AT-43 is a Table Top Miniature game. It is a strategy game played between 2 or more people. It’s actually my first time playing a table top game and I must say it’s a ton of fun. The world AT-43 has been created by Rackham Games. They have created so much detail with the rules, the miniatures, the back story and characters that it can be a completely engrossing experience when you crack open the rule book. If you’ve never played a miniature strategy game, I recommend you try this one. If you’re experienced in table top games, I recommend you try this one out.

In fact this game is so great that it won the Tabletop Gaming News Editor Choice Award.

Here is a Write Up by Wayne Peacock  aka “CleverName” from the AT-43 Forum:

Gameplay

At-43 hits the sweet spot between rules crunch and quick, super-involved gameplay. On the surface, AT-43 plays much like other minis wargames. Players pick a scenario, which determines the amount of points you have to build your forces. You build companies based on patterns determined by your faction (and optional sub-factions). Players move their pieces, maneuver, and resolve combat using six-sided dice based on their unit’s stats.

The game has several innovative mechanics that give it a lot of tactical depth, while at the same time ditching a lot of the annoyances of many other rule systems. First, modifiers to tests are kept to an absolute minimum. Shooting tests are based off range vs. accuracy, melee tests off of attacker’s skill with a weapon vs. the defensive ability of the target.

All tests are resolved using a single table (which takes about 5 minutes to memorize). There are auto successes and auto failures in the game. A dude with a knife has no chance vs. the 30 ton walker. Usually when shooting starts, models start taking a dirt nap. Quick, deadly, efficient. It pays to use maneuvers, to take advantage of terrain, etc.

Unit activations present a tactical challenge: acting as a method to keep the player’s focused and keeping the game moving. At the beginning of a turn each player orders the cards representing his units into stack which controls when they activate. The players then roll a die to determine who goes first, with a modifier based on the army commander’s stats. The winner of this initiative roll selects which player goes first, and that player flips his top card — activating that unit. When that unit’s activation is finished (usually move and shoot), the other player reveals the first card on his or her stack. The game continues back and forth until all players have activated their units. No matter if it is your turn or not, you don’t have the time to disengage mentally from the game. Card order becomes increasingly important as the game moves on. It’s an elegant way to resolve play order and a nice way to involve some “fog of war” realism into the game. A commander’s order that made perfect sense early in the turn may lead to real disaster! The game does provide a way to change card order, but there is a cost.

Each commander generates a pool of leadership points – some of which are necessary to activate leaderless units, but can be used to issue orders to units – such as taking cover, overwatch, splitting fire, etc. They can also be used to influence the initiative roll, and help demoralized units recover composure. Therians use them to gain accesses to the EMI grid, allowing the best commanders to execute terrifying combat programs and even rebuild troops on the fly.

One thing that takes a lot of folks a while to wrap their heads around is that there is no deployment phase of the game. Units move onto the game and take actions just like it was any other round. There are actually three different ways to handle deployment in the game – some only available during the first round. Depending upon the scenario, an activated unit may “deploy” onto the board’s edge or be dropped off in the middle of the playing field.

Practically all of the scenarios involve taking and holding objectives to win. Holding these objectives generates either victory points, or reinforcement points – the points you use to bring more units onto the field. Whenever you earn enough points to buy a unit, you simply add that card to your stack at the beginning of the round. The scenario determines how many of the points you have to build your army must be spent on reinforcement units – as opposed to the assault units you begin play using.

While there are “heroes” in the game, the focus is chiefly on the units themselves. Heros have great abilities, but tend to be just as fragile as the grunts. There are exceptions to this. One of the Therian heroes is effectively a tank who can re-assemble herself by cannibalizing allied Therian units.

Pick up your Operation Damocles box set and get started today!