"Rules of Engagement by Great Escape Games" Topic

Anyone played these? Didn't find much about them on TMP. Saw the rules last night at a friend's house and was very impressed (maybe because they remind me of my homegrown rules?). :-)

They're pretty darn expensive here in the US (~$65) but I'm ordering anyway.

Any opinions from those who have actually played them?

Thanks!

MB

I bought it and think that it makes a very good reference book. I also bought the Russian supplement.

However, I usually play with my 10 year old son and it was too complicated for us. I suspect it is a good game for experienced gamers but not really a beginners game.

We switched to Rapid Fire which we enjoy.
Mick

Yes, I noticed there's quite a bit to the game, especially when it comes to orders, modifiers, and the vehicle system. In that respect in seems very similar to the original Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader rules.

My home grown rules are definitely a huge step down in detail from something like ROE. I have a 7-year old and 9-year old, and both are wargamers.

But like you said it looks like a good reference book and there are some neat game concepts in there.

MB

Our game group has been playing these rules recently. We played a lot of Disposable Heros before these. The rules are a step up in complexity over DH, but not by much. If you are playing with youngsters I strongly recomend DH. I don't think the order system is that complicated only 5 orders to chose from, but is different if you don't play a lot of rules that involve orders. I really like the morale system and the way troops fall back, gives the games a back and forth flow.

One thing that would have been nice in the rules is a full turn write up of the rules (such as what RF does) so people can see how some of the mechanics work. They give a lot of examples in the rules but they at times don't make a whole lot of sense.

I agree the rules are pricy so if you get a chance to play with someone who already has the rules I would say give it a shot.

Chris

We play it in our club when we have time. Fun set of rules, with very good battle results. In most cases you have to carefully plan your actions.

You could play it with your kids also – you don't have to use the full rule set to have a fun game. The unit profiles are quite staightforward, drop the firing modifiers ( except the ones for cover ), spotting rules, and do not require them to state the orders and targets right at the beginning of the turn, and they will enjoy it. The core concepts of the game are simple enough and will work without those elements.

Rule are ok for infantry action. Armour games are out. limits you vehicle suport to one or two genric vehilces. does not give you the detail of DH. but it is a fun game.

Generic vehicles? The stats, while not detailed as in DH are pretty good.

I have the rules but have not yet played them. They seem like they ought to be fun. More than anything else they reminded me of Flames of War. Step down from the platoon being the basic unit to the squad and there you have it.

The batreps on the site might be worthwhile:

link Page

securityforces, we sometimes add in extra vehicles and don't limit ourselves to the orbats. I'm a firm believer that when you buy RoE, it's yours; monkey around with it as you see fit.

You could describe me as an RoE fanboy, so take this as someone who is biased!

I really like the morale system and the way troops fall back, gives the games a back and forth flow

This is a really innovative mechanic and can keep you guessing about how the game is going to play out. I've had games before where I have been on the wrong end of a ****ty stick, but then made a good tactical decision causing my opponent to suffer enough hits to cause him to fall back. That can then result in a the battle swinging the opposite way. More often, I have made a bad decision and been punished for it. For me, the key thing about RoE is that it rewards good decision-making.

As Roodie says, you can always leave out some of the more complex mechanics like spotting etc to simplify the game.

Head on over to the RoE forum for help and advice with playing. There's a good community at rofe.19.forumer.com

-darryl

I like the books but have so far only managed to get one game of it. That was ok but i had not read the rules fully so it was a bit of a chew. Also i was playing with my son who was enthusiastic but kind of left all the rule stuff to me (as per usual the lazy little blighter).

Struck me that i would prob be good if i read the rules a couple more times and played a couple of learner games.

Stuart is a nice chap and i like the company ethos, so i think i will get back to it soon enough.

Great set of rules..
I have been playing RoE for over a year and managed to get about 8 or so regular players in our club playing it too.

For a platoon level game in either 20mm or 28mm its been brilliant. Tactics and sound period like play count.

Also, Stu and Mark, do a great job of answering questions over on the RoE forums. So if you do have a query a quick search usually finds the answer, or if you don't find it, a quick post and its sorted within a day or so in the main.

The main rule book is a stunning piece of work, both visually and content wise. Well worth getting hold of if your interested in WW2 at a platoon level.

We regularly scale our games up, by adding in additional platoons and players, so we making it a bit more social when, we have the additional time to play longer games.

They work well – the armoured rules are ok based on the fact a platoon wouldn't have much armoured support anyway and the table is a suitably deadly place for them which is good.

I am always surprised they have not got a bigger following, I remember when they came out and I reviewed them for WJ I said I thought they may do a FOW on the gaming world … so far they haven't.

They sound like great rules for gaming (anti-)partisan actions!

Well, Surferdude, the following is growing. We've shipped a hell of a lot of rulebooks. The support from the gaming public has been great. I just wish we could produce books more quickly. We're still committed to having a lot of free pdf's on the site, but a comprehensive book is hard to beat. It's just that it takes a lot of research and we always demand a lot of playtesting.

Stuart … good luck mate … what I meant by the 'so far they haven't' wasn't implying it was your fault (might have read funny, sorry) I meant I was surprised it hadn't.

Rich

No worries, I know dude!

GEG have just released "Operations & Objectives" a campaign generation system for RoE, and other gaming systems.
I was lucky to play test it and got my own copy off the guys at Derby of the finished article.

Its a great, simple campaign playing system and I suspect it will be popular with players who like campaigns and linked gaming sequences that tell stories.

I do think part of the reason the rules haven't taken off in the U.S. is the cost. $65 USD is an awful lot when DH is a popular much cheaper option. I wish I could find someone with the rules so I could have a look without shelling out $65. USD I like RoE's idea of troops falling back and would like to see how this works in a game.

Every time I consider buying Rules of Engagement I also think of the price. But in consideration Disposable Heroes is just as expensive. A 16 dollar rulebook, sure, but then you go and buy the force books and you're getting close or exceeding the Rules of Engagement price range.
And with RoE it seems you get a hardback book with eye candy, as well.
Maybe next time I have a some spare cash I'll pick up RoE.

If you splash out on a copy of the rule book I think you might be pleasently surprised with a, the books quality and b, how the rules work and games play.

I cannot rate it highly enough for giving me lots of entertainment this past year and more.

It took a bit of self convincing for me to splashout here in the UK at first too, but once you get the book and have a read of it, you soon wonder why you held off so long.

I am just planning a BIG game for some of my gaming friends.. so off to read up on mine fields and bunkers.. :)

Anyone play these rules in the Sidney/Dayton/Columbus Ohio are and looking to find anther player?

We were just given a demonstration of the game today. Thanks Quidveritas, Al and Ed. A few of us went down to the game store in the snow and on the icy roads. The game and trip were well worth it.

For some of you older folks it very much felt like Squad Leader with miniatures. Some differences but the feel was good. More of a skirmish than squad leader but lots of fun. The break off rules are great and add to the game play.

If I could find it locally I would buy it. Just to be able to play it again. Unfortunately most of my miniatures are based for other games and I would need to buy more and then rebase them just for this game. My Italians are only half based and I should be able to adjust them with rare earth magnets so that they can be easily adusted for ROE as well as other 15mm games.

It was a nice few hours of learning the rules of a new game, the other players were all gentlemen, we had a good time and lots of fun.

Chris

We played at a local shop in North Idaho. Thanks again everyone.

Will multi based figs work with RoE.
I've got 2 or 3 to a base -28mm.

Haven't played them yet, just got them. But multi figure bases could work, it would be a little odd, but I think it would be okay.

Tweeking, might be needed over the template and how you dealt with which figures were hit, but a simple dice off etc could solve that. So no major reason why you cannot use the figures.

It is a great rule set, well worth the purchase and read. Gives a good platoon level forces game.

Lots of playability.