Sunday 11 September 2016

Drop Zone Commander - The Re-roll Rule.

Ideally when writing an army list you aim for the maximum points available. For some games and armies this is easier than others (many times a GW Space Marine Sergeant has unexpectedly found 5 point Melta Bombs in his Christmas stocking). For Drop Zone players things are not that easy, army composition is quite prescriptive on what is allowed and how many you can take. Its tricky to find much that is worth ten points or less. What to do? Here is an idea. 

Above: The guys enjoying club night. From left to right, Joe, Ed, Dan, Stephen and Tim.


Re-roll counters - 5 points each (a maximum of 6 can be taken)

1. Players must have an appropriate counter for each re-roll they have purchased and this/these should always be visible to their opponent during the game.

2. The Re-roll counter allows only one dice to be re-rolled, (not the entire handful).

3. A Re-roll counter can be used to re-roll a dice in:

- a shooting attack
- a close combat attack
- a fortitude check
- a roll to determine the arrival of a fast mover
- a reserve roll
- a saving roll
- a search roll
- a roll taken as a result of playing a Command Card, except in the situation described below.

4. A Re-roll counter cannot be used to re-roll a dice in:

- the initiative roll off at the beginning of each turn (I had to take a decision on what dice rolls, if any, within the game were sacred, and decided this was the only one I didn't want to muck about with). 
- a situation where a re-roll has already been used as part of the normal game, for example, with the use of a Command Card.

5. Once the dice has been re-rolled you must accept the result. You cannot revert back to result of the original dice roll.

6. The use of a Re-roll counter scores your opponent 5 kill points at the end of the game.

For the braver of you out there, there an optional additional rule.

7. You can use a re-roll counter to get your opponent to re-roll one of their dice. Again, keeping within the restrictions listed above, and, with the additional condition that you cannot use a re-roll counter where your opponent has already used a re-roll counter for that dice result.

I asked Dan about the re-roll rule, and his thoughts were:

'I think Zone needs some spare change add one, I don't think re-rolls are the way to go though. It would be interesting for campaign play though'.

I agree with Dan's view. An evening game at the club is probably the most suitable time to give it a go.

(So here we are at post 100. Back in March 2015 I started the blog with no real plan other than providing a diary of my gaming activities. I have managed pretty much a blog a week and I hope  you have enjoyed my wittering).

As always, happy wargaming to you all.

Alex.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting idea Alex. I quite like the idea of getting temporary command buffs. How about 5 points a counter; spend a counter to discard and draw a new command card or to add +1 to an initiative roll?

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    1. I guess there is quite a lot of different things you could do with the five point counter, without it being tied to the re-roll idea. For it to work, you might need to limit its uses otherwise it just becomes a cure all. The +1 to the initiative roll would leave me asking why the player didn't just pay the points for the extra level in the first place, and, if you had the six counters, this might be a cheaper version of an extra command level without being able to have an extra command card. I still think the initiative roll off is such a fundamental part of the game, that I didn't want to change how the mechanic works. However, changing out one command card would seem to fit the bill as an idea. Nice call.

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  2. It would be nice to have some more options for 'stocking fillers' to use up the last few points, but I don't think rerolls are the way to go.

    Partly because I think they would add an element of predictability to the game that wouldn't be welcome. It's a fairly balanced game, and compared to produced by other companies I could mention, you roll relatively few dice. A single reroll could have quite an impact.

    The other reason is connected to the first, in that I think rerolls could / would be very powerful. Perhaps more so for some factions or units than others. 5 points seems like it's too little to me. I think you'd quickly get people building rerolls into their army lists not as optional extras to use up points, but as important elements they relied upon.

    Congratulations on your blog success!

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  3. Thanks AD. Your comments are well made. I put the idea out there to see whether it floated. Fun pick up games might be the furthest this can be taken.

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