Wednesday 25 July 2012

After The Horsemen Rulebook

After The Horsemen is the brand new rulebook by Two Hour Wargames. The timeline is a post-apocalyptic future that has seen the world transformed into a desolate wasteland and the breakdown of society as most of mankind was wiped out in the apocalypse. What caused the apocalypse? Who knows? Who cares? All that matters now is survival.
Before I go on to tell you more about the game let me tell you what it is not, or rather, what are not included in this book. There are no zombies, vampires, werewolves, supernatural creatures, aliens or mutants. Well, that's a big omission, you might say, and at first, I thought the same. However, Ed Teixeira, the author of the book has said that there will be supplements for the aforementioned and they will be FREE to download from the THW webstore. Although not for zombies. They have their own rulebook and supplements.
Another big omission for me was the absence of any vehicle rules, other than a gaming device to get you from A to B. Again, Ed has this covered. He recommends using the vehicle rules from 5150: New Beginnings or download the new Vehicle Rules, for free, when they are published. Neither is a satisfactory answer if you want vehicle rules now, unless you already own 5150: New Beginnings. When I think of Post Apocalypse settings, I immediately think of the Mad Max series of films. Now try and imagine them without any vehicles in! It doesn't work, does it? I hope the new vehicle rules are worth the wait.
So let's get down to the rules themselves. You can play one of three types of character - a Lone Wolf, a Pack Wolf or a Sheep. Lone Wolves are solitary heroes, who may have a partner, but only one. Pack Wolves believe in strength in numbers. Sheep make up the majority of the populace. Mostly they are followers. There are a lot of Attributes that your characters can choose from or dice for. There are ten tables' worth of Attributes, so plenty of choice. The skills of Fitness, People and Savvy have been added. These first appeared in 5150: New Beginnings, although I note the Science skill has been dropped.
Combat is basically the same as before, although with a few minor changes. If you're already familiar with THW's general Ranged Combat and Melee Combat rules you'll easily cope with this aspect of the game.  One thing I'd like to point out is in Ranged combat if your character runs out of ammo, reloading is no longer automatic. You now have to roll against your Rep to see if you can reload and to see if you have any spare ammo clips left. For this type of setting it makes a lot of sense.
There are a lot less Reaction Tests to roll for in ATH than say, ATZ. In Sight Tests have changed a lot and are a more prominent aspect of the game. The other Reaction Tests are Received Fire, Man Down, Cohesion Test, Recover From Knock Down and Recover From Duck Back. The Leadership bonus will help with the first three and Recover From Duck Back but not Recover From Knock Down or the In Sight Test.
PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) play a prominent part in the game. For the most part I like PEFs. They bring an element of uncertainty to a game, so you never know who or what you'll meet or how many, if any at all. However, with this rulebook there is one element that I have a big problem with and that is with the PEF Resolution Table. You roll against the Encounter Rating (usually 1-3 but could go up to 4 if indoors). My concern is if you pass 2d6 you run into a Settlement of some sort. This makes no sense if you're already in a Settlement. If you are outdoors, does the terrain suddenly transform into a new Settlement? How can something as large as a Settlement suddenly appear on the board? A Settlement can be anything from 1 to 18 buildings. By its very nature it is a static encounter. A Settlement is not mobile. It can't move around the board like people or animals. This one result on this one Table is my biggest gripe about the rules. My solution, for what it's worth would be to make the result of pass 1d6 (meet survivors) the result for pass 2d6. For pass 1d6 I'd now make that meet animals. Pass 0d6, by the way, is no encounter.
Towards the back of the book are eight scenarios or encounters as they are called. Four are voluntary encounters (Chillin', Hunt, Raid: Attack and Wandering) and four are involuntary encounters (Burglarised, Bushwhack, Raid: Defend and Robbery). Your characters will have one voluntary encounter per month, or if they stay at home, one involuntary encounter for that month.
So, onto my verdict. I'll be honest, this is not the book I was expecting. I was surprised to find it strictly human centric. My first thought as I read what it was going to be was, where's all the supernatural stuff? However, I accept Ed's argument that not everyone wants that in a PA setting. Plus, I was mollified to hear that there will be supplements for this system, all of which will be free. You can't say fairer than that. At it's heart, this is a simple smale-scale skirmish game set in the near future. Those already familiar with THW's rules will have no problem playing this game. For those of you coming into this game afresh, the rules are well set out and easy to learn with lots of examples of play to make life easier for you. This is a much easier game to learn than say, All Things Zombie or 5150: New Beginnings.
Will I be playing this game? At the moment, the answer is no. That will most probably change when the supplements for vehicles, vampires and werewolves come out. Until then, this rulebook is going to sit on my bookshelf.
After The Horsemen costs $20.00 for the PDF format from THW, or $25.00 for the book format. I ordered the book format and thus was eligible for a free copy of the PDF version. I'd give this book a 7 out of 10 rating as it stands at the moment. With the supplements, that score would certainly rise.

38 comments:

  1. OK, there are no zeds, but in my opinion "Chain Reaction 3 - Final Version" is way better than ATZ, and ATH is even better than CR3:FV. For me - although there are no zombies - this is easily the best THW rule book at the moment.
    I like the focus on the humans. Like I've said before it's much easier to add something than to ignore/delete/change something. That's why I wasn't so fond of "I, Zombie", missing structure, lots of page flipping and tied into specific campaign area.

    Maybe I'll treat any settlement as resident survivors. They may live in the houses you just looted or you may spot signs of a settlements just off-board.

    Whiteface / Oliver

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    1. I agree with you, Oliver. Fot what it is, ATH is a good rulebook and it would make for an excellent primer for anyone wanting to get into the THW way of gaming.

      I also totally agree with your comments on I, Zombie. As soon as I read about the campaign setting in Lake Havasu, I knew that was something I'd totally ignore.

      As for the PEF Resolution result that bugs me so much, I'd have accepted it if it said you find a sign leading to a new Settlement. That would be better. The sign could be something as obvious as a roadsign or a map, or more subtle like tracks or footprints leading the way.

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    2. I really like the new streamlined systems. I like them well enough I've adapted ATZ to the new ATH system and am using it in my current ATZ caqmpaign. There is supposed to be an updated ATZ available in the next few months but a lot of the adaptation is pretty easy to do in my opinion.

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    3. You're right about a new version of ATZ coming out. It's called Final Fade Out and I'll have lots more to say about in my next post on Sunday.

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    4. Ooh, shiny! Received my printed copy about 15 minutes ago! Just in time for my upcoming holidays :o)

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  2. Great review Bryan and although you might not be taken with it 100% (I suspect because it was probably not what you were expecting) you've still given it fair coverage.
    The settelment thing on the encounter table I would take as some survivors holed up in a building but your take on it is also valid.

    As for vehicles, why not have a PA world without them ? (I hate driving anyway !)

    It's very pleasing to get an honest review of these rules.

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    1. Thank you, Joe. I always welcome your comments.

      Regarding vehicles, I was just thinking that in the world of Mad Max, the availability of fuel for vehicles becomes harder and harder to find. Eventually, the fuel will run out. So, a world without vehicles in a PA setting is a strong possibility. Even so, I still want the chance to drive that big tanker against a horde of bandits as in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior!

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    2. One thing that I've found out recentyl is that petrol actually degrades over time until the point is reached where iis is useless.
      petrol left in a tank will degrade significantly after two or three months and could be useless after a year!

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    3. That's a very good point, Joe.

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  3. I like your solution for the "invisible settlement" problem. I've been going over the rules for a while now. I am also shelving this book until the supernatural rules are released. I asked on the THW forum when the supernatural supplements would be available and Ed said "they're not on the radar, yet." I bought this game because of the supernatural element. I hope it gets included sometime soon.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. We're both on the same wavelength when it comes to ATH. The fact that we're going to have to wait for the supernatural stuff is diheartening but only to be expected, I suppose. After all, THW is not a big company and any free supplements are hardly going to be a high priority for them.

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  4. I admire the sincerity of your review. I had the same sensation of "..It´s something missed..." but I liked the ATH rules and I will adapt the ATZ PostApoc in It. I still think the 20$ for a download PDF too expensive for such...

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    1. Dice Plague, I never order PDFs if a book version is available.

      Your comment that "it's something missed" resonates with me too.

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  5. BTW, two ideas for "invisible settings": Hidden Nuclear bunkers (for outdoors encounters), sewer comunity (for indoors or city encounters, the entrance cab be in a sewer lid). Joe´s idea are great too!

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    1. Don't worry, I knew which Joe you meant. :)

      I like the idea of finding entrances to a nuclear bunker or sewer system, which are similar to my suggestion that I made in my reply to Oliver. Your ideas, however, could open a whole new can of worms, which isn't necessarily a bad thing! I like your thinking, DP!

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  6. One of the things I have to say I really like about THW is that they're surviving in an industry that is notorious for killing companies. From that perspective, I'm good with their pricing points.

    I've heard a bit about ATH, and I have to admit, I'm considering picking it up. I think adding it with Qwik and Red Sand Brown Skies would make for a great game. Playing a sports team that has to cross the wastes to play their matches (and keep their players alive...) might be a lot of fun.

    Then again, I DO have enough to be getting on with at the moment.

    Thank you for the review Bryan, as always, it was a fair one!

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    1. I'm glad to hear that you thought my review was fair, Varangian. That is what I strive for.

      Combining ATH with Qwik (which I have) and Red Sand Brown Skies (which I don't have... yet!) would certainly be a match made in heaven. That's an excellent recipe for a campaign.

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  7. Thanks for the review, I just ordered this title over the weekend. I think the fixes for settlements proposed sound like a good idea. This last suggestion about combining this with Qwik and RSBrSk sounds really good. Totally "Blood of Heroes".

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    1. Cheers, Sean. I hope you enjoy the rules and please feel free to borrow any rule changes/suggestions you see here.

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  8. "My concern is if you pass 2d6 you run into a Settlement of some sort. This makes no sense if you're already in a Settlement. If you are outdoors, does the terrain suddenly transform into a new Settlement? "

    Here's a good case of reading and not playing. The Encounter Ratings in ATH are 1, 2 and 3.
    Consequently to run into a settlement in a ER 1 area is 3% chance, people 28% and nothing 39%.
    For ER 2 its 12%, people 44% and nothing 44%.
    ER 3 its 25%, people 50%, nothing 25%

    As for they appearing out of nowhere that represents the area being out of your LOS until you move into it. If it moved into your LOS it doesn't matter that just means you moved and found it. Some of the old rules like WAJ had static PEFs that never moved and consequently you could avoid them which makes for a real boring game IMHO.

    Human centric was on purpose. ATZ is a fine human centric PA game if you don't use the zombies. So don't use the, right? Yep, but you still must pay for them. Kind of like buying a full loaf of bread and tossing away a quarter.

    Things will work out with the free supplements.

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    1. QUOTE: "Here's a good example of reading and not playing." Yes, that would be me! Thanks for taking the time out to explain the rules fully.

      Believe me, I understand the reasons for keeping the game human centric and I have no doubt at all that things wwill work out when the free supplements are released. But you know what we gamers are like - we're such an impatient bunch!

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  9. Sounds interesting.

    Post Apocalypse is massively diverse. From Stalker, Fallout, Book of Eli, The Road, I Am Legend, Mad Max, Planet of the Apes (kind of) There are many flavours that don't have vehicles in. I can't really recommend a ruleset for vehicles other than perhaps GorkaMorka by GW or Nuclear Renaissance by Ramshackle Games (Free)

    http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/nuclear/downloads.html

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    1. I totslly agree with you, Simon, that Post Apocalypse can come in many flavours. From a gaming perspective and from a personal opinion, my favourite PA game was Judge Dredd the role-playing game. It may be viewed as a sci-fi game to some, but once you step out of Maga City One you're either in the Cursed Earth or the Black Atlantic, both ideal PA settings.

      Thanks for the download link. I'll give them a view.

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  10. And if you're already in a Settlement you trigger lots of PEFs as each building has occupants. In addition once these NPCs are triggered you use the NPC Movement Table to see if they move and interact with you.

    If you resolve a PEF as a Settlement and you're in a Settlement simply count it as pass 1d6.

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    1. I have no hesitation in describing it as a good book, Ray. I'd even say it's very good. But a great book? Hmm, the jury's still out.

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  12. One more thing I should mention. In the example on page 60 it addresses what to do when passing 2d6 inside a building when resolving PEFs. Says to count it as finding survivors.

    Thought I was going crazy there for a minute.

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    1. I've found the reference you mentioned, Ed. Many thanks for pointing that out. I stand corrected. Mea Culpa!

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  13. Great review. Like Sean, I bought this rulebook last saturday. I like THW.

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    1. Thanks, Tito. THW are my favourite skirmish gaming company.

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  14. FYI - ATZ-FFO will not be ATH with zombies. Some things in ATH won;t work in ATZ-FFO plus ATH is set if farther future after gas goes kaput, etc.
    ATZ will cover a more contemporary time frame.

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    1. That all makes sense, Ed. That being said, however, there are some new rules in ATH that I'd like to see in FFO. I really like the new rules for Tight Ammo. Even if they don't appear in FFO, I'd still use them.

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    2. Let me know what you'd like to see, email me at

      twohourwargames@yahoo.com

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  15. A fair and honest review, I'll hold out for a while though!

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