Fans of Mordheim and similar campaign skirmish rules will find a familiar concept married to distinctive mechanics and imaginative campaign play that really bring across the feel of gothic adventuring. The game successfully hybridizes RPG-level detail with good old fashioned miniatures combat. The game blends just enough specific to keep characters interesting without making the game bog down in too much detail.
Similar to other skirmish games like Mordheim, Necromunda, Combat Zone and Gangs of Mega City One, each player controls a group (usually only a handful are required) of models. CIC calls these small groups of characters warbands. You can play a group of goodnik monster hunters, a group of vampires, a pack of werewolves or treasure hunters seeking fortune in the dark, spooky night.
The mechanics are based on Four Color Figures' other popular genre game: Super System (2nd Ed), a superhero skirmish game. There are more than enough differences---primarily to account for genre---to make this a unique game unto itself. Like Super System, CIC is available in PDF format and hard copy. Also like S2, Carpathia is linked to a line of minis (in this case gothic horror) in the 28-33mm scale.
The core of CIC is the goal roll. Using only d6 dice, players typically roll a number of dice equal to an attribute (plus any applicable bonuses) in hopes of getting enough successes to, er, succeed. So, if your vampire's Agility is 3, then you roll 3 dice when you make an Agility check. A die is a success if it is 4, 5 or a 6. For our vampire's Agility check, if you roll three dice and roll 1, 2 and 5, you rolled one success (the 5). Rolling a 6 counts as 2 successes. That's the base mechanic, as easy as you please.
Pre-measuring is not allowed---in order to encourage the nail-biting, risky combat that Van Helsing and similar types might encounter. Models can see 360 degrees so facing is not an issue. That is, a model is assumed to be checking its environment all the way around during game play and can't be sneaked up on simply by attacking the model from the rear.
Strength, Mind, Agility and Resolve are the main attributes for a character. Additionally, each model has a Move (how many inches it moves in a turn), Special Traits (if any), Damage Resistance (Add +1 to your Strength Attribute), and Fate. Fate (equals Resolve at game start) is a number of reroll dice that can be applied during the game to help a character better accomplish its goals---once used, they are gone for the remainder of the game. Fate can also be used to give a character a needed boost of speed. Last is Vitality which measures how much licking your model can take before it stops ticking.
The combat round (admit it, all you really wanted to do was kill things and take their stuff) is simple: Initiative Phase followed by Action Phase. Initiative, unsurprisingly determines who gets to go first in the round. You can determine initiative one of two ways (agree on which method prior to game play). You can use standard playing cards or you can use dice. Both methods are workable and largely a matter of preference with the card method being more random (we used the dice method).
CIC is not action point (AP) driven like S2. AP games give a model so many points to use on actions such as movement, attacks, etc. during a turn. In CIC, a model gets one move action + either a combat or a special action during its turn. Actions are move, free, combat and special.
Movement pretty much follows the conventions found in most minis games. You can move a model a number of inches equal to its Move rating. Difficult ground slows models down while Charging allows your model to add more distance to its move (and bonus dice for slapping down your opponent should you make base to base contact). If a model charges, that is its sole action (other than free actions) for the turn.
The number of free actions a model can take is limited to the model's Mind attribute. For example, Vlad has a Mind of 3 and can therefore perform no more than 3 free actions in a turn. Free actions are pretty much either Perception, trying to figure out where someone is in the dimly lit playing field (darkness is the default setting since it's gothic horror), and dropping down prone.
Special actions include climbing, crawling, falling, forcing doors and held actions. The first three are exactly what they sound like except reduced to tabletop gaming terms. The held action is similar to overwatch in other games. Basically, a character can hold its action in a turn in order to react to something that another character is doing.
Combat is broken down along the standard lines of ranged and close combat depending on what weapons the models are equipped with and distance apart. Base to base contact is required for close combat. Once in base contact, both models take Agility checks and the one who gets the most goals wins. If the attacker gets more goals, he's scored a hit. If the defender ties or gets the most goals, then the attack has been fought off.
After a successful hit, next comes damage. The attacking model's weapon is rolled off against the hit model's Damage Resistance. For every point the weapon's goals exceed the victim's DR, a point of Vitality is lost. Most human models have 3 Vitality, by the way, and are nowhere as hearty as the superheroes in Super System (as it should be). There are special combat maneuvers like tripping an opponent, which add more detail and realism to the fight. Models can also aid their allies in close combat if they want to improve their odds. Ranged combat is worked out along similar lines---except at a distance.
Henchmen in CIC are similar to other characters except their numbers directly represent Vitality. That is, you basically treat a group of henchmen like a single character, but instead of tracking lost Vitality, you simply pull off models as the henchmen get whittled down (1 Vitality Pt/Henchman model). This is almost a visual representation of a "mook" rule seen in some RPGs. One clever effect versus henchmen is "pinning" from ranged attacks. Henchmen who lose one or more models to ranged attacks lose movement and are easier to defend against/attack while pinned.
Models are differentiated not only by their stats but by "Special Traits". Maybe you have a human doctor in your group who's a natural healer. Maybe you have someone who turns chicken every time he loses any Vitality. Maybe you're fielding a vampire and want to make like a bat or mist because it suits your purposes. All of these abilities and more are available to characters in the game. It takes a little while to remember what each trait does and it can be a little confusing if your model has several traits to choose from, but they sure do capture the feeling of the old scary movie archetypes.
Building a warband is relatively straight forward. Each model has a given price in game coins to represent the resources necessary to recruit and equip the character. Every player starts with an equal amount of money to recruit their characters. You can even hire special talented characters such as a mad doctor and his hulking monstrous friend or even a cowboy who seems to have stumbled into the wrong movie-based game (Billy the Kid meets Dracula?).
Equipment for the models is very evocative of the genre. Human gangs might want to outfit themselves with garlic and silver weapons---for obvious reasons. They can also get firearms, which are not always very effective against monsters but can be especially helpful when facing off against a rival human warband. Equipment is very RPG-y to me and has apparent in-game uses. You can buy rope (to help climbing efforts), lucky charms (not the cereal) and other role-playing type items that have table-top effects to aid your warband in winning a fight.
Campaign play is where games like this really tend to shine and CIC lays out an exceptionally nice spread. Several flavorful scenarios in the Campaign chapter allow players to string several games together, fighting across the countryside. Terrorizing/saving towns; capturing/rescuing warband members; exploring creepy keeps and manor houses in search of/protecting fabulous wealth and arcane secrets. Warbands improve, lose members, hire mercenary help, and get closer/farther away from their goals as the campaign progresses.
Adding to the atmosphere, battles are pretty much considered to take place in the dark. Also, each scenario spells out special rules that apply. For example, a battle in the woods may inhibit models' movement and ranged weaponry effectiveness. There are also special events scenario rewards. Additionally, special events are rolled for that can impact play. An example of this might be every model gets a during-game Agility bonus to close combat attacks to represent particular hatred of the other warband or a turncoat hidden somewhere in the ranks of your warband!
Scenario objectives outline what the players have to do to win. For example, a mob of townspeople may be on the rampage---scared of monsters and their hunters and ready to use their numbers to secure their town.. The players might have to drive the other warband out of town and either destroy or chill out the townsfolk; vampires or werewolves would probably opt for eating the townies while humans might go for calming the populace as a more beneficial option.
Once a game ends it's time to figure out what happens in the interim. Injured models or those otherwise taken out in the game face possible injury, capture or death, depending on the roll of the dice. Rewards vary from scenario to scenario---experience points vary from just participating to winning (winning scenario earns more points than just being in the fight). One neat effect for campaigns with vampires is that they can gain weaknesses in addition to the other post-game effects.
Models gain experience for the battle by simply surviving, accomplishing objectives and defeating enemies. Each time a model accrues 5 XP, its player can roll to advance. Advances include improvement in combat, gaining special traits/skills or abilities for vampires and werewolves.
It also takes coin to keep a warband going (even monsters need money). Models get to 'work' in between battles to try to earn cash. Cash earned is based on goal rolls and the models' attributes. You pick which attribute to use for each model---assumed that you'll use the best---to determine in-between-game wealth efforts. This would reflect a strong character baling hay or a smart character doing some type of research or scholarly work for pay.
Goals rolled during this step amount to gold that you can use to upkeep your warband, to hire mercenary types and replacement henchmen and/or to buy equipment and weaponry. So what happen if a warband didn't earn enough coin to maintain upkeep? Their performance will suffer next battle. Models will fight poorly to reflect skimpier meals, meager rest (can't afford an inn, after all), etc. Equipment will function less than optimally due to assumed inability to perform maintenance, buy ammo, etc.
Anyone who has played in a campaign skirmish game where models/warbands advance knows that sometimes a warband gets so far out ahead---or behind---that game play becomes almost no fun. Either your gang is so powerful and has access to so much in-game cool stuff that nothing is a challenge OR your gang is so comparatively weak that you get creamed every session. To account for this, if a player has an underdog gang for a game, he can get additional XP and Fate points (FP assigned before the game so they can be used to help even the field) for fighting a more powerful gang. This does help but can't ultimately stop one player from ultimately "winning" a campaign. Still, it's a useful inclusion to help prolong the playability in a group.
The final chapter of the rules is an in-depth example of game play and extra game options. Additionally, the rules have excellent on-the-spot examples provided at major rules introductions to help players wrap their heads around various concepts of game play. Blank warband rosters are also provided in the back of the rules.
Overall, I strongly recommend this game. It's a solid set of rules and a lot of fun (we pitted vamps against monster-hunting humans and are having a blast). Here are Points to Consider:
*Goal System stands up well to the genre.
*A couple of rules ambiguities exist, primarily in the special traits descriptions of the rules---answerable but initially annoying
*Numerous rules examples throughout the book
*Lots of in-game conventions to reflect gothic horror
*Numerous special traits increases learning curve until players are familiar with system
*Excellent campaign system
*Numerous special traits (RPG level detail) for each mini can slow game
*Relatively few minis and only a small amount of space (4' x 4' or less) needed to play
*Fate points can really impact your game. Don't forget to use them!
