#killteam2024

its got Rules Bloat things that interrupt the flow of the game without really adding value

so like. I've said it before and I'll yell about it forever warcry is just PERFECT for what I want in a game well, almost. the faction rules are a little underwhelming. its pretty damn close.

none of the rules interrupt or slow gameplay, and it doesn't lose any tactical depth for it but it doesn't work for a SciFi setting, fundamentally, because the existence of Guns totally changes how the game needs to be played

so the warcry framework can't really be applied to SciFi game and OPR Firefight, the simplified SciFi skirmisher, has a good framework but its got a couple big fundamental flaws;

the 'shaken' wounding system makes it feel REALLY BAD when you've got one poor guy that just doesn't get to okay for three rounds in a row. its distinctly not heroic feeling.

the lack of activated abilities or distinct faction rules makes every faction feel like it plays kinda the same, and there isn't really any good cohesion between models

killteam has one absolutely BANGIN thing going for it; being only 'bespoke' teams, each of them has some kind of Gimmick that most of them go kinda crazy awesome example; the raveners they get to tunnel?? they just disappear???? then ambush predator on your ass only when and where THEY want to fight and if they want to lurk and lie in wait in their tunnels they just can, for as long as they want

it gives them a GREAT game feel, very unique playstyle that really gives them character and feeling

but. killteam suffers a lot from Bloat

there are just so many ploys to remember all the time that have super specific activation conditions and a proper game having both crit op and three tac ops and kill op and choosing from universal and faction equipment Every Game and dear goodness the sheer number of KEYWORDS

I was kinda on the fence about it but ultimately the conceal/engage orders I think ARE a good central mechanic that add good interest and decisions to the game, but there's just so much layered on top that thats totally buried and doesn't really get an opportunity to be as significant to the game as it should be

like, I think that if the Orders game mechanic could be as big and central to the game as warcry's Ability Dice that alone is enough to give the gameplay good tactical depth!

its just everything else to worry about and occupy brainspace, to me, overshadows it and overall makes the game feel bad in a way that I previously didn't see any enjoyment in the orders mechanic

game image intermission;

so my preliminary thoughts on making killteam feel better;

equipment is almost good. I think that reducing or even dropping entirely the universal equipment, and allowing only two selections per player, generally feels pretty good.

ploys have just gotta go. not entirely but like they can't stay as they are. the split between strategy and firefight, some of them being so hyperspecific, and having Eight to remember per team is just crazy. I'm not against having an Ability Resource, but this is not good implementation to me. I think that most of the ploys should be worked into activated abilities on datacards (once per round or once per battle), and each player should be allowed to just declare one of their four strategy ploys each round for free

scoring.. crit ops are all good generally. but tac ops are too much, and kill op disincentivizes going for objectives which is I think just generally ungood. so playing one crit op and one tac op each maybe, and ignoring the archetype shittery, might feel better.

the lite rules generally are pretty good and smooth, but there are a few things that need to be included like Vantage and a few that really need to be avoided like the distinction between Heavy Cover/Light Cover/Obscured

the keywords,, ouh. oof ouchies. at minimum they need TRIMMED. that whole situation is rough and i really dont know how to approach it. like i dont hate the idea of weapon keywords and they do add meaning to choices but that list is too damn long and every description it super difficult to parse and just... that needs so much help. and like 5 for ranged and 5 for melee AT MOST.

and now, about the nemesis operative book;

generally, pretty good ! they really feel like something big and scary that you have to respect.

that said, a couple small changes that I think are really necessary; the way the rules are written, every nemesis get the Bulky, Extra Defence, and Towering core rules applied to them. this feels BAD, especially for smaller models being used as nemesis ops. its a bit weird that the Bulky and Towering keywords both are mostly negative with a good thing tacked on, and Extra Defence is Just Good™ so I think that a good way to look at that maybe is that, as there are three size classes, every step up adds an additional one of those rules. so small=ED, med=ED+Bulky, Lrg=ED+Bulky+Towering.