Tomorrow's War

[Analytical Engine]

Wasn't sure where else to put it, so here it is in the STAGS general subforum.

TOMORROW'S WAR is a generic science fiction war game (there's a setting provided but it is entirely optional). The game builds upon Force on Force, an ultra-modern ruleset, and it shows; this is a very modern ruleset that not only gives you rules for science fiction staples (robots, power armour, engineered soldiers, mecha) but also little represented real life developments like aerial unmanned drones, robotic supply mules, and real-time networked command and control. It sounds complex, but isn't nearly as bad as those features make it sound. Almost the entire game revolves around using dice and rolling over a '4'. The rules are also nicely segmented, so you learn infantry rules before vehicle rules, and those before branching off into scenarios involving aircraft, or robots, or terrorists with suicide vests. Combat isn't I-Go-You-Go, instead you roll for initiative and the unit that has the initiative goes 'on the offensive' while the non-initiative player reacts to the other players moves by having his soldiers return fire or move out of harms way (high quality soldiers can even react before the enemy unit fires, so a unit with a good roll can move out of line of sight before the enemy opens fire).

The game is intimidating at first because it feels like there's a lot to keep track of, but it is surprisingly simple and has a very tactical feel to it. It will definitely be easier for long-time war games (especially Secrets of the Third Reich players) to move into Tomorrow's War then new or pure 40k players, as TW builds upon modern rules like Secrets or Infinity, while 40k shares little of the same concepts or design ethos. Tomorrow's War has no points system; you construct scenarios with your opponent and work out something you can both enjoy. This makes it a very casual, yet tactically involving game. I recommend starting with one or two squads. You'll want to divide those squads into fireteams (eg, a 12 man squad into 3 four man squads) since the rules are so realistic (soldiers of the future, like First World soldiers in today, can put out and absorb a lot of fire each) - unless you make a conscript horde of course. I would compare Tomorrow's War to Hail Caesar except that it has a much drier, much more pronounced 'toolset' feel to it.

A typical soldier will have stats like this:
Troop Quality: d8 (trained soldier; most dice rolls are Troop Quality rolls)
Morale: d8, Confident (d8 is average, Confident means no change to when morale tests must be made)
Tech Level: 2 (TL2 is the default, receive a penalty/bonus for attacking higher/lower TL soldiers)
Light Armour

That is it. Special rules ("Old School - immune to communications hacking") and special equipment ("Light Armour - +1 defence dice") are usually noted. Special infantry (like the vat-grown Chinese political battalions mentioned in the default setting) can be represented with changes to their Troop Quality, Morale, and Confidence levels (plus one or two special qualities if need be).

Weapons aren't as important as the soldier using them. They're sorted by class (basic weapon, shotgun, pistol, light machine gun, rocket launcher, sniper weapon) and all very different, but there is no distinction made between different rifles (other then Tech Level). Since 'basic weapon' and Tech Level is abstract, this can represent different things in a setting. A TL1 rifle in one setting might be a bolt-action rifle from WW2 in one setting, a modern day assault weapon, or a laser rifle in another. Like Hail Caesar, it doesn't matter as long as it is consistent in your game/setting.

As soon as my pictures transfer I'll upload a few pictures of the Tomorrow's War game I played today.

[Fox1]

Thanks for the break down of the rules, it sounds interesting and will be good to see some pictures of it being played :)

[Analytical Engine]

There was never any proper agreement to post pictures, but on the day it seemed natural to take pictures for interested parties. So here are the slightly grainy camera phone pictures from Sunday.

For this game we used our own setting made up of a loose mash-up of golden age science fiction and ancient myth. The "Loonies" have taken over their lunar-prison and landed an invasion force onto the mother-planet, which is claimed by the Solar Empire. With the help of new money industrialists opposed to the Solar Empire's decadent old money, they quickly seize the New Manhattan metropolitan area.

Setting Up
In this mission the Lunar Republic will attempt to take a power plant claimed by the Solar Empire, which will consolidate their hold on the New Manhatten area and restart tank production around the city.

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The flag is a symbol of the Solarian's divine queen

Republican forces must lower the Solar flag and enter the Imperial deployment zone. Imperial forces gain one point for every turn they survive after turn five. Both forces gain one point for each squad eliminated and one point for each prisoner taken.

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The Solar Empire has two 15 man squads (divided into six 5 man fireteams), one 6 man command group. Platoon includes four grenade launchers, two HMGs, a medic, and a long-range radio operator.

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Lunar officers intimidate enemies of democracy with their stylish black coats

The Lunar Republic has two 12 man squads (divided into six four man squads), an extra fire team (remnants of another squad), two three man HMG teams, and a five man command squad. The platoon includes five SAWs, one grenade launcher, and two HMGs. There is no communications officer present but all of the Loonies are presumed to have basic radio headsets.

Both sides have a CASEVAC vehicle for evacuating the wounded. No side has access to advanced rules like air strikes or off-board artillery. The Solar Empire possess Abundant Supplies, giving them +1 dice when firing. In contrast the Lunar Republic soldiers were given d10 morale instead of d8.

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There were also two groups of civilians on the battlefield. We used some of my old Reaper and Hasslefree figures so, for whatever reason, this magician has decided to put on a show in a warzone.

The Game Itself
One interesting thing about Tomorrow's War is just how fluid it is. We played I believe eleven turns in four and a half hours (that includes breaks and meetings!) and each turn seemlessly moved into the next due to the action-reaction system. So rather than a conventional turn by turn break down I will describe the game in general terms.

The Lunar Republic forces deployed behind buildings, avoiding the worst of the Solar HMG teams until they had managed to assume positions in buildings. On the left flank, two fire teams and a HMG managed to set up in a building opposite two Solar HMGs behind a barricade and a fire team on a building roof.

In the centre the bulk of the army moved ahead, ready to put pressure on either flank or surge ahead. On the right flank two fire teams and a HMG moved towards a building near a hill, but met up with fierce resistance from several Solar fire teams.

During perhaps the 3rd turn, Marc rolled a '1' for his reaction test (a dice roll to see if non-initiative unit can keep acting). That meant that he could draw a Fog Of War card with a random effect. He drew "A Good Day To Die" - one randomly determined squad gained a bonus to morale, shifting from d8 morale to d10. A group on the right flank, advancing up the hill, entered a religious mania and charged forwards for the glory of their royal goddess.

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However, they forgot that charging other units can result in reaction fire. The HMG opened up on them and immediately wounded three out of the fire soldiers. The resulting close combat was fiddly at first (we forgot that first aid checks are resolved the next turn) but fast and brutal once we got the rules right. The Loonies captured five Solar troops - three seriously wounded and two lightly wounded. Since escorting them to CASEVAC would have required them to leave their post and leave another fire-team unsupported, they decided to stay with the prisoners under guard (-1 firing penalty for having to look after wounded prisoners).

In the centre I had been winning dice rolls to control the civilians, so they remained dispersed in the town square. The Loonies were happy to advance forwards towards the power plant, with Solar HMGs unwilling (but not unable) to fire in the path of unarmed civilians. This allowed the Republican forces to move forward quickly without harm. While not technically a breach of international law it was deemed dishonourable by Marc - yet throughout the game neither force was prepared to put civilian lives in danger. Eventually though Marc began to win the civilian dice rolls, and the mob dispersed. At one point he even sacrificed a unit action to have them order the mob to flee. The stragglers of the centre group were left exposed to HMG fire.

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Suddenly on the left flank disaster struck! During an exchange of fire with the Solar Empire somebody struck a gas canister in the building covering the Loonie firing positions - another darn Fog of War card had happened! The whole structure immediately set on fire, and the squad and HMG team were forced to flee back into the woods. This left the right flank emptied and the centre exposed.

We had lunch and I debated what to do next. I had lost only two men in six turns but only killed one Solar Empire - six removed from the game counting the five POWs. The right flank was stalling in the face of massive resistance while Marc's centre, while empty, was overlooked by strong left and right flanks. I decided to surge forwards through the centre; the soldiers had enough morale to make it through a turn exposed and would then be able to encircle and eliminate the Solar positions. Luck was on my side - I regained control of the civilians.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/MadHaxx0r/Photos/IMG00411-20120205-1357.jpg
'Yay, we're helping the soldiers aim at the rebels!'
'No girls, no!'

The centre surged forward in a brave but desperate charge. The HMG teams were not effective in suppressing the Solar riflemen on the right flank and the whole platoon took heavy fire with lots of wounded men and even a few more deaths.

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After the first wave, the right flank redeployed and rushed to join the centre too, covered by two HMGs and one fire team. An entire fire team was left wounded and had to limp back uselessly to CASEVAC.

The Lunar Republic managed to lower the Solar flag! They also broke into the Imperial deployment zone despite taking massive casualties.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/MadHaxx0r/Photos/IMG00415-20120205-1428.jpg
The Solar officer in charge redeployed his command group to try and push back the Loonies.

This was it. If the Republican forces could hold and push back the command squad, then they would be able to encircle and wipe out the Solar units on the right flank, capturing the power station and isolating the HMGs on the left flank to. Several Republican units would have to merge for this to work, as all had been badly mauled by running through HMG fire to get into position.

[Analytical Engine]

But here we called it. We'd played much more turns than we had expected. The Solar Empire was no longer prepared to accept casualties and withdrew. The Lunar units were engaging the command squad in the centre while another Lunar fire team was flanking on the right, and the left Solar flank was not able to redeploy fast enough to meet the new threat. In the end the score was 5-8. The Solar Empire had survived five extra turns (5), but the Lunar Republic had lowered the flag (1), entered the Solar deployment zone (1), captured five men (5), and removed one fire team from play (1). One Solar soldier was dead, none wounded, but five captured. Two Lunar soldiers died, six heavily wounded, six lightly wounded, none captured.

The casuality list is surprisingly low for a wargame but closer to real life action reports. At any point a soldier can die from an unlucky shot, but for the most part a well-trained soldier is able to intelligently use cover to avoid the worst. Both the Solar Empire and Lunar Republic field trained (d8) soldiers wearing light body armour (+1 defense) so entrenched soldiers are hard to remove unless specialist equipment is used. With no artillery support the Loonies were tasked with assaulting an entrenched position and ultimately forced into a human wave action. I couldn't help but be reminded of descriptions of the Korean War.

So ended our first game of Tomorrow's War. Fluid and fun, but there's still a fair bit to get used to. We got mixed up over movement (although we shouldn't have, its a simple 6"/12" movement system), and espiecally casualties (when to roll, how do unresolved casualties affect reaction movements?) and reactions (how often, what happens, and when is it best to react?).

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FINAL IMPRESSION
I had fun and am looking forward to the next game. There's more to learn but that'll just make it a richer experience. The rules were fairly intuitive and I am very impressed that this game even in its most stripped down and featureless form made me consider tactics and strategy. I also really enjoyed having to think about international treaties and conduct, not firing on Solar troops that had taken civilian dependants or being able to shoot through crowds (but still being able to). It was the first time I could describe a tabletop wargame as being atmospheric, and I really got into it.

THE SETTING
In case people are wondering we're making most of the setting up as we go along using a mash-up of Robert Heinlein and ancient mythology. We have however already established several factions that will eventually be appeared.

The Solar Empire : The dominant nation on the continent. It is aristocratic and worships the Goddess of Dawn Eos. Possesses "Students" that are like Talents from Starship Troopers book - Solarians believe that these students are touched by the goddess Herself.
The Lunar Republic : An invading force of ex-convicts and political exiles. They are far more libertarian and worship the Goddess of Night Selene. Administrates territory using a vast computer network known as ABACUS.
(Both of these factions are currently represented by Wargames Factory Shock Troopers. DUST Tactics walkers are used for Solar armour while Old Crow is used for Lunar armour.)
The Kingdom of Gryphos : A rival nation in the mountainous north. Gryphos are going to make heavy use of ultra-mobile jump pack infantry. Smaller units and jet mecha are likely. We have not yet worked out much more than this.
Pagans : Solarian and Lunar citizens regard anyone who does not worship the Children of Theia (Eos and Selene) as Pagans. Most are harmless, some are not. We've detailed two extremist groups already: anarchists and worshippers of the Old Gods. The Old Gods are very Lovecraftian and their advanced units will probably not appear in a game using the Tomorrow's War system (although it is possible to do them) but the anarchists will feature at least as irregular insurgent groups.

Mercenary Groups:
- Cthydians are a scavenger race that primarily lives underground. They are regarded as a pest by most people, but can easily be bribed with jewels and so they get used as mercenaries a lot. They could be compared to Orks but we'd prefer to portray them more like the dog-alien pirates from The Fifth Element. We will probably use Warpath Maruaders painted in greyish skin tones for these.
- Quacha Tribesmen come in two flavours: plains tribes and mountain tribes. The plains tribes are African mercenaries and sharpshooters (using Wargames Foundry Urban Zulus) while mountain tribes are old-fashioned zulu warriors.
- P.A.R.T.Y will either be our go-to mercenary contractor (with veteran but crazy trigger-happy soldiers) or a rogue group of circus themed psychos led by a Mrs. Lovett expy. This will depend on whether we think it will be more fun to add either extra-shooty Blackwater mercenaries or the Joker gang to the game. Either way mad veterans will be involved, possibly with some lesser henchmen too, whether they look like modern day soldiers or serial killer clowns.
- "Dwarfy Race" will be survivors from a post-apocalyptic continent east of the Solar Empire. This race will be stubborn and well-armoured, and will be fighting as mercenaries for settling rights. Since they like mountains and tunnels, they will also be doing a lot of fighting against Cthydians and Gryphos.
- Foreign Mercenaries. Native American, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese themed sci-fi infantry have been discussed and might be added in later.

Not that anyone need bother with our campy, possibly post-apocalyptic setting. I am hoping to put together a force based on TW's default setting this year, and will make a few lists based on my Rogue Trader campaign (although army lists are so simple to make you can practically make it up on the spot).

NEXT TIME ON TOMORROW'S WAR
EPISODE 2 : WE CAN'T STOP HERE, THIS IS APPLE COUNTRY
Armoured warfare in "the Big Apple", the famous fruit orchids beyond New Manhatten! Can the Republic's tracked vehicles dismantle the Empire's terrifying heavy walkers?
Will the farmers fall casualty or defend their homestead? Will the civilian children continue to annoy Solar gunners and block their line of fire?
Find out next time!

[Fox1]

Very good over view and i like the detail of the battle report and also the use of event cards in the game, makes the game more fun and a feeling of not having complete control over the battle field.

Could this system be adapted for more smaller say "gang war" or merc opps style games? Such as Judge Dredd or Rouge Trooper settings?

Maybe a nice rule set to use a lot of the Foundry Gangs figures for, your opinions?

Thanks for the update :D

[The Question]

Will the civilian children continue to annoy Solar gunners and block their line of fire?

God, I hope not!

[The Question]

Very good over view and i like the detail of the battle report and also the use of event cards in the game, makes the game more fun and a feeling of not having complete control over the battle field.

Could this system be adapted for more smaller say "gang war" or merc opps style games? Such as Judge Dredd or Rouge Trooper settings?

Maybe a nice rule set to use a lot of the Foundry Gangs figures for, your opinions?

Thanks for the update :D

Not sure about Dredd, but I don't think there'd be any problem with the Rogue Trooper setting whatsoever, in fact I like the sound of leading the heroic Kashan Legion of the Nort against the filthy Southers and their Genetic Infantrymen scum!

As for gang-style troops, Tomorrow's War has an entire section on irregular troops, which I think a gang would fall under. So a qualified 'yes' for that part, although I'd have to consult the rules further for that part in order to be certain.

[Analytical Engine]

On the Tomorrow's War official forums there was a thread made about a guy who'd been running Necromunda with Tomorrow's War rules. Necromunda campaign system, Tomorrow's War on tabletop. Apparently it worked very well. From what I played I'd say it could work very well. It would just be Tomorrow's War with single model units.

There are rules for Irregular units, but that would be for 'proper' Tomorrow's War military platoon actions. I'd play them as one-man units for a squad-sized Street Violence / 2000AD game. Juves would be d6 quality, gang members d8, and gang leaders d10 to d12. Morale would be d6, d8 or d10 for gang leaders. Arbites or 2000AD Judges would probably be troop quality d10, morale d10 or d12.

[Analytical Engine]

MISSION 2 - FEAR AND LOATHING IN NEW MANHATTEN (Now with pictures!)
For our second game of Tomorrow's War we decided to add vehicle combat and hero characters.

Each of us added 3-4 light vehicles. The Republican forces used Old Crow IFV's with machine guns and missiles, while the Imperial side used converted Dust Tactics walkers.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/MadHaxx0r/Photos/IMG00476-20120304-1446.jpg

The 'heroic' characters were officers with d12s in Quality and Morale.

On the Imperial side, Commander St. Germaine of the Solar Empire Special Weapons Development. The Solarian's fabulous new mecha are her prototypes. Lady St.Germaine represents the scientific side of the Solar Empire and forms her own sub-faction within the army. I believe Commander St. Germaine is an Artizan model from their Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range.

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On the Republican side, Captain Ashley. Captain Ashley is the leader of an elite Republican special forces group - Selene's Shadows. The Shadows are devout followers of the God-Queen Selene. They wear no armour but carry heavy machine pistols (counting as SMGs) and have the Stealthy rule, which removes restrictions on when and how they can use the hide action. Captain Ashley is a converted version of Liberty from Westwind's Secrets of the Third Reich range (and the Shadows are SOTR jet troopers with a suitably ominous colour scheme).

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The Mission:
We Can't Stop Here, This Is Apple Country! Outside of New Manhatten, Lunar forces spread out and continue their assault. Their aim is to cover as much ground as possible before the Imperial forces can regroup. The New Manhattan countryside is extremely valuable to both sides because it is wide open, fertile, safe, and a major source of fruit which forms the bulk of most peoples diet.

One of the major fruit producers has declared for the Republic, and a mechanised group is sent to secure their territory, accompanied by Captain Ashleigh and a group of Selene's Shadows. The Solar Empire mount an offensive with a full platoon, several mecha, a Sunfire squad (religious fanatics with flame throwers), and Lady St. Germaine.

Victory points may be gained by: securing the apple orchard, securing the farm, eliminating enemy vehicles, eliminating enemy squads, and capturing POWs.

Although as we learned, it would not be that simple...

[Analytical Engine]

This mission was fairly simple, and this battle report will probably be shorter because of it. In the end, we got some crazy results on our fog of war cards.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/MadHaxx0r/Photos/IMG00453-20120304-1158.jpg
Not pictured: Shadows hiding in apple orchid.

The focus of the game was the farm house. The Republican forces fortified the farm, while their vehicles maintained the flanks. The Shadows remained hidden in the apple orchid for several turns. Their SMGs meant that anything outside of their Optimum Range used d6 dice to attack, but anything within 10" was doomed because of the Shadows d10 troop quality and additional bonus dice due to short range.

The Republicans were outnumbered from the very start, and forced into reaction. The Solar Empire charged over a hill, across a field, towards the farm house. Commander St. Germaine moved towards the centre of the board with her walkers and the sunfire squad.

Since civilians were stood outside the farm, the Solar Empire troopers decided not to open fire on the Republican soldiers.

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For their first turn, the Republican troopers ordered the civilians behind the barricades.

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Some vehicle combat occured; long range machinegun fire bounced harmlessly off of mecha and armoured car. Two missile units exchanged fire; disabling the legs of a Solar Empire walker.

Next turn

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The Solar Empire continued to advance, this time laying down covering fire. However, their HMGs were still readying into position. Once again the vehicles engaged primarily each other, but did no damage. Surprisingly, a Solar Empire RPG team managed to disable the main gun of the Republican rocket launcher vehicle.

During this turn I rolled a significant amount of natural 1s for my reaction tests. These were harmless, but Marc drew an interesting one: one of his soldiers is caught on camera performing an impressive act and goes viral on the internet. We decided it was fitting that this be his RPG gunner, who managed to disable an enemy tank against all odds while under heavy fire and with his assistant gunner dead.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/MadHaxx0r/Photos/IMG00456-20120304-1204.jpg

This gave the Solar Empire +3 Victory Points due to positive propaganda.

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Fortunately for the Lunar Republic, the missile walker was ineffective and failed to damage any other armoured vehicles this turn. However, the machine gun vehicles were unable to do any significant damage to the walkers or infantry. The bulk of the defence was managed by the Republican riflemen, who were quite resilient defenders.

[Analytical Engine]

It occurs to me that I have mentally divided this game into four or five turns. It feels like that, but comes from years of 40k. Actually we played to 11 turns, in a total time roughly equal to an average/above average sized 40k game. Play can get pretty frantic with Tomorrow's War.

So, in what feels like the third turn but was actually the fifth or sixth, I had a particularly sour turn of luck that determined the game. Maybe it was poor deck shuffling on my part, but I drew all of the worst possible cards.

Several turns passed, but in this third phase we exchanged fire. A significant number of Solar Empire troops were wounded, but they were still at solid fighting strength and closing into optimum range. They were able to keep winning initiative and pressed the attack hard. It appeared that my defenders, although relatively unscathed, were at risk of being overrun unless help could be found.

The orchid had been ignored due to the threat of the Shadows, so they quietly moved through the undergrowth, ready to ambush the Sunfire squad with their jetpacks.

Then during reaction fire I rolled nothing but ones and drew the following:

Fire! Fire! - We decided that one of the sheds had caught on fire, rather than the whole farm.
That Won't Play Well On The Holovids! - A soldier was caught doing something stupid! One of the soldiers must have knocked over a lamp and started the fire in the shed by accident. -3 Victory Points due to a viral internet video of a stupid Republican soldier!
Gas Attack! - Intelligence reports an imminent gas attack! Never mind that the Empire has yet to even manufacture nerve gas... Until an "All Clear" card is drawn all Quality tests are done at one dice level lower.
Death of An Officer - A favourite officer posted elsewhere has been reported KIA while on another nearby mission, reducing the morale of the army by one dice.

The gas attack in particular neutered the army. With the Republicans fumbling to put on their gas equipment the Imperials began to pick them off easily (rolling a d6 is a HUGE difference to rolling a d8, even a fortified position didn't help much). To make matters worse, my negative publicity combined with Marc's positive spin created a 6 point difference in Victory Points! Ouch!

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The attack continued, and all seemed lost. The Republican troops had to merge squads to replace losses, and they were still outnumbered by Solar Empire troops and were no longer putting heavy causalities onto the Solar Empire.

One of the Republic light vehicles drove into point blank range of the Sunfire Squad and opened fire, eliminating one flame-thrower soldier! The Sunfire Squad retaliated however, and their terrifying weapons overheated the vehicle and caused the two crewmen inside to bailout.

There was only one option left - the Shadows would have to fly into close combat with Lady St. Germaine and take her hostage. They would come under heavy fire, but they'd at least have support from the remaining armoured vehicle.

Fortunately, the troops got the all-clear from the gas attack, and the Shadow's sprang into action. Since the light vehicle had failed to remove the Sunfire Squad, the Shadows ambushed them.

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The Tomorrow's War rulebook doesn't seem to specifically mention ambushing into close combat, but since it said that enemy's may not reaction fire against ambush ranged attacks we thought it made sense if the Sunfire Squad were not allowed the usual free test to shoot at their chargers.

The Shadows completely wiped the floor with the Sunfire squad. Elite d10 quality troops, with SMG bonus dice and a d12 commander. Captain Ashleigh and her special forces removed the sunfire squad in ten seconds flat. All were successfully taken prisoner.

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The returning fire from the Solar Empire only lightly wounded one shadow operative, but since the team already had a large number of prisoners, and because the Solar Empire appeared to be re-positioning to protect their commander and attack the Shadows, I decided that they should withdraw with their captives rather than risk exposure on open ground.

So the Shadows withdrew. A mecha began to chase them, but it was engaged by a light armoured car and after a very close duel was destroyed by point blank machine gun fire. Lady St. Germaine was forced to pursue, and entered the orchid in search of the Shadows. But even without use of their jump packs (it seemed logical that jump infantry should not use their jump packs while escorting grounded POWs) she wasn't able to catch them, and the Shadows made it to the board edge uninjured.

I decided to issue a retreat, as the number of wounded was too much.

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The Republic had destroyed one vehicle - but so had the Empire, which had also captured a vehicle too. The Republic had voluntary retreated from the orchid and farms, but had wiped out one squad and taken a number of POWs. Of course, there was the Empire's incredible propaganda coup.

The final score was 2-5 in favour of the Solar Empire. Surprisingly, not nearly as awful as it could have been given the unfavourable random events. Part of the fun of Tomorrow's War is making the best of what you've got!

What Was Learnt
Tomorrow's War really is about making the best of what you have and creating a shared scenario, not a tournament. At the end of the day, having a challenging and satisfying tactical experience is what matters. Also, being able to write your own batshit crazy setting is pretty cool too. Fog of War cards can have a major effect on the battlefield if you decide to use as much of your Reactions as possible (because you have a high chance of rolling 1's).

Dice shifts count for a lot as well. The Shadows took all game to get into position, but when they did, two D10 attacks in close combat each was brutal.

NEXT TIME ON TOMORROW'S WAR
The Lunar Republic is withdrawing into the Everwild, a dangerous and never-civilized place on the edge of Hypolossian territory. But before we do that game, incorporating artillery barrages and other advanced rules, we're going to go back to basics and run a standard killzone battle. The Solar Empire and the Lunar Republic will clash in the middle of town, rockets ready and bullets flying at high noon.

Stay tuned for... A DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT (SHOWDOWN AT BIG GULCH)