Cutlass by Gav Thorpe

[job]

Alessio Cavatore (his boss at the time) has gone on record to state that Gav was just following his instructions. (Those being "Simple, simple, simple") It's not all his fault

GUUUAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! GU GUGUAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! (descent into madness and Chaos)

All of the dwarf models I had have been spoken for already, but if you're interested you could use your GW models for the June game and if you like them I will order some more from Black Scorpion for you.

I'd like to get some figures, but, like ToD, I don't want to get out ahead of myself with collecting stuff. What was the size of warbands were you thinking? While 9-10 seems nice, reading that as many as 30 may be played seems to kill the excitement for me.

[Primarch]

All of the dwarf models I had have been spoken for already, but if you're interested you could use your GW models for the June game and if you like them I will order some more from Black Scorpion for you.

I'd like to get some figures, but, like ToD, I don't want to get out ahead of myself with collecting stuff. What was the size of warbands were you thinking? While 9-10 seems nice, reading that as many as 30 may be played seems to kill the excitement for me.

As a starting warband, I was able to fit 9 equipped models into my roster (just). I think 30 would be at the extreme end of the scale to be honest. I think experienced warbands are going to wind up playing at around 12-15 models maximum, but a lot depends on how long the campaign goes for and how successful people are in the campaign. (E.g. In our last Necromunda campaign, I never lost a model and got a new recruit virtually every game and had about 16 gang members to most players 8. Most of my gang were rookies though whilst everyone else had loads of skills and abilities).
Nothing in the game forces you to have a lot of models on the table at once.

[job]

Well, Mordheim I recall maxed out on figures after 15 or so, depending on the warband. I noticed that just for a starting warband (9 figures) it will cost me in the range of 5000 yen. Not pocket change and I could put that into my 40k army instead...
If I order I'd like to join with your next order, Prim as I'm not going to have the initiative to go about ordering on my own.

[jus]

I say.

hmmm my interest is piqued. But before I take the plunge I would like to know more about this game's factions background fluff. Since this game is so new, theres no wiki for it. Is there a narrative aspect of this game at all?
Pray tell.

I've been snooping around the internet for more info about this game and I'm liking what I see. Especially how the rules help balance the more experienced gangs with the beginniner gangs. I never liked how a veteran warband could just steam roll a noob in mordheim/necromunda. Tell me there good fluff in cutlass and I might be sold!

[Primarch]

I've been snooping around the internet for more info about this game and I'm liking what I see. Especially how the rules help balance the more experienced gangs with the beginniner gangs. I never liked how a veteran warband could just steam roll a noob in mordheim/necromunda. Tell me there good fluff in cutlass and I might be sold!

Actually, the fluff for Cutlass is wide open. Basically the British Navy found some mysterious islands. Some inhabited by humans, others by elves, dwarves etc. These new races began to build their own boats and took to the high seas as well. Essentially you're free to write your own fluff/background for your pirates as you like. The story is supposed to develop as you go rather than having someone hand you your character from the very beginning. Instead of having a model called Dante and being told "This is what Dante has done and what he usually does." You get a blank slate and as you play games you'll achieve fame (or infamy), background and personal vendettas.

I noticed that just for a starting warband (9 figures) it will cost me in the range of 5000 yen.

A starting warband for Cutlass is less than 3000 yen from the UK. The Orc models are pretty big so they are the most expensive. Everything else is about the same price. (2500 yen or so).

[job]

Well, I don't have a credit card to take advantage of the British pound -Japanese yen rate, so if I can join your order, I think I could make a real commitment to this game.

[Primarch]

Well, I don't have a credit card to take advantage of the British pound -Japanese yen rate, so if I can join your order, I think I could make a real commitment to this game.

Fair enough. As I said, I wont be ordering until after the next Joshin event, so feel free to proxy some models until then.

[Primarch]

I played 2 games of this today with my Royal Navy against some Privateers being led by Jus and Jus&Frans. (DL helped out in the second game in the British side).
In the first game, it quickly became apparant that the rules as written for the action points each turn are fine so long as both players roll average results. But should one player roll max and the other minimum then it does cause massive problems for the 2nd guy.
In the second game we went with a fixed action point total and it worked much better.

So as a house rule:
Easy Mode - Both players get 8 action points automatically
Normal Mode - Both players get 6 action points automatically
Hard Mode - Both players roll for action points.

This has been mentioned on the Cutlass forums as an alternative method of play.

Beyond that the games went pretty well. I think we needed more terrain as the game was dominated by the Royal Navy's long range shooting. More LoS blocking terrain would have helped the other crew a lot. The rules are pretty smooth and encourage you to make your 'safe' moves first before you commit to anything that might allow your opponent to sieze the initiative. I liked it a lot. DL said he thought it was good. Jus didn't like it, but freely admits that he doesn't like Mordheim and similar skirmish level games. Frans also didn't like it saying that he disagreed with how the action point system works.

[Spevna]

http://www.davesgames.net/catalog-patrol-boat.htm

Might be useful.

[job]

Well, I tried Cutlass today, and I have to say, while the rules were very different and a little difficult to get used to (all the different dices and the chart system [not a fan of that part], I enjoyed the game I played and I really like the idea of having a Mordeheim-like game. Also the models do look great and there seems to be a fair amount of excitement about it.
My impressions having played the game:
1) Prim's adjustments make a lot of sense. There are places in the game where you can really see it is still a 1st edition ruleset.
2) Shooting vs. Terrain. More terrain, probably less shooting. I don't think this is necessarily bad either way, but if units become more specialized, there could be some debate...
3) The rule system is a refreshing difference, but it also means it may take awhile to really understand the ins and outs.

I'd like to see:
1) I wish there was an easy way to get hold of a reference for the rules. I'm not sure I would want to buy a rulebook for a "side game".
2) I'd like things to be sped up a little. First time I'm sure the game took a while because of all the rule learning, but I think the games should take between 40-90 min. Mordheim was great in summer leagues because players could bring a warband and easily play a couple of games or more in a similar number of hours.
3) A league. Well, if the the enthusiasm is there, a summer league for such a game kick's butt.