Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Invasion

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review. 

Invasion is another favorite of mine, owning largely to the thematic nature of the scenario. The goal in this one is to capture an enemy objective and drag it back home. Once it's in your deployment zone, you basically win.

Invasion has two 50mm objectives, one 40mm objective, one 30mm objective, and two flags. I find this to be the oddest layout in the packet. The 50mm objectives are both in the center, 20 inches up from the back board edge, but the 40mm objective is way over, just eight inches from the side. And the 30mm objective on the other side of the board is far more central. 

The flags are wacky on this scenario, and although it's really difficult to tell from the illustration on the map, I believe that both flags are eighteen inches up from the back and 14 inches from the side. These flags are placed opposite to how they normally are, which means that players will be picking the objective terrain on their opponent's side of the board. This likely means that objective terrain will be located far more centrally that in other scenarios.

Another wacky thing about this scenario is that while the primary goal is to move the 50mm objectives back into your own deployment zone, the 30mm and 40m objectives can be moved as well, but only by the opposing team. This scenario is likely to see the same terrain issues as with Payload, and players will need to quickly learn to spot obstructions which may hinder their ability to drag those 50mm objectives back home.

I also imagine this scenario having a bit of a reverse rubber band effect, where the further from the center those objectives get, the easier it is to score and thus to drag them. 

I'm sure that certain scenarios will quickly gain reputations. I look forward to seeing which are which, and to experiencing the new Steamroller goodness. Happy gaming!

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Two Fronts

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Two Fronts has two 50mm objectives, two 40mm objectives, and that one wacky 30mm objective. 

This scenario is far less complex than most others in the Steamroller 2024 packet. Two 50mm objectives on one side, and two 40mm objectives on the other side, with the 30mm objective sitting square in the middle, just nine inches away from player two deployment.

The solo rules twist in Two Fronts is that if a player scores both 50mm objectives or both 40mm objectives, he gets 4VP rather than just 2VP. I foresee a lot of unit-on-unit skirmishes happening between the two 40mm objectives.

Other than that, Two Fronts is extremely straightforward. Stay tuned for tomorrow's review of the final Steamroller 2024 scenario: Invasion!

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Payload

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

When I first read the Steamroller 2024 packet and came to the realization of what Payload actually was, it immediately became my favorite of the scenarios. I can't guarantee that will remain the case after I've actually played them, but the notion of pushing an enormous explosive payload towards an enemy building is so narratively cool that it makes the scenario just work.

Payload includes two 50mm objectives, two 40mm objectives, one 30mm objective, and two flags, which of course become the scenario terrain pieces.

The inclusion of one 30mm objective rather than two immediately caught my attention. The 40mm objectives are placed symmetrically - the first player will begin 22 inches from the opponent's 40mm objective, and the second player will begin 17 inches from his opponent's 40mm objective, due to the second player's further deployment. The flags and the 50mm payload objectives are also symmetrical. But then you have this crazy 30mm objective which sits only on one side of the board, just nine inches from the second player's deployment zone. This feels like a fairly large player two advantage, especially since capturing that area of the board will make it easier to push the payload right into the scenario terrain.

When a player scored a 50mm objective (these objectives I'll refer to as "the payload") he moves the objective three inches toward the opponent's objective terrain. Furthermore, the payload is pushed an additional inch for every other objective that the player scored that turn. 

As if that weren't enough, there's the Made to Haul rule, which allows a cohort model a free 5 inches of after-activation movement directly towards it, allowing that cohort model to potentially score (and push!) the objective again on their opponent's turn. The movement is five inches rather than just three to allow for extra movement that the objective may have gotten from scoring other objectives, but because of the was the rule is worded, it's also possible to use that movement to move a model other than the one pushing the objective. This should allow for some interesting movement shenanigans.

I can easily visualize a mob of models blocking the payload from making it those last few inches. It's such a dramatic image. I've already spoken to a friend with a 3d printer and suggested creating 50mm objectives that look like a giant pile of explosives, specifically to use for this scenario.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining two Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

 

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Wolves at Our Heels

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Wolves at Our Heels is one of the craziest scenarios in Steamroller 2024, and introduces a number of surprising new aspects.

The scenario elements in this scenario are 50mm, 40mm, and caches. The objectives are symmetrical, but like Recon MK4, the caches are not the same distance for each player - player two again has a slight advantage.

There are two different things about Wolves At Our Heels which give the scenario extra kick. The first is the The Wolves Advance rule, which is what gives the scenario its name. The killbox advances each turn, and casters must move further and further forward. The killbox on each side begins at the standard twelve inches, but moves up to fourteen inches at the top of turn three, sixteen inches on turn four, eighteen inches on turn five, twenty inches on turn six, and if the game actually goes into turn seven, the killbox will end at an insane twenty-two inches, leaving casters just a four inch area in the center of the table. The killbox moves at the start of player one's turn, and killbox is checked for each player at the end of their own turn, so you'll at least have the time to get out of the killbox as it advances.

The second special rule on Wolves at Our Heels is the one which I find to be a far bigger deal. In this scenario, the 40mm objectives move, and they move only when scored. Then, one time, at the bottom of turn four, you measure the distances of each 40mm objective from the table edge it's moving toward, and the player who pushed the objective furthest scores 3VP, which is a huge sum in Steamroller 2024. It nearly guarantees victory. Thus, pushing that objective can be thought of as the scenario's primary goal. Furthermore, since that objective is moving towards rather than directly towards the opponent's table edge, you might be tempted to move it on a diagonal, but that's going to work against you when scoring happens at the bottom of turn four.

This also means that impassible terrain which might block the progress of a 40mm objective being pushed across the table can be a huge deal. If one side of the table has a building that a player would need to push the objective around, then choosing table sides suddenly has a lot more value, as nobody is going to want that side.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Battle Lines

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Today, we'll be looking at the second scenario in the packet, Battle Lines. Battle Lines introduces a new twist to scenario play: the objectives move. While not as mind-bending as some of the later scenarios in this packet, moving scenarios do add some complexity.

The scenario elements in Battle Lines are 30mm and 40mm objectives, and two flags which will become terrain scenario elements. 

The scenario elements in Battle Lines are actually completely symmetrical, which is unusual for steamroller 2024.

Scoring begins, as always, on the second player's second turn, which gives player two the first chance to score. Starting then, after points are scored, the player ending their turn must move one of the table's four objectives three inches toward the opponent's table edge.

As straightforward as this sounds, there's a lot to think about and take note of here. Firstly, unlike other scenarios, in Battle Lines, an objective is moved every turn regardless of whether it was scored or not. Also, the player ending their turn can choose any of the four, which is important to note because in other scenarios only some objectives will move. 

Scenario elements are moved towards the opponent's table edge rather than directly towards the table edge. This is important to note, because as long as you're moving just a half millimeter towards that table edge, you can take the rest of the movement sideways.

The last thing to note is that when you move objectives, they'll move through any models in their way if they can get completely past them. If not, the objective must stop its movement short. This means that if you want, you can theoretically block the objective's movement. It's unclear to me whether you can have it hit a building and stop, or whether you're then required to have it move to one side in order to get its full three inches of movement.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

 

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Recon MK4

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Today, we'll be looking at the first scenario, Recon MK4, which is easily the most straightforward Warmachine scenario in the packet.

One of the more substantial changes to Steamroller 2024 is the change to deployment zones. The first player will now deploy at only six inches rather than seven, which was previously the case. The second player gains an inch, now deploying at eleven inches rather than ten. Thus, the total distance between the two players remains the same, but one player gains an inch, and the other loses an inch. We can hope that this may alleviate first player advantage.

Killbox is still twelve inches, and the game is still fixed at seven rounds.

Gone now are circular and rectangular zones. They are replaced by 50mm objectives, 40mm objectives, 30mm objectives, 20mm flags, and 20mm caches. The 50mm objectives are scored by warjacks and warbeasts; models must be within 3" to score or contest. 40mm objectives are scored by units. All members of the unit must be within 3" of the 40mm objective to score it, and a model within 3" can contest. The 30mm objectives are scored by a solo within 3", and contested at 3" as well.

The cache is a new scenario element. Caches can be scored by any model, but that model must give up its combat action while base-to-base with the cache in order to score it. A scored cache is removed from play, and can thus be scored only one time, similar to destroying an objective in Steamroller 2023.

The flag is an extremely interesting new scenario element in steamroller 2024. Before deployment, each player moves their own flag to a terrain piece within five inches of that flag. It cannot be a hazard or a piece of scatter terrain, but any other terrain is valid. That terrain is now a scenario element which can be scored by any two models within two inches. You heard me right - any two models. So you might have a warbeast and one model in a unit within two inches, and that's good enough to score it. If the terrain piece is something like a cloud or a forest, it can also be scored from within the terrain piece. However, while bunkers and guard towers can be scenario terrain elements, models cannot score from within a bunker or guard tower.

Looking at the Recon MK4 scenario, it's pretty straightforward.

 

There's just one more thing I'd like to point out about this scenario: the caches are not equidistant. One is 20 inches up from the red side, and the other is eighteen inches up from the blue side. This means that while the first player has 24 inches to go in order to reach that cache, the blue player has only 17 inches to go, and that seven inch advantage seems pretty significant.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!