+ inload: Ork Gargant rules for Adeptus Titanicus +

+ 'Ere We Go! +

+ Ork Gargants in Adeptus Titanicus +

 

+++

+ Ork Gargant rules for Adeptus Titanicus +

+ I've been beavering away polishing and tinkering with the rules for running Gargants in Adeptus Titanicus. They're now in a playable state, and the playtest pack can be inloaded for free from the files section of the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook group [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ The pack, entitled ATEC v04, contains:

• Full rules for using Ork Gargants in games of Adeptus Titanicus
• Print-ready Command Terminals for Gargants and Great Gargants
• Print-ready double-sided weapon cards.
• Info for submitting playtest notes, but do just feel free to have fun with them!

+ The rules are an iteration of those that I've been exloading here on occasion. Feel free to use the Insphere Contentsieve search function in the left-hand column of the blog to look for 'Gargant' if you'd like to read over some early thoughts. In summary, however, I've followed the following general design principles:

• Being orky, Gargants should be tough, and kick out a lot of firepower. 
• Unsubtle but entertaining, they should be generally less reliable than their Imperial equivalent, but have the potential – with luck and good planning – to outshine their opponents' equivalent War Engines.
• Playing a mob of Gargants should feel like you are an ork Kaptin managing his krew, and reward aggressive play.
• Playing a mob of Gargants should not be a frustrating experience.
• Using Gargants must abide to the core rules as seamlessly as possible while maintaining character.

+++

+ Playtesting da Waaaagh! +

+ Had a very enjoyable weekend over at my brother's house. I'd sent him and my nephews a pile of bits and a letter (faithfully dictated by Nikkit the gretchin) from the Warboss asking his meks to build him some dead snazzy Gargants to krump some spiky gitz. +

+ Well, the Meks came good and the Warboss was greeted by a proppa stompy Gargant Mob to take into battle. I think they're just brill – each very distinctive and full of orky character and creativity. They were built using air-drying clay over household bits and bobs. Couldn't have asked for better results; well done, ladz! +

[+{APPENDNOTE=This autoscribe humbly apologises for forgetting to note down the ork's own names for these beasts of steel, so presented here are my loose human translations – do correct me and I'll update the names!+]

+ Great Gargant Zodwort's Revenge. +

+ Gargant Waaagharella. +

+ Gargant Orktimus Prime (and a dead sneeky stompa). +

+ It was a particular treat to see this banner waving over the Great Gargant, as it's been recycled from my brother's old ork army, Waa-Zodwort. Nice to see it taken into battle again. +

+++

+ Playtesting and designer's notes +

+ As my part of the deal, I'd brought along the playtest document above, along with all the terrain and Titans to fight. While keen 40k players, none of them had played Titanicus – but they took to it like ducks to water. +

+ I'd been running the dice every so often to check how things were working, but – lacking any finished gargants – the nearest I was able to come to physical testing beforehand was the rather shonky-looking affair below, with my own mournful half-finished Gargant. +

+ Still, it did the job, letting me try out the Command Terminal and make sure that all the basic mechanics worked. I sent the poor armless Great Gargant out to take on a Warlord and a Reaver – not a fair fight, but a good way to assess the damage mechanics of Krew and Fires. +

+ The Command Terminal on the right of the picture shows an early-game snapshot: just one fire having begun, and plenty of krew remaining. +

+ The late-game example of the Terminal (below) illustrates a snapshot of how the mechanics work. In short, Gargants start with a pool of dice representing Krew, which perform a variety of functions. The quality is determined at the start of each Strategy Phase by rolling the dice, before the player places them on the relevant spaces on the Terminal. This mitigates (but doesn't eliminate) the random hand of luck, giving player agency and decisions to make. Secondly, it gives the player an equivalent to the Imperial decision-making processes throughout the turn – their decisions at this stage affect how the Gargant will behave. +

+ The Command Terminal has a number of negative effects on the Krew spaces – No Full Stride, for example, in one of the boxes on the legs. You ignore these effects by covering them with Krew; so there's no additional book-keeping: you apply only what you can see at the time. A fully-crewed Gargant is a fearsome thing! +

+ Ork players must decide where, and how many, mobs will be assigned to a region. Need to move quickly? Better get enough krew down in the legs, and ensure a good-quality mob are manning the head so the order will go through. Just won a proper scrap? Make sure you max out the Krew in the body, as they're better able to stoke or vent the boiler, or effect repairs throughout the Gargant. And if you just need something killed, load up the gun decks as well as the main weapons! +

+ Ork Gargants make a virtue of their relative lack of sophistication. They're got heavy armour and a long damage track, and critical damage doesn't have a chance of one-shot killing them. There are, Imperial players will be relived to hear, a number of downside to this, however. Damage modifiers come in early and build up quickly. Fires can break out and occupy the Krew spaces. Unlike Krew, fires don't cancel the negative effects, so even one fire in a region can be a pain. Worse, if you've packed the krew into a region too tightly, they'll get consumed by the fires, making your job of managing the Gargant that much harder. +

+ In the early game, Gargants will have krew and shields to spare – but unlike their Imperial equivalents, there's no way to replace or repair them. Krew can be killed off throughout the game as a result of damage, fires or critical effects, so as the game goes on, you'll have to make difficult decisions on what to prioritise. This diminishing pool mechanic means that orks are encouraged to be aggressive – though this needs to be balanced against keeping the Boiler in the green, too. Ork Power Fields might be strong and effective, but if the Boiler's under strain or too cold, their effectiveness will waver (I like to picture the lights in the Gargant dimming and brightening as the boiler struggles). Also, unlike the relatively reliable servitor clades of Imperial Titans, ork bosses have a zero-sum game of managing repairs and the boiler (reactor) alongside the basic functions of moving and shooting. +

+ Trying to strike the right balance of getting the boiler in the right place is engaging and fun. If you're planning on doing lots in a turn, you might want to vent the boiler to a greater extent – but that will temporarily drop the protection the shields offer until you can activate and start pushing... giving your opponent a chance to strike while you're building up a head of steam. +

+++

+ First playtest findings +

+ The first playtest saw the Great Gargant fell the Warlord, before being destroyed in turn by the Reaver. More importantly, it was a lot of fun! +

+ I was concerned that the Krew would add too much complication to the game, but I'm pleased to report that it felt about right. While there's a bit more thinking in the Strategy phase, the mechanic itself is quick and intuitive, and fills a few gaps that account for other mechanics. +

+ It all felt rather orky – and rest assured that doesn't just mean random. There are meaningful decisions to make. The real test, however, would be using it in a proper game.+

+ Second playtest findings +

+ The Gargant mob above faced a Warlord and two Reavers of Legio Sumer-Nikator. I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures of the game, as I wanted to concentrate on enjoying this rare chance to play with my brother and nephews. +

+ I got some really good feedback, and I was pleasantly surprised that no hiccoughs or odd interactions seemed to arise. The main thing, though, is that we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had big grins on our faces throughout – probably the best result all-round! 

+ Victory went to the orks. Zodwort's Revenge was ablaze from stem to stern (though not quite out of the fight), while Waaagharella and Orktimus Prime had felled one Reaver. The Imperial battlegroup was thoroughly beaten up, but the result was close, and tense. +

+ Thanks to all involved, and hope you enjoy playtesting the rules further. +

+++

+ 'Ere we go! +

+ inload: Engine War – Gargants for Adeptus Titanicus IV: Command Terminals +

+ Great Gargant Command Terminal +

+ This project is one to develop a set of fun rules for ork gargants in Adeptus Titanicus. If you're fresh to this, feel free to browse the related inloads below:

+ Related inloads +

+ General abstract [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]

+ Fires [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]

+ Krew [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]

+ Playtesting +

+ For those who've been following, lets get stuck into the practical, which will allow you to playtest Orks in Adeptus Titanicus. Waaagh! + 

+ Here's version 0.2 of the Great Gargant Command Terminal:

+ Much of it will be familiar to players of Adeptus Titanicus, but for those who want to try playtesting it prior to the tidied-up 'release' (a bit of a grand term!), you'll need a few notes below. +

+++

+ Suggested models +

+ If you wish to playtest Engine War: Orks in Adeptus Titanicus, then first off, thanks! I'd love to hear how you find it, and welcome any feedback on your playtesting. In terms of models to use, I suggest you try a 40k ork Gorkanaut/Morkanaut, or an Epic Mega Gargant as a proxy for the Great Gargant, or guidance on intended size. 

With that said, Gargants are very variable – as long as it's roughly comparable in height to a Warlord Titan, and you use a base identical in size to the Warlord Titan's oval, you shouldn't run into any awkward bits. If you do, let me know. +

+ Terminology +

+ For clarity, I've tried to keep the language as similar as possible to the Adeptus Titanicus rulebook for the Gargant rules themselves, and restrict orky terms to background text, or for new unique rules – for example, 'Krew'; in order to distinguish this mechanic from background references to crew. +

+ It does throw up a few bits and bobs that sound off – I imagine an ork Kaptin's 'Power to Stabilisers' order would probably involve rather more colourful language, for example. In these instances, I encourage you to substitute appropriate jargon – 'Full Steam Ahead!' rather than Pushing the reactor, 'Scrag dose Zoggas!' in place of First Fire, for example. Just make sure the other player(s) are clear what you mean before you make any rolls! +

+ In the text below, any rules are presented in a different typeface, for ease of reference: 

Note: This is an example of how Rules text appears.

+ Machine Spirit +

+ Orks have a pragmatic and experimental approach to both engineering and religion. If pressed, most orks will agree that a Gargant is a body for Gork or possibly Mork, but they tend to admire rather than worship the Gargants directly. Gargants also tend to lack any sort of universal systems akin to an Imperial Mind-Impulse Unit; instead relying on a command deck crew like a naval cruiser. This crew will invariably contain a Kaptin, who commands the Gargant; a flagboss, who relays orders both within the Gargant and to nearby Gargants; and various other important cronies and henchmen of the Kaptin. +

+ As a result, Ork Gargants do not have Machine Spirits, instead relying on an array of wheels, levers, buttons, valves and tubes to get things done. However, things can – and do – go wrong; generally for the worst, but occasionally for the benefit of the Gargant. +

Machine Spirit: Ork Gargants do not have Machine Spirits. When Pushing the Reactor, a Cog result on the die will result in the Boiler Pressure venting unexpectedly.  Move the Boiler Pressure marker D6 spaces downwards. If it cannot move downwards, move it as far as possible, then start a Fire in a region determined by rolling the Location die.

+ Shields +

+ The technologies behind ork Power Fields are many and varied; some making a partially visible sheen, superficially similar to Imperial voids; others projecting great bubbles of gravitational force that turn the surrounding air hazy and greasy; still others relying on blunt but reliable ablative reactive counter-measures – that is, controlled explosions that blow incoming projectiles out of the sky (generally to the appreciative whoops of the orks around it.) +

+ What is universal is that Power Fields are powered by brutally powerful generators, usually reliant on the Gargant's engine room, which are run until sufficient energy is absorbed or deflected to cause the generator to fail – sometimes spectacularly. +

Power Fields: Ork Power Fields are treated in an identical manner to Void Shields, except that they always provide a 4+ save, and cannot be repaired. 

When making Power Field saves, if more than one dice shows a '1' result, a generator has blown spectacularly. The shield(s) is/are knocked down as normal, and a fire marker is started in an area determined by rolling the location die. 

At the start of the game, place a marker at the top of the Power Field track, and move it downwards after each failed save. When the last Power Field save is failed, remove the marker – the shields blow out as for Imperial Void Shields.

+ Krew + 

+ The Krew area on the Command Terminal represents the number of mobs of oilers, riggers, stokers, meks, runtherds, gunners and assorted enthusiastic hangers-on that make up the crew of all Gargants. Gargant krew mobz may be made up of the mekboyz and spannaz that built the Gargant, intimately familiar with its workings and able to repair and tune it on the go. They may equally be made up of press-ganged slaves, orks nursing hangovers, or enthusiastic but inept Wildboyz. +

+ A Gargant will carry dozens or hundreds of orks and gretchin, but greenskins aren't the most organised of species. As a result, unless properly 'motivated' by an nob overseer, they will tend to get bored and wander off to peer out of portholes at the battle, or try to wrestle their way into having a go on one of the deck gunz. A network of shouting tubes allows the Kaptin to assign his krew where he wishes – most of the time. + 

Krew are represented by dice rolled during the strategy phase, which can be assigned to the marked spaces on each area of the Gargant. The Krew dice are used just like markers on the Command Terminal, and should be kept with the same face upwards.

Assigning Krew: Krew dice are moved from the Krew area to the marked spaces on the Command Terminal during the course of the turn. For example, if the Kaptin wishes to make a special order, a Krew die must be assigned to the Head. Once a Krew dice has been assigned, it cannot be moved or reassigned.

Krew quality: The number rolled indicates the quality of the krew in the mob. In the End Phase, they can be used to repair or fight fires: the higher the number, the more reliable and useful the krew.

+ The Gun Decks +

+ In addition to the mighty primary weapons on the arms and belly, most gargants sport half a dozen or more additional turrets on their shoulders, clustered on the front of the torso, and occasionally on the head. The krew often congregate on the gun decks, brawling over who gets to fire the guns, and who has to help load and carry ammunition. Relatively exposed, the orks and gretchin here can enjoy basking in the glory of the battle from a great vantage point – though they need to watch out for stray shots! +

Gundecks: A Gargant's secondary guns can be fired by Krew assigned here (see command terminal). When rolling the location dice, a Special result indicates the gundecks are hit; assign the damage to the Krew area. Fires cannot start in the Gundecks – instead assign one point of damage to the Krew area.

+ The Boiler +

+ No two Gargants are alike. Gargants are powered by a dizzying array of different motive systems rather than the largely standardised Plasma Reactor of an Imperial Titan. The sheer power required to move a Gargant on a war footing means that the boiler thrums with barely-contained energies. As more fuel is added, the ever-present roar of the Boiler is joined by increasingly loud sounds of strain – venting steam, yelling mekboyz, and the ping of rivets popping across the cavernous space. +

Boiler: A Gargant's Boiler is treated in much the same way as an Imperial Plasma Reactor. When pushed – in order to fire weapons with the draining quality, or to put Power to Stabilisers, for example, move the counter upwards. 

+++

+ Addenda to the Core Rules +

When playing with Orks, the following additional rules apply.

+ Strategy Phase +

'Ere We Go: Orks may re-roll failed Full Stride or Charge Orders.

Organising da Krew: After rolling for initiative, the ork player should roll a die for each free (i.e. undamaged) space on the Krew area of the Command Terminal, then place the dice on the Krew area. 

Orders: Prior to rolling for orders, the ork player may assign Krew to the head. 

HEAD  

No Krew: The order roll is made with a -1 modifer. 

One or two Krew: The order roll is made as normal. 

Three or more Krew: The order roll is made with a +1 modifier.

+++

+ Movement Phase +

Krew may be assigned to any area on the Command Terminal at any point during the Gargant's activation. 

BODY 

+ Gargants are towering mountains of rivetted metal and reinforced plate, within which are crawl-spaces, gathering points, access to the various weapon decks and a colossal magazine for storing the shells, replacement energy cabling and other ammunition that keeps it firing. The body also houses the bulk of a gargant's colossal energy storage chamber – generally referred to as a 'boiler', though the exact source of power can range from coal to esoteric minerals to drop-fusion, depending on the Mekboss's design – which is fuelled via the Engine Room below. +

Krew in the Body have no effect beyond being able to attempt to Fight Fires or Repair damage in the Repair phase. 

ENGINE ROOM

No Krew: The Gargant may not declare Power to Stabilisers or Power to Locomotors.
One or more Krew: No special effects.

GUN DECKS 

Rules for Krew in the gun decks are covered on the Gargant's command terminal. 

WEAPONS

[Rules pending – for the moment, I suggest you use the Warlord Titan Weapon cards with the following Krew rules:
No Krew: Attack Rolls are made at an additional -1.
One or two Krew: No special effects.
Three or more Krew: The weapon gains the Maximal Fire trait.]

+++

+ Damage Control Phase +

If a Gargant's Boiler Pressure is in a hole with an orange or red indicator when it is activated in this phase, it is at risk of failure. Roll on the Boiler Failure table below:

1–2: Pfft: The boiler goes out. Apply the rules for Shutdown orders to the Gargant.3–5: Boiler leak: The Gargant suffers a strength 9 hit to the body, bypassing Power Fields.
6–8: Minor explosion: The Gargant suffers D3 strength 9 hits to the body, bypassing Power Fields. In addition, A Fire immediately starts in an area determined by the location die.
9–10: Towering Inferno: The Gargant suffers D3 strength 9 hits to the body, bypassing Power Fields. In addition, D3 Fires immediately start in a single area determined by the location die.

Fixin' fings: Each Krew marker may be used to make a repair action. There is no need to roll: simply apply the result already on the Krew die.

• Repair disabled weapon (X) – see Weapon card.
• Vent boiler (4+) Move the Boiler Pressure marker down one space.
• Repair Critical Damage (5+) 
• Fight Fires (5+)

+++

+ Combat Phase +

[Critical damage rules pending.]

+ End Phase +

Fires: In the end phase, roll a D6 for each area of the Gargant that contains at least one Fire marker. If the total is greater than the number of Fire markers in that area (or the result is a 6 regardless of the number of fires) the fire does not spread, and nothing happens. If the total is equal to or lower that the number of Fire markers, the fire spreads. Add another Fire marker to the area. If the region is filled with Fire markers, it will spread to another area – roll the location die to find the area.

Boiler Pressure: If there are no Krew in the Engine Room, the Boiler Pressure drops D3 spaces.

+ inload: Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants in Adeptus Titanicus +

+ Bloodsong designer's notes +

+ An inload to put some thoughts in order on the next stages of the Bloodsong supplement, which introduces Eldar and Orks to Adeptus Titanicus and Legions Imperialis – and a request for any playtesting feedback to be popped up on the Facebook group [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. +

Eldar/Ork rules for Epic-scale games are the thing most likely to make datascribes join the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook group, so I wanted to give a bit of an update, outline the process for the supplement – and hopefully garner some feedback and (best of all) playtesting notes.

Why's this? Well, with the best will in the world, it's never the best idea for the writer to be the one testing things – I might know what I mean by phrasing things a certain way, but that's useless if it's not clear to anyone else. Likewise testing in isolation can result in swingy and non-representative results – so more reports from the wider community are essential to helping this progress and becoming more refined.

If you're able to contribute constructive criticism, please do! There's a 'Xenos AT rules' chat up on the Facebook group [viz-ref link above], which has already been very useful in helping tweak things – thanks to Sean, Rowan, Chris, Thomas and Paul, who've provided some invaluable feedback.

+++

+ State of play +

The Bloodsong supplement has been ticking over since 2023 – you can follow the development from this initial inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. It contains rules for Eldar Titan Clans (Aeldari warhost) and Ork Gargant Bigmobs in Adeptus Titanicus., as well as a workable but incomplete Ork list for Legions Imperialis.

The current version is available from the Facebook group here:

Bloodsong v9.pdf

If you're inloading this from the future, then please check the version number to make sure you've got the latest revision. If you've come across a hard copy, the version number is printed on page 1 for clarity – and you'll also spot the version number on the weapon cards and terminals, too, to make sure you're playing with the most up-to-date material.

+++

+ Where are we? +

I'm going to focus more on the Titanicus side of things for the moment – while I enjoy Legions Imperialis, there's less interest in that side of the supplement. I therefore plan to hive off the LI ork list (and any future Eldar one) into a separate document, so Bloodsong v1.0 will be an AT-only supplement – and one, I hope, that's fully ready to use.

+ Shade and Spectre-type Phantoms – I've tried to cleave closely to established background, and the use of the very old terms here is to make things more hobbyist-friendly. +

The fundamentals of the two lists, Aeldari Warhost and Ork Gargant Bigmob, are in place. There are rules for creating your Battlegroup equivalents, and terminals and weapons for the following:

• Eldar Phantom Spectre Titan
• Eldar Phantom Shade Titan
• Eldar Warlock Titan
• Eldar Revenant Titan

... and for the orks:

• Ork Gargant
• Ork Great Gargant
• Ork Mega Gargant

For the moment, I'm sticking to developing these basics. Mekboy Gargants, Stompas, Eldar Knights etc. are potential future additions, but I want to get the core forces pinned down for each before expanding further. 

We've now got a fairly decent playtesting pool complete for the Eldar, and I'm happier with how they're working – but every battle throws up new ideas, so always open to further tweaking. 

My gut feeling at the moment is that the ork weapons need a bit of reining in, but I'd like some playtesting results before tweaking them. I want to avoid the old trope of ork weapons, where in addition to being unreliable, they're also just straight worse than the Imperial equivalents – they should instead be more subject to variance (i.e. a bit more swingy than the Imperial guns – better when you have good luck, but worse when you don't!)

+++

+ What's next? +

The immediate next stage is to looking at creating a handful of Maniple and Legio equivalents, and a dozen or so Strategems for both Orks and Eldar, so you should end up with a modest amount of variety that allows you to lean into particular thematic gaming styles, and expand things beyond Open Play to Matched Play and Narrative Play styles.

+ The basis for a potential Conclave (Maniple) – a Phantom and two Revenants. +

+++

+ How can I help? +

You generous soul! As noted above, the most valuable contribution is feedback based on playtesting – while I'm happy to listen to theory and discuss things, nothing comes close to just trying things out and sharing them. 

Secondly, if you've got (or know of) any cool painted models of Gargants or Eldar Titans, please do show 'em off; I'd love to include some nice pictures to give the supplement a bit of polish. All images will, of course, be fully credited in the style of your choice.

+ inload: Engine War – Gargants for Adeptus Titanicus I +

+ Orks in Adeptus Titanicus +

+ I'll preface this by saying that these rules are only intended to tide players over until we get some official rules. With that said, it's a great opportunity to do some fun stuff, and have a practise at writing rules. +

+ Theoretical +

+ General design principles +

1. Being orky, Gargants should be tough, and kick out a lot of firepower. 
2. Unsubtle but entertaining, they should be generally less reliable than their Imperial equivalent, but have the potential – with luck and good planning – to outshine their opponents' equivalent War Engines.
3. Playing a mob of Gargants should feel like you are an ork Kaptin managing his krew, and reward aggressive play.
4. Playing a mob of Gargants should not be a frustrating experience.
5. Using Gargants must abide to the core rules as seamlessly as possible while maintaining character.

+ Inspiration +

The gigantic Titans known as Gargants stride at the core of the Waa-Ork. Each Gargant is a huge towering war machine of awesome destructive power. It is also a mechanical, fighting, firebelching idol in the image of the Ork war gods. The machines are served by a living crew of Orks and Gretchin, stoking the boilers and loading the guns in the Gargant’s turrets. The construction of a Gargant is in itself an act of god worship, and stands for all that is Orkish.

+ Codex Titanicus, 1st edition +

+++

Like many products of Orkoid military engineering, the Gargant relies on comparatively simple technology and devastatingly heavy firepower, an attitude summed up by Boss-Mek Badlug One-Leg in his oft-quoted dictum “S’gorra be dead shooty, wiv loadza gunz all over.” 

Orks do not rely on auto-systems to the same extent as other races, and Gargants carry a large crew of both Orks and Gretchins. The crew is led by a Kaptin, who relays orders through a body of officers. A speaking-tube is the preferred method of communication within a Gargant. Each officer is in charge of one section of the Gargant, be it a weapon, the magazine, the engine room, or whatever.

Under the officer is a crew of Orks and Gretchins who carry out the orders passed down to them. Repair crews are composed of Gretchins, whose smaller build suits them to crawling through cramped spaces armed with wrenches and oily rags. 

Gargants are protected by up to eight banks of power fields. In practical terms, a power field is very similar to a void shield, but cannot be repaired - when a hit is absorbed, one field generator is permanently destroyed. 

+ ibid. +

+ Resource management +

+ Gargants don't have plasma reactors (well, I'm sure one or two do, but in general, they're 'comparatively simple technology'), so I don't think it's appropriate to use the plasma reactor mechanics. On the other hand, it'd be a shame for ork players to miss out on the resource management side of the game; particularly if they're not going to have the balance of shields (since Power Fields just burn out, and can't be repaired). In addition, design principle 5 (above) means I want to stick with the core rules if possible, so we need some sort of resource generation and management that's equivalent to the plasma reactor table. +

+ Officers and crew +

+ Looking over the rules from Codex Titanicus (CT) and Titan Legions (TL), the main things ork players had to manage was the krew, which fits in nicely with design principle 3. With this in mind, I'd like to look at the plasma reactor and servitor clade mechanics, to see if we can find some fun interactions. + 

+ Both CT and TL had lots of different types of krew – riggers to repair, stokers to keep the engine room going, boyz who were being transported etc. Choices had to be made to take lots of riggers to keep your Gargant functioning, bosses to make sure it did what it was meant to, and so forth. It might be fun to have this level of granularity – make the ork player find the balance that works for them, and give a lot of customisation options. On the other hand, it's also quite complex; perhaps over-complicated. +

+ There's a middle ground – having some krew represented by counters; others by rules; similar to the Imperials: servitor clades, Princeps etc. are fixed statistics/rules; and the plasma generator is a movable counter. +

+ Dwindling resources +

+ A potential problem of having krew as your resource is that unlike plasma, they're irreplaceable. Once an ork is dead, he's dead. This ties in with the Power Fields, which also can't be brought back up. That could be bad, or it could be good. On the one hand, it means that orks have to be aggressive: their forces only get degraded, so they need to close and keep pressure up on their opponents. On the other hand, there's not much management to do beyond pre-game selection, which is a shame. What other management could there be? +

+ Power +

+ Gargants do have engine rooms. 'Power' is a catch-all term for steam, coal, solar, plasma and however else the individual Gargant is made to do stuff. This is a good chance to have a manageable resource. I'd like it to work like a plasma reactor, but for both ends to be bad – if you use too much, the engine goes out and has to be re-lit. If you don't use enough, it overheats and starts fires. +

+ This mechanic would interact nicely with the krew – do you drag your gunners away to stoke the boiler, or do you have to move faster than you wanted to burn off some excess? +

+ It might also be a place to introduce fires, which I fondly remember as one of my favourite mechanics from previous editions. Fires would be a great way to represent Devastating Hits – rather than taking two structure points, Gargants might take one SP and a fire is started. +

If any fires are still burning at the end of the repair phase, roll a D6. If the result is more than the number of fires still burning, the crew have at least managed to prevent them from spreading. If not, the fires have spread with disastrous results – roll a D6 on the Gargant Catastrophic Damage Table.

+ ibid. +

+++

+ Practical +

The following notes are essentially here for discussion. I'll start with the Great Gargant, as that's the Warlord equivalent.

Stats: 

Command: 5+

Speed: 4in/6in

Manoeuvre: 1/2

Ballistic Skill: 4+

Weapon Skill: 3+

Riggers [Servitor clades equivalent]: See above

Gun decks: As an equivalent to the Ardex-Defensor cannon, I thought it'd be fun if unassigned krew could shoot out of portholes etc. The 'bucket o' dice' is an ork hallmark, which'd go some way to making things feel orky. The strength of shot would have to be determined; probably S3 or S4. I guess it'll depend on how many krew are likely to be 'free' every turn. This would be a nice way to get some rear defence and make the Gargant feel like a naval vessel – if your Gargant is immobilised with no targets in arc, for example, all hands can start shooting from the back.

Engine Room: Pip starts in the centre (green), with two yellow, one orange, and one red space on either side.

Stoking (Pushing the reactor) – can be used for:

• Shields up! – Voids to Full equivalent (perhaps allows rerolls to all saves, but one Power field burns out? Too complex?).
• Full Steam Ahead – Power to Locomotors equivalent.
• Hard to – Power to Stabilisers equivalent.
• Perhaps boosting power to weapons – more shots for Rapid/Ordnance? Additional Strength for some guns? 

+++

Here's the outline for the Command Terminal (Kaptin's Klipboard?)

Head (Head) – (360°) – 8 SP

13–14 Direct Hit

15–16 Devastating Hit

17+ Critical hit

Body (Body) – 10 SP 

13–14 Direct Hit

15–16 Devastating Hit

17+ Critical hit

Belly (Legs) (Fixed forward) – 10SP

13–14 Direct Hit

15–16 Devastating Hit

17+ Critical hit

Upper turrets – Weapons (equivalent to Carapace) – Secondary weapons (90°)

Lower turrets – Primary Weapons (90°)

+++

Power Fields: 

• Act as Void Shields, but can't be brought back online. 
• As a result, these are effectively like a structural section of the Gargant; a 'shell' that has to be broken before you can start adding damage to the Gargant. 
• 1st ed. had a random mechanic for the number of Power Fields. Something to include, or frustrating?

+ inload: Engine War – Gargants for Adeptus Titanicus III: Krew +

+ Gargant krew for Adeptus Titanicus +

+ Building on previous inloads, today we're looking at a gargant's krew. If you'd like to catch up, you can read the previous installments here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

Paul Bonner's always excellent art is a great inspiration!

+ General design principles +

• Being orky, Gargants should be tough, and kick out a lot of firepower. 
• Unsubtle but entertaining, they should be generally less reliable than their Imperial equivalent, but have the potential – with luck and good planning – to outshine their opponents' equivalent War Engines.
• Playing a mob of Gargants should feel like you are an ork Kaptin managing his krew, and reward aggressive play.
• Playing a mob of Gargants should not be a frustrating experience.
• Using Gargants must abide to the core rules as seamlessly as possible while maintaining character.

+++

+ Krew +

+ Extinguishing fires [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] will necessarily have to be tied into the crew mechanics. I've had some great ideas from the PCRC and other places, and the crew mechanics have such potential to give the orky feel (design principle 3) that I really want to get something good without over-complicating things (design principles 4 and 5). +

+ There are two broad approaches that I've toyed with. These are outlined below; I'd love your thoughts on which you'd prefer to pursue. Remember the design principles – which feels orkier? Which is going to make for a more fun, fluid game? +

+++

+ Approach 1: Dice pool allocation +

+ In background terms, the crew of a Gargant has always been related to its size. Bigger Gargants have more crew. We've got an existing mechanic for reflecting that in the game: Scale. Keeping things simple, Gargants should have one team/mob of crew for every point of scale. Our Great Gargant, for example, will have ten Krew, an abstract representation of the riggers, stokers, boyz and nobz used in previous editions. +

+ With this approach, the bridge crew (the Kaptin himself, Gunboss, Flagboss etc. detailed in Codex Titanicus) are represented through the Critical Damage mechanics, as they are in Imperial Titans. +

+ The Krew themselves then form a pool that can be assigned as you wish. Unlike Imperial Titans, where the disciplined crew perform highly-specific ritual tasks – the Enginseer only monitors and administers to the plasma reactor, the servitor clades only repair damage, the gun-servitors only fire the defensive weapons etc. – ork krew are more versatile, if less reliable. An ork or grot can shovel coal, throw water onto a fire or bang an armour plate back into place just as effectively as they fire the guns. +

Krew: During the 'Issue Orders' part of the strategy phase, roll a number of D6 equal to the current Krew value of your Gargant, then allocate them to the relevant locations for that turn. [designer's note – the details of what the krew do in a location will be on the command terminal].

+ To reflect this, this approach will let you assign those ten Krew as you wish during the Strategy phase of the game. Each Krew mob gives you one D6, which you can allocate to one of the following Hit Locations/Weapon Card Slots:

• Head
• Right Arm
• Left Arm
• Gun Decks
• Engine Room
• Belly Gun

Gonna krump 'em!

+ Having a krew die in a Location/Slot allows you to push the boiler (equivalent to pushing the reactor) for the relevant region. The subtleties come in when looking at the values. A die of 2–5 represents the vast majority of the orks and grots crawling through the Gargant, and simply allow the region to work as normal. A die reading '1' represents a mob that is either dangerously incompetent, overly enthusiastic or simply not paying attention. Such a krew marker will prove detrimental to the region. Conversely, a die reading '6' represents a mob that is curiously well-disciplined, contains a knowledgeable oddboy, or is simply close enough to a shoutin' tube that they know what the Kaptin wants. Such a krew marker will prove beneficial to the region. +

+ The astute will quickly spot that with a Krew value of 10 (the Great Gargant is Scale: 10, and you get one die for each point of Scale), there will be some spare krew. This allows you to send additional krew to particular regions (space allowing). Having multiple Krew in a region can benefit certain regions – lots of orks shovelling coal/nuclear pellets/dogs into the boiler will let the Gargant put on a particularly impressive turn of speed; and the more orks that crowd into the gun decks, the more supporting firepower your Gargant will be able to kick out. +

+ Another reason for redundancy is to account for bad mobs. You always count the highest value within a region; so accompanying a '1' Krew with a '4' Krew will ensure things run smoothly. +

+ Finally, Krew can be lost through damage - so having some spare runtz and replaceable boyz doesn't hurt. +

+ Krew and the Command Terminal +

+ To fit with design principle 5 (see above), I want to keep this mechanic as self-enclosed as possible, and minimise book-keeping. The Command Terminal is the ideal place for this. In the revised prototype, there's a box for crew; with 16mm squares (the same size as standard dice). This house the crew dice before they're allocated; so there's a physical object to move to the relevant region – I think that'll add to the feeling of commanding a crew, as per design principle 3. +

+ This space also organically tracks crew casualties; placing a marker to fill a box after a casualty is taken is a physical reminder not to place a die in the pool; so you won't forget in the heat of battle. +

+++

+ Approach 2: Regional crew +

+ A simpler approach entirely, rather than a allocating crew from a central pool this approach has dedicated crew to the various sections – somewhat similar to the abstract servitor clades and so forth of Imperial Titans. The advantage of this is that we can bring forth the specific character of the crew types – gretchin riggers, ork stokers and so forth; bringing the different types out in Critical Damage results etc. +

+ It means that the enemy can target particular locations, and the orks can't simply redirect krew from other areas. This may or may not be an attractive option – personally, I like the fact that the Kaptin can just send a mob to replace the last lot; but I'd be interested to hear your views. +

+ This approach does have the advantage of being simpler and less hands-on. A Gargant Bigmob (Maniple) would become much more streamlined and easy to manage – potentially useful, if a great number of Gargants is in use. There simply wouldn't be much micromanagement for the ork player to do; and that design space could potentially return attention to the Engine Room (i.e. the Plasma Reactor equivalent) or other areas of the game – perhaps creating a Bigmob-wide 'Waaagh/morale' mechanic. +

+++

+ Next inload +

+ Next time I'll show the revised Command Terminal for the Great Gargant, and give some concrete examples of allocating krew. However, as mentioned above, I'd really appreciate any thoughts on which you'd prefer to see based on this theoretical inload. Remember the design principles – which feels orkier? Which is going to make for a more fun, fluid game? +

+ Finally, if anyone would like to playtest these rules, I think they'll be ready to roll out towards the end of the month – I would very much appreciate some practical field experience, however limited. So if you fancy it, let me know how you get on. +

+++

+ Engine War power generation +

+ Continuing from the previous inload about Engine War, (+noospheric inload link+: http://apologentsia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/concept-inload-engine-war-zoggin-eck.html), I thought I'd write a little bit about the power generation system of the game – mainly as an excuse to post the cool Gary harrod artwork at the top of this post! +

+ Basic thoughts +

+ When writing any rules, I aim to strike a balance between character and simplicity. My personal preference is for very abstract and hands-off mechanics; so that there's maximum freedom for putting your own interpretation on the events, and minimum space for confusion or complexity. 

+ For example, while there's a lot of pleasure in long tables of mutations or weapon malfunction effects, they do slow down the game, which can make things drag. Besides, however many D1000 tables you write to explain the effects, you can never quite match the creative possibilities that a simple 'hit' result can entail in the player's imagination. 

+ However, in a game involving only three or four models, there needs to be something to do. Warmachine is fantastic for balancing complexity (managing the 'Focus' system) with a clean ruleset. It was an obvious source of inspiration. 

+ Differentiation and initial approach +

+ Imperial, Ork and Eldar forces fight very differently in Epic: Armageddon. They share common rules, but also have a few well-picked unique rules that help create the flavour of the army. As mentioned in the earlier post, I didn't want to have just one basic system for the different factions; but for each to work differently; so I worked out each type simultaneously.

+ In Warmachine, a Warjack can (mostly) be given a maximum of three Focus points per turn. This works nicely, as that's generally not quite enough to do everything you want to do, which makes for an interesting resource management system. In Engine War, I wanted to get a similar balance of not quite being able to everything you want to do. 

+ The game differs from Warmachine in that the models are creating their own 'power', rather than drawing from a single leader – a process that tends to mean you have to have a hard limit to allow for the fine balance of Warmachine. 

+ In Engine War, a typical model have far more weapons than the typical two a Warmachine model has; so more power is needed for each model. Typically, a War Engine of the Battle Titan class we're looking at initially will generate between three and six useable power a turn; with the orks having a much greater variance, and the Eldar a hard limit. 

+ Imperial Titans +

Power generation During the Control phase, generate power for your War Engines as described.
Plasma reactor: Generate 1D3+2 Plasma counters during in the Control phase, if the Plasma reactor system is not crippled. If this system is crippled, the War Engine generates no Plasma counters.

+ Imperial Warlord Titans (the basic Titan) will use these Plasma Reactor rules to generate Plasma counters; which can then be spent in various ways. (When I add the other Titan types, I'll adjust the general rule to be generic, and add the specific number to the Titan type rules – smaller Reavers will generate less, for example).

+ This system works in a very similar way to the Focus mechanic. The Plasma system can be used to improve the aiming of weapon fire, fire additional shots (from suitable weapons), increasing damage and regenerating shields, amongst other things. It's the most basic of the systems. 

+ Unlike Focus, not all of the Plasma Counter will be removed at the end of the turn. Instead, they will overcharge the void shields, and potentially provide a reservoir of power for the following turn. There'll be a 'safe limit'; above which the Titan will start getting overheats and problems. This will hopefully create a balancing act between holding plasma enough to protect yourself and act as insurance against an unlucky low roll the following turn; and using the plasma to cause more damage, regenerate shields and generally be useful.

+ Damage to the Titan's plasma reactor will result in a drop-off of power and the safe limit. Eventually, I'll add rules for critical damage – and the amount of plasma left in a generator will affect any resultant earth-shattering kaboom! +

+ Eldar Titans +

Infinity Circuit: Generate 3 psi-counters during in the Control phase, if the Infinity Circuit system is not crippled. If this system is crippled, the War Engine generates D3 psi-counters.

+ More reliable than Imperial's roiling plasma reactors and ork's atomic boilers, Eldar Titans draw power from the warp via the the Titan's Infinity circuit. The Infinity circuit acts as a safety valve to the warp. For important cultural reasons, the Eldar are very wary about making use of the Warp, so always operate within very tightly-reined safety limitations. Should the Infinity circuit become damaged, it collapses the link – so there's never the risk that the system will cause a warp rift. 

+ At the end of the turn, the psi-points are bled away. Eldar Titan shields don't work on damage resistance or amelioration; so there's no need to hold onto power.

+ In game terms, this means Eldar Titans generate less focus than the others; though this is balanced by the fact that their basic stats are better, and also that Eldar Titans have fewer weapons in general, so less need to use power points to activate them. The system is also generally more reliable than the Imperial or Ork systems; and won't result in a catastrophe that damages nearby friends. This becomes important when you see the interaction between holofields (which encourage the Eldar player to bunch up). 

+ On the other hand, while it means Eldar Titans will almost always be able to do what you want, they're never going to surprise you with being better than you expect – exactly as a haughty space elf might deign to help you. 

+ This system is much simpler and cleaner than the others; and this is in part because Eldar Titans will have to concentrate much harder on manoeuvre and rationing their power in the movement phase. +

+ Ork Gargants +

+ Right, these are more complicated than the others! This is for a number of reasons:

1. Ork technology is less refined and sophisticated (though no less advanced or capable) than the 'pink species', and I wanted to capture the sense of tinkering that should warm the heart of any good mek.
2. I wanted to introduce a risk mechanic. Gargants will require far more micromanagement, but with the reward that they will be far more puissant than an equivalent Titan. However, that'll need to be balanced against the threat of overcooking things, which'll make the Gargant far worse than the equivalent.
3. I didn't want ork tactics to be one-dimensional. Since their weapons are typically shorter-ranged than Imperial or Eldar guns, I wanted to ensure that the ork player had some interesting and fun choices to make in the early turns.
4. Gargants tend to have lots and lots of secondary weapons. I wanted to ensure that the ork player had the potential to fire them all; as well as their primaries.

+ So, there's the reasons; here's the execution: 

Atomic Furnace: Nominate a number of undamaged Furnace boxes in the Control phase, then roll an number of D3s equal to the number. Generate a number of Steam counters equal to the result. For every undamaged Furnace box not nominated, remove a Steam counter. 

Steam counters are not removed during the Maintenance phase. If the number of Steam counters exceeds the Threshold at the end of the Control phase, roll on the emergency vent table for every point over the Threshold.

+ For reference, an undamaged Great Gargant has six furnace boxes, and a Threshold of twelve. This provides a few interesting calculations. An undamaged Great Gargant can potentially generate 18 Steam Counters; but would then have to roll six times on the emergency vent table (tune in next time for information on this) – virtually guaranteeing that the Gargant will blow its boilers, start a load of fires and lose all of its Steam Counters.

+ A more wily Warboss will order the riggers to generate from just four Furnace boxes; which will get him 6 Steam Counters on average (4 x D3 = 8 - 2 for the venting boxes). +

+ Steam Counters will build up – i.e. they won't be removed at the end of the turn – which will prove at the heart of maintenance. After a surprising high roll one turn, the Gargant commander might generate from just two furnace boxes; generating 2D3 and bleeding off 4; for a net gain of 0. 

+ At the start of the game, the Gargant commander will be able to use Steam Counters to boost his Power Fields and movement; keeping his defences up as he closes with the faster, longer-ranged Imperial or Eldar opponents. As he closes, Steam can be diverted to the multiple secondary gun decks to allow them to fire a blistering broadside; plus to boost the primary weapons' power. Ork guns are going to have fairly unimpressive stats, so they'll be well-advised to use the atomic furnaces to boost their power. On the other hand, they'll have far more guns as standard than opposing Titans, and access to more potential power; so close-up, they should be intimidating.

+ If that sounds scary to potential Imperial or Eldar players, the fire mechanic should provide some relief. I'll look into this a bit more next time, along with more information on defensive systems. +