{"id":14226,"date":"2020-09-11T00:18:49","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T23:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14226"},"modified":"2021-10-29T02:57:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T01:57:21","slug":"sangin-whats-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/09\/11\/sangin-whats-new\/","title":{"rendered":"Sangin – What’s New?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Yes, as previously announced, the next version of Skirmish Sangin is coming. Titled simply Sangin, with an updated subtitle, this product is designed as an evolution of the first game – keeping some of the core concepts while making it play a little more smoothly. To begin the playtesting process, Dishdash Games have put up an alpha version of the rules, letting everyone start playing and take a look. You can find it on Facebook at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/716296198947496\/permalink\/762611367649312<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To play my part in this testing, I’m going to be putting up a few posts as I work through it, especially once my foray into the North African desert is over and my Regular Opponent is dragged into the uplands of Bazistan for some counter-insurgency patrols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before we begin the actual playing, lets talk through some of the major changes. All of these are using screenshots from Playtest Version 1.5.4. As a heads up, I’ll be using Skirmish Sangin and V1 for the original game, and Sangin and V2 for the playtest rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Character Card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Image from Sangin V2 – version 1.5.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is going to be a brand new post to itself but the classic character sheet is gone. Instead, we have a much leaner, much more active character sheet. Damage is designed to be marked off as it’s taken, there are far fewer percentages to keep track of and the bar at the bottom and top of the sheet are described as best to be used with a pin or paperclip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even better, the character card is designed to fit 8 to a standard sized piece of paper so you only need to print out a page for a regular British Army section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yes, there are already changes afoot if you look close enough<\/em>. We’ll get to them in a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Updated Force Creation Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Image from Sangin V2 – version 1.5.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Again this will be a full post by itself (once I’ve read through it more), but force creation has been tweaked to allow for a little bit more structure. There is a cool new mechanic about generating squad points to lets you spend on adding additional bits of kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Skills and Classes\/Templates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the original Skirmish Sangin, you picked your character’s rating (now expanded to include civilians), rolled up their body rating, rolled up their skills and then picked from a number of packages to fine-tune your soldiers. You had to break out the calculator to create ALL the skills on the character sheet and even then it was hard to theme soldiers quite as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sangin, there are now templates. These function to both give you starting values for a soldier and also define costs and skillsets. Certain templates will have additional skills (such as the NCO and the new Command skill) or including skews towards their specialisations, speeding up the creation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the list of skills covers more than just shooting guns – two I especially find interesting are Interpreter<\/strong> and Combat Medicine<\/strong>. These are not covered in this specific version of the rules but I look forward to their arrival in the next update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Initiative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yep, the singular body value is gone, died before it had a chance to activate. Instead, the new Initiative value has come to the table, generated during character creation and affected by body armour. Functionally, it does a very similar task but is separated out from the basic skills. No need to worry about the person activating last being a complete chump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tempo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The big new addition is Tempo. Tempo is basically a new resource to represent your characters gaining momentum as they do well, allowing them to push themselves slightly further than most other soldiers. Either by starting the mission with it or by gaining it by rolling well, tempo points can then be spent on doing actions such as Reacting to Contact, Interrupting an opponent’s actions or even gaining an additional AP. It also lets your soldiers interact with each other, helping to clear friendly soldiers of suppression through Leadership or assist them by Mentoring them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tempo, I think, is huge. Tempo is going to let your characters become even more unique and even more powerful. You’re going to have a lot more of those dramatic moments, the stories you tell after the game is over – the NCO who rallied his squad-mate to fire the critical shot, the team who, surrounded by MGs, managed to react to contact so well that not a single one of them took a hit. I’m looking forward to taking another look at this mechanic, especially once I get it on the tabletop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Command<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tied to Tempo is Command. With your NCOs and Leaders, characters with the Command skill can use it to generate Tempo, increasing the effectiveness of the force. This tempo can then be passed out to fellow soldiers nearby, helping to keep up the momentum of your operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combining these two additions together, there is now a greater need for command characters to, rather than simply being a fighter with better morale, do what they should be doing in a combat action – commanding their soldiers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Action List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Image from Sangin V2 – version 1.5.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The core of the game is still the 3AP per activation and the list of actions. All our old favourites are here (including a nice speed boost for anyone not wearing body armour) but there have been some tweaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n