MERCs a new look - Part II

Last week the new rulebook for MERCs was dioscussed, and more of the details are discussed here.

Asked what the biggest improvement was, Shotton noted the cards encompassing the miniatures stats have seen refined.

“The redesign of the reference card is big,” he said. “The use of keywords helps so much. How we deal with cover and the advanced combat manoeuvres. Melee combat got a complete overhaul. The way modifiers are applied uniformly across the game now,” noted cogame designer Brian Shotton with MERCS.

“There are so many things that make it a smoother experience in every way. The initiative is completely overhauled…goodness…so much.”

The new rulebook is certainly lavish in terms of art. Each miniature is afforded a two-page spread, with is quite dramatic actually.

So a bit more about the game for those having forgotten the 2012 review.

Yes there is a sci-fi aspect to MERCS, but it is not exactly the focus of things. That may not appeal as much to diehard sci-fi-gamers but it does allow a closer tie to realism others will like.

The smaller scale is by design to keep the game accessible for anyone.

“When I first started in mini-gaming I was okay with spending money,” said Shotton in 2012. “My thinking on that has changed over the years. I created MERCS to play a game that was tactical and as different as my next opponent. I don’t want people to have to spend a bunch of money every year just to be competitive, nor do I want to make anyone’s MERCS obsolete and need replaced.”

The neatest thing about MERCS is that you are fielding very small units, which heightens the need to good tactics. With a five-man squad the base of a game if you lose one man that is only 20 per cent of your force.

Being reliant on tactics means skilled players will win more often than not and skills can be learned and improved. That is highly compelling in terms of re-playability.

Shotton noted then the game is not designed to evolve to mass-army play.

“Each MERCS faction will cap at 10 minis,” he said. “There will be options to play the game with two squads of five, but the core game will stay five-versus-five. No giant vehicles. No big army game. The depth of MERCS is gameplay and squad selection.”

So of the new factions, Shotton was asked which ones he liked most?

“I love the look of GCC. I love how EIC plays. But really, there are so many models for each faction that are brand new,” he said. “The task of choosing your five-person squad is much more difficult and intriguing now.”

There is also the addition on non-aligned characters, which will add depth to play.

“They field and play like any other MegaCon, but I’ve always tried to make them feel slightly outside the rules,” said Shotton. “They break rules. Be it House 9’s Black Ops or House 4’s Hostage mechanic, they are different than the MegaCon factions.

“And GCC breaks the rules in other ways. They kinda break the 4th wall. They stop powers and stop an action. They literal break the rules.”

Between the initial release and recent update the company did release a standalone game in the same universe entitled Conflict. They have now incorporated some of the elements of that game into MERCs, in particular specially designed dice.

“Yeah, the campaign uses Conflict dice,” offered Shotton.  “We always want to give fans that have a lot of our stuff ways to play that the casual fan cannot. We see an official ways to use Recon with tabletop. We have a section in the 2.0 book towards the end of the MegaCon section that has rules for all the extra little minis people could have got in Recon.”

And there is more to come.

“We have plans for an RPG (Role Playing Game), and other MERCS titles,” said Shotton. “You can bet they will all play together at some point.”

Finding a good RPG in this particular genre has not been easy, GURPS being a bit over-powered in my mind, and Shadowrun having the magic element, are two that sort of fit, but there is room for a good one and this world could be just it.

So I was curious if we will we see faction books, which paint more of the world and game background?

“You will with the RPG,” replied Shotton, adding to my interest to see this game released.

As for the core MERCs game, there are a couple of tantalizing tidbits to come.

“There are two more factions in the works,” offered Shotton.

“There are larger scenario campaigns in the works.

“There are the crossover rules with Recon.

“And we’re just starting to design a game called Espionage which explores the espionage aspect of MERCS.

“And then there is an RPG chugging along in the background.”

I know as a mini skirmish game MERCs pretty much tops my list. The small scale keeps the price low. The selection of only five miniatures reminds of creating the roster on the old ‘Mission Impossible’ TV show. The modern feel keeps the game nicely grounded.

Overall, this is one to grab a faction, our gang of five have 10 of them.

And I must say the expanded rules have me looking at Conflict for the dice.

Come out and play MERCs, if you like mini skirmish games, this is most highly recommended.