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Greeting, Commanders!
It’s been a little while since the last chronicles, the reason for that is that we’ve been busy finalizing the prototype for the review versions. Manufacturing is almost complete, reviewers are lined up, the demo of the Aftermath legacy campaign is ready, we’re making good progress!
Still, today we’ll take a break from the campaign’s preparations to talk about a simple concept: game units, AKA the miniatures.
In Fractal, we decided to use only 4 types of units, each with a well defined role, to complement the tactic cards in a streamlined way and avoid creating too many complex choices for the players and bog down the combat system.
The units are a direct representation of one of the core design philosophy of the game, that if done well, less is often more!
We invite you to check the Fractal Chronicles #3 if you need a refresher on the combat system.
Space Units
Lightships are the pillars of an empire’s exploration and expansion capabilities. They’re the first unit able to travel to other sectors and are well equipped to deal with a lot of the events that players find during exploration (obstacles, anomalies, living galaxies and so on).
They can also carry ground units to colonize new sectors in order to siege enemy colonies. In battle, the lightships shine with their precision, and can be used during flanking and orbital assault tactics to inflict direct damage, meaning players get to pick the enemy units that are defeated. With the proper strategy, a squad of 3 lightships can defeat a warship, prevent an opponent from sieging a colony or disrupt enemy tactics.
Warships are weapon platforms and engines of absolute destruction used for full scale war and invasions. They can only be unlocked by building enough military colonies and focusing an empire on military endeavors. The first advantage of the warship is its increased carry capacity, allowing it to move huge armies across the board easily, thus preparing for ground assaults and colony invasions.
Unlocking the warships also unlock a specific tactic card: the Planetary Strike. It can inflict massive damages, able to bypass the resistances of even the armored mechs (see below). It also increases the size of a player’s hand, from 6 to 7 tactic cards, favoring this empire’s game of bluff and deception, granting a greater tactical leeway and helping field commanders to resist hostile environments in combat (Some living galaxy effect change the dynamic of combat resolution).
Ground Units
Infantries are the pillars of an empire’s expansion, exploitation and extermination capabilities. These units have the ability to build colonies and raze/invade enemy colonies, but must be transported by space units across the board. They also serve as cannon fodder during battles, as they are cheap to recruit and easily replaced. Still, their tactics can be heavily upgraded with various technologies to make them powerful foes in combat able to deal with a variety of enemy and situations.
On top of these warlike features, infantries are also deployed on exploitation areas, specific areas found on some sectors and events, which are used to gather resources, which can considerably boost an empire’s productivity.
Mechs are heavy ground units meant for war. In battle, these titans can resist damage, literally tanking damage without being immediately destroyed, essentially gaining extra turns at full strength since they can protect other units (except in the case of direct damage), regardless of the initiative of played tactic cards.
Similar to the warships, they also come with their own tactic card: Heavy Fire, which can inflict considerable damage, especially if upgraded with the right tech. It also increases a player’s hand size, and thus their available options. An empire with enough military colonies to deploy both mechs and warships will thus have a considerable tactical advantage, on top of their units’s innate strength.
Finally, some mechs can help remove obstacles from the board much more efficiently, thus greatly increasing the potential rewards.
Thanks for reading, next up we’ll go even further in depth in the action mechanics and rhythm of the game, show you some of the euro-lite elements that make up the empire’s management, and then we’ll tell you more after the Aftermath and aforementioned modules.
And if you already can’t wait for the KS campaign, don’t forget to follow us on Kickstarter, so you don’t miss the launch: