Quite a unique system for skirmish-level combat. Unique does not necessarily mean good, however Brent seems to have a knack for creating not just unique, but more importantly deep, games. Other systems may appear deep on their surface by bolting on complexity, obscuring an otherwise uninteresting game, like having 30 different weapons with only minute differences between them, or a massive book of spells where only a couple are actually useful. Rogue Planet succeeds in avoiding this (in my opinion) pitfall. There is very little "waste".
What makes this such a deep game is that the mechanics provide oodles of decision points. Every step of the game has at least one interesting decision point. Should I be the active or reactive player this turn? My enemy can only target my closest model (most of the time), so how do I position? Which pawns do I take and which do I lose first? I have a consecutive action limit, so how do I best spend my limited action points to best put me in a winning position, and how is the enemy player going to react to my actions? There's definitely a mind game going on as you try to goad a reactive player into using his actions how you want him to. These are just a taste of the decisions one will have to make in the course of a game. Very good.
There are a couple things I felt are "wonky" or missed opportunities, like a lack of AOE attacks, which would have been a nice way to make a player think twice about using a leader's Command ability. And unless I'm playing the rules wrong, Throw seems to be the auto-choice for a Heavy unit against another Medium or Heavy as the damage potential for a collision is much higher than the standard melee attack, without a significant difference in modifiers needed to pass the skill check. The rules are not clear on whether collision damage overrules the regular damage rules for armor.
Overall, bravo to Brent for such a fun game. I think it's criminal that this game is not more popular compared to other, less-than-stellar popular offerings.
|