To celebrate the new UltraModern Gaming Board we've decided to spill more beans on our upcoming release, Rush of Battle.
Rush of Battle: The Small Unit Action Game covers company level actions from WWII to the near future.
The core rule book provides everything you need to get started including a number of WWII force lists. Additional releases will include force lists for specific wars, campaigns, and battles. We will also be releasing our troop design system as an open source document so you can build completely custom forces based on YOUR reading of history! So whether playing points-based pickup games or well researched historical scenarios Rush of Battle will meet your needs.
ANY FIGURE SCALE
The game is designed for use with figures ranging from 6mm to 28mm. We accomplish this by using "bounds" for our unit of measurement. All distances, move rates, weapon ranges, etc. are measured in bounds. Obviously this also means the game is playable with either imperial or metric measurement systems. You can use standard rulers and tape measures or measurement sticks 2-4 bounds long (for some reason measurement sticks seem to bring out the better side of gamers).
1 BOUND EQUALS
6mm figures: 3" or 7.5cm
15-20mm figures: 4" or 10cm
25-28mm figures: 6" or 15cm
REASONABLE BATTLEFIELD SIZE
The standard battlefield size is 8 bounds x 12 bounds. Larger fields allow more room for maneuver without distorting game mechanics since all measurements for placing objectives and deployment zones are measured from battlefield center. In fact, the unique deployment and objective placement system is probably the most flexible in gaming and doesn't default to the usual "table quarters or halves" diagrams. We feel that players are really going to enjoy it!
MODEST INVESTMENT IN MONEY AND PAINTING TIME
Each player leads a company-sized force of about 12 or so stands organized into platoons. Each stand represents about half of a platoon in most cases (eg a section of 2-3 heavy weapons or vehicles or infantry base of fire and assault sections). So instead of spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars only to fill a table with dense hub-to-hub forces you can get by with a far more modest investment in time and money and employ unit dispersion more reflective of 20th century combat.
COMBINED ARMS
But an economical collection doesn't mean lack of variety! Your force can include the full range of company level assets such as rifles, machineguns, rocket launchers, mortars, and APCs as well as supporting arms such as tanks, off-board artillery, and air strikes!
ANY BASING SYSTEM
The game is designed for any basing system. Troops are organized into "stands" of 2-5 figures. The number of figures forming a stand doesn't matter and they can be individually based or together on a single base.The game also includes a recommended basing scheme designed to be easy on the wallet. So feel free to use your existing troops or raise a new force that will be compatible with other games too.
INTUITIVE UNIT LEVEL RULES
Unlike most games which have onerous unit level rules when organizing multiple stands into higher level units (eg cohesion, target status, etc.) , Rush of Battle simply provides incentives based on real-world factors that reward unit integrity. Keep your platoon's stands together and they'll receive teamwork and bravery bonuses and accomplish more. Scatter them and you'll face serious command and control issues and your troops will fight with less confidence and coordination.
DYNAMIC MISSION STRUCTURE
Building on the core mission structure from Warfare in the Age of Madness we've taken things up a notch. A single system of game set up and victory conditions provides a full range of engagement types from movement to contact, attack and defense, fighting withdrawals, etc. As the fight progresses primary objectives are cleared they shift becoming secondary objectives and enemy kills must be confirmed. In other words, unlike other games, the battlefield and combat incentives change over the course of a fight!
Each force starts the battle with 16 Valor Points. A force loses Valor Points as the enemy clears objectives, confirms his kills and persists on the battlefield. The fight is lost when a force is reduced to 0 Valor Points. This means that tracking game length is also built into the system. No need to remember "which game turn is this?" as Valor Points trickle down for both sides…
But when things look hopeless there is still a chance to at least snatch a modicum of dignity from the jaws of defeat through a fighting withdrawal. Unlike so many games that end with, "Well, I concede, it looks like you've won", Rush of Battle provides incentives to conserve your forces to fight another day, just like real world commanders. And opponents won't be able to rest on their laurels as they'll need to pursue wounded enemies aggressively and finish them off.
That does NOT mean "corner camping" wins. On the contrary, if you don't attack at least in some battlefield sectors then you have little chance of victory. The best results are achieved by an intelligent mix of offense and defense which rewards many different force compositions.
INTUITIVE AND INTERACTIVE
While many core concepts carry over from our post-apocalyptic rules, we've also refined and streamlined them. The game is still IGOUGO with opportunities to react as stands spend Action Points to move, shoot, clear objectives, recover from combat, etc. Motivation Points from the company commander and inherent to troop quality provide bonus action points and other benefits. Spend them wisely!
NEWS FOR VISCERAL IMPACT STUDIOS
We also have some great news about VIS coming up. It means freedom and resources to produce new games and expansions at a faster rate.
Stay tuned! :-)
says he's pretty happy with these babes...
