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 Dark Severance wrote:
If you shoot and human, we'll say as example the hit for a Plasma Rifle is 6 or more.

If the dice a unit uses is totally static, that seems like a really bad mechanic. What if a target is behind cover? Any considerations for range?

The point of dice steps is that the step itself replaces the flat modifier. The modifier mechanic doesn't go away; the step itself is the modifier. The difference is a dice step is a variably modified probability rather than a flatly modified result. So for example, roll one step down if the target is out of range and roll one step down if the target is behind cover. So a unit that usually rolls a d12 would be looking for a 6 on a d8 when shooting at a target out of range and behind cover. I think this is what JohnHwangDD was referring to when he said

Sometimes I wonder if polyhedrals are being used to add a veneer of complexity where it isn't needed.

What I was getting at is, it is interesting that change in likelihood decelerates going up steps and accelerates going down steps (variable modification) -- again, except for the d12 to d20 step. The machines take a beating when they drop from d20, almost as bad as a soldier dropping two steps.

 Dark Severance wrote:

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
If it's static, unstepped die size for an opposed test, then one can calculate the odds

Presumably, you would roll Fate die to see how many actions you get...

I wasn't able to watch the whole thing as I was at work. I only saw him mention that the dice represented skills, there were no modifiers and there was a basic target number.

Did he state they were going to be used in opposed rolls (resistance survivor rolls a D6 vs a terminator rolls a D20 to determine success) or are they simply rolling to succeed at hitting?

I thought Fate dice were only used to determine activation (initiative), I didn't see him mention (in the little I saw) that Fate was rolled to determine how many actions you get.

If ...
Presumably...

I was making a supposition, a guess, and commenting on the "what if" effect to demonstrate how the game could be more elegant by leveraging the Fate die to a greater extent.

Cutlass used the dice step mechanic and it works fine. In fact I'm really excited about a game that uses more then just the 'standard' D6.

FYI Cutlass was designed by Gav Thorpe. I have a copy around somewhere and will share his basic mechanic as/when I find and review it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Found it!

So Cutlass is a skirmish game and so has a RPG-style design. Each model is defined by seven attributes. Each attribute is a die type. These dice can be modified via die step or rolling and additional die at the same step because of skill, equipment, or circumstance. The lowest die step you can roll is d4. The highest is rolling 2d20 and taking the higher result. Most of the combat roll results are compared to the opponent's result on a table to find the outcome.

All this talk about dice and game mechanics, and no one has brought up the most important rule to consider when choosing your dice: the Castle Doctrine.

What dice are you going to choose when defending your sprawling suburban home on Christmas Eve? D20's? D6's? All of the above and more. Here's why: when the first bandit chases you blindly around a corner, nice round D20's will shoot his feet out from under him and up over his head, plunging him Kidney-first onto the hard edges of your D6's. Then the other bandit will barrel around the corner, flailing his arms, screaming, ululating and hopping to avoid tripping on his supine companion. Hopping onto your strategically-placed D10, it's odd shape penetrating his curiously unshod foot, then rolling sideways to propel him face first onto your D4 minefield, leaving both bandits stunned and immobile long enough for you to bring in your snow shovel for the coup-de-grace. No slippery-fingered villains can defeat you if you use all your dice, no matter how awkwardly tall and skinny or comedic ally short and fat they are.

So, yes, a nice variety of dice is important. It could even save your life someday.



Ps: is it just me, or do the Terminators not have any plasma rifles? Did the resistance pilfer them all?

IIRC weaponizing d4s is a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Dice mechanic sounds similar to that used in the pathfinder card game.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 adamsouza wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:

Even if the movie sucks, even if the game sucks - this fulfills a 20-year desire of mine to have real 28mm endoskeletons and Last Army figs!

I'm there with you.
The Cheaper Rulebook free version of the box set would probably sell well to poor fools like us, stocking up on miniatures.

Didn't they say they would also be selling separate boxes of minis?

It's posssible. I'm just assuming that, like most starters, there is a bit of a built in bulk discount, and that extra terrain, mats, and markers wouldn't hurt.

Also, it could just be me, considering my history. I've got about 6 boxes of Sedition Wars, 10 boxes of Star Wars Epic Duels, and 15 boxes of the Halo Boardgame that I bought just for bulk figures.

Not strictly the game, but the movie trailer's due during the super b0wl

 Manchu wrote:
IIRC weaponizing d4s is a violation of the Geneva Convention.

That's why we buy them in board games. Plausible deniability.

Awesome! Has there been any word on how they are explaining old terminator Arnie? Had he been accidentally sent back to 1800's?

 Padre wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
I would love to see a still of the 'FATE' that Sarah Connor scratches on the table with a knife in T2, and see if it matches the above.

Ask, and yee shall receive...

haha, thanks

So the answer is ... no!

Although, to be honest it would be perhaps a little bit unhealthy if it did match

Hasn't it already been stated that the organic wrapper ages, while the machine stays the same?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Hasn't it already been stated that the organic wrapper ages, while the machine stays the same?

Yup!

Still think this one looks...


...great!

 judgedoug wrote:

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Hasn't it already been stated that the organic wrapper ages, while the machine stays the same?

Yup!

Where abouts?

T2 says 'living tissue exo-skeleton', but I don't think anything about it ageing as normal skin would? (Although I guess that does sound logical)

That bits been added to the lore for Genisys to explain Arnies aged look. The organic parts age like a normal human but the machine lasts much longer I forget exactly the battery life (Edit 120 years) but it would out last its organics in the new lore.

James Cameron wrote:I pointed out that the outer covering (of the Terminator) was actually not synthetic, that it was organic and therefore could age. You could theoretically have a Terminator that was sent back in time, missed his target, and ended up just kind of living on in society. Because he is a learning computer and has a brain as a central processor he could actually become more human as he went along without getting discovered.

http://deadline.com/2014/10/terminator-james-cameron-gale-anne-hurd-walking-dead-avatar-854451/

Hopefully, JC himself is a good source for the organic covering aging.

Ah that's a great article, thanks for posting it!

How different movie history could have been if we had had OJ Simpson as the Terminator..

More screengrabs posted on Facebook

The resistance fighters remind me a lot of the Combat Zone plastics.

Except a much higher level of detail. CZ soldiers are barely 80's boardgame quality

The Beasts of War hangout video is now public.

 judgedoug wrote:
More screengrabs posted on Facebook

OK, wow. The T-800 paints up *beautifully*. Looks really great.

The Kyle Reese mini is being sculpted by Michael Perry

I'm willing to give this game a go, but honestly can't say I am blown away by Kyle here.

Thankfully it's a 28mm sculpt and not 8" tall.

Yep, these images aren't best quality - they look better when smaller...

As for the Bob Naismith stuff - he's confirmed as sculpting the T800s that we've already seen

I like the T800s.

Heck, if their cheap enough I'l buy an extra twenty to field as Necron Warriors

 adamsouza wrote:
I like the T800s.

Heck, if their cheap enough I'l buy an extra twenty to field as Necron Warriors

Heck, I could almost see doing an entire Necron army using these minis if the vehicles look good too. Think about it: T800's as warriors, Flying HK's as DoomScythes, T1000's as Pretorians, T-1's as Tomb Spyders, HK tanks as Monoliths, That giant robot thing from Terminator Salvation as a Triarch Stalker, T-X as an Overlord, mini flying drones (Terminator 2, 3D) as scarabs.

Some comments from Alessio on Facebook regarding the T800 3-ups

Alessio Cavatore: They look more static than the rebels specifically because the first ones we made were rejected and the feedback was (and I quote) "can you make them more robotic and less athletic"?
If you watch the trailer you'll absolutely see why!

Alessio Cavatore: Also, they are dry fit, and you can rotate the torso around the hips and the gun+arms around the shoulders a bit, so you get quite some different angles out of the basic ones.

Alessio Cavatore: Guys, please keep in mind that these are 3-ups... and of course a 3up normally a lot more like a toy model than a 28mm model... It's to do with proportions... as an extreme example, have you seen what a Space Marine looks like when made into a man-sized statue - looks like a squat!

For example, in a 28mm model, some body/facial features need to be slightly larger than in 'reality', as otherwise the features simply disappear... so a 28mm blown up to 3-up looks a bit more 'cartoony' (in the sense that in a real human the torso is five-seven times the head... in mickey mouse it's just two... )...