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T
here was a short and quite unexpected delay but we are back! We are back and we have bunch of good news for you - new army for Neuroshima Hex in on the way, Sharrash will be published in March!
5 Portakon
In this issue we focus on PORTALkon, and we have some stuff for Neuroshima Hex and 51st State fans too, I hope you will find this interesting.
16 Inside the 51st State
8 Neuroshima Hex Puzzles 10 Fireman 12 Ignacy’s three-pack 18 Hegemony: The Tactical Guide
24 Finder
For next issue (next month!) we will give you glimpse of Sharrash and new scenario for Robinson, and report from Bremer Spiele Tage. Please, stay tunned, follow us on Twitter or Facebook and meet us in Modena PLAY Festiwal - we will be there at the beginning of April! Ignacy Trzewiczek
PORTAL PUBLISHING
Św. Urbana 15 Str., 44-100 Gliwice, Poland portal@wydawnictwoportal.pl, www.portalpublishing.eu Chief-editor: Ignacy Trzewiczek, Design, layout, DTP: Maciej Mutwil, Rafał Szyma
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We announced our publishing plans for 2013: 3 expansions, 3 new editions and 3 new games. Not all of them will be available in English language. We’ll publish 2 new games, 3 expansions and 1 new edition of old game in English editions. Other will be available only in Poland.
User of a Polish boardgames forum gry-planszowe.pl has chosen “Best game of 2012”. In category Best game for Geeks Robinson Crusoe was 2nd, in category Best Game for Families Robinson Crusoe was 1st.Hex, Konwój oraz oczywiście Robinsona Crusoe.
We released a full version of the song „Hulaj dusza”, which appeared in parts of our films about Robinson Crusoe. The song was written and produced by our friend: Piotr Pieńkowski. We have printed limited amount of Stronghold: Undead expansion. Together with Michał Oracz we prepared special sets of rare and unavailable Portal products which our fans could buy to support a charity event in Poland - Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy. In total, thanks to our fans, we have donated 1702.5 zł. Neuroshima Hex on Android has 3 new armies: Smart, Vegas and Steel Police. We signed a contract with Uplay. it for Italin edition of Robinson Crusoe. It will be published this spring, and demo games and presentations will be held during PLAY fair in Modena (6/7 of April) where players will be able to meet Ignacy Trzewiczek, author of the game.
We have launched a site with basic information about our new NS Hex army: Sharrash
2 our games from 2012 were included in Zee Garcia’s (The Dice Tower) Top 10 of 2012 - Convoy was ranked 7th and Robinson Crusoe - 4th. We prepared a tool for you to create your very own scenarios for Robinson Crusoe. Here you’ll find scenario sheet!
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The German tabletop magazine Magabotato named Neuroshima Tactics their product of the month!
PORTALkon is over. Everyone in the company, absolutely everyone, is delighted. It was awesome. On Saturday morning, when we reached the hall, we were a little bit terrified that, in the end, there will be only four of us sitting alone and playing NS Hex all day long. First person appeared on the hall a few moments after 9 o’clock - we went with great joy to greet him. But he turned out to be a guy looking for room 38 and he got lost...
IT OCCURED SOMEBODY REALLY APPEARED, PHEW...
Two hours later the hall was almost fully filled. The view and the feeling was amazing. Robinson on two tables, three tables occupied by Hex maniacs, here are people playing Convoy, there’s Pret-a-Porter... It was wonderful. Many familiar faces, a lot of people, whom we could finally met in person. Here are lunatic friends of Arti, who came to PORTALkon to play 51st State, as if they weren’t able to play it at home. Here’s Th0rn who came and instead playing, he stands and explains Pret-a-Porter. There’s Robert, whom I ask in the time of the greatest siege, if he could explain Robinson and he, of course, smiles and says: 'With pleasure’. There’s also Michał Oracz - surrounded by Hex maniacs he shows Sharrash, while Piechu explains Machina III on the scene. Whichever corner you look at, you want to run and be there at the same time and watch people play the 51st State (okay, I yielded and let them play some mega mega secret cards that nobody but Piechu and my Merry haven’t seen yet) or to listen to the
MOLOCH’S T-SHIRT, A SPRING COLLECTION 2013 HIT
GIVE US A SECOND AND WE’LL BE READY
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WALEC TRYING TO CONVINCE SOMEBODY, THAT HE’S ABLE TO EXPLAIN STRONGHOLD UNDEAD’S RULES
FINALLY WE COULD TELL YOU ABOUT OUR CLOSEST PLANS!
ROBINSON CRUSOE: ISLAND 1:0 PLAYERS
AVALON WILL FOLLOW THE POLISH RESISTANCE EDITION
CONVOY: SO CLOSE TO THE NEW YORK!
RECHARCHING... TRZEWIK, MERRY, NEURO AND MICHAŁ ORACZ
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WE HAD OUR HEXY MOMENTS...
ANOTHER MOMENT OF SHARING GOOD EMOTIONS... BLAH!
opinions of Machina or to see how people perceive Sharrash. PORTALKon was successful at 100%. All in all almost 100 people attended the event. From 10 in the morning till 8 in the evening people played all our games - from the old Falling to the new Robinson. We held a tournament of Zombiaki with 12 participants. 5 two-person teams took part in the Portal Games Knowledge Competition where they bravely struggled to answer many tricky questions.
NEUROSHIMA HEX: LEARNING BY FUN
Many people took advantage of mega discounts and bargains for fans at our booth, many also bought the official Neuroshima T-shirts made ??by a friend company, which we hope, will get more attention soon - the PORTALkon was their debut! The announcement of our publishing plans went very well - a lot of people came, listened to what we had to say, saw the prototypes and played it.
T-SHIRT ANYBODY?
During the event Scorn explained our games 14 times, Piechu - 10 times, Walec - 6 times, while Trzewik... only 2 times. But it was Stronghold! We are very positive after PORTALkon. On 29th June we will organize the second edition. We will announce our plans for the second half of the year, we will let you play more prototypes and prepare new attractions. Yes, we want to meet with you once again! It was great. We can’t wait for next time.
WAIT 20 YEARS AND TRY TO FIND YOUR FRIENDS ON THE PICTURE
TEXT: IGNACY TRZEWICZEK TRANSLATION: ŁUKASZ PIECHACZEK PHOTO: MACIEJ MUTWIL
ZOMBIAKI: THE TOURNAMENT WON BY DAMIAN KUPPER
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USE MAX. 3 OF 5 TILES TO WIN
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USE MAX. 3 OF 5 TILES TO WIN
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ARMY: LIEN RAG TXT: MICHAŁ WALCZAK ILLUS: MICHAŁ ORACZ, LIEN RAG ARMY AVAIABLE AT: BOARDGAMEGEEK.COM
While playing NSHex i have came a cross several fan-made fraction. Most of them is based on huge love of the creator toward his own idea. The love make him blind for such a thinks like common sense, world integrity or balance in game. When I take Fireman in my hands i expect exactly this: someone created an army, having no experience in creating such an expansions, with no balance (cause, his army should be the BEST) and introducing into the game absolutely nothing new, nothing special, or, what’s worse, introducing a whole pack of ridiculous rules, absolutely impossible to understand without long time spend in reading rules. I was wrong. Fireman is an expansion, an army, made with bunch of guys with a whole a lot of aspiration to set the world on fire. Since bullets ar so hard to get, the idea of use Molotov cocktails and flame throwers seem to be reasonable. What we see, is made earnestly with HEX Creation Kit 2. Tiles are not bad, but the color selected for
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them, with is something similar to cyan, has nothing to do with blazing orange. The fraction consist of 35 tiles, plus some indicators to mark the fraction health. The additional rules only for the first look may seem to be complicated. Units armed witch flame throwers ale capable of throwing flames with several following rounds and with fire, they burn changing area on board. Unit, depends on fire bonus, offered
by HQ or barrels, may fire in its own initiative, only the hex adjacent, and in following initiative two hex in row, or with fire bonus, also in third following initiative three hex in row, dealing all together 3 damage in hex next to it, 2 in second, and 1 damage in third hex.. Those rules are necessary? Well, as mentioned, they are hard only for the first look. After one battle, you remember about the way of working flame throwers. After a game or two those rules in pleasant way start to simulate the way the flame behaves. The heat of fraction make even hotter the fact, that we have actual Molotov cocktails, as a instant tile, with may be cast as hang grenade by HQ in Borgo, by any unit not remain under the net. The Molotov cocktail in cast on place adjacent to our unit, and deals one damage to that tile, and another damage to next hex in row. In 35 tiles, we may have a chance to came across the barrel, with alike clown in Moloch may detonate in its own initiative (in this case 0), and set the whole nearby area in fire. The barrel itself just provide the fire bonus mentioned before. So, what else make the fraction characteristic? The initiative is very average. The ability of throwing the battles is just a little above average. In my opinion, those facts do not implicate fraction “averageness”, but make it more easy to focus on most important feature: flames. Sometimes it is important, to not lose the sense of fraction spirit in process of making the fraction powerful. What fireman looks like the nit came to the play? Fireman tends to clear the board from whatever that’s lives. If you don`t start to kill all of them at the beginning, you may find yourself overwhelmed by them at the end. The ability of dealing three damage in seem to be a good option to deal damage in to the enemy HQ, but in this case you have to stand next to it, and that means, that you will be dead at the end of the battle. In reality, you have to put a lot of effort to deal significant amount of da-
mage into the enemy HQ, since there is no strong bonuses or strong units dedicated to assault HQ. So, is the Fireman a defensive fraction? When it came to average initiative, we have to place out units in previously spotted area, in borders of board. We have to clarify the board by shooting the enemy units in back, or hoping for enemy really low initiative. In one to one combat, there is not a lot of units to stand against the enemy. The only one unit, capable of such fight is Runner, with move ability, melee attack and 3 initiative. So if the Fireman wont tempt you witch ridiculous power, what else they have to offer? Most of all – the spirit of Hegemonys gang. I like to think of Fireman as the co fraction for Hegemony to play 2 vs 2 battles. Fireman may also work as just another army pack expansion – not ruining the balance, refreshing the game. If you like more wild improvisation, instead of well-known tactics, Fireman is for you. It`s just a fraction you’ll play for a little while, then you switch in to another one. But most of all, printing it, and cutting tiles of, won`t be a time wasted. The Fireman won`t let you down.
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#1: TRZEWIK AND NURNBERG AFFAIRS! I am in Nurnberg. Fair is big. 12 halls. 12 huge halls full of toys, models, teddy bears and all other stuff that kids would kill for. Halls with boardgames are - you won’t guess! - farthest from the entrance. It takes me 40 minutes before I reach my boardgamer beloved land.
Want to feel like Trzewik in Nurnberg? Take 3 games from your shelf and walk with them around your home for 40 minutes. That’s my impression from Nurnberg.
Well, I got lost. Twice. But still - 40 minutes?!
My arms faint.
It is however not problem of time. It is problem of 3 huge boxes with prototypes I am carrying with me and lack of bag. Why the hell I didn’t take a bag?! What was I thinking?
So when I see on the horizon a man who gives away some free bags, I don’t think twice. I run! I take the bag. I put games into. Uff! I have no damn idea what I will be advertising now, because this slogan is written
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in German, but I don’t care. I am this point where I have no problem even advertising treatment for prostate. *** These days we don’t have watches. We have watch on mobile. Who needs watch these days? Well. I do. I do because My mobile is down. I am not making it up. This is really happening! I have 4 important meetings scheduled and I have no watch. This is me. Ignacy Trzewiczek. Shark. So I desperately start to look for contact.
They go away. I stay. Moron on the rope.... *** Finally I go to meetings. I present my games to our US, French and German partners. Pegasus is not interested in Prototype2. Iello is interested in Prototype2 and is not entirely convinced to Prototype1. Zman need to discuss everything with team at their offices... This is hard. You have couple of minutes to present games you are working on. Meetings are short, no one here have time to sit with you for two hours and play the game. You show prototype. You describe it. Bach, ten minutes passed, you show another one. And another...
I find contact in one of corridors.
You don’t know when it is 5PM. I meet Spielama again. We play. Discuss. Bach, it is 6PM.
I plug in.
Time for dinner. Time for hotel.
I sit. Like a dog on the rope. It will take a while before my mobile starts to breath again. *** So I am sitting like a moron on a rope waiting for my mobile to start working when just from now where came Ben and Basti from Spielama.de! Among those thousands of people in the middle of some stupid corridor I met a guys who gave me game of the year price for Robinson Crusoe! Amazing.
*** Nurnberg this year was very intense for me. When I reached home, my friend Tycjan sent me a photo - German box for Robinson Crusoe. You can see it here. It was shown in Nurnberg. I was so busy I haven’t chance to see it. It gives you glimpse of how busy can you be during a fair, does it?
We shake hands. I propose them meeting later on. They agree.
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#2: GIVE THEM A SECOND CHANCE! I played Netrunner. First game was terrible. I had problems with rules because rulebook is terrible [yeah, I know, I may be the last person here on Geek to complain about rulebooks]. I saw not too many choices, you only put an Agenda, put an Ice in front and wait for Runner to attack. Boring. I spent more time with rulebook. I went through BGG forums. I asked Piechu to help me with rules because still some things were unclear for me. We played again. It didn’t rock. Quite boring. Put Agenda, put Ice, gather money, wait.. I visited BGG again. Game has an extremely good ratings. Everybody is just crazy about the game. We played it again. It was ok. I lost. I wanted rematch. We played again. It was quite fun. For few rounds it really was exciting. I lost. I wanted rematch. We played again. It was fun. It was exciting. I lost again... *** These days the pressure is huge. You play the game. Either it is great or it sucks. No middle ground. No time for second chance. There are 10 new releases waiting on your shelf. You have no time for giving the game another chance. The game is great, or you take another box from shelf...
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600 new games released in Essen. 20 of them on your shelf. Escape, Terra Mistica, Tzolkin, Robinson Crusoe, Suburbia, Love Letter, Space Cadets - to mention only a few. Mage Wars? Legendary? Descent 2.0? Netrunner? Star Wars: Miniature game? CO2? Lords of Waterdeep? This is crazy. There is no space for giving the second chance. Queque of great games is too long... *** I am happy I gave Netrunner second and third and fourth chance. I am happy that I was stubborn and tried again and again. I am happy that after polishing game play and reading carefully all rules I finally find this game good. Hold the pressure of new titles. Be stubborn. Play a game few times before you finally decide it sucks and grab new one from shelf...
#3: WHEN IT’S WITH ME YOU ONLY NEED TWO MINUTES BECAUSE I’M SO INTENSE... In 'my version’ of Robinson Crusoe setup for 4 players was: Take 2 Starting item cards and 2 No starting item cards. Shuffle them. Deal 1 card to each player. That way players had fun since the very very beginning of the game - it was just like in those novels - they are on the beach and they are checking their pockets looking for anything valuable. Some of them have something, some of them nope. It didn’t make it to the final rules set. Why? Because it makes set up longer. Because I need to find all those small moments that make game longer and kill them. Make it fast. As fast as you can. *** Have you watched The Dice Tower best co-ops? Do you watch or read stuff from other reviewers? Every reviewer see short of the play as an advantage. It plays quickly. It is rather smooth. It plays in an hour. You can play two games in a row. These all are advantages. No doubt about it, right? *** I talk a lot with my friends from Rebel.pl This is the biggest games store in Poland. I talk with them to know what is trendy, what sells well, what customers say about games. I want to be updated.
He ask for economy game. He is recommended two games. One plays in 2 hours. The other in 90 minutes. Do you you want to take a guess which one will he buy? 7 Wonders? Civ game that plays in 40 minutes. 1812: The Invasion of Canada? War game that plays in 90 minutes. Egizia? Euro you can play in 45 minutes. Race for the Galaxy? Man, you can play 3 games in a row in 90 minutes... Yeah, players like games that play fast, do they? *** There is however one question that pops in my mind again and again. If we are games fans, why we want games to play short? Shouldn’t we be damn happy playing them as long as possible? Why we want fun to be short? P.S. Title is taken from the great song Business Time by Flight of the Conchords. Check them out here.
Customers choose quicker game.
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TXT: DIEGO WHITETOWER ILLUS.: P. CIEŚLIŃSKI, T. ORACZ
20 years have passed since the first bombs. 20 years since the human race almost extinguished itself. 20 years since we began to fight for survival. But, however, the truth is that we never were too bad. Our small quarry hadn’t was affected too much by the war, and with the rubble of the village we could trade with all the people who got to our settlement looking for resources. We survived, which is something. Until it arrived... „The Hegemony” That’s how they called themselves. A group of delinquents and criminals without too many scruples... Although I have to admit that at this point, there was no one in the world with too many scruples. They came to us and said that they would like to see our village becoming part of its territory. Nobody needed to say what would happen if we said no. Nobody needed to hear it. We accepted, and after some beers (the latest of our depleted reserves), we were part of the Hegemony. Thinking about it, it wasn’t as bad as we believe. From the east, we got news of a Mutant Union, which swept everything
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in its path. Definitely, it could have been worse. Most of our people remain in the village and continue with the rubble affair; a few, we joined them completely. Inside the group, we were surprised to meet many of our peers. There was no criminals there, only desperate people forced to survive. People like us. People emerged from the war. Our very leader, a southerner who called himself Mike Highway, had been a teacher and had an strange sense of justice. Despite his rough appearance, he always preferred to make a deal rather than using violence.
Thus, for nearly a year we extended the influence of the Hegemony all around the old state of Utah, trying to make a new state, the 51st State. We built up roads and railways, and we exploited new resources. Much of this, thanks to the information from some local taverns. Oficially, they weren’t part of the Hegemony; if they had been that, people would have better controlled their tongues... And it wouldn’t have been good for business. The things was going well... Until one day it stopped doing so. Resources became more and more scarce, and every time we had to go further and further away. We spent too much gasoline without getting anything in return. People were dissapointed, and Mike’s methods didn’t seem to be able to solve anything. And then, she came along. I still remember when she returned from that expedition, empty handed but saying they had found a rival group that could be a serious threat. I still remember the interminable discussions on the subject. I still remember Mike’s head breaking into a thousand pieces under a baseball bat. Yes, I remember it very well. I remember how the things began to change. With the information she brought us, we began to prepare all the weapons in our supplies. After one month, we were waging an open war against everyone who stood in our way. We made prisoners work in our factories. We got the
valuable resources and razed the rest. Soon, we began to raise our own territory to get the resources we needed. Mike dreamt of returning to the old days; to rebuild a great state... He didn’t realize that this dream was just that, a dream. The world is dead, and the only way to avoid dying with him is adapting to each moment. If you get stuck, you’re dead. If you don’t get what you need without worrying about the methods, you’re dead. Nowadays, we are settled near the old Salt Lake City, but it won’t last too much. Only time to exhaust the resources of the area and keep moving. Keep moving; that’s the only rule in this world.
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Neuroshima Tactics The Hegemony – the nightmare of post-apocalyptic settlements. A conglomerate of degenerates and rejects, bandits and plain psychopaths. In this short article I will familiarise you with the Hegemony units and suggest a couple of interesting moves and combinations. To make things clear, though – there is no such thing as “the right way to play with the Hegemony”. Flexibility and fast thinking are always the key. So, let’s do it.
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC: The Hegemony is one of the armies that boasts one of the highest average Constitution – most of the units have Con. equal to 13. Thanks to that the chances to survive the first hit are very high. The bad news is that this faction does not have any armours in their default equipment. Only the Black Angels enter the battlefield with thrash armours. Along with good saving rolls the armour helps significantly increase the liveability of the unit. You can produce additional armouring in the Workshop (a faction Location), which is a thing to take into consideration when you set up the battle board. Tip: It’s worth stocking up on medicine. Even if it’s only one piece per squad. There’s a big chance, that the hit unit will survive to use them, and return fully operational into battle. The Hegemoners are great in melee combat when the need rises, although that is not their favourite winning strategy. After popping off all the bullets, though, melee seems like an acceptable alternative. Tip: Melee combat is the last resort. There are a couple of units, like Claws, Hunter, Machete or Gladiator that are perfect for all kinds of brawls, but the rest would rather shoot, as long as they have something to shoot with. Although the post-apocalyptic bandits don’t know much about medical treatments and have no medic among their ranks, some of the units do have an extraordinary ability to endure wounds. That’s why the Hegemoners don’t shrink from face to face confrontations and
getting hit with a bullet or two (but no overkills).
– In such a case it’s definitely a bad idea).
Tip: When preparing the army list, it’s worth considering including an unit that will be able to take a couple of shots if the needed. Nuclear and Bun seem to be born for that kind of job.
Tip: It’s not advisable to engage in gunfire with units armed with rifles and hidden behind a full cover at a range of over 8 inches.
Hegemony units are no sharpshooters. Their Shooting stats vary from 10 in regular units to 12 in the elite Black Angels. It’s a good idea to use Hooch to boost them, aim, or sneak up close to the enemy, if the target is hiding behind a cover. Tip: Boosting your Hegemoners with Hooch and Aiming is a good idea. Two or three pips on a hit roll don’t seem like much of a difference, but in a major gunfight each bonus matters. The Hegemony units are usually equipped with handguns, shotguns or machine guns with an 8 inch range. What is more, shotguns and double-handgun sets get additional perks when you shoot them within an 8 inch range, and that is why it is particularly important to come close to the enemy. Hegemony must keep a close eye on the units with rifles and HMGs which can prove to be a threat due to their greater shooting range.
Hegemony units have low Perception and Agility statistics, which can make Climbing without a rope or Spotting a sneaking up enemy a bit tough. So, does coming within 8 inch range ensure an automatic Hegemony win? Nope, it’s not that easy. Borgo’s mutants have units that specialise in melee combat and a couple of tough sons-of-a-gun, such as cyborgs, who are but waiting for you to enter the range of their shotguns. Long-distance armies such as the Outpost or Moloch also aren’t defenceless in such situations. Hegemony has their tricks, though.
SQUADS PUNKS Punks have really lousy statistics – most of their characteristics are 10ns (except Perception). Armed with Machine Guns and the “Hail of bullets” skill they can roll betwe-
Tip: When setting up the table, you need to try to keep the buildings close to one another. The possible wide, open spaces (so called “sniper alleys”) should be blocked with obstacles (Hitches). Try using smoke grenades or Power Pack effects (which yeld similar results) to shield your movement (except if you encounter Claws or a Hunter
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Neuroshima Tactics
range and over a Full Cover.
en three to four dice in each gun attack. Tip: it really pays off to support the Punks with a Monteur, who minimises the risk of a gun getting jammed. No one on the battlefield will have more dice than the Punks. It’s a crude but effective method – to gang up on the enemy and shower him with bullets in Simultaneous Activation (and hope for many lucky 1ns). It might not be the most reliable tactic, but it does prove useful sometimes. In the end, a single Punk is worth only 90 points, making them one of the cheapest units in the game. If there’s anyone who can be sacrificed for the good of the team, it definitely should be a Punk. Tip: Hooch is a very good addition to any Hegemony group, but in the Punk’s case it’s double effective, since they roll a lot of dice with each attack. Tip: Divide the dice in your long bursts of fire whenever possible, since you get an additional dice, which gives you up to 5 dice in one attack. Do keep in mind that even an ungodly amount of dice won’t help you if you’re shooting at an unfavourable
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Example: A Light Infantry Outposter in Full Ccover, with St 12 is having a gunfight with a Punk, also in full cover. The distance between the miniatures is 10 inches. The Punk has a St equal to 1 (-6 for the Cover and -3 for the range), but the Outposter has St equal to 6 (he doesn’t get a penalty for the range). Most of the time, in such a situatio even a long burst won’t save you from a hit. Only a lucky 1 could help, but counting that much on your luck is a straight way to throwing bricks at the opponent from the third round on. One of the underrated assets of the Punks are their numbers (4 to 6), which helps keeping the squad in coherence. More units also mean more Actions, so you can pick things up and use Locations without risking boring your enemy to death with the total lack of gunfire. Tip: It’s good idea to equip your Punks with a Boom box (faction equipment), which allows them to stay in Coherence in a pretty big area. In the case of a multiperson squad, the easiest way is to hide the model carrying the boom box in the rear. It will be safer there and the squad will still be efficient in battle. Tip: When buying Hooch for a 6 person squad (squad equip) you can pass a couple of bottles to other squads and units. You can use the same trick for other pieces of equipment, using your Punks as Hooch makers or any kind of equipment dealers (keep in mind the limitation resulting from the Army Limit). Punks are a really cheap unit, costing only 90 points. That’s why
sometimes it’s worth to engage in gunfight, running out from behind a corner and shooting with MGs. If the dice aren’t in your favour, your loss will be at most 90 points.
GANGERS The main muscle of Hegemony. Gangers sport a moderate cost of 120 points per model. They are armed with 4-bullet shotguns, which along with their Sh 11 doesn’t exactly make them killing machines. Tip: You need to take into account the small amount of bullets the Gangers have, and not allow them to use the ammo up too soon. It would be a shame if they were right in front of the enemy and out of bullets. The Ganger’s strength lies in their ability “Can’t take it anymore!”, which allows them to perform an additional, fourth action – an Attack. It allows them to perform up to 4 attacks in a round, or move by 9 inches in three actions and attack in the fourth (and don’t forget about the 1 inch Shift you’re entitled to, which gives you up to 10 inches). No unit within 18 inches from the Gangers at the beginning of the round shouldn’t feel safe. Tip: Gangers also do great on a hooch boost, which allows them to attack 3 times with upped stats. Gangers are also armed with Molotov Cocktails (one piece per model). Although they inflict only light damage, it shouldn’t be ignored, as they allow you to hit an enemy in Full Cover. Also, the 2 inch range of damage helps to get an unit up to 10 inches away from the thrower, which proves to be quite important when the enemy is armed with handguns, shotguns or MGs. A Molotov Cocktail can discourage your enemy from standing his
ground, which proves particularly useful when you want to smoke out the units hiding behind nooks or in cover. Tip: Consider throwing a cocktail over a wall at blind. If the building is low enough, you can perform 3 movements and an attack and hit an enemy up to 20 inches away from the Gangers (3x3 inches of movement, 1 inch of pre-throw shift, 8 inches of a throw, 2 inches of the cocktail’s range). Tip: a Molotov cocktail can also be tossed where a gambel is, to discourage the enemy from picking it up in his tour. Tip: Entering melee combat is also an attack. This allows the Gangers equipped with crowbars to travel up to 12 inches in a round. A charging Ganger can be a big surprise to an enemy who’s out of reactions, and who
thought the Gangers to be no longer a threat when they’re out of bullets.
ARMORED GANGERS Steel Police armour-clad Gangers get to keep their awesome ability of “I can’t stand it any more!”. They’re armed with HMGs (10 inch range) and an armour. The game tactics for armoured Gangers is quite simple: run out at the enemy so that he ends up within a 10 inch range and open fire. Tip: Steel Gangers are the second kind of unit except Punks who works great with the Monteur due to the extremely large amount of dice they use when shooting. Tip: It’s easy to overestimate the strength of the Steel Armours. The Sh equal to 11 doesn’t encourage taking
shots at enemies over 10 inches away or in full cover. If the Plate Clash mode is not on, it’s better not to risk losing a really expensive (165 points) unit. Since the Armoured Gangers don’t get any bonuses for a full cover (they’re Big), the Steel Policemen don’t fear open spaces with just a few partial covers. Tip: The Power Pack Effect “Smoke up!” can help you put up the best kind of cover for the Steel Police. The Hegemonian engineers (doesn’t that sound regal?) managed to keep two of the Steel Armour’s modes: the Plate Clash and the Energy Punch. Plate Clash must be switched on as an additional action, modifying the range of hits for the Armour to 1-10 on a Con test. Eliminating the Gangers when the Plate Clash is on becomes a really tough task, and requires a lot of ammo. Performing
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Neuroshima Tactics
Action: Sneaking or Movement turns the mode off. Tip: Thanks to the Preacher you can re-roll the dice on a Con test, giving you a fair chance to stop the bullet at the armour. Tip: Aiming, Shooting, Throwing or ingesting a hooch don’t switch off the Armour mode. This enables you to use the Shift to move over a small distance without losing the benefits of an active armour mode. Tip: Since the activation of the Plate Clash is an Additional Action, you need to perform it out of enemy sight, so that he won’t be able to interrupt your action with a lucky shot. The Energy Punch mode gives you a +3 bonus to melee combat and makes the Steel Gangers a real threat also in hand to hand combat. Steel-clad Gangers still have the possibility of charging at the enemy from 12 inches away, and a decently apt throwing. Tip: The Steel Police are able to lift barrels, which they can throw up to 8 inches away. Thanks to that,
the barrels turn into makeshift, free grenades. Do keep in mind that a picked up barrel that’s in a model’s inventory cannot be shot by an enemy.
BLACK ANGELS The Black Angels are the creme de la creme of badasses. For 150 points you get a great unit, with high Constitution and Shooting 12 (up to 15, if shooting from 2 handguns at an 8 inch range). Moreover, it’s the only squad that has two handguns in their standard equipment. In a suitable range Black Angels can easily hit even an enemy in full cover. That’s the best you can get in the wastes, among the rummaging outcasts. Thanks to the “Maximum pain” ability, Black Angels inflict an additional wound when they hit an enemy model. This turns them into real murderers - two wounds make the enemy model (given that it survives the attack) a vegetable, with a -6 penalty for received wounds. Tip: the only problem the Black Angels might face is a clash with an armoured opponent, which can negate their special ability. It’s a thing worth remembering, and you should focus on shooting weaker targets. Tip: Black Angels, like most Hegemony units don’t do well on a distance bigger than 8 inches, since they can’t use their abilities to the fullest. At no point should they get caught in open space nor engage in gunfight with an enemy at over 8 inch range.
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The Black Angel’s ability isn’t based on finesse. It kills, and does so damn well.
SPECIAL UNITS BUN Bun, equipped with a chainsaw and a high Melee Combat, is perfect for hand to hand combat. He might not be as great as Machete, Hunter or a Gladiator, but he’s a grade better than the regular squad units. It’s not his Melee Combat ability that makes him so great, though – it’s his special trait, which enables him to heal all of the wounds he has gotten, if he’s still alive by the end of the round. This makes him borderline immortal. If you give him deadline (increasing the Con stat by 3 for two rounds) he’ll have a Con of 18 points, making him the toughest unit in game. Tip: You really should equip Bun with deadline. Always. Like always-always. Tip: a high constitution allows Bun survive most hits, meaning you can use him to get rid of enemy’s Aiming token and for testing traps. Tip: Bun can easily go through flames or chemical grenade effects. Tip: Bun is a poor shot, and has only 3 rounds in his handgun. Use them wisely. You can get him a second gun, but it’s a waste of points – there are units better suited for distance killing. Tip: You might consider buying a lucky rabbit’s foot from the faction equipment, which will allow you to use Bun as a moving shield without facing the negative consequences of friendly fire. Tip: If Bun gets a rope, he can jump over walls without
the risk of falling (and getting light wounds) or getting hit. NUCLEAR Nuclear rises his stats after each wound, which makes him a great unit in the later phases of the game, when he gets his first wound. When on the verge of death he boasts a Sh of 15. Nuclear should be the first unit to attack the enemy, since he doesn’t fear being shot. Tip: A Nuclear comes equipped with deadline, and you can also get him some moonshine, to get a +5 on Con tests. This makes him virtually immortal (until he gets 3 wounds, of course). Tip: It’s best to save your Heroic re-roll to save Nuclear from a failed Constitution test. Tip: The lack of wound penalties makes Nuclear a really good unit for gambel collecting, and even with a wound the Hegemony muscleman has quite a chance to avoid the swooshing bullets thanks to sneaking. Tip: As long as he’s not wounded, Nuclear isn’t a great shot, so it might pay off to provoke your enemy to hit him (eg. By getting a gambel or taking a good position) SCAR Scar’s the essence of Hegemony spirit, a real tough guy, making up for his lack of finesse with good stats. His special ability gets him an additional die (i.e. he rolls up to 3 dice in close range when using a shotgun) Tip: You can try to hit the enemy in long range (8-16 inches) by using copious amounts of ammo and the additional die. The best way is to
get within 8 inch range and get it all out with 3 dice. MACHETE Machete is the pro-melee-fighter, with a high Throwing and Constitution. His special ability, “Whacking great” provides three dice for each of this double machete attacks – he’s a killing machine, if he manages to get into close quarters. He also can ignore the first received wound, which proves useful when he eventually does hit. Tip: It pays off to equip Machete with smoke or chemical grenades, to ensure the cover needed to engage with the enemy. A lucky rabbit’s foot also may be helpful, since it allows to shoot at units that are in melee with Machete.
Tip: Keep in mind that knives can be used as a throwing weapons. Throwing knives should be always the first thing you do before direct clash without the protection of a smoke grenad TO SUM UP That’s it for now. It doesn’t mean, of course, that we drained the topic and laid out all the tactical possibilities. What equip to get? Which squads work well together? Which hero is the best one? Which locations to get? How to play against X and how to kill Y? I will answer those questions next time. In the meantime, I wish you all happy experimenting and wonderful battles with you rowdy, loud Hegemoners, the terrors of the wastelands. Translated by: Danai Chondrokouki
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translated by Katarzyna Skiba
Finder
130 AP Nothing else matters when you're having your goal just before your eyes. You move forward like a tank, indifferent to wounds, tiredness or fear. You're the seeker, broken collarbone, mutants hordes or the third sleepless night won't keep you from reaching your goal. Frankly speaking, if you want to be finder you must be ready for everything.
MY PRECIOUSSS... - DETAILS
If at the beginning of the move the finder sees the gamble or is equipped in it his movement increases +1�. In addition, as long as the finder sees or has the Gamble he ignores the punishment for the first Wound, only the second wound is treated as the first one. If the finder is equipped with the gamble all his modificators are increased +2. The finder does not get any more bonuses when he sees/has another gamble.
EQUIPMENT
Handgun(4), Fishing rode
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TESTING KING KONG SCENARIO (ROBINSON CRUSOE)
INTEL EXTREME MASTERS IN KATOWICE. WE WERE THERE SHOWING E-GAMERS OUR UNPLUGGED GAMES
UP, UP AND AWAY!
ROBINSON CRUSOE PLAYED IN BRASIL
LIEN RAG’S SET OF NEUROSHIMA HEX
GERMAN ROBINSON CRUSOE SHOWED BY PEGASUS SPIELE AT NURNBERG FAIR
NEOJUGLE BEAST 3D-PRINTED BY JAREMA
NEXT ISSUE: NEW SCENARIO FOR ROBINSON CRUSOE SHARRASH: A PRESENTATION OF NEW NEUROSHIMA HEX ARMY AND MANY MORE!
NS HEX REVIEWED IN „WIRED”
THE GREAT GUARDIAN OF GAMES TAKES A NAP
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