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ShockForce 2nd Edition
a.k.a. "SF2"
Published by
Dark
Tortoise Productions
***NEW*** ***NEW*** ***NEW***
Available online at
warengine.darktortoise.com, the WarEngine Wiki!
Available (YES, it's still in print!)
from
Shockforce
Warehouse
Intro
ShockForce 2
is a 1:1 miniatures skirmish game using 25/28mm figures. The
rules can handle two to six players per battle. ShockForce 2 is set in a
SciFi/post-apocalyptic United States of America with 7 diverse factions and
associated army lists. The fluff can be ditched if it doesn't appeal to you as
there are also rules for stating up your own troops from
scratch. If it didn't, it wouldn't be gracing these pages. WarEngine - the core
set of game mechanics of ShockForce 2 - has been used for fantasy, Victorian
Science Fiction, Historical American Civil War & World War 2, amongst other
genres. WarEngine games have been run at many conventions, including GENCON
and Dragon Con.
Overview
Each figure represents one trooper, monster or vehicle. Though most figures are part of
one squad (unit) or another, there are figures that can operate independently. Each
figure is able to perform its own actions. Each
player alternately activates a squad or independent character/monster/vehicle of
their force. I
activate a unit, you activate a unit, I activate another unit, you activate
another one of yours, etc. until all units able to do so have done so. Once all
units have activated, a new turn begins.
WarEngine uses D6's. Don't roll your eyes at me; the die
mechanic is interesting. Several dice may be rolled but only a certain number
will be kept. Example: 4K3 means roll 4 6-sided dice and KEEP the 3 highest,
adding them together to get the value. There are modifiers based on cover,
movement, certain unit characteristics (FLAWS & EDGES) and the type of unit
which can either add or subtract the number of dice rolled.
All attack rolls, using a weapon's Attack Factor, are opposed
by the target's Defense Factor roll. The attacker must roll higher than the
defender. That's it. No roll to
hit, roll to damage, roll to prevent damage, roll to inhale, roll to exhale,
yadda-yadda-yadda. There is a morale mechanic which works off the unit's
Mental Factor. Individual figures may have a limited number of Hero Points to
modify their rolls.
The only problem with the game is that the vehicle rules are
not quite as robust as I would like, but not to the point where I wouldn't play it or
recommend it, and there are ideas listed on the
WarEngine
Yahoo!Groups that show promise.
Links
Dark
Tortoise Productions
Publisher of WarEngine / ShockForce 2. Was Demon
Blade, then xB9, now Dark Tortoise Productions.
***NEW***warengine.darktortoise.com
The WarEngine Wiki! All the rules are there:
Core Rules v2.1, Troop Builder v2.1 and Force Builder v2.1. So If you don't mind
printing them out yourself, you can get them for FREE! It's community
participation within an "official" framework, so new rules, settings and forces
will be submitted by players from around the world.
WarEngine
A Yahoo!Group to discuss the ShockForce2/WarEngine Gaming systems. Active
list with folks running games at GenCon & other major conventions.
Please note that many of the army lists are in Excel. You can
download
a free viewer if you don't have that particular piece of software.
***RELAUNCHED!***The
Remnants WarEngine Free E-Zine Down load the free
WarEngine fan based E-Zine, with five issues available.
Shockforce
Warehouse eBay store selling ShockForce rules and miniatures.
NEGROMUNDHEIM
"We had a dream. An Iron Dream. And we made it true."
Anything-Goes Miniature Wargaming using WarEngine/ShockForce2.
And, YES, they do have several home-grown army lists online with more to come!
Brought to you by the same folks who gave you
IRON
DREAM TOURNAMENT I & II.
WarEngine
Central French site with photos.
Dances
with Emutants A site maintained by a former demo rep of
DemonBlade/xB9. Lots of rules, conversions & photos.
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Really Big Footnote!
I like skirmish miniature games.
Big surprise, I know. It allows a fun game to be played with
only a "small" number of figures - roughly between 10 and 40, including vehicles -
per player and the games can be concluded in an afternoon's or evening's play.
It's not as impressive [read: imposing, deterring, terrifying, overwhelming] as
mass battles where hundreds of figures per side are needed. Of course, if a
skirmish system can also handle larger battles and more than two players, all
the better.
I only paint up forces for SciFi/Fantasy games that allow the
players to stat up their own forces. Why? Because most backgrounds created to
sell miniatures to date generate stupidly huge amounts of vacuum. Official force
lists should show how the rules can be used to put your imagination to work, not
make you a slave to officially published material. As if we need their blessing to push our
lovingly painted miniatures around the table!
A point-based system is always a
plus as it gives a better idea of the relative strength of the forces and helps
in scenario design. Then there's the "X number of points, Bob's place,
Friday night" factor: makes for faster pre-game set up so more time can be
spent actually PLAYING! What a concept! Points also makes campaigns a whole lot easier &
more interesting. X territory is worth 500 points to spend on you forces
but otherwise no great shakes, Y is worth 300 points but controls access to the
east half of the map. X may be worth more points, but Y is of greater strategic
importance. Where do you devote your forces?
Having an imagination is dangerous. No system is perfect, and
few are complete. Things happen on the table that may have never occurred to the
designers or the playtesters. A good system should be resilient enough to handle
these unexpected situations. If you have to make a ruling on your own, then be
fair and consistent.
Most importantly: play the game and have fun!
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