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"FUBAR: Battle of Hoth GuadaComa Con 2013" Topic


FUBAR

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(Major Disaster)22 Aug 2013 11:00 p.m. PST

This past Saturday, I attended GuadaComa Con 2013 in New Braunfels, Texas. While there, I participated in a demo game of FUBAR: Battle of Hoth

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The game featured an awesome Hoth battle board depicting Echo Base., that was lighted and had a working monitor screen in the rebel command room. The game was great fun. More photos are on STARBASE ARES

John Leahy Sponsoring Member of TMP23 Aug 2013 5:22 a.m. PST

Wow, that is a visually impressive game and it uses Fubar! Great set of rules. I do think the table needs to be about twice as large though. My only nitpick is that it looked way too cramped for the forces used.

Thanks,

John

Mako1123 Aug 2013 7:07 a.m. PST

Looks good!

The bases for the At-Ats should be white.

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP23 Aug 2013 7:30 a.m. PST

Nice pics.

The Battle of Hoth makes for a great set piece with terrain that's fairly easy to pull off. Unfortunately, the battle itself is generally too scripted; very few scenario planners allow for the possibility of the Rebels turning the tide, or permit original approaches (like, say, storming and capturing an AT-AT and turning it on the other AT-ATs). This turns the first part of the battle into more of a scene-by-scene diorama than a fluid game, with the only real tactical choices for the Rebels occurring once the exterior defenses fulfill the script of being overwhelmed. Then the Rebels get the tactical choice of how best to make their escape, which is okay game-wise. Prior to that, though, it's mostly just a matter of rolling dice and dying in place, which IMO is rather boring.

I'm curious as to whether you found this particular offering more flexible and inviting on the tactical end for the Rebels?

(Major Disaster)23 Aug 2013 8:15 a.m. PST

@Parzival
Yes, it's rather scripted. The Rebels don't stand a chance;boring for them(that's why I chose to play the Good Guys!"Die Rebel scum!") There were a few chances to really hurt the Imperials, but due to bad die rolls, the Rebel players didn't get to do much damage to the Good Guys wink

Now, the GM of this demo, and his son, are working on a new FUBAR Star Wars demo that gives the Rebels some payback opportunity; The Battle of Endor. It's in the planning stages for now. They need to build some Endor boards. I really am looking forward to playing that, again, as the Imperial player, because I really HATE Ewoks!

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Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP25 Aug 2013 7:24 p.m. PST

I suspected as much. Unfortunately, many scenario designers can't get the script of a movie or history out of their heads and actually put themselves in game designer mode. A game calls for a chance of victory for all players, and an equal chance of victory at that. Yes, a GM can fudge by creating "alternative definitions" for victory for each side, but even that should allow for significant tactical choices for both. In the case of Hoth, if the GM designed the scenario so that the Empire will automatically succeed in storming the base, he may have copied the expectations of the film, but he's lost the game design fight. Might as well ditch all the exterior action and cut straight to the escape in the ice tunnels.

And that, too, had better not be planned as a guaranteed Rebel success. Yes, it blows the movie script apart, but Han, Leia, Chewie, C3PO, R2D2 and Wedge Antilles, for that matter, had better stand a good chance of being captured (at least) or turned into smoking ruin by the Imperial forces, or the GM will have missed the point of a game.

Think about it— wouldn't it be cool if the Rebels could actually win the battle of Hoth? Let 'em storm the AT-ATs, set up ambushes for the Stormtroopers, booby-trap the tunnels, whatever the players come up with. Shock the Empire guys out of their "I've seen the movie— we win" complacency and make 'em fight for it! And screw the script.

Heck, if you have to say the script happened as the movie depicts, make the gamed battle just part of the battle— a side action by a few companies or regiments or whatever. Makes sense, as a GM is probably only fielding four AT-ATs at the most, rather than several dozen or even more (as suggested by the films). That way, the Rebels can "win" their part of the fight, but the GM can still say it wasn't enough for true victory… but maybe it allowed some extra transports of Alliance extras to get clear. The movie goes on, but the side characters have done as they have done, regardless of the script.

The same thing should be done with any "set piece" battle, be it fiction or history. Ignore the script and let the players decide the outcome. They'll be happier and so will the GM.

PS: Love the Ewok barbecue pic. It echoes some of the humor I wrote into GOBS.

Stepman330 Aug 2013 7:50 a.m. PST

Where did the "Falcon" come from?

John Leahy Sponsoring Member of TMP30 Aug 2013 10:56 a.m. PST

Might be the model kit. It looks about the same size.

Personal logo miniMo Supporting Member of TMP30 Aug 2013 12:04 p.m. PST

A simple Wampa stampede coming through the Imperial backfield would give the Rebels a fighting chance. I'm sure the force-ghost of Obi-Wan could still do a mighty Wampa mating call over the P.A. system ^,^

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