Since two people have expressed curiosity about Dirtside II, I have
taken it upon myself to try and satisfy their curiosity. For those who
think that this is too off-topic, my apologies. But hey, shouldn't we
all be prepared if Epic 40K goes belly up?
The main attraction of Dirtside II, to my mind at least, is that
the rules are designed to be generic�the game has an "official"
background, but players are cheerfully (and frequently) advised to
ignore it in favor of their own ideas. Players are strongly encouraged
to design their own vehicles, and do not, in fact, have much choice,
since the rules give only a handful of sample vehicles. The vehicle
design process is pretty easy, and once you have a bit of practice with
it, it takes no more than five minutes to design anything but the most
complex of vehicles (Such as Ogres, Titans, and the like). Vehicles
have a mobility type, a size, an armor rating, a powerplant, weapons,
defensive systems, ECM, stealth, and troop capacity. There are, if I
remember correctly, eight different weapon systems, each of which can be
anywhere from class 1 (a Heavy Bolter, for example), to class 5 (like
the main gun on a Baneblade). Similarly, vehicle sizes range from class
1 ( a jeep) to class 5 (The aforementioned Baneblade). A UNIT (which is
a group of tanks or infantry) also has a leadership value (1 to 3) and a
quality (From Green to Vet).
Turn Sequence is simple. Each player takes it in turn to
'activate' one of his units. Each unit can only be used once per 'game
turn', so the player with more units gets more unit activations.
Generally a unit will do as it is told, but under some circumstances
(such as close assault) it may have to take a confidence test. Any unit
may take opportunity fire at any point, provided it can see the target,
and has not taken its own activation for the turn. A unit which uses
opportunity fire sacrifices its activation for the turn.
Combat is handled very differently than E40K, and is a little
difficult to get used to. Once you have played a game or two, though,
combat goes quickly and smoothly. First, the firing player rolls two
dice, with the first die type depending on the quality of the firing
unit, and with the second die type depending on range to target and the
quality of the targeting system he is using. The defender also rolls a
die, the type depending on size and stealth (although ECM is used v.
missiles). Bonus dice can be awarded for various conditions. If the all
of the firer�s die rolls are higher than all of the defender�s, the
target is hit. Damage is resolved by drawing chits equal to the class
of the weapon from a mug. Some are marked with special effects
(Immobilized, Systems Down etc.) but most are colored numbers. What
colors you are allowed to count depend upon weapon type, the range, and
the defender�s armor. If the score is EQUAL to the armor rating of the
target, the target is damaged. If the total EXCEEDS the armor rating,
the target is destroyed.
I think that all of this sounds more complex than it actually is.
I am not very good at teaching/describing rule systems. Based on my own
experiences, it is not difficult to convert Epic minis to DSII rules,
but the following fact should be kept in mind: The bigger a target is,
the easier it is to hit�battlemech drop like flies when they don�t have
sufficient cover, and Titans (being even bigger) will probably suffer
even worse. As the game says, "The bigger they are, the easier it is to
nuke them from orbit...." Secondly, the infantry are pretty generic.
Two different tanks are going to perform differently, but there is not
going to be much that makes an Orc unit any different from a Space
Marine or Eldar unit. Then again, that�s what house rules are for...
Tom Sullivan
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Received on Fri Jun 19 1998 - 18:53:49 UTC