Heroquest: The Lost Wizard

 

Quest, quest, quest!  The Fellowship of Destiny returns to delve in dungeons deep and full of dread.  Allathura of the Green has taken up the charge of leading this bold band of adventurers at the behest of Mentor.  She is joined by Hamilcar Margos from the mountain strongholds of the Dwarves who has a knack for the mechanical.  Alongside him, is Aerlin the Wizard a young and powerful disciple of Mentor himself.  The last member is Neo-Wulf of the North Lands, a mighty and impetuous warrior from the Northern Tribes.  Alone, they could not stand against the forces of Dread, but together they form the mighty Fellowship of Destiny!  

The last two quest had drained the Fellowship of their potions.  However, they were much better protected than they have been in the past.  Hamilcar and Allthusa are kitted out like tanks with shields and helmets.  Even Neo-wulf has a helmet.  The Barbarian and Aerlin also have staves to help with support attacks when needed.  So armed, they are summoned again by Mentor.  

Prince Magnus is once again in need of the Fellowship's aid.  The king's wizard, Wardoz; has gone missing.  It is feared that Zargon has had the wizard kidnapped or worse yet, corrupted him with Dread magic.  The Prince needs the Fellowship to determine the fate of Wardoz.  If successful, each hero that survives will be rewarded with 100 gold!  

Mentor has used Loretome to give him an idea of where Wardoz maybe located.  Allathura leads the Fellowship to the area and begin their search.  Soon, Hamilcar uncovers an obscured entrance to a dungeon below.  The Fellowship exchange knowing looks and prepare to plunge into the dungeon below. The search of the Lost Wizard has begun. 

The Lost Wizard

The Fellowship descends the stairway, and Neo-wolf eagerly takes point.  He smashes through the first door and quickly downs the first foe he sees, a skeleton.  Hamilcar follows and finishes off the second skellie.  They take a moment, and realize that this dungeon is older than they thought, and was probably crawling with the undead.  Hamilcar wished he had brought some Holy Water.

Allathura and Aerlin follow the other two.  As Neo-wulf begins searching for treasure, a Mummy stumbles from the shadows cast by the fireplace and attacks him!  However, Allathura suspected an ambush and made short work of the beast.  

The party pressed onwards and found Hamilcar as the lead element tangling with some Skeletons.  However, as Aerlin approached a T-intersection he accidentally stumbled too far.  A pair of Stone Golems were activated and moved in on the incautious wizard.  They caught up to him and punished him for his carelessness.  However, his Wizard Cloak allowed him to escape mostly unharmed.... mostly.         

Now, they were fighting on two fronts, between a room full of Skeletons and the pair of Stone Dread Golems.  Thankfully, Allathura managed to hold-off the Golems long enough for Hamilcar and Neo-Wulf to clean out the Skeletons.  This allowed them to face the Golems as a united front.  A Rock Skin spell on Hamilcar proved useful as he was able to absorb much of the Golem's attacks.  However, Neo-wulf was badly bruised from the encounter.  

Sometimes, I forget how cruel Heroquest can be.  The Fellowship battled their way through a wave of Skeletons.  Aerlin found himself exposed and took several hits from the undead fiends.  He was forced to use a Healing spell on himself!  

The Fellowship then fell into a pit trap that was right behind a door.  They all fell into and failed to jump over it, except the Elf.  This led to a chest behind another trap that Hamilcar disarmed.  However, when Neo-wulf opened the chest, he was struck by a poisoned needle!  Inside was a Purple liquid that he drank..... which turned him into stone.  The Fellowship took a moment to mourn their friend, assuming he was dead!  Then, leaving the room, they all fell into the pit again.... except the Elf.  This room caused more carnage than any monsters had! 

Pressing on with their quest, the remaining Fellowship activated another Dread Golem.  This one was just as stubborn as the last, almost killing Hamilcar!  Only the timely drinking of a Potion of Defense helped him out.  Then Aerlin used Courage on the Dwarf and he smashed the Dread Golem in a rage! 

The Fellowship cautiously moved forward, bruised and battered.  A fourth Dread Golem was awaiting them around the next corridor.  Arathusa used her Veil of Mist to get past the beast and search for a another doorway, however she did not go fast enough.  Aerlin summoned a Genie, that barely managed to crack the Golem.  Hamilcar and Aerlin tried to move away and attract the Golem's attention and try to flank it.  However, the magical beast was not fooled.  It quickly homed in on Arathusa, who was trapped by a locked door and a stone wall.  She was not nimble enough and the Dread Golem managed to smash her into paste.... tastefully done off-screen.  The Talisman of Lore slipped from her broken body and slipped across the floor, falling into an aged and ancient crack.... perhaps never to be seen again?   

Hamilcar and Aerlin were unaware of Allathusa's death.  They crept forward, and as they rounded the corner were greeted by a blood-splattered Dread Golem approaching.  Aerlin leapt forward and launched a fireball that exploded harmlessly across the Golem's chest.  Hamilcar fell back to a more defensible position, his heart racing.  Aerlin cast Pass through Earth and fled away from the Golem and back into the fireplace room.  

Despite Hamilcar falling back, the Golem caught up to him.  The Dwarf made a desperate lunge, but the Golem snatched him from the air and smashed him against the wall and then finished him off with a stone mace to his face.  Everything went dark, and then Hamilcar saw Allathura beckoning him towards a doorway surrounded by light.  He followed her....

Hearing the stomping footsteps of the approaching Dread Golem, Aerlin's nerve cracked and he fled back to the surface.  Allathura was probably dead, Neo-wulf had been turned to stone, and Aerlin had heard Hamilcar's scream suddenly get cut-off.  The Fellowship was shattered, never to be re-forged.  The young wizard fled in terror back to Mentor. 

The End?

Well, that sucked.  The Fellowship of Destiny has been undone!  I better get that B-team moving through First Light to get them up to speed!  Afterall, Wardoz is not going to find himself.  

Those Stone Dread Warriors absolutely wrecked me!  There were several times where they rolled Max hits on me.  Ouch.    

Pretty sure there was a bug with the Purple Liquid in the App, as Neo-Wulf was supposed to be Petrified for 5 turns, but I could never get him un-petrified and the last Dread Golem just walked up to him and smashed him into paste too.   

I guess I better read the rules on what to do when you fail a quest...... until next time?  

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Battle Report: Operation: Hemlock- Heroquest (?!?)

Today, i am doing something very different.  One of the things I love about Heroquest is that you can be very creative with the system.  It can easily be re-skinned or home-brewed into a wide variety of games.  Today, I am going to try to re-skin it as a Warhammer 40K Inquisitor game.  Let's see how it goes! 

It has been awhile since we tuned into to see what our Throne Agents were doing in Operation: Hemlock.  Last we saw them, the Throne Agents had discovered a link between the Adaconite Smugglers and the Red Tower of Ammoriss.  they had infiltrated an Adeptus Mechanicus facility and inserted a data-demon into their system.  This began sending them intel.  

Father Robertus was able to sort through the data and began to put together links.  He quickly uncovered unusual activity being routed through a Guild House located in the Deff Islands, possibly as a clearing house.  From there, Sebastian Twist was sent ahead aboard an Imperial supply vessel.  The region was an active warzone, but the Imperial forces had a clear hold on Grig's Isle.  Fighting was still raging on Baron's Rest, and the Ork control Zone was simply known as "The Green Zone".  

Thankfully, the Guild House was on Grig's Isle near the Davros Mineworks.  Most of these outfits were "wild cat" and independent operations that popped up, went bust, and crumbled; until those involved tried again.  The Deff Islands was one of the rare sources of Adaconite that was not directly under the control of the Red Tower.    

Sebastian was able to establish himself with the gangs and other ne'er-do-wells quickly and easily.  They were his kind of people.  The local  underworld had mostly coalesced into an organization known as The Syndicate that was nominally allied with the Imperial war-effort. It did not take long for Twist to have his own operatives infiltrate the Guild Hall.  

Twist was joined on Grig's Isle by the rest of the team later.  However, at the safehouse they also found that the Inquisitor had provided a new asset in the form of a Combat Servitor.  That could prove useful. Shortly after the Throne Agents set-up shop; Twist lost contact with his agents within the Guild Hall.  They had hinted to Twist that they had found critical intel before contact was lost.   

Sgt Major Bathory decided that if they did not act quickly, their operation could be compromised.  The Throne Agents quickly assembled to raid the Guild Hall and retrieve the operatives. 

Forces: 

First off, I have decided to use my Heroquest Core set to play this game.  It maybe a bit of a stretch, but it feels like the Heroquest board will be a great way to simulate the interior of a Guild Hall building.  I plan on running the initial First Light scenario using the App, with a few modifications to the game rules that I will detail a bit later:

Sgt. Major Bathory 

- Dwarf- Crossbow 

I figured the best way to represent the skills of the Veteran Guardsman was using the Dwarf card armed with a crossbow in addition to the normal load-out.   

Father Robertus

- Wandering Monk

This seemed like the best way to flavor an Imperial Drill Abbot with the 4 elements representing the Imperial Faith. 

Sebastian Twist

- Rogue Heir of Elethorn

The Heirs ability to move through enemies seemed like natural fit for a spy like Twist.  Plus, the thrown dagger matches his fighting style. 

Codename: Gladius 

- Barbarian with Broadsword

As a Combat servitor, the Barbarian card seemed like the closest fit. 

From left to right: Sgt Major Bathory, Sebastian Twist, Father Robertus, and Gladius

The only real upgrade is for the Dwarf to get a Crossbow, still leaving these guys as mostly "starting" Heroes.  Therefore, the first scenario in the First Light campaign could still be an issue. 

Set-up

I will be using the base Heroquest rules and re-flavoring for the setting a bit.  I will be making the following replacements and adjustments: 

Goblins = Scavvies

Orcs= Gangers

Abominations= Gang Leaders

Dread Warriors= Skitarri

Dread Sorceror = Psyker

Gargoyle= Big Mutie

In addition, I am going to be using the Missile weapon rules for this game.  However, ALL enemy models will have a ranged attack equal to half of their normal attacks rounded down.  Therefore, a Scavvie has 1 ranged attack dice.  A Gang Leader has 1, but Skitarri have 2.  There are no missile troops in the First Light scenario but if encountered they would act as normal.  Therefore, in many situations it is still better to get up close and personal, Heroquest style.  However, some situations may dictate otherwise.   

No one can shoot at an enemy that is in base-to-base with an ally.  That includes models that are in adjacent/diagonal squares to a friendly model.  They also still use line-of-sight as if casting a spell to fire. 

I have also decided that Heroes have a shoot ability of their normal attack divided by 2 rounding up: 

1-3= 1

3-5= 2

6+= 3 

Again, normal line-of-sight applies and Heroes can not use ranged attacks on enemy models that are in base-to-base with a friendly, even in adjacent/diagonal squares.  However, the Combat Servitor will never shoot.  

Mission

I am using the first Scenario from the First Light supplement for this scenario.  I will use the App to run the game for exploration, terrain, and enemy location; but run enemies with the shooting rules above

The Throne Agents are attempting to locate the 4 spies they had placed in the Guild Hall to gather their intel.  They are going to be able to engage with a free hand, and are authorized to kill anyone who tries to oppose them.  

The Game:        

The Throne Agents quickly blast open the gate and storm the Guild House.  The Combat Servitor mindlessly leads the way, and quickly locks in on an enemy Mutant.  He easily rushes it and slashes it down before it can even react!  

However, the Agents are in for a surprise as a booby-trap detonates and blocks them inside the Guild Hall.  There is no easy ex-fil from where they came.  All ready the plan has gone sideways.    

Undeterred, they continue their sweep of the Guild House.  However, they quickly discover they were too late.  They discovered one of their informants dead, a scavvy and a ganger looking over his body their pistol's still smoking.  Bathory makes short work of one, while Father Robertus deals with the other.  Twist manages to get to the body and finds a small data-slate that is encrypted on the corpse.  Perhaps it is the puzzle pieces they were looking for? 

Gladius blasts down the next door with a powerful shoulder and barges into through the stronghold.  He and Robertus lead the way.  However, the Priest gets bogged down with a tentacled mutant while the others move ahead, seeping the Guild Hall.  

It isn't long before an alarm bellows out, and Gangers and Scavvies from other parts of the Guild Hall head their way.  Eventually, Father Robertus finishes his man but is pretty banged up.  Thankfully, the crew came prepared with some Med-Kits, which he uses to patch himself up with.    

The Sgt Major leads the team deep into the Guild Hall, where they find a pair of Gang Leaders.  They were interrogating one of the spies but apparently executed him when the alarm went off.  The team was too slow.  

It is a tough fight, but eventually Father Robertus uses the Word of the Emperor to finish the last gang leader decisively.  His faith is powerful enough to crush the muscled thug's skull with his Drill Abbot's Hammer.  

They quickly find the Guild Houses main office, and it is heavily guarded by Gangers.  Inside, a powerful Combat Servitor of their own is ready.  Gladius rises to the challenge and charges into the battle.  The presence of such a beast further confirmed the involvement of the Red Tower of Ammoriss with these smugglers.  Twist managed to infiltrate the room as the battle raged and fired into the Combat Servitor's skull execution style from behind besting the beast.  

The Throne Agents managed to sweep the rest of the Guild House clean.  Even their secret chambers were discovered.  The agents they were sent to locate were all dead.  Just as Sgt. Major Bathory feared.  However, they got there in time to secure incriminating data-slates, physical records and even some local script and golden Thrones currency. 

Like all rat's nests, this one had a secret back entrance that the rat's had used to escape.  The Throne Agents uncovered it and made their way out as well.  The ex-filtrated back to their safehouse to debrief, rifle through their new leads, and to tend to their injuries.  

Final Thoughts  

That worked out just fine.  I recently watched a play through of this mission that ended in a TPK.  I did not have that same level of difficulty at all.  My Monk got beat-up but the bonus Medical Kits provided by the Inquisitor (Healing Potions from Sir Ragnar) smoothed over the worst of it.  I did get pretty lucky on Treasure cards though, only 1 Wandering Monster and 1 Hazard!   

My Monk needed it after getting caught flat-footed by opponents at the end of the Heroes' turn cycle a few times.  Otherwise, the rest only took a point of damage here and there, but nothing life threatening.  This games MVP was Gladius the Combat Servitor as he rampaged through Scavvies and Gangers with ease!        

The group ended with a haul of 580 Golden Thrones, 2 Med-Kits (Potion of Healing), a gem worth 35, a one-use Refractor Field (Potion of Defense), and a Psyker's Brass Staff (Wizard's Staff).

Overall, I think that worked pretty well!  The shooting rules and such were not even needed.  Most of the time, the fights were close enough where shooting was not the better option.  The only one that shot much was Sgt. Major Bathory and a Scavvy once or twice.  Most of the time, the enemies/Heroes were within 1 square of a friendly anyway so you couldn't get a clean shot.  

I will have to take a look and how I can re-fluff the rest of First Light for my throne agents to keep on playing it. 

Until next time. 

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Battle Report: Odin's Ravens - Into the Lair of the Beasts

Today we are going to be taking a closer look at these rules for recreating Viking Sagas on the tabletop.  We are going to be using a Norse hero versus a group of game-controlled monsters.  We will also be using one of the Mythic scenarios from the rules.  

You can find those rules here: 

Erik Greybeard was attempting to build up his legend.  He was planning an expedition across the ocean, and to do that he needed to gather followers.  The Jarl's were not taking him seriously and he knew he needed to prove himself.  Therefore, he gathered his kin and out to face the horrors in the Shieldlands above Geatland.  He had heard rumors of an Ogre and his kin band terrorizing the people of the area.  Erik was determined to track them down.

Forces: 

Vikings:

Erik Greybeard - Hero - Chain Mail, Shield Hand Weapon - Patron: Heimdal- Disengage

Gunnar Erikson - Second- Spear, Armor, Shield

8 Kin - Soldiers- Shield, Mix of spears and hand weapons

These will be my Victrix models.  

Monsters:

Ogre - Monster- Chain Mail, Two-Handed weapon

Winter Wolf - Beast- Shield, Fast 

7 Black Elves - Creatures- Hand weapons, shields, armor

1 Wolf- Creature- Fast 

I will be using my Heroquest models to represent the Monsters! 

Mission: 

For this game, we will be using the Into the Lair of the Beasts scenario found in the main rulebook.  We will be using 1 MU = 1 inch on a 36 x 36 MU board.  

We also rolled up two complications!  The first is Long Shadows and the second was Bad Omens!  Let's see if I recall them during game play.  These make it easier for the Hide action and more likely for things to fail Fear tests.  

The Vikings are trying to get into the Lair of the Beasts. 

Set-up: 

We set-up terrain per the rules in the main rulebook.  However, we also needed 1 terrain piece to act as the entrance to the monster's lair!  This time I used two frozen ponds to represent the entrance, similar to the lair for Grendel's Mother.   

We rolled up Connected Edges for deployment and then followed the rules for deployment and the scenario.  These can be found in the main rulebook. 

As normal, I will not be covering each action and dice roll.  I will only discuss those if they are relevant to the game, or to help you understand the basic rules.  However, I will be breaking the game up into the Maneuver phase, Battle Phase, and End Phase.  Normally turn 1 and 2 is the Maneuver portion, 3-6 is the Battle, and 7-8 is the End phase.  This game lasts 8 turns or until the Heroes break.   

Maneuver Phase

   

One soldier bravely leaves the woods and soon draws the attention of all the beasts!  They quickly close in on him, while his comrades are hampered by the woods behind him.  The soldier bravely steps forward to face the Winter Wolf, but has his head knocked off for his audacity!   

Gunnar bravely challenges the Winter Wolf next, and their fight is inconclusive.  however, it gets crazier as the Ogre and another Viking charge in as well.  Meanwhile, as the Vikings emerge from the woods, they are engaged by the Dark Elves.  A beast manages to bludgeon another Viking to death.  

Battle Phase

Things start poorly for the Vikings as Gunnar is downed by the Ogre right off the bat!  However, Erik manages to slay a Dark Elf in return and charges into the next!  Fighting across the slowly forming front is inconclusive as the last of the Vikings start leaving the woods.  

The Viking fighting the Winter Wolf and the Ogre sees the long odds and the bad omens and runs away back into the woods.  The Ogre finishes poor Gunnar off.  The Ogre than charges into the next melee, and quickly smacks another Viking to the ground!  

Things are looking bad for the Vikings as the Ogre wades in and kills another Viking with the help of his minions.  However, Erik finally finishes off his Dark Elf and runs towards the objective.  However, he is intercepted by the Winter Wolf.  

End Phase

Things look bleak for our Viking Heroes as they have been whittled down by the beasts.  The ogre lumbers into a melee and swings wildly, giving that viking the opening, and he dashes away from the wolf, a Dark Elf, and the Ogre.  The Wolf chases him down, but is unable to injure him.  However, another Viking is brought down by the Dark Elves.  

Erik Greybeard manages to twist away from the fangs of the Winter Wolf and sprints to the Lair entrance and ducks inside.  With Erik getting to the lair, the rest of his kin decide it is better to flee and live to fight another day!  

Conclusion

That was ugly!  Somehow, the Vikings held on long enough for their Hero to get to the lair and secure the win.  However, they had to pass a few Runaway checks to do it.   They needed 3 VP to win, and Greybeard making it to the Lair gave them 3.  However, he lost 3 killled kin, and 2 Missing after the fight.  Those two would eventually make their way home to fight again.  Thankfully, Greybeard's son would also manage to survive the engagement, with a nasty scar.  In return, they barely managed to injure the Beast, downing only 2 Dark Elves in the fight.  

Some thoughts.  The terrain really hampered my Vikings ability to coordinate.  Plus, moving one of my soldiers out of the woods allowed all the beasts to move towards my deployment zone early, that was  a big mistake.  The Woods played a big part in this battle.  

My Vikings also had a hard time getting past the Beasts armor and shields.  The beasts also came for blood today, often choosing to Deal Damage whenever they could.  Ouch.  That Three Dice Ogre was cutting through Vikings like a hot knife through butter, especially when he was getting help from Dark Elf friends.  Being Outnumbered is no joke in this game!

Ultimately, my victory came when I won a couple key fights and chose to disengage and then move with extra activations rather than Deal Damage.  Heimdall's Gifts paid off in spades in this scenario.  If I would have focused on killing enemies, I would have lost.  I guess you have to keep your eyes on the prize and tactical movement paid off in this game.  It is hard to recall sometimes that you are not locked in combat, but to unlock you have to win a combat.  It is a bit counter to a lot of games I have played in that way. 

You can find Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys on the Blood and Spectacles Wargame Vault page. 

Until next time!    

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Wargame Design: Odin's Ravens: Viking Age Bad Boys

 

You know what really speeds up the wargame design process?  Two things: 

1. Having an existing set of rules to build off

2. Having the miniatures for photos in your collection

Both of those details can be the difference between finishing a game in 1-3 years, versus finishing in 5 years.  For me, post-production is the longest part.  That is where those two points really help out.  Post-production involves making sure the game works as intended and getting all the parts to publish together.  Those parts take the longest amount of time in the whole process.  

If you all ready have a set of rules to work off of, then you know the game mostly works.  It really speeds up the process if you don't have to test the 4Ms, just the chrome.  You probably recall the Play-testing process, well building off an existing game cuts the first couple layers of play-testing off.  

The second point is self-explanatory.  Most miniature wargamers have a pile of shame they are painting through.  Buying, building, and painting models takes times and money.  If you all ready have the models in your collection then you can go straight to the photography stage, that alone can save a year in the production pipeline!  

So, that brings us to today's game: 

Odin's Ravens is a model-vs-model skirmish game with a narrative campaign element added to it. As the sub-title implies the game is focused on Norse warbands with a Hero, a Second, and up to 8 other soldiers.  The game can be played as a straight historical game, or with mythological elements added into it.  

Like all my games, Odin's Ravens is scale and model agnostic.  I did this by using generic measurement units with no fixed scale.  This way it works with 15mm, 28mm, 54mm, or other scales.  All models are individually based because this is a model-vs-model game.  There is no fixed time or ground scale, as is my design preference.  The game can be played on just about any playing surface thanks to the adjustable size of an MU, but typically plays on a 36-48MU square.     

This game can be played as a Versus game, Solo, or Co-op.  There is a simple Narrative Campaign added so warbands can evolve and grow based on your Heroes Legend.  There is myth magic, mythological monsters you can fight, mythical gear to find, and several special solo/co-op only scenarios.  

Taking on a troll

The game is trying to answer the problem of Melee Yahtzee and how to add Tactical Gameplay to a melee heavy game.  In addition, it is trying to capture the idea of Heroes being heroic and special, but not game breakers.  These are all tough needles to thread.  So, how does this game do it?  

Here are a couple key features of gameplay to keep in mind: 

1. It uses facing as a tactical component to gameplay
2. Outnumbering plays a critical roll in combat
3. Winning a combat can do more than just causing damage, sometimes causing damage is not the best option so you have to decide what to do
4. Melee does not lock you, as there are several ways to escape melee
5. Heroes have more dice and activations than soldiers    

In addition, there are about 6 Versus scenarios, and 6 different methods for deployment and 3 special Solo/Co-op scenarios.  This gives the game a lot of replayability with different tactical set-ups.  In addition, Heroes, Seconds, and Soldiers can also have a variety of set load-outs.  Each hero also has a special ability granted by his god to make him a worthy hero to follow.    

A hero and his loyal warband of followers

The astute observer will notice something right away.  This is not a new game!  It is a reskin of my popular Greek Mythology game; Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys.  The core gameplay is the same and uses the same core mechanics.  The Chrome has been modified to fit a Norse setting.  For example, chariots have been removed from the game.  Instead, I have replaced it with the chance to have a mounted soldier, Hero, or Second and updated the Mounted rules accordingly.  I have also changed some of the weapons and load-outs to better match Viking warfare compared to Greek Homeric combat.  

Most of the miniatures in the book came from my existing collection.  Thanks to my Viking Age rules Fury of the Northman; I have a decent sized selection of Vikings and Dark Age warriors to choose my Odin's Ravens from.  My monsters came from my rather larger selection of HeroQuest and Reaper models.  That made post-production on these rules a snap!  

When I started the year, this game was not even on my radar.  I had toyed around with some expansions of the Homer's Heroes concepts, but it wasn't until early this year when I started working on this particular version of the game.  Maybe I will expand the core game further into new periods and eras?  Got any suggestions?  

Final Thoughts

The first step to being a game designer is to create your game and get it out there for others.  From there, they get easier and easier.  The first one is the hardest because you are building it all from scratch.  Once you have the first, you have a set of templates to build your next one.  

To get more games to market, it is easiest if you: 

1. Build off of your existing designs

2. Use miniatures and art you all ready have in your collection

The more games you make, the easier it gets to make more of them!      

If you like Vikings, you like Skirmish games, or you like Homer's Heroes: Bronze Age Bad Boys then you will probably enjoy recreating the Norse epics and sagas with this game.  You can find Odin's Ravens now on Bloodandspectacles.com.  

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

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Battle Report: Castles in the Sky - A Clash over South America

 

For the first time in a bit, the True Crit Gaming Guild busted out Castles in the Sky.  We had a French, British, and American fleet. Since it had been a while since we had played, we decided to keep things simple and stuck with a Battleship, Cruiser, and Escort per side.  That would give us a chance to recall how to play the game.  We didn't even bother with any special mission objectives or anything.  

The Americans had been patrolling near Paramaribo in the territory of the Netherlands, as part of a diplomatic effort to win their support at the Hague.  However, the nearby British and French were not happy to see an American force so close to their Spheres of Influence.  A Fleet for each power was deployed from Georgetown and Cayenne (respectively) as a precaution and a warning.  

However, they did not realize that the American flotilla was commanded by Rear-Admiral Thomas, a notoriously aggressive commander.  As the three fleets began to converge just north of the border with Brazil, the Europeans soon realized their error.  The American commander raised the battle colors and signaled for the other two fleets to stand-down.  The two European commanders declined the offer and battle was soon joined.

The Forces      

Americans

1 Michigan class Battleship - Comm 2

1 Denver Class Cruiser - Comm 3

1 Bainbridge class Destroyer - Comm 2 - Air Torps

The French

1 Charles Martel Class Battleship - Comm 3

1 D'Iberville Torpedo Cruiser - Comm 2

1 Chasseur Destroyer - Comm 1- Air Torps

The British

1 Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship- Comm 3

1 Warrior class Cruiser - Comm 3

1 Bull Finch class Destroyer- Comm 2 - Air Torps

Set-up

Our table was a 4ft-by-4ft board, and each MU was 1 inch.  The Americans and British took opposite corners, and the French were in the center on the far side.  The Americans and British deployed high and fast, with the French going at mid-range and speed.  

There were no clouds or cloud cover.  There were a few rock formations at 1-4 altitude.  

Maneuver Phase  

Despite being aggressive, the American commander was not up to the task of outmaneuvering the European forces.  The other two admirals continuously outperformed the United States on Initiative checks and gaining Commands.  

The French seemed willing to take on the Americans and veered that way, as the other two fleets seemed eager to get to close the range and start pounding on each others ships.  The French manages to strike first blood as an Air Torpedo barrage from the wily French detonated the American Destroyer early in the battle, without the scouting and intelligence gathered by this ship; the Americans struggled with their Command-and-Control.  

Worse, the Destroyer exploded and damaged the US flagship as well in the blast! 

Battle Phase

The French sent their cruiser to try and snipe and distract the British fleet closing in on the main melee.  However, the French captain miscalculated the range and power of the British fleet.  The poor cruiser found itself getting pounded by the British guns at range!  It was soon damaged and stalled.  

The American Cruiser was also eager to mix it up with the British, under-estimating their combined firepower for dealing with cruisers.  The Queen Elizabeth got in close and simply pounded the poor dear with heavy batteries at close range.  The Denver was ripped apart and exploded for her trouble, barely scratching the Queen Elizabeth's paint in the process.  

Meanwhile, the French and US Battleships got in a gunnery duel at mid-altitude and slow speeds.  The two large ships exchanged gunfire.  Neither side seemed to gain the upper-hand.  However, a lucky shell disabled the Michigan's Air Screw, and the ship immediately stalled.  With their airship stalled and sinking fast, the Michigan struck her colors.  This left the US out of the fight.  

End Phase

The French D'Iberville was stalled and taking a beating from the Warrior and Bull Finch.  The crew valiantly tried to get her operational and moving again, but the enemy firepower was too much.  The Warrior raked the poor French ship and she struck her colors as a smoking wreck.  

From there, the damaged French Battleship and Escort played cat-and-mouse with the Queen Elizabeth and her friends.  However, after an exchange that left the Chasseur and the Charles Martel damaged further, they signaled for an end of hostilities.  

The British were gracious in victory.  After all, their ships had barely had their paint scuffed. 

 Conclusion

The British fleet ruled the skies, as is fitting.  They took no damage, while the French lost 12, and the Americans lost 22 Armor.  A clear British victory in a hard-fought battle.  

Anytime I face a Queen Elizabeth Dreadnought, it is a challenging game.  The French Battleships is no match in a one-on-one fight with it.  It requires cunning and guile to win.  The Warrior and Queen Elizabeth co-ordinate their fire very well in this game, and the Americans and French paid the price for it.  Never bring a Cruiser to a Battleship fight!   

We did misplay Friction for a few turns, but we got it figured out by the end.  It would not have made much of a difference in the final result.  However, we did see lots of fun stuff like stalling, Commands, Exploding and Sinking in action!    

Until next time!

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Wargame Design: Designing Games is Playing with Legos

 

For those of you searching for the keyword Lego..... welcome!  Take a look around and I hope you enjoy your stay.  However, as you can see by the image above we are actually going to be talking about wargame design, specifically miniature wargame design.  Thanks for stopping by though!  

There is nothing new under the sun.  Every idea has all ready been thought, and as those of you that have been reading along on this blog, you know that I think Innovation is Over-rated.  However, there is a world of mechanics and design techniques out there just waiting for you to discover them and use them.  Therefore, when I design a wargame I am not staring at a blank page and trying to innovate

Individual mechanics and ideas are building blocks.  Your mind is all ready littered with building blocks.  There are mechanics you have seen in other games, ideas from other genres, and concepts from other media.  Your brain is littered with these blocks, like a toddler's room is littered with Lego. 

Therefore, when it is time to design I am not looking for inspiration.  Instead, I am taking various Lego blocks and putting them together to see what I build.  Sometimes I build something that is functional, but most of the time I build a block of other blocks that doesn't look like anything.  That is not a problem at all!  I can always deconstruct it and start again.  

Restless Sun

Sometimes, I start by just putting random blocks together.  I ask myself, "what if I just combined the Bag Activation of Bolt Action, with the Chit Pulling damage mechanic of Battlegroup, and the card-resolution mechanics of One-Hour Ancient Skirmish?"  Then, I push some tokens around and see what happens.  

However, most of the time I start with what is in the Lego booklet.  I use my design goals, my POV about what I am trying to create, and cross-reference what my idea of Fun is to create a rough idea of what I want the end result to look like.  It is like looking at the instructions or the back of the Lego box where is says "With this set you could also build" and it shows a rabbit made out of Legos.  You are no longer just randomly putting bricks together.  Instead, you are trying to find the right bricks to make your creation look like the rabbit on the back of the box!  

Homer's Heroes

Of course, looking at the image of the rabbit tells you that a brick with goggly-eyes on the side is needed to complete the rabbit.  Therefore, you go digging through all your bricks looking for that one piece to make your Lego creation look like a rabbit.  You could put in another and it would work, but your rabbit look a bit less defined, less like a rabbit.  The right brick in the right place makes the whole concept of the rabbit work better.  

The more you use suboptimal bricks, the less the finished product looks like the rabbit.  If you keep putting in sub-optimal bricks, eventually you might have something that looks more like a goat than rabbit.  Now, when you are done you might look at the goat and decide that is what you actually wanted to make.  You might decide that you like the way the goat looks is better than the rabbit you started with.  However, there is no denying that a goat is not a rabbit.   

My goats!

As the builder, it is your job to figure out which Lego brick does what you want it to do best.  You are focused on the outcomes.  Not all bricks will provide the proper outcomes.  Googly-eye brick provides googly-eyes, a red brick with no googly-eyes does not.  If you want eyes, you need to use the googly-eye brick.  The red will not do the job.  However, it you decide that what you are making does not need eyes, than the red brick can do the job!  

Therefore, as a game designer is not much different than playing with Lego.  Your job is to know your goals, POV, and definitions of Fun.  That is what guides the outcomes you want.  Your second job is to know what bricks you have.  You need to have a feel for an array of game mechanics and how they will work in play.  Then, as the wargame designer you need to pick the right mechanics that will lead to the outcomes you want and drop them into the design. Simple but not easy. 

Men of Bronze

In addition, wargame design is an iterative process.  I.e. each piece builds on the next.  Lego is the same, as each block is needed before you can put the next block in place.  Each game system often builds into the next.  Some core elements can be carried over between designs.  That means, if a designer likes the way terrain works in one game, it may carry-over to the next.  This can lead to a designer having a Type.  Each design builds off the learnings and discoveries from the previous design.

Therefore, if you like building with Lego than you just might like trying your hand at miniature wargame design! Until next time!    

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!