SST Evolution games at Mongoose - first impressions

[Rob_A]

Yeah, I think Matt has made a vital mistake there. They should at least be harder to hit.

 

[Alexb83]

From that last skinnies game, their weapons are still very nice. One speeder was able to shred a CAP trooper squad. The heavy speeder is a bit more difficult to use due to the arcs for the mass driver. You'll never be able to draw full armament to bear on any one target, unfortunately.

To be fair, the current Heavy speeder has those same restrictions too.

Also, how did one speeder shred an entire CAP trooper squad? It only gets 4 shots an action and only has 12" range. Did the CAP trooper squad really move within 12" of the speeder the team before (and have only 4 models in it)? I can see it killing 3-4 models, but it's impossible for one to kill more than 4 in one action.

The first one killed 4, including the sergeant. The heavy speeder mopped up the remaining two models. Perhaps shred was the wrong word... severely inconvenience?

But yeah, I'm torn on the heavy speeder. I can see the rear guns getting used very rarely, because rarely are you going to find yourself in a good position between two squads but within range with both fore and rear arcs.

 

[Rob_A]

I really wish they made it on a turn-table like the EE 40k eldar Vyper jetbikes. Its a bloody shame Im painting my Heavy speeder right now. I really think Matt should have thought a little more. I also think speeder bikes should have harmonic shields as well though. I wish I was part of the design team for Skinnies, or anything for that matter. I know skinnies are meant to be generalistic, but right now it just looks like a ranshackle mess of random stuff.

We need theme here people. The original artwork for soldiers blew me away, the colour one, that was something special, it made me want skinnies. I really hope Skinnies get redesigned properly.

I'm beginning to feel like the change to SST:evo is uneccessary, but the re-sculpts and writing of rules is important. How about tweaking rules. Not re-writing them, into SST V.2.

I like the cards, i like the pre-paints, I really hope others do. I also think the cards need a lot of work, on the day, they were obviously rushed. I think you should have given yourself more time matt. Also the help of other MGP staff would have been good. Perhaps next time, get MI to get really familiar with the rules and playtest them to others? This is what I imagined, I really didnt understand the rules until I got home, when I felt I could read them properly.

Cheers anyway, hope some of this is useful and not just pushed aside, you have no idea of how much I respect MGP as a company, not in a fanboyish way, still admiring, but wanting the best from it, not just saying they are the best no matter what. I fell in love with the old rules, the fear of being shot at all the time if too close, but now, with the one reaction, I feel a little lost. I understand why its been done, but hey. I will be teaching the 2 I brought down the old rules.

 

[Voracioustigger]

I'm beginning to feel like the change to SST:evo is uneccessary, but the re-sculpts and writing of rules is important. How about tweaking rules. Not re-writing them, into SST V.2.

The changes are definitely more tweaking than SST V.2

 

[dyssnowman]

I know skinnies are meant to be generalistic, but right now it just looks like a ranshackle mess of random stuff.

We need theme here people. The original artwork for soldiers blew me away, the colour one, that was something special, it made me want skinnies. I really hope Skinnies get redesigned properly.

I can completely relate to this, Rob. I love the soldier minis, but the rest of them don't do much for me. The guard are kind of nice, the venerables acceptable (especially given how strong they are in the game) but the soldiers are the only ones that I really felt that I had to have.

I like the cards, i like the pre-paints, I really hope others do. I also think the cards need a lot of work, on the day, they were obviously rushed. I think you should have given yourself more time matt. Also the help of other MGP staff would have been good. Perhaps next time, get MI to get really familiar with the rules and playtest them to others? This is what I imagined, I really didnt understand the rules until I got home, when I felt I could read them properly.

A lot of really good point, IMO. If you are going to do something, take the time to do it right. And it does make more sense to use the MI to help out; Mongoose has access to a large pool of volunteers, why not put them to use? It only seems logical to me.

Cheers anyway, hope some of this is useful and not just pushed aside, you have no idea of how much I respect MGP as a company, not in a fanboyish way, still admiring, but wanting the best from it, not just saying they are the best no matter what. I fell in love with the old rules, the fear of being shot at all the time if too close, but now, with the one reaction, I feel a little lost. I understand why its been done, but hey. I will be teaching the 2 I brought down the old rules.

I can understand the lost feeling. I love both SST and ACTA, and I really love playing them both. I definitely understand that there are some parts of SST that are in need of fixing so that they work better but it seems like they are leaving the MI out of the loop too much. The MI are there to help advertise the game, why not let them know what some of the changes are so that they can start to promote them at demos?

 

[dyssnowman]

First things first. Yes, I did multiple posts. Sorry if this annoys anyone, as I was simply posting as I went through the topic finding things that I needed clarifying. Now that that's been said...

Another change is the way that hits are allocated. All dice for a Fire Zone are rolled. The highest result must be allocated to the figure at the centre of the Fire Zone. Other models in the Fire Zone must be allocated at least one hit. Any hits left over are allocated as the player sees fit.

Are the hits allocated by the player that is attacking or defending?

Cover. This now increases a model's Target characteristic by 1 and is therefore well worth seeking on the battlefield.

Is this just for light cover or all types of cover? For example, does this also apply to models inside fortifications such as bunkers, or do they receive a larger modifier to their Target score?

 

[dyssnowman]

Bugs are pretty much immune to suppresion. The Plasma was nasty although we did used a revised deviation.

This is because it is difficult to get all of them in the Fire Zone, or because of some special rule?

Tunneling is now essentially free, though the shattering rule can make it dangerous to have too many bugs underground.

Really! Free tunneling?!?! I am liking the sounds of this more and more... :twisted:

 

[dyssnowman]

MI on the other hand really suffer as they cannot shoot back when supressed, and lose a round of shooting in the next turn.

Huh? An earlier post said that when you are suppressed that you can not move except in reaction, but this one says that you can't shoot back. What exactly can you do when you are suppress, besides hoping that the other guy will stop shooting soon?

 

[Alexb83]

Okay, they cannot shoot back if surpressed. If you are supressed, you lose your first action in the next turn, and also cannot shoot back as a reaction (in reaction to being surpressed). When you're supressed, you can fall back as a reaction IIRC, and that's all.