BACKGROUND
Last week we tested Incursion: America’s new Campaign system where our crew fought for control of Boston. Overall things went well, but several issues were discovered that need attention. Today we’re testing changes to the mission “Capture Ammunition Depot.” We also modified the Line-Of-Sight rules and limited the Russian special ability “Stabilization System.” We decided not to modify the American special ability “Tactical Network” since it heavily depends on LOS. We’ll play test with the new LOS rules first and then make further changes if needed.
CHANGES TO THE MISSION
The old version of this mission (below left) had both players trying to get close enough to an obstacle (the ammunition depot) to collect points as dice counted down to zero. Play testing showed you could ignore the mission all together and still win. The new mission (below right) reduces the starting value of the countdown dice to speed up the urgency to get into position. But the big change is now instead of 
just trying to get near the depot to collect points, the depot spawns transports that the secondary player controls and must get safely to his/her starting board edge to score. The primary player needs to shoot the transports to score points. The lower dice starting values and the need interact with the transport markers should force the players to attempt the mission.
LINE-OF-SIGHT
We specifically designed the LOS rules to give an advantage to smaller vehicles since a larger mech can one-shot a smaller vehicle. Based on our play testing, the smaller vehicles didn’t need the help. For the modified LOS rule, draw any straight line from the attacker to its target. For there to be LOS, any game piece this line passes through must be smaller than the attacker and the target.
STABILIZATION SYSTEM
Incursion: America allows a game piece to move, attack, and move again every round. The old version of “Stabilization System” gave a Russian vehicle a +2 to Aim dice rolls if it limits its action to either attacking and then moving or moving and then attacking. This made it too easy for the Russian’s to hit. We’ve adjusted the rule so the Russians only get the bonus if it doesn’t move at all that round.
CAPTURE AMMUNITION DEPOT
Today game designer Ronnie (playing the Russians) will face off against play tester Zia (playing the Americans). This is a Skirmish mission, so each army has 20 points to spend. The Russians will field Major Reznik in his Command Wolf, a Viper with a generic pilot, and a Swarm with a generic pilot. This will be the first real test of Reznik and his ability to allow every vehicle in his army to move faster. The Americans will defend with Major Wright in her X1 Bulldog and a Prowler with a generic pilot. With the buildings setup, 5 dice are placed on the mission card set to 3,4,5,6, and 7. These are countdown dice that tell us when transports will spawn next to the depot.
Round #1:
Both the Americans and Russians did a good job of building placement, so there were no clean shots available this turn. Every mech on both sides moved from behind cover, shot buildings protecting enemy mechs, then dashed back behind cover. At the end of the turn there were a lot of heavily damaged buildings and the Ammunition Depot was destroyed. This doesn’t keep transports from spawning. It was just in the way.
Round #2:
Major Reznik’s Command Wolf scooted from behind cover, did massive damage to the building Prowler was hiding behind, then returned to cover. Prowler responded by destroying the Command Wolf’s cover. This allowed Major Wright’s X1 Bulldog to plink the Command Wolf for 2 damage. Swarm and Viper then both shot and destroyed buildings. This left no cover for the Americans. At the end of the turn, the first transport spawned, Zia placed it on her side next to the depot debris, and she moved it 4 squares towards her board edge. “The first transport is away!”
Round #3:
Reznik’s speed boost helped him maneuver his Command Wolf into position. With no planetary ion cannon to cover its escape, the Command Wolf shot the transport and Ronnie collected his first point. Prowler moved forward and did a massive 7 damage to Viper. This enabled the X1 Bulldog to move in on Viper and take the killing shot. Ronnie rolled 5 on his Reactor Overload dice and the generic pilot ejected from Viper to try to get away before the explosion. Swarm was also too close to Viper, so it spent its turn getting out of range. At the end of the round, the second transport spawned and Zia moved it towards he board edge.
Round #4:
The Viper’s pilot moved forward and shot Prowler for 1 damage. Then the Command Wolf moved to the side to get an angle on the second transport and shot it for another point. Shooting one more transport would give Ronnie 3 out of a possible 5 points for a win. Prowler moved forward, shot the crippled Viper, and forced an immediate Reactor Overload. The resulting explosion destroyed all the remaining buildings on the Russian side of the board. With the all the nearby cover blown to bits, both American mechs had Line-Of-Sight to every Russian; “Tactical Network” began giving a handy +1 aim on every shot. Major Wright used her “Field Repairs” ability to remove the damage from Prowler. Then X1 Bulldog plinked Swarm for 2 damage. Swarm missed its return fire at the Prowler. The third transport spawned and moved behind Prowler for cover.
Round #5:
Ronnie pressed his attack knowing he only needed one more transport for a win. Zia was using her two mechs as mobile cover to protect the transport. If the Russians could disable Prowler, there would be no way for Zia to protect all three remaining transports. Ronnie moved the Viper’s generic pilot forward, but missed Prowler. The Command Wolf stayed still so it could benefit from the Russian special ability “Stabilization System” and get a +2 to aim. Ronnie rolled “1s” on all three of his attack dice at Prowler for automatic misses. Prowler moved forward to get within close range for both his weapons, leveled 7 damage at the Command Wolf, then moved back to cover the transport. The X1 Bulldog finished off the Command Wolf. Ronnie’s Reactor Overload dice was also a “1”, so it blew up immediately. Swarm also used “Stabilization System” but missed Prowler. In one turn, bad Russian dice rolls had turned the tide towards the Americans. The 4th transport spawned and ducked behind the mechs.
Round #6:
The Viper’s pilot shot and hit Prowler for one. Major Wright repaired one of Prowler’s damage, then shot and disabled Swarm. Swarm’s pilot ejected and Ronnie rolled a Reactor Overload dice of 3. The 5th transport spawned and moved into cover behind the X1 Bulldog and Prowler. The 3rd and 4th transports moved towards Zia’s board edge, careful not to give Ronnie’s pilots LOS and an opportunity to get off a shot.
Round #7:
Ronnie’s pilots had the highest initiative, so he moved them forward. With no shot on a transport, Ronnie damaged Prowler. Major Wright repaired Prowler, then moved backwards to stay near the transports. Prowler also moved backwards to cover the transports. Though Zia could have easily disabled Ronnie’s two remaining pilots, she wisely didn’t. Had she taken them out, the game would have ended and Ronnie would have won since he has collected 2 points and she doesn’t have any. At the end of the Round, Zia moves the transports. Transport 3 reaches the board edge and she collects her first point.
Round #8:
The transports are out of the limited range of Ronnie’s pilots. The game is effectively over. Swarm’s reactor detonates. Zia moves the transports and collects her second point.
Round #9:
Zia moves the last transport to her starting board edge and collects her third point.
Win: Americans
It looked bad for Zia and the Americans after Round 4. But using her mechs as mobile cover proved to be the key to victory. The Russian bad dice rolls in Round 5 were also a major turning point. This new version of the mission was much more challenging and fun than the old version.
AFTERMATH
The Good:
The Mission: Interaction with the transports was much more fun than the old version of the mission. The Russians were forced to attack the transports or let the Americans score.
Major Reznik: +2 Speed doesn’t sound like much, but Reznik allowed Russian mechs to get into position quickly and get back to cover.
Major Wright: Her long range attack and ability to repair ally vehicles are proving to be very valuable.
Stabilization System and Tactical Network: This was only a 20 point mission, so neither of these special abilities got used much. Tactical Network did help, but more play testing is needed to tell if its working well.
The Bad:
Transport Size: We realized the mission didn’t list the size of the transports. The transports are size 1. We’ll have to add it to the card.