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Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach - 3D turn-based strategy from Slitherine

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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The fact that in this game vehicles have hitpoints instead of penetration rolls means that this isn't faithful to the tabletop game either.

Chaos Gate and Rites of War are UFO and Panzer General spinoffs tho
And Final Liberation is a Steel Panthers spinoff.
Though game based on Steel Panthers is a better match to TT than those other ones.
 
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Chaos Gate and Rites of War are UFO and Panzer General spinoffs tho
Chaos Gate is not the same engine though. Its from "Something Soldiers Something" from Avalon Hill SSI, Random Games, which has a half backed predecessor too. Kinda Jagged Alliance like.
Didn't Chaos Gate use a reworked "Soldiers at war" engine?

Bout gaym: squares and single unit representation -> negative excitement.
Square was more or less a given as it looked based on the Battle Academy Engine.
What is the problem with single unit representation?
It makes some sense at this scale.

How many square single unit skinjobs do you want to play? This one is even a license cash-in.

I dont even agree on the scale -> sense argument or even on the fundamental scale -> sense connection in ideal principle.

Soldiers at War made me love the Bolt Action 7.62 Battle Rifle!
 

Galdred

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But is has a larger scale than Soldiers at War/Chaos Gate: it is closer to Epic /Final Liberation scale, which is what I used to play in TT, so I don't have any problem with it.

The fact that in this game vehicles have hitpoints instead of penetration rolls means that this isn't faithful to the tabletop game either.


And Final Liberation is a Steel Panthers spinoff.
Though game based on Steel Panthers is a better match to TT than those other ones.
vehicle and infantry hitpoints is bad indeed. Is it a carry on from Battle Academy 2?
Final Liberation was dumbed down Steel Panthers (manhattan distance ranges, squares instead of hexes....), but this one will be based on a ruleset already dumbed down from Steel Panthers (Battle Academy), so it could end up worse indeed (although I am not certain BA is more dumbed down than Final Liberation was).
 

vonAchdorf

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They still make some of the best PC wargames, and some have an AI that can actually play.

Though it's often the case, that their maps are puzzles you just have to figure out one time and that was it.
 

Galdred

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And a written preview :
http://www.pcinvasion.com/sanctus-reach-preview
Warhammer 40,000: Sanctus Reach Beta Preview

POSTED BY: PETER PARRISH DECEMBER 15, 2016


sanctus-reach-300x160.jpg

It’s all going a bit Warhammer at PC Invasion this month. The Wood Elves have popped out of the trees in Total War, and Tim may, thanks to Deathwing, be currently walking in a small circle mumbling “The Xenos are uncounted, The Xenos are uncounted”. Meanwhile, I’ve been taking a look at an early, single level version of Straylight Entertainment and Slitherine’s Sanctus Reach.

Emphasis on both the “early” and “single level,” there. This is the same demo version that has been present at trade shows, and as a result it’s quite Work In Progress. To the extent that, as you’ll be able to see from the screenshots, it says ‘Work In Progress’ across the top of the screen at all times. Aspects of pretty fundamental things like the User Interface are not finalised in this build, so anything I show or mention here could be subject to some change.

I feel fairly confident that Sanctus Reach won’t mysteriously switch from being a turn-based strategy game into something else, though. So let’s continue with that assumption.


Movement squares, check.

It’s been a while since I tried my hand at tabletop Warhammer 40,000, but, judging by the contents of this build, the game will be taking some of the fundamental aspects of the little-models-on-a-green-tablecloth version without directly replicating the rules. That is to say, the models don’t make use of the tabletop stats (‘Ballistic Skill’, ‘Leadership’ and all that), but when presented with a unit wielding a Lascannon you can be confident that firing it at an enemy Dreadnought is a solid idea.

Sanctus Reach may adopt different systems, but the basic assumptions from the tabletop can be applied. Ork Boyz are numerous, but are generally outmatched by Space Marines. Terminators will stand up well against almost anything. Heretics must be purged. And so on.

The name itself refers to a tabletop campaign supplement, dealing with an Ork invasion (or ‘Waaagh!’) of the titular planet of Sanctus Reach. As tends to happen in 40K fiction, the Space Marines ride to the rescue. Specifically, it’s the Space Wolves. So they ride there on wolves.


What, you thought I was kidding?

This demo level is said to be from around the mid-point in one of the two campaigns that’ll be included at release (along with skirmish battles). Both campaigns have you in charge of the Space Marines, it seems. Like the tabletop game, you select your starting units from a larger list up to a total points cost; so there’s some flexibility in whether you want to go vehicle-heavy, or adopt a more infantry-based approach.

On this particular map, victory is based on capturing and holding five of the seven key points on the battlefield (or, alternatively, holding at least four when the fourteen turn limit concludes). Neither is particularly straightforward, as the ruins are jam packed with Ork units eager to tell their little Ork grandchildren about the time they totally battered a stinkin’ Space Wolf oomie. Luckily, some reinforcements show up at designated points, including a towering Imperial Knight.

If you can find any in the city block ruins, then cover can protect your troops from incoming fire. Flying vehicles like Landspeeders can also gain advantages by cruising over (or perching on) higher vantage points. Opportunity fire is present too, making charging headlong into a throng of foes a pretty unwise move, even if you do have an urge to rearrange some Ork features with your Power Fist.


Or a Power Axe, in this case.

I wouldn’t say I have a full tactical grasp of how best to play Sanctus Reach just yet (some periodic lock-ups and crashes made finishing the level tricky; Work In Progress, remember), but some principles did emerge from my time with the game. As well as the aforementioned cover and snap-fire mechanics, it’s crucial to learn (or just have an idea, if you’re played 40K before) which weapons will work best against a particular unit type. Plinking away at an Ork Killa Kan with a Bolt Pistol isn’t going to get you very far.

There are the outlines of an experience points system too, which will ultimately mean improving and bolstering your preferred units as you progress through the campaign missions. Without actually levelling anybody up it’s hard to say what form this will take, but certain characters (like the Space Wolf Commander, who can boost morale) possess special abilities. If levelling doesn’t take the form of stat boosts, then abilities like that will most likely come into play.

Sanctus Reach doesn’t appear to be doing anything especially outlandish or unique in the realm of turn-based strategy, but it is sticking vigorously to its remit of adapting a Warhammer 40,000 campaign to the medium. If you’re as keen on pondering your next tactical move as you are on purging the planetary surface of Goff Boyz with the cleansing fire of the God Emperor of Mankind, it may just be the title for you.

Sanctus Reach will be released on 19 January.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Both campaigns have you in charge of the Space Marines

Meh.
This game probably won't give me anything that I wouldn't get from playing Final Liberation again instead.

Probably less since Final Liberation had Imperial Guard, Titans and probably the greatest FMV sequences ever. (AI was retarded though, but that was always the case with non scripted Steel Panthers.)
 

Galdred

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Both campaigns have you in charge of the Space Marines

Meh.
This game probably won't give me anything that I wouldn't get from playing Final Liberation again instead.

Probably less since Final Liberation had Imperial Guard, Titans and probably the greatest FMV sequences ever. (AI was retarded though, but that was always the case with non scripted Steel Panthers.)
Actually, the imbalances (Titans, Warp missiles) and brain dead AI of Final Liberation make it way too easy. That and the Space Marine roster was very limited, and the Space Marines were not particularly impressive.
That said, LARPING it as an IG force with no titan and limited super heavy access would probably make it challenging enough.
I cannot comment on Sanctus Reach itself as I signed a NDA again.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Galdred Yeah. I have played Final Liberation to the dead back in the day, so I know about the imbalanced roster.
Besides I've played Pike & Shot (and will buy Sengoku Jidai some day) which uses the same engine as this and I think that this won't be different enough (never mind limited army rosters when compared to Pike & Shot, for example) from those games to catch my interest.

I'm going to adopt a "wait and see" approach for this.
Maybe there will be DLC's and somewhat interesting complete game to play at some point.
 
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Galdred

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Was there even a game from Slitherine that was not a complete and utter shit?
distant worlds..
Vietnam 65 is nice.
Advanced Tacitcs WW2, World at war: a world divided.
I think Command Naval Air Operation is said to be good.
I haven't played the computer adaptation, but Conflict of Heroes is a very good tactical wargame.

Galdred Yeah. I have played Final Liberation to the dead back in the day, so I know about the imbalanced roster.
Besides I've played Pike & Shot (and will buy Sengoku Jidai some day) which uses the same engine as this and I don't this will be different enough (never mind limited army rosters when compared to Pike & Shot, for example) from those games to catch my interest.

I'm going to adopt a "wait and see" approach for this.
Maybe there will be DLC's and somewhat interesting complete game to play at some point.

That said, there was no good reason to play Final Liberation over Steel Panthers, except for the cutscenes and the 40K porn, given how dumbed down the mechanisms had been :)
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Was there even a game from Slitherine that was not a complete and utter shit?
distant worlds..
Vietnam 65 is nice.
Advanced Tacitcs WW2, World at war: a world divided.
I think Command Naval Air Operation is said to be good.
I haven't played the computer adaptation, but Conflict of Heroes is a very good tactical wargame.
I have also spent lots of time with Qvadriga, though you should try the demo before buying it.
Also Pike & Shot is good.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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That said, there was no good reason to play Final Liberation over Steel Panthers, except for the cutscenes and the 40K porn, given how dumbed down the mechanisms had been :)
Guilty pleasures are guilty pleasures. Besides that hard rock soundtrack is good too.
 

Ranarama

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I don't get it. Why waste the Warhammer IP on a game with a single faction vs. a single other faction? I thought the whole point of the IP was war against everyone else?
 

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