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Don´t think empty marbles in space and more invasion of normandy for orbital battles.

So the 15mm game is due out in the end of first quarter or beginning of the second quarter according to Spartan. They told me this at GenCon. They did say that's the plan and well life can happen. The 15mm figures looked great. Also the tanks and such are planned to be in plastic, not resin. Man is that great. It will really keep the price down. There was 2 demo tables for halo and they really only ran 1. The other guy was getting crushed with questions. I get that they are super busy but I waited a long time to get in a demo and couldn't. I never say a small line to play. Thewarstore seemed to have an exclusive to sell at gencon and they sold more than half the first day, and all but 20 the second. On sat they sold out in under 5 min. The ships look very good in person. A lot of detail you can't see from the pics. All and all I was very happy with what I saw and heard.

 japehlio wrote:
For what it's worth, in the next few days I'm due to be heading up to do some battle report vids on Beasts of War...

Post a link here when you do, I would really like to see the gameplay! (Same goes for Oni, too )

I've got my box and started building and I really like the models.

All current Covenant models and the bigger UNSC models have a way above average realistic look.
Ther eason is the use of "open space" between the different parts of the models.
And this is clearly a choice, because they could have build above the same models from 2 parts, but building them from 10 parts gives a level of design quality that 1-part resin, metal or old BFG plastics never had.

I also read the rules and it feels like a streamlined version of FA, but a bit different too. Squadrons are combined on 1 base instead of deployed per model.
I expect it is easier to learn.
But it still is a "real" tabletop wargame.
Not something of a Age of Sigmar simplicity.
And compared to Star Wars: Armada, which might seem a bit similar, HALO: Fleet Battles IMO is both more a wargame and more value for your money.

I stil have to build the rest, paint it al and, probably next week, play the game. But i am quite happy for now!

 japehlio wrote:
For what it's worth, in the next few days I'm due to be heading up to do some battle report vids on Beasts of War...

Thanks, that'll help. Are you a BOW staffer or a spartan rep heading over there in an official capacity? Or is BOW doing invitational style battle reports with the public like miniwargaming now?

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ORicK wrote:
I've got my box and started building and I really like the models.

This may sound strange but could you (or anyone with the game) measure the size of the fighter and boarding craft counters when you get a chance? I'm planning on using minis but I don't know what size plastic base I'd need to not change the footprint.

I will try to remember when i get how in a couple of days...

But my first impression (wihtout measuring) was that they are the same size as counters from Dystopian Wars or Firestorm Armada.

Im a Spartan Vanguard, so I'll be going up to play/demo a few games of Firestorm Armada/Planetfall and Halo. Essentially building off the back of the interview Derek and Niel did with them the other week, they want to see it played and show it off.

As for rules, man but it is good. The way they have capped the exploding 6s is great, and feels natural too. Honestly I think I might implement that system into Firestorm, it's that good.

Damage is done well, movement is simple (no turning templates), shooting is just so smooth (for anyone familiar with FSA, the is no linking fire anymore, everything is just combined together)

One thing I really like is that boarding actions aren't a 'one and done' affair, they can continue over multiple turns, and have a real sense of attrition to them.

Oh, and as for tokens: 2cm squares exactly

lastly, since we all like pictures, scale shots:


The detail on this last one blew me away:

 ONI-S3 wrote:
Hey guys, I'll make one tonight if you're interested :-) my fleet isn't painted yet, but I can clarify the rules for those as I go. Might have to learn video editing and my only camera is a phone though... Is that something you'd be interested in watching?

Oh yes yes yes, and yes! I just ordered my copy online, and I would love to see a game being played with explanations before tackling it myself.

I've played Halo a few times now and it's quickly become my favourite game since I tried FSA about 3 years ago. It's streamlined, fun and cinematic. It actually allows you to think about positioning, using terrain for traps/cover, epic boarding actions and loads more. The Firepower Rating is genius and works lovely with their exploding dice mechanic too. Very good fun.

Dropfleet doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Way too small scale and the ships are way too "spikey" looking, going for the old school 40k look to drag in those players (and it has Andy Chambers writing the rules..), which it will do in their droves. Wasn't overly struck with the combat video either. It looks like they've just taken Firestorm and modified it slightly in the fact you hit on different numbers instead of a straight 4+ unless terrain/small ship etc. I don't like DZC either so half of the appeal was lost on me from the get go.

Weird, any comparison to any of Spartans other gam3s is an immediate turnoff for me, whereas I think DzC (and by extension DfC) is far and away superior.

As someone who plays both I think we can look at each on their own / see the pros and cons of one without needing to put it in light of the other.

For myself, regarding FSA: I have heard a lot of hate for exploding D6's, so I am really glad to hear they toned that down and streamlined formations for Halo, too! That's been the main concern friends have expressed to me about it, so I'm looking forward to trying it and seeing if that has been smoothed out . I'll be picking up my 2 sets tonight.

Regarding Dropfleet: I'll mostly put my comments in the dedicated thread, but I am very much looking forward to seeing more info. I play DzC, and it looks like they kept some mechanics from that game, such as range being a combination of your own stats and opposing models. However, I need to see more because in DzC I found some of those modifiers a bit fiddly and didn't feel they added to the gameplay much. Dropfleet also sounds objective focused, which is good but I am again hoping they don't hold to DzC formulas, where the objectives (and thus games) felt a bit same-y sometimes - I think a lot of the new units are to shake up gameplay styles.

Looking forward to seeing more on each of these! Although obviously I'd like to focus on Halo in this thread

Morning guys, filming has started! No idea how to upload it once I'm done, will I have to make a YouTube account for that? It's a miniaturised encounter and it's going really well. Big thanks to everyone posting new info, more detailed responses after this video is done

If you have a google account, you kind of already have a youtube account but, yes, you technically need an account to upload to. Make sure you upload it as public so others can view it and you can link it here with the "youtube" tags with the web address of the video in between the tags.


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 japehlio wrote:
Im a Spartan Vanguard, so I'll be going up to play/demo a few games of Firestorm Armada/Planetfall and Halo. Essentially building off the back of the interview Derek and Niel did with them the other week, they want to see it played and show it off.

As for rules, man but it is good. The way they have capped the exploding 6s is great, and feels natural too. Honestly I think I might implement that system into Firestorm, it's that good.

Damage is done well, movement is simple (no turning templates), shooting is just so smooth (for anyone familiar with FSA, the is no linking fire anymore, everything is just combined together)

One thing I really like is that boarding actions aren't a 'one and done' affair, they can continue over multiple turns, and have a real sense of attrition to them.

Oh, and as for tokens: 2cm squares exactly

Ah, thanks for clarifying (the bases and the BOW video). I look forward to watching the latter. Make sure to give DakkaDakka a shout out! For the boarding actions, are the ships destroyed along with the ship they're borading (assuming it is that successful)? Or do they use that save to "escape" and can move and then board a second ship?

The boarding ships are not destroyed when the ship they have boarded is destroyed, but are instead expelled into space and cast 'adrift' (the name of the rule), adrift tokens must make a save each time they're cast adrift, if they pass, they can move 6 inches onto a friendly element (with space on its boarder hanger section). The save is passed on a 2 for troopers (both Covenant and UNSC, 2 is also a 1/6 chance), on a 2 or a 1 for zealots (a 1/6 and a 1/3 chance respectively) and anything but a fail (1/6 chance) for Spartans. I'll reread whether they can move onto another enemy ship immediately, but I don't think so. They also avoid the critical core breach they likely caused, which actually is absurdly lethal.

Also, 1 video explaining background info is done, as well as the first few activations, just need to finish the game, change the orientation of the video and make a youtube account


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Okay guys, uploading videos now, unfortunately my camera phone died part way through filming and did not save the final part of the battle, however, it does certainly show the basics, I can upload another game if there is interest. In this video I skipped the order, boarders and wings phases for simplicity. In the next video, if you guys want one, I can put a whole game. Hope you like it! will post a link as soon as the upload is done


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Alright, so my wife spent a fair bit too much time zoomed in to far and sometime the overall sense of the battlefield is obscured by simply being too close in. If you guys like the style of the video, minus the fact it's way too close up, I'll make that next one but keep the camera much farther out. Without further ado, here it is, the intro to the rules as a preamble to the battle:




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And here is part one of the demo game, managed to retrieve the second half and can film the last turn tomorrow

The second video is working fine (thanks!) but the first video is private so only you can view it! An easy check is if you can view it if logged out of your account. You can change the setting from private to public right on the video page I believe (if logged in), or in your video manager (top right corner should link you there).

Might want to get a tripod for future ones and just set the camera up on the side, but it is very informative so far! Thanks for making these

The change of exploding dice to re-rolls instead of extra dice is a superb idea indeed.

And i don't even mind the exploding dice in DW and FA; the system works well and it's statistics, just as using dice in any other system.

But the "cap" that is created by changing "extra dice" for "re-roll" is something that also some players i know might like very and we will try using that in FA as well i think.

Glad you guys liked it, will definitely make things wider angled and more stabilised. Jules kept focusing on the models and kinda lost the feel of the battlefield, she improved in the second half of the video which is being uploaded now, but in the final section I'll have ironed out these things. Also, I will fix the private video part, my bad!


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Fixed, video should now be public, thanks for the heads up!

While not having anything to do with the main topic of this thread.

Halo Wars 2 ANNOUNCED!!!

Very nice!

Creative Assembly is doing this? I hope it is a bigger game than Halo Wars 1, though that was reputed to be one of the best RTS games for game console.

FINALLY!

@ONI

Thanks for putting up the videos. I'll be looking at them later tonight. From just a quick look, I'd say you're good on the ship to ship combat mechanics videos. It's a personal interest of mine but I'd say have the next video maybe be for fighter combat as well as boarding actions with the ships already set up to do both (instead of spending a few turns getting into position). Thanks again.

I most certainly can do that warboss, and I am glad they were helpful. Have uni today and tomorrow, but will endeavour to have a wings and boarders video up soon!

In the mean time, here is the recovered part 2 of the demo battle:



As for Halo Wars 2, I could not be more excited. Additionally, Halo Wars 2 is set to be released just a bit after Halo Ground Combat! Who wants to bet we'll be seeing some of those units make the transition from Halo Wars 2 to the next wave of Spartan Games' ground combat?

I folded and went in for 2 of the war store special Gencon release.

Ernster wrote:
I folded and went in for 2 of the war store special Gencon release.

You are a good person and people say good things about you.

@ONI-S3, LMAO, thank you. I was looking at Space Mat's to use fir play that are 36x36 inches. Will that suffice or will 2x's work?

 ONI-S3 wrote:
I most certainly can do that warboss, and I am glad they were helpful. Have uni today and tomorrow, but will endeavour to have a wings and boarders video up soon!

In the mean time, here is the recovered part 2 of the demo battle:



As for Halo Wars 2, I could not be more excited. Additionally, Halo Wars 2 is set to be released just a bit after Halo Ground Combat! Who wants to bet we'll be seeing some of those units make the transition from Halo Wars 2 to the next wave of Spartan Games' ground combat?

Between Halo Fleet Battles, Halo 5, Halo Wars and Halo Ground Combat, this is a good time to be a Halo fan.

Love me some Halo, I also LOVE the Killzone series and fluff. I preferred it actually. Check that, they are n close contention. I hope the Flood have different ships as opposed to infected covenant or UNMC.

Minor nitpick, that Frigate base that was fethed by the 2 vulnerable markers shouldn't have been removed.

It was 7 successes and 1 save so 6 successes.

4 are for the first damage track, gets vulnerable marker and the next damage track is 3-1 so 2. 4-6 is 2 successes left so it loses another damage track and gets another vulnerable marker but no more successes left to finish it.

Although it doesn't really matter as with 2 vulnerable markers it would be killed by the following shooting,

Yeah, Killzone and Resistance were better settings and storylines IMO, though not necessarily better games. I always thought Gears of War deserved more respect, though I have to admit that I havent played very much of it

chaos0xomega wrote:
I always thought Gears of War deserved more respect, though I have to admit that I havent played very much of it

Especially Dom's storyline in GoW 3. gak got dark. No wonder that guy went over the edge.