Confrontation: The Age of Rag’Narok Starter Set
From: Rackham
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Confrontation: The Age of Rag’Narok Starter Set is a new Miniature Game Starter Set from Rackham.
Warhammer 40k has its Warhammer Fantasy Battles; Warmachine has its Hordes; AT-43 has Confrontation. This miniature starter set, with its brilliant art and eye catching miniatures, is the fantasy end of the same system presented in AT-43.
The starter set, subtitled Wolfen vs. Griffin, includes a nice array of items to get you started. There are custom dice, a tape measure, a complete rulebook, reference cards for the minis, a set of great minis, a terrain map and a “seal of the dragon” terrain element. The minis represent two factions within the Confrontation Universe. The Akkylannians faction, symbolized by the Griffin, are humans who are guided by their discipline, religious fervor and faith in their one god to fight Darkness and the enemies of Light. The Wolfen, symbolized by the Wolf, are a nomadic pack of huge wolf-like beasts that worship the moon goddess, Yllia. They let their hunting instincts guide them and are considered independent of Darkness and Light. The minis are gorgeous!
The rulebook is divided into four sections. Part 1 covers the game universe. Part 2 covers the basic rules of the game. Interspersed within this section are five scenarios that help you learn the rules as you go along. Part 3 is the section on advanced rules, and this includes rules on magic, incarnates and rules about the battlefield itself. Finally, the last section is entitled Ready to play! and guides the players through creating armies and units as well as setting up the game. It also contains 6 additional scenarios.
The rulebook starts with a primer on the game universe. The game setting is a world called Aarklash. It is a vast fantasy world with various factions and several alliances. The Ways of Light are the most prosperous and progressive kingdoms and include humans, elves, and dwarves. They are united against the forces of Darkness. The Meanders of Darkness call upon terrifying and terrible powers to help in their thirst for power. These include living dead, evil alchemists, and many evil creatures. The Paths of Destiny are races that have not allied with either side and include other elves, goblins, and the wolfen. There are also other independent groups through the land like mercenaries. The world of Aarklesh is war torn, engulfed in the end of times or Rag’narok. Some factions take part in in the war while others do not.
After covering the game universe and the two factions that are included in the box set, the book goes into the basic rules in the Rules section. The rules are similar to that of AT-43, but with a few differences to adapt it to fantasy war gaming. Measuring distances for weapons ranges and movement is done in metrics, primarily centimeters. Units are groups of one or more fighters that share the same category – infantry, cavalry, war machine, and titan. Units have leaders and move together with their leader, maintaining unit cohesion. Each unit of fighters is represented by a reference card. Some units (infantry, cavalry, and creatures) have a Rank of one, two or three stars, representing strength and experience of the type of fighter. There are also special units – Incarnates (named characters or heroes), Mystics (Magicians and clerics), standard bearers, musicians, and specialists
From page # 7: “For years, the blood of the peoples of Aarklash has been spilled at the four corners of the continent.”
The reference cards contain data about each type of fighter that make up the individual units. Included on these cards are stats like Movement, Defense, Resilience, Courage/Fear, Health/Structure, Hand-to-Hand ability, and Ranged ability as well as the fighter’s Dice with a given set of weapons and the Weapon’s Strength and Attack. These are used during the Tactical phase of the game round to determine Activation Sequence (see below).
The rules system revolved around the Universal Resolution Chart and a very simple test mechanic. Every test involves an action and a difficulty. Subtract one from the other and look up the difference on the Universal Table of Resolution. This gives that difficulty – the minimum result on a die needed to get a success. The player rolls a number of dice depending on the test. In the case of attacks, there are two tests – one to determine the number of hits and the second to determine the amount of damage that penetrated the target’s resilience.
In a game of Confrontation, once the battle is chosen and the army is built, players alternate activating units, one at time, until all are activated and have acted. A game lasts a number of rounds and in each round the players go through three phases:
- Tactical Phase
- Activation Phase
- Control Phase
The Tactical round includes Ordering the Activation Sequence, and Authority Opposition. Ordering the Activation Sequence, significantly different from AT-43, can occur in one of six ways. They range from 1- Barbarian to 6-MilitaryGenius. Each one deals out the cards in a different way – from random blind to deliberate and strategic. This technique can be chosen at the start or rolled randomly. The default format is called Marauder, where all cards are shuffled into a single deck and the cards are drawn randomly. This simulates the near chaotic nature of fantasy epic battles.
Authority Opposition is the initiative check, to see who goes first. An important concept related to this is the Incarnate. They are sort of like the officers of each unit; they are exceptional fighters chosen by the gods. They are the default leader of their unit and if they go down, then another fighter is the leader. The Incarnate with the highest Authority stat is considered the commander of the company and adds his Authority to this check.
The Activation Phase is where a card is flipped (one way or another, depending on which game mode was chosen) to activate a unit. When activated, the unit has a choice of actions – walk, walk and ranged attack, walk and/or perform a mystic action, run and/or perform a mystic action, and assault and/or perform a mystic action. There are three movement modes – walk, run and assault. All actions must be declared before any measuring occurs. The close combat or melee combat and the range combat are clearly spelled out in the rules, with specific steps described. I am not going to go into too much detail other than to say that the combat system is very easy and consistent. At the heart of it is the Universal Table of Resolution, and the rest falls into logical place.
The Control Phase is all about upkeep and maintenance. This phase includes the following steps: Faith and Mana Point Calculation, Maintenance of Effects, Collection of Elixir and the end of round (Time Out). Much of this deals with very specialized concepts used in the Confrontation game. This includes the magic and faith system. In the Faith and Mana Point Calculation step, players recalculate their magic energy pools. Much of this is covered in the Advanced Rules. Some game effects last longer than a single game turn, if the player is willing to maintain them. This can cost faith or mana points. In this step, the player decides whether he is going to spend those points.
Elixir is a key concept in Confrontation. Because the Incarnates are blessed by the gods, Incarnates fight for more than just glory and gain. Incarnates gain Elixir from their god. Elixir points are gained through goals defined in the battle. They can be used for special powers the Incarnate has and used to win the game. The ways to earn Elixir as well as spend Elixir for certain effects are defined in the Advanced Rules.
The Basic rules section ends with rules on Morale, Courage and Fear. Some units are so fearsome or renowned that they require a Courage check. This is done against the unit’s Fear value. There are also other cases where a unit needs to make a Courage test as well, including when a unit is reduced to half strength. A Courage check can also be used to counter an ‘in route’ effect and bring the unit back together. A unit by default is in a state of Valiant Morale. There are several results that could occur as a result of a Courage Test that could change that state. One was mentioned already – Unit In Route – which means the unit no longer believes victory is possible and tries to leave the battlefield as quick as possible.
One thing that can effect a unit’s Morale is something called a War Staff. This is composed of an Incarnate, a standard bearer and/or a musician. When they include all three, they are said to be complete. These can be used to bolster help in Courage, Fear and Authority tests.
From page #7: “It is now up to you to write the next chapter in the land’s history at the end of an age…”
One big difference between Confrontation and AT-43 is that in tests, the dice ‘explode’. That’s an RPGer term for when a die rolls the highest possible value, the player gets to roll again adding it to that result. That makes for a very interesting and heroic game.
The Advanced Rules section delves in to several key aspects of Confrontation, primary of which is the magic system and Incarnates. Only Incarnates have access to magic and faith powers. Incarnate Faithful have an additional stat called Fervor and have access to powers called Miracles. There are also special Miracles called Communions, that require a group of Faithful to cast. Communions have a certain level of risk to them, but can be devastating. Both are powered by Faith Points. There is a series of steps described in these rules to be followed when casting a Faith power. Units have their own Miracles and Communions listed in a separate book – The Army Book – which is not included in the Starter Set.
Magicians tap the cosmic energies of the Elements – Water, Air, Earth, Fire, Light and Darkness. The first four are considered the Primordial Elements. Mana is the source of all magic, and Incarnate Magicians have their own special stat called Energy. Spells and Rituals are the manifestation of this power and can be found in the Army Book as well. Spells are automatic effects and Rituals are more powerful spells with a certain amount of risk to them.
The layout of the rulebook is awesome. It is full color with both great art and great photographs of the minis. There is a great map of Aarklash in the first few pages of the book. The rules are very well illustrated and clear.
In conclusion, although I am more a sci-fi than a fantasy guy, I have to say I like Confrontation just about as much as I like AT-43. It is brilliantly laid out, the game is downright fun to play and it makes you want to run out and buy some more miniatures and get an epic battle going. Unlike AT-43, this game has a full set of rules that comes with it, as opposed to the stripped down version AT-43 has. This is far more heroic and epic than it’s sci-fi partner. I would highly recommend it for both serious and casual miniature game players.
For more details on Rackham and their new Miniature Game Starter Set “Confrontation: The Age of Rag’Narok Starter Set” check them out at their website http://www.confrontation.com, and at all of your local game stores.
Confrontation: The Age of Rag’Narok Starter Set
From: Rackham
Type of Game: Miniature Game Starter Set
Editorial Directing by: Jean Bey
Designers/Writers: Arnaud Cuidet, Collin Kelly, Jean Baptiste Lullien, Franck Plasse, Nicolas Raoult
Graphic Art by: Matthias Haddad, Mathieu Harlaut
Number of Pages: 80 page rulebook
Game Components Included: A complete rulebook, two playable warbands — the Wolfen and the Army of the Griffin, dice, measuring tape, and pre-painted terrain.
Retail Price: $ 69.99 (US)
Number of Players: 2+
Player Ages: 12 and up
Play Time: 45 minutes or more
Website: www.confrontation.com
Reviewed by: XReviewerNameX