14 days of delay, quite a bit, heh? We are sorry. Yes, we really wanted to have STORYonBOARD on 31st of August. And yes, there was no damn chance to have it. Really. Those of you who follow us on Twitter (I strongly recommend that way of contact with us) know what was happening in our office in last weeks. Since 8 AM till 9PM day by day for whole damn August. In first days of September it was not enough so we had to be in office since 8AM till midnight. Oh, yes, making games is a fun and easy job, right? The good news - Robinson Crusoe is ready and is in print. The good news - we have new STORYonBOARD for you. The good news - we are still in love with games. If this absolutely hardcore marathon of work on Robinson didn’t heal us, it means that nothing will do. We are incurable. I am happy to know that. Ignacy Trzewiczek
Portal Publishing, ul. Św. Urbana 15, 44-100 Gliwice, POLAND portal@wydawnictwoportal.pl, www.portalpublishing.eu Editor: Ignacy Trzewiczek Translation: Marcin ’Joker’ Karbowski, Danai ’Smoczyca’ Chondrokouki Front cover illustration: Sandra Duchiewicz Design, layout and DTP: Maciej ’Scorn’ Mutwil
Winter Die hard Merry 5 ries New cards, new sto 8 Why I needed 12 The art of Winter 14 Articles Yes, you can 16 Poland has gamers 18
Neuroshima Tactics - introduction Neuroshima tactics 18 Other 26
loch 21 seconds with Mo
Pret-a-Porter nominated!
Our last year’s release, Pret-a-Porter got nominated for International Gamers Award in GENERAL STRATEGY – MULTI-PLAYER CATEGORY! Previously game got nomination for Game of the Year in Poland. With this great feedback from reviewers and gamers the big questions arises... Did you play Pret-a-Porter already? :) We strongly recommend this game. It was awkward theme, but is really really good.
Convoy licensed!
Our this year’s release, Convoy, will be published soon by Z-Man Games and distributed worldwide. Our first small English print of the game will be available in Essen 2012 on both Portal’s and Z-Man’s booths. Convoy is two player card game
set in a world of Neuroshima. It was covered deeply in first issue of STORYonBOARD, please, check it out. Tom Vasel has reviewed Convoy on The Dice Tower http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkljkmx1hTM
Steel Police and Dancer soon to be available in US
After long negotiations about future of Neuroshima Hex in US we are happy to announce that Portal Publishing and Z-Man Games came to agreement and new armies for the game - Steel Police and Dancer will be published by Z-Man in US and available worldwide. In Essen 2012 small print of English
edition of Steel Police and Dancer will be available on both Portal’s and Z-Man’s booths. Aftre Essen Z-Man’s will do bigger English print run of new armies.
Robinson Crusoe one of the hotness games of September.
This year’s release, Robinson Crusoe is one of the top hot game on BGG in September. We published vide blog about game, we showed cover and board and you guys really like it. Next issue of STORYonBOARD will be dedicated to Robinson, so more good stuff to come!
illustrations: Sandra Duchiewicz
It was March 2011. I fi-
approach. At some point
remember? I don’t know what
nally had rules for The New Era
I just put my cards away
I am doing and I am despe-
expansion. I had new cards and
and say: ‚OK, we stop. You
rately try to understand this
I was ready to test it. I came
are playing like moron. Thank
damn icons! I don’t care?!
back from work, eat supper,
you very much for such help!’
Are you kidding me?!’
say good night to kids and
I was really disappointed that
sat at the table with my wife,
she didn’t want to help me with
Man is the one who is guilty.
Merry. I needed to see how
testing.
Man is to say ‚sorry’. So I did
those new rules worked. We
Merry however didn’t say sor-
say sorry. I took my cards
played.
ry. She reacted quite the opposite.
back. I spent 20 minutes
playing
She exploded. Yes, woman do that.
explaining rules. We played
terribly. Chaos on the ta-
‚What?! I don’t care?! I fake
again. Merry was playing
ble. No good decisions. No
that I am doing my best?!’ and it was
really good.
strategy. It was terrible and
just beggining... ‚I am playing here
That very first night of
yes, I really mean it. I was
with you though you didn’t even care
testing she felt in love with
tired after work and I was
to explain me rules! I didn’t play 51st
The New Era.
disappointed with Merry’s
State,
***
Merry
was
It always ends like that.
Since then Merry played countless
games of The New Era. It can be more than 300 or 500 games. I have no idea. She is playing all the time. She was testing it with me. Then, when The New Era was balanced and I was really sick of it, she decided to find new players. And yes, she found them.
Are you going to visit Mr. and Mrs.
Trzewiczek’s house? You will play The New Era. Merry will explain you rules and make you play it.
Did you invite Mr. and Mrs. Trze-
wiczek to your house for a nice evening? Yes, Merry will, ‚by accident’ have The New Era with her. She will explain you rules and make you play it.
Are you on convention? Merry is
there too? She will hunt you down and teach you and play with you The New Era.
Boardgames club in Gliwice? Sure!
Every single Monday she is there. Playing The New Era... *** ‚It has the same problem like Race for the Galaxy’ once she said. ‚You’ve just developed your state, you have great cards built, you want to finally start scoring big points, but the game suddenly ends. You have 12 cards in RftG, or 33 points here and that’s it. I want it last longer.’
She looked at me. ‚Could you...?
Please.’
What a man can do? Can he resisit
that look?
So I designed ‚Winter’ expansion.
***
I changed pace of the game. Now it
takes always six turns. Game is much more strategic now. You plan your actions for all following turns, you plan how to develop your state and you plan how many points you can make in that time.
It is so much satisfying. Or so much fru-
strating when you see other player is developing better, having better plan, having their combos working so smoth...
I moved Leader cards and Contact cards
out ouf the deck and put them into Frozen City section – now it is no longer luck that decides whenever you have Leader or not. You just take him if you need.
I changed production - now it follows play-
ers needs, in every turn it changes a little bit, so players get additional workers, additional cards or resources. It gives them great possibilities to create new combos and develop their state.
I played many times Winter and I am pro-
ud of it. I tested it for few months and I believe it is great. But what is more, I saw Merry playing it hundred of times with people. She is die hard fan of 51st State line and every time she played Winter I saw in her eyes that this is it, this is the expansion that fans were waiting for. I am happy seeing that every time she plays Winter. ***
Writers sometimes, on the first page of
their novel, write dedication. Something like: ‚For my beloved wife and kids’ or ‚For Jenny’ or whatever.
Winter is not only dedicated to Merry. Win-
ter is designed for her.
What can I say. You, 51st State fans are
lucky bastards. You have die hard fan of the game living with me. She will be forcing me to design new cards for next 20 years. Stay tunned.
illustrations: Mateusz Bielski, Sandra Duchiewicz, Michał Oracz
Winter expansion will de-
Every small bandit and every
but in Essen 2012. 50 new cards
small shithole wants to be part of
and plenty of new rules. If you
his state. That is why every Gun
download rulebook you will soon
Type Location is easier to incor-
discover new mechanisms and
porate. That is why if you have
new options, new strategies and
close Gun Type Location (range
possibilities. In this article I will
1) you just put it in your table.
not duplicate rulebook. I will not
They want to work for you, they
talk a lot about rules. I will talk
want to be part of Insane Max’s
about stories that are hidden be-
state...
hinde some of the new cards. I hope you will enjoy Winter if you know the story...
It is a common story in
a postapo literature - rich people survived extermination of humankind and are woken up in their private hibernatory. This is sweet. They’ve just got outside
They really believe in your
state. They really care about your state.
He is tough bastard. One
They really want your sta-
of the most famous gunmans in
te becoming bigger and bigger.
the area. His land is growing.
So what they do?
They go to the location
you have previously signed a deal with and convince them to join you. ‚You should join us’ they say. ‚Not making deals with us. Be part of us. Be part of our growing country...’
True patriots let you in-
corporate a card that was a deal till now. It is good to have True patriots in country.
and they see that area is quite dangerous... They are not prepared to live here. They were rich and now they are defenseless. So when you attach Hibernatory to your state, you get free workers. They can not refuse you. They can not defend against you. They have to work for you.
The problem? They are
lazy, weak humans. They will die in a moment.
That is why you got 4
workers for one use only. They all are gonna die soon. Then you will have to rebuilt this Location...
it is? How sweet? You have a big old buldozer and you are making a mess. This is fun. I like the card because it works like drug, really. You got addicted to it. You start with demolishing one Location, then, next round you demolish one more, and then it starts, you can’t stop it. I saw so many players who - being in need of resources - started to destroy whole parts of their state. This is crazy. I love this card.
Have you heard about
News from the front is a
newspaper published in a world
Murder Valley? Is long and full
of Neuroshima.
of danger. You go there and you
probably won’t be back. Gladia-
dia in you hands... So they write
tor arenas, gun shops, you name
about your state. They spread a
it. So you probably are not sur-
good word about you. They write
prised, that you are quite famous
about your power and your Loca-
in the area, right? Stories about
tions. They make you famous in
Murder Valley are the good ones.
the whole area.
Everybody is talking about this
place. That is exactly why, you
the front lets you put VP token
get 2 VP every turn if you have
from Locations to your Base.
true murder valley - i.e. you have
Newspaper focus on you, on your
at least 2 Gun Type Locations in
HQ, not on particular Locations.
You know, if you have me-
That is why News from
your state...
Another pub in 51st State
line. I always try to design cards in such a way that Locations that let’s you exchange cards are pubs or taverns. This is the same. If you have this bar, you can exchange information.
You discard a card (gossip
about one Location) and you got 2 cards (informations about two other Locations). This is what you do in pubs - you talk with strangers, you ask them about their travel, you exchange information...
This is an organization
This is one of my favorites
from world of Neuroshima Role
cards in Winter. It lets you de-
Playing Game. We put them here
stroy your own cards. How crazy
in 51st State universe, as they
work here just great. If you produce gun, they will bless you. If you produce gun, they will love you. If you produce gun they will trumpet about your power. Bunch of freaks that have their altar built from old machine guns... That is why you earn 2VP every time you produce Gun. Order of the gun is glorifying you.
This is one of the best (if
not the best!) artwork in Winter. Huge monument and crowded square. It looks like something important is taking place right now in your city. Card works in a simple way - anytime you earn 2 or more VP, you got new worker. It is a dream city, everybody hear about it, everybody wants to live here. New inhabitants go
You see a boat on the
from very distance places to you.
card. These are guys who travel
They heard about Dream city.
a lot and can bring you whatever
you need. You say what you need
famous and powerful, every time
and they will bring it to you. Yes,
you get 2 VP new inhabitant de-
suppliers. In a production phase
cides to join your state...
Every time you got more
they will give you anything that was produced on the tables of
other players. You name it.
Winter, 10 cards with new abili-
ties and with great story behind.
You have it. It is good to
have suppliers :)
These are 10 cards from
I hope you like them, I
hope you will have fun putting them on the table and trying to imagine the world of 51st State...
In 2010 I designed 51st State. I was
proud as a hell. It was a great game. I got great reviews, I got few nominations for awards, I saw people playing it on many conventions and having great time with it!I believed I designed perfect card game.
Year later I discovered that 51st State is
not a perfect game. Year later I designed direct interaction rules for 51st State and that’s how The New Era hit the market. With direct agression 51st State was just awesome. I believed I designed perfect card game.
Year later I discovered that The New Era is
not a perfect game. Year later I designed Frozen City and Production dice and thats how Winter hit the market. With Frozen City, Production dice 51st State was just awesome. I believed I finally designed perfect card game... *
Leaders
Leaders? Players who played 51st State were
complaining about them a lot. They are powerfull and player who have them have huge advance. If you are draw a Leader you are in better position that your opponent. Many gamers compained. ‚Leaders suck.’, ‚Leaders are unbalanced.’, ‚I play without Leaders!’
This is bad.
OK, let’s take a moment to look at the problem.
Leaders are bad or distrbution of Leaders is bad?
I take all Contact cards and all Leaders put asi-
de. I put them on special board called Frozen City. Every player can send ther a worker whenever he wants to have a new Leader. It is no longer random draw. It is no longer huge advance. Everybody can have Leader if he wants to. It is simple. It is obvious. Why it didn’t work that way since the vry beginnning?
The question? Why I am such a moron? Why I
needed three years to discover it?
Production
It is first round. You play Merchants or Mutants and
you have – almost – no chance to attach Location. Incorporating new Location cost you two irons, at the beginning you don’t have them. And no chance to have them. You play first round and you know you will not play a Location illustrations: Sandra Duchiewicz
on the table. This is bad. It is last round, you have six or seven Locations with Action icon. Each of them needs a Worker, but you produce only 3 workers. Pitty. You were developing for an hour and now you are stuck. Half of your Locations will not work. It sucks.
This is bad.
In 51st State production is constant – every
single round you get 3 Workers and 1 Resource but players needs aren’t constant. At the beginning they need iron to build Locations, then they need redevelopement tokens to change Locations, then they need hell of a Workers to make many Actions... Why not make Production phase different in every round? Why not make Production phase follow players needs? Why not give them additional Iron at the beginning of the game and additional worker at the end?
The question? Why I am such a moron?
Why I needed three years to discover it? *
Every year, when I finish my new design I
am 100% sure that this is a perfect game. I see no flaws. I see no points where it could be improved. I see it as a brillant piece of work.
And year after year I learn something new.
Every year I discover new stuff. Every year it turns out that I can do better.
Today I am happy to announce – without
false modesty - that Winter is a perfect card game.
But to be honest I have a hunch I may want
to change this statement next year...
illustrations: Mateusz Bielski, Sandra Duchiewicz, Michał Oracz, Agnieszka Osipa, Tomasz Górnicki
any wet on BGG for m The Hotness lis budget sen. We had no eks before Es had moent and yet we for advertisem hold. We enting Strong vie trailer pres with our riters and yet had no copyw e most were one of th GDJ series we n fair. es before Esse discussed gam Stronghold of Production twice. It ssibilities. Not exceed our po e doing times. We wer exceed it ten we were yet every day 2009... our best. And rder. It *** other to try ha motivating each e w n he w 09, biggest In August 20 moment. Our as our life time w ld ho ng ro work on St were finishing game. ondering d day I was w saw cover an e gl sin y er ev You, gamers, t n’ as w I ad GDJ we will do. nghold, you re what mistake board of Stro as w I e. ak r, you e make mist ed movie traile wondering if w uff, you watch st , Oh . be ill whole t mistake it w ting with this wondering wha were participa so h tc bo ter Essen that we will , and then, af yes, I was sure hype and buzz ly ar ne , ns Internaly 150 toke inating us for mething. Near you were nom in ok bo le ru en Geek pages long Award or Gold 100 cards, 60 tional Gamer n de oo w 0 hole fuss more than 30 ow that this w 3 languages, but did you kn ith w n tio uc a big prod by 3 friends? pieces. It was was done just lro on e rid It was like rtment in Por‚FFG’ impetus. Production depa it d an g in ichał Oracz. as fast, excit department - M lercoaster. It w le ho W l? ta 2009 I dly. In August Oh, sure! Big had to end ba Testing team? d Ignacy about that. fał Szyma an had no doubts big team! Ra al rt Po In FFG. our close We were not (and bunch of ek icz w ze Tr ing bigys. 3 guys mak there was 3 gu friends). scared ment? His eir lives. 3 guys keting depart gest game in th ar M to make zewiczek ys that wanted eller Ignacy Tr as a hell. 3 gu Majesty Storyt ys gu 3 n. Michał e impressio director? good worldwid Artwork n’. ‚FFG productio that tried to do Oracz, again. ting departke ar m no ent team? d We ha me developm Ga place on we were on #1 ment and yet
ing final files to We are prepar e ordeCrusoe. We ar print Robinson ordering cubes, we are ring wooden of topreparing tens cards, we are stuff that doing all that kens. We are ake and hate. One mist I really really ble. Roin serious trou man, you are Reminds ge epic game. binson is a hu August . Reminds me me Stronghold
One Man Te am Ignacy Trzew iczek, again. Movie trailer? Michał Oracz. Essen stand design? Mic hał Oracz. Etc.
Yes, it was cr azy. But we did it. There was no mistake in St ronghold. We did one of the most fam ous and respected ga mes of 2009 . It was awesome.
*** Today Port al is twice as big. We have 3 guys responsible fo r Neuroshima RPG and Neuroshim a Tactics miniature game and 3 of us responsible on ly for boardg ames. We grown, bu t still - in a fact we are bunch of few friend s doing their best to bring you best games possib le. This year we will bring Robi nson Crusoe. This year again w e have to ex ceed our possibilitie s. This year ag ain we will do ev erything we ca n to stand next to FFG and ot her great publishe rs. Have drea ms. Have cour age to follow these dream s. Do your gam es. You don’ t need to have big budget. You don’t ne ed to have 20 people cr ew. You don’ t need anything except passio n and will to fight. Fight fo r your succes s. It is at your fingertips.
illustrations: Tomasz Jędruszek
illustrations: Kuba Jabłoński
I may be wrong in today’s
editions, new editons are in pro-
post. I may have not right per-
gress. This is great what Neuro-
spective. But what the hell, this is
shima Hex achieved.
my blog and I write here what I feel. And I feel and I think, that here in Poland we did a really good of a job and we enriched gaming hobby in past 5 years. *
From my perspective it
all started in 2007, when Portal presented Neuroshima Hex in Essen. I remember words that Greg J. Schloesser said that year. It was: „I honestly don’t know much - OK, anything - about the gaming scene in Po-
Two
years
later
land but if Neuroshima Hex is
published
any indication I am impressed.”
great epic game that was widely
Stronghold,
Portal another
discussed, was nominated for International Gamers Award, for Golden Geek, for Game of the Year in Poland and then was licensed and published worldwide by Valley Games. Without false modesty I do believe that designing Stronghold was an important for many players. There wasn’t such a game before.
We did a bunch of other
games like 51st State or Pret-a-Porter, but Poland is not
Poland was a blank point
only Portal... *
on the boardgames scene. No gamer known anything about
In 2010 Polish company
Poland and Polish games. With
- Rebel.pl - published K2, gre-
Neuroshima Hex we had a really
at family game about climbing
good entrance.
the second-highest mountain on
Today Neuroshima Hex is
Earth. It is a great board game,
worldwide known game, 138th
with easy rules and engaging ga-
place in BGG ranking, thousands
meplay. It was designed by my
of copies in gamers collections,
friend, Adam Kałuża, who lives
six new armies published as
20 miles away from me. This
expansions, more than 20 fan
year Adam and his K2 was nomi-
armies published as a PDF files.
nated for Kennerspiel des Jahres.
There are US, French, Spanish,
It is a huge success. Many play-
Dutch, Italian (Polish of course)
ers now decided to try K2 and I
believe they will love it, they will try to climb and risk a hard path or easy one, and will have to decide when to attack the mountain and when to rest... Simple rules, great game play. I do believe that designing K2 by Adam was adding a small gem to our hob-
I was happy to have my
gazine Pancho was one of writers
games ‚postered’ by Edrache. Po-
and he wrote a really great stuff
ster of Stronghold is hanging in
for Warhammer RPG. When in
passe-partout in my room. I love
2010, ten years after he came
it. I have pleasure to know Edra-
to me, said that he founded Big
che and play with him my games.
Daddy’s Creations and asked for
This 886 thumbs is qu-
license for Neuroshima Hex for
ite a few. Edrache introduced to
IOS I couldn’t refuse. We knew
by...
our hobby something that
each other for a decade.
is interesting and new, so-
mething that enriched our
Big Daddy’s Creations did one of
hobby.
greatest apps for IOS.
*
If we talk about gems... There is
mething
special
vices. It was chosen as second
last few years. Robert
best board game app by IGN
Żak designed Strike of
magazine. They got iOS Game of
the Eagle - it was pu-
the Year (GameShark), they got
blished first in Poland
Best Card/Board game – runner
and then licensed and published
up (TouchGen)... They did an
by Academy Games. I haven’t
awesome job.
really
And then they did Caylus. And now they do Eclipse. This is great crew from Poland.
called Minimalistic posters. His
*
geek list gathered 886 thumbs
In 3 weeks I do another
and this is not a surprise. It was
edition of boardgame co-
a great stuff. He decided to de-
nvention in Gliwice. We will
sign posters for different board-
meet together.
games. His work was so great
published it in a form of calendar.
an
board game for electronic de-
started a tremendeus project
12 posters for their games. They
is
gamers who brought so-
from Poznan, who in March 2010
Edrache and asked him to design
Hex
example of best adaptation of
a guy called Edrache, my friend
that Hans im Glück contacted
Neuroshima
We have two war
*
But, I am lucky bastard.
Pancho will bring me some played it yet, but the reviews are
screen shoots and stuff from
quite clear - this is a great war
Stronghold for iPad. I am very
game. The same situation is with
excited about this release. I now
Conflict of Heroes: Price of Ho-
they will do a wonderful job with
nour - Poland 1939 co-designed
this app.
by Michał Ozon and published by
Academy Games. I haven’t play-
pre-production copy of CLASH:
ed it yet, but it is on my short
Jihad vs. McWorld. This is re-
list to play, already on my shelf,
themed version of R.R.R. great
waiting for free evening. These
abstract strategy game I brought
are great games from Polish de-
from Essen two years ago and
signers. I am eager to play them.
showed in Poland.
*
Michał
Ozon
will
bring
Adam Kałuża will show
And last but not least,
Cave, his new game about explo-
my close friend Pancho. In 2000
ring caves. This is his great pas-
when I was publishing RPG ma-
sion and hobby and as far as I
od as K2. Once agaheard, games is as go heart into this dein Adam put his whole sign.
my Robinson I will show them for epic game with Crusoe, another take in 2009 with Stronstrong theme. Like again spent almost ghold, this time I rking on it, and once whole damn year wo able to put into Roagain I believe I was on, imagination, my binson’s box my passi venture co-op I was heart. This is great ad ars. dreaming about for ye le, share our We will sit at the tab ink a beer or tea, ideas and designs, dr a nice bunch of gaand have fun. We are ll have good stuff for mers. This year we wi
you. Again.
the Characteristics. If you see a 13, it means the guy’s really good, and higher stats are reserved for true masters in their respective fields. When you see a six or eight, tough, you really sho-
Excerpt from english Rulebook also present 7 NST command-
uldn’t send the dude out to where he might need that particular Characteristic...
ments – rules describing the essence of the game, principles you must follow if you want to have a chance to survive in the post-apocaliptic ruins.
We continue with the pre-
sentation of our skirmish wargame – Neuroshima Tactics. This month you’ll learn about units characteristics, equipment and traits that make every model in the game an unique unit. We’ll
Characteristics
Each unit in the game has
six Characteristics, which will tell you what it can and can’t do,
Shooting (St)
time you use a gun or some other nifty invention ment to make your enemies bleed from a distance. You either can use a gun and defend yourself in a time of need, or stay at the shelter and leave fighting to true warriors.
what is its forte and its weakness. A regular walk-in guy will have a 10, 11 at most in most of
You test Shooting every
Melee Combat (MC)
You test Melee Combat
when you want to use a mache-
kill enemies in a couple of addi-
te, crowbar or some other piece
tional, nifty ways. Have you ever
of junk to damage your enemy.
tried shooting down a dude hi-
Sometimes the creatures get too
ding behind a thick, brick wall?
close to use a gun efficiently –
That’s when Throwing comes in
of course, if you choose to wa-
handy – just toss them a granade
ste your ammo no one will stop
or two.
you, but if you prefer to a good, uld use your rifle as a mace and
pummel your enemies. It’s all up
your soldier deals with Wounds is
to you.
determined by his Constitution.
Throwing (Th)
Roll an Agility test to avoid
an enemy Attack, jump over a pit or climb over an obstacle. When you’re recruiting somebody to your team, have a close look at him – Agility is crucial for survi-
Constitution(Con)
old fashioned whooping, you co-
Agility (Agi)
How well or how badly
Even when you are the most precise sharpshooter, or a badass
Every time you want to
Moloch mincemeat machine, but
Throw a knife, or pass some kind
when you get hurt, you get in
of equipment to you Squad bud-
trouble. Tough sons-of-a-gun can
dy that’s a tad to far, you roll a
stomach a bullet or two and carry
Throwing test. Throwing is im-
on with fighting. The unlucky du-
portant, ‚cause it allows you to
des with low Constitution become useless after one measly hit or a small pollution wave.
val, and clutzes live very short, miserable lives on the Wastes.
Perception (Perc)
Perception
determines
your observation skills – you need to have eyes at the back of your head to spot enemies sneaking up on you from behind the rubble. The myth about Perception being an useless dump is a bunch of baloney – clever, observant people tend to live longer than brain-dead quads.
Lack of Characteristic
Some units, have a (-)
instead of a digit in the Characteristic table. This means the unit does not have that Characteristic. As a
result
they can-
not perform any Actions based on the given Characteristic. For example: the Rat is such a loser, that he wouldn’t be able to shoot a gun even if you were holding it for him. Maybe he’s an idiot, or a friggin’ hippie - in any case, there is no chance he’ll perform Action: Shooting, due to the dash in the Characteristic table.
Traits
Each unit has its own Tra-
it – a cool trick up his or hers sleeve. To name a couple, Mutts
have bodies grown in such a
et.For example, a Squad of
way, that they move on the rub-
Assault Troops will have 16 ro-
ble a lot faster than the rest of
unds in total. On the Character
the others and Moloch’s Spiders
Sheet you mark not only every-
are small and agile, which makes
thing the unit has by default, but
them hard to hit. Regardless of
also everything you’ve bought
wether you lead a bunch of He-
for them before the battle star-
gemony junkies or a scout squad
ted. Crap like a barbie doll head
sent out by Moloch, you recruit a
on a string, or first girlfriends’ to-
variety of freaks for your team,
oth don’t make the list – let your
and the reason is they have so-
guys have a bit of privacy.
mething they are wicked aweso-
4
Worth
me at. Many Traits allow to break, ommit or change the general
game rules – in such a case, the
things: how many Army Points
Trait rule comes before the gene-
you will have to pay to include
ral rule.
this unit in your Army List, and
Equipment and ammunition
This stat tells you two
how many Victory Points the unit is worth. Problem is, Worth
In the Character Sheet
works like a two-edged sword
you’ll find info on what the unit
– it’s awesome to have synced,
carries with him/herself: what
well-trained soldiers armed with
kind of weapons, how
pre-war gizmos, with a surpri-
many bullets and also,
sing Trait, that’ll make the ene-
what
surprises
s/he
my goons cry like babies, but if
has in store for the
you manage to get them killed,
losers
who
chose
your opponent will get a lot more
the enemy side. If
Victory Points than he would for a
you have a look
regular grunt. The amount of Vic-
at the Armybo-
tory Points awarded for elimina-
ok, you’ll see
ted units depends on their Worth,
that each unit
not including the equipment they
has its own
had.
ammunition marked their
Rank
on Cha-
racter She-
Rank defines how expe-
rienced your soldiers are – you can virtually see the old, battle-hardened sweats look down on greenhorns with a condescending smirk. In single-game mode you’ll hardly ever use this stat. Rank is something that comes in handy in Campaing mode – that’s when your soldiers will get enough experience to make the rank stars shine.
Squad Character Sheet
Do you remember that
squad units have common Characteristics, ammo and some of the equipment,?
You’ll need to
mark a couple of things separately, though – for example, who carries the Gambels, and who had his mug rearranged by Mutts.
as orderly as a clerk’s book. One
1. Take care of your crew.
look should be enough to get a
You lead a team made up of men
hang of what’s going on.
This
and women, mutts or machines.
will be utmostly important when
You are responsible for them.
Squad Coherence will be falling
Take care of them, and they will
apart. After the Action phase
give back to you. Take your time
ends and before the next starts,
to read the armybook, and think
you’ll have very little time to get
which units, which features and
all of this organized.
what kind of equipment to pick
On the Character Sheet, there’s a
7 commandments of Neuroshima Tactics
separate grid for every unit in the Squad, so you have enough space to mark everything you need to remember about a particular unit. If the unit is out of Coherence, you’ll also face the unpleasant necessity of assigning separate ammunition and equip to the poor dude.
Unit Wounds
During the game you will
also have to mark how many Wounds your unit has recieved. Each time something bad happens, and it gets banged up – you’ll have to mark it down. It’s one of the most important things, since a Wounded unit both moves slower and i less effective . You can read more about the consequences of being Wounded in another chapter.
Updating Character Sheets The Character Sheet shoudl alwas be as up to date as possible. You shot a round? The Trash Armor ended its faithful service? You got Wounded? Stole someone’s gun? Acquired a Gambel? Lost a team member? Everything and all needs to be marked on the Character Sheet. The battlefield can be a bloody, screaming mess, but the sheets need to be
in order to change your team into a deathmachine. During the battle try to be reasonable: the
During the battle there-
enemy wants to kill you out like
’s a lot going on. After a couple
‚roaches, don’t make it easy for
of sessions, you’ll probably get a
him. Do not put your men into
hang of things, and will feel like a
weird, unnecessary or reckless
mutated fish in the murky waters
situations.
of Missisipi. But till then, you can
2. Save ammo
aid yourself with this compilation
The world is blasted to pieces.
of rules. It’s a bit repetitive and
Food, water, fuel and ammo are
confusing, just like a drunk rats’ ramblings in a bar on the Wastes, especially if you take a look around yourself. But rest assured - stick to it, and you’ll never end up in a deep, dark, irradiated hole.
scarce. Each of your units has
works. Sneaking is not just a ba-
In Tactics you rarely get face to
but a handfull of rounds to sho-
loney propaganda - it’s a hard,
face with your enemy - those
ot - think long and hard before
real tip, that will help you survi-
who do, die quickly. It’s all abo-
using them. If you can see that
ve.
ut arranging a situation in which
the odds aren’t in your favour,
4. There’s no „I” in „team”
you’ll be able to play your poten-
it might be better to retreat and
Think „team”. There will be many
tial to it’s fullest, and you’ll leave
find a better shooting spot. And
heroes and spec-ops in your
the other sucker no chances. Use
remember - scavenge! It’s well
army - and they all act on their
a decoy and two executioners,
worth to search the bodies of
own. But the real core of a group
then a flash attack to let him
your enemies. They usually have
is a force - and it’s really worth
waste his ammo, and then te-
a bullet or two to spare
to use them properly. A force is
ach him the lesson he deserves.
3. Take cover
perfect for carrying out tactical
There are countless ways to fool
We did mention NS Tactics is a
manouvres - that’s what the Si-
your opponent - you just have to
stealth game, right? Well, here-
multaneous Activation is for. Add
put them together into a deadly
’s the deal: if you sneak, your
to it the shared ammo and equip
jigsaw.
enemy has it tougher to pass his
perk, and you have a clear image
6. React dynamically
Attack rolls, and if you try hard
of the situation. Think „team” -
By reacting we mean two things:
enough, he might not see your
you can’t go wrong with it.
firstly - look, what’s going on on
troops at all. And the less of you
5. Plan your traps
the battlefield. If you can see the
he sees, the less Actions he’ll be able to take - that’s the way this
dude got to the gamble and you can’t stop him or get to it first, then make his life a hell while he tries to get away with it.
If
you’re attacked on one wing, get reinforcements before the other guy gets advantage.
Secondly
– take your Reactions into account. They allow you to take an Action of your choice in response to what your adversary did. If you keep an eye on the Reactions, you’ll get a lot of chances while your enemy is still on the move. If you disregard this, your heroes will just stand with their hands in their pockets and do squat. In this case, less is not more – more is more, and more is better! 7. Always fight to the end In Tactics it’s quite important to fight to the very end, even if the situation looks grim. The last round can change everything - the enemy might have a fistfull of gambles, but he’s gotten
cocky
and
doesn’t
care for covers. You can lay him low in a flash! Under no condition should you give up, don’t falter if you see even a tiny bit of hope. Only the toughtest ones will survive, the tough as nails bastards - that’s the rule that Neuroshima lives and breaths. See you next month!
Things aren’t peachy this
can’t attack either. Each action
any of the soldiers recieves 5 po-
time. Only three of our soldiers
(moving a field, using a med-
ints of damage, the mission has
left in the trenches, the machi-
pack, shooting, attacking with a
failed. The machines do not block
nes attack in endless waves, and
sledgehammer) takes 1 second.
eachother’s firing line. To attach
the most deadly of them all - the
In any given second you can
the bomb to the Mother’s armour,
huge Mother, the brain of me-
undertake only one action - the
the soldier must enter the field
talic legions, towering over the
soldiers cannot be acting at the
she occupies. If he does so, the
whole battlefield is unscratched.
same time - e.g. one runs whi-
mission has been successfull.
The only chance for survival is
le the other shoots). You cannot
Equipment:
the magnetic bomb, which ne-
move diagonally or through the
eds to be attached directly to the
squares occupied by machines
have 6 gambles, to buy all the
Mother’s armour. The explosion
(unless the machine is destroy-
necessary stuff for your soldiers.
will destroy the thinking robot,
ed). The machines do not move,
You already have the bomb. Each
condemning the rest of the war-
except for the ones that rota-
soldier can carry only one we-
riors to follow their simple pro-
te (the Mother and the Sniper).
apon, one medipack and one ar-
grams, thus allowing the human
The firing range is the shortest
mour.
wit to prevail and turn the tables.
distance from the shooter to the
Unfortunately - for all this there-
target (including the field the tar-
sary for destroying the Mother.
’s only 21 seconds - 21 seconds
get is on), and just as it was in
The soldier carrying the bomb
before the Mother orders the ma-
the case of movement, you canot
cannot have any other weapon.
chines to attack and it’s too late
count the fields diagonally.The
for anything.
machines react to the soldier’s
fields, can be used only once, in-
Rules:
actions according to precise ru-
flicts 3 points of damage, price: 1
The map (11 by 11 squ-
les. In each second, after the sol-
gamble.
ares) depicts the situation: tren-
dier acts, you need to check if any
ches, rocks, the position of ma-
of the machines attacks or rota-
from one Warrior attack, price: 1
chines. After equpping the four
tes. If more than one soldier is in
gamble.
soldiers, decide on which field
range of the attack, the machine
each of them is. There can only
chooses the one that entered its
only once, heals one point of da-
be one soldier on one field. A
range last. Each of the machine’s
mage, price: 2 gambles.
soldier in the trenches cannot
attacks has a given power - the
be attacked in any way, but he
amount of damage it inflicts. If
seconds, you can move a soldier
Here’s what you got. You
Bomb (weapon) - neces-
Rifle (weapon) - range: 3
Armour - protects you
Medipack - can be used
Shovel - By spending 16
comes a new trench, price:
fields. The attack inflicts 2 points
1 gamble.
of damage. Independent from
Machines:
Mother’s vision. It can shoot only
The Mother - The range
three times. Toughness: 2.
of her vision has been mar-
ked on the map (four possi-
the right answer, check once
ble directions, to which she
more all the rules to see if you
can be facing). At the be-
haven’t omitted some important
ginning, she looks at the lo-
part.
wer part of the board. Every time a machine that was not in her field of vision is destroyed, she will turn so that she can see it (always choosing the shortest possible route). The Mother can only attack the fields adjacent to her, and her most powerful weapon is in the front, weaker ones on the sides, and none in the back. The fields she’s facing (3 of them) recieve 5 points of damage, the sides (two fields on each sides) recieve 3 points of damage. Toughness: can be destroyed only by the bomb.
Warriors - attack range:
they can attack only adjacent fields (also diagonally). Attack inflicts 1 point of damage. Toughness: 3.
Thrower - atack range: 4
fields. Attack inflicts 3 points of damage. It can attack each soldier only once. Toughness: 3.
Ward - attack range: 3
to the next field, which be-
Sniper - attack range: 5
fields, it’s the only machine relying on the Mother’s field of view. If any soldier gets into the Mother’s view range, the sniper targets him and tracks from then on. If the target comes into its shooting range at any point of the game, the Sniper shoots. If the Mother notices another soldier, the Sniper abandons it’s previous target, and focuses on the new one. Toughness: 3.
If you think you’ve foud