Beasts of War and N3

Beasts of War‘s Infinity week has started, and Data Sphere will keep you all up to date with the news.

Right now we’ve recapped:

• Hacking
• Ammo and Weapon changes
• Close Combat
• Templates
• Command Tokens
• Changes to Retreat and Loss of Lieutenant

More updates to follow!

Hacking

Hacking receives a major overhaul. Where in 2nd edition hacking was an odd-duck, having strange mechanics and explanations, it now stays more in tune with the core mechanics of attacking. Also, there is a chart!

Hacking

Hacking still works with the Zone of Control and not with Line of Sight like other attacks. The Zone of Control is an area with an 8 inch radius around the hacker. This Zone of Control can be extended by Repeaters, who create their own Zone of Control, that the hacker is allowed to access. Anything that is inside this Zone of Control can be ‘seen’ by the hacker. The link between two opposing Repeaters cannot be used to attack other hackers. Bostria mentioned a moment during playtesting when there were many hackers on the table and two repeaters connected, allowing for multiple AROs causing extremely complicated mechanics & calculations. Since the mechanics go haywire in a moment like that, CB decided it wouldn’t be allowed.

BTS stats will work as an ARM for Hacking, and all the rolls will be made on those stats.

N3 will use four Hacker Devices

• Defensive Hacking Device
• Normal Hacking Device
• Hacking Device Plus
• Assault Hacking Device

Each of these devices gives you access to certain Programs, which will function a bit like weapons. These Programs have many uses; aggressive, support, defensive, and they will follow the same mechanics as the fire arms.

Programs

The chart shows a couple of Programs for Hacking in N3.  The stats of the programs follow the same mechanics as firefights, and it speaks for itself what is happening here.

We can see Anti-Hacker Programs, TAG and Infowar Programs and even a Support Program. Looks like hacking will become an extremely useful thing in N3. The programs cause wounds, add +1 Burst to Remotes, Immobilize targets for 1 or 2 turns, Mark a Target (adding +3 to every unit that attacks it), causes the new Isolated State or disable enemy repeaters. That’s a lot of tricks in that bag!

Considering that this chart is just the tip of the iceberg, we can expect some seriously cool stuff once we get access to the full rules of N3.

It also looks like a HI army becomes a more valuable option in N3, as these mechanics of hacking received a tremendous overhaul.

Ammo and Weapon Changes

Lots of changes to Ammo and Weapon types!

Ammo Types

New ammunition types, changes to existing ones. N3 proves to be more than just a retranslation.

• Breaker – Breaker is a new ammo type and needs BTS rolls halving the BTS value.
• ADH – ADH is already known, but needs a PH -6 roll, and causes Immobilized Lv2; meaning you’ll be stuck until your engineer frees you.
• DT – Double Trouble, a new ammo type, works on BTS, and needs a double roll. Bostria mentions this ammunition to be used by hackers. It sounds like a Viral + Double Action type.
• E/M – BIG changes to E/M, triggering Immobilized Lv2, and a new state: Isolated. This means your troop will be send to its own Combat Group, no longer contributing to the order pool of the rest! Ouch!
• Plasma – Plasma now uses ARM + BTS rules, and you need to roll for both. Luckily, it no longer causes E/M damage!
• K1 – K1 is already shown in the Dire Foes boxes, and it negates ALL ARM, making it 0. A nasty ammo against TAGs.
• Nanotec – functions on BTS, and has no special weirdness.

Suppression Fire

Suppression Fire gets a big change. No longer does it function as a corridor, that allows the full burst and uses the range of the weapon you’re using. In N3, Suppression Fire will have its own particular range band and a set burst. It will also function in 180 degree arc, and not just a corridor. Big changes for sure, but still very useful in dense tables.

Weapon Changes

I’ll cover just some of the major changes, as there are multiple.

N3 focusses on creating a niche for every weapon. No longer is the Heavy Machine Gun the best weapon for almost every situation. It now covers a particular range, and other weapons can be used for other ranges; Spitfires, (Combi) Rifles, even Pistols become more valuable.

The Missile Launcher will have two modes: a Terminal Template (see Templates) and an anti-tank function, allowing you to use the missile without getting your own allies in the blast radius. It also allows you to blow up walls.

Lots of weapons have the DA ammunition option, like the HMC, Multi Rifle and Multi Sniper Rifle, in a Anti-Material mode

Note: the charts are not complete, so some info is missing.

Close Combat

For those that have been following the news on N3 closely, this holds nothing new. For those that didn’t follow closely; here it is!

In 2nd Edition, Close Combat was a weak choice; very risky and not really rewarding. In N3, Close Combat will still be risky, but it will be high reward. I must admit, I haven’t had much experience with Close Combat myself, and so am not entirely up to date with the current rules and what exactly changes.

N3 is all about charts. And so is Close Combat. Martial Art will have modifiers, on your CC value, the enemy’s, the Damage and even the Burst. Sounds like Ninjas, Oniwabans and other Close-Combat Specialists will become more valuable in N3! JSA players will eat their hearts out!

The modifiers of Martial Art levels are NOT stackable. Bostria mentions how TAGs are vulnerable to some types of Close Combat.

Assault will allow the model to charge an enemy model as long as it has Line of Sight to the enemy and can make the charge. It allows the unit to make a Move–Move + CC attack.
The Berserk Skill has Assault included.

Higher than 20

Every value higher than 20 will stack the left-over upon the die-roll. So 25 CC will add +5 to the die-roll. Every roll that creates a value higher than 20 will automatically become a Critical Hit.

Templates

Templates will be back in N3. Not only will the circular 8-pointed template be replaced by the 10-pointed template similar to the one in Operation: Icestorm, but the mechanics on which they work will also change!

Templates will be categorized in two types

• Direct Templates – containing flamethrowers, chainguns and chain-colts, etc.
• Terminal Templates – containing shotguns, explosives, missiles, etc.

Due to their destructive nature (explosions, burning dripping fuel), these templates will negate partial cover. This makes for a very realistic approach. If you are caught in the blast radius of an explosion, there is no doubt your body will get damaged. A waist-high wall won’t do much to help you with that.

Templates will always be placed on the table. The difference between Direct Templates and Terminal Templates is the rolls players need to do for them.

• Direct Template – The template is placed, each ARO is resolved as a normal roll.
• Terminal Template – the template is placed. Each roll is resolved as a Face-to-Face roll. If the attacker misses his roll, the template is removed.

The dodging of templates is also going to change. While you were only able to dodge templates with a -6 on your PH roll, in N3 there will be a difference between wether you have Line of Sight with the attacker or wether you haven’t. If you have Line of Sight, you’ll be able to dodge with a normal PH roll. If you don’t have Line of Sight with the attacker, you’ll have to dodge with a -3 PH.

Blast Focus

Each Template will have a Blast Focus, which will function as a point of origin for the Template. If the Blast Focus can’t establish a Line of Fire with a model inside the template, the model is safe and can’t be hit.

Silhouette

We’ve already encountered the Silhouettes in Operation Icestorm. There they are mainly used to resolve Line of Fire issues. With Templates, they’ll have another function; the Blast Focus can be put anywhere within the Silhouette. In other words, a template can originate from any point in the Silhouette. So your model can shoot upwards from his base up, or downwards from the left top of the Silhouette, and maybe even ‘over a wall’.

Command Tokens

Our first rule video shows Command Tokens. This is a new mechanic in N3 and it looks like a whole new set of bookkeeping next to the orders. But it actually looks to become something pretty easy.

Each player will have 4 Command tokens to his disposal during the game (they will NOT respawn each turn) and they can be used for a lot of  things.

Bostria mentioned Sun Tze to have a special rule that will allow the player to have an extra Command Token.

• No longer do we need to spend our Lieutenant Orders to form link teams. But that’s not all.
• We will also gain the ability to spend these CTs to make a irregular order in our pool regular. It also allows us to shuffle units between our Combat Groups. Hello 11 model armies! 🙂
• Allows troopers to avoid its Retreat state (more on that next).
• Reroll Healing rolls (probably Paramedic as well as Doctors) as long as the model has a Cube. PanO players will be happy to hear that!
• Reroll Repair rolls as long as the damaged models has ‘Remote Presence’.
• Also allows you regain control of a TAG once it has been possessed. It looks like you’ll always need to keep one of those Command Tokens in your hand as long as you have a TAG on the table.
• And more…

There has been a rumour about hackers being able to steal or let the opponent lose his Command Tokens. This could be due to the hacker-programs that we’ll probably see later on this Infinity week.

It already shows that we can expect a lot more tactical choices to be made in N3.

Retreat and Loss of Lieutenant

N3 will be a big difference on both these mechanics. Where 2nd Edition caused your army to pass this retreat threshold at 60% of your points, N3 pushes this threshold to 75%! That’s already a big difference. Bostria even mentioned this effect didn’t really happened in their test-runs in the usual 3 turns missions.

Bostria mentioned another system that effects Loss of Lieutenant and Retreat. Bostria showed this chart:

 

To explain:

• Normal Unit: Normal units will lose their regular orders during Loss of Lieutenant, and during Retreat they again become irregular and will only be able to move and dodge. They can sometimes run to the table edges to count as survived points.
• Impetuous: Impetuous models will lose their regular order, and stay impetuous. During retreat, they loose their impetuous, and will only be able to move and dodge. They can sometimes run to the table edges to count as survived points.
• Remote Presence: Irregular during Loss of Lieutenant and Irregular without coming into Retreat.
• Courage: Courage models will lose regular orders during the Loss of Lieutenant status. They will also become irregular during their retreat, but they will not run for the table’s edge.
• Regular Religious Troops: Religious troops will lose their regular status during Loss of Lieutenant, but will remain regular during retreat, as they are disciplined and won’t be able to leave their mission from god.
• Veteran Level 1: Veteran troops will ignore the Loss of Lieutenant and the Retreat Threshold, but will be able to retreat if you find it necessary. There will be a Level 2, but Bostria didn’t go into detail about that.
• Morats: Now this is something big! Not only will Morats ignore the Loss of Lieutenant and Retreat, they will not be ABLE to retreat.

That’s it for now! We’ll keep you all posted on the news! 😉