Tac Squad: 2120  is a near-future game of man-to-man (or man-to-creature) combat. I designed this game in response to the (foolish?) support of a sci-fi terrain Kickstarter campaign created by Battle Systems in the UK. The campaign delivered some really amazing modular terrain that allows the creation of multi-level dioramas for use with 28mm miniatures. To use the terrain, I needed miniatures. Since I don't paint, I acquired a bunch of pre-painted figures from the AT-43 game system from Rackham. I had the components for a game, but now I needed some rules.

 

Years ago I had played Snapshot from GDW Games as well as Gunslinger from Avalon Hill. My preference for man-to-man scale wargames was more the latter than the former. I like the idea of pre-plotting actions in advance rather than allowing a player to react in an "unrealistic" fashion. To that end, my first stab at a rules set included cards to select pre-plotted actions. Given the number of actions I wanted to include in the game, this design quickly got out of hand with regards to components. So I started simplifying. I eventually boiled the rules down to fit a realistic component set. I was ready to start testing it, but once I set it all up I decided that I really did not want to play it. Not good. If a designer doesn't want to play his or her designs, there's a definite problem! So that's where things currently stand with this design.

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At this time, I'm not sure what I'll do with the rules once I complete the design. I may make them available for free download as "Print and Play" (like Tactical GameX) or I might also create a set of counters and float the design to a publisher.

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GAME COMPONENTS

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So far, the components for the game include:

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• 1 Rules Manual

• 1 Scenario Book

• 5 Counter Sheets 

• 16 Ability Cards

• 10 Soldier Tracking Charts

• 3 Player aid cards

• Selection of dice (d6, d8, d10, and d12)

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