Shadow Ops: Battle for Sephai

Shadow Ops is a squad level, sci-fi skirmish game which plays in under an hour. The game runs using an ergonomic D6 engine with minimal book keeping, quick set up time, no list building, very few calculations and lots of cinematic action! Shadow Ops is all about movement and strategic placement of units - every scenario involves taking objectives and controlling the battlefield. The game works best on a small 36" x 36" table and only requires you to have a handful of D6s, tokens for tracking wounds / abilities and the occasional scatter dice. At least 50% of a board should be covered in terrain for maximum effect. Shadow Ops is a 'sandbox' game designed to be used with any sci-fi or cyberpunk miniature collection. The unit types are broad - 'Light Infantry', 'Jumpjet Infantry', 'Cybernetic Warriors' - so you can always find a way to fit your models in. Both players use the same 'army list' which consists of Core Troops, Elites and Vehicles. There are also twelve Heroes to choose, each with their own unique abilities, strengths and weaknesses. In Standard Operations each player controls a Stryke Force consisting of a Hero, a Vehicle and around 20-30 models. Reinforcements arrive in the course of the game, but the model count remains low as units are destroyed and replaced. In Shadow Operations one player commands a smaller force of elite operatives against a larger force. These scenarios are asymmetrical and feature more special events. The Game Engine - Shadow Ops is a modified version of the tried and tested Spears of Valour engine - but this is not just a 'reskin' of a fantasy game. New rules such as point blank shooting, rapid firing, overwatch, limited melee combat, special rules for weapon types and an emphasis on firepower make the game feel very different. The game engine uses alternating activation. Starting with the Attacker players choose a unit to activate, alternating until all units have activated. An activated unit gains two actions - 'Move' and 'Shoot' - which they can conduct in any order or twice (i.e. Move-Move, Move-Shoot, Shoot-Move, Shoot-Shoot). Units can also execute special actions such as going on overwatch, unleashing a torrent of rapid fire or the special 'Skirmish' action which lets them move twice and gain a bonus volley of shots. The game engine puts ergonomics first - if one model in a squad can see a target, the whole squad can see. If one model in a squad is a viable target, the whole squad can be hit. This is a 'two dice-roll' system, where players roll to hit and roll to wound. Roll equal or under Skill to hit, roll equal or under Strength to wound. Saving rolls are limited to special units. Units are either 'Armoured', in which they half incoming hits, or they are not. There is one page of special rules which provide enough detail to be interesting without saturating the game in rules. Players can find rules for Electro weapons, Beam Weapons, Jumpjets, Energy Shields and much more! The Units and Heroes - There are four types of unit in this game - Heroes, Elites, Core Troops and Vehicles. Core Troops are divided into Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III units. All units have different strengths and weaknesses - Grenadiers can target enemies out of LoS but have limited range, Snipers can ignore cover penalties but cannot move and shoot, Jumpjet troops can soar across the battlefield with pistols blazing but lack armour, Automata clank forward with their deadly 'Beam' weapons but are slow and short-ranged, Recon Bikes can launch swift hit and run attacks like the horse archers of old but their weapons have average firepower, Plasma troopers can unleash a deadly torrent of fire in one action but need to reload their weapons. Units which have no major weaknesses - such as the reliable Star-Marines - have less distinct advantages, ensuring every unit has some part to play in the game. Players bring reinforcements onto the board as the game progresses. Players must decide which units are useful depending on the scenario and layout of the battlefield. On the final turn a unit of swift troops might be perfect for capturing an objective, but if a player is defending their home objective a heavy and slower unit would suffice. Which reinforcements a player brings on is a vital strategic choice. The choice of Hero makes a massive different to a player's strategy. There are effectively three Hero classes - 'Damage' Heroes who rely on their weapon systems, 'Support' Heroes who augment other units and 'Hybrid' Heroes who are a mix of the two. The Hero archetypes available in the core game are the Adventurer, the Blade, the Commando, the Demolition Man, the Gunslinger, the Mercenary, the Officer, the Psychothurge, the Ranger, the Rogue Android, the Scientist and the Spy. The Sephai Saga - Shadow Ops is designed to cover a wide range of sci-fi / cyberpunk settings, or even encourage you to design your own. For players who want a campaign setting the book contains the Battle for Sephai, covering the technology, weapons, factions and events of the 23rd century. The campaign is built around the Third Cycle - the return of the 'ancient evil' known as the Witch-Doctor. Chaos and war follow in his wake and all of the signs of his return are imminent. The Federated States of Humanity - the largest alliance in the history of mankind - stands on the brink of collapse as rebellion, death-cults and entropy grip them at every quarter. Other factions include the moon-dwelling syndicates of LUNA, the mech-dominated ARM, the Movement for Independence, the Legion of the Witch-Doctor, the ruthless profit-munching Corporation and the sacred warriors of the Order who are sworn to defeat the 'Great Enemy'. This is a saga of android assassins, sentient supercomputers, lunar anarchists, clones and mutants, star-ships and grav-jets, set on the world of Sephai Prime and the lunar surface. So grab your blaster and saddle your grav-bike, the Battle for Sephai has begun! —description from the publisher