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Does anyone know of any cooperative miniatures games? I am especially interested in enemy scripting at the skirmish level.

 Manchu wrote:
Does anyone know of any cooperative miniatures games? I am especially interested in enemy scripting at the skirmish level.

Like the entire game is co-op, not like a Super Dungeon Explorer where you have a game master?

Hrm... I can't think of any... KD:M Maybe...

What is KD:M?

There are more and more cooperative board games these days, including ones that use miniatures -- such as the new D&D board games. War games seem a bit behind on this front.

Cant really think of one, the Gears of War boardgame toys with an "AI Deck" meaning the locust move and do what the cards say, and i got half way through making a similar one for Super Dungeon Explore awhile back before giving up.

Theres also Phantom Capsule.
http://littleroller.blogspot.co.uk/p/play-phantom-capsule.html

It gives some papercraft Minis (though im sure you can find alternatives easy enough) The humans play as the mecha, and the monsters are governed by their own "logic" rules. Pretty interesting Idea actually.

KD:M (Kingdom Death) is from looking at it kind of like monster hunter in wargame form with the players fighting off a big beastie.

Yeah, I found Phantom Capsule. That is a baseline example of what I'm looking for as far as scripting goes.

KD:M is Kingdom Death: Monster

The basic idea is that the players are part of a human settlement in a land of big scary monsters. It's got a lot of basic role playing mechanics to it (equipment, persistent effects (mental conditions, exp of a sort), a town, equipment drops of a sort, encounters, and a boss).

I believe this might be what you're talking about regarding "enemy scripting": The enemies' attack patterns are based on (shuffled) decks (each card is an attack, which describes a sequence of actions, and determines target priority). The deck size and composition determines the difficulty of the enemy (this is determined at the beginning of the encounter). The deck is also the health, meaning the range of attacks becomes more limited (and potentially more aggressive or defensive, for instance) over time.

Basically a light RPG without the emphasis on the story, and no need for a GM.

It hasn't come out yet, though. It was quite successfully kickstarter-ed (kickstarted would be correct, but I'm not sure if people would understand that), and should be out this fall/winter. I'm looking forward to this a lot, because there are times when we're looking for a cooperative game but don't want the mental investment of a true RPG.

As a note, on co-op games, I'd suggest avoiding Mansions of Madness like the plague- expensive game and some rather terrible gaming experiences with it.

 spiralingcadaver wrote:
As a note, on co-op games, I'd suggest avoiding Mansions of Madness like the plague- expensive game and some rather terrible gaming experiences with it.

The few games I played of Mansions of Madness were okay, but we had a guy running things idk if that changed my experiences with it.

Interesting mechanics from Kingdom Death ... thanks for explaining them!

The best cooperative game I've yet played has to be Pandemic. The D&D games were fun, too but I think it could be really awesome if extended to squad-based skirmish co-op.

@Alf, Experience would definitely help run it (it's always got a human controlling the enemy), but my complaints are basically:

-incredible setup time (again, exp. could help)

-poor scenario design (it's possible to trigger the end of the game before you can reach any clues)

-poor replay value (scenarios are based largely on clues: if you've played before, you know the answers)

-poor proofing (I'm fine with games needing errata, but with the withheld knowledge thing, it's harder to catch mistakes: one scenario we played was actually impossible to complete because the setup made parts of the game inaccessible

The game was mechanically okay, but we felt like it would have been a better computer game than a board game.

@Manchu, sure! I'll also need to check in to Pandemic, we don't have many co-op games...

Pendemic is good, on the flipside to mansions of madness Arkham Horror is good too. Players VS the board like pandemic.But more horrorful .

 doc1234 wrote:
Pendemic is good, on the flipside to mansions of madness Arkham Horror is good too. Players VS the board like pandemic.But more horrorful .

I think that Manchu is looking for wargames though, and less like board games... Unless I misread everything lol

No, you're correct. Imagine a cooperative version of Space Hulk or Necromunda, that's what I'm after.

I believe that, while not being completely a co-op game, some of the missions in the Incursion expansion, FUBAR, are designed to be played with several allied players playing cooperatively - one person takes the US forces, one the Brits and the other ze Germans.

 Manchu wrote:
No, you're correct. Imagine a cooperative version of Space Hulk or Necromunda, that's what I'm after.

Kingdom Death: Monster seems to fit your bill, it's 115 buck, and Cyporiean is currently trying to unload hers in the DCM boards. But you won't get it till November...

Death Angel is a co-op Space Hulk card game from Fantasy Flight. No minis, though. It is a great game, but the rulebook may be one of the worst ever written.

R.

I actually have it and agree the rulebook is amazingly bad.

It's worth checking out anything by Two Hour Wargames in the states.

Their rules are build around having all players on the same side and having the enemy controlled by 'the system'. I've only palyed a couple of their games, but their rules have a strong cult following on-line.

They've pretty much covered evrey setting/historical perdiod you can think of. THeir Zombie ruleset (All Things Zombie) is considered one of the best out there.

I'm actually working on a CO-OP game mode for the zombie war game rule set I'm making now. Basically one player is the horde with 400+ some points of models vs 3-4 players with about 30 points a piece. The horde player deploys randomly throughout the game while the survivors try to escape / find stuff / explore / ect. I haven't added this into the ruleset yet as I still need to playtest. You can download the latest version rules for free, any feedback is appreciated.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107708164459813177515?tab=wX#communities/108863897726135327206/stream/96e11d1b-6e44-4604-9860-5929bcc4f8ac

Try Akulas Rules too

http://akulasrules.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/bad-arse-modern-skirmish-rules-now.html

Its a little newbie unfriendly, no points list etc so its more suited to scenario stuff. But the rules are solid and simple.

Another plug for Two Hour Wargames. Download their free rules to see their mechanisms.

Zombicide is a co-op boardgame with minis that is decent.

The D&D boardgames are good and largely cross compatible.

Two Hour Wargames is definitely worth a look. The free ruleset "Chain Reaction" is a stripped down version of their game engine and will definitely let you know if their style is for you.

Check out "Rules Crusade". It's an expansion of Space Crusade done by one of my favorite modelers. It's very much aimed at cooperative gaming.
http://www.ironhands.com/rcintro.htm
While you're there be sure to check out his terrain also in the necromundicon section.
http://www.ironhands.com/

Awesome suggestions guys, I will look into these. Thanks!

 CptJake wrote:
Zombicide is a co-op boardgame with minis that is decent.

Here's my review: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/481379.page


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Spyral wrote:
The D&D boardgames are good and largely cross compatible.

Yep, I mentioned them above. I have Legend of Drizzt. I like their system a lot to be honest.

 Manchu wrote:
Awesome suggestions guys, I will look into these. Thanks!

 CptJake wrote:
Zombicide is a co-op boardgame with minis that is decent.

Here's my review: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/481379.page


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Spyral wrote:
The D&D boardgames are good and largely cross compatible.

Yep, I mentioned them above. I have Legend of Drizzt. I like their system a lot to be honest.

Just not wargame-y enough for what you're looking for?

Yeah, but in the sense of their being too much board game stuff cluttering the experience. I guess 40k is my model in that regard.

 Manchu wrote:
Yeah, but in the sense of their being too much board game stuff cluttering the experience. I guess 40k is my model in that regard.

I get what you mean, which is why I was trying to come up with good ideas for you. :-\

AmbushAlley makes an objective based zombie game where you dont need a player to control zombies, so it can easily be played coop. I think there is a new rule set on the way.

Zombies roam randomly until gunfire or blood (casualties) draws them in, building may need to be swept for the undead leading to close combat. Zombies spawn randomly into 5 hot spots, and in varying numbers. If players are honest with themselves it very easy to play two players vs the random zombies. Also plays solo quiet well for the same reasons.

Do you know what the name of that game is?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nevermind, lol.

Glad you found it. I only have a little experience with their system so far, but it is a very refreshing break from the 40k.

For the most part there are no charts. Its assumed that the man makes the soldier, and not the equipment. Each quality of soldier is given a Dx (x being 6-12). The game is based of a passing roll being 4+. So a navy seal (D12) is going to be a better at everything than an African rebel fighter (D6). Armor saves and close combat are easy, as you just line up the dice together to see whos passing roll (4+) is higher. Equipment is accounted for by the addition of dice. So body armor gives an additional dice roll when under fire, while a SAW or RPD gives an additional dice for shooting.

Sorry if the grammer is spotty, class has melted my brain already.

I know a bit about it from reading Tomorrow's Wars already but I appreciate the rundown.