How it feels to be totally pwnd in Override

Greetings friends!

Last night me and Tom played a game of Override over Vassal with some interesting results.

For starters after playing our game with miniatures on a real board the other week (first real in person game for months) using Vassal just isn't the same.

So much about this game is visual and about the use of height. To varying degrees this just isn't possible with the use of Vassal.

Secondly; I got totally pwnd! Not only did I make bad decisions but I was outmatched and outgunned at all occasions.

Looking back over my results I can see that part of the problem I faced was down to trying my best to allow every model compete in all situations - giving them all close combat as well as ranged weapons. Really I should be instead giving certain units certain weapons and making the most of them that way. All those ranged units with melee weapons add up to about 100Nt wasted. Same with those who are melee focussed but given shotguns.

I understand where this mentality comes from; it's left overs from games like Necromunda where you needed to have every gang member compete in both situations. This isn't the case in Override. Instead with Override, as every game is limited by the points you can bring you want to be as cost efficient as possible. If you have a melee unit, you want them to be as good at melee as possible, and you want to use all their actions to maximise this. Any actions which are not utilising them to their full potential are wasted actions that could be better spent doing something else.

This is something that forces like UEF are particularly useful for as with the right equipment they are able to divert Interact Actions from one model to another (such as allowing a single dude with a missile launcher to make 3 shots in a single turn).

So what happened?

For starters the game was rushed. We were short on time and looking to test a couple of things/changes but only had 2 hours to do so.

Now playing a game of Override in 2 hours is actually quite easy to do once you are familiar with the rules. Where other games celebrate having a low model requirement of 8-12, Override tends to have 3-6 models each side. When each unit can only do 2 actions a turn, that's only 6-12 actions per side per turn!

The problem we faced is 2-Fold:

1). As we are still testing and re-testing, we can't just 'play a game'. Instead we have to analyse what we are doing and if that is fair, balanced and fun.

2). Tom & I like to talk while playing our games, and before the game and even after the game. In last night's case, with 2 hours available, 30minutes of those 120 minutes had passed before we even started placing terrain! This isn't a bad thing, but being aware of the time limit I almost certainly didn't take the time I should have to ensure I was making the right moves.**

** Also I had lots of things I wanted to test out; fun new gadgets if you will, things like the Teleporter for my Hacker. As such I made the classic MMO "Watch this!" mistake (you know the one, you just learned a new ability, so want to try it out, have everyone looking at you, jump in front to the group, do your thing and then immediately faceplant).

Then there was the case of bad dice. When I tried to attack with things like my HMG equipped with a DigiScope, I rolled high, when it came to injury rolls at the end of the game, I rolled low killing off 3 of my force instantly loosing their skills and equipment. Harsh but at the same time we had previously played many games (maybe 5-8) and had only 1 death. It's not a flaw with the rules, only bad luck.
- However, considering we're looking at people who were hit dead-on by Bio-Seeking Explosive rockets, it's not particularly surprising that they were killed. It's not as if either you or I could survive that sort of hit.

But you know what? I had a blast!

I really enjoyed it, every moment of getting my Kratel ass handed to me was sheer fun! Largely because it felt right. As my Red Claw ran towards the enemy base, out stepped a dude with a missile launcher and maintained peace through superior firepower!

Now let's be honest, how many games have you played where you had your ass handed to you? Where you were out smarted & out gunned at every turn, but you still enjoyed every minute of it?

Until next time; stay safe and be excellent to each other!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley