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Hey guys, pretty large update today.

Version 0.0.4

I've finally moved the rules into a column format, which makes the whole thing much nicer to read.

I've added some new stuff too. Highlights include:

- Spot action (spot enemy units to give friendly units a bonus to shooting.)

-Smoke Grenades (cover bonus)

I've also added some new equipment too.

In addition, I've moved all the stats into proper army lists, added descriptions for all the units.
Added an equipment section that goes over the stats and rules of all weapons and equipment.
I've added a reference sheet at the back with the points costs of all the equipment too.

There's still a long way to go. I need to add a lot of the special rules that are floating in my head, flesh out the army lists with a lot more units, and finish off the advanced rules and scenario sections. But it's starting to feel like a real rule set now.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Nice formatting and I'm glad to see you're still working away on the rules.

Any specific concerns you have?

I was wondering is there a downside to the "Go to Ground" action? Seems like it'd be pretty easy to shoot then GtG just to receive the bonus. Do you have to spend an action next turn to stand up or anything?

Spot seems a bit unclear. I like the idea of teamwork, but "-1 bonus" seems a bit confusing. Maybe +1 to the dice roll instead? Perhaps there should be some kind of check or test? I'd also consider rewording it to "any other friendly unit" to be super clear that the original spotter doesn't get the bonus. Do you find units tend to Spot a lot over shooting + moving?
Generally the negative bonus and positive penalty are a bit confusing, so I'd consider changing the text or going with dice roll modifications instead, where a +1 = good makes sense.

I don't remember if the shooting into close combat was something worked through earlier in this thread, but I like the roll-off + mods solution you came up with.

Have you found Overwatch stops people from moving too freely? Or does it tend to balance well in play with the bonus defense when Moving.

Have you considered splitting some of the shooting modifiers so that they modify Defense instead of just to-hit? I could see Cover positively affecting Defense for example. You could even go further and have Concealment which helps the to-hit roll. Right now it just seems like everything makes a target harder to hit but still just as easy to damage.

You are missing a few italics on various "Example" blocks throughout the text, such as for "Hitting the target" under Combat. I like how you've formatted them differently in general though.

I saw you have a Courage test after 50% damage in close combat. Was the idea close combat wounds are uglier than ranged wounds and that's why shooting doesn't cause the same test? Also for Courage tests wouldn't a lower Courage stat technically be better since you're trying to roll equal to or above it?

Minor formatting comment, but having alternating white + gray rows in your weapon table chart (on the last page) would help with readibility.

 bosky wrote:
Nice formatting and I'm glad to see you're still working away on the rules.

Any specific concerns you have?

I was wondering is there a downside to the "Go to Ground" action? Seems like it'd be pretty easy to shoot then GtG just to receive the bonus. Do you have to spend an action next turn to stand up or anything?

Well spotted, I had meant to add that it costs as action to return to normal in the following turn after going to ground

Spot seems a bit unclear. I like the idea of teamwork, but "-1 bonus" seems a bit confusing. Maybe +1 to the dice roll instead? Perhaps there should be some kind of check or test? I'd also consider rewording it to "any other friendly unit" to be super clear that the original spotter doesn't get the bonus. Do you find units tend to Spot a lot over shooting + moving?
Generally the negative bonus and positive penalty are a bit confusing, so I'd consider changing the text or going with dice roll modifications instead, where a +1 = good makes sense.

Modifier working is something I've been struggling with. Because lower is better for combat, ranged and courage, but higher is better for defence, I was writing +/-[n] depending on what stat it effective, but that was confusing at times even for me. I've changed it now so that if it makes the roll better (changing a ranged stat from 4 to 3) its a +1 bonus. And if it makes the roll worse (changing courage from 3 to 4) its a -1 penalty. It should be easy enough to understand anyway, but I've tried to include as many examples as possible just in case people need a little more clarity

Have you found Overwatch stops people from moving too freely? Or does it tend to balance well in play with the bonus defense when Moving.

That version of overwatch survived from an earlier version in which you could make as many overwatch shots as you like. I've changed it now so that you may choose to take the shot (sometimes it may be better to wait). This, along with the penalty for shooting a target that has moved (or moving, as overwatch is an immediate action) and the penalty when the overwatch unit has moved in it's activation means that overwatch shouldn't be too powerful.

Have you considered splitting some of the shooting modifiers so that they modify Defense instead of just to-hit? I could see Cover positively affecting Defense for example. You could even go further and have Concealment which helps the to-hit roll. Right now it just seems like everything makes a target harder to hit but still just as easy to damage.

I see what you mean, but I'll probably leave it as it is. As it is at the moment I think of the cover save more as the projectile's ability to get through whatever the unit is hiding behind. The projectile has to go through the cover before it can get to the unit, so it makes sense to me to have the roll in the hitting phase and not the damaging.

You are missing a few italics on various "Example" blocks throughout the text, such as for "Hitting the target" under Combat. I like how you've formatted them differently in general though.

Fixed!

I saw you have a Courage test after 50% damage in close combat. Was the idea close combat wounds are uglier than ranged wounds and that's why shooting doesn't cause the same test? Also for Courage tests wouldn't a lower Courage stat technically be better since you're trying to roll equal to or above it?

If you look at the courage section, any time a unit loses more than 50% of its health in a single turn it must take a courage test. The reason there is a section on it in combat also is becuase if they fail that test in combat they must flee, giving the enemy unit an automatic combat action against them

Minor formatting comment, but having alternating white + gray rows in your weapon table chart (on the last page) would help with readibility.

Thanks a lot for the comments, a lot of little things I'd overlooked. And now that I've changed the wording for modifiers I feel much better. I've attached the latest version (which has a few other minor changes too) to the OP.

That makes sense for Go to Ground. I thought there might be some post recovery action missing, since otherwise it seemed like the best default action ever

Sounds good for Overwatch. I'm generally a fan of that type of mechanic since it lets players do something outside of their turn, I was more just wondering if it bogged down the game where everyone was afraid to leave their fortress of cover. I remembered that happened a bit in 40k 2nd edition with Overwatch.

For the modifiers and stats I'm struggling right there with you Whenever a stat is used as a target number you want the number to be a low as possible. But having low Courage = good is always confusing. Outside of changing the statistic names to hint that low = good I haven't found an elegant solution when using target numbers in this way. 40k gets around this with the "7 minus BS = to hit", which when you're playing the game you don't even notice, but when you really think about it the mechanic is kind of kludgy. But yeah, as long as the terms are consistent and you specify that stat = target number so low = good I'm sure that'll be as clear as possible.