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Babylons Burning Skirmish Ruleset
Hetzerdog Development Co
Review by Steve Crofts
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Remember the Babylons Burning figure review I did a while back? I mentioned a rule set being developed, well this is it!
This is a fairly new concept as far as far as Rulebooks are concerned, it is actually all contained on a CD Rom which looks very nicely presented in a DVD style case, all very professional I must say!
First of all the CD Rom has Adobie Acrobat Reader installed on it so you can install that if you haven’t got it so you can then access the rule book.
Then you can either print them out or just print the bits you need.
I must also mention that all the markers you need are provided on the CD Rom and just require printing off and gluing to a piece of card and cutting out. Same goes for roster sheets, this is mainly for book keeping which I deem to be minimal, it all depends on the size of your forces, obviously the bigger the force the more book keeping is needed, but even then I wouldn’t go so far as to say bucket loads!
Now to the Rules….
As I mentioned in the figure review the rules are set in 2025, the background material is very plausible and I think well research as to the possibilities of this occurrence actually happening. I’ll not go into details about the background but lets just say it is indeed refreshing from the old nuclear exchange routine and I do think quite believable, last thing I’ll say about the background as far as that’s concerned and give you a big clue…. Watch the heavens for large hunks of rock!
The rules are set in the aftermath and how the game has been set out it does give a multitude of campaign and scenario options, covering from wastelands to towns and cities right the way through to water world environments, (surrounded by sea water and the tops of sky scrapers for islands, interesting thought eh!).
The rule set is designed for skirmish scale actions, and units from a little of 1 to four or five squads being the norm.
There are many different factions to choose from, these being Robed Cultists through to Ghouls,(cannibals), and Citizens militia, there are even Mafia type gangs as well as remnant military forces, although the Military components are usually small mercenary bands which fight for the highest bidder.
The system seems to work fine, I had a couple of games with my lad and after the fist couple of games began to get the hang of things and it all started to run smoothly.
As of yet I haven’t found any sticking points, or loopholes that need fixing, but if you do have any problems with the rules there is online back up via email plus if you go to Hetzerdogs website there is a link to there discussion group.
It is at this point I will hand over to Ian from Hetzerdog who gave me a chunk of information regarding the game and additions such as vehicle rules and the wasteland supplements…..
We will be releasing vehicle rules for BB subsequently along with details of / lists for wasteland factions such as Nomads and Raiders who would be most likely to use vehicles.
The rules will allow you to design your own vehicles so that you can use any model or converted toy you like and there will also be rules for cavalry, mountain bikes, motorbikes, jet skis and boats.
All this will be in a supplement called Wastelands which will also include rules for wild and feral animals, campaign logistics, sentinal gun turrets, advanced optional close combat rules, scenarios and campaigns, more background and the second half of the Flesh & Blood novella started in the BB rules.
I'm afraid we don't have an estimated release date yet but we'll be adding a lot of free extras to the website and if it looks like it's going to be a long time before we release it, we may well put up free basic versions of the vehicle and campaign rules on the website.
It should be noted that the vehicle rules will mostly focus on converted civilian vehicles and light military vehicles. It seems unlikely that heavier AFVs would still be running 10 years after "the Hit" (what with the short life of tracks etc.) and even if they were you'd need an awful lot of alcohol fuel! Also, the introduction of tanks and the like would unbalance the game - we don't want it turning into Warhammer 40K!
So a typical APC would be a van with a lot of armour welded on and a pivot mounted HMG or two rather than a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle.
We'll be adding an article on converting, modelling and painting toy cars for use in BB soon (even without vehicle rules, they make great scenery) - we're just waiting for the photos to turn up.
Cheers,
Ian
Now what’s this all cost I here you say…. Well there are two ways of getting the rules the first is to buy them as a separate item, this will cost you a small sum of £7.50, Or you can buy 5 packs of the Babylons Burning figures, also priced at £7.50 a pack and get the rules absolutely free AND get a bonus limited edition figure thrown in too! Now that’s what I’d call a bargain!
Check out the website….
www.HETZERDOG.COM
for more info about the rule offer and how to order your set.
Please remember to mention Wargames Forum when contacting traders!
