Fans of The Prisoner and Randal and Hopkirk (Deceased)will be delighted by the opportunity to recreate the most pulse-pounding moments of the shows on the tabletop. That’s right, we’re reviewing 7TV 2nd Edition, a miniature skirmish game aimed at classical British television – and beyond!
Listen to the Fortified Niche episode.
7TV uses a fairly simple d6 system. If you’re attacking someone, they roll a d6 and add modifiers. That’s your target number. You roll a d6 and add modifiers. The modifiers are usually where the big numbers come from – most fighting stats are in the 7-10 range. If the attack goes through, you deal damage!But wait, there’s more! You can add more dice to your rolls by paying plot points. Once you roll, you pick the highest result and +1 to the score for every result of 4 or more. But here’s the kicker: plot points are also your activation points, and they power various unit special abilities. The most obvious tension here is leaving enough for your passive phase to boost your defenses.Another great feature of 7TV are the Countdown cards. A player can choose to draw one or two every player turn, and they deal immediate effects . They can be pretty severe once you get through Acts One and Two and start hitting the Finale. Plus, the game ends once you clear the Countdown deck. So drawing two cards hastens the game and gives you two cool effects to work with. On the other hand, it also gives everyone two plot points, so you’re also empowering your enemy!Scroll thee back back to the first image in the post. See that building on the left, the one with the guy on the roof? Now look at this picture. It’s missing. That’s the type of stuff countdown cards can do.Unfortunately, the same creativity that 7TV showed with the Countdown Cards doesn’t apply to the objectives. They’re really boring – you can pick one up with anyone. If the Episode (mission) doesn’t have the McGuffin effect in play, the most you get is more plot points if you picked it up with a Star (major hero) or a Co-Star (minor hero). With Pulp Alley always in mind and with the suspect markers from the Batman game used on the table, we were immediately reminded of games that handled interactive objectives in more exciting ways.Some more fun things: some Extras (mooks) can come in Units for more efficient activation purposes. Units don’t cost any extra beyond having must-buy unit requirements. Vehicles also exist, and they need to be operated by someone. However, a vehicle activates for a single plot point, which allows every passenger to shoot for free. This allows for some very efficient shooting activations, even if you risk losing the dismounts if they’re still in the vehicle when it blows up.All in all, 7TV is neat and has several things that make it stand out (and a killer miniature range). On the other hand, it underutilizes about half of the unit statline and doesn’t do much with objective tokens. Television is a land of contrasts, you see.
4 thoughts on “7TV 2nd Edition | Fortified Niche playtest!”
I would like to see a review of this game called Brutality. Its a small skirmish game built on just random minis. Setting is Ishtar kidnapping people to keep herself alive.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/scott-wainwright/brutality-skirmish-wargame/ebook/product-rzv9q6.html?q=brutality&page=1&pageSize=4
Neat, will have to look into it!
Thank you.
Thanks for mentioning my game Kyle! I too would love to see a review of it on here!