots and staff advance in experience. This also lets the player have the time to assimilate prior mechanics and lets them feel less worried of risking to forget using the new abilities/options available. Another solitaire-game that is an absolute winner.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
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Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
by Anthony G. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/15/2021 16:40:40

Simple rules packed wirh lots of action! solitaire focused so it tells a great story as your campaign plays out. one of the easiest mech games to get to the table and to keep getting it to the table over and over again. Ivan keeps updating it as well so it will only get even better.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
by David M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/11/2021 14:18:15

This review is being written based on version 0.92 Weasel's Counterattack. Weasel-Tech will continue to grow based on the visions of the author and the input of the players so if anything in this review conflicts with a later version, my apologies.

This is probably the first full on solo space opera anime episodic campaign heavy tabletop skirmish game ever created, so there's not a lot to compare it to. The only other solo mech game I know of is 5150 No Quarter - Mecha Combat and that is an entirely different gaming experience. Other mecha games have a bolt on solo system that can work well, but Weasel-Tech was built from the ground up for solo play.

You start the game with a stable of 8 Mecha, 6 Pilots, and 6 Command Staff. Unlike most 5 X from Y systems such as Five Parsecs from Home, Five Leagues from the Borderlands, and Five Klicks from the Zone, Weasel-Tech does not have background generators for your characters. I used a random anime character generator to form my 6 Pilots and used a combination of characters I've been holding in my head and a random name generator to form the Command Staff. You start with 2 styles of mecha frames to choose from, and have 4 of each. You choose from available weapons and equipment to load them out and gain access to better tech levels as you increase in experience. This allows for more advanced mecha frames as well.

Not only does Weasel-Tech offer the fluid gameplay of campaign and combat as seen in most of the 5 X from Y systems it also has the single most important addition to gameplay that I had no idea I was lacking until I read it upon these pages.

The Social System.

It is an optional rule, but intergral for a true character driven experience. Personal encounters create plot importance, friendship, rivalries, love, and the potential love triangle shenanigans that could ensue. While it is not currently part of starting a campaign, I would highly recommend starting Turn 0 of your Operation with a roll through the Social System. Frank Castillo of Jaguars Den Games first suggested it on the Facebook group, and it is a winner.

Here is an example of how my Squadron is starting the game:

Pilot Orochimaru and Intel Officer Ami Mizuno meet in a Private Location. They have no known feelings for each other. An Unexpected Event occurs. While hanging out, Pilot Happy shows up. Orochimaru and Happy have a heated exchange.

Orochimaru and Happy are now Rivals

Before the arrival of Happy, Ami Mizuno and Orochimaru had spent some time together and got along well, strengthening their relationship.

Ami Mizuno and Orochimaru are now Friends

Happy and Ami Mizuno spend some time together after Orochimaru leaves, strengthening their relationship.

Happy and Ami Mizuno are now Friends

And that's how Operation: Strong Biscotti starts for Battlecats Squadron.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
by Frank C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/11/2021 13:15:42

This game is great. I was the one who suggested rolling on the social table at start of campaign 1st David! hehe all joking aside this game is what ive been waiting for. ive spent the last two days creating my own squadron and playing out the operations. the social rolls are great for story telling. ill be honest towards end of game im itching to wrap it up just so i can see the saturday morning cartoon drama between my Mech Jocks and the other command staff. 5 out of 5 stars and its only going to get better as Ivan is great about taking input from his community. cant wait to make some vids of this.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Weasel-Tech. High Octane Cybernetic Warfare
by James A. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/11/2021 10:11:44

Weasel-Tech does what it sets out to do: help you tell a story of anime-style mechs battling each other, as well as the extra layer of interpersonal drama that is central to those shows. Gameplay itself is straightforward and brutal, and your mechs zip about the field blasting away across the table with glee (this is why cover and breaking up fire lanes with terrain is so important)! As stated in the description, it is being updated and adjusted currently, so wait to print this one for a little while. Definitely a fun way to kill some time.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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From Shako to Coal Scuttle
by Nigel T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/04/2021 04:02:46

An excellent system which handles fire power combat, ebe and flow with an elegant single dice. Fully adjustable for many periods. Really enjoyable, playable and give a real period feel. Well worth a try. 5 star....



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
From Shako to Coal Scuttle
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Squad Hammer Core - Peoples Edition
by David M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/06/2021 23:25:29

I do love how versatile and malleable this game is. You certainly can't beat the price!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Squad Hammer Core - Peoples Edition
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Five Parsecs Bug Hunt
by David M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/30/2021 12:31:44

If you wat to have a great time getting your butt kicked by the game system, Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt is a good way to go.

It's in the Five Parsecs from Home family of rules done in the old NWG format so it's very printer friendly but lacks the flash of the Modiphius book. Like the current edition of Five Parsecs, it's based on 2e with some mechanical tweaks. In this case you start with a team of three military operatives and you roll for extra support and weapons for every mission. You face waves of blips that spawn enemy melee types (bugs, zombies, cybernetic nightmares) and try to accomplish your objectives before calling for evac. It's fun, brutal, and when your military folk muster out you can add them to your crew of Five Parsecs from Home.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Five Parsecs Bug Hunt
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