I picked up the original “Nebula” wargame purely for the models. At the time, my focus was pointed towards stargrave and rogue planet. Fast forward a year and I’ve lost interest in stargrave. Rogue planet was fun but requires a pretty big hack to gain the level of dynamism that WMTG and I are seeking. It is still on my list but not as a primary choice.
Nebula is Cast and Play’s entry into the tabletop wargaming market. It features a sleek d6 engine, skirmish level warbands (2-15 models depending on faction), and an all-3d printable figure range which can be purchased at myminifactory. Battles are fought on a 25x25 inch board with a central objective. The designers provide several pre-built terrain map templates including player usable mines and turrets. While the game is fully playable as is, I place it in a beta mode. The developers are still tweaking rules and points values. This is an Indi product—a little ruff around the edges while retaining a scrappy small business charm.
The models:
Nebula scales around the standard 25mm-32mm heroic style. The figures are a little chunky. That being said, I like their durable designs. I tend to handle models a lot which leads to delicate figures taking a beating. The Nebula models have plenty of flair. Many figures come with configurable limbs and alternate weapons. There are currently four factions--each with basic troops, specialists, and war machines of varying size and complexity.
Building a Force:
The Nebula rules and stat cards are available online. Since stats and rules are regularly updated based on playtesting and feedback, it is a good idea to check your model listing before deciding which figures to use. Nebula battles are designed around 100-150pts. Each model has a points value which you add to your total to get as close as possible to your agreed upon limit. No matter how you pose or equip a model, it has the same stats. Models range from 7pts to 75pts. So an average warband that is not trying to spam single models runs around 4 figures.
Game Play:
Nebula games go very quickly. In our first session we went through 5 games in 5 hours—and that is with a few stops for drink refills and rules checks. After deployment, Models activate their token-based abilities such as movement and special actions from highest initiative to lowest. Then combat is resolved with each model making a single attack with one of its weapons from lowest initiative to highest. The rules are simple and unambiguous. After the combat phase, end-step actions are resolved and we see if any faction controls the objective. If a faction holds the objective at end step for 2 consecutive turns or wipes out the enemy army, they win.
Game 2/map2:
Initial Impressions:
Let’s start with the fact that I played 5 games and got cleared off the board in all 5. My list comprised 2 Kinkalis troopers, 1 Kinkalis commander, and a death hornet. My opponent had 3 Res’Ailings, 2 Res’Aigon, 2 Res’Ai Corrupters, one Res’Aigon Alpha, and 1 hive nightmare. I think the designers thought that ranged ability and movement buffs made my troops more durable and effective. That…was not our experience.
I really really really liked the speed of play and resolution. We did not spend hours trying to figure out what the designers meant. I also enjoyed the fact that the game doesn’t go by turn after turn, both players are engaged in all phases. The core structure is refreshingly simple and avoids many of the complex swingy mechanisms I have come to dislike.
Unfortunately, Nebula has some pretty significant issues in its current form, though they are not deal breakers yet. The first is that points, model profiles, and board layout seem to be constructed with the idea that ranged models can hold off assault models as a viable strategy. Since deployment zones are 5-inches in from opposing edges and the center objective takes up about 1 inch, Players start the game about 15-inches apart. This means that most forces can and will put troops on the objective turn 1. So, if you cannot contest or clear the objective before the end of turn 2, you will lose the game if you hang back. This means that dedicated ranged troops have to come to assault troops if they want to contest objectives. This effectively turns ranged troops into poorly trained assault troops. It also means that there is little difference between close combat attacks and ranged attacks since most are going to be generated within 7 inches of the objective.
Second, point values and model profiles do not seem to be built along a common cost/benefit formula. My troopers have a 1/3 chance of taking 2 damage using their headbutt ability which only inflicts 1pt. They have a reasonably high defense but a terrible resilience stat. So even though the bugs were easier to hit, it was much harder to make that damage stick, especially once the nightmare’s -1 resilience for all friendly models within 7 inches is taken into account. It feels like the defense stat and resilience stats are not clearly delineated. One would think that defense represents how hard a model is to hit while resilience measures how tuff a model is. Some elite troops should have decently high defense and resilience while others should be better in one than the other. The problem comes when looking at a model like my death hornet which has a low defense, good resilience, and low hit points. It is fairly easy to hit but shrugs off more damage than my troopers who are designed and equipped for front-line battle.
Conclusion:
I backed the Nebula origins and Nebula all out war campaigns. I got my money’s worth with the models alone. The wargame has real potential if it can clean up some of its elements. I would like to see how it plays on a slightly larger board (30x30). This would let ranged troops potentially get some shots in before the game devolves into “king of the middle.” I would also like to see an aggressive review of model points and profiles. There are models that feel like they were designed before all-out-war which have not aged well—like the ugnix titan. I would like to see a mechanic whereby players can pick the type of some turrets and mines while others are randomly rolled. Maybe on boards where each player controls 2 elements, they get to choose one and the other is rolled. That way the choice of resource is just as important as which one to leave to chance. Mostly, I like the game’s current underpinnings; though it needs some tweaking to rise to its potential.
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