Painting - Downsync

Here's an update with what I've been painting since last time: more Downsync models. 

The Republic's Goliath squads are rough-and-tumble power suits equipped with anti-tank cannons and machine guns. I decided to pick up two squads, since I like the models and enjoy the multi-role armaments they have. 

Seeker teams are stealthy infantry units, able to scan enemy pings, spot for Mandible artillery units, and reach out with their sniper rifle that can kill any Stunned unit (even tanks!). 

The other Heavy unit I picked up was a Mandible mobile artillery. They're slow and pretty much defenseless, but have no maximum range and can swap between anti-infantry and anti-everything rounds. 

Rounding out the force is a pair of Harbinger recon vehicles, which are fast moving, able to both scan enemy pings and are another unit that can spot for the Mandible (giving me three potential spotting vectors in a game). 

We Have Reserves - Downsync AAR

This past weekend I helped Carl test out a scenario for Downsync. 

Inspired by a Flames of War scenario, the Downsync version sees both players placing 1 each of their Large, Medium, and Small pings into off-table reserves. The Attacker goes first in deployment, the Defender second, chosen by a dice off. The players then choose a quarter of the table to deploy one objective in, then place a second objective in the opposite quarter, and then finally deploy their non-reserve pings in the original quarter.

Both sides are looking to score four points from objective captures. At the beginning of turn three, the players' reserve pings arrive from the long table edge that their original deployment objective was on.

For this game, I had taken my "generalist" Republic list:

2 Harbingers

Seeker team

Vector squad

2 Crusaders

2 Goliath squads

Courier

Samson

Mandible

Mark, my opponent, had the following Coalition list (if I remember correctly):

2 Widow Scouts

2 Soldier Spider Drone squads

2 Virago

2 Phantom

Aurora

Marksman

Destroyer

Both sides spent the first turn maneuvering Pings.

I did try to use the Seeker team to spot for the Mandible, but unfortunately I messed up the line-of-sight rules and deployed them poorly. I lost one Harbinger, but traded it for an Aurora and a Widow (and before it had managed to deploy its Infiltrator Spider Drone squad). I also wiped out a Soldier Spider Drone squad thank to massed MG fire from the Goliath squad deployed in the small forest.

This early committal of Republic reveals gave Mark plenty of targets for his arriving reserves, while his own units were still hidden as pings.  

Both sides' reserves hammered into their respective flanks. I lost the Mandible and one of the Crusaders defending my objectives, but took out Mark's last Widow Scout (which again wasn't able to deploy its Infiltrator squad) and got lucky enough to destroy his reserved Marksman heavy tank.

Mark lost another Soldier squad to more Goliath MG fire, as well as his second Aurora and Virago.

Concentrated fire from Republic units managed to knock out the Coalition Destroyer, and my Goliath squad closed in to knock out the last Virago. Not, however, before it managed to score a point, putting Mark in the lead a 1-0.

It was at this point that we decided that we would make an adjustment to the scenario; adding a six turn limit. This was important because, had we not put a limit, I could have just spent as much time as a I wanted scoring points or just wiping out the last remaining Coalition unit. 

Such as it was, this meant that Mark's positioning and delaying of my forces only let me score one point myself before the game ended, leaving us with a draw, 1-1. 

We discussed our thoughts on the scenario with Carl after the game. We found the general idea behind the scenario to be sound, and suggested adding the turn limit to encourage more aggression. Carl did point out that removing the other side entirely from the table would have given the remaining player a full 4 point victory. 

I look forward to testing more scenarios for Downsync. 

Painting Update - Epic Orks, Downsync

I haven't just been painting Napoleonics!

At some point I'd like to have an Epic: Armageddon force, and decided on Orks as they seem a good mix of aggressive infantry and vehicles. I picked up some Skinners from Vanguard Miniatures (which are fantastic!) and did a few test bases to see what combination of primer, paint, and wash colors worked best. I ended up liking a black primer, a thinned black wash, and brighter metallics. 

I've also started work on my Downsync Republic of Terra force, starting with a Courier APC. I wanted a quick color scheme, and I think the green and orange works well together. 

Of course, what good is an APC without some personnel to carry? So I painted an accompanying Vector Squad. 

The Crusader tank is the mainstay armored vehicle of the Republic, holding back the cybernetic hordes of the Coalition. I've filled two of my Medium slots with these tanks, as they seem pretty efficient in taking out enemy units and are as fast as the Republic's light scanning vehicle. 

And the mighty Samson tank is one of the Republic's heavy choices. 

Feel the Heat - Downsync AAR

Having moved from New Jersey to Maryland, I haven't had many chances to play (or even paint all that much, honestly). It's tough to leave behind reliable gaming groups and friends, and then try to build all that back up again. 

I've been somewhat lucky, however, since there's a local game store that looks like it has a pretty regular crowd of gamers, and with diverse interests as well (no Games Workshop monoculture!). 

While I was scoping out the gaming scene, I met Carl, who was helping to run a couple games of his own rules, called Downsync, and still being worked on. As he described them, I was instantly intrigued; 15mm scifi skirmish set in a world heavily affected by climate change with some fascinating mechanics. He was kind enough to run me through a small demo game (with Joe as my opponent) a couple weeks later when I had some free time.

Blinds (or "pings", as they're referred to in the rules) feature heavily in gameplay. Your force starts out entirely as pings, which act both as stripped-down units and deployment zones. They come in three sizes (small, medium, and large), and they don't have assigned units as they maneuver across the battlefield. The only restriction is that you must deploy the correct sized unit to its corresponding ping; small to small, medium to medium, large to large. 

The game uses a modified set of alternating activations. The active player makes a "taskforce" from any number of units on the table and performs actions with them. The non-active player can chose units to react. Players alternate back and forth, each being the active player until every unit has activated or reacted. 

This creates an environment where players need to consider what they're activating and when. Units are designed to create combos with each other, ramping up their effectiveness against enemy units.

For example, take the faction I was playing during this game, the Republic of Terra. I had a combination taskforce of a Vector Squad, a Courier APC, and a Crusader tank. The Vector squad has anti-tank weaponry that makes Countermeasures (CM) (a unit's ability to defend itself and a series of saving throws) roll on a 4+ instead of a 3+. When an enemy runs out of CM, it's extremely vulnerable, which is where the Crusader comes in with its +1 to hit against enemies without any CM (and in a 2d6 spread, that can make a lot of difference). And finally, both the Crusader and the Courier can act as cover for the Vector Squad, allowing them to use their CM as the infantry lacks any native CM. 

Alternatively, look at the Harbinger recon vehicle and the Samson heavy tank. The Harbinger's main gun can Stun enemy units, and the Samson gets a to-hit bonus against stunned enemies. 

The Vector/Courier/Crusader taskforce ended up working very well for me, allowing me to knock out multiple enemy tanks. 

Though Joe's Coalition forces had some tricks of their own. His Phantom support vehicle has the ability to tag enemy units, decreasing their defenses, while his Virago tank gets an additional +1 to hit enemy units at short range. Working together gave him a +4 to hit my Courier, which quickly blew up. 

We ended up trading more units, with Joe's spider-bot infantry taking out my own infantry unit. Still, the Republic was left standing when the dust cleared. 

I enjoyed the game thoroughly enough that I walked out of the store with a Republic starter set, which I plan to paint up soon. Expect to see more Downsync on the blog, and check out the website!