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I did do a search, so hopefully there isn't something previous.

I know Recon board game came out recently.

I was wondering if anyone plays the minis game and what they think on it?

2x3 or 2x2 board is very interesting to me as I tend to like smaller skirmish games

Does it play fast? I have the quick start and see they just released a pre 2.0 rule quick start fix. Seems the cards are all changing form being the cut out ones to full cards and you just measure or use a template.

Should I wait on getting this til its all 2.0? (no idea when that will be)

Ive played tooons of minis games so does it compare in gameplay like any or pretty unique in its own right?

So yes, it plays fast, but it has a lot of issues. Your team of around 5 models all have very specific roles- support, attack, leadership, healing, specialized. They are not formalized as such, but it's pretty obvious by the rules each model has.

Each faction has a theme for it, and is reflected in the rules. I.e.; CCC have high arm and heal easy, KemVar have insane camouflage, USCR are big tanks, etc. etc. The movement mechanic requires the cards of each model. If you look at the card, it has half circle cut outs- basically, you slot the model into the cutout, then move the model to one of the other cutouts. It's a bit fiddly, as facing does matter in the game. You also get this short, "Snap Move" where you can move your model without the card, but only under very specific circumstances IIRC, with 2" of cover you can "snap move" to it. Due to this card moving mechanic, it's almost impossible to use 3D terrain, and you end up using a flat map.

There are three broad actions your model can do- move, attack, or special. You can only perform ONE action. Special actions are listed on your cards, and are such things as Overwatch- shoot at someone that moves into your fire area, Sniper, use medpack, rally forces, throw grenade, etc. etc. Not all models have access to all actions, and sometimes you are restricted to performing only specific actions (such as when you are wounded or fleeing).

There are some very, very weird rules interactions, especially line of sight and throwing grenades. Any model that can perform two actions in a turn is OP. When the basic design of the game is one model, one action, having a single model be able to perform two actions is God Mode. It's hard to wound most models, but once a model is wounded, you might as well take it off the board unless there is some way for you to heal them- and only CCC models carry medpacks. Everyone else has a single medic model that is useless unless they are healing. And the whole game is like that. See the guy with a Sniper rifle? Yeah, he can do one shot, one kill, but he takes 2-3 turns of "aiming" where he can't take any actions. Games usually last around 5 turns, and having one model being able to only take one shot the entire game... close combat is brutal. While shooting people can be deadly, most of the time, you become wounded, crawl around on the ground, then eventually die. Close combat? If you get hit, you are dead. They pretty much skip the "wounded" step. Oh, and if you get into close combat and you don't have a CC weapon but your opponent does... yeah, you are pretty much dead. A rule of thumb- ranged models have guns and no CC, and CC models have CC weapons with no guns. Specialized models have one or the other in general.

The game really punishes you for making a mistake. The game can be really, really static- as in, both players move into cover, then trade shots back and forth until someone rolls very well, or rolls very bad. Or the game can be over in one round if your opponent has line of sight and rolls well enough. Scenario play mitigates that tremendously, but some of the scenarios are super easy for certain factions, and all but impossible for others. Dice have a major influence on the game- hard to put in words, but the dice seem to matter more than any tactics or strategy you might come up with. There is a pretty steep learning curve- the rules are easy, but the game is hard.

I have to be honest- I didn't like the game. The card mechanic for moving is novel, but quickly becomes cumbersome. The card is also the measuring mechanic. As in, your rifle has a range of 2L- that means you can shoot two times the long side of your card. Some models in a faction are so obviously better then the rest that you will always take that model. Double action models head this list. And most factions DO NOT have a double action model, while ISS and Texaco have many move and make attack action models. Guess which two factions are the most popular? Due to line of sight, it's possible for you to shoot around and through walls. You will encounter situations where it's impossible to wound or kill your opponent's models (the USCR Behemoth is basically impossible to kill for some factions). Scenario play is a must, but it can be very unfair to your faction. The game swings very widely in favor of one player or the other very quickly- and can be very disconcerting when you are winning the game, and all of a sudden, thanks to the dice, your opponent wins. A laser pointer and protractor is almost mandatory for play. The amount of tokens on the table for a model is just slightly less then Infinity, but way more then say, Warmachine. The fluff is good, and the models are cool. The game plays quick- 30 minutes or so in a standard game.

When was the last time you played the game? Im not defending the game cause I never played but few thoughts on what ive read. I appericate the response though and it helps see how people liked it over all.

I know with the 2.0 rulebook coming in a bit they changed some stuff around. I also think you got some rules wrong. Everyone can be hurt. When hit regardless of weapon STR, they must take a armor save. If the armor breaks, they have ARM of 1 and -2 movement. Anyone can be hurt when your armor is 1.

Here is additional stuff they posted for 2.0. They have issues in printing so the book is due soon but not sure when.

Also movement can be done with a tape. 1 MP is 4 inches. You could use it for shooting also realistically. The templayes are still based on the weird movement template but short is 4 inches, medium 8 inches and long is anything over.


The main changes were
- all FN reduced by 1
- Load now optional and adds +2 to roll when used (some sniper have this always on, so they always start hit on a 2, plus minus cover and posistional bonuses)
- Set is now optional, adding +1 to the roll when used
- There is a new range band: medium. When a target is in medium range you get +1 to the roll.
- Some models now have a new kit option named act & move which allows them to use med packs and repair kits while moving (unlike Fire & Move this does not reduced their movement)
- Med packs now heal 2 blood
- Flanking no longer requires somebody to be in melee range to the target. I think it actually said that even if a small part of the attackers base is in the flanking arc, you get that bonus. We played it differently, that you have to have the full base in that arc to get the bonus, as it was otherwise too easy. The same we did for rear arc.
- Overwath now is 1 on, 1 off
- Suppression now is 2 on, 1 off (this is the rule I like the least, as it requires additional book keeping and seems clunky especially since the following rule already tweaked suppression. I'd rather have it 1 on, 1 off as with overwatch, or always on)
- When suppressed, models can still act, albeit with a -2 on everything. When succeding the courage roll, they can act without penalties
- Elevation rating has been changed and is now more akin to what was called a level in MERCS 1.o. ER 1 is one card width. Climbing has been adjusted accordingly.
- You can now use a tape measure for movement. I don't mind that one very much, as I am fully ok with card movement. What I do not understand is why they did not allow tape measure to be used for attack ranges. Seems like an oversight.

I am super excited for MERCS 2.0, I just got my KemVar and House 4 starter in today. Reading through the 2.0 quick start rules I am quite impressed.

Are they shipping out wave 2 yet? Everything I pledged for is apparently in wave 2.

I haven't heard anything about wave two besides it should be coming soon. The gentleman running the Malifaux group I have been playing with has been keeping me updated (he can't wait to play as well).

 Tamwulf wrote:
So yes, it plays fast, but it has a lot of issues.

We ran into issues playing it, but not the ones you listed. The card-based movement was an interesting idea, but rapidly became annoying. Not because of 3D terrain - that worked fine, in my experience, but simply because we placed the initiative die and wound markers for each model on their card - which meant we had to pick one of the cards back up to use as a measuring device. The rulebook did suggest you could measure a certain distance in lieu of using the cards in tight spaces, but that distance (I can't remember what it was) didn't match any of the actual distances moved [u]using[/I] the card, and I could never get a useful explanation of why that distance was picked. I ended up making templates for the various area effects, rather than trying to hold multiple cards at once, but we stopped playing the game before I got round to printing them out.

I can't recall any odd LOS issues, but it's possible we simply didn't abuse the mechanics in that way to even find out.

ISS and Texico might have been broken, but the game died over here before anyone ever used them, so I don't know.

In the UK, the minis were produced under licence by West Wind, but one side or another couldn't be bothered, it seems, because anything after the release of the second wave of box sets (sefadu, Kezai Waza) just didn't seem to become available. I still haven't got a sefadu heavy or CCC breacher, for example.

My main problem was the writing in the rulebook. Too many rules looked like they'd written a summary but forgotten to put in the full rule, leading to a lot of headscratching and pausing while we invented a house interpretation on the fly. (something still in evidence with the Myth rules, unfortunately).

All in all, it was an interesting setting, some really nice miniatures, let down by the rules; As well as the flaws discussed, the feel of the game was too ... "gamey" for us. It felt more like playing a game than fighting a battle, if that makes sense.

Nice to see some of the changes in MERCS 2.0. It almost kind of felt like after they released House 4, they stopped supporting the game and moved on to other games.

Looks like a lot of stuff to take out some of the more static elements and help out Snipers a lot more. Climbing was a nightmare, but elevation was too important not to try for it. Is it easier to climb now, with reduced elevation bonuses now?

A new range band is bleh. Just one more thing you have to used the cards to somehow string together and figure out.

Med Packs healing two blood is nice, but I'd have rather seen a Medpack still only heal 1 blood, but take away the wounded/incapacitated state.

They really need to decide what kind of measurement they are going to use. When the game was released, the shtick of the game and the main selling point was that you didn't need a tape measure. All you needed were the models, the cards, and dice. Everything else could be drawn on some paper, or just use the paper fold outs included in every starter pack. They even released those on vinyl and as prizes for tournaments at one point. It quickly became evident that using the cards was not going to cut it for movement and hence, the "Snap Move" was introduced.

I might give the game a second look again, but for small, skirmish style gaming, I kind of prefer small games of Warmachine/Hordes, Infinity, 40K Kill Teams, Malifaux, Guild Ball... heck, there has been a sudden renewed interest in Battletech Alpha Strike at my club, and that is a fantastic skirmish style game with big stompy robots!

I did see on the recon KS that very soon they will release a link to ordering the 2.0 book. Something im really waiting for since it will have all the new cards in it along with hard cardboard tokens.

The measuring is a little different I think. Moving will be 4 inches instead of the card. So by that the range bands for short and medium will be 4/8 inches respectively. Thus removing the use of using a card to measure. Still will be used for templates im sure though