Game: Battlefield Evolution

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Yugblad — 2008-10-06T12:37:41+00:00

Pumping Station/Refinery: Custom Objective.

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Yugblad — 2008-10-05T21:26:18+00:00

British Army SAS Patrol.

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Yugblad — 2008-10-05T08:40:51+00:00

SAS Gunner aiming his Barrett M109 Sniper Rifle at a potential target.

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Azzarc — 2008-09-25T06:07:45+00:00

Leader of my Fedayeen

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

Yugblad — 2008-09-13T14:25:40+00:00

Dorb wrote:
Its DEAD!

It's alive and kicking in Nottingham!

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

Dorb — 2008-09-13T12:51:29+00:00

Its DEAD!

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Yugblad — 2008-09-12T13:31:56+00:00

USMC Shadow RST-V Transports - 70 points each.

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Yugblad — 2008-09-11T20:53:09+00:00

USMC M1A2 ABRAMS MBT - 420 points.

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Yugblad — 2008-08-28T20:00:25+00:00

"Chew on this, pal!"

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Yugblad — 2008-08-28T14:42:07+00:00

Custom base scheme: 1st thin line denotes squad; 2nd thin line(s) denote team; wide blue are leaders; wide red are gunners.

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Yugblad — 2008-08-28T14:37:07+00:00

PLA Type 99 MBT - 350 points.

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Yugblad — 2008-08-24T20:04:21+00:00

Andrew debates what British forces to buy for 750 points. He decided on an APC supported by 2 squads & a command unit.

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

Yugblad — 2008-08-23T18:44:46+00:00

750 points per side seems like a great starting force. You get roughly 2-hour battles, with each faction fielding enough infantry and a couple of vehicles (or 1MBT) to make life interesting.

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

Bwian — 2008-08-22T20:36:12+00:00

Yugblad wrote:
Depends what you mean by "dead". Sure, the figures are no longer being produced, but Mongoose has only just released the new hardback rules. So the miniature line is dead, but the game's still going.
Well, my copy is softback, but otherwise agreed. I picked up a bunch of the original minis, so I haven't looked for new sources. I believe there are relevant threads on the Mongoose and EvoCommand forums, though.

As for how much is needed for a good game, I still don't quite have that down to a science. The game is fairly infantry-oriented, so I would go with two infantry squads and a transport box of some sort for a starting army (slightly more if you are playing MEA). If you want to scarf everything up while you have a chance, I would get 2 Tanks, 3-4 Basic Infantry, 1-2 Special Forces Infantry, and 2 Transports for each army you are interested in. (Numbers are number of boxes, not number of figures.) Beyond that, you probably want to explore unreleased options like air power anyway.

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

crusader4x — 2008-08-22T20:06:04+00:00

I haven't seen or read the new rules BUT, are there alternate miniature lines that work well with them?

Thread: Re: Done and Gone?

Yugblad — 2008-08-22T12:53:18+00:00

crusader4x wrote:
It seems that this game, for all intents and purposes, is dead.

Depends what you mean by "dead". Sure, the figures are no longer being produced, but Mongoose has only just released the new hardback rules. So the miniature line is dead, but the game's still going.

Thread: Done and Gone?

crusader4x — 2008-08-21T22:37:31+00:00

It seems that this game, for all intents and purposes, is dead.

Because I would love to do some "near-future" minigaming, and now that I see quite a bit of BF:E stuff on clearance tables, what do I need to buy to get a good 1-2 hour game in with my family? How many of each box (tank/infantry/other) should I get for each faction to have good and balanced games?

Thread: Re: Question regarding helicopter gunships.

Yugblad — 2008-08-01T12:13:57+00:00

Dorb wrote:
Yep, they pretty much dumped the line. No all the ~~crap~~ stuff they produced (and I purchased) is 1/64th. Good luck, purchase from them with caution.

For what they are, Mike, I think the miniatures do the job okay. What zings with me is the rules: quick, concise, robust, enjoyable mechanisms.

Thread: Re: Question regarding helicopter gunships.

Dorb — 2008-08-01T00:21:32+00:00

Yep, they pretty much dumped the line. No all the ~~crap~~ stuff they produced (and I purchased) is 1/64th. Good luck, purchase from them with caution.

Thread: Re: Question regarding helicopter gunships.

Yugblad — 2008-07-26T18:25:11+00:00

Thanks. That was a great help - I'd never seen that section of their website before.

Also, am I right in thinking that the tanks, etc, that they've already released are 1/72 scale?

Thread: Re: Question regarding helicopter gunships.

elbmc1969 — 2008-07-21T13:34:13+00:00

If you look through Signs & Portents (Mongoose's downloadable magazine), there are stats for quite a few helos.

No, Mongoose won't do helo minis, but you can go to any hobby shop and buy 1:72 model kits. You can also buy 20mm minitaures in metal or resin.

Thread: Question regarding helicopter gunships.

Yugblad — 2008-07-21T12:13:08+00:00

Having only the basic rules and a vague idea that Mongoose may never bring out the helicopter miniatures, I ask if the advanced rulebook contains helicopter stats, etc?

BTW, I've been to the fan site and that has little or nothing regarding said choppers.

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

mwda — 2008-04-08T03:30:31+00:00

Bwian wrote:
They may have taken them down in preparation for the World at War relaunch. You can find them on EvoCommand, in a stickied thread of the "General Discussion" forum. This link will hopefully take you directly there: http://forum.evocommand.com/viewtopic.php?t=60 .

Thanks Bwian!

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

Bwian — 2008-04-07T16:32:11+00:00

mwda wrote:
Von Cougar wrote:
All of the current, and many upcoming products have their Unit Cards available on the Mongoose site under the Battlefield Evolution section (scroll down to the Downloadables area)

I go to Mongoose's Battlefield site and can't find any stat cards for download.
They may have taken them down in preparation for the World at War relaunch. You can find them on EvoCommand, in a stickied thread of the "General Discussion" forum. This link will hopefully take you directly there: http://forum.evocommand.com/viewtopic.php?t=60 .

Thread: Re: prepainted?

DrFlanagan — 2008-03-24T01:22:15+00:00

Yes.

Thread: prepainted?

Giddi — 2008-03-23T21:25:33+00:00

are the minis prepainted and preassembled?

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

mwda — 2008-03-14T02:23:58+00:00

Von Cougar wrote:
All of the current, and many upcoming products have their Unit Cards available on the Mongoose site under the Battlefield Evolution section (scroll down to the Downloadables area)

I go to Mongoose's Battlefield site and can't find any stat cards for download.

From Mongoose webpage wrote:
No Downloads Available For This Series At Present

Although we attempt to offer the best possible support for all our product lines there are no downloads available for this series at this time.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Comrade_Sarayev — 2008-02-14T14:08:45+00:00

The whole thing is a complete bummer, as I've invested a heck of a lot of money in a PLA force. The whole company now seems to having some severe issues.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

KaneBlaireau — 2008-02-06T18:08:06+00:00

Dissapointing to say the least. I was not aware that (or forgot) the figures were not 28mm scale. That kind of puts a damper on it for me in the first place. Still, pre-paints will always be welcome.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Dorb — 2008-01-25T00:27:59+00:00

lmyrick wrote:
Sounds like they got too excited by the whole Ubisoft/Tom Clancy thing that they forgot that the lost track of the fact they were putting out a pre-painted minis game.

Very well put. Maybe the best way to really sum up what they did. They kept saying the excuse for the delays in the releases were that they were not happy with the minis. Either the quality had to go up or the price had to go down was what I heard at Origins and then again at Gencon. I really wish they would have shopped them around instead of coming up with Ubisoft deal and taking the game in a new direction, when the main direction never really even got started.
Oh well, minis to use with Ambush Alley now.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Bwian — 2008-01-24T00:01:26+00:00

It won't necessarily die without prepaints: it's based on Starship Troopers, which did OK as a standard minis game until they tried to expand beyond the initial two factions. I won't be buying any, but then I'm healthily in the target prepaint demographic: enough money to buy minis, not enough spare time to paint them. They've got some... customer confidence issues to work out, but they don't have to kill the line if they don't want to.

lmyrick wrote:
Sounds like they got too excited by the whole Ubisoft/Tom Clancy thing that they forgot that the lost track of the fact they were putting out a pre-painted minis game.

Yeah, possible. They might also have had volume problems: if BFE couldn't support a factory by itself, they would have needed to bring Starship Troopers or a license game online to keep the overhead down.

(Edited to complete a sentence!)

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

lmyrick — 2008-01-23T20:24:55+00:00

Sounds like they got too excited by the whole Ubisoft/Tom Clancy thing that they forgot that the lost track of the fact they were putting out a pre-painted minis game.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Harkonnen13 — 2008-01-23T19:24:57+00:00

It's hard to beleive that they let the future of a game that sold so well initially (despite quality and production problems) rest on a license. Bf Evo could have gone a long way if Mongoose would have simply picked up where they left off. I'm not sure if that was possible though, apparently it was a very complicated issue. The game had a lot of detractors but was actually pretty good.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Geosphere — 2008-01-23T18:28:19+00:00

Yeah, the prepaint Starship Troopers is also a goner.

Thread: Re: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

desertfox2004 — 2008-01-23T18:07:49+00:00

Without the pre-paints, this will die. There are already enough non-painted minis on the market. I'm the target market for pre-paints - likes to play with minis, but no time/desire/talent to paint. I'm big into Heroscape, but had considered this for a more "serious" minis game. If this is the decision then, well, I will only consider AT-43 moving forward. What a shame for the people who invested in this product just to have it pulled out from under them.

Thread: NDA finally done, other shoe drops

Bwian — 2008-01-23T17:49:25+00:00

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=330...

So, the NDA has finally died, and the secret revealed. Unfortunately, the deal fell through, leaving this game in limbo. Mongoose is taking suggestions as to where to take the game, so if you're interested head on over.

It doesn't sound like any of the options include prepainted minis, though, which is unfortunate.

Thread: Re: Size

Sigrdrifa — 2007-11-06T05:00:36+00:00

Cool. A rough estimate is all I need. Thanks for your measurements, er maybe that's not how I meant it...

Thanks anyhow!
MJ

Thread: Re: Size

Bwian — 2007-11-06T04:56:26+00:00

Picking some random USMC figures:
Infantry: 22mm base (< 1 inch), 33mm tall (including about 3 mm base)
Shadow (Humvee replacement): 82mm long, 31mm wide, 32mm tall
Abrams (MBT): 118mm long (not including gun), 53mm wide, 40mm tall

Those are pretty rough numbers, but should give you some idea.

Thread: Size

Sigrdrifa — 2007-11-06T04:38:38+00:00

So, I'm looking at these and as has been pointed out, they're not the best mini's I've ever seen, but they're a G^& - D#@$%! helluva big sight better than I could dream. My question is size.

What is the size of the figures/bases? Would/do they fit 1 inch squares? How big are the vehicles? Just curious before I plunk down any money on these (totally cool) minis.

MJ

Thread: Figure quality and Evo Command

KaneBlaireau — 2007-09-21T18:49:58+00:00

Hey folks. Just curious if the wave 1 figures are turning out better than when first released. If so, I might pick some up.

I was going to ask this over at EvoCommand.com forum, but their registration is broken. Just plain can't sign up for their forum.

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

Harkonnen13 — 2007-07-16T07:23:20+00:00

Something that should be mentioned about the game's background is that Mongoose's online magazine Signs and Portents Wargamer has BF: Evo articles in every issue. They recently had a series of linked scenarios for the game, an invasion of the southeast US by China or something like that. There's some background in there, check it out:

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1471&...

One really cool thing about that company is the steady flow of free game material they put out. Free = good.

Thread: Re: How to play Battlefield Evolution

Paolo Robino — 2007-07-16T05:37:57+00:00

Very nice review, Justin!

It must be said here that the rules are unclear about what happens when some models in a unit have obscured line of sight to the target, but others do not. It is up to the players to determine how the Damage Dice are allocated, and how the obscured shooters' dice are differentiated. This becomes important when factoring in the Fire Zone and Suppression.
Really, you only have to roll dice separately (as stated on p18 of the Advenced Rulebook – but it's true that there's nothing about it in the basic rules that come with the models). I guess it would be useful to have dice in two-three colors just for these occasions, but I like to have mine in a color that suits my force (so, strictly red for my PLA, thank you ).

As I have noted earlier, some of the basic, and even the advanced rules for Battlefield Evolution are pretty vague, and even confusing. While the game is easy and fun, it does require players that can interpret rules according to common sense, and to their own understanding.
Well, I never played with only the basic rules, since they appeared too vague to me too, but I never had a problem with the advanced rules. Even if some rules appear kind if debatable to me (you can react even if you don't have line of sight), or could have been better worded (it's not clear that line of sight is always mutual, but it is), in the end what you have is a really fun and fast game that makes a point to keep things simple and engaging. The only gripe I have is the fact that uint cards have sometimes additional rules on them that would benefit from a couple of examples of play – something that cannot fit easily on the limited space of the card.

Thread: Re: How to play Battlefield Evolution

Von Cougar — 2007-07-16T03:45:17+00:00

Thanks Erik!
It took a while to write this, especially with having to restart it. But I figured we needed an actual gameplay review here on the Geek, so I hope this is good enough.
I'm hoping to get some Session Reports in soon, as well as some more articles on the Art of Reaction, and the such.

Thread: Re: How to play Battlefield Evolution

Harkonnen13 — 2007-07-16T01:00:17+00:00

Good review, Justin. Nice description of how reactions work, that's a really strong part of the rules. It's a good beginning wargame and a nice diversion for old gamers that want something light. A lot of carnage can play out really quickly.

Thread: How to play Battlefield Evolution

Von Cougar — 2007-07-15T22:42:17+00:00

*This is my second attempt. For the first I hit backspace, lost all of what I wrote (30-minutes' worth)...so I'm kind of upset. Bear with me, please *

This article will explain a little more about Battlefield Evolution (or BEvo). I will offer some details where necessary, some examples when helpful, but I want this to be as quick and easy a read as I can make it, while still being informative about this pretty fun game. I will stick to the Basic rules, which can be found in the files section. Perhaps I will write another article on the additions found in the Advanced Rulebook.

The Game
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Battlefield Evolution is a tabletop miniatures game set in the near future (10-15 years from now). Using collectible, non-random, pre-painted miniatures sold in unit boxes, BEvo allows players to field armies from one of four factions:

European Federation Task Force (EFTF): The European Union of the future, this army is comprised of units from various European nations. They are strong in weapons and battlefield technology, and are truly a force to be both admired and feared.
United States Marine Corps (USMC): Coming from a long and honourable history, the Marines are tough and flexible, able to field units that can take on any enemy force. Using effective armaments and state-of-the-art technology, the Marines make up a powerful force.
Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA): Having traditionally lagged behind its Western counterparts in weapons and technology, the PLA of the future has made leaps and bounds, utilising years of advancement, coupled with near-unlimited manpower.
Middle Eastern Alliance (MEA): The MEA is a united front against its enemies in the East and West that dare attempt to invade its territories and change its traditions. The forces of the MEA are poorly trained and poorly armed, but make up for it in numbers and determination.

]]>Both Wave 1 releases for USMC

Most unit boxes include 1 unit, but sometimes there are two, such as the PLA Command Unit and Norinco Fast Attack Vehicle that come together. Also, each box comes with the appropriate Unit Card, which details the name, faction, point cost, options, stats and special rules for all of the figures/vehicles and their weapons in the unit.

The battlefield can be any playing surface, with a recommended size of 6' x 4', although smaller or larger can be used. Because players decide where the battle takes place (desert, town, city, forest, etc.), it is up to the players to create an appropriate battlefield, using home-made or store-bought terrain, or even piles of books and other objects to represent different terrain. Although any type and amount of 'terrain' can be used, BEvo relies on your forces taking cover and hiding behind anything that can conceal them from the enemy, so having more terrain than not is prefered.

]]>Small town battlefield, with a good amount of terrain

]]>Battling on a smaller table, sparse covering terrain

BEvo uses freeform, measured movement and attacks using inches, thus no squares restrict gameplay.

Before play, players agree on a point value for the game, to determine the size of the battle. Each unit has a point cost, ranging from 75 for a MEA militia squad (6 figures), to 190 for a PLA infantry squad (10 figures), to 420 for a USMC M1A2 Abrams (1 tank). Players put together a combined force that is equal to or less than the agreed upon points value for the battle.
Each unit also has Options, as listed on the Unit Card, which allow players to change the unit in small ways, either removing or adding figures, which will also change the point cost. This is often necessary, when players have to alter their units to better meet the battle's point value.

Lastly, battles are played as scenarios. The basic scenario, which this review is based upon, is called Engagement, where players merely clash on the battlefield and try to defeat each other (see below for victory conditions). Other scenarios include capture the flag, attack and defend, convoy attack, etc.

Once the battlefield has been setup, and the armies selected, and the scenario chosen, the game may begin. Don't forget the measuring tape and dice (a good number of d6s and a couple of d10s will do).

Playing The Game
Players roll a die, re-rolling ties. The winner will choose to either set up first and go first, or set up second and go second. Players set up their armies within 12" of their sides of the table.

The game is played in Game Turns, each made up of one Player Turn per player. On your turn, you may activate each unit in your army. Each unit's Actions must be resolved before the next unit is activated.
When activated, a unit is given two Actions. Every model in the unit will perform the same Action. There are four possible Actions:

Move: Each model moves up to its Move value.
Shoot: Each model, if possible, fires its weapon.
Charge: Each models rushes into Close Combat.
Ready: The unit prepares for a future Action, according to special rules on the Unit Card.

Move
Each unit has a Move score, in inches, which shows how far each model in the unit may travel across the table with a single Move Action. Taking two consecutive Move Actions means a model may travel double its Move score. A model does not have to travel in a straight line, and may end up facing any direction, up to the player.
If a model moves through any kind of terrain, a model's Move score is halved. This includes going over small walls, through rubble or foliage, up stairs, etc.
Each multiple-model unit has a designated leader. When a unit completes an Action, each model must be within Command Range of the leader, which is usually 6". Any model not within 6" of the leader is Out of Command, and will lose its next two Actions, and may only react, until it once again within Command Range. Similarly, if a Unit Leader is killed in battle, the rest of the unit loses its next two Actions, and may only react. Once those two Actions have been missed, the unit designates a new leader, and may play as normal.

Shoot
In order to fire on the enemy, a model must have a line of sight to the target models. If any models in a unit cannot draw line of sight to the enemy, they may not add their weapons' Damage Dice to the Shoot Action. Line of sight can be:

Clear: No raised terrain lies between the shooting and target models.
Obscured: Terrain interrupts line of sight between the models, but they can still partially see each other. The Target gains +1 to its Target score.
Blocked: Terrain completely blocks line of sight, thus the model cannot fire at the target.

Models from the shooting unit do not block line of sight for each other, but models of other units do.
It must be said here that the rules are unclear about what happens when some models in a unit have obscured line of sight to the target, but others do not. It is up to the players to determine how the Damage Dice are allocated, and how the obscured shooters' dice are differentiated. This becomes important when factoring in the Fire Zone and Suppression.

]]>Enemy forces facing off among the rooftops

All models that have line of sight to the target may fire their weapons, not at the target models, but at a certain point called the centre of the Fire Zone. The Fire Zone is simply a 6" radius around a specific point, to which all of the firing models' weapons may reach. Each weapon has a Range, which measures how far away from the model the centre of the Fire Zone may be. Thus, a weapon with a Range of 24" can effectively hit a target that is 30" away.
All models that are within the Fire Zone may be hit, except those that are part of the firing unit. Thus, even friendly models may be hit, so caution must be taken when friendly units are near target enemy units.
When a unit takes a Shoot Action, all models that may fire roll their Damage Dice, as given on the Unit Card, together. All 1s rolled are immediately removed, acting as gun jams and complete misses. All other dice are allocated to all models in the Fire Zone.
The die with the highest roll is allocated to the nearest model within the Fire Zone, while the next highest is allocated to the next nearest, and so on.
Each model has both Target and Kill scores, while some also have Armour scores. A model is hit when a die allocated to it meets or exceeds its Target score. If the model has an Armour score, it may make an Armour roll, with a successful roll negating the hit, representing personal body armour. A model without Armour is automatically killed when the Target number is met, or exceeded. Regardless of Armour or not, any model whose Kill score is met or exceeded is killed outright, with no chance of an Armour roll to save it.

Battlefield Evolution highly utilises Cover, and the protection if offers. When units can get behind Cover, they probably should, as it is often the factor that will save their lives.
Cover is any piece of terrain that a model can move through (or over), but can still have line of sight drawn to them. This can include low walls, bushes, a car, etc.
A model may take advantage of Cover when it is within a number of inches to the terrain equal to its Size score. Thus, a regular soldier of Size 1 may claim Cover when he is within 1" of a low wall, for example.
Why is Cover so important, and so much better than mere obscured line of sight? Cover grants a +2 bonus to both the Target and Kill scores of a protected model. Thus, a PLA infantryman with normal T/K scores of 4+/6+, now have scores of 6+/8+, and so enemy units must roll a 6 or better to kill him, instead of 4 or better.
A model may only claim either obscured line of sight, or Cover, but never both.

]]>A unit taking Cover in a ruined building

Another important aspect to Battlefield Evolution is Suppression.
If a unit is allocated as many Damage Dice, in a single Shoot Action, as it has models, the entire unit will lose its next Action. If this happens more than once during a single turn, the unit will lose its next two Actions.
A unit may never lose more than two Actions, even if Suppressed and having lost its leader - these do not stack.

Charge
A unit may make a Charge Action by moving each of its models up to their Move score, and engaging in Close Combat with any enemy models that they touch.
The amount of Close Combat Dice rolled is shown on the Unit Card.
It a model is touching more than one enemy model, and has enough Close Combat Damage Dice, it may spread them out, decided upon by the attacking player.
Only the Charging models roll. If the enemy model's Kill score is met, or if an un-Armoured model is attacked, it is killed outright. An Armoured model may make a normal Armour roll.
If the enemy model is not killed, move the smaller Size model, or the model that was attacked, 2" directly away from the Charging model.
A target model that is Charged when within Cover may make its Reaction before the Charging model rolls its Close Combat Damage Dice.

Reactions
A pretty unique aspect of Battlefield Evolution is the presence of Reactions.
When an enemy unit completes a Shoot Action against your one of your units, your unit may immediately make a Move or Shoot Action. A Shoot Reaction must be made back towards the unit that caused the Reaction, although any other models caught in the Fire Zone may be hit as well.
Also, when an enemy unit completes any Action within 10" of one of your units, your unit may make a Move or Shoot Action. Again, a Shoot Action must be made towards the unit that caused the Reaction.
Each unit may only make ONE Reaction per turn, regardless of how many times it is Shot at or how many enemy Actions are completed within 10".
Reactions only occur on the opponents turn, so you may never React to a Reaction.

Victory
In the basic Engagement scenario, one player wins by whittling his opponent's forces down. When one side has lost 3/4 (three quarters) of its starting models, it has reached its Shatter Point, and gives up.
In other words, to find an army's Shatter Point, add up the total number of models it starts out with (models, not units), and divide by 4, rounding down. Thus, a 22-model army has a Shatter Point of 5, so 17 models must be lost before it gives up.

The End
Well, those are the basic rules for Battlefield Evolution. The Advanced Rulebook adds some rules, and changes some of the basic ones.
The game is pretty easy to learn and play, yet the tactical play may be challenging. One does not need to be a military buff, or a major tactician to play, which is the beauty of this game.
As well, players do not need to use Mongoose's line of miniatures, although they are well-modeled, nicely pre-painted pieces. The Mongoose website, www.mongoosepublishing.com, has all of the current Unit Cards for download, so players may use their own scaled miniatures to play the game.

As I have noted earlier, some of the basic, and even the advanced rules for Battlefield Evolution are pretty vague, and even confusing. While the game is easy and fun, it does require players that can interpret rules according to common sense, and to their own understanding.
While Battlefield Evolution is not perfect, it does have a number of very positive aspects. If you can find local players, or an FLGS that will demo the game, try it out and see for yourself. Play time could range from 30 minutes to a couple of hours, but on average should take about an hour to complete.

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

Von Cougar — 2007-06-23T18:31:39+00:00

Nope, you do NOT need to buy Mongoose's miniatures to play this game. All of the current, and many upcoming products have their Unit Cards available on the Mongoose site under the Battlefield Evolution section (scroll down to the Downloadables area).
If you visit EvoCommand and check out the forums, you will also find LOADS of custom-made (unofficial) cards to be used with other troop types and vehicles, in case your collection includes stuff not available by Mongoose.

Thread: Re: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

emmersonpoole — 2007-06-23T15:13:20+00:00

Are these rules usable by anyone wishing to use their own miniatures or will this only be usable with the battlefield evolution stuff because I believe they come with cards which feature all their abilities, is this stuff in the book? I ask this because I have a load of miniatures already but like the near future look of battlefield evolution but I dont want to buy any more miniatures. If i have to buy more miniatures then this game is out the window for me.

Thread: Advanced Rulebook: Worth it to Purchase?

Von Cougar — 2007-06-23T03:48:48+00:00

This review will look mostly at the Battlefield Evolution Advanced Rulebook, what it adds to the game and to the player's repertoire. At times, the rules or other aspects of the game may be discussed, but only in reference/reaction to what is in the book.

Battlefield Evolution Advanced Rulebook (2007)
Mongoose Publishing Product 4441
MSRP $24.95 US
ISBN (978) 1-905850-36-5

The Book
The Advanced Rulebook is a hardcover affair, containing 96 perfect-bound pages, chalk full of text (rules, fluff) and graphics (pictures, maps), all of it in full colour.
The majority of pages have a rugged, militaria-looking background to them, as if all of the text and graphics were encased in military-grade containers or something of the like.
The pages are high-quality and semi-glossy.
The text is well organised, and the different titles are easily distinguished to make reading through the book a breeze. The major section title fonts are reminiscent of the signature font in the word "Battlefield" throughout the game's products. The captions on the images are a little tougher to read, being chunky white with a black outline, but they are still legible. The various graphics are spread throughout the book, ranging from product stock images and scenario layouts, to maps and 'real life photos,' that I think are just paintings. There are a good number of photos that use arrows and other text/graphics to explain rules.

I wish my fiancé, who is in publishing, was here to help me describe this part of the book.
The book is pretty visually appealing, I must say. I do not think it is at the quality that Privateer Press produces, but I think Mongoose has done a fine job with this book.
Being FULL colour, from cover to cover, is great.
The number of images, from maps to products pictures is also satisfactory. Each scenario has a layout image, with important zones marked in colours.
There have been multiple complaints since the Rulebook came out over quality control. Apparently there was a run of the book that just did not come out properly, and fell apart soon after being purchased. Others have complained about it being hardcover, when softcover would be more appropriate with the perfect-bound pages. Perhaps the fact that the page edges, on the open side of the book, come right to the edge of the cover, which is not something you usually see.
The book that I have suffers from a peeling inner lining, but only if I pull on it. Other than that, I am perfectly content with my book.

The Rules
All of the basic rules are contained in the book. Everything contained in those Basic Rules sheets that come with figures can be found on pages 2 to 23. Of course, they are all expanded on.
But what would an Advanced Rulebook be without advanced rules? The book not only expands on previous rules, it also provides completely new ones, specifically Structures and Air Units. Under "More Advanced Rules," one will also find rules for Elevated Firing Positions, Emplacements, Sentries, Supporting Artillery, and many more.
Everything up to "More Advanced Rules" includes example imagery, most of them using miniatures on Mongoose's gorgeously terrained tabletop.

Also included within the faction background sections are Army Lists, which are basically army building rules. "Up to now," they begin, armies were just thrown together respecting point limitations. Now, however, rules have been introduced to build your armies based on either an Infantry Force or Armoured Force, or Militia/Government Forces for the MEA. These Army Lists will limit the amount of each type of unit (Squad, Support, Command, Transport, Armour, Air) relative to each other, depending on which type of Force is chosen. For example, in the PLA Infantry Force, you may have a minimum of two and maximum of six Squads, with up to one Armour per two Squads. Conversely, in the PLA Armoured Force, you may have a minimum of two and maximum of ten Armour units, with up to one Squad per two Armoured units.
Each faction also has a number of "Options and Upgrades" that may be used during army building, ranging from Supporting Artillery to the True Believers upgrade.

The rules in the book probably get the most flak from the BEvo community. I believe most players are happy to see the basic rules expanded upon, even in little ways, and even more happy to see example imagery, with those lovely arrows and circles and inches written down. I bet those having trouble with the rules "up to now" will be happy with the explanations.
However, there are some rules that are causing some 'interesting' discussion on various BEvo forums (linked at the end of this article). One such set of rules are those that deal with Structures. Whether it is Attacking a Structure or Grenades, the major beef is that Mongoose did not fully explain these rules, leaving much up to interpretation or player-preference. A lot of players are saying that the explanation should have been provided, with no need for confusion. I have to agree that there can be some confusion among these rules, but I'm the kind of guy that will happily revert to house rules before getting mad at the company.
Emplacements are also causing some discomfort, as there are only two small paragraphs and a table to explain something that, it seems, requires a bit more writing to properly explain.
Overall, there are a number of areas within the Rulebook that are just too vague for comfort, and it is causing a stink around the community. Sure, not EVERYONE has a problem with these things, but enough to warrant some raised eyebrows. Hopefully Mongoose is paying attention, so they know how to fix the problems for the release of Starship Troopers Evolution.

Fluff
When you set your game 10-15 years in the future, with some very familiar aspects of modern warfare and combating in Middle Eastern locales, you need to provide backgrounds on the war and the factions involved.
The Rulebook, and Mongoose published material on the game, does half the job in regards to fluff. On the one hand, the Rulebook has a section for each faction, explaining its use of different technologies and, sometimes, techniques, all 'in role,' but with a definite hint at which models are and will be available for each faction. Reading through these sections, you can pick up on the flavour of both the faction and the idea of the setting in general.
On the other hand, there is no 'history' to detail what happened between 2007 and 10-15 years from now, and although each faction has its own blurb, there is no grander story to the war. So you'll find a call for more fluff from many players.

I'll jump right into my explanation for why there is a lack of cold, hard fluff. I believe that Mongoose is allowing the game to create its own history for each player/group. Maybe you don't want to focus on the fictional battlefields of Kerakhistan, so you can go ahead and made whatever country up, or use real ones, and your games will be that much more interesting, because they are that much more personal. Players do not have to follow a defined timeline of events, or conform to any pre-ordained story.
Mongoose has, in fact, provided a couple of such 'histories,' but have not forced players to follow them. One came in the "Global Times," a promotional piece in the form of a newspaper, where various articles addressed each faction and various locations for battle (Kerakhistan, U.S. soil). Also, Mongoose's monthly Signs & Portents - Wargamer online magazine provided a number of scenarios based on a fictional war, with articles spanning a number of issues.
Thus, Mongoose provides enough fluff to give each faction, and the whole 10-15-years-in-the-future setting some character and depth, but it is up to the creativity of the players, and possibly the outcomes of battles, to determine 'what really happens.'
I will add, however, that the tried and true technique of promoting each faction in the same makes it incredibly hard to decide which to collect. You will not yet find detailed strategy articles for each faction, like you find now in S&P for Babylon 5: ACTA. This makes it a lot easier to determine which faction conforms to the tactics/strengths that you prefer, or the weaknesses you want to avoid. I went with MEA and PLA anyway

Scenarios/Campaign
I did not include these sections under The Rules above, because I believe they are an important aspect of the Rulebook. "Up to now," basic BEvo games were just skirmishes, with no objectives (unless the players made one) other than knocking your opponent down to its Shatter Point. Now players have 11 more official scenarios to choose from. Most are basic scenarios that tabletop wargamers are probably used to, such as various types of attack-and-defend and objective-based scenarios.

One of the real gems of the Rulebook is the section on Campaigns. For veteran tabletop wargamers they are probably nothing new.
The Campaign size is based on the Threat Level system like other Mongoose games, going from Skirmish up to Raid, then Battle, and finally War.
The book provides example balanced maps for 2, 3 and 4 players, as well as the tables that will determine, by d6 and 2d6 respectively, the specific Scenario and Points Value of each battle that comes up.
Also, the section adds rules for Favoured Units that get bonuses each time they pretty much survive, Attrition Points that upon reaching zero means elimination, and Force Modifiers that applies to your forces depending on battle outcomes.

There is not much to say here, other than I love the Campaign section. Not so much for what Mongoose provides as a Campaign system, but how that Campaign system can be a basis for players to put together their own campaigns, just as I have already begun doing. The maps that are in the book are very interesting, and there are even full-page ones provided at the back of the book. Although I do not know the true reasoning for these, as it would be hard to scan them to make copies.
Some of the Scenarios are pretty interesting. "Towering Inferno," for example, has your units move on to the board over the course of the battle, as you roll on each turn trying to meet a certain number. Another one, "Five Card Blind," causes the battle to be made up of almost random armies. The "Sabotage" scenario uses the rules for Sentries, and pits a single squad up against a 500-point force. Other scenarios have their interesting points, pros and cons. I am sure some will be used more than others, but providing 12 scenarios was great on Mongoose's part.

Making Model Buildings
What is a tabletop game with terrain? And what is Battlefield Evolution without lots of cover, especially in the form of well-made Middle Eastern-style buildings?
While you think of the answer to that question, those of us with the Rulebook will be building terrain like the master builders at Mongoose, using the 6-page set of instructions. These buildings are made of plaster, and if you can build them like they are in the book, you will have a gorgeous Middle Easter city ready in no time.
14 pictures detail how to make a small building, from initial mold construction to final drybrushing. Four more pictures show you that you can make multi-level buildings as well as Rubble Piles and Ruined Buildings.

As Battlefield Evolution strives on cover, why not have good looking, appropriate cover? This section of the book helps solve this problem.
This method of terrain building falls between paper/cardstock modeling and buying pre-painted resin stuff. You have to do it yourself, but you get the weight and strength of plaster.
I look forward to trying a building like this out. I'm afraid I might like it, 'cause then I'll have to build a whole city!

Contact at Qafir
The last section of the Rulebook provides something that Mongoose is very good at: photo-laden, in-depth session reports. In their S&P magazines you are most likely going to find at least one report for one of their games, and often multiples. BEvo has seen a number lately, and now one can be found in the rulebook itself.
This report is a turn-by-turn detailing of a battle between a USMC force versus an EFTF opponent. The battle takes place on one of Mongoose's great tables, so the plethora of pictures provide lots of eyecandy. The play-by-play, written by both combatants, details their thoughts and their actions, and the results.
I won't tell you who won the battle in the end.

Not much to say here, other than Mongoose knows how to provide session reports. They are both highly entertaining and equally informative, offering insight into strategies and tactics to use in your own games.

The Verdict
Far be it from me, someone who is relatively new to this kind of gaming, and with only limited BEvo playing under my belt, to tell you what to do, but my gut feeling about this book is: if you are serious about Battlefield Evolution, get this book.
It is a visually-appealing, very informative book that provides a number of new mechanics and techniques for you tabletop gaming, 10-15 years in the future. I found it enjoyable to read, and easy to navigate.
Being only 96 pages, it won't take you long to get through the book and be ready for some Advanced wargaming.
However, there are a number of rules that a lot of gamers are complaining about/confused by, so do not expect a perfect tome here.
Besides, if you want to save your $25 - the price of a whole unit box! - you can always visit the BEvo forums and get all of your info there.
Yet I think if you do not pick up this book, you will be missing out on something pretty special, and pretty helpful.
As I said, in my mind it does not equal the savoury lovelies that are Privateer Press' printed materials, but it is of a high-end quality that justifies the cost. I.e. This Advanced Rulebook is worth it to purchase.

Whether you buy the book or not, go out and enjoy Battlefield Evolution.
And for all your BEvo-related needs, visit the sites and forums at
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com
http://www.evocommand.com
http://www.boardgamegeek.com

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

Von Cougar — 2007-06-22T22:10:50+00:00

I want to try Line of Sight with a laser pointer, I wonder if that will help?

Our next games will definitely include tables with more cover. It's just not right otherwise.

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

xombe — 2007-06-22T18:03:22+00:00

or maybe the more positive way to say it should be:

"if you can draw a line from any corner of the attacking figure's square to any corner of the target figure's square without passing through a square with something solid in it, then you have line of sight"

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

xombe — 2007-06-22T18:02:08+00:00

coffeedream wrote:
Try reading through the line of sight rules for ASL...That will easily get you off the gridded movement kick.

I find that a decent set of minis rules reduces the amount of complexity offered by a gridded system, while remaining tactically interesting.

Can't you simply say "draw a line from any corner of the attacking figure's square to any corner of the target figure's square. If that line passes through a square with something solid in it, line of sight is broken."

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

coffeedream — 2007-06-21T13:31:35+00:00

Try reading through the line of sight rules for ASL...That will easily get you off the gridded movement kick.

I find that a decent set of minis rules reduces the amount of complexity offered by a gridded system, while remaining tactically interesting.

It sounds like the big issue in the game was lack of cover. It's essential for a deadly system like BEvo. Lots and lots of cover makes a better game.

Also you do need a minimum of 4x6 feet for BEvo. I'd say even larger for tanks.

Theme or an actual military goal adds a lot to the fun factor too. Makes for better stories!

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

Von Cougar — 2007-06-20T23:25:03+00:00

Haha, yeah, Steve back with the 1" thing. Which I actually like, mind you. To me, measuring just takes a little out of the game. I'll need to play more measured games, though...like ACTA whenever John is ready
But I think this game would be pretty good with 1" squares...especially very subtle ones like xombe mentions.

Until then, though, I'm more than happy with the game as it is.
Rob, we need to have another session sometime. I'm not playing this enough We can do it on non-TABS nights if that works better for you.

xombe, I now have the Advanced Rulebook (thanks Ian at Mongoose!), which includes a number of scenarios. I believe some sort of scenario would help, but is not necessary. What IS necessary, as you say, is a bigger board, for sure. That table is just TOO small, and had NOTHING on it. The ones I was setting up downstairs would have been much better to use.

Andrew, you're right, you did split up.
But the whole being rushed thing (and notice it was by the two guys who didn't like it!) did not help at all.
We'll go over the full basic rules next time, and I'll have proper player aides ready.
It will be better, do not fret.

Let me know when you guys have some time for another game. Can be a TABS night, or not. With 2HD and DG's terrain free most of the week, we can go almost whenever. Plus that'll mean less distractions from outsiders

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

asm_zero — 2007-06-20T17:36:44+00:00

Von Cougar wrote:
For some reason, the PLA and USMC players ignored a) Fire Teams, b) 6"/12" Command radii, and c) cover. Their deployment was rather poor, bunched up and nowhere near the cover they were so close to. These would soon be their downfall.

Eh-hem! I had two fire teams. I also was not instructed that there would be NO movement. We could have just had a list of units and rolled dice to eliminate them. I thought it was actually going to be sort of like a game in some way. You know: My guys are starting here, turn 1 they will enter the engagement area and seek cover, turn 2 being the aggressors they will approach the enemy avoiding exposing themselves too much and returning fire when appropriate, etc... through progressive turns until one sides objectives were completed.

Instead it was ... "I'll put my guys here..." *BANG!* "uh, dude you're so dead." ... "Gee, wasn't that fun."

Now, like I said before, I will give it another shot on the better terrain table and with a clear explanation of the KEY rules. And when things are not so rushed.

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

xombe — 2007-06-20T13:50:11+00:00

I also vote for gridded over non-gridded anyday. It offers more strategy and more structured LoS and range - less arguments over movements and such. Sure - ungridded looks cool from a model perspective, but these days you can print really nice textured maps with subtle blended grids that don't detract from the look.

Not a bad game. I'll try it again. Like any skirmish game, it needs goals and objectives to make it interesting. Otherwise it's just a hide and shoot each other in turn game and then it does come down to just dice-rolling.

It also needs a way-bigger board since these units seem to cover 15 to 30 inches with ranged fire so where's the incentive to move closer?

Thread: Re: Demo DISASTER!

coffeedream — 2007-06-20T13:31:40+00:00

Von C, Von C, Von C,

What happened? We had such a good battle last time around.

Steve and his "1 inch grid" theory again?...Don't fall to the dark side man. This is old school miniatures! Not some miniature/boardgame hybrid!!!

Wish i was there...

Thread: Demo DISASTER!

Von Cougar — 2007-06-20T03:29:40+00:00

So, I planned to run a demo for one of our TABS (www.tabsonline.net) Thursday gaming nights. I had four people sign up: Andrew, Steve, Xombe and Boris.
We didn't get the game started until later in the evening, with the store closing in an hour, so you can imagine how rushed we were. I wasn't even able to get through all of the BASIC rules before we had to begin.

Which is point number one for why this demo just didn't go down right: the players didn't learn all of the rules properly.

We used this table for the demo, which the store had set up.
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As you can see, there is hardly any cover for troops to use here. AND what good cover is available is unbalanced.

So reason number two is that the a) small table b) lacked cover, and was c) unbalanced.

Because of the size of the table, two of the players couldn't properly utilise their longer-ranged weapons, and because of the lack of cover they were ripped apart easily.
I should have taken a minute to actually balance out the table a little more, but being so rushed I left it, to poor results.

And it turns out that Boris is quite adept at rolling '10,' over and over again on d10s.

Last point I'll mention about why this game sucked, one player had killer rolls...repeatedly

So that's what went wrong.
Here's what happened...

Steve took on the PLA, and Andrew took on the USMC. One squad each.
On the other side of the board Boris and Xombe both used some beefed up Fedayeens with one Technical each.

Both MEA set up well, Boris behind the bunker and Xombe behind the barrels/sandbags/palm tree.
For some reason, the PLA and USMC players ignored a) Fire Teams, b) 6"/12" Command radii, and c) cover. Their deployment was rather poor, bunched up and nowhere near the cover they were so close to. These would soon be their downfall.

MEA went first, with both players getting well into cover. Boris' initial shots, sad to say, pretty much decimated the PLA, who were nice and cozy together. If you can believe, a whopping 6 figures were lost in one Shoot action! Rolling a 4, two 5s, two 6s and a 10 in one go can be pretty deadly to PLA in the open. The chosen reaction was to Shoot, which did nothing against the MEA in the bunker.
Xombe also did some shooting, taking out a couple USMC, with one making his armour save.

I decided to leave out the rules for Suppression, as Steve was already in a foul mood for losing two thirds of his men. Well, taking a couple Shoot actions didn't help much, as none of Boris' men got his, and the Reaction shot took out the PLA leader, so bye-bye next turn.
Andrew, thankfully, made some proper decisions...he got behind cover, and shot at Xombe's guys. Sadly, though, he missed

Next MEA turn, Boris again went against the PLA, but wasn't able to kill them off (yet). Xombe kicked some more USMC butt, whittling them down to only a handful of men. Andrew's Reaction fire was good, taking out one Fed and hitting the Technical with one shot.

The PLA lost both actions after losing their leader.
The USMC Readied the MG and Shot, taking out the Technical and a handful of Feds.

But the MEA weren't going to take things sitting down.
On turn three, Boris finished off the PLA, and helped Xombe kill the remainder of the USMC.

Game over, man.

Steve and Boris probably won't be playing again.
Steve likes some things about the game, but says there is nothing new to the game, and it would probably work better as a 1" gridded game (and I agree).
Both Xombe and Andrew were not very excited this time around, but both would like to try again under different circumstances. I will happily play again with them ASAP. Xombe, like me, is also anticipating the release of SSTEvo.

So, 2 out of 4, that's not too bad, all things considered.
I've learned a few things from this demo:
1) Do not be rushed! If you're rushed, you won't cover everything, things will be unbalanced, and the game will not go as well as it should.
2) Player aids would help. I've already begun working on both rules and unit/faction sheets.
3) USE A PROPER TABLE! While a 6' x 4' table is not necessary, it's a much better size than 3' x 3'. Especially when the cover is lacking. Cover is SO key in this game, so table without proper coverage sucks. And of course, balance is important. Balance, balance, balance.
4) As good as most games are with 4 players, I think under these circumstances, 1 on 1 would be better. A bigger, better table can handle 4, but I think 2 players is the best way to play out this game.
5) And lastly, know the game! I forgot a couple of points while explaining, mostly because I was rushed but also because I didn't prep myself more beforehand. This hurt the explanation and in-game refing.

Even though I call this the "Demo Disaster," it was a demo nonetheless, and I have two players who would like to try again. You can't go wrong with that.

Thread: Evocommand's Fiction Writing Contest

Da Black Gobo — 2007-06-17T05:03:52+00:00

For details see the following link.

http://forum.evocommand.com/viewtopic.php?t=638

Thread: Re: Faction Information

HoodRich — 2007-06-12T14:51:20+00:00

from what Ive seen/heard:

USMC- Hard hitting, decent speed, awesome range, accurate, and very good armor
British EFTF- Great firepower, relatively slower, almost unstoppable armor, easy to outnumber
MEA- Shat armor, decent firepower, relatively high speed, big flexible squads
Chinese- Awful armor (worse than MEA, even), mediocre firepower, short range, average speed

Thread: Re: Rules

Mike Zebrowski — 2007-05-20T04:27:42+00:00

Aramd wrote:
Who releases a game without a rule book!?

The boxes come with the rules. The rules are made up of the rules sheet plus the unit cards.

The minis also look a tad bit racist; specifically anti-Arab.

Huh? The MEA are the good guys of BFE! The other 3 factions are invading their territory. They are the Rebel Alliance of the game.