Mission 5: He Who Laughs Last and VPs

[Keltheos]

VPs for Mission 5 are calculated as:

1 VP for Gruntz Squads with 50%+ casualties

1 VP for each scout/light vehicle/mech with all 3 crits filled (assuming that's the criticals on the damage track, not the critical damage itself)

2 VP for each medium/heavy 

3 VP for each assault

What's missing from this list seem to be VPs for:

Commanders
Specialist
Vehicle Specialist
Monsters
Super Heavy

So an alternative track we used last night was:

1 VP for Gruntz Squads at 50%+ casualties
1 VP for Commander
1 VP for an eliminated Specialist/Specialist Vehicle
1 VP for a scout/light vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters
2 VP for a medium/heavy vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters
3 VP for an assault vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters
4 VP for a superheavy vehicle with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled

The specialists may be a little rough with the VPs and the ability to one-shot them, so perhaps make them 6 damage or less is 1/2 point, while the heavy/assault are worth a full point...

Likewise the points breaks for vehicles could be further spread out like this (but could be crazy):

1 VP for Gruntz Squads at 50%+ casualties

1 VP for Commander

1 VP for an eliminated Specialist/Specialist Vehicle

1 VP for a scout
2 VP light vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters

3 VP medium
4 VP heavy vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters

5 VP for an assault vehicle/mech/monster with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled/eliminated for monsters

6 VP for a superheavy vehicle with all 3 crit boxes on the damage track filled


Thoughts? Guntz squads could even count as 1/2 a point at 50%+ and then a full point when eliminated...however the variable unit size makes that a bit funky. As it was, when we fought I had two 8-man units while he had 6-man units so it was easier to hit the 50% point with his 6-man units...

[baldlea]

I like it but agree with your idea to tone down the reward for destroying specialists (they really do die easily). Stick with your original points for the vehicles as meds can pop pretty quickly and even heavies can be lost with a couple of good turns (their low guard makes them almost an auto hit...Doesn't deserve 4 points).

A lot of the knock-on effects of rule changes in 1.1 haven't been thought through. The squad size versus 50‰ is a good example.

[Keltheos]

It was a fun game, we hit turn 5 and I racked up 4 vps to get to 5 at the start of the turn but then Masterchief pulled off the additional 4 he needed to hit 6 points and pull the game.

I think I like that one better than Mission 1 (straight up fight) because of the pressure to get the scores as fast as possible. Neither one of us really 'gamed' it either by pulling back seriously damaged vehicles/etc to preserve points so it was a hard-fought/fast game.

Will think on the above. Specialists at first glance seem like they can stand up like a squad can: multiwound, comparable or higher points values, but ultimately one shot doing 25 points on one grunt pops one grunt where on a specialist that's likely to blow them away.

[masterchief]

Dec 11, 2013 12:16:59 GMT -5 Keltheos said:

It was a fun game, we hit turn 5 and I racked up 4 vps to get to 5 at the start of the turn but then Masterchief pulled off the additional 4 he needed to hit 6 points and pull the game.

I think I like that one better than Mission 1 (straight up fight) because of the pressure to get the scores as fast as possible. Neither one of us really 'gamed' it either by pulling back seriously damaged vehicles/etc to preserve points so it was a hard-fought/fast game.

Will think on the above. Specialists at first glance seem like they can stand up like a squad can: multiwound, comparable or higher points values, but ultimately one shot doing 25 points on one grunt pops one grunt where on a specialist that's likely to blow them away.

Yeah, I think if we had pulled back damaged units to deny points the game would have slowed down...keeping the pressure on really made for a good game.

I do think we could try specialists as worth 1/2 a VP.

Sitting here looking at my Hell Divers and drop pods I just received yesterday (Thanks Mr. Harold!) I'm wondering how the drop pods would factor into the VPs. They are technically medium air support, but they're really just markers with a few special rules. If we treated them strictly as vehicles once they are down they are an easy 2 points each since they have no maneuverability or weapons. How are other people playing VPs for the drop pods?

[Mr. Harold]

I'm glad you like them!

Well, you have a couple of options:

1) since they aren't meant to be an active part of the game after deploying I would say they aren't worth any points; unless

2) since they could be high tech or betray the hell divers position, perhaps the hell divers have to spend one action to "destroy" them or have a raven recovery vtol come in and snatch it or the enemy gets 0.5 VPs.

Those would be my first inclinations anyways

[Keltheos]

Was thinking that depending on how 'extra effective' units in Drop Pods become (would need to test it a few times) that they maybe add .5 VP to the unit's overall VP in that particular scenario. So a Gruntz squad would be worth 1.5 VP if under 50%, or the extra .5 may only kick in when they're wiped out.

Trying to maintain the simple but broad rules vibe Robin has instilled in the set with these ideas.