Kenny R

View from the Command Deck

I .always leave the editorial till after I have completed the layout of the rest or the magazine in the hope that something might spark a profound thought or two. Somehow it never happens and I end up thinking what will I write about? I managed to miss Games Expo this year through bad diary management and too many people wanting some of my time. From

what I heard it was a great event and due to popularity it will be moving to a new location next year. I was sitting down the other day looking back at all the issues that we have churned out over the last 2 years and the broad church of gaming that we have covered. I was amazed at what we have done but even more amazed about some of the stuff we havn’t yet got round to. I guess there are still a few more games out there to bring to you guys. In Ancible towers Jez and Simon have re-discovered Worldworks (I guess they never really lost WW but when a couple of sets of the new terraclips appeared they got the building bug and have been creating all sorts of stuff which we have been using to play games on. I am going to try and get them to do something in the next issue so you can see what they have been up to. Andy on the other hand seems to be going down the plaser brick route and managed to persuade his in-laws to do a quick detour past Hirst Arts in the US to pick up a load of moulds so I am guessing that there is an article there as well. As for me I will keep on trying to find interesting snippes of information and the odd game that pushes the war games boundries. So sit down with a cup of Tea and drink in Issue 16.

Our aim is to introduce YOU to the games you don’t yet know

AncibleTHE

Magazine Team

Managing Director – Kenny RobbKenny@the-ancible.comProduction Editor – Christine Carterchristine@the-ancible.comSubscriptions and Merchandising – Simon Parkinsonsimon@the-ancible.comSnr Review Writer – Jez Faircloughjez@the-ancible.comSnr Staff Writer – Ian Cookianc@the-ancible.comSnr Staff Writer – Ian Barstowianb@the-ancible.com

ContributorsAndy Walker, Spencer D Taylor, Timothy Colonna

Article SubmissionsThe team welcomes ideas for articles and in the first instance you should contact Kenny Robb (kenny@the-ancible.com) for some handy hints on submission. Please note that while every care is taken with your submitted material we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage that may occur.

Artwork SubmissionsAre you a budding artist or are you already established? You should contact Kenny Robb (kenny@the-ancible.com). We will take every care with any work you send us but unfortunately we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage that may occur.

ReviewsManufacturers and publishers are invited to send in samples of their products for our team to review in the magazine.

Disclaimer: The publisher cannot be responsible for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text is the copyright of AKR Productions. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure that all the information is correct at time of print, process, availability and specification may change. This magazine is independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.The opinions expressed in The Ancible are those of the authors alone and should not be construed to represent the opinion of the publisher.Khador Gun Carriage Battle Engine and related WARMACHINE elements ©2001 - 2011 Privateer Press, Inc. Privateer Press®, WARMACHINE®, Khador, and their logos are trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc.

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The Ancible Issue 16 Empire of the Dead

Empire of the Dead is another game from those fine people at West Wind (http://www.westwindproductions.co.uk), but unlike SOTR (Secrets of the Third Reich) and all things weird World War II, Empire of the Dead is a different kettle of fish.

Set in 1888 (A very popular year for Victorian wargaming), Empire of the Dead has a Steampunk/Victorian Sci-Fi feel to it. The game itself pits various factions against each other in a battle for supremacy. Its style very much like Necromunda in the fact that it has a campaign system already included in the book, but it’s a game that has its own ideas on how the world is and how everything is played out.

The book is a full colour A4 hardback of 153 pages, which is more than enough to contain everything you need. A nice opening story at the start of the book sets the scene and the atmosphere of the game, and then the rest is the raw guts required to get on and play. The story is from the point of view of a Gentleman’s, Gentleman. It tells the reader what is going on in the era and some of the trials that his master has come up against. The style can be a bit rambling, but that’s spot on as I’m sure if faced with some of the horrors portrayed in the book we’d all be a bit incoherent. There is plenty

of artwork throughout the book to give everyone a good look on how the world feels and a look at the characters that inhabit it. After the beginning story, the rule book is broken up into four main elements: The Game Rules, Faction Rules and Information, Playing a Game, and finally Campaign Rules.

by Jez Fairclough

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The Ancible Issue 16 Empire of the Dead

The Rules The rules for Empire of the Dead are not very complicated. That’s not to say you can just brush over them and hope to be playing in five minutes time. Like any set of rules, they take a couple of reads to make sure you know what you are doing and no doubt a few games are needed to iron out any misreading of the finer points.

The system works on a typical IGO-UGO (I go-You go) method that is used in a lot of games currently on the market. While a popular method of deciding how both sides fight, I much prefer a system that allows you to act one model per side at a time. In Skirmish games it gives you more of a whirling style of game. Plus I hate that my Army could be crippled before I’ve even had a real chance to react. But every game will have a popular mechanic that some don’t like. You have to just deal with the

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The Ancible Issue 16 Empire of the Dead

minor things and look at the overall game

system. Initiative is worked

out on a simple dice roll. The highest roll wins, but if it’s a draw after the first turn, Imitative goes to the side that didn’t have it last turn.

Each round starts with a Maintenance phase where players look at resolving past injuries, compulsory movement or anything else that is outside the normal game turn. Because it’s an IGO-UGO game each model moves and completes all his actions before moving onto the next one. This can give a player a little bit of flexibility and ensure he’s not sending a model to where he’s not wanted, or even send him to where he is wanted if things are going wrong. It can also help when shooting as a model doesn’t have to waste shots on something removed earlier in your own game turn.

When moving models you can expect to deal with the normal things you typically find in most games. No real surprises here. A nice simple system for climbing up and down walls etc., has been included which really does help; however the game system doesn’t give you any bonuses for fighting from an elevated position. I feel this could have been an oversight, but it doesn’t break the game if you don’t have it.

Like a lot of games, EoTD uses a skill (Combat or Marksmanship) for the various combat elements. What it does to make itself slightly different is instead of needing a sliding scale target number to hit something you have a definite target of 10. To reach this number you roll a D10, add the relevant skill and then add or subtract anything that could affect it (Cover, weather, Right Colour Trousers for the game period). If you equal or beat 10 then you hit, if you don’t you miss. It’s as simple as that. Then using the opposed roll chart you compare the weapons strength with the Fortitude of the target. This will give you a target number required to actually wound the model.

Close combat works a little different. You both roll the amount of attacks you have and then modify each number based on the chart, for example, +2

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The Ancible Issue 16 Empire of the Dead

for charging. The winner is the person with the highest roll, however if they are both the same you look at each models Combat value and the person with the highest wins. You would only reroll if you both still have the same, which is common when low end models meet each other, but not often if you are charged or stupid enough to charge a 600 pound fur and teeth killing machine (A werewolf for those not in the know.)

You would then move onto the wound roll as I mentioned before. Though in close combat you roll once per attack and take the best roll, which in my case tends to be removed from play. When injured models can have one of 4 states:

Flesh Wound: Who cares keep on fighting. It doesn’t affect anything.

Discombobulated: Most games just call this stunned, but the different term fits the era and ethos of the game. Models in this state can move

each turn (2”) but it’s the general head for cover style. Models can cope with getting this state multiple times in a turn will no more ill effects.

Down: The model has been knocked down, it can crawl for cover like a discombobulated model, but unlike a model at that state if it takes another Down result its removed from play.

Removed from Play: Very easy to work out what this does. If you’re playing a campaign game using

the rules then you will be rolling on the Injury chart at the end of the game and hoping for a low number.

This is the same roll that you make every maintenance phase for any model that has a down or discombobulated marker

on them. Though if a model is down and you roll down

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