Planetfall Incoming

What with the dispatching of my Planetfall order on December 10th I feel its time to talk about Planetfall, my feelings about it so far, how the models are shaping up the just the game in general. Firstly I just wanted to say that I am impressed with how Spartan handled the first Planetfall wave; they encounter unexpected demand for the starter kit and recon helixes that came with it. In response they let their customer know, via email, that the release would be delayed for a while as they produced more boxes to fill their pre-orders. This is how you handle “unexpected demand” for a product. As of the time of writing this post (9/12/2014) I have yet to receive an email telling me that my shipment will be delayed so all looks well for this release being sent out on time.

To date I have played 2 games of Planetfall and I have really enjoyed it, the game mechanics are simple and very easy to understand, so far I haven’t found a rule that is complicated that I haven’t been able to understand it immediately. The shooting mechanics are very easy, you determine the range band the target is in and use that to determine how many Attack Dice you can roll for the shooting attack, a 4,5 and 6 is a success (with 6s counting as 2 hits and allowing you to roll another dice), after that you compare the number of hits to the target’s Damage Rating (DR) and if the hits exceed the DR then the target is destroyed/suffers a wound. Some units have shields that can reduce the number of hits but the mechanics for them are simple and easy to get.

The Relthazoa Core Helix

Last week Spartan released the core rules for the 6 main factions (and their natural allies option) free to download from their website. I won’t go through all of them here (however if you do want a full review then head over the Jaded Gamercast and download the latest episode where they spend the episode talking about the rules), however I will touch on my faction: The Dindrenzi. Unlike in Firestorm Armada the Dindrenzi Planetfall forces are both manoeuvrable and fast, with most of their vehicle’s being both hover (for a -1 to hit) and have the Hit and Run rule (allowing them to shoot then move if they wish). In terms of movement speed they are 1st equal with a average speed of 9 inches (not flat out just normal move) with the Aquans sharing 1st at 9 inches, the Directorate, Sorylians and Relthoza sharing 2nd with a average of 7 inches and Terrans coming 3rd with an average of 6 inches (those averages only include vehicles not infantry). For firepower they have an average of 7 Attack Dice at Effect Range and an average of 5 Attack Dice at Long Range, and their vehicles have an average Damage Rating of 7. In addition most of their weapons have the Kinetic rule (at Effective Range shields use the heavy dice mechanic, 6s only count as two success and don’t give another roll) and the have the army special rule Punishing CQB which allows all Dindrenzi elements to re-roll any Initial rolls of a 1 during any CQB Engagement, the second result must be accepted. So overall the Dindrenzi have a decent set of core rules. Oh and drop pods, all their infantry must be deployed via drop pod.
 

The Terran Core Helix

On the models front things look good, it’s nice to see model representation of all the races. The Dindrenzi models look pretty cool, drop pods look like how you would expect pods hurled from orbit to look like, one embedded in the ground the other one less so. The heavy and medium skimmers all look the part and overall have a nice atheistic.

The Dindrenzi Core Helix

The race I am most impressed with are the Sorylians, the look of the heavy and medium walkers are spot on, especially the heavy. Huge, towering with an impressive array of weaponry on its back, Sorylian players have a good look core helix.

The Sorylian Core Helix

I am very excited to play Planetfall with the Dindrenzi, the game I have played so far have won me over and things can only get better as more Helixes get released in the coming months. I personally am hoping for a all infantry Helix for the Dindrenzi, I love the idea of Drop pod deployed troops and already have some ideas for tactics I would like to try out. Until next time. 
Rex