Monday, November 14, 2011

ACP Games, Millenniumcon

Just got back from Millenniumcon in Round Rock Texas. It isn't the largest convention, but it's a lot of fun. Had a great time talking with Jimbo from ACP Games. He had a sweet setup showcasing his miniatures, a great staff helping and a really nice demo table.

Got a chance to try out the Valkyrie (Beta 2) ruleset and I must say, it might be one of the best 15mm rules sets out there. The only downside to the rules (Unless I am wrong) is that they are only written for the ACP Games miniature line. Meaning it doesn't have the ability to create your own units. Still you can easily use proxies with the currently army lists and have a brilliant game.

What really stood out was how the assault rules worked, objectives, cover and the use of command points. We weren't using all the rules since it was a demo, but for a convention, it was perfect. The rule set gives the player tons of options on what to do. The command points really spice up the game and make the game feel much more interactive. The command points in the demo allowed you to call in artillery strikes, bring in reinforcements, rally troops and bump up your initiative rolls. In the demo the way to gain command points was by controlling any one of 3 objective markers. Each objective was worth 5 command points. Command points are used after each round. I used them mostly to call in artillery strikes (3 command points) on targets I wanted to assault.

If a unit takes a casualty during an artillery strike, they are considered suppressed. A suppressed unit is a much easier to assault. In the game I did find that you don't want to tangle with Valkyries in CC. Even when suppressed, they can sometimes (actually did) kick butt.

The game also allows for pre and post measurement, so you always know your enemies range bands.