The Helix Effect

A game of Firestorm Planetfall is played using what we call Battle Groups. In turn a Battle Group is made up of Helixes, and at the heart of each Battle Group is what we call the CORE HELIX. It is this Core Helix that you can then wrap other Helixes around, and these are known as Attached Helixes. Different Attached Helixes include:

• Aerial Helix
• Heavy Helix
• Assault Helix
• Recon Helix
• Strike Helix (the Helix which will contain Leviathans)
• Support Helix

A Basic Battle Group is composed of ONE Core Helix to which a Commander can attach up to SIX Attached Helixes, ONE of each of the listed options. In its simplest form this Basic Battle Group is as simple as it gets to field a Force in Firestorm Planetfall.

NOTE 1: A Force is assembled using a Maximum Force Value (MFV) and this will dictate the number of models inside a Helix and, depending upon the MFV chosen by players, the number of Helixes that can be attached to the Core Helix.

NOTE 2: The Core Helix is an important part of any Force, and as such it is one of the most flexible Helixes you will have access to. Inside the Battle for Proteus Prime Boxed Set is the equivalent of ‘half’ an Aquan and ‘half’ a Directorate Core Helix. You could therefore take TWO Battle Boxes and combine them, allowing both Commanders to field a FULL Core Helix of each of the two races.

Optionally, when the Aquan Prime and Directorate Core Helix Boxed Sets come out in our Wave 2 Release they can be added to the contents of a single Proteus Prime Boxed Set to again turn the supplied into FULL Core Helixes, for each respective Force.

FLEXIBILITY

But as we all know, building armies is never that simple AND can also much more fun when you inject mechanics that make Commanders think about what they are trying to achieve from their Force.

Step forward Adaptive Battle Groups. A capable Commander does not always want to follow the doctrine of Basic Battle Group creation, preferring instead to adapt their Force to better suit the strategic challenges presented, and to perhaps complement their tactical approach. This is achieved through a process of substitution within the Battle Group and is known as an Adaptive Battle Group.

Should a player wish to add a second Attached Helix of the same type it may only be done at the expense of a Helix that is directly opposite on the Helix Map. See the diagram below:

In this example of an Adaptive Battle Group, the Commander is making a number of choices, deciding to forgo Assault, Heavy and Aerial Helixes for access to 2x Recon Helixes, 2x Strike Helixes and 2x Support Helixes! Clearly this is going to be a large engagement and the Commander wishes to have a some heavy hitting Leviathans coupled with an array of fast moving forces supported by elements such as Command Barges and Field Guns to help win the day.

Next up in our Blog Series will be looking at how you create Battle Groups using Allied Helixes, allowing such forces as Works Raptor, Terquai, Hawker Industries, RSN, Ba’Kash and Veydreth to be added.

Spartan Games