This game first came to my attention via a Goonhammer article. I was looking for a fresh project, and it took my fancy. So, I got the book, and read it while travelling by train. Then again over the following weeks. Here are my findings.
Game Mechanics
The basic turn sequence is activation based, with a side order of "I rolled bad, now it's your turn". Each unit can perform one of several actions, like move, axe-to-face, shoot, and shoot back in your opponents turn, with more specialised units having additional options. Most units get a free action they usually do automatically, but most you have to test on 2d6. Pass, and you're good to go, but fail, and you end the turn. Further wrinkles are presented by mandatory actions like Rally, which is caused by unit morale, and the quite memorable Wild Charges rule, which is the Leeroy Jenkins approach to combat. The net effect is that your tactics cannot assume predictable behaviour from models except in a narrow specialisation, and that you need to manage their activations between what needs doing right now, and what a unit can do reliably without conceding the turn. It's not alternating unit activations, but it's inherently more dynamic than Igo-Ugo turns for this reason. The matter of causing harm meanwhile is something quite abstract, especially if you're used to weapons having discreet characteristics and multiple stages of dice rolling. To shoot a gun or throw a punch, a unit rolls ten d6, five if below half strength. You compare that to the relevant stat, I. E Shoot Value, and each you time you meet or exceed that value, it's a success. Then you compare that to the targets Armour Value, and for each group of successes that matches that value, you cause a loss of Strength; damage is done. So if you get 3 successes, and the target is armour 3, you reduce it's Strength by one, which could be either a guy biting it, or an armour plate falling off a vehicle. So it's an easily internalised system, where modest characteristic improvements have a big difference, rather than equipment explicitly improving something. A related concept is how the game treats weapon ranges. The range typically stated is it's optimal range, but guns can shoot at Extreme Range, which is unlimited by default, but the target gains an Armour bonus. On a standard 4 by 4 board, this means that anything with guns can hit everything it can see, but at distance such attacks are more about suppressing a foe, than doing real damage.
The Gimmick
So, with the basic mechanics summarised, what is Xenos Rampant unique selling point? It's positioned as a simple and adaptable system for 28mm scifi gaming. It's miniature agnostic, like Gaslands, meaning that players are encouraged to just take whatever they have in their collection, apply whatever rules make sense, and be gaming in 10 minutes, tops. You don't get an army list, you get a total of 13 often densely written unit entries, pus the commander, a chapter of further xenos rules for customisation, and 60 pages of sample settings. This looks more involved than it actually is, with many rules repeated for convenience. The book prioritizes the unit types over the turn sequence in its layout, which isn't actually my preferred approach, but OK. It's an undeniably flexible system, but one that seems to favour less is more. It's not a system where you finely tune every aspect of the unit, you are intended to make a generalist take, but I found it very tempting to layer stuff on like pizza toppings. There's often more than one way to represent something in this game, with probably the most interesting being the idea of a Reduced Model Unit, where you keep the stats as they were, but use fewer models, thus simulating a more powerful unit like your army commander. The xenos rules meanwhile, and the setting specific rules, tend to be a bit more focused. There's stuff for zombies, robots, demons, and the nature of the battlefield, all with numerous example forces.
As there's probably too much for me to meaningfully analyse at this time, let's do a case study. Assuming that I did want to play this, how might some of my orky projects be represented? Xenos Rampant has a lot of moving parts, and the whole army building bit is somewhat more literal than it usually is. So lets have a go.
Ork Boyz: there's actually two good candidates off the bat, and which one you'd pick would be based on your clan and preference for shooting. Light Infantry is the obvious pick, as that's what Orks usually qualify as. You'd take Increased Squad Size, Assault Doctrine, and Close Quarters Doctrine, and you'd a have a good approximation. Alternatively, Berzerk infantry are much better at close combat without modification, if loosing ranged options. They are also subject to the Wild Charges rule, which is a major downside given how activations work, but TBH, it's a rare day when I wouldn't want to charge my lads in. There is also the Lesser Xenomorph unit, which is probably better suited to Tyranid beasties, but it might work for you. So, it helps to have a clear concept in mind, and pick whatever fits best without making more work for yourself.
Trukks: Xenos Rampant usually limits you to one armoured vehicle, I. E. a single tank, but has freer access to "Softskin vehicles". This could quite happily represent the Kult of Speed, and you can make a trukk by simply taking Transport(10). Softskins don't natively have a ranged attack worth mentioning, so you could make it a Technical for added dakka, but it's not hugely necessary.
Killa Kanz: these I had to think about for a bit, because they exist in one of those weird tactical niches 40k has, and Xenos Rampant is less granular. Making a Softskin Walker with Technical is the obvious choice, but one that tends to get expensive versus regular vehicles. I found that it was nessecary to apply a few downgrades to make them cheap and disposable i.e. Close Quarters Doctrine, Green Crew (heh) and Slow. Alternatively, you can lean into the adaptability of the system and have them count as a reduced model unit of something. By comparison, Deff Dredds are much easier to represent in game. Just have a Fighting Vehicle with Walker, and it's done bar the tweaking.
Meganobs: these are quite obviously Elite Infantry with Super Heavy Armour, a melee upgrade, and possibly Close Quarters Doctrine or Heavy Weapon subject to your clan and play style. You could probably do a mega-armoured warboss as a reduced model unit too. Point of interest for 40k players, you do get a free trait for your army commander, but it's randomised, and half of which are purposefully bad. You could also do Killa Kanz this way, although the irony makes my head hurt.
Gunwagon:
there is a bit of limitation with the rules in that it treats
Fighting Vehicles (tanks) and Transports as two very different
things, and Orks don't. In the absence of an IFV equivalent, I'd lean
towards a Fighting Vehicle. As an alternative, Softskin vehicles
have the option for a Large Vehicle & Transport(10),
which could make a degree of sense, although it's more of a Mad Max
War-Rig sorta thing. So, potentially awesome, but not nessecairly ideal.
Other ideas: The Support Infantry unit lends itself well to the more specialised forms of Orks, like Burna Boyz, Lootas, and Tankbustas. Militia Rabble are obviously Gretchin. The Beast Snagga units are a little trickier given the overlap with regular Orks, but you could give them Force Fields to represent their durability, and Hatred(Big Things) for their love of hunting. Their squiggly mounts, meanwhile, are either one of the Xenos units or the Mobile rule.
Conclusions
I'm both impressed and fascinated by Xenos Rampant. It's like encountering The Mecha Hack, but for wargames. As a system, it's boiled things down to essentials for faster play, with a self-aware sense of humour about it. Probably the main arguments against it are a matter of design objectives. Xenos Rampant isn't trying to be a tournament style competitive game, it's more a laissez-faire system, and that ain't for everyone. On a more personal level, I found the infantry focus to be a bit limiting, see the case study above, but that's something you're encouraged to fix yourself. I may very well give this a go.
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