Let's Play! - BLKOUT (2024) by Enemy Spotted Studios

[@SpannSr1970]

This game is awesome. Thanks Ash! Plus anyone who has Kendrick posted up in the background is cool!

[@juderudd1711]

More Blkout please! Love this!

[@kaldorf]

I would have never heard if this game and many other ones if not for Ash and team. A Titanfall skirmish game yes please.

[@Hundmathr]

Blyat, that was dope! I'm really digging this game. Thanks Ash and Rob for doing this. I cant wait for next week.

[@fletch0307]

The targeting smoke can only be seen through on the activation it is used. You can't see through it as soon as that unit ends its activation! The medium rule on the AKs also only procs if the model firing it is activating when they're firing, so they don't get rerolls if they're overwatching or returning fire. Happy to see this getting covered.

[@5p3cu10]

I really hope they can get someone UK side stocking this game. I am keen to get involved but shipping is so dear! 😅

[@Smittumi]

Yeah, this. Shame to use proxies when the model count is so low/doable.

[@SinOfGin]

Awesome Ash! This is the best growing measured skirmish game and my current primary focus! The new Impact release is going to add so much with the improved Duster rules. Couple of notes of clarification below: Vehicles atm are only provided by scenario they are not BlkList units...yet so can't swap a unit for them Casual play feel free to obey whatever rules of list construction with your friends but most people follow matched play that adds some clarification, list building rules and balancing that helps quite a bit with overall game experience. In matched play Dusters are added by replacing a unit with it AND losing your 3 command points which is a big deal for Borz and Harlow maybe less so for UN so if you want to run a Duster they are a good place to look replacing the Golems Matched play does not allow duplicate units, trust me you don't want to face down 3 Manticor Bratva teams You can overwatch any movement that is more than half the model's movement stat You can overwatch against a model that enters CQB. 36:01 Golems are only really tough vs shooting their armor saves are not great vs blast as you make a single armor save attempt vs each point of damage generated by the shooting models skill checks. Otherwise overwhelm them with multiple hits from say a thermite launcher 41:37 blast damage is always 1 point per success. The damage profile is only when shooting a blast weapon directly vs a vehicle/Duster as you mentioned 43:01 1 armor save per point of blast damage coming at you with Borz ignoring first point of blast damage due to their army rules 46:14 lean out token for all enemy effects and LOS counts as the model as long as the enemy model doesn't have LOS to the model performing the lean out. For friendly effects/los you may use the lean out marker or model itself 46:59 Leaning out also doesnt count as moving if no movement is done which will enable the heavy trait. 52:41 shootout determination is most successes then highest roll, if still tied roll again 1:10:00 correct one dice roll using armor stat per point of blast damage 1:12:20 juking model, you give him an engaged token and can only reposition next activation 1:13:34 matched play rules are model is 50% or more hidden by terrain and btb with covering terrain. Basic rules don't require btb. 1:18:53 light smoke automatically go away 1:19:14 initiative is highest roll, rerolling ties number of successes is not a factor and only relevant if all of Bratva team is on board or hard point secured 1:28:40 one of the best parts of BlkOut is how fast games are. Tournament setting for best of 3 is very realistic in the time a single game of Infinity, Malifaux, Kill Team etc.. can be completed Supplemental ruleset is where matched play rules are found and it's pretty dang comprehensive I usually just keep it open when playing and with my cards is enough for reference. Cyka suit is 100% a Juggernaut but also a liability as it's a single model for some scenarios. Easily pinned and can be data knifed without retribution Scenario will dictate table size ranging from 2'x2' to 4'x4' Overall you should have a lot of scatter you probably need to fill another third of your table. BlkOut is plenty lethal without clear shots. BlkOut is begging for an Infinity style zombie mode like you used to play with Evan back in the day. You are the man to make it happen! There are hostile rules in matched play supplemental as a good starting point

[@samkim1372]

the rules state that you can overwatch an action, including readying

[@SinOfGin]

@samkim1372 overwatch "shoot an enemy model after it finishes a movement longer than half it's movement or an action in LoS" you are correct I will edit

[@ulven7353]

@@SinOfGin good set of notes.

[@sethhall5727]

The targeting smoke only works during that activation that the battle drill is used. When burning cards are used both players will use their own separate decks

[@BingusMcdingus57]

Hell yeah! I got the started set it’ll be good to see it played before I rope my friends in.

[@rDunfee]

Was looking forward to this one!

[@Vorpal_Wit]

Hat's off on that lean-out token mechanic. Very slick design solution.

[@Anchises]

Personally I hate games that micromanage with tons of tokens and counters on the table. I didn't spend hours painting models and terrain to ruin the look with bits of plastic everywhere.

[@dustgod1264]

Ever played Infinity? This game has very few tokens ​@@Anchises

[@red833]

I'm so glad Ash share all these incredible game with us. I going add this game need to play a soon

[@Ranzarok]

Great video, glad to see Blkout on here.

[@thecharismaticwarlock2272]

Huge supporter of ESS and love to see the game getting the love it deserves

[@AlexanderGiraldez]

Iv been following this game for a bit. Really glad to see your coverage on it. Will probably pick it up in the future.

[@M.Melnick]

Glad to see how this game plays. Thanks for doing this.

[@knivesthec10wn]

This is my favorite wargame to date!

[@89LeonReds]

Great Battle Report as always, it is a great game and seems quite fun 😊 speaking of "Titanfall-esque skirmish game", is there any chance to see the "Arsenal" ruleset/battle report on the channel?

[@DasDevilSquid]

Kinda reminds me of MERCS, a game that was ahead of their time.

[@Vorpal_Wit]

*sigh

[@DesignMinistries]

Love to see more indie games :D

[@dustgod1264]

I've played INX and Killwager from ESS great models, fun rules, cool group of guys on the discord....

[@beepusletartus9726]

Love to see it!

[@brianahrens8591]

Fun game and very nice models.

[@TheYoungKing45]

I keep thinking the Lean Out token is my favorite part of this game...but the lethality of melee is SO good.

[@christophanders5144]

It’s so much fun to paint, well worth the shipping to get this to Germany. I like the “walls of stuff” you’re using, where can I get those?

[@loser7829]

Ash got K Dot in the back

[@zenny1337]

The planet is ABOL, pronounced (A-BOWL or a-Ball)

[@chriswilson6486]

I much prefer this on a 3x3, but what a fun game!

[@g0ld3nthr0n3]

For the initiative, you do not count the number of dice, you roll and take the highest. If you both roll the same number you reroll

[@g0ld3nthr0n3]

Also, when scoring some of the missions like Dockyard Assault, you do not accumulate points turn to turn for securing objectives. When you do the check at the beginning of the turn you will get 1 if you have more points locked down, and then 1 for each destroyed enemy unit. They only accumulate points turn to turn if it says so, like in the Matched Play scenario in the Supplemental rules download. You should try out that mission, it's a lot of fun. You do need a little more scatter or obscured sight lines though I think.

[@Pathetic-Cards]

If I had a nickel for every time Ash put out a video on a game that I was *just* getting tempted by… well, I’d have a lot of nickels. And if he *didn’t* I’d probably play a few less games… eh, worth it.

[@brothereldrian9913]

I got two questions: How big are the miniatures in comparison? Do they have an EU publisher? Looks awesome so far.

[@Dstinct]

US only self published. Standard 32mm.

[@brothereldrian9913]

@@Dstinct Thanks a lot! :)

[@ZSTE]

Really wish Killwager was more popular. Really awesome precursor to this game.

[@jakec5550]

This was interesting. I was very excited to see this. I was disappointed to see that to win the game you just need to play Bors. Missed rolls aside, it looked and felt like Bors had all the tools and no downsides to their end of the table.

[@ulven7353]

Having both played them (Manticor) and played against them (with Harlow and un ) , I'd say they're extremely unbalanced. Game breakingly so. They're my chosen favourite faction, but I don't feel like I can play them without feeling like I'm giving my opponent an unfair game. The game itself though is really, really good. I'd say the best Sci fi skirmish I've played.

[@TheSkrobert]

I think it's more that The Borz Group is just extremely straight forward. They have the shallowest learning curve of the 3 current factions. Harlow definitely seem to have the steepest curve. It was also Ash's first time ever playing BLKOUT.

[@ulven7353]

Best armour, excellent weapon load out, advantage to winning initiative. Joint highest number of troops and their special neuters the grenade launcher, which both Harlow and UN have as a special weapon.

[@TheSkrobert]

@@ulven7353 Slow, lack of free additional D10, no real access to CQB, low access to multi-wound, no Jump, has to spend a CP to hand a ready token to another friendly, VERY OBVIOUS playstyle/tactics to plan against. Like it goes both ways. They can definitely appear to be the most powerful team, especially when players are just starting out, but they are by no means overpowered or broken. Handlers and Mercs (Szabla/Banak) can also help mitigate weaknesses. Use the matched-play rules in the latest supplemental document as well to get that Handler in addition to your force, as well as the ability to counter-hack data-spike attacks.

[@TheSkrobert]

The initiative bonus is easy to neuter by capturing a hardpoint. I'll grant the armor, but they're also the slowest faction. They don't get Jump. They don't have the UN bonus D10, they only have a single multi-wound unit. Harlow has the ability to hand out a ready token to a model that has already activated. Borz needs to spend a CP to do the same thing. Borz tactics/gameplay are very obvious and easy to prepare for. Put objectives on raised areas and it becomes a LOT harder for them. CQB is amazing. I'm not saying Borz aren't a strong faction. Their easy-of-play makes them appear very overtly strong when just starting out with BLKOUT, and Harlow definitely have the steepest learning curve, but I've lost enough playing with Borz to feel pretty confident that they don't feel broken. There's also matched play, in the most recent supplement, with rules for taking a handler and then your 3 unit force. The Handler options to a lot to shore up weaknesses. So to the Szabla/Banak forces. Sometimes dice hate us, sometimes they love us. In this particular matchup they loved me, but again it was Ash's first time ever playing BLKOUT, and we definitely got some stuff wrong that may have skewed things in my favor.

[@SleepyGhst]

Liked watching parts of this but wish the rules weren’t so arbitrated on camera. It felt painful to watch listening to a bit of arguing on if a rule was a thing or not… I know it wasn’t intended but it felt like the kind of people I hate to play against where every turn rules were argued on things to then be like oh you’re right 2 minutes later. Liked the setup and explanation. But the back and forth of rules or loose understanding of some things and wrong turns. It just didn’t sound fun to play and wasn’t that fun to watch.

[@kaibe5241]

I wanted to play this game, but the experience I had ordering from them was so bad, that I ended up cancelling my order after 4 months, and blacklisting this game forever.