Well I just bought it, but haven't tried it. But since you want some feedback
From perusing the rules some things I'd like to see:
- More than just 6 ranges, 3 to 20 as a range band just isn't very versatile enough. Standard small arms these days go to 300m, while a tank cannon can go to 4000m, and many ATGM's to 6000m. I know Wardogs is a bit more obscure and there is a point to it, but with higher movement speeds than even in battletech and half the range, the game I would think would be all about maneuver over firepower, when it should be a balance.
- Thermal signatures as a way to detect a unit? Sure, but what about standard radar signatures as well? Modern tanks are starting to add micromillimeter wave radars to the turret to detect units, any not have a Thermal/Reflective signature. This way you could have a unit that may be easy to detect with your thermals, but really hard to detect with radar (or vice versa). Shields could only reflect thermal energy for example as well.
- Integration with starmada/VBAM, conversion of ground unit types to "wardog equilivents". Add support for those orbital assets (space fighters, orbital bombardment, etc). This includes the planet types.
- Shouldn't armor be affected by tech level differences somehow?
- Add some more balanced and "same feel" type forces. Have an all anti-grav tank army, an all mecha army, an all energy army, etc, create full forces (HMMWV, 2.5 ton truck, 5 ton truck, 10 ton truck, IFV, MBT, MLRS, Artillery, etc, per faction).
- Transforming Units
- Artillery, uhhh, its king of the battlefield (infantry is queen, and as an ex-infantryman its degrading!), yet I didn't see any (indirect firing range 18 weapons is NOT artillery, but a rocket or mortar).
- The number of shots per weapon seemed *really* low, especially for machine gun type weapons.
- You could add
Some things I wanted to say about wardogs, which could be wrong as I haven't read the rules that well:
- I didn't care for the dice damage system. Dirtside/Stargrunt games did this, and though I thought their games were *excellent*, I loathed the dice system. D12 damage can do the same damage as a D4 system on a crappy roll? In fact, a D12 system is basicaly a D4 system 33% of the time! I just didn't like it, at all, and it kept me from ever playing those games, even though I thought they had massive potential. I know this would dramatically alter the way the game played though
- I'd like to see a more detailed damage system, or maybe just a box of "hit points", instead of a generic table for all units. You could just use that table for criticals I guess, but a mecha and a VTOL should have dramatically different damage models.
- The scale seemed to "topped out", and didn't leave any room for something like a monsterous super battle tank (which is a LOT larger than a yacht/trawler).
- I think I may have been expecting starmada on the ground, and it seemed like a system that wouldn't require a whole lot to convert, it has a lot in common but strayed in the places I thought were nifty in starmada (damage system mostly, as the weapons are very similar)
Anyway, just some feedback, hopefully it creates some ideas for ya
Bad Syntax