Nuclear Renaissance (wargame)

Last updated
Nuclear Renaissance
Manufacturer(s) Ramshackle Games
Designer(s) Gil Harrison and Curtis Fell
Illustrator(s) Curtis Fell
Publisher(s) Ramshackle Games
Years active 2005 to present
Players 2+
Playing time Varies
Random chance Dice rolling
Skill(s) required 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]

Miniature wargaming Wargame genre

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which players enact battles between opposing military forces that are represented by miniature physical models. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.

Science fiction Genre of speculative fiction

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that has been called the "literature of ideas". It typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, time travel, parallel universes, fictional worlds, space exploration, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific innovations.

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.

Nuclear winter hypothetical climatic effect of nuclear war

Nuclear winter is the severe and prolonged global climatic cooling effect hypothesized to occur after widespread firestorms following a nuclear war. The hypothesis is based on the fact that such fires can inject soot into the stratosphere, where it can block some direct sunlight from reaching the surface of the Earth. It is speculated that the resulting cooling would lead to widespread crop failure and famine. When developing computer models of nuclear-winter scenarios, researchers use the conventional bombing of Hamburg, and the Hiroshima firestorm in World War II as example cases where soot might have been injected into the stratosphere, alongside modern observations of natural, large-area wildfire-firestorms.

Biodiversity Variety and variability of life forms

Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is typically a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near the equator, which is the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the tropics. These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 percent of earth's surface, and contain about 90 percent of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future.

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 amount 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> role playing game system

The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems were story- or genre-specific.

Marvel Super Heroes (role-playing game) role playing game

Marvel Super Heroes (MSHRPG) is a role playing game set in the Marvel Universe, first published by TSR as Marvel Super Heroes: The Heroic Role-Playing Game under license from Marvel Comics in 1984. In 1986, TSR published an expanded edition, entitled the Marvel Superheroes Advanced Game. Jeff Grubb designed both editions, and Steve Winter wrote both editions. Both use the same game system.

The Dark Eye is a German role-playing game created by Ulrich Kiesow and launched by Schmidt Spiel & Freizeit GmbH and Droemer Knaur Verlag in 1984.

HeroQuest board game

HeroQuest, sometimes written as Hero Quest, is an adventure board game created by Milton Bradley in conjunction with the British company Games Workshop. The game was loosely based around archetypes of fantasy role-playing games: the game itself was actually a game system, allowing the gamemaster to create dungeons of their own design using the provided game board, tiles, furnishings and monsters. The game manual describes Zargon/Morcar as a former apprentice of Mentor, and the parchment text is read aloud from Mentor's perspective.

AdventureQuest is an online flash-based single-player role-playing video game started in 2002 and currently developed by Artix Entertainment. As of March 5, 2019, aq.battleon.com, the game's hosting website, and www.battleon.com, the game's homepage, have an Alexa rating of 54,521.

The Wheel of Time Collectible Card Game

The Wheel of Time: Collectible Card Game was a collectible card game based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time fantasy series, published by Precedence Entertainment in December 1999. The Wheel of Time was somewhat unusual among contemporary CCG's, because the game required a play mat with tokens and customised six-sided dice to play it. 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.

Game mechanics are methods invoked by agents designed for interaction with the game state, thus providing gameplay. All games use mechanics; however, theories and styles differ as to their ultimate importance to the game. In general, the process and study of game design, or ludology, are efforts to come up with game mechanics that allow for people playing a game to have an engaging, but not necessarily fun, experience.

Tri-Stat dX

Tri-Stat dX is a generic role-playing game system developed and published by Guardians of Order in 2003. Like other generic role-playing game systems, Tri-Stat dX has adaptable rules that can be applied to many genres and settings.

Hex Combat is a hex-based strategy wargame system by Sabertooth Games and its associated collectible miniatures game (CMG) themed on The Lord of the Rings. Like the popular CMG HeroClix, Hex Combat miniatures are cast in soft plastic and sold pre-painted. They also have statistics printed directly on the base as well as sliders or dials that allow players to keep track of the state of each individual game unit without the need for pencil and paper.

Cartoon Action Hour

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.

The rogue or thief is one of the standard playable character classes in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A rogue is a versatile character, capable of sneaky combat and nimble tricks. The rogue is stealthy and dexterous, and in early editions was the only official base class from the Player's Handbook capable of finding and disarming traps and picking locks. The rogue also has the ability to "sneak attack" enemies who are caught off-guard or taken by surprise, inflicting extra damage.

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

Megablitz is an operational-level wargame that was developed by Tim Gow to fill a niche in the range of wargames that was currently available. It combines aspects of both traditional figure wargames and map-based wargames, and new players can quickly pick up the main concepts.

<i>War of the Ring</i> (board game) board game

War of the Ring is a strategy board game by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, first produced by Nexus Editrice (Italy) and currently published by Ares Games.

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 systems 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.

Space Fleet is a board game for 2-4 players, published in 1991 by Games Workshop and designed by Jervis Johnson and Andy Jones.

<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.

Last Night on Earth (game)

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game is a survival horror board game that was first published in 2007. Players can play on the Hero team or as the Zombies. A modular board randomly determines the layout of the town at the start of each game and there are several different scenarios to play. Seven supplements have been released.

Song of Blades and Heroes

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.

<i>Star Wars Roleplaying Game</i> (Fantasy Flight Games) tabletop board game

The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe first published by Fantasy Flight Games in August 2012. It consists of three different standalone games, each one conceived to play a particular type of character:

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/
  2. ↑ http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/nuclear/index.html
  3. ↑ Nuclear Renaissance - Version 2 - 2007
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.