Nova Ops - Objective Missions with Changing Table Conditions

[vorthain]

I'm porting this over from the other forum. Without killing you with details ahead of time, I wanted to combine aspects of ITS, YAMS, and Paradiso/Dire Foes missions with 3 things in mind:

1. Lists should strongly encourage specialists but not necessarily require them.
2. Battlefields should be an interesting aspect of Infinity games.
3. Extraordinary or cinematic actions should be encouraged.

---

Nova Ops (v 2.8)

A new objective-based missions system for Infinity: The Game

by vorthain & john_b

“It was supposed to be an average mission: get in, take out a few pigs, steal the data, and be gone. We didn’t know they’d be after our own resources or taking down Lieutenant Ngosa. Neither of us knew the security systems from the previous occupants were still active.”
Rato Juric, Securitate
Seizure of Station Sygna-7
Human Edge

Game Overview

Nova Ops games are based on competition to complete both private and public objectives in a combat zone with a range of conditions, making each game a unique tactical experience.

Games have four turns and conclude immediately if one player is tabled. The battlefield is four feet by four feet, with 12" deep deployment zones on opposite sides of the table. A central command room (CCR; 8" square, and of infinite height) is placed at the center of the table. It has four wide gates, one facing each table edge. The four doors to CCR begin the game closed and can all be opened on a short order after the first turn. The command room doors have ARM 10, BTS 9, STR 3, and are susceptible to all lethal ammo types.


The following features should also appear on the table prior to deployment:

1. friendly console x 1
Place on ground level 4" forward of the of your deployment zone

2. enemy console x 1
Placed anywhere 4" forward of the enemy deployment zone

3. central console x 1
Placed in center of central command room

When the central command room’s doors are opened or a door is breached, place:

4. civvie x 1
Roll to randomly place:

> 1-5 far left corner
> 6-10 far right corner
> 11-15 near left corner
> 16-20 near right corner


Scoring

“The number of deaths at your hand is irrelevant when the mission goes unfulfilled. When the mission is death…that is a different story.”

Varshasp Tir, Hassassin Barid
The South Seeland Massacre
Varuna

Each player will randomly select 6 objective cards from a single deck, nominating 2 only that player will get points for, and 2 public objectives that either play can earn points completing. Alternatively, if decided upon beforehand, each player can select 4 to 6 objective cards to be kept entirely private or entirely public. Ties are resolved by the accomplishment of Feats.

Each player may optionally declare that he is going to attempt the Challenge version of one objective, which will be more difficult but net 2 points instead of 1, meaning they may get up to 7 points. Failing this objective results in a loss of 1 point. The player must declare they are going for the Challenge version of an objective and reveal it. Both players may nominate the same public objective for a Challenge, but will not get points for completing the other player’s Challenge…but they will benefit from preventing it!

For example, one player may be confident on the Forward Operator objective since she has a hacker with AD3. If she wants to try the Challenge, she reveals this to her opponent whether it is a private or public objective. Her opponent now knows she can swing the battle on that objective and can try to stop her to force her to -1 point, all the while managing his own objectives.



Specialists

“I don’t care if you can take out a snow-hopper from 100 yards or disappear before your enemy’s eyes! The best gun in the world isn’t going to help you when you can’t figure out an iceless sub-white encrypted console.”

Biwott Oestergaard, Hexas
Trollhattan Mission Briefing
Svalarheima

Specialists include hackers, engineers, doctors, paramedics, forward observers, and models with chain of command. They often may make rolls with reduced or no WIP rolls (see specific objectives). Any model may attempt to operate consoles as many times as they wish until they succeed. Models may operate consoles via Repeaters or Servants at an additional -3 to WIP rolls, but additional attempts cannot be made by a Repeater or Servant if it fails.

Specialists can reinforce consoles against enemy use with ice, or using a WIP -6 roll in base to base contact. On a success, enemies trying to interact with that console have an additional WIP-3 to operate it. Consoles are Repeaters for whichever side last successfully iced it.

One specialist should be nominated Authorized Specialist. This model never has to roll for WIP when testing to operate consoles personally or synchronize with civvies, instead only spending a short order for completion of that activity.

Spec-Ops are permitted but not required, and are capped at 8 XP. If you use a Spec-Ops, then it will be automatically be your Authorized Specialist.



Order of Operations

1. Determine Special Battlefield Condition and apply table conditions.
2. Draw your Objectives.
3. Roll Initiative and begin the game as normal.


Objectives

“Targets acquired: 1 Jotum, 1 Knight – probably Hospitaller, 3 Fusiliers, possibly ghosted troops too. Authorizing Celestial Guard smoke coverage now. Guilangs, move up. Priority one is securing the central command and downloading information related to Project Warg. Extract the technician if possible. If you see any hackers, take their Cubes. And should the Xian Shan approach, release the Wolves.”

Bo Fang, Daofei
[redacted]
Svalarheima

Following each of the regular objectives are Challenge objectives (see Scoring, above). You may elect to complete one Challenge objective. These are presented at the end of these rules.


Feats

“When I saw the Tysh emerge from thermo-optic camouflage on the opposite side of a human in his death spasms. Your hacker’s wetware – and surrounding ‘brain’ - was fried, I knew this was a victory.”

Zhiirk, Tactical Special Wing Noctifers
Black Cell Interrogation SHAS-1095
Satori, Paradiso

Feats are cinematic acts of heroism (or villainy) that augment the themes and character of Infinity. If players score the same number of objectives, completed Feats are compared to determine the victor. If both players complete the same number of Feats, use the remaining points on the table to calculate the victor.


01. Meltdown: Successfully use Anti-Hacking Protocols (AHP) against an enemy hacker.
02. Humanitarian: Immobilize, glue, blind, or otherwise non-lethally incapacitate 3 or more enemy units.
03. Puppetmaster: Use an enemy TAG or Sepsitorized troop to kill at least 2 enemy units.
04. Away from the Light: Heal 3 wounds or structure in the course of the game.
05. Parkour: successfully injure an enemy model while jumping or falling (includes shooting)
06. Ghost: Put an enemy in an Unconscious or Dead state_from outside its LoS and ZoC
07. Boom: Put an enemy model in an Unconscious or Dead state using d-charges
08. Trick Shot: Put an enemy model in an Unconscious or Dead state with a -9 to hit modifier or worse.
09. No Pulse: Move 3 enemy models from the Unconscious state to Dead.


Special Battlefield Condition

“Yes, we knew the place was used to handle recovered Tohaa biotech. We just thought the biotech was dead – or whatever counts for dead for that kind of thing. Long story short, Commander: it wasn’t dead.”

Bertrand de Foix, Zouaves
Containment of Daiichi BioNetics Leak
Paradiso

One of these random effects changes battlefield conditions. They are designed to take effect during the entirety of a battle, but players may opt to have them only during certain turns, or alternate throughout the game.

1. Sentries Active
Place 4 remotes (28 mm bases): d20” from the non-DZ table edges and adjacent to the left of the CCR doors facing DZs. They have BS11, ARM 2, BTS3, 1 STR, Total Reaction, and are armed with a combi rifle and electric pulse. They will respond only to models, will become active after the first shots of the game are fired, and are hackable.

2. Urban Decay
Treat any area inside of a building or other structure as Difficult Terrain. Deployment inside Difficult Terrain is not permitted. Any Terrain skill will ignore this effect. It does not apply to roofs. Reroll in the event of lacking inside terrain.

3. Fog of War
Line of Fire is limited to 2”. AD cannot enter on the first turn, and AD rolls -3 PH. Infiltrators roll -3 PH to deploy outside their DZ. Impersonators suffer WIP -3 to deploy in enemy DZ. Forward Observers can Mark consoles at range with -3 WIP on the marking roll.


4. Infected Swarm
At the start of turns 2-4, disperse two round templates from the center of the table. Swap initial facing at the start of each turn. Roll d20; disperse in the direction of the second digit the distance rolled on the die. They do DAM 12 Nano, and are Low Vis Zones of infinite height. Civvies, Doctors, and Paramedics are Immune to damage effects.

5. Hostile Environment
Roll d20. On an even, a 12” band (6” on either side of midline between players) is Adverse terrain, with rolls of 19 or 20 rolled within it incurring a Damage 12 hit. On an odd, an 8” band (4” on either side of line perpendicular to players) has the same effects.

6. Support Drop
Place 4 crates (28 mm bases): d20” from the non-DZ table edges and adjacent to the left of the CCR doors facing DZs. Specialists may check these with no roll; otherwise a WIP roll is needed. Failing the WIP roll incurs a DAM 12 round template attack. Roll on Booty 1 table on successful WIP roll. Support Drops are not removed once accessed, but they can be disabled and removed by any weapon with special lethal ammo (PH 14, ARM 5, BTS 3, STR 3). Booty is not accessible by Remotes or TAGs. Engineers and models with Chain of Command may add or subtract 3 from their Booty result.


Campaign

“Temper your respite with preparation for the next engagement; foes are rarely vanquished in a single battle.”

Jaishri Madhuri, Naga
Novo Natal Training Center
Acontecimento

Multiple missions may be played sequentially in a campaign setting. Victory points from completing objectives may be spent on your Spec-Ops. Players are initially paired randomly and are ideally even-numbered. Winners of the first game will be randomly assigned to play other winners, and likewise for losers.

You may select 3 Spec-Ops in the course of a campaign. Each will begin with 8 XP. Only one Spec-Op may be in your army list per game (in addition to a Dire Foes character). The XP gained can be spent on each Spec-Op. Spec-Ops death (i.e. failure to MedEvac and CubeVac) are reset to 0 XP.

For example, a Haqqislam player may have 3 Spec-Ops for different conditions in a campaign.. All of them start with 8 XP and may be completely different. If the player gets 5 XP in his game, each of the three Spec-Ops gets 5 XP, bringing the total each has to 13 XP. If, in a poor turn of events, one Husam dies in combat, the player may recruit a new Husam beginning at 0 XP but the other two are unaffected.

In the final round of the campaign, the players with the highest XP may roll 2 Special Battlefield Conditions, or use a special variant below:

Eclipse: Hostile Environment, plus Fog of War takes effect on the second and third turns of a game.

Support Inbound: Support Boxes become available only on the second turn, and scatter per Infected Swarm.

Plague: Infected Swarms appear above all Dead models.

Wasteland: as Urban Decay, but difficult terrain is outside instead of inside and counts as Hostile Environment

Security Upgraded: When a security remote from Sentries Active is activated, roll on the Booty table for that bot.


Objectives Index
Challenge version follows ‘>’

01. Assassinate: Put the enemy lieutenant in an Unconscious or Dead state.
> One model kills enemy lieutenant, including Coup de Grace.

02. Giantslayer: Use a single model to put a TAG or 3 W/STR unit in the Unconscious or Dead state.
> As above, but using a model on a 28 mm base.

03. Braindrain: Put an enemy specialist in an Unconscious or Dead state.
> Kill all enemy specialists.

04. Takedown: Put the most expensive enemy unit into the Unconscious or Dead state.
> As above, but solely using models no more than half that enemy unit’s cost.

05. Gladiator: Kill two enemy units in the Unconscious or Dead state using one unit.
> As above, but for four enemy units.

06. Collateral: Kill the civvie in close combat out of the sight of the enemy.
> Kill the civvie in close combat in view of an enemy unit.

07. Secure: Have more points worth of models in the CCR.
> As above, because the enemy has no models in the CCR.

08. Recon: Pass a WIP -3 roll in the enemy DZ (un modified WIP roll if specialist).
> Pass a WIP roll within 8” of each table corner of enemy DZ

09. Survey: View at least 75% enemy models.
> View all enemy models.

10. Trespass: Have an active model in enemy DZ.
> Have 3 active models in the enemy DZ.

11. Clear: Have all active models out of DZ
> Have all models out of the DZ by the start of the third turn.

12. Push: Have 3 active models across midline.
> Have 6 active models across the midline.

13. Last Line: no enemies in DZ.
> No enemies in your table half.

14. No Retreat: Not in retreat at the end.
> As above, and did not lose your original lieutenant.

15. Legion: Have more points on the table at the end.
> Twice as many point on the table at the end than your opponent.

16. Overkill: More than half enemy models Unconscious or Dead.
> All enemy models Unconscious or Dead.

17. CasEvac: Use CasEvac on an Unconscious model at the end of the game
>CasEvac’d a model from outside your DZ to inside your DZ

18. Stonewall: Have less than 3 enemy models in your half of table.
>No enemies in your half of the table.
19. Escort: Synchronize with the civvie (hostile to non-specialists; neutral to specialists)
>End the game with the civvie synchronized in your DZ

20. Forward Operator: operate enemy console at WIP -3 (no negative for specialists)
> Ice the enemy console too

21. Intercept: You get an additional VP for completing the regular version of your opponent’s Challenge objective
> You get 2 points for completing your opponent’s Challenge objective, and -1 if you fail.

22. Data Mine: Operate the central console with WIP -3 (no negative for specialists)
> As above, and Ice the central console too.

23. Net Dominance: Operate all three consoles at WIP -3 (no negative for specialists)
> As above, and Ice two of the three consoles.

24. Harvest: End the game in base-to-base contact with an Unconscious enemy model.
> As above, but with an enemy Specialist.

25. Data Scan
Use a unit with a Hacking Device to pass a WIP -3 check within 8" of enemy model
> Scan a conscious target in two consecutive turns.

26. Classified Objective: Just Like New
Heal or fix a model using a Doctor, Para-Medic, or Engineer.
> As above, but the model must be Unconscious for at least one turn

27. Classified Objective: Telemetry
Use a Forward Observer to mark an enemy model at WIP -3.
> Mark a conscious target in two consecutive turns.



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And that is it! To reiterate, I want 3 main ideas to come through:

1. Lists should strongly encourage specialists but not necessarily require them.
2. Battlefields should be an interesting aspect of Infinity games.
3. Extraordinary or cinematic actions should be encouraged.

Thanks for reading, and thanks again to IJW for the YAMS template we all follow, john_b for his collaboration and idea-generating throughout the Dire Foes run, the NoVA gaming group, and Infinity.

---
P.S. What extensions are allowed here? I can't seem to attach a PDF or doc version of the printable rules...

[ToadChild]

That system seems pretty interesting. I'm going to have to give it a try!

[vorthain]

Please do, and let me know how it goes!

If you want to ease people into it from YAMS (or especially if they're gone through Dire Foes), I think the crucial bits are the battlefield conditions and the ability of non-specialists to do specialist tasks to a lesser degree. So far I think only me, john_b, and garbagebin (and his mate) have played it, so I'm very interested in how others are finding it.

[ToadChild]

If I may just ask a couple of clarifications, mostly about the objective cards:

You say unconscious/dead on the main objectives, but killed on the challenge. Does this still include unconscious? (Several cards)

Blockade and stonewall have the same challenge; it would be better if they were unique.

Do none of the Classifieds you included have challenges?


I really like the ideas here. I can't comment on balance, but the optional spec ops is really neat.

I'd need to reread it a couple of times to get a full understanding. You guys included the possibility for a lot of stuff!

[vorthain]

1. Kill is correct for the Challenge versions - you can't leave them unconscious and score points. Tougher to get guys that have fallen behind cover, Shasvastii, etc., whereas in the regular version you can just wing them and get points for being unconscious.

2. I'm open to suggestions!

3. No, Classifieds do not have Challenge versions of them at this time since I wanted to mirror the original (or overlap with other things), but I realize there is a possibility of it being unfair since that player cannot select an objective for a Challenge. I have to think more about it. See my proposal in the edited original post.

As far as balance, I've tried to make sure that one faction doesn't have an advantage when it comes to a given objective or feat, and the Special Battlefield Conditions treat both sides equally (terrain nonwithstanding), so it should just come down to your basic faction bonuses. However, I'm definitely interested in hearing about it if something seems wonky.

I'd recommend Sentries Active and Infected Swarm to start with! Even if people don't adopt the system as a whole, using Special Battlefield Conditions in YAMS would be great too.

[ToadChild]

Hi Vorthain! Thanks again to you and John_B for making this system. I'm thinking of bringing it to my game group to try out next week. I've got a few questions that came up as I was re-reading the rules, however. I'm going to paste quotes along with my questions. If it makes any difference, I am working off of the version 2.7 PDF I downloaded from the other forum.

The
command room walls have ARM 10, BTS 9, STR 3, and are
susceptible to all lethal ammo types.

If I use a monofilament CCW, do I instantly kill that wall?

Also, if you blow up a wall do you make a hole, or do you destroy the entire 8" wall?

Each player may secretly declare that he is going to attempt the
Challenge version of an objective, which will be more difficult but net 2
points instead of 1, making up to 7 points possible. They may instead
only draw one card of that type (i.e. private or public). Failing this
objective results in a loss of 1 point.

I don't know what this sentence means: "They may instead only draw one card of that type (i.e. private or public)." Is this an option, or is this what I do if I am electing to do challenge mode? Also, I'm unclear on the general. Do I have to decide I'm doing a challenge before I draw cards and see what I got? You say it is a secret, but the opponent might notice if I draw/keep fewer cards. If I make a public objective a challenge, is it a challenge for both players?

Ties are resolved by the accomplishment of Feats.

Can each objective only be accomplished by one player, and we use feats as tie-breakers? So if a public objective was "hack enemy console", and we both hack each other's consoles, only one of us scores the point?

Models may operate consoles via Repeaters at an additional -3
to WIP rolls, and additional attempts cannot be made by a Repeater if
that Repeater fails.

I assume a model must be in base contact with a console to operate it. If using a Repeater, I assume the Repeater must be in base contact with the console. Is this correct, or can a Hacker use their Hacking ZoC to operate consoles?

If you attempt to activate a console via repeater and fail, can you no longer use any repeaters, or just that one? Are you not allowed to use a repeater for the rest of that turn, or for the rest of the game?

Can Doctors/Engineers use G:Servants to interact with consoles? (Not listed, but it seemed a little odd that you allowed Repeaters but not Servants)

Specialists can reinforce consoles against enemy use with ice, or using a
WIP -6 roll in base to base contact.

Bolded "or" should be "by", correct?

One specialist should be nominated Authorized Specialist. This model
never has to roll for WIP when testing to operate consoles or
synchronize with civvies, instead only spending a short order for
completion of that activity

Is this public information revealed at deployment time?

If they are a Hacker, do they still auto-succeed if activating a console through a repeater?

Spec-Ops are permitted but not required, and are capped at 8 XP. If you
use a Spec-Ops, then it will be automatically be your Authorized
Specialist.

I really like this. It's not a question, I just really like the idea you're working with here. If I have a question, it's this - how confident are you that 8 XP is the right balancing point where there isn't a significant advantage to taking a Spec-Ops figure?

1. Meltdown: Successfully use
Anti-Hacking Protocols (AHP) to
kill an enemy hacker.

A single use of AHP only drops the Hacker to Unconscious. Do you need to AHP against an Unconscious Hacker to get this feat?

Same question for the TAG one.

All the others seem to say "unconscious or dead state".

3. Fog of War
Line of Fire is limited to 24 inches. Rolls for Infiltration and AD3 rolls
suffer PH -3, and Impersonators suffer WIP -3. Forward Observers can
Mark consoles at range with -3 WIP on the marking roll.

FOs can mark consoles at range???

Also, visors do nothing to help against this fog, correct?

4. Infected Swarm
Place two round templates at the center of the table, facing them toward
the player going first and roll d20. They move in the direction of the
second digit, with the distance being the distance rolled. They function
as Swarms except they persist to the end of the game. At the start of
each turn after the first, spawn two more Swarms, facing the opposite
direction. Civvies, Doctors, and Paramedics are immune.

I assume by "They function as Swarms" you mean using the rules of Swarm Grenades. This means they are half-sphere domes at ground level, rather than infinite columns like Smoke Grenades, right? How do you play them in relation to indoor/outdoor terrain? Especially relevant since they start inside the sealed central building and might end a turn partly inside/outside.

6. Support Drop
Place four markers 8” from the central point of the table toward each
corner. Specialists may check these with no roll; otherwise a WIP roll is
needed. On an odd roll, the place a round template on the marker; all
models under it suffer a Damage 13 hit. On an even roll, roll on either
the Booty or Booty 2 table. Support Drops are not removed once
accessed, but they can be disable and removed by any weapon with
special lethal ammo (PH 14, ARM 5, BTS 3, STR 3). Booty is not
accessible by Remotes or TAGs. Engineers and models with Chain of
Command may add or subtract 3 from their Booty result.

It doesn't actually say what happens if a specialist checks the crate without rolling. I assume you get Booty result!

Big problem - the PDF does not appear to have the list of mission objectives.

One more thing: I see that you have a time limit of 4 turns. Is there any sort of premature game end condition (like in ITS) if the opponent is tabled? Or do you get to spend your remaining turns collecting as many VP as you are able?

[vorthain]

I'll tackle this one by one! If you have a better idea on how to handle things than what I think, or you come up with something in your playtest, let me know because a lot of these are eventualities I haven't much considered.

1. Wall Damage: I think may only doors can be breached, since wall breaching is not very well covered.

2. You are right, that is unclear. I think it should read "Take two private objectives. If selecting to do a challenge version, the player must return the objective card he is not using."

3. Tiebreaker Feats: What I mean is that if you and I are playing and we both get 4 objectives completed, and you AHP one of my hackers, then the game would go to you.

4. Repeaters: Yes, base-to-base to operate consoles. I might consider a -3 at range, but I dunno.

5. Servants: Yes, Servants should operate as repeaters.

6. Authorized Specialists: Yes, this is public knowledge, same as in Dire Foes. If your Authorized Specialist is AD or TO, it is private until they come on (same as other info about AD or TO). And you are correct, they never have to make a roll, only spending a short order.

7. Spec Op cap: I wanted it a little lower than 12 because 12 seemed like it was really easy to just make a super hacker for Ariadna or fill other niches in big ways that seemed a bit extreme. Plus, it makes you choose between having a support Spec-Op (i.e. only choose Chain of Command) or a combat Spec-Op, which might be a key consideration in the campaign rules where it is possible to have one of each.

8. AHP: My mistake - unconscious it is.

9. Ice: yes, that should be 'by'

10. FOs mark at range, and MSVs have no effect. I wanted the special scenarios to favor certain specialists to encourage taking them (i.e. Sentries Active remotes are hackable; marking targets in Fog of War; impervious docs/medics in Infected Swarm, and better options for engineers/CoC in Support Drop).

11. I'm going to revise this in more detail to make them Swarm-like; they were pretty tough with BTS-attacking Shock. I'm thinking DAM 12 against BTS, no shock. Infinite height. Not dissipated by fire.

12. I've adjusted this as well. Non-specialists roll WIP, specialists don't need to make a roll. Failing gets DAM 12 circle template. Booty 1 only.

13. Game End conditions: I'd say it follows YAMS where if a side is tabled, the game ends immediately. We have a player in our meta that intentionally goes into Retreat early on after completing objectives to easily win by doing anything, but it is a tough nut to crack overall.

I'm going to put the objectives in the PDF too, and upload it to the other forum since uploading PDFs wasn't working for me here. Thank you for the comments - a lot of things I hadn't considered, but that's what peer review is for! Thanks so much, ToadChild. Let me know if any of my answers aren't clear - since I wrote it, some connections in my brain don't make it to the page (or PDF). I have time tomorrow morning to spruce it up and post the revised version there.

[ToadChild]

Thanks for answering all my questions. I think you covered everything pretty thoroughly. I'll give it another read when you post the next version.