SpecOps: A Gruntz Module now available on WargameVault.com!

Written by myself and published on WargameVault, SpecOps: a Gruntz Module is now available!

SpecOps is a Gruntz Module that brings the exciting second-to-second action of Special Operations missions and campaigns to the tabletop.

Available here for $3.99

NEW RULES: New rules for stealth operations, contact blips, hacking enemy soldiers and more!

NEW WEAPONS and EQUIPMENT: Specialist grenades, expanded weapon lists and more armor types to outfit your operatives. Hack enemy cybernetics with SLAM modules!

NEW MISSIONS: Eight new missions along with a branching campaign make running your games easy and interesting.

NEW TEAM TYPES: Choose from eight different types of teams with their own unique perkz each and further customize your troops with Species Traits to represent Aliens and Humans.

NEW OFF-BOARD RESOURCES: Light up your enemy with a UAV drone, or maybe an orbital strike with your new off-board resources.

NEW CAMPAIGN MODE: Advance your skills, build up your equipment stores and nurse your wounds with the new campaign mode that keeps your operatives from game to game.

The Gruntz Ver 1.1 rulebook is required for this module.

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Here is a review of SpecOps.  Rocco was sent a Pre-release pdf for free in exchange for an honest review and feedback:

Tech Report of “Spec Ops” a Gruntz Module by Clear Horizon Miniatures

By: Rocco P. Yoculan

Nerd Rage Painting Service

I was given a chance to give my opinion of the new Gruntz Module Spec Ops by Clear Horizon Minis, after speaking to Harold I was given a prerelease copy of the new module. What follows is my report of the new rule system for 15mm special operators in the Sci-Fi genre.

Book Cover and Layout 

                Right off the bat, the cover shows a night vision scene of two “Hell Divers” bounding with their tactical displays showing on their HUD (Head up Display), boldly displays the title and is eye catching and not over the top. The PDF is very well done with the rules being listed and written out with a natural flow that was very easy to follow. The PDF is also filled with the right amount pictures and original artwork so that it does not feel like filler.

The Rule System

Activation: This worked very well for our test games, we also for the hell of it tried random card placement for all the units on the table. Both worked out well and as I explained to my group. look at Activation as not just who goes first but who reacts first.

The Blip Mechanic: My first read through left me a little confused but after I played it I saw what you were trying to do. This worked well on a 2 by 2 table with ample terrain placed. This also put in a layer of tactical complexity that felt absolutely right. Moving the blips around and trying to stay out of sight until it was necessary to start the fight on my terms vs do I just open up on this blip exposing myself and driving forward came up a lot and was very interesting. The spotting rules felt just as natural as well.

Grenades: The new grenades were cool, and a great addition to the game. It did come up weather or not the grenade thrower becomes spotted if he throws a grenade. I claimed he did not and we played it that way. I found the grenades to be very useful if not overlooked. The Decoy grenade was a bit hard to follow at first but once we understood it creates a decoy blip that your opponent knows is a fake marker but can spot his markers at skill 3 became one of my favorite tools not forgetting the Hacker of course!

Reactive Fire: Very well thought out. This also left player with a lot of tactical decisions to make including whom to assign to overwatch (sniper and or SAW gunner) vs making a solid assault or a layered defense. Depending on the mission played an Operator on overwatch was vital because of the one spot rule. Being able to move the model being shot at 1 inch to avoid the shot but stopping the advance is a brilliant mechanic that adds realistic flavor to the game.

Shooting and the Weapons: Again very well thought out and I liked the range band modifiers for the weapons.  Most of the weapons felt right, I did how ever think the ranges on the Shotguns were too high and should be shortened slightly and the AE effect removed. I work with tactical firearms daily and shotguns are abysmal field combat weapons but Kings of CQB. In CQB with standard 00 buck 0-7 yards there is very little spread and at 15-20 yards is all you have for combat effectiveness anything after that range requires a slug with 50-75 yards being optimal effective range. Yes both calibers are deadly past these ranges but the probability of hitting a target and taking him out of action is low. Just my 2 cents and I know how difficult it is to make a game shotgun feel right. 

Nat Net: Having a battlefield hacker proved to be a lot of fun and is useful as a Denial/Buff unit on your team and is one of my favorite team members. The rules are straight forward and easy to use and do not pull the players out of the action.

Team Building 

                I vote this be renamed “How to kill an entire afternoon making the perfect Black Ops Team” I’m a tinkerer and one of the things I love about Gruntz is making up my own Units. This was gamer cocaine to me and I loved every minute of it! The Point cap is spot on allowing me to make hardcore teams but not gods and of course the age old gamer question do I want Quality or Quantity? The off board assets and squad equipment are great and add flavor to the games we played.

Missions & Campaigns 

       The missions we played were Assassinate, Hostage Rescue, and Infiltration. All played smooth (as smooth as gamers can play before utter chaos erupts) and were easy to set up and run. I really like the campaign rules and am looking forward to getting one off the ground in the near future. The Injury mechanic is cool and reminds me of Mordhiem from days past. Unit advancement looked right and was not even remotely over complicated. 

Conclusion 

                This was a fantastic module to play and we had a lot of fun play testing it. This game plays like a First Person Shooter on the table top and is fast and deadly! It also had a great amount of tactical gameplay to it that does not slow it down. Harold you and your team achieved what you set out to do.  I’m looking forward to seeing the final version once everyone’s input is shared. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to give my opinion on this module.

 Roc 

  

End of Report…

ClearHorizon Miniatures is proud to offer the Gruntz Activation Cards!

Available at: http://clearhorizonminiatures.com/shop/shop/rules/activation-cards-for-gruntz-15mm/

If you're interested in picking up the new Gruntz Activation cards we now stock them at ClearHorizon Miniatures!

Only $7.00, which is the lowest price anywhere!

There is also a video overview on the product page by Robin that gives a great overview on how to use them to spruce up your Gruntz games.

I personally use them by dealing a number of cards equal to the number of units on each side to the controlling player and then assigning them face down.

Then the players reveal their cards in order from highest to lowest, which adds a bit of pre-planning and battlefield fog-of-war to the game. Makes for some tense moments!

Gruntz 15mm: D.E.A.T.H. Teams cyborg army

Ok so I managed to finish off the middle sized cyborgs for the army. They are the Synod's highly skilled shock troops and commandos. They drop from orbit using a combo grav pack/ shield generator which is used up during the jump. The empty packs are buried before the troops head out to their objective to reduce the risk of enemy observation.

The Jotuns are about twice the size of a standard bio-bod immortal and carry full auto lasers to support their smaller brothers.

All of the cyborgs are very fast and can cover a lot of ground. All cyborgs have the long runners perk, and some have the ultimate agility perk giving them a move of 7" standard.

All,in all the force is a fast hard hitting and we'll armored force but very expensive points-wise as befits a highly capable commando unit.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Battle on New-Tokyo - a small scale Gruntz Skirmish game between the Hell Divers and Pale Riders (Ex-RUSK)

By Harold
From: http://clearhorizonsalvage.blogspot.com/

Hell Divers from ClearHorizon Miniatures
RUSK from Armies Army
Gruntz available from: WargameVault

Buildings from Gamecraft Miniatures
Sidewalks, Planters, and Barricades from Warsenal
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This game is a little different than what you'll normally see.

Each force had four figures and each figure operated independently.  We built each figure using the Gruntz Specialist rules with a couple of guidelines for damage, sizes and armor etc.

We had a lot of fun.  It turned into a very tactical game where neither of us were willing to push and flank as much as we should have.  With only four figures it seems like any damage was very dangerous to the goal of accomplishing the mission.

It came down to putting the figures in the right places and hoping for luck.  Much like real life.

Both forces were pretty equally matched.  I want to do a game in the future that has asymmetrical forces to really push the boundaries of this ruleset.

It was about 100 points a side and took about an hour or so.

For activation we dealt a card from a normal card deck to each player for however many figures they had left.

Each player would then assign the cards so that the figures would activate from highest to lowest. We decided before hand which suits were in which order.

We would then announce the highest card we have and compare to the other player.  Whoever had highest would activate their figure and so forth.  This had a fun random and planned aspect to it that really added to the game.

We also ruled that grenades could be thrown at spots instead of just figures with normal to roll and scatter.

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Gruntz 15mm Sci-Fi - Activation Cards Preview

By Harold

Check out the newest Gruntz add-on preview over at the Gruntz Blog

Robin from Gruntz! is showing off his new card activation deck for Gruntz.

Activation Cards

At many of the show games for Gruntz I have been playing with the activation cards. They add a dynamic feel to the game with less of the I-GO-U-GO feel. They also allow for games with more than 2 players because the activation sequence is determined randomly by assigning cards, so players feel like they are involved rather than waiting their turn.

To support this play style I have been developing a dedicated deck of 62 cards for Gruntz. They are a smaller half poker card size, so ideal for the 15mm scale where you don't want to ruin the table by having a larger poker deck strewn across your terrain layout.

Here is a sample of the draft card back and a couple of the card fronts.  There are around 20 of the 62 cards that have some sort of special result for the unit which adds a bit more chaos to the battlefield. These abilities could be ignored if you just want to use the cards to determine activation sequence.

Using these rules result in a card being assigned face down to each unit on the table (or vehicle) and when they are turned face up you can determine which unit activates by the number on the card. The highest number activates first and then you work back down to the lowest. 

They are heading off now for printing a draft proof set of cards and should be available to order in the next 6-8 weeks (once any final layout and rule tweaks are adjusted). 

I'm very excited about these. I'm working on a simple reaction system for Gruntz as well and I think these would fit in nicely.

I envision using these as follows:

• Each player is dealt a number of cards based on how many units they have (1:1 for each unit)
• Each player (alternating) assigns cards to their units. They can assign any cards to any units, even putting multiple cards on the same unit.
• Everyone reveals the cards and you activate from highest to lowest.

I (ClearHorizon Miniatures) was at the Gamex Convention this last weekend.  I played a lot of demo games and got a lot of folks interested in 15mm gaming.  I look forward to playing more games!

Gruntz currently 30% off for the PDF at Wargame Vault. Grab a bargain!

By Harold

Hi everyone,  if you've been wanting to get the Gruntz! PDF, now is the time!

They are currently 30% off from Wargame Vault.

Normal Price, $14.00, currently only $9.80!  That is quite a bargain for a full featured ruleset.

Avalible here: http://www.wargamevault.com/product/92879/Gruntz-15mm-SCIFI

Titanium Dropship 2014 - The end is near (but what's next?)

You've got just under five hours left to submit your entry/entries... So far I've got 30 entries (14 squads, 13 vehicles and 3 pieces terrains), I sure hope to see some more coming in before midnight (UTC)!

But what's next? 

Chance are I'll be fast asleep when the last one comes in. So far, I've uploaded the entries already received and will add tonight bounty to it. Then I'll invite the three judges (David "Dwartist" Woods, Steve Dean and  Robbin "Gruntz" Fitton) to review them and come up with the three best out of each category. That's lots of though calls to be made so I expect this to take a couple of days at least. And once the winners are known, I'll start publishing the entries (all of them) and contacting the winners (in the previously discussed order) to invite them to choose a prize which will be send directly to them by the sponsors offering it.

Stay tuned!

Critical Mass Games releases Gruntz Imperator Mecha

The Gruntz Imperator Mecha, (previewed earlier this year) is now available from Critical Mass Games!

Standing over 80mm tall, this is one of the biggest and most heavily-armed mecha ever designed specifically for 15mm gaming.  These would be a great centerpiece for any existing army, escorting mechanized infantry platoons and destroying enemy super-heavy tanks.  Or you could run a platoon of these on their own - stomping around urban battlefields and slaughtering entire squadrons of Rebel Minis HAMRs or Critical Mass Protolene Walkers.  If you want to see some more pictures of this monster, check out Robin Fitton's assembly log here and a finished gallery here.

Click HERE to buy them - £20.00 each or FOUR for £60.00.

Cheers,
Chris

Preview: Grunts Imperator Mecha

Robin Fitton got in touch with the Dropship Crew and shared some sneak peek photos of the Gruntz Imperator 60 ton mecha. You might have seen the concept sketch of it in the main rulebook, but here it is in the resin (which in Robin's words is "a bit rough")! The final model will be in metal though and stands about 80mm tall.

The legs will be posable to make it either standing or walking and some torso twisting is possible as well. It comes with a particle cannon, a missile launcher and the multi-barrel cannon lying in front of it. The metal master has been cast and ready to go into production so we should hopefully see the Imperator available for sale before the New Year.

There are three more mecha from Gruntz in the pipeline as well (you can see one on the Gruntz front page). They range from smaller to larger with one that might be almost twice the size of the Imperator! So get your mech pilots ready...

While it's not up for pre-order quite yet, you can head over to the Gruntz Yahoo group and voice your interest to help gauge how large the initial production run should be.

  

Gruntz is here at last!

Over the last year of development the Gruntz 15mm project has grown into something special. What started out as a straight-forward 15mm Sci-fi rule-set has become something of a field manual for the new wargaming recruit. I would have no hesitation to put a copy of Gruntz in the hands of someone with little or no experience of the hobby and let them loose. Author Robin Fitton credits the enthusiastic collaboration of the Gruntz Yahoo group for this evolution. 

Gruntz presents both basic and more advanced modes of play while keeping the content very accessible. Compared to most minis rules I've encountered this is perhaps the most 'noob friendly' set I've seen in a long, long time. At the outset of the project Robin set clear objectives for the final version of Gruntz  to reach:

• A flexible design and points system to facilitate quick creation of unit cards based on new manufacturer models or player preference.
• Rules covering sci-fi play, including cyber or neural net warfare yet with scope for B-Movie style monsters.
• All mechanics based on D6.
• Profiles to match existing manufacturer models from GZG, Old Crow Models, Critical Mass, Rebel Miniatures and Khurasan.

A major factor working in favour of this project has been support and cooperation from the community of 15mm Sci-fi manufacturers. As a result, the game allows you to field the infantry (Gruntz) of your choice alongside any vehicle, support or equipment available or imaginable.

Tremendous effort has gone into creating the Gruntz Unit Builders which allow you to play with any figure, model or critter you wish and have a point cost for that unit to help you plan your games.

The mechanics of the game are very straight forward. The only dice required are d6. Six to eight differently coloured pairs of d6 would be ideal for play. Yet Grunts is a subtle enough game to satisfy experienced gamers.

Where Gruntz really shines is in the way unit information is organised. Each Gruntz squad or unit has a profile card presenting all the information needed for play. Each card can be slipped into a protective sleeve (like for trading cards) and during play any changes to the unit's status is recorded with an erasable marker.

Vehicles are robust; they might be hampered by successful critical hits, but remain effective until actually destroyed. This really looks to be a good design choice for a 15mm game where vehicles are important for fun and exciting play.

An excellent Optional Rules section allows the basic game to become much more complex. We have played with all the initiative / unit activation options. The standard game allows a new player a good sense of how their forces can work together dynamically.  The optional Alternate Activation rules are what I'm used to from most of the games I currently play and so I was very comfortable with that. But the Playing Card Activation method was new to our group and it added tremendous tension to each turn. I think we will be playing with this mod a lot.

Playing in your own sandbox is fun & it's clear that Gruntz supports that type of play. The unit builders will let you do exactly that. However, the optional Faction and Background material offer useful structure and ideas for gamers at many levels.

Six scenarios designed for pick-up or tournament play provide a handy tool to bring this game into the competitive club scene. 

On a personal note, I'm uncomfortable with 'Heroic Commanders' that have multiple wounds. But we are talking Sci-fi, and need to encompass unknowable aliens, hegemonising swarms and even powerful monsters. A flexible way to portray command structures and special units is an important feature. I think this is a good one.

For my New Israelis & UNSC, I'm happy to imagine that for the same points cost my commander 'hero' is in fact a command team, capable of taking some damage, firing some weapons & still running the show.
 
Gruntz offers us many options. We can play within the offered background or not. The game can be simple or complex. The setting can be hard sci-fi or more like a Culture novel or even a classic B-movie. Gruntz works to bring your 15mm Sci-fi skirmish game to life.

Gruntz 15mm is available right now via Wargames Vault.
Visit the Gruntz website to find out more.