I finished reading the new rules. In a word - excellent. FFG hit it out of the park, and the revision is a clear improvement over the original game in every aspect.

Here's my shotgun approach to why the revised rules are better:

The layout is less cluttered, the headings make sense (and are in big, bold type so specific rules are faster to find), and the rules build on each aspect of the game in a logical step-by-step format. I rarely had to go back and forth in the book. Plus the text's font is larger, and that's always nice

The wording of the rules is easier to understand (though this is probably because they aren't translated from French). I found myself revisiting a rule section only occasionally (which is rare for me - my comprehension is poor).

The Command Point system adds another layer of tactical complexity and resource management, but it's still intuitive to use. CPs are also a worthwhile in-game resource to fight over (found in crates), in addition to any of the primary victory conditions of your chosen game mode. The fact that CPs refresh every turn is the most important part (you can't hold them from a previous turn), forcing players to make tough choices over and over again with a finite resource. In that regard, it reminds me of Space Hulk.

I will say that adding CPs to Tannhauser is one of the best changes to the game. I put it up there with taking away minimum weapon ranges, cleaning up hand-to-hand combat, and including rules for overwatch. All the extra actions you want your characters to perform (such as launching a counter-attack, shaking off a wound and upping your stats) are based on CPs. It's similar to Victory Points from the old game, but CPs are totally removed from the game's victory conditions (unlike the old VPs) and you have more to spend as they come back each turn. They also aren't 100% tied to your characters' equipment or killing enemy characters (again, like the old game). Each mode tells you how many CPs you receive per turn. If you want, you can add one-time-use CPs with certain pieces of equipment (providing between 1 or 2 bonus points).

FFG has focused on improving the various modes of play beyond Death Match, which is now probably the most boring way to play Tannhauser. I really want to give King of the Hill a try (originally from the Novgorod expansion), and Capture the Flag is better as well (you have to return the enemy flags to your entry point rather than either your entry point or an Objective circle). I will say that the tweaks to each mode aren't big, but the simple inclusion of the Command Point system turns things on its head.

The weapon rules are streamlined. Weapons have been separated into types, with each type rolling a set amount of attack dice. A weapon of the same type (e.g. a pistol) functions like all other weapons of the same type, regardless of character or faction. So, a Colt .45 is a Colt .45 no matter what character is using it. No more memorizing Character X adds +1 die or rolls 2 additional dice when using this or that weapon. It might seem more generic on the surface, but I found it increases the importance of each character's Special Object and their other equipment. It should also speed up play.

The factions appear better balanced (at least the Union vs the Reich). Furthermore, the packs of each character are more balanced. This is critical. The "meat" of building your Tannhauser team is picking your equipment load-outs. I'd also argue this is really the only strategical element of the game. In the old game, it was pretty obvious which pack to pick as one of them was invariably a superior choice, thus eliminating any tension in the team-building process. This is no longer the case. Each character's pack offers interesting choices that build upon other packs in your team. Tannhauser just got some strategy.

The game has been toned down in lethality - which is the way FFG achieved their faction/equipment pack balance. No longer will Heroes be vaporized on turn 1 because Player A rolled a bucket-load of dice. It will take combined fire and clever movement/use of overwatch to eliminate enemy characters. Healing will also occur with more frequency as you can spend CPs to shake off a wound, and you regain CPs each turn. In addition, First Aid Kits/Shots of Morphine are more effective. They remove 2 wounds and don't require the expenditure of any CPs, unlike the old rules where you had to spend 1 VP prior to activating the Kit/Shot. If you ran out of VPs for whatever reason, the Kit/Shot was worthless. Some may like this change in lethality, others may not (put me in the former group). Either way, I expect battles between Heroes will be more drawn-out, run-n-gun affairs.

So there's my random and generic list of how the game's been improved. If you're looking for specifics, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Sincerely,

Yipe

An addendum - custom packs have been removed from the game. You can no longer drop a character's special item in exchange for selecting any 3 pieces of equipment from their different packs.

Any thoughts about this?

Nice write up Yipe. I agree with most of your thoughts and think that the rules are a great asset to the system. I have to disagree with some of the clarity in the rules as there are some questions regarding how to reinforce characters in a 2 CPs game mode as well as some timing questions on token usage (ie. is "discarding" a token an "act" a character takes? Can it occur outside a Character's activation?).

Regarding the decreased lethality of the game, have you tested this yet? I just got the rules read through and have yet to play so I can't say whether this is true yet. I can see the game slightly decreased in lethality but there seems to be quite a few pack combos that allow a character to throw a lot of dice, gain multiple successes per hit and gain other nice bonuses. I like that they've done away with a lot of the instant kill effects but Eva Kramer's Combat pack can be absolutely brutal on a good roll. Combine this with Von Heizinger's Hermetica Umbra, and you can one shot kill a full health character pretty easily if you get a nat 10 or two. Maybe the damage potential is not as powerful as I'm seeing and the game is more survivable but I think we're kidding ourselves if you think characters can't get wiped out in one attack. After seeing the token powers for various characters, I'm not too worried about a stalemate standstill at the end of the game.

spacemonkeymafia,

Good questions. I'll be the first to admit I'm often wrong about these things. I like to think I'm right, but as my wife is quick to point out, I'm usually not. Having said that, I found the rules to be fairly clear for a full rewrite.

You're correct that there are some gaps - such as whether Smoke Grenades affect regular Grenades and, as you brought up, if "discarding" equipment counts as an action when the piece of equipment in question lacks that specific wording - but I think they're few and far between.

With regards to revised Tannhauser's reduced lethality, I'll freely confess this is an assumption - it's not something borne out through rigorous play. I agree that we won't see any stalemates. And I want to stress that I don't think it will be hard to eliminate opposing characters. In fact, with the new bull rush rules and being able to counterattack more often, the action should be hard-hitting from start to finish. Perhaps "reduced lethality" is not the right way to phrase it. A lot of damage is going to be done each turn, I just don't think we'll see as many one-shot one-kill attacks vs a full-health Hero.

Anyway, I based my "less lethal" analysis on the following changes:

1. Heizinger's Sha-Na-Ra is weaker. In the new edition, Sha-Na-Ra inflicts wounds equal to Heizinger's uncanceled successes. Under the old rules, the mental duel was all or nothing. If Heizinger won the duel (and he probably would), he inflicted all his successes as wounds, and that was usually enough to kill an undamaged Hero outright. I don't see that happening now except in rare cases of exceptionally good/bad rolling.

2. MacNeal's Colt .45 (a personal favorite) no longer receives a +2 bonus to every attack die he rolls. Instead, his Nighteyes allow you to increase the result of 1 die in his attack pool by 2. This is a big difference.

3. Characters will be able to A) up their Stamina characteristic and B) shake off wounds more often because CPs are refreshed each turn, allowing them to take more damage over the course of a game. In addition, First Aid Kits and Morphine Shots are easier to use and more effective than in the old edition.

4. Smoke Grenades no longer reduce a character's Stamina, only their attack roll.

5. Characters without a hand-to-hand weapon no longer suffer a penalty when attacked at close quarters (i.e. they aren't forced to use their lowest combat value). This should reduce the Stosstruppen's effectiveness a bit.

6. Flash Guns no longer insta-kill a character on a natural 10 (or 9-10).

Now, on the flip side of this, I can see an argument for increased lethality - not necessarily one-shot kills, but characters being eliminated due to an increased amount of gunplay, thereby taking wounds from multiple sources in a single round. Why? No minimum weapon ranges, the new grenade rules, overwatch and having more CPs to spend (as oppsed to VPs) to counterattack more often.

I may be having my cake and eating it too here, but who knows, maybe everything will balance out? Personally, I think Tannhauser is still going to be bloody as hell, just in a different way.

Oddly I can't edit my original post...

Anyway, in light of all the questions popping up, I've got to agree with spacemonkeymafia and amend my assesment of the revised rules' clarity. I originally wrote that they were clear and easy to understand. While I still think this holds true overall - and they are written better than the original Tannhauser rules (not hard to do all things considered) - there are several areas where things are unclear.

I think my initial reaction had more to do with the improved layout and organization of the rulebook, rather than the wording of the rules themselves. Let's hope FFG gets an FAQ going soon.

I'm also wondering if they will update the PDF with any errata?

yeah, I wonder if they will continuously update the PDF if they decide edit things.

Regarding the lethality... I got in a game with the missus and was happy to see that full health characters can still die in one attack (I personally always liked the high mortality rate the original Tannhauser could produce). Eva Kramer (using the combat pack), rolled two nat 10s and two regular successes off 6 dice (with the help of Von Heizinger's Hermetica Umbra) against an unsuspecting Tala. That was 6 total successes with Tala forced to roll only 2 dice for her shock roll. Gaining only one success, Tala quickly fell to Kramer's Strafe.

Not to be outdone, next activation, Barry Brown (also using the Combat pack) charged the other side of the room and lit up the whole corner with Eva standing in the killzone. Rolling 6 dice, Barry gets 5 sucesses including a nat 10. Rolling the bonus dice, Barry scores two more nat 10s for a total of 7 successes. Even with Kramer rolling 3 successes on her shock roll (and no spare CPs), she was still basically swiss cheese at the end of the day.

Pretty fun stuff. I like that the game is still lethal but done through excessive damage instead of instant kill effects. It seems that excessive damage can be mitigated against with equipment whereas instant death doesn't offer any solution to (unless you bring back Legendary status). In that same game I also saw an early grenade bounce off a door and take out a hallway with Barry and Alpha in it. After the smoke cleared, Barry survived without even a scratch on him, as did Alpha (through the use of a CP to negate the only wound that got through to either character).

The simplified equipment rules meant we spent more time playing and less time looking up abilities (or actually more time spent looking at the new rules regarding overwatch and command point uses ).