Occult Wars – A Review in Two Parts
By SeattleGamer
I admit it . . . I’m a sucker for anything that will let me game zombies. I can’t honestly say what my fascination is with the little buggers. Perhaps it’s because they were (and remain) the ONLY horror construct which has ever cost me sleep.
Perhaps it’s because my girlfriend was so terrified after seeing Dawn of the Dead (the original) at a midnight movie theater all those years ago, that she insisted I sneak up to her room to check in her closet and under the bed. Who knows?
The point is, when I heard that a new set of miniatures rules were hitting the streets in August, and zombies were included, I knew I had to give them a shot. This review is a result of that purchase, and it’s presented in two parts. The first part will deal with the rules alone; how they look and read, how easy-to-understand and comprehensive and flexible they are, etc. The second part will be an after action report of my first game, putting the rules to the test to see how they actually play. With that said, let’s press on shall we?

Part I – Nuts & Bolts
Introduction: Occult Wars is a set of rules that allow you to fight battles of good versus evil using tabletop miniatures. With a name like Occult Wars, you would expect to find vampires, werewolves and demons included, and you won’t be disappointed. These are included, and more.
The Cold, Hard Facts: Occult Wars, published by Stealthy Spider Publishing, was released in late August 2006 (just in time for my birthday)! Written by Tony Bartram and Rob Webster, they weigh in at 80 pages cover to cover. The rules are presented in two-column format, using a font that is easy on the eyes, and are liberally sprinkled with bits of artwork, tables and examples of play. They are available in printed, CD and pdf formats, for £14.99, £8.99 and £7.99 respectively. They have a web site where you can find out more about the rules, access downloads, check out the photo gallery, follow links of interest, and join their yahoo group. Their site is still under construction, so not all of the features are fully functioning just yet.
Check them out at www.occultwars.com.
I love electronic formats for my rulebooks, so I purchased the PDF download. With currency conversion, it came to $15.47 in US Dollars.

Content: For purposes of this review, I will divide the rulebook into three sections. The first is concerned with character creation, the second contains the actual rules for playing the game, and the last contains rules and tables for character advancement, and other reference materials.

A. Character Creation: There are 23 pages covering this aspect of the game. In clear and concise language, you are presented with 3-4 pages of instructions on how to create human, vampire, werewolf, demonic and angelic characters to form your group. There are also 1-2 pages of special rules to consider when playing “Reborn” (vampires and werewolves) and “Fallen” (demonic and angelic) characters. The rules also cover creation of a mixed group (so you can easily create a group that consists of a highly skilled human vampire hunter, a witch, a demon and a werewolf for instance). A group is anywhere from 2-10 characters, with 7 considered the norm. Also included in this section are 2 pages of rules for creating and using zombies. These are not player characters as such but will typically be handled by the game system itself (or a game master if you wish to use one). All characters regardless of type have certain elements in common. Primary Stats are Reaction, Courage, Shooting, Fighting and Intellect. Secondary Stats are Physical, Stability and Manna. These are all generated by rolling a d12 and consulting a table. The actual number rolled is not the value recorded; the table will tell you what your “bonus” is for that stat based on the roll. This is nice, because it means that a roll of a 4 (bonus +0 for a human) isn’t a HUGE drop down from somebody who rolled really high and got an 11 (bonus +1 for a human). Once the stats are done, depending on your character type you will proceed with the more interesting bits and really flesh them out. For humans this includes birth traits, abilities and job training. Vampires have age, quirks and vulnerabilities, along with dark gifts. Werewolves have quirks, vulnerabilities and dark gifts as well. Demons and angles have vulnerabilities and gifts (no quirks though). My beloved zombies have only traits to assign, but the list is quite comprehensive, and you can easily configure these critters to meet your legend(s) of choice. First Impressions: I was quite impressed with my initial read of this section. The rules are nicely laid out and well written (the occasional typo aside), and the authors make good use of tables. One of the things the authors promise (in the introduction) is that you can create your characters to “fit” whichever legends you prefer. They manage to do this in a very straightforward manner – by using traits, gifts and vulnerabilities that you assign as you wish. This approach is very flexible and easy to understand, without becoming overly complicated.

B. Playing The Game: There are 24 pages of rules covering actual game play, and this includes a page devoted to pre-game and another to game end. The basic turn structure is divided into six phases. First, all players must determine the initiative this turn for each group they control (normally a d12 roll + group initiative bonus). Second, in initiative order, each group makes any tests required due to circumstances (Courage Tests for rattled characters for instance), and activates or moves any members of that group. Third, repeat the second phase for each group until all groups have taken their tests and had a chance to move. Note that characters can be placed in Interrupt mode, which allows them to stop an enemy character in mid-move so they may be targeted. After all activations and movement (and Interrupt shooting) has been performed, the fourth phase requires that all characters roll to determine their individual order for shooting this turn (a d6 or d12 + the character’s Reaction bonus). Ties are considered simultaneous fire. All shooting is then worked out in order. To hit an opponent you determine the range, roll a d12 for each shot you are firing (weapons have a Rate of Fire rating), and apply any modifiers to the result(s). If you equal or exceed your target number, you hit. To determine the nature of each hit you perform a Mortality Test. You guessed it, another d12 roll with modifiers applied. Depending on the roll, a character can be killed outright, seriously injured and out of action, only scratched and rattled, or unharmed. You read that right. There are no hit points to play around with here. This is a simulation of the “real” unreal world where a single shot from a well-aimed weapon can indeed kill an opponent if it hits him in just the right spot! Once shooting is over, close combat is performed in the fifth phase. This form of combat is simultaneous, with each player rolling a d12 and applying their modifiers. High result wins the round, inflicts a hit, and requires a Mortality Test be taken by the loser. As before, results include death, serious injury, rattled, and unharmed. The sixth and final phase is to check for game end (or sunrise) conditions if needed. Those are the basics. Without going into detail, I’ll let you know there are dozens of situational rules to cover a wide variety of other things, from going prone, movement within buildings, and using vehicles, to aiming, line of sight, cover, reloading, running out of ammo, and suppressive fire. First Impressions: I was amazed at just how much was addressed in so few pages. It’s rich in details, while not seeming to be overly complicated. My one worry is the time factor when it comes to rolling the initiative for every character individually before resolving shooting. That may bog the game down, however, there are rules for Group Shooting that allow a cluster of characters to act as one using their leader’s scores, so that may address this concern. Time will tell.

C. Survival, Advancement & Reference: There are 7 pages devoted to character advancement, and another 8 pages covering weapons and equipment tables. This is followed by 5 pages of blank Group Roster Sheets (one for each type of character), a one-page sample of pre-generated characters, and a two-page Quick Reference Sheet. Advancement is based on Manna, which is earned by characters throughout the game (survival, killing an enemy, accomplishing a mission, etc). Manna can be spent during a game to modify a die roll (one point of Manna for each pip adjusted), or saved and spent to acquire new abilities or traits. Some tables are limited to certain character types. There are a HUGE number of items to choose from (usually 20+ per table, and there are 6 tables). Weapons and equipment are obtained by checking for the availability of specific items. Your group is allowed a certain number of d12 rolls on up to 4 (of 12) tables before each game. If you equal or exceed the availability roll, you can acquire a d6 number of that item. If you fail, you come up empty handed. No money is required; the game assumes your group has the means to pay for the goods in question. The 12 tables include Close Combat, Projectile, Gun Shop, Assault Rifles, Support Weapons, Ammo, Armor, Electronics, Police Gear, Optics & Comms, Monster Hunting and Occult Gear. The Group Roster Sheets are nice to have and appear to be well laid out. The 2-page Quick Reference Sheet is a welcome addition and will likely get a LOT of use. There are enough tests and modifiers in this game that a QRS will prove itself quite handy, especially for those first few crucial games where perceived complexity and confusion can make or break a set of rules. First Impressions: Again, I was taken aback by just how much was crammed into this final section. The tables for character advancement are quite detailed, and the mechanism for finding and acquiring more weapons and equipment appears to be both elegant and nicely balanced. The big win here must be the QRS. I can’t tell you how many rule sets I have that don’t come with one of these, and it always surprises me. These are essential to all but the simplest of games, and I was delighted to find one included here. And that’s about it for my review of the rules. I’ve outlined 70 of the 80 pages. The remaining pages include the two covers, a credits page, an introduction and table of contents, several blank pages for taking notes, and a page of photos. But is this portion of the review over? Not quite. I have two more topics to tackle and I’m doing so here at the tail end. I know, I do tend to blather on a bit, so if you wish you can skip this last part and run out and buy a copy of these rules for yourself. But if you do, you’ll miss all of the things I didn’t like. Yes, it’s true, there were a few things I didn’t like. The review above is based on notes I took during my first read through of the rules. In general, my impression was quite favorable, and I outlined how I felt above as I tackled each section of the rules.
But I also made a few notes in red ink, and while writing this review they struck me as something I should address in one lump sum at the end of the review. So here they are:
Negative Impressions: Here are some quibbles I have with Occult Wars. The first three are related to format, the last two involve content and usage: 1 The pdf is not printer-friendly. The pages are all light gray, which means a lot more ink is needed to print these pages. I liked the layout in general and the columns and beams used as a page border, but I wish the bulk of the page had been white. 2 The examples are shown in a box with a dark mottled background, using white text. I found these difficult to read. A black background, or a solid color dark background would have worked better. 3 The font could have been a little larger. It appears that Papyrus 9 point was used, and while an attractive font, it’s a little on the small side. I suspect
that Tony and Rob (and their playtest gaming group) are all youngsters with eagle-eyed vision. But when they get to within spitting distance of 50, wearing corrective lenses to make up for mole vision, they will appreciate how much easier it is to read a nice 12-point font like this one. 4 The only obvious weakness that struck me during my first read through was a lack of pre-game set-up rules. Once I read the character creation rules and mentally crafted my first group, I was all set to dive into game play. I expected a page that explained how to choose a scenario, or at least some advice on table size or terrain placement, with perhaps a list of plot ideas to get a newcomer going. There was nothing like this anywhere. 5 A less obvious weakness was the table listings themselves. I didn’t notice this the first time through, but while writing this review and referring back to some of the tables, I noticed that items are not listed in any particular order. This is an inconvenience. You may jot down on your roster sheet that your character is Eagle-Eyed, but unless you ALSO note exactly what that does for you, the first time you wonder how to use that you will proceed to the Advanced Abilities Table and search for it. Its listed 18th out of 26 items on that table, and only 7 of them would come before it if the list had been alphabetical. It’s counter-intuitive when a list is not in some sort of order – and these tables would all benefit from a simple reorganization when the next edition is released. I said I had two more points to tackle and that was one of them, so that leaves the last point for, well . . . last.
Sex Sells: For those who are a bit put-off by the cover photo (and I confess to being one of them) and are concerned that the rules themselves may not be appropriate for younger audiences, let me put your mind at ease. The game is not about sex. The semi-racy photos on the front and back cover, and the additional page of photos at the back of the book are there to catch your eye, but that’s it. I even conducted a modest search of the text and found no “adult” language. It’s quite possible the game is not suitable for YOUR youngsters based on YOUR moral code. There are vampires and werewolves and zombies and demons and angels, any or all of which you may find offensive or inappropriate for your kids for one reason or another. That’s fine. But it won’t be because the rules are peppered with foul language or nude drawings!
Part I – Wrap-Up
Okay, so that’s what you get and how it looks, but how does it play?
Stay tuned for Occult Wars Review Part II – Zombies, Zombies Everywhere!