"Xenos Rampant - Rules Review" Topic

I posted a short review of notable changes in Xenos Rampant compared with Dragon/Lion Rampant on my blog. Check it out here: link

Thank you. Yeah, I've read but not played mine, and I agree with the review. That said,
1. I think the "free action" thing is good in the SF context, while I'm not sure I'd want to introduce it to LR/DR.
2. The changed "courage/morale" might work for earlier periods.
3. Pretty sure the switch from 12/6 dice matches with the switch to 10/5 units, and is an effort to be nice to 40K players. (I wouldn't hesitate to to use the 12/6 dice and units rules or no, except that I only have 11 Halfling snipers.)

But a good small action rules set I'm glad I bought. I still need an SF skirmish/RPG set, though. A shame about Rogue Stars.

Just finished up my first test game, using SW Legion figures. Imperials primarily heavy infantry with an odd heavy weapon upgrade, and Rebels primarily light infantry with the guerrilla rule. Was able to produce good, fast results and easily stated out single figure units such as Cassian Andor and K2S0 and they played pretty well with just a few additional rules from the book.
Biggest standouts so far:
5SP units are generally underwhelming in combat. "6" to hit, even with 10 dice, produced very few hits and no morale failures in my game.
Support weapons were the winners, one Rebel support unit knocking out two Empire units (Scouts and a speeder bike).
Once down to half strength, units can melt quickly on single dice morale rules, especially if they take multiple hits in the same combat. Hence 5SP units can disappear in one turn with a few lucky or unlucky rolls.

Some things I'm thinking about:
1. Using the SWLegion aim, dodge and standby tokens. Aim to reroll a missed attack dice, dodge to force a reroll of a hit, standby to put a unit on overwatch that can react during the opponent's turn.
2. Modifying the command cards from SWL for use in the game (as the source of those aim, dodge and standby tokens to most extent). Looks like it would not take much effort and was one of the few features from SWL I liked.
3. 30 plus point games seem an easy extension without slowing the game down too much. Maybe extending the command radius of the detachment commander to 15 or 18 inches in larger games to improve chance of successful command rolls.

Overall, a better game than SWL in half the time. Still needs some additional rules for individual characters, but for now those can be house-ruled.
If you like the Rampant series, this will be a welcome addition.

Forgot, one other notable mention, the fire support rule-devastating on a detachment command unit. That and the support unit doing the only real damage during the game. Blaster fire accounting for almost no SP losses in my game.

I will quibble a bit over nomenclature. My Barsoomian lancers riding thoats are infantry with "mobile" and some sort of close-combat bonus. My Squats loading mortar rounds are also infantry. I did two tours in artillery units, and if you proposed such an idea to them, the whole comment would be bleeped out, probably twice. It won't keep me from playing the rules, though.

My first few read times I read thru the rules didn't raise any red flags. The minor niggle I have is the vehicle rules. First I want platoons if not companies of vehicles in our games. We will not be playing 24 points a side. More likely 96 or more. So we will see how that goes. I was surprised that he did the roll activation and if fail initiative changes. Free moves are a great add. Based on his previous comments about activation rules reflecting command and control based on the era/period Scifi would seem to be more reliable. No knock as we haven't played them yet. Just curious about it.

Thanks

John

We've played DR with multiple 24-point detachments per side, a failed activation only kills initiative for the specific detachment, not the whole side. It'd probably work very well for XR as well.

Thanks for the info, doubleones.

The mechanic of units getting certain actions for free apparently traces back to The Men Who Would Be Kings colonial rules. I have not played them myself, but I took a look and sure enough it is there.

I certainly agree with you the worst rule of Dragon Rampant (and Lion Rampant) is the "Failed Activation Ends Your Turn" rule. AFAIK, it is not present in the other rules (definitely not Rebels and Patriots at any rate). I don't know if that's a change in Lion Rampant 2, I don't have it. For our DR games, we have done away with it as a "house rule".

One thing I have to say I really like about R&P, as compared to DR, is the fact the target for all 2D6 rolls – activation, counter charge, rally, etc. – is constant (6). It speeds up the game not having to look up your target roll every time, and I guess we haven't played enough to memorize that, from the example in your blog post, Light Cav needs a 7+ to Attack, a 5+ to Move, a 6+ to Shoot, and a 5+ for Courage. I suppose it was done for historical flavor (at least in the case of LR), but it is a little tedious.

I got my copy at the weekend. Had a quick browse, but I'm struggling to see how you would incorporate 'Force Powers' for a Star Wars themed game.