Warfare, dice fest and special abilities

I think there are some fun possibilities here. One idea that came to my mind would be to have each unit (or group of units) contribute some number of dice (I'm assuming all d6's, but it could be any type of dice) to your total roll for abilities. Say, for example, that your army had units which let you roll a total of 7 dice. Each unit's ability could also then have certain values at which it was "turned on", or perhaps it could have different effects with different values. My thought would then be to roll all seven dice (while your opponent rolls his or her dice). After the roll, you then assign dice to the units based on how many dice they contributed. So, a tank that allows you to roll two dice must be assigned two dice after the roll. The strategy then becomes how to assign the dice. Perhaps the tank needs a 5 and 6 to fire its armor piercing shell, an infantry unit needs a 1 or a 6 to throw a grenade and a medic needs doubles to heal. After both players have assigned their dice, the results are revealed either one unit at a time, or in a batch (although batch would obviously limit what abilities you could choose). This brings in strategy in terms of both how dice are assigned, and what unit combinations support each other well, since optimal combinations would be able to find uses for more possibilities of dice rolls.

Great idea Grall, I like how its not simply "highest wins" in your idea.

If you had more than say 4/5 units, it would get very hard to remember all the different combinations of each (I'm thinking each "brand" of unit would have a little play card for it dictating its powers, what they do and the roll required) and could be quite overwelming to the Players as well: eg total roll of say 16 dice, and 10 characters to use- each one needing a certain combination of two different dice for each of their abilities (say they have two possible abilities each) ... i just tried to work the number of choices out, but my AS level maths is not up to scratch: Basically a shit load of choices. Too many to consider.

You could scale back the choices and simply: Any Infantry need "doubles" or "a single 6" to do either of their attacks respectively. Cavalry (tanks / horses etc) need "two 6's" and "sequentials" and Support need "1 and 6" and "2 and 5" and "3 and 4". Or simpler still: every unit needs "Doubles" to activate an action or "sequentials" to do a basic action (eg move). Lots of movement here to really refine down the dice choices: This would also be a very easy game to balance correctly as the chance for certain dice coming up would be very defined and if you wanted a super-power-game-winning-action to come up, just stick a "three 6's" onto it: sorted. Lot's of movement in this system, I really like it. You just need to couple some really cool unit powers with it.

Another idea to add: All normal dice are white, except say from a certain special general unit: he can add a special red dice that only has 1's and 2's on it. And another that has 5's and 6's. Or perhaps one can be blue and is blank (eg: any number you want like a wild card). Getting in to detail: The Generals special type of units he commands will obviously have their special abilities biassed towards the numbers that the general can provide easily. This way, it's important to have a general and important to keep him alive, obvsiously giving your opponent a good target to go after. "If I take 'General Hazard' his tank general, then he will lose his red 5/6 dice: making it a lot harder for his tanks to use there special "Heavy Ordinance" attack which requires three 6's." Then you could go on with a support general that provides certain dice say with only three numbers on (1 3 6) and a hero commander general that has dice with just 1 number.

There would be chance for LOADS of synergy between units, and heeps of other interesting options Eg: a counter-battery unit that lets a player remove 2 of an opponents dice before a roll or 1 dice after a roll before the opponent declares and perhaps a special "once in a game" action, that allows him to remove any dice after the opponent has "declared" his dice and chosen: thus (hopefully) nullifying a triple-6 roll. And of course a "spy" unit, that would swap any opponents dice for any of your dice (eg: if he works well on high numbers, you swap his red generals 5/6 dice for your blue generals 1/2 dice) And again, a super spy that perhaps could have a MinusD6 - somehow it would minus from a total value (defined by you, not your oppoenent). Again, another very volatile unit that would have 5 6's and 1 Skull'n'crossbones - killing it instantly.

I'm getting excited , just writing about this ! lol. I am going to keep a close eye on your game Larienna and I want you to keep going thinking ideas ok!