I've been playing Ganesha Games' Mutants and Death Ray Guns (MDRG) for well over a decade - with the kids and with friends. But I've never played it properly: that is, I've never used the random-generation tables to create the sorts of motley gangs and warbands that the game is designed for, and I've never used the campaign system.
That is changing, though. I've got a gaming day with some friends next month. In the past couple of years, we've played quite a bit of Mordheim and a fair bit of Frostgrave. And we've all played quite a bit of Song of Blades and Heroes and/or MDRG over the years. So actually playing MDRG as it was intended seems the obvious thing to do.
I played a sample game last night with my son, and we've decided to keep that going as a mini-campaign. The core Song of Blades engine is just so well designed: as my son said, "it always just feels more tactical". The activation decisions and push-your-luck risk/reward balance are tremendous features: there's very rarely a 'right' think to do. Instead, you have a range of cautious choices, some riskier ones and the opportunity to roll all three activation dice and go for something bold.
The game is very fast-moving compared with most skirmish rulesets: no fiddling with measuring tapes and very few rules that aren't immediately absorbed, so that the rulebook seldom needs to be consulted. When played with randomly generated forces, there's much less firepower than in the points-based games we used to play. And that really works well: it becomes a game of sneaking, stealing and ambushing rather than a shootfest.
I've rolled up a whole lot of random warbands for the October event and have started on some kitbashing to match the fruits of the dice:
This is a complete starting warband (a flying mutant leader with psychic powers; a savage human champion; an android with an RPG; a robot; and a mutated wolf):
These minis are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI need to play some more, but I got the feeling that the best thing to do in MDRG is kill the leader. The combination of losing the Leader morale bonus and everyone taking a morale check basically ended both games I've played.
Thanks! Yes, that's right. That's why, for humans with Q3, a Leader can be a bit of a double-edged sword (though probably still worth taking for efficiency at the start of a game). You can also get "cascading" morale checks, as when the death of a Leader sparks a rout, which then takes the warband below half-strength ...
DeleteFor campaigns, the potential for swift ends to encounters is a good thing, I feel - it means you can get more games in in a session. All the scattering and fleeing in Song of Blades and Heroes and MDRG just feels more realistic to me, too.
It did indeed lead to some quick games!
DeleteI was just doing one-offs to test out the mechanics; I can see the appeal in a campaign setting.
Do you use Reactions?
I won't be in the forthcoming one-day campaign, as we'll have four or five players (it gets a bit messy in those circumstances). Reactions do work well in a two-player game, though. I think they're maybe better when you have larger forces (say 10 figures); with 5-a-side, the initiative turns over very quickly anyway. With larger warbands, reactions offer a chance for 'stragglers' to catch up and generally do things.
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