One of the reasons I've been so slack lately has been the fact that I was occupied by interviews for a new job. Well, interviews now behind me, I've gotten the job and start tomorrow. Oddly enough that usually means that I will be able to use my free time more effectively, thanks to a structured day, so I'm not in despair yet. :)
As I mentioned, we gave Flying Lead a go last Friday. Although we are not completely through the rules - vehicles are still an unknown to us - they seem to be rather simple and can be quite fun. The opposing forces can meet on a relatively small table (we had a modular piece to play on of only 60x60 cm) and even the forces can be rather small... 4 to 10 miniatures per side should be enough.
Troops are defined by only two characteristics: Quality and Combat. While lower quality is better than higher, the opposite is the case with combat. Quality is used to determine action success or morale while combat is added to a value corresponding to a weapon used and a die roll.
It all sounds very simple and it is. Most of the Ganesha rulebooks are, although Flying Lead seems to have some differences according to Mr. Jones who co-wrote them. I cannot comment on that yet as I haven't read their fantasy rules. Simple is not a bad thing though. The word might create the wrong impression, so maybe "easy" might do the rules more justice. There is the occasional hick-up in the description of some of the rule mechanics, but nothing common sense won't rectify.
What I really really miss are Skill Costs. The book offers some templates of characters; from Mafia thugs to SWAT officers, but if you want to create your own team without the templates, you need to use the Squad Builder on Ganesha's website. If you want to have the costs on a sheet of paper though, you are out of luck. Sadly the calculations in the background are rather complicated at times, so that copying the costs from the builder won't help. On top of that my wish for a cost and calculation table in PDF form were met by a negative answer by the writer of the rules. So Squad Builder it is and will have to be. I don't mind it that much, but an ad-hoc squad creation will need a functioning PC nearby and that restricts the player slightly. Besides that, some of my buddies are not massive PC fans.
Still, the rules are fun, allow for quick games (2 five-man forces games on a 60x60cm table lasted about 45 minutes on average... The longest lasted an hour, the shortest 15 minutes) and, in spite of slight differences, can use elements (ZOMBIEEES!) from other Ganesha rule books (Zombies are in Fear and Faith) to accommodate every desire!
That's it from me on Flying Lead. Never written something on rules before, so if you are missing an important information, let me know.
And as a glorious swan song for this post *ahem*... Here is a WIP on my Saxons. I am posting this more for my benefit to increase pressure! :) The standard is not going to be the main one. Aella has a bull's head according to Cornwell, but why have one skull terrifying your enemies, when you can have two? :)
