"Taking the shooting phase out of Necromunda" Topic

I've been trying to turn Necromunda into the game I want it to be, but I'm no game designer. I'm kind of feeling around blindly and have no one locally to hash this out with.

That's where you come in.

I want models to be able to have the option to shoot, then move, or take part of their move, shoot, then take the rest of their move. Having the shooting all together at the end didn't really seem to serve any purpose as far as I could see.

So, I want to eliminate the shooting phase and allow models to take their shots as they take their moves. Is this going to have any repercussions I haven't foreseen? I don't want to end up breaking the game

Any help and or input appreciated.

Why not? You have overwatch to interfere with the "I pop around the corner, shoot you, then pop back" annoyance. Most games, however, may devolve into *everyone* going on overwatch as a result, but play it out and see what happens.

warzone used to do that and I loved it. Just give most people 3 actions, maybe your heroes or big monsters 4. each action is move 3 inches or shoot. (warzone had a lot of other actions as well like hide, wait (overwatch), aim, CC attack, cast a spell ect..)

Take a look at Savage Worlds Showdown rules

link

Just the sequence/card activation you should be able to adapt to Necromunda.

We developed house rules where every mini had a card it acted on. When drawn, they took their two actions (which allowed them to switch up their movement and shooting, loading, aiming, etc.). Leader has two cards in the deck. If a ganger uses up his actions on overwatch before his card comes up (or if a leader acts on his first card), their card is discarded when drawn.

There are no phases. If a ganger is down, or on fire, or whatever, he tests when his card comes up. The "end phase" just involves reshuffling. There is no ing Bottle Test, which has screwed me twelve ways from Sunday dozens of times. Your guys off one by one, and its up to whoever's left to decide if discretion is the better part of valor. It IS a campaign-oriented system, so why include such a stupid mechanism?

We tried it on a whim, and were surprised there were no unforeseen effects.

When I first started playing, I hated the bottle test. Ticked me off something fierce. Eventually, I realized that smart gangers are going to see that there's a time when you just need to cut your losses.

If it were left up to me, I'd keep them in there and get them cut to ribbons, which isn't fair to the gang or to me when I'm playing with a bunch of one eyed, one handed guys with brain damage.

If you allow move shoot move then no one will ever be caught out of cover. Is that how you want the game to play?

I think that's probably the reason most games don't let you shoot in the middle of movement, so players have to make tactical choices that sometimes leave their models exposed. Makes the game more exciting.

Also I would think, since move shoot move represents shooting while moving, that there should be an accuracy penalty.

One thing you could consider is keeping the rules as they are, but assigning "leader tokens" or "chutzpah chips" or "Hollywood Heroics counters" or "action points" or "Mad Minute Markers". Heroes have one or two, mooks have one or none, or have them but have to make a foolhardiness test to use them. These allow an extra action during the regular turn (striking again or shooting while moving or moving after shooting).

Look at how Infinity does it. You declare an Order. You can shoot where you are then move to another piece of cover, you can step around a corner and toss a grenade behind you, or you can move-move to get the hell out of dodge!

In return for this flexibility, your opponent gets to react to everything his models can see in an Automatic Reaction Order (ARO).

So you shooting and then bouncing to another piece of cover gives him a chance to shoot you (you can drop dead at the end of your move). Your advantage as the active player is that you roll more dice than he does in ARO.

Also, your sniper (who isn't moving or shooting) can give your sprinter his order, so the sprinter can do more. Yes, one model can spend all 10 orders in the pool. That's usually a bad idea because it leaves one badass model hanging in the breeze to be shot in your opponent's active turn.

If you allow move shoot move then no one will ever be caught out of cover. Is that how you want the game to play?

That's what overwatch is for.

If you allow move shoot move then no one will ever be caught out of cover. Is that how you want the game to play?

Definitely something to think about and watch for in play.

If you're trying to advance, you aren't always going to be able to make it to the next cover in a single move. If you want to stay where you are, you could pop out, shoot, and pop back to the same spot. That's not much different than the guy who positions his model at a corner so he's shooting from cover all the time. We usually just go around that guy.

A "shooting on the move" penalty seems in order though. I mainly wanted this so you don't have to stop in the middle of a fire lane to shoot at a guy who's only visible in the middle of your move.

Something else you might want to look at:

link

This is a very limited figure game – so a bit of tracking should not be too much of a hindrance!! allow each figure 2 actions (shoot & move) allow them to be played in any order (including multiples ie shoot & shoot or move & move).

1 action can be used to go on overwatch.

Roll 1d6 for an initiative for each figure and add its basic initiative rating.

All figures from both sides act in modified initiative order.

Overwatch only lasts until the end of the current turn – modified initiative determines order of action – this allows high initiative figures to hold back and wait for an opportunity shot, whilst slow reflex (low initiative) figures really have to act on their turn only.

Overwatch becomes more important to figures that can act early in the round – which is a way of showing they had the reflexes to act at the important time. And will make low initiative figures sit behind cover scared to break cover against a fast opponent – sounds a bit life like really!

I cant remember if figures had a higher initiative ratings based on experience – but leaders should be +1, gangers and heavies = 0 an juves -1. It would also become as important to spend your andvances on initiative rather than shooting and close combat skills!

You could go the Dirtside route here – In each combat turn a figure may do one of the following -

1. Move full distance.

2. Move half distance, then shoot.

3. Shoot, then move half distance.

4. Shoot at any figure that is a valid target.

To make it interesting, add a penalty to rolls for shooting if done with a move included that turn, i.e, too busy taking new position to aim.

The bottle test only existed in Necromunda because it was a campaign driven game…and yes, in reality no one fights down to 100% casualties etc.

Plenty of good suggestions here. There's also nothing wrong with taking the idea/models/story of Necromunda and making an entirely new game which suits your needs.

I did this with an Old West game and ended up making a pretty damn fun game in the process.

Or you could go with the Starship Troopers route. 2 Actions a turn, actions being move, shoot, and ready (needed for special actions). Opponent gets to react if you complete an action within 10", with reactions including opportunity fire.