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Hey all,

This is a bit of a discursive review/intro to AT-43. My gaming group and I have a wee mailing list that we discuss games, models and random junk on. Recently, I've just not been able to resist the lure of AT-43. I ordered the UNA and Therian armybooks and received them yesterday (trés impressive, since the Therian book wasn't officially out till today!). Here's a copy of a review/general introduction to AT-43.

While originally intended for just my gaming buddies, I thought an overview of the game to a complete beginner would be useful, so I'd appreciate it if anyone wants to add anything you think I've missed.

Also, I've deliberately avoided any clanging spoilers – the Therian background (in particular) has such a great twist that I feel I'd be robbing people if I put it here; so I've only alluded to it.

On with the review!

...I know I promised to write a review of the AT-43 armybooks at lunchtime yesterday, but... oh man, they deserved a proper read. The fluff is dead cool – particularly the Therians: really imaginative, and with a cool spin on an old idea.

In short, what you get in each book is a full colour 64 page book, split into background, heroes, company organisation and then the troop/vehicle stats.

The books are slightly larger than A4 size, and have a nice satin-finish cover with gloss detailing. I hesitate to use the word 'chic', but that's probably the best description. These look cool! The artwork throughout is absolutely fantastic, and includes such luminaries as Wayne England and Karl Kopinski. Rackham have obviously splashed out on these, and the design and artwork is suitably fantastic. Colour me impressed.

Background:
The UNA background is nicely thought-out, but suffers from some poor translation work ('someone set up us the bomb!' style) and editing (as a professional editor, typos such as 'here' for 'hear' are particularly galling), but they don't spoil the overall good quality and imagination of the writing.

There's a nice balance of grim grimness, foreboding, warporn and even some nice humour (like the famous Hollywood movie Drive Hard, starring a Fire Toad pilot by the name of MacBlaine). This is pretty refreshing – doom and gloom is great, and very atmospheric, but it's nice to have it leavened by some goodness and hope. In fact, by adding contrast, Rackham have set us up for really caring for our chosen faction.

Essentially, the world of Ava (very similar to – but not – Earth) has some weird pyramids on its south pole. When they're discovered, the Avans use the advanced technology to develop space travel etc. and enter a new period of peace and prosperity. They set up a small Federation of planets (the United Nations of Ava); which are then wracked by a worker uprising in one of the colonies. The Federation then dissolves into a civil war, which resolves itself into an uneasy truth between the UNA and the worker's party; (Red Blok) when the Therians land on Ava...

The pyramids turn out to be a doomsday weapon that are activated by the Therians, which sends the planet into a new orbit; killing billions. The UNA and Red Blok form an alliance against the Therians and send them packing. The planet settles into its new orbit, and this period becomes know as the Trauma. This is used by the Avans as the starting point of a new calendar: Before Trauma (BT) and After Trauma (AT).

43 years after the trauma (hence AT-43), a Therian Dyson Sphere arrives in system, heading for Ava. The UNA and Red Blok can't come to an alliance, so the UNA set off first – led as much by greedy interest in Therian tech as a need to defend their homes. However, the Red Blok aren't far behind – not wanting to get left behind in their 'cold war'.

Compared to 40k, a lot of the fluff is spelled out, which I find really refreshing. It's much more similar in feel to Rogue Trader, where certain things were hinted at, but there was still plenty of meat to get your teeth into. In addition, while there are nice colour text pieces showing personal opinions, there's also a third person narrative, which means that it's not all propaganda like it is in 40k. A different style, and one which I find equally rich and palatable.

Turning then to the Therian book, you find out the Therian's motivations for causing the trauma (which I won't spoil, because it is such a great twist), and enter the Therian's factory-world of Damocles, a dyson sphere built around a white dwarf. Therians have mastered nanotech, and spend their existence as disembodied participants in a sort of physical/mental internet cum-matrix world, basically living as gods; occasionally downloading themselves to their bodies and leading golems (AI necron/terminator style infantry), goliaths (more advanced AI Immortal-style tacarms) and their golgoths (walker/striders) in battle. They seem to have some sort of 'true democracy' as 'government', but it's all very fluid and alien, so that comparison isn't exactly right.

I really like the allusions to forums and so forth... but because it relates to the twist, I won't expand on that.

A weird mix of Borg, Necrons, Spartans and the Matrix is probably the best way to look at Therian society, but it's both pretty original and interesting. Pleasingly, each armybook details three sub-faction/philosophies that give you different options when picking your company, and enable you to play UNA vs UNA or Therian vs Therian without worrying about being 'non-fluffy'.

You'll be pleased to hear that AT-43 is not 'goodies' vs 'baddies': there's plenty of corruption in the UNA, and a well-thought out Therian faction with philosophy/religion that could easily convince someone that the Therians are the real goodies!

Heroes:
Each of the armybooks details three heroes/heroines from the race in question. While you can use any (or all) of them in any of the standard company-organisation or sub-factions, they seem to be written to highlight a specific sub-faction, so would complement theming your army. By and large, they're more there to offer support to your army, rather than being über characters, but some of them are pretty damn mean!

Rules:
Armies are bought in a different way to 40k. Each troop/vehicle type is given a star rating (1–5)and type (vehicle, infantry etc). The company organisation chart is then given for each mission, and you pick your force. It's pretty flexible – for example, the standard (i.e. not sub-faction) UNA company org chart dictates that you must take an infantry unit (*/**), so you have the option of having a one star or two star unit. For the UNA, their one star unit is Star Troopers, while their two star units include Steel Troopers, Shock Troopers etc.

The rules seem pretty clear, but haven't been helped by poor translation or sloppy editing (quite a few french bits have slipped through, including the company roster sheet (bit like blood bowl) in the UNA book.

In particular, it took a good read of the armybooks to work out that you can have irregularly-sized units. Not a huge problem, since the rules are so simple and elegant, and all of the problems I've seen have already been addressed in the Rackham FAQs.

Troops/Vehicles:
I was initially quite surprised with how few units there are. Four infantry, three Tacarms and seven(ish) Striders in the UNA book, and a similar amount in the Therian book. Looking more closely, you realise that there are plenty of upgrade options that can change how they're used; and I think it's also because the game is so much more reliant on the inter-dependence of units – for example, a unit of Jammer Tacarms is great versus vehicles, but can't hurt infantry – at all! So, you buy them some infantry support, which can incidentally have mechanics to repair the nearby Fire Toad, which is necessary to disrupt line of sight and provide covering fire for the infantry.

That's not to mention the officer you'll need to provide leadership... and something to stop you getting swamped in close assault... which will happen unless you keep your infantry alive... eep! So...many... options... and things to think about at once!

<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" width="90%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Quote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">Oh sweet! Shotgun Red Blok! :p I love techno-commies, those big chunky Walkers are ace, and I think that's cool if they come with those storage crates for scenery! </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

The crates and so forth are a nice idea – they'll quickly provide a nice amount of scenery (and also come with a pair of alternative weapons for the strider, allowing you to try out other configurations before you commit to one). I think I'm going to plump for UNA – I love the infantry models, and there's a sub-faction that enables me to take plenty, with free sergeants!

<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" width="90%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Quote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">They're all pre-painted though, right? Although those photos seem pretty good for a pre-job. Have these ones been repainted?</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
The models come pre-painted, but because of the paints they use, it's as thin as a primer. If you check out the AT-43 page, you can see the production job compared to a studio job (essentially, they come base-coated. I'll certainly enjoy detailing mine!), and also one that's been reprimed with no loss of detail.

That's the end of my take on AT-43. Feel free to append or correct my observations – I'm something of a newcomer myself!

Thank you that may be the best review Ive read and now I must get the books to check out the fluff!

"Turning then to the Therian book, you find out the Therian's motivations for causing the trauma (which I won't spoil, because it is such a great twist)"

Can someone just PM me with the spoiler info on this?

I?m interested enough to want to know, but certainly not enough to start buying a whole new game system (especially as the jury?s still out on Rackham for me, pending the new Confrontation/Rag?Narok ruleset)?

Just post it w/ spoiler tags (i.e. white text that you must highlight to read).

Ozymandias, King of Kings

They are nice books. My beef is;

-Like you, the translations.
-Unlike you, the format of the books. They should be hardcover like the CNF3 books. Much more durable (mine are already curling at the edges).
- The background. Didn't I already play this game when it was called VOR (Union and Neo Soviets)? Or even VOID (Viridians and Junkers)? Space Dirz or no... the game seems pretty derivative.

There's a good deal of the fluff from the army books in this month's Cry Havoc (for instance a lot about the Dyson sphere and Therian politics). If you fancy finding out about the fluff for AT-43 that's a good place to start!