Nuclear Renaissance (wargame)

Last updated
Nuclear Renaissance
Manufacturers Ramshackle Games
Designers Gil Harrison and Curtis Fell
Illustrators Curtis Fell
Publishers Ramshackle Games
Years active2005 to present
Players2+
Playing timeVaries
ChanceDice rolling
Skills Tactical, arithmetic
Website http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/

Nuclear Renaissance is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Ramshackle Games, set in a science fiction, Post-apocalypse Earth setting. Nuclear Renaissance was created by Gil Harrison and Curtis Fell in 2005 [1]

Contents

Setting

Nuclear Renaissance takes place in some undetermined time in Earth's future, in the aftermath of a long forgotten war. "Wars, over-consumption and the wanton destruction of [the] environment has left the earth as a barren rock". [2] Nuclear bombs, biological agents, and poisons have scoured the Earth's surface leaving only a handful of humans alive. A nuclear winter has occurred devastating the biodiversity of the planet, leaving the remaining humans to scavenge and battle for what limited resources were left. The radiation has deformed and mutated many humans, so they appear in a wide range of sizes. Makeshift vehicles cobbled together from old wrecks form an important part of the survival of the marauding bands that roam the scorched earth.

Gangs

Each character a player buys is classed as Hero, Soldier, or Goon in descending order of cost/ability. They have 650 points to construct a gang and equip them with weapons, skills, and vehicles. Thus, a gang may consist of 2 or 3 highly valued members, or 20 expendable ones.

Players may also purchase specialists, who are classed as soldiers. Types of specialist are:

Alternatively, characters may have these skills purchased for them individually.

Character Statistics

Each character has 7 statistics

Game Mechanics

Nuclear Renaissance is turn-based, with each player activating one figure at a time during that turn. When all players have activated all figures the turn ends and a new turn begins. 10-sided dice (D10) are used.

Each figure has a set number of Action Points that they can use to move, shoot, aim, &c. When all Action Points are used up, that figure's turn is over and the next player moves a figure. No figure may move more than once per turn.

Figures are activated in order of Aptitude, so a hero with high aptitude will always move before a goon with low aptitude on the same team. The hero may skip his turn and go later in the sequence, if so then the opposing player gets to activate their next figure.

Shock

"During the hurly-burly of a battle, unexpected events, injuries and close calls can all spook a fighter." [3]

A unique aspect of Nuclear Renaissance is Shock. A model is penalised with shock tokens when it is involved in a vehicular crash, a near miss from a gun or combat, &c. Shock tokens accumulate and each one reduces the core statistics of the character. They can be removed by expending action points during the game.

Related Research Articles

<i>GURPS</i> Tabletop role-playing game system

The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by Steve Jackson and published in 1986, at a time when most such systems were story- or genre-specific. Since then, four editions have been published. The current line editor is Sean Punch.

<i>DragonQuest</i> Fantasy role-playing game

DragonQuest is a fantasy role-playing game originally published by Simulations Publications (SPI) in 1980. Where first generation fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) restricted players to particular character classes, DragonQuest was one of the first games to utilize a system that emphasized skills, allowing more individual customization and a wider range of options.

The Dark Eye is a German tabletop role-playing game with a high fantasy theme created by Ulrich Kiesow and launched by Schmidt Spiel & Freizeit GmbH and Droemer Knaur Verlag in 1984. It is the most successful role-playing game on the German market, outselling Dungeons & Dragons. Many years of work on the game have led to a detailed and extensively described game world.

AdventureQuest is an online Flash-based single-player role-playing video game started in 2002 and currently developed by Artix Entertainment.

<i>The Wheel of Time Collectible Card Game</i> Collectible card game

The Wheel of Time Collectible Card Game is an out-of-print collectible card game published by Precedence Entertainment in December 1999 and based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time fantasy novel series. The game was somewhat unusual among contemporary collectible card games because it required a play mat with tokens and customized six-sided dice to play. It uses some similar game mechanics to the Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game and the Tomb Raider Collectible Card Game, which were also published by Precedence.

In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shaped move of the knight in chess. A game's mechanics thus effectively specify how the game will work for the people who play it.

<i>Warmaster</i>

Warmaster is a ruleset for tabletop wargames written by Rick Priestley, published by Specialist Games, and set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. It is different from Warhammer Fantasy Battles in both appearance and gameplay. It is intended for 10 –12 mm miniatures. Basic troops are based on stands, of which typically three make a unit. Generals, Heroes and Wizards are mounted individually or with their retinue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuzion</span> Tabletop role-playing game system

Fuzion is a generic role-playing game system created by the collaboration of R. Talsorian Games and Hero Games. The rights to Fuzion are jointly held by Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games, along with Steve Peterson and Ray Greer of Hero Games. Fuzion is a combination of the Interlock System,, and the HERO system. Fuzion is an adaptable system which can be played in any genre and setting imaginable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon Action Hour</span> Role-playing game

Cartoon Action Hour is a role-playing game (RPG) designed to emulate classic action-adventure cartoons, such as ThunderCats, He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Visionaries, Inhumanoids, Centurions, Thundarr the Barbarian, M.A.S.K., and Bravestarr.

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, game mechanics and dice rolls determine much of what happens. These mechanics include:

<i>Iron Heroes</i>

Iron Heroes is a variant Player's Handbook for the d20 System of role-playing games, in the tradition of Arcana Unearthed. It incorporates the core d20 mechanic, while introducing new rules options, differently-balanced classes, an entirely new feat system, and changes to the way skills and feats operate. It is intended to allow players to take on traditional challenges at the same levels that their D&D counterparts would be able to, without recourse to magic items or high spellcasting. It was written by Mike Mearls, is currently owned and updated by Adam Windsor, and published by Fiery Dragon Productions.

<i>Battle Hunter</i> 1999 video game

Battle Hunter, known in Japan as Battle Sugoroku: Hunter and in Europe as The Hunter, is an anime-styled tactical role-playing game, released for the PlayStation in 1999. It was released in Japan as part of the SuperLite 1500 series of budget games. The game revolves around a player-controlled hunter that must compete with three other hunters in order to win a relic, and makes heavy use of traditional RPG conventions such as dice and tile-based movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EABA</span>

The End All Be All game system, commonly known as EABA and pronounced "ee-buh", is a role-playing game system from Blacksburg Tactical Research Center (BTRC). It is a generic gaming system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming environment. It was created by Greg Porter in 2003. The game cites the Hero System, GURPS and Call of Cthulhu as influences in its development.

<i>Tide of Iron</i>

Tide of Iron is a World War II based wargame designed and published in 2007 by Fantasy Flight Games, also notable for publishing other large games containing a large number of counters and/or other components such as World of Warcraft: The Board Game and Arkham Horror.

<i>Melee</i> (game) Board game

Melee is a board wargame designed by Steve Jackson, and released in 1977 by Metagaming Concepts. In 2019, Melee was revived and re-released by Steve Jackson Games.

Conflict of Heroes (CoH) is a tactical-level board wargame series that simulates firefights at the platoon or company level. Several games and expansions have been released in the series including, Price of Honour set in Poland in 1939, Awakening the Bear!, set in the World War II Eastern Front between the years 1941 and 1942, Storms of Steel, set in Kursk in 1943 and Guadalcanal, set on Guadalcanal in 1942. The game is played on one or more interchangeable map boards which are divided into hexagons for movement and firing regulation.

<i>Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay</i> Fantasy roleplaying game

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroscape</span> Miniature wargaming system

Heroscape is an expandable turn-based miniature wargaming system originally manufactured by Hasbro subsidiaries from 2004 until its discontinuation in November 2010. Geared towards younger players, the game is played using pre-painted miniature figures on a board made from interlocking hexagonal tiles, allowing for the construction of an interchangeable and variable 3D landscape. This system and the relatively high production quality of the game materials have been lauded by fans even years after the game was discontinued, eventually leading to its revival in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Song of Blades and Heroes</span>

Song of Blades and Heroes is a tabletop miniatures game set of fast play fantasy rules that can be played with generic fantasy figures or model soldiers called "miniatures". The game uses three measuring sticks to measure all distances. An average game lasts 30–45 minutes. A small campaign, a series of linked games played using the same miniatures, can be played in a single evening.

The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe, first published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2012. It consists of different standalone cross-compatible games where each one is a separate themed experience. The sourcebooks support games set from the Clone Wars era to the original Star Wars trilogy era; there is limited support for the Star Wars sequel trilogy era. Since 2020, the game line has been maintained by Asmodee's subsidiary Edge Studio.

References

  1. "Ramshackle Games". Ramshackle games. 2018-05-14. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  2. "Nuclear Renaissance". Ramshackle games. 2018-05-17. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  3. Nuclear Renaissance – Version 2 – 2007 [ full citation needed ]