This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.  (Read 2295 times)

Arkansan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1282
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« on: April 28, 2017, 01:56:58 AM »
http://www.wargamevault.com/product/148894/Clash-on-the-Fringe

For the past several years I've toyed with idea getting into Warhammer 40k. The models are pretty, the lore is to my liking, but my wallet never had quite enough dakka to take that particular challenge on. The edition treadmill moved too quick, the rules books, codices, and campaign books all added way too much to the expense of the game.

Being sure I wasn't the only one with this particular issue I set about googling up a solution. I stumbled across several threads over on The Miniatures Page about people using a rule set called Clash on the Fringe to fight small scale actions in the 40k universe. Quite a few folks were comparing it to a slightly "tighter" Rouge Trader and the author was frank about Rogue Trader and the early days of 40k being one of his main inspirations.

The rules themselves cost 15 dollars for the PDF. The PDF itself is pretty sparse on illustrations but the text and tables are laid out in an easy to read fashion. Interspersed within the rules are neat little narrative sections written POV of characters in the default setting. While it doesn't scream AAA production value it does look very professional for what I gather is a one man company.

On to the content. The book starts out an explanation of what the game actually is, while a miniatures game it shy's away from calling itself a war game and prefers "A game of Space Adventure Combat". The author explains that the difference is that while military scenarios are perfectly possible with this game it is also quite capable of handling say a gang of bandits vs lawmen, a hi tech heist, space piracy, and everything in between.

There is of course the standard explanation of things you will need, dice, mini's, etc. While the game was written with 15mm scale in mind it scales quite well with 25/28mm with no adjustments needed. There are some suggestions for running smaller figures such as 6 or 10mm. The only basing assumption is that figures will be based on individual circular bases, but I didn't see anything in the rules that would preclude figures on square bases.

Before diving into the meat of the rules the author lays out a short list of principles that basically inform the rules of the game and the flow of the game. Also given is a short list of various possible "play styles" including scenario driven and game mastered games as well as the standard head to head. It's also noted quite early in the book that the rules need not be used with the included setting (which is sparsely detailed and honestly not that interesting).

Figures are either grouped into squads or act as individuals though a force cannot have more individual figures at the start of a game than it does totals squads. Recommended squad size is between 4-8 figures, though there is nothing stopping your from going larger. Individual figures can be detached from squads in play. Typically at the start of play individual figures will be typically be heroes, leaders, or psions (oh yeah the game includes rules for totally not psykers). Function wise heroes and psions are exactly what they sound like, leaders are individual figures that have the ability to cause units to act immediately and with special bonuses. Figures in a squad will typically have very similar characteristics but it is not required that they be identical. Squads members are not required to say within any particular distance of one another.

Troops are defined by a simple set of attributes. Speed which is exactly as it says on the tin. Survival a combination of armor and physical hardiness. Training which is basic competency used for both melee and ranged combat checks. Morale which equates to willingness to tolerate casualties and Discipline which is used for reaction fire and enduring fire. These attributes are defined by a number between 1 and 10. Checks are typically performed against these attributes by rolling at or under on a d10 with modifiers typically being applied to the target number, not the roll (there is one or two exceptions but they make sense).

Vehicles and monsters use the same attributes with some minor differences in application.


The turn sequences is a off beat but not at all bad. Each player rolls a d10 and adds the highest Training score of any one unactivated unit on their side, the winner then activates any squad or individual of their choice. Once an individual or squad has been activated it is exhausted for the turn and it's Training score can no longer be added to an activation roll nor can it act again. After that player finishes his actions the roll off is performed again. This adds a neat little element of strategy to unit activation, if you activate your squads or individuals with the highest Training off the bat you will be adding lower scores to the next roll off decreasing your chances of winning. Essentially it forces you to decide whether to save your best for last or commit them early.

If one side manages to activate all of its units while the other side has unactivated units remaining the other player still rolls to when activating his remaining units with a roll of 1 or 2 meaning the unit fails to activate.

When activated a unit can choose from a list of action types. Engage which is a standard move and fire, in whatever order. Evade where a unit moves full distance but may not fire while gaining immunity from reaction fire while moving. Storm, where a unit moves full distance but can only fire at units in Assault range (close range) the unit may move an extra 3 inches if it will bring them into hand to hand combat. Prowl, a unit moves half distance while immune to reaction fire and can still fire at units in Assault range. Alert, figures move at half speed and can take a reaction shot at any figure in sight. Lastly there are Regroup actions, figures move at half speed and cannot fire but gain an additional attempt to recover from Heads Down status (suppressed).

Squads when activated move one figure at a time checking for reaction fire as appropriate.

Movement carries the standard terrain and effect based penalties. Ranged combat works on a simple check against unit Training score, roll under your number and you hit. Simple as that. Interesting to note that most automatic weapons have some sort of area of effect, making suppression of a group fairly easy to accomplish with even assault rifles and the like. Surviving a hit is based on a roll against the targets survival score, now this roll bucks the trend, you try to roll over the units Survival rating not under it. each weapon may have a penetration bonus that is added to this roll. However even if you fail to kill the figure in question they are still forced in to Heads Down status.

Close combat is resolved by a roll off, d10 + Training score, highest roll wins. Figures are typically either forced back and Heads Down or killed outright. Oh and heroes get to roll 2d10 and keep the higher of the two.

Reaction Fire is drawn by moving within a units zone of control which is Discipline times two in a 90 degree arc in front of the figure. Reaction fire only hits on a roll of 1.

The Heads Down status is basically being suppressed. Each figure can have up to 3 Heads Down markers. Being heads down prevents a figure from moving, they can only conduct un-aimed fire (shooting at a severe penalty). At the beginning of their activation a figure has a chance to remove a Heads Down maker by checking against Discipline, each marker can be checked against each activation.

Stress markers are also accrued in various fashions. Each marker means that the figure has suffered a minus one penalty to Training, Morale, and Discipline. If you run to zero on any of those attributes bad stuff happens, a total failure of Morale for instance means the squad flees the scene.

The Psionics system is fairly simple. There are varying levels of ability which determines how many powers may be used per activation, powers are selected prior to play. These powers are pretty straight forward, buffs, debuffs, damage soaking etc. It would be fairly easy to make up more to flesh the list out, I suspect powers from a certain other wargame could be converted without too much trouble.

Heroes work like other infantry save that they have a damage table that determines what happens when hit and are beefier in general. They can be fleshed out with the traits system, which can also be used on regular infantry squads to give them some flavor. Monsters basically work like heroes.

There is a fairly standard list of sci fi weapons, armor, and equipment at the back of the book. There are also stats for basic types like law men, gang members, militia, regulars, veterans etc. Again a fairly standard vehicle list is present as well. From whats given in the book it's pretty easy to stat up whatever you like.

The book is also pretty well stocked with tables used for generating scenarios, locations, plots etc. There is also a decent little campaign system that allows squads and individuals to advance between encounters.

All in all it's a neat little system that is straight forward to pick up and does a bang up job of grabbing the Science Fantasy feel and should scratch that Rogue Trader itch quite nicely.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2017, 02:00:54 AM by Arkansan »

Spinachcat

  • Toxic SocioCat
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • S
  • Posts: 14805
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2017, 03:09:56 AM »
Have you run it yet?

If so, how does it play at the table?

Arkansan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1282
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2017, 08:52:47 AM »
Quote from: Spinachcat;959785
Have you run it yet?

If so, how does it play at the table?

Just some test combats. So far it runs pretty smoothly, I haven't really encountered anything that bogged play down.

flyingmice

  • Flunchist-Cruftist
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9757
    • http://www.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2017, 10:22:45 AM »
First time anyone ever thought I was on the fringe... :D
clash bowley * Flying Mice Games - an Imprint of Better Mousetrap Games
Flying Mice home page: http://jalan.flyingmice.com/flyingmice.html
Currently Designing: StarCluster 4 - Wavefront Empire
Last Releases: SC4 - Dark Orbital, SC4 - Out of the Ruins,  SC4 - Sabre & World
Blog: I FLY BY NIGHT

Spinachcat

  • Toxic SocioCat
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • S
  • Posts: 14805
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2017, 06:55:08 PM »
Thank you again for the review. Looking forward to more info as you run the game more.

Quote from: Arkansan;959810
Just some test combats. So far it runs pretty smoothly, I haven't really encountered anything that bogged play down.


Did you do infantry vs. vehicles?

What do you think of the vehicle ruleset?

Also, how do hero units compare vs. regular units? AKA, are they uber-powerful as in some GW editions, or are they "hide in the back" like other editions, or are they well balanced for both points and effect?

What about scenarios / win conditions / XP for heroes?

Does the game support small team skirmish (aka, squad on squad play like Mordheim or Kill Teams)?

Where are the fan pages that do all the conversions from 40k? ;0

Arkansan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1282
Clash on the Fringe Sci Fi Skirmish rules.
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2017, 08:41:11 PM »
Haven't run anything with vehicles yet. However from looking at it the vehicle rules seem pretty easy to follow and vehicle combat runs fairly similar to infantry combat.

I can't really make a comparison of the vehicle rules because honestly I never really run vehicles in my miniatures gaming.

The heroes seem fairly well balanced. They are noticeably tougher than regular infantry and can lead from the front but they can be dealt with. Overall I'd say they are pretty well balanced.

There is a campaign system with advancement rules, I haven't read it in depth yet. I'll give it a look tonight and post my thoughts.

The game absolutely supports small team skirmishes. You could easily do a couple of single small squads battling it out in an narrative style game. It's easy to do given that squads can be of any size and aren't required to stay within any set distance of one another.

 http://thedogsbrush.blogspot.com/2015/07/clash-on-fringe-40k-edition-chaos-space.html

The page linked above gives a good overview of a Chaos Space Marines vs Imperial Guard game with all of the stats he developed for both units.