Confrontation
Confrontation (also called CO , CO 2 or CO 3 depending on the version of the rules ) was a tabletop game from the Rackham company , which is based in France. For a long time, the Berlin publishing house Beutelsend took over the German distribution of the figures . In 2005 the distribution of Universal Cards was taken over. With Rackham's bankruptcy in 2007, support for the game ended. Only a few miniatures, some of which were still unpublished at the time, are offered by the American company CMON Inc. as Confrontation Legacy Miniatures.
Confrontation takes place in a fictional fantasy world called Aarklash. On it there are the most diverse races from the elves, dwarves, humans to the wild warriors of the Celts, the vicious undead, the mad alchemists and many others.
Confrontation made a name for itself with fairly detailed miniatures . Furthermore, Confrontation focuses on battles with relatively few miniatures, so that entry is usually cheaper than with competing products. The game system was characterized by the intensive use of playing cards compared to other projects. Each blister pack includes at least one card with game values for the figure or troop. Blisters from magicians also contain cards with the description of the spells (and the same applies to blisters for priests, which contain the priest-specific rules). The cards are used in the game and determine e.g. B. the turn order. Also campaigns are played with playing cards. There are special card sets for playing campaigns. The idea of using cards in tabletops was already used by other systems (e.g. Demonworld or Armalion ), but the cards were often in a separate box, not the respective blister. Also, they mostly only gave the values and were not part of the game. This concept is now used more often. At Dark Age there is also a card for every blister.
In terms of control, Confrontation is designed for smaller battles. A dice pool, which is measured according to the number of opponents, can be divided into attack and defense dice. This makes tactical close combat possible. Furthermore, there is the possibility of freely choosing the attack accuracy (and thus the difficulty for the attacker, but also the difficulty for the defender to parry the blow).
Since Confrontation only deals with smaller skirmishes, there is the "big brother" Rag'narok , which is particularly suitable for large battles. The Rag'narok extension appeared in French and English.
The rules required for playing were still included with each blister in the older editions , the basic rules for the current CO3 must be purchased separately. The rules are complex and allow a variety of tactical options, so that a good balance between the luck of the dice and planning is created.
In Confrontation, as in most tabletops, armies of equal strength tend to compete against each other, since everything that you integrate into your army costs points. Before the game, a certain amount of points is agreed between the two players, which the players can use to shape their respective army - particularly strong things are particularly point-heavy, less strong things are cheaper. The aim is to ensure that the two opposing armies / combat troops roughly match in terms of strength and effectiveness. Since the point costs of the individual items cannot be changed individually, but are specified by the manufacturer, it may happen that there are small imbalances in the price-performance ratio of some units. With Confrontation, however, this is limited.
Control system
Basics
Almost all tests work according to the same system: the basic value and the result of a throw with a D6 are added and must reach at least a specified value or exceed the opponent's result.
The result of the throw is often modified by special circumstances (e.g. injuries). A 1 on the roll of the dice always fails the test, on a 6, on the other hand, the dice can be rolled again and the results add up.
An exception is the determination of the effects of damage. Here two D6 are thrown and the result read off in a table.
Figure values
Each character has a number of values that describe properties such as offensive and defensive strength, speed and bravery. In addition there may be a description of their long-range combat strength or their magical power.
In addition, each character has one or more skills, which usually represent a change in the basic rules. For example, "Tough" allows a figure that has been switched off to continue fighting until the end of the round, "Parade" negates the rule that a roll of 1 fails a test, in defense tests and "Holy Weapon" always eliminates an enemy, if a double is thrown on the damage roll.
Course of a move
A turn consists essentially of two phases: movement phase and combat phase.
In the movement phase, both players take turns revealing the top card of their deck of cards that they have arranged themselves beforehand. Each card represents 1–3 figures on the field. These can now be moved and shot, cast magic or use special skills. Different control mechanisms allow a variation in the process (e.g. draw several times or put a drawn card aside and play it later).
The hand-to-hand combat phase begins with all fights being split up so that there are always 1: 1 or 1: n constellations. These are then played out individually.
Each figure has a number of dice available for the following fight - usually 2, more due to certain abilities or an excess of opponents - which allow it to either attack or defend. However, the use must be determined at the beginning of the fight. First the initiative is determined; whoever wins it, may divide the available dice according to the opponent and later attack first.
When both players have decided how the dice are to be divided, both players take turns attacking each of their figures - one attack per opposing figure - until all attack dice are used up. Each attack consumes one attack die; for defense, the attacked figure may use any number of its defense dice. If an attack is successful, i.e. the result of the throw is better than that of a possible defense roll, the damage against the attacked figure is determined.
Peoples on Aarklash
The peoples of Aarklash are divided into three major factions:
- the winding paths of darkness (the "bad guys")
- the ways of light (the "good guys")
- the course of fate (the "neutrals")
But that doesn't mean that supporters of the same faction inevitably get along with each other - there are hostilities everywhere.
The ways of light
(Source: www.tabletop-forum.de, Chris Coyote)
The griffins of Akkylanien
In contrast to the lion's belief in many gods, the griffins only worship one true God: Merîn. Accylania was once a part of Alahan, but split off after the Merîn belief had prevailed in this region. The griffins are fanatical people; their armies are shaped by inquisitors, assassins and templars. At the head of the Akkylan people are Pope Innocent and Emperor Octavius.
The popular skill of the griffins is - significantly - fanatics . This ability helps maintain discipline and not run away from fearful opponents - an average skill overall. The already mentioned Templars, Inquisitors and Assassins are defining elements of the armies of the griffin; plus their very good marksmen and their priests. Griffins are characterized by high discipline, strong armor and plenty of effective long-range combat.
The Lions of Alahan
The Barhan are the shining light of Aarklash. The Barhan were the first Celtic tribe to settle down. Today they live in the largest realm of Aarklash: Alahan. Alahan is famous for its magicians, its bards and its shining knights and paladins. King Gorgyn is the ruler of this flourishing empire consisting of various baronies.
The lions are arguably one of the most difficult races to play - they have no serious weaknesses, but neither do they have any strengths. You won't find any units in their ranks that can really deal properly. Alahaners are known for their cavalry - the best cavalry in the game, their bards and various specialists such as falconers and musketeers. The sacred weapons and the magicians are also very basic components of the lion army - however, sacred weapon bearers (paladins) are too expensive for their performance and are therefore rarely seen; Likewise, magicians are too expensive - not for their performance, but for a game with a normal range of points. Since they can hardly live out their greatest strength - magic - in normal surroundings, it makes their status even more difficult. The lions live from the interaction of their many different troops. The lion's folk skill is bravery , which is quite useful against fear-inducing opponents, but overall only average.
The Cynwäll Elves
The Cynwäll Elves are a strong race that is easily underestimated. Their focus is on the special ability Concentration , which allows most units to increase a trait such as strength or defense by a certain number of points as required, but only once per round. With this the elves play very flexibly and their opponent can hardly assess them.
The Cynwäll Elves are a rather new race, so the selection of miniatures cannot keep up with that of the other races.
The Celts of the Sessair Clan
The Celts were the first human race on Aarklash. This Celtic tribe lives nomadically in the vast plains of the continent, Avaggdu. They have made alliances with the minotaurs, the centaurs, and the giants. Many Celts can be hired as mercenaries, although now that the Rag'narok is at the door, many of them are returning to the sessairs to fight the last of all battles with them!
The sessairs are a mass people - usually you see yourself as an opponent of a huge mass of Celts. Each character has the War Frenzy special skill , which greatly increases their offensive skills - one of the best racial skills in the game. Defensively, the Celts are very weak, so the motto is: first strike as often and as hard as possible - or go under. In addition to various Celtic warriors, the sessairs have, for example, barbarian giants, minotaurs or shape-shifters.
The course of fate
(Source: www.tabletop-forum.de, Chris Coyote)
The Daïkinee elves
The Daïkinee Elves are the oldest of the three elven races on Aarklash. Thousands of years ago they came from the fairy world and have lived in emerald forest ever since. In the battle for the throne between two Daïkinee brothers, the loser was exiled to the summit of the Behemoth Mountains, and the Cynwäll Elves were born. Years later, the Daïkinee elves were cursed by one of their prettiest princesses. After she had made a pact with the spider goddess Lilith and was therefore banned, she cursed the elf women to die giving birth to their children, which leads to the slow extermination of the Daïkinee elves.
Rackham has hardly published any miniatures of the Daïkinee elves. The Daïkinee elves are said to represent a new kind of wood elf. They are equipped with chitin armor and have huge longbows. They also have fairy allies and some beetle-like creatures who fight alongside the Daikinee elves. The Daikinee's racial ability is regeneration .
The orcs from Bran-Ô-Kor
The Confrontation orcs have nothing in common with the orcs of the Warhammer world; rather, they resemble the orcs from Warcraft III: upright, brave, and honorable warriors. The orcs were originally not a race of their own, but rather come from an experiment by the alchemists of Dirz, with which they wanted to turn the genes of goblins and humans into a warrior race. Unfortunately, they gave the orcs too much free will, so they fled and now wage an endless battle against the Syhars. The god of the orcs is the jackal, a suitable god for the barren land in which they live. New orcs are now emerging from the Behemoth Mountains to emerge victorious from the Rag'narok! Their deity is a huge tree and their appearance has a Mongolian touch
Orcs are a class race, but do not have the great advantage of being born fighters of the other two class races. Instead, they have Brutal , an ability that can be very useful against strong opponents. In addition to orc warriors, there are also mounted orcs who ride mighty brontops. Other important warriors of the orcs are the gunmen. Orcs are characterized by high attack and strength with a good parry - but the initiative of the big Greens is rather low.
The wolves of Yllias
With the neutral armies, newcomers like to stick to the wolves of Yllia. These wolf people are all twice the size of a normal person and have unimaginable strength. They worship Yllia, the goddess of the moon.
The Born Fighter racial skill is one of the best skills in the game - but it's absolutely necessary because of the few models Wolfen usually use. Wolfen are a class army, the opponent is usually 1: 2, against Celts and Goblins also 1: 3 inferior. Wolfen are one of the hardest armies to play, but - in good hands - they are hard to beat. Whoever manages to use the high movement, the fear caused and the enormous strength of the wolves sensibly and deny the opponent any benefit from the low parade and resistance of the wolves, will quickly have all opponents off the table.
The devourers of Vile-Tis
Formerly Wolfen, the Devourers now follow the path of the beast, a fallen god who wants to overthrow the gods together with the Devourers. Devourers still see Wolfen as their - albeit misguided - brothers, while, conversely, Wolfen despise the Devourers.
In terms of play, Devourer are not very different from Wolfen; slightly better initiative, parry and resistance - which simplifies the game for beginners, but less strength and attack. Devourers become more individual because they can be accompanied by half-elves, although their use is unfortunately still very limited. Devourers also have Born Fighter as a folk skill.
In the course of history, the Devourer have turned away from the path of fate since 04/2007 and are now walking on the path of darkness.
The dwarves from Tir-Na-Bor
The dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor meet many of the expectations that one has of a dwarven race. However, Rackham has made the dwarves much more variable than the dwarves in the usual Fatasy worlds: there are the heavily armored warriors who are at home in the mountains, there are also more easily armed and mounted dwarfs of the plains, and finally there is a whole with the thermal dwarf new section: dwarves who wear steam-powered armor or parts of armor.
The dwarven racial ability Tough , a very good ability to reduce the injuries suffered by these little creatures. In addition to the well-known heavily armored infantrymen, long-range fighters and war machines, the Confrontaion dwarves also offer cavalry, magicians and lightly armed troops, which are rather rare among dwarves. With the thermal warriors and priests there are also completely new beings mentioned above; with the son of Uren or the warrior of the mountains - a great giant - even the dwarves have strong allies. In addition, at Confrontation, dwarfs are less of a class and more of a mass people. Dwarfs are - similar to griffins - characterized by very high discipline and resistance values.
In the course of history, the dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor have turned away from the path of fate since 04/2007 and are now walking on the path of light
The goblins of No-Dan-Kar
The goblins used to live in a symbiosis with the dwarves - evil voices say they were enslaved by the dwarves. At some point the goblins protested against working for the dwarves and no longer saw their own benefit in this relationship. Since that revolt, dwarves and goblins have been in a clinch. Goblins are next to dwarves, griffins and scorpions, the most technically skilled creatures of Aarklash. The green people pray to their own god: the Great Rat. The Uraken Goblins are also new and have a different look: the "Asia look". They worship their emperor just like the big rat.
A goblin army is made up of many, many goblins. The folk craft reinforcement receives this mass advantage even after some losses already been inserted. In addition to the cheap standard troops, goblins also have a number of specialists - the most important are probably the haze blowers and ballers - plus trolls, cavalry and a very special branch of goblins in their ranks: goblin mutants. But their brothers, the psychomutants, are particularly dangerous! In terms of values, goblins only shine in their initiative. Otherwise nothing. The mass does it.
The winding paths of darkness
(Source: www.tabletop-forum.de, Chris Coyote)
The undead of Achéron
Achéron was once a barony of Alahans. In secret, some magicians pursued the dark arts and were eventually corrupted by them - Achéron split off and became a land of the living dead. On the border with Alahan is the fortress Kaiber, where the Griffin, Cynwäll and Alahaner defend their world against the hordes of darkness.
The undead have a popular skill - Living Dead A very useful skill, as the mighty wolves also have to test whether they would rather run away from fear of the undead. Achérons are a mass people who also have numerous special troops such as ghosts, banshees or ghouls; have different types of cavalry, aviators and powerful magicians. The undead's strength is clearly the fear they cause.
The alchemists of Dirz
Also known as the Scorpions or the Syhars: Dirz began research on the human body in the Greifenreich - genetic manipulation. He wanted to create the perfect being - a task that, of course, is up to Merîn alone! After his escape with his followers he settled in the Syharhalna, the largest desert of Aarklash. There they continue to research; after their failure with the orcs, they only develop clones that are easy to control. Nevertheless, some clones are particularly distinguished and develop their own values and desires, for example the enchanting Sasia Samaris.
Alchemical armies have their folk skill as their greatest strength: the magic potion . This ability allows them to increase their profile values and makes the Syhars incredibly flexible - and thus also the easiest army to play, as mistakes can often be compensated for. In addition to normal human warriors, the Syhars have a wide variety of clones in their ranks, ranging from human clones to beasts like the Dasyat clones.
The elves of Akkyshan
- Work in Progress -
The Celts of the Drunen clan
The Downs of Caer Maed are another Celtic tribe who have turned away from the path of the Sessair Celts and been driven into the darkness due to malicious deception. The Downs of Caer Maed also believe in the mortality of the gods - a resemblance to the Devourers. They are forest dwellers and the newest people to be released.
In contrast to all other peoples, the Drunen do not have any typical national characteristics - each type of troop has its own special rule. So far there are a number of special forces for the Drunen, which suggest that they developed in an entirely different direction than the Celts of the Sessair clan.
The Mid-Nor Dwarfs
In the middle of the dwarven territory of Tir-Na-Bor, a huge gorge has opened up, from which corrupted dwarves stream: the gorge of Mid-Nor. The Mid-Nor only believe in their own god, the tyrant. Mid-Nor are more demons than living beings; their bodies consist of sewn together pieces of skin, the ashes of their innards they carry around in demon dolls. After a battle, a mid-nor priest can often be seen starting to peel the skin off the dying or to remove organs from their still living bodies ...
The Mid-Nors are a mass people and are also the fourth people to spread fear alongside wolves, devourers and the living dead. Possessing her Folk Skill , she hardly feels any pain - a very good Folk Skill. In addition to their sheer mass, Mid-Nors also bring very good priests (the best alongside griffins), Cyclops, cavalry and aviators to the battlefield, as well as numerous troops with special rules. In general, Mid-Nors are considered to be the people who have the best values for the fewest points - but the strengths here are clearly on the offensive; Defense, movement, or discipline are not their merits.