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Limits on the pieces

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X3M
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This is part 2, 3? Anyway, to make sure no one reacts to the wrong posts. I thought of recreating this topic instead.

You know. I really fit my avatar. I creep my games. Make them act X3M. Then I blow them up.
Not good. Not good.

Any way. (Like how I always try to get to the point after my ranting :) ).
The number of pieces and what is on them is very important for a game to work.
And I still need to cut.

There are 3 major things that I am working on.

***

Strategy Points

For starters. The new RPS mechanic that I am trying out. It doesn't need the bonus rule. It has Strategy Points already.

I already asked, what to do with these SP.
Put them on the pieces (which replaces the bonus number) Or actually put them in the manual? Since they are much more linked to the resources that a piece costs?

Further more, with the mind of expansions. These SP might change. So, I know that I never published any thing. I don't want to cut my self with this issue.

I keep the fact that rifle infantry might one day be able to harm a tank. There are plenty of other units that cannot. Theme wise, it should be ok though. AND, it is a double edged sword for those who do not fit the role any way. Rifle infantry are just lucky if they are not hunted down.

***

stats on the pieces

-Costs
a number
A crazy looking money symbol
€# or even €## in rare cases.

-Armor
a symbol
@
Which is 1, 3 or 9; soldier, jeep, tank, square that is filled with either white, grey or black.

-Multiplier * Damage
a number * a symbol
#@
Which is 1, 3 or 9 for the symbol; I have no idea about the 1 and 9 yet. But the 3 is going to be an explosive with the colours yellow, orange and red, for reasons.

-Speed
a number
S#
Where 10 is the max but displayed as X.

-Range
a number
R#
where 10 is the max but displayed as X.

-Strategy Points
a number
P# or even P## in rare cases.
But rather not.

That leaves me with at least 5 stats. You might have noticed that accuracy and durability aren't even mentioned. I have a default accuracy of 4/6th. And structures have an extra durability of 2 rolls of 3/6th.

I already have an exception on one of those. Maybe I should have that exception for the rest. eg. All black squared symbols indicate a one time only roll of 3/6th instead of 2 rolls. Making medium and heavy armored structures equally in costs. Only the type of armor is different.

***

The number of pieces

What do I want to do?
As much as possible. Obviously, or else I didn't rant again at the top of this post. But I know, that can't work.

If I design only 1 army for all players to play with. I have 2 problems. One, the game is a bit boring in terms of chess, mirror armies aren't fun. Two, same type units need indication of to who they belong too.

To fight against this. Each piece group has to be unique. It will not change the total amount of pieces.

The question is, should I design with 4 or 6 players in mind? Or just 2 teams?
Each team is going to get 12 sets of units. 3x3+3.
The bases are going to be simpler. Perhaps colour coded any way. But at least the movable armies and defences can be customized.

Kinda like how in MtG, all players use the same 5 land types (I know there are more now).

I'll let it rest for now.

X3M
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Strategy points

Will be explained in the manual.
Also, with missions in mind. Custom resources where already the case. So with SP. Why not?
SP is not on the pieces.

2 more subjects to go.

X3M
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The number of pieces

Assuming 6 players. And thus 6 different armies. Would it be wise to have 3x3x6 different units to start with?
I get to design 18 infantry, 18 vehicles and 18 tanks.
Also with defences it would be the same amount.

That is a choice out of 108 designs. Perhaps around 600 pieces in total for 6 players. I am back at square 1 with this. Or would it be acceptable?

With colour codes. I would end up with the same amount of pieces.

Getting the designs done isn't a problem. And 2 teams means that each side has 3 units of each type. I could allow players to mix the armies up and coöperate in combat.

Eg. Player A has a flamethrower. Player B has 2 rifle infantry and player C has a shotgunner. All in the same hex. Player A chooses this hex to attack with. With approval and SP invested. The other 2 players may freely join the battle.

If 600 is to much? With 2 players about 200 pieces in total are there.
Idk. Maybe the estimate is a bit high. I will design first to get a picture of the complete list.

X3M
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Stats on the pieces

Top left:
The costs.

Top right:
Armor symbol and a number for when durability is the case.
Would 1.5 do? Or should I keep it generic and do a 2? 2 indicates 2 rolls of 3/6th. Perhaps 33 instead? That leaves room for other numbers.

Bottom left:
The speed and range with a simple S/R configurarion.

Bottom right:
A number with a damage symbol and perhaps a second number for accuracy. The number is this time the number of dice.

In overall. I am aiming to have 2 to 3 per corner. That means 12 as max in total on the piece. How big do the pieces have to be?

X3M
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The number of pieces (2)

Sometimes it is hard to get a proper amount of designs per type. Not necessarily with the designs of the stats themselves. But rather the names of the pieces.

Infantry - Anti Infantry
Is the first chapter here.
I got: Rifleman, Sniper, Flamethrower, Marine, Ranger, Shotgunner.

I guess the shotgunner doesn't really fit here. The theme is 2020-2050 warfare.

Idea's for Infantry - Anti Infantry are welcome.

let-off studios
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Thesaurus

X3M wrote:
Idea's for Infantry - Anti Infantry are welcome.
I took a trip over to thesaurus.com and this is what I found that sounds nice:

  • shock trooper
  • grunt
  • commando
  • soldier-at-arms
  • scout
  • veteran
  • guerrilla
  • warmonger
  • guard
  • conscript
  • gunner
  • marine

Some plural suggestions:

  • patrol
  • outfit
  • squad
  • company
lewpuls
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I like to keep total # of

I like to keep total # of pieces fairly low. 200 or so in Britannia - very simple pieces, no numbers on them - is fairly high, for me. 100 is better, but as you hve more players you're likely to have more pieces.

Unit differentiation depends on the scale. A skirmish game will need more differentiation than a "sweep of history" game, that is, the more tactical the game, the more differentiation makes sense.

How much unit differentiation is needed?
https://youtu.be/ZV7BqGsEgsw

I've talked about ideal numbers of pieces and of spaces on the board, but cannot locate right now.

X3M
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The number of pieces (3)

Edited this post.

My aim is to have less pieces than Risk.
There we have 3 different kind of pieces. But they are one type. 60 pieces in total. Worth 180 in total.

With 6 players. There are a total of 360 pieces.

Mine aren't 3D. But flat 20x20mm double sided pieces. Which are going to be stacked.

Colour code is possible. But I find that a bit too generic.
Is there a way of telling colour on the board with expansions in mind?

My initial thought was to have each player an unique design filling in the roles of their army.
Example: Player A has a melee infantry unit with support tanks. Player B has support infantry with some melee tanks. Something along those lines.
Of course an army with melee units only will still do well against an army with support units.

Now, that example was with only 2 types of armor and 2 types of range. It already shows 4 different kind of units.

After watching your video. I thought. What else could I cut?

-Custom armies per player; but then I need colour codes to determine who belongs to who.
-The middle man; no light vehicles. Only infantry and tanks. 3x3 is now 2x2. Thus half remains. Light vehicles could come back in an expansion.
-Stats? If I cut out more of them. The game doesn't work any more.

***

The names.

On one side. If I give names to the pieces. The names would be on the pieces. And they would have to be rather short.

On the other side. With the same designs for all players. I don't really have to give names. The manual will tell about them. And information per piece would be less as well.

X3M
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I looked at options

Due to reasons: Colour codes are needed.

No need to bother with "custom" designs.
However, I could keep them in like a 3 per player basis.
But this is expansion material for sure.

***

The amount of pieces was still big. 120 per player at most.

But after cutting and removing things. I finally have come to realize. Individual infantry units have started acting as if they are a squad on themselves. So, perhaps I should simply say "stop" to different kind of costs for pieces. And try to make them all being worth equal?

Then I can have like X * 21 designs. Let's say 80 per player if I include some production buildings.

The problem with this is.
The game looks a bit to much like other war-games now.
I have lost touch with it.

So I don't know what to do here.

Either design for only 2 players with custom army sizes.
Or.
Design with 4 or even 6 players in mind, with an equal army size for each player.

If it is one piece per hexagon. Custom health could be an option. But it would be no more then a couple of chits as damage counters.

Ugh... So much removed is so much to take in.

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