"Beyond the Gates of Antares playtest on Warlord Games" Topic

In an e-mail from Warlord Games today, there's a link to an AAR of playtesting some new rules for Rick Priestly's Beyond the Gates of Antares system.

link

Looks interesting, but THREE HOURS to get to the end of turn 2?!

I signed up for the beta as well, but looking at the rules they just didn't seem as streamlined as I was hoping for after hearing that they are based on Bolt Action. On the other hand 6 players playtesting new vehicle rules for the first time, could at maybe partially explain 3 hours for 2 turns.

I want to like it, and I plan to give the rules a read-over again, but it's not looking like BtGoA is going to be my ruleset.

By the way, anyone can still sign up to get the beta rules at Warlord game's forum there's a link at the very bottom of the platest report. It's a pretty impressive document for a "beta", so if nothing else, it's a chance for some free rules.

Yea – there was quite a bit of beer and pizza in that 3 hours though! I must say I didn't count the turns – but when I read '2 turns' I did wonder if someone had lost count!

Broadly speaking – Antares plays at about the same pace as BA once you get the hang of it. The rules are a bit more involved than BA, with a greater range of stats, modifiers, and weaponry, but you kinda need that to represent the greater variety of 'stuff' in an SF game. Mind you – BA is a masterpiece of 'streamlined' when it comes down to it – I blame that Cavatore fella – a hard act to follow!

I'll be demoing the game at the Derby show next weekend by the way – on the Warlord stand.

Well I am curious but feel I have found my Science Fiction wargame of choice with Tomorrow's War.

TW is a radically different game, relying as it does on a rather extensive reaction system. Antares has a more traditional unit activation scheme, though it does randomize the order a bit.

I have a feeling that both will find audiences.

I expect the final version to be more streamlined and faster to play. It is still in the early playtesting stage so don't read too much into people taking their time in a game.

Agreeing with Ordinarybass on this one. Personally not a fan of Tomorrow's War. I'm thinking of getting back to FAD4 for platoon actions…