Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

http://www.at-43.com/introduction.php?lg=EN

This looks very interesting.

If you havnt heard of this game yet here is some info .......

AVA

An insignificant planet lost in the midst of many others, and yet the cradle of a bold and aggressive species: Mankind.

When the Therians tried to invade this planet, they were met with fierce resistance and humanity even managed to push back those they scornfully call the “morphos”.

However Ava suffered greatly from these battles: the climate and the orbit itself were deeply affected.

This became known as the Trauma, the starting point of a new calendar.

Forty three years after Trauma, the combined forces of humanity are launching a counter-attack!


OPERATION DAMOCLES

AT-43® INITIATION SET: Operation DAMOCLES is both a complete game for 2 players and an introduction to the rules of AT-43®.
The White Stars forces face, over several missions, the terrifying Therian aliens on one of their Factory-planets.
These scenarios allow you to learn the basics of the game in a simplified form at first, and then step into its strategic depth.


Release december 2006.

The box contains all the necessary material for two players to play the six missions of the handbook.

• A 120 page full color Rules handbook in 5 languages (English, Spanish, German, Italian and French);
• 19 plastic miniatures, assembled and painted (17 foot soldiers and 2 Combat Striders);
• 1 game poster (illustrated on both sides);
• Terrain elements: 2 generators, 6 low wall sections, 1 container;
• Game material: 6 RACKHAM d6, 1 AT-43® tape measure and 9 AT-43® reference cards.

Finally

A 2 min scan suggest confrontation in space with guns, which may be no bad thing

I hope they improve the English translation a bit before release. Not horrible by any means but some of the odditites could lead to confusion with certain rules among new or young players. Veterans certainly won't have any trouble.

I like how line of sight is done in this game. Something so simple, yet made so complicated and arguable in 40K.

Use the damn base!

Yay for magic cylinder lite!

You got that right!

well, the rules look a million times better than the confrontation rules. Actually, looking at them, they aren't doing anything more innovative than any other skirmish game out right now.. Rezolution, Dark Age, etc.. alternate activation, shooting and close combat are extremely similar.

Oh, and the $80 retail tag on the box set isn't very appealing either.  Thats way too spendy for what little they have in there.

I skimmed through them and agree there isn't anything very innovative. However it must be difficult to innovate considering the amount of previous development available in other games and rulesets. Maybe all the good ideas have already been thought of.

Posted By Kilkrazy on 10/22/2006 10:13 AM
However it must be difficult to innovate considering the amount of previous development available in other games and rulesets. Maybe all the good ideas have already been thought of.

That's exactly what I'd expect from a videogame producer.

There is always room for innovation unless you believe this product to be perfect, the most perfect wargame ever developed, that playing this game will provide means by which you can transcend material concerns and enter into a state of complete and blissful spiritual fullfillment.

If nirvana is included in this box set, I would say eighty bucks is a steal.

the minis seem nice but i can't seem to get a straight answer (from the local rep) as to which figs will come prepainted and which ones won't.  the intro base set as well as the army boxes are prepainted but i'm not sure of the more advanced figs (like powered armors and jump troopers) painting status.

I had assumed there was no distinction between sets, that everything is prepainted. Rackham folks have closed a number of threads with the statement that the game (and by this I assume EVEYTHING) is to be prepainted.

Posted By 2.0 on 10/21/2006 4:03 PM
Oh, and the $80 retail tag on the box set isn't very appealing either.  Thats way too spendy for what little they have in there.

You dont think the cost of paints primer and glue not to mention the time it takes is worth it?I often hear people say "I would play that game(name one here) if I did not have to paint another army".....Compare whats in the starter to GW's S/M terminater box ($50.00)..Im just comparing to whats out their now I thinks its a fair deal!

Background:
Rather "meh", would have been much cooler (and realistic) if the humans were the bad guys, the locust of the universe out to conquer and destroy everything in it's path.

Rules:
Every bit as full of holes as GW's, I quote:
"When the leader of a unit is killed, another member of the unit becomes the new leader. The fighter that was standing closest to the former
leader becomes the leader and his miniature is replaced with the leader?s."
??? so when my leader dies, the guy (if not equipped with a special weapon) next to him gets replaced by the leader mini... (a "look out sir"-rule for skirmishers??).
As for the LOS rules, you still have to bend down and take a look - but they don't specify what to look for, parts of the mini?, the base? - what if the shooter and the victim is at different heights or on each side of area terrain etc?

The card based I-go-you-go on a unit level might be fun though, although the cards themselves seems complex with 17 different stats.

Oh, and I absolutely *hate* the hairy smilies that represent "always" and "never".

Miniatures:
Really nice, will blend fine with GW.
I don't mind the prepainted thing (If the minis are easy to touch up).

So, will I buy the box??
Probably, yes - it all depends on if the minis look as nice IRL as on the 'net.
Will fight my upcoming AT-43 battles in the GW universe though (IG vs some, yet undiscovered, non-Necron, aliens).

Posted By Empire1 on 10/22/2006 2:48 PM

Posted By 2.0 on 10/21/2006 4:03 PM
Oh, and the $80 retail tag on the box set isn't very appealing either.  Thats way too spendy for what little they have in there.

You dont think the cost of paints primer and glue not to mention the time it takes is worth it?I often hear people say "I would play that game(name one here) if I did not have to paint another army".....Compare whats in the starter to GW's S/M terminater box ($50.00)..Im just comparing to whats out their now I thinks its a fair deal!

Why would you compare AT-43 to the GW Termie box?  Thats a silly comparison.  Lets compare it to Battle of MaCragge since they are both starter boxes.  In MaCragge, the Tyranid models outnumber the AT-43 box as a whole.  Granted there are no "dreadnoughts" as there are in the AT-43.  The painted thing, thats not a selling point to me personally as I still love to paint my own stuff and think the prepainted stuff dillutes and cheapens the hobby anyway.  So I don't figure time and paint in as I would probably repaint the AT-43 stuff anyway eventually.

So in short, for the Starter boxes that are out there (Battle of MaCragge, Warmachine Starter Army +Rulebook, Dark Age Starter Warband + Rulebook, Rezolution Starter Army + Rulebook), it is extremely overpriced.

There is the fact that 2 forces are included in the AT-43 box, unlike Warmachine. There is also the terrain, which I personally am looking forward to. That would make a comparison to Warmachine not wholey accurate. Probably still a little more than if you bought say Cryx and Cygnar. For some, the prepaint thing is a selling point, but I think it has been well agrued here and elsewhere that that varies widely on its appeal.

The rules are really, really light. Not even any tables really, all possible combinations are listed, so there is no math to learn. There are tons of unanswered questions, but then the starter rules for Warmachine tend to gloss over a few things as well. The rules are barely worth commenting on at this point. I think more appropriate comparisons will have to wait until Early next year when the full rules are released.
There are some interesting elements, which I have not seen before. There apepars to be quite an emphasis on blowing up terrain. No armor save is kinda harsh, but maybe that will change once we get the advanced rules as well. I can't see those exosuits blowing up as quickly as a standard trooper.

From a UK perspective this game looks better value compared to the Macragge set. Rackham's prepainted offering comes in at £50 vs. GW's £40. Not having to paint the minis will make that extra £10 seem very worthwhile to many I suspect.

Another thing that is becoming interesting about the 'pre-painted' mini's, is that the line between board games and 'table top war games' is getting a bit blurry.

The $80 price point starting to become standard now for many high-end board games: Twilight Imperium & Descent come to mind.

Cost per player its probably slightly cheaper than WM/Hordes (assuming you use basic rules in box), and more expensive than GW if you assume the BfM set is a fun, balanced game for two players on its own.

 

 

Check out the pre-order sale at TheWarstore.

Remember the box set and the rules that come with it are 'intro' rules. They are releasing a full rulebook in January. That should be interesting.

Thanks for the great replys everyone Its great to see everyones opinion.

How many of you would come into a store to get a demo of this game?

Im thinking of doing something at Empire but wonder what type of turn out it might get?  Thoughts?