Five Parsecs From Home

[exspecto]

Has anyone picked up "Five Parsecs From Home" by Modiphius?  Sounds suspiciously similar to THW games.  I haven't looked at it, but I'm guessing it's more of a you-go-I-go style A.I.

edit: 
link to the game here

[bigwalleye]

May 27, 2021 19:27:22 GMT exspecto said:

Has anyone picked up "Five Parsecs From Home" by Modiphius?  Sounds suspiciously similar to THW games.  I haven't looked at it, but I'm guessing it's more of a you-go-I-go style A.I.

edit: 
link to the game here

Five Parsecs from Home is the work of a fellow named Ivan Sorenson, who operates a one-man publishing shop called Nordic Weasel Games. Nordic Weasel has a range of titles, all with Mr Sorenson's game design and writing styles, in a number of genres. (Maybe I should say 'had', as he seems to have sold some of them to Modifius.) The ones I've tried are all fun and interesting. Sorenson freely acknowleges that he has been influenced by TWH, along with a lot of others.

The one element that distinguishes Sorenson's systems from TWH is the interactive combat. Nordic Weasel doesn't have it. There are a lot of intriguing features, and I have, at times, mashed some of them into my TWH campaigns. Note too that Nordic Weasel emphasizes The Fight over The Story, while TWH tends more and more to put The Story first. But ultimately, it is the strict IGOUGO of combat that gets me to put aside Five Parsecs to go back to 5150.

If you are not strapped for cash, I'd say that any of Sorenson's titles is worth a look, especially if you are a rules collector like me. But, compared to TWH systems, it's 6-UP. YMMV.

[Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy]

Ivan is a good fellow and ex customer. We have been in touch, all good. bigwalleye has it spot on on all details.

[exspecto]

Excellent!

[soypunk]

May 27, 2021 20:18:34 GMT bigwalleye said:

May 27, 2021 19:27:22 GMT exspecto said:

Has anyone picked up "Five Parsecs From Home" by Modiphius?  Sounds suspiciously similar to THW games.  I haven't looked at it, but I'm guessing it's more of a you-go-I-go style A.I.

edit: 
link to the game here

Maybe I should say 'had', as he seems to have sold some of them to Modifius.)

Ivan is still writing Five Parsecs - the 3rd edition is just being published by Modiphius (in both PDF and dead-tree hardback forms.) Modiphius has provided full-color artwork throughout the new Five Parsecs so it is quite a publishing upgrade over other Nordic Weasel titles. There is a THW-reaction-like element ("snap fire") in ranged combat within Five Parsecs but it doesn't have the same feel as how THW works. If you like 5150, then picking up Five Parsecs may be worth it to you just for the sheer number of random generation tables it comes with.

[blacksmith]

I play both FiveCore and THW but I prefer THW in the end though Five Parsecs is quite good, fast and intuitive and with a heavy plot and stuff background with lotsa charts that make the game interesting without the player needing to build a story. Precisely for that I like THW more, because is more open ended and allows you to do whatever you want. I also think THW combat mechanics are better.
I recommend you to try Five Parsecs as it is a very good product. Maybe you can still find it in Drive Through at a cheaper price. In my blog you can find reports of five leagues (fantasy), five men in kursk (WWII squad level) and five core company command (WWII company level). One thing I really like about Nordic Weasel games is that they are very good to initiate a young one into gaming as die rolls are with D6: 1 and 6 you hit and do something, 2-5 nothing. I played them with my son when he was younger and he liked them. He also liked Chain Reaction

[crinklechips]

5 Leagues To The Borderland is also a good game. The 1st edition was low fantasy but the 2nd edition threw in all the bells and whistles which kind of loses its focus but gives more options. Its good stuff but I agree that IGOUGO feels less satisfying after you’ve been playing Chain Reaction for years. And yes, they are more about the butt kicking.