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Steve Overton

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The Determined Attack card covers a lot of ground. This card allows for a major attack effort with Fire Groups, or with a hard hitting weapons system that you want to apply. Got an enemy in a key position on the ropes? Got him teetering?

That position must fall so: Hit him again!!!


!10 Determined Attack_3.png

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Steve Overton

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The converse of the Determined Attack is the Determined Defense. This position must not fall!!!

The defenders are determined to stay here!

!11 Determined Defense_2.png

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Steve Overton

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One of the original Tactical Event Cards was removed. That was the Dig In event where you could play the card to dig foxholes in a location. After considerable research I determined that digging in wasn't a special event and put it on the Orders list.

That's what you get when you playtest the game. You find things that should be changed BEFORE you release the game for sale.

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Steve Overton

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The Double Time event is just what it sounds like. The movement factors assigned to units in wagames are the 'normal' movement rates for whatever unit is being created. Which is the way it should be. However, there are times when units or all types have a Quicker mode. Infantry can run, vehicles can accelerate, etc...

The Double Time event card allows for those times.


!13 Double Time_3.png

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Steve Overton

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Right behind being able to move quicker on a battlefield is a unit's inability to move at all. This card currently only affects infantry movement but it could be modified to include vehicle movement as well. This is a change I'm tinkering with.


!14 Exhaustion A.png

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Steve Overton

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Now for the cards that prompted the questions about Tactical Event Cards in the first place, Experience Level Down and Experience Level Up.

My own experience in the military backed up by decades of reading combat accounts made these cards two of the first ones I created.

A unit of any organization, no matter what it's reason for being - whether it's a business office, sports team, military organization or any other - has a blend of excellent and poor performers on it. You have the stars of the team and you have the ones that just are just members. 10% of the team will do 90% of the work. These two cards address the situation when that balance changes for whatever reason.

With Experience Level Down you have lost a part of the team/crew that was doing most of the work. This can be to any cause. KN doesn't assume people have to be killed or vehicles totally destroyed to be removed from play. To remove a unit of any sort from play from KN requires that it be combat ineffective for the duration of the combat situation. Which in KN is 30 minutes at the most. What that means with Experience Level Down is one or more of those doing the work are not doing it for the time being.

Experience Level Up is the opposite for the same reasons. Somebody that hadn't been an overly effective member of the team is now doing more than they were.

Often these cards are played on each other. That's because the location on the battlefield that each player wants to influence is often the same. So, a unit may well fluctuate over the span of a scenario with the use of these cards in exactly the same spot. This shows that people are just that. People. With different emotions, incentives and reactions.

A soldier that everybody likes is wounded. (Experience Level Down)
One of his friends responds to that and starts putting out a greater volume of fire. (Experience Level Up)
That soldier then runs out of ammo and is back to being less effective. (Experience Level Down)
An enemy fire team charges forward and another soldier in the group is in position to bring them all under automatic rifle fire. (Experience Level Up)
The enemy fire team takes all that automatic fire unexpectedly and falters in the moment. (Experience Level Down)

KN is a story. The story it tells is written by the random events of the game and the actions the players take with the options they get.



!15 Experience Level Down A.png






!16 Experience Level Up A.png

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Steve Overton

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Grenade Attacks.

One of the real issues to deal with, in an infantry centric game, is how to show the use of grenades. Some games give you more firepower if you are in the same or adjacent hexes. That's true but it's true with or without grenades.

So, why not just give everybody a bonus for grenades when they are close. Many games use that expedient and it works fine. BUT KN is not about what works all the time. KN is about Murphy and his law.

Murphy and his law states that whenever you think you have it all figured out along comes SOMETHING to mess up your nice little plan.

Think your Leader and Fire Team in that building should be good enough to withstand that enemy Fire Team with the lower Infantry Firepower rating in the adjacent building hex? Could be. Except that, oh yeah, they are carrying A LOT of extra grenades!! Or you think that the enemy Fire Team in that building should be weak enough to attack in close combat?! Could be. Except that, oh yeah, they too are carrying A LOT of extra grenades!!

Using the Tactical Event Cards allows for the game to take away the absolutes of many tactical games and yet not have the cards overwhelm game play as it does in others.


!17 Grenade Attack_2.png

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Steve Overton

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Everybody wants to be a Hero!!!! Or they want one on their side!! You remember gym class where every body chose the Hero for their side first? The same holds true in military situations. Everybody wants to choose a Hero for their side first.

Some scenarios do start with Heroes in play. Others can be generated during game play. They aren't hard to generate if you have the HERO Tactical Even Card, but they don't just arrive in bunches either.

What is a Hero in KN? Ever watch a medal presentation ceremony? Where the recipient talks after the award? What do they say?

" I was just doing my job. The same as anyone else."

Most Heroes don't consider themselves all that heroic. In KN, they do heroic things but not many of them and not often. When they show up you'll thank Murphy profusely!!


!18 Hero_2 .png

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Steve Overton

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Human Wave attacks can make you loose your hair if you are on the receiving end of them.

Of course, that only applies if you have hair to lose.

In places and times when human life was cheap and tactical options were few human wave attacks were/are a common place tactical option.

When I was in the Army we asked one of my Command Sergeant Majors one time when he had been the most scared in his time in the Army.

His answer was, " When I was in Korea, the Communists would blow a bugle before their attacks. When that bugle went off their soldiers would get up and charge at you. Often times they only had a few rifles, and those were given to the ones in the front row. As those were hit the ones following behind them would pick up the rifles and continue towards you. To the point where the fight ended in hand to hand combat. We used whatever we had to stop those attacks. Sometimes we broke them with fire. Sometimes with grenades. Sometimes with rifle butts or with rocks. We always managed to be the last ones standing." (CMS Mikkelson also served 3 tours in Vietnam with the Special Forces Green Beret. I was proud to serve with him.)

That's what I tried to instill with the Human Wave Tactical Event Card. I think it does well to quicken your heart rate when played.


!19 Human Wave_2.png

The JIHAD ATTACK is the same as Human Wave. It's just more sensitive to current situations.

!22 Jihad Attack A.png


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Steve Overton

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KN uses a system, like many others in the genre, that allows for a unit to advance a single hex without the enemy being able to respond with Opportunity Fire. I've been told this is gamey. Could be. I would have thought any enemy soldier that didn't just stand up and calmly walk towards me would have been gamey too. I'd have told him that if either of us had lived after such an incident.

Advancing is nothing more than low crawling or moving in bounds. A movement so short, quick or using the cover well enough the enemy doesn't get a chance to fire at you. Some people are really good at this. Some nationalities are really good at this. Or there are times when cover allows it more than others.

For all those times there is the INFILTRATE Tactical Event Card. It allows an advance move to go 2 locations instead of only one.

This can be deadly in an urban setting or confined terrain where you figure as the defender you will get a chance to get Opportunity if they move up next to you before going into close combat. Murphy doesn't always go along with what we figure as gamers.


!21 Infiltrate A.png


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Steve Overton

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Rocket artillery is now in use by most military organizations. An unguided rocket artillery attack is generated with a KATYUSHA Tactical Event Card. This is a tremendously powerful attack. Wherever it lands! Which could be anywhere so beware of this attack in the small areas represented by the KN maps.

If you need it, and it works it, it can be devastatingly effective.



!23 Katyusha_2.png


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Steve Overton

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As an ex-Combat Engineer I know a thing or two about mine warfare. A tremendous amount of what is 'common knowledge' about mines is wrong. At least it can be for the time from WW2 through today.

There are mines in the game. They come in four flavors. Anti-personnel minefields, anti-tank minefields, mixed minefields and dummy minefields. The MINES Tactical Event Card isn't about those. It's about the mines that are scattered from the North to the South Pole and everywhere in between. It's about mines that were placed in ones and twos and not recorded in a field or a field that was partially breached and some were left undetected. It's about a final protective line that had a dozen mines in it and when the defenders were forced to withdraw were still there...waiting.

!24 Mines_2.png


These are the playtest versions. You can see the effectiveness of them by the Red number. Mines firepower is not affected by terrain.
If the mine is to attack infantry it has an infantry mine placed on the map. If it is to attack a vehicle it has an anti-tank mine placed on the map.



!24 Mines_2a.png


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Steve Overton

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Morale Wavers.

Okay, but why?

Who cares?

The soldiers in this location may not have eaten for days or are low on water. Maybe they are sick. Maybe they don't like all the enemy soldiers they either see or think they can see.

Whatever the case may be, they aren't as willing to fight now as they were a few minutes ago.


!25 Morale Wavers A .png


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What a great read on a Saturday evening and way to come through on my Qs Steve!!

I gotta tell you, when I first came across your AAR's I was a little bit sceptic. I had decided to commit wholeheartedly on the upcoming 2nd ed of MBT. Mainly that was because it seemed like the only way to go if you're looking for a modern tactical game that allows you to play infantry, armour and air units in a Cold War setting.
Your game seemed more "gamey" as they put it and I really didn't care for those cards...
As chance would have it MBT got delayed and (judging by the rules of Panzer) it seemed just too overwhelming. At the same time your AARs started to grow on me and I have now come to realise that specific (and named) Leader counters (of which I didn't care very much beforehand) really seems to add to the involvement, the sense of immersion and narrative feel of the game.
I have now read your AAR's here at LnL at least 2-3 time each. I can honestly say that I haven't been looking forward to any game as much as this particular one (the only drawback I feel, is that I seem to be the only one active here in this thread... come on guys, am I really the only one? *crickets* ).

There are only just a few minor things I fear about this production:
  1. The fonts used on some of the counters from LnL has been really bothering me. I'm thinking about the World At War counters – TOTALLY OFF – looks terrible (from a graphic design point of view that is)...
  2. Vehicle units as well as fixed/rotary winged aircrafts NEED to be portrayed in a top-down perspective!
  3. W@W maps aren't that great looking either (although a helluvalot nicer looking than those despicable Panzer/MBT maps, I mean come on, graphic production is supposed to go the other way). The newer LnL Tactical System maps on the other hand are great!
  4. Being all for as small a foot print as possible I hope for paper maps (paper? I hear you all say. Yes that's right, paper) as they are more easily stored in binders and anyone should be using plexi anyway... Geomorphic or not, I don't care, I could definitely see this game take the same route as CC:E
Anyway, again, great read!

PS. Could you say anything about the size of hexes/counters? DS.
 

Steve Overton

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A break from Tactical Event Cards to answer your concerns.


There are only just a few minor things I fear about this production:

1. The fonts used on some of the counters from LnL has been really bothering me. I'm thinking about the World At War counters – TOTALLY OFF – looks terrible (from a graphic design point of view that is)...


I have total control of the production values for KN. The counter values will be clear and of a size that can be read. Think more like the LnL Tactical series counters here.

2. Vehicle units as well as fixed/rotary winged aircrafts NEED to be portrayed in a top-down perspective!

All my art work, as bad as it is, I show vehicles and all aircraft including helicopters from a top-down perspective. That's what you will be getting.

3. W@W maps aren't that great looking either (although a helluvalot nicer looking than those despicable Panzer/MBT maps, I mean come on, graphic production is supposed to go the other way). The newer LnL Tactical System maps on the other hand are great!


The default maps for KN will be what is known as X-maps in the other tactical series LnL produces. They will be paper geomorphic maps more than likely printed with maps on both sides of the sheets.

PS. Could you say anything about the size of hexes/counters? DS.


The counters should be 1 inch for vehicle/aircraft, 3/4 inch for infantry and support weapons and 5/8 for utility counters. That's the plan at the moment. Of course, we want as many counters as we can get in that box delivered to your door.


And a comment about this revelation of yours:

I have now come to realise that specific (and named) Leader counters (of which I didn't care very much beforehand) really seems to add to the involvement, the sense of immersion and narrative feel of the game.


There are a set of Leader counters being created without names on them. Just values. Those are to be used for a Leader Campaign Game that will be introduced at some point. The nameless leaders will be YOU on the map. They will be inserted into the scenarios and you will either move up or down the promotion scale as you fight the scenarios. It won't matter which scenarios you play just insert yourself in the battle and see how you do.

Try not to get yourself killed!!!!



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Steve Overton

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...come on guys, am I really the only one? *crickets*


There isn't a tremendously vocal following for this series yet. There are quite a few that follow it as you can see by the view counts both here and on the CSW thread.

There are a couple of reasons for that. Primarily we still don't have game art. That was thought to be fixed at one time and due to unforeseen events had to be started over.

That's not the only thing that is happening with this series though. This game series is like few others that have ever been created. It's the only one that has a chit draw system set to actual leadership values and not just some random number, it's one of a few that have tactical event cards but the only one I know that is tied to the Command and Control element of the actual military organizations the game attempts to model. It's one of a very few that attempts to model the OODA Loop on a board. The rest all do it with computers where they can hide some of the mechanics of what happens.

A lot of tactical systems are already out there. Probably the most asked questions I get is why should I PLAY THIS ONE? Why should I BUY THIS ONE?

That's a good question and I believe when we get the FREE DEMO ready and people's hands they will answer that question better than I can. I t think this series gets a lot of things right. But I'm the designer. If I didn't believe that you guys would never have heard of KN.

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A lot of tactical systems are already out there. Probably the most asked questions I get is why should I PLAY THIS ONE? Why should I BUY THIS ONE?
The thing that I feel sets this game apart is the fact that it seems so straight forward and natural. After reading the AAR's it is clear how much of the games complexity is included and "hidden" in the Tactical Event Cards, the order chit pull system as well as the Command Point table without adding a bunch of stuff that players must keep in their heads.

I really hope this game earns a loyal following!
 

Steve Overton

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I really hope this game earns a loyal following!

It has quite a following already for a game still waiting on it's graphics. If this game follows the other projects I've been involved with when the gamers see it up close they'll like it. If that's not the case though, I have made the most important person involved with the game series happy. That's me. I like the game series and what it can and does do.

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Steve Overton

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The next Tactical Event Card in the deck is the MRL ATTACK. MRL stands for Multiple Rocket Launcher and in modern military organizations they are monsters. The NATO and the Warsaw Pact/Soviet supplied militaries around the world are loaded with them.

Here, then, are the two different MRL attack cards.

NATO MRL Attack.


!26 NATO MRL Attack_2.png


Warsaw Pact/Soviet Equipped MRL Attack.


!33 Soviet_WP MRL Attack_2.png

While they are very similar they are not exactly the same.

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Steve Overton

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The HEAVY PATROLLING Tactical Event Card is the most versatile in the deck. To get this card a military organization has to have above average Special Forces capability. They don't have to have formal Special Forces units; just the capability.

Units like the USMC Force Recon, the Soviet Spetnaz, Soviet Recon units in WW2, etc... would be places you will see this card.

!27 Patrol Advantage_2.png

Information is power on the battlefield. If they can determine what you intend on doing or not doing will definitely put them inside your OODA Loop!! The 3 actions that can be taken with this card are all self evident and each of them could be a game breaker. Or not as events unfold. In combat one never knows. In KN that is the gold standard. You just never know what will happen next!!

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