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| Thread: Battlesquares of Might and Magic | |
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 09, 2012 10:41 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 12:54, 15 May 2012.
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Battlesquares of Might and Magic
OK, I will call this a heroes spinoff. Basically, it's a revision of a thread I once made, yet in that thread, everyone got me wrong. his is done again because interest has been shown 
Basically, this shall be a mix between Chess and HoMM.
!!!!!This is neither meant to be played instead of chess nor be implemented in any Homm!!!!!!
It is rather meant to be played as a board game.
Content:
1 battlefield board of 8x8 squares
96 unit pieces in 6 colors (=factions)
12 reference cards (2 for each color)
only for advanced playing or variants:
12 skill cards
8 obstacle pieces
damage markers
The basic rules are not too complex:
In the beginning, the troops chosen by the players are stationed on the opposite sides of the battlefield board. Afterwards, the players act one after another, moving one of their pieces each turn by the moving capability stated for this creature on their reference map. To win, players must either "round up" the enemy hero (rather equal to setting an enemy checkmate in chess) OR defeat all of the hero troops.
Beginner Rules:
Preparation:
1. Each player chooses a faction and gets all pieces of that faction. Both players get both their own reference card and that of the enemy.
2.The players determine a start player. (they may decide themselves, how) He gets the "start player"-card.
3.The players place their units on the battlefield in the pattern
2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
4-2-3-5-6-3-2-4
(for the start player)
and
2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
4-2-3-6-5-3-2-4
(for the other player)
Starting the game:
The start player, obviously, has the first move. After that, the player move in turns.
Making a Turn:
Making a Turn is fairly easy: the player chooses any of their units, and moves it accordingly to its movement rules as to be found on the Reference Card.
If the moving unit is no flyer, every square it steps over must be free! The target square must be free (which is called a move from now on) or occupied by an enemy (which we call an attack).
If the unit performs an attack, the attacked piece is taken from the field by the owner and placed before him. The lost units placed before a player are called Losses. (will be important in advanced play)
Special Abilities:
The only special abilities having an effect in the basic game are "ranged attack" and "flying"
Ending a Game:
1. Winning by rounding up the enemy hero.
2. Winning by slaying the enemy army
3. Draw
Advanced Rules:
Preparation:
Factions:
All factions have the same movements-set up on their lineup:
Tier 1: Soldier - 6pieces. No special abilities, slow movement. (only forward, usually only straight forward, usually only 1 movement)
Tier 2: Rusher - 4 pieces. Move rather freely diagonally.
Tier 3: Skirmisher - 2 pieces. middle number of pieces. Targets an area around itself, either being able to move their directly (=flyer) or to guard the area around him, with slow movement but ranged attacks (=shooter).
Tier 4: Guardian - 2 Pieces. Units with a medium to good movement, moving straight only.
Tier 5: Champion - Strong unit, usually with a great movement pattern. Some exceptions, but with very strong abilities then.
Tier 6: Hero. Extremely slow movement. Can not move onto
Notes: Well, here I tried to combine diversity and continuity. Each factin having either a flyer OR a ranged unit shall provide a bit balance. The ranged units will have maybe a better radius of attack, but them being very slow and usually unable to attack without range makes them vulnerable.
Also note that some factions will have flying Rushers and/or guardians, then with more limited movement, though.
Haven:
A must-have faction, imo. The troops of Haven provide nice strategical options of moving, though they have rather much units with limited movements.
Tier 1: Pikeman - Can move 1 straight-forward. Can attack 1 diagonal forward or 1-2 straight forward.
Tier 2: Zealot - Can move and attack up to 4 in any diagonal direction.
Tier 3: Crossbowman - Can move 1 straight in any direction. Can range-attack in a full line in all straight directions, except he cannot range-attack backwards. cannot attack unranged
Tier 4: Champion - can move and Attack full in all straight directions.
Tier 5: Angel - Can move and attack like a Queen. When moving, this unit can fly.
Tier 6: Knight
Academy:
Mages and stuff.
Tier 1: ? - ?
Tier 2: Djinn - Can move and attack full in all diagonal directions.
Tier 3: Mage - Can move 1 in each diagonal(or straight?) direction. Can range attack full on both diagonal and straight line, but can only range-attack the first target in line.
Tier 4: ? - ?
Tier 5: Titan - can move and attack 2 in all directions. Can range-attack full in all directions.
Tier 6: Wizard
Stronghold:
Them Barbarians. No ranged-attacks, but quite mobile troops.
Tier 1: Goblin - Can move and attack 1 straight forward and can move 1 diagonal backwards.
Tier 2: Wolf (Rider) - ?
Tier 3: Harpy? - ?
Tier 4: Ogre -
Tier 5: ? -
Tier 6: Barbarian
Necropolis:
Undeads, eh?
Tier 1: Walking Dead - ?
Tier 2: ? - ?
Tier 3: Ghost/Vampire - ?
Tier 4: ? - ?
Tier 5: Reaper - ?
Tier 6: Necromancer
Skill Cards
Can be used in a variant of the game.
Defense:
-Gives all of your units the additional movement option 1-2 straight backwards.
Tactics:
-Allows you to, in the beginning of the game, switch the position of up to 5 pieces of your choice, by taking them all from the field and then place them on the now free fields as however you like.
more factions, skills and closer rules as well as variants to come.
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Adrius
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
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posted February 09, 2012 12:04 PM |
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All those different movements will be impossible to remember and plan for tactically.
____________
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Lexxan
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Unimpressed by your logic
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posted February 09, 2012 01:05 PM |
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.
You'll need to assign every level similar roles/movement so it would be easy for the player to differentiate between the units.
Level 1) [PAWN]: a low level unit with slow movement, hitpoints and attack. Can move forwards only, but can attack diagonally if there's an opportunity for it.
Level 2) [ROOK?]: a slow, but sturdy unit, excellent to defend the King with that can only move forward, backwards or sideways
Level 3) [CASTLE?]: a ranged unit with a penality in melee combat. Can only move fowards, backwards and sideways
Level 4) [KNIGHT]: a Flyer with an irregular moving pattern
Level 5) [BISHOP]: a spellcaster who can move faster diagonally
Level 6 [QUEEN]: a powerful, extremely mobile tank of which the player only gets one
Level 7) [KING]: The hero. Practically immobile, but has several special abilities (spells). They are immune to Ranged fire and cannot retaliate.
I would however be in favor of giving every unit a special ability, to give every faction a different flavor an making the game a tad deeper than normal chess.
And finally, every faction must have the same amount of units of the same TYPE on the board, to make it all consistent with each other.
Eg: assuming there battlefield has 100 squares, I'd suggest
2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
3-3-2-4-5-6-4-2-3-3
To give an example of this, I'll give an example by creating a faction of my own
Legenda:
Hit Points: How Many Damage a Unit needs to take before getting killed
Damage: The Damage a unit does in combat
Attack: the direction in which the Unit can attack and damage others
Movement: the amount of squares a Unit can move and in what direction they can. This doesn't include attacks
For sake of argument, forward is defined by "North", backwards is "South", Sideways left is "West" and Sideways right is "East".
Haven
Tier One: Pikeman
Hit Points: 7
Damage: 1-2
Attack: North (forward), NE, NW
Movement: N:1-2
Special ability: Polearm: Can attack creatures two squares apart IF they are placed directly in front of of them.
Tier Two: Sentinel
Hit Points: 17
Damage: 3-4
Attack: N, S, W, E
Movement: N:1, S:1; W:1, E:1.
Special Ability: Shield Allies: Reduces ranged damage from enemies by 25% Bonus also applies to adjescent allies.
Tier Three: Crossbowman
Hit Points: 10
Damage: Ranged: 2-4, Melee: 1-2
Attack: Any direction
Movement: N:1-2, S:1-2, E:1-2, W:1-2
Special ability: Precise Shot: Does +1 Damage to enemies within a distance of 4 squares and +2 damage to enemies within movement range.
Tier Four: Griffin
Hit Points: 15
Damage: 3-6
Attack: Any creature standing on an accessible square
Movement: One square N/E/W/S and then two squares diagonally. (flies)
Special Ability: Griffin Rage: Retaliates to every Melee attack
Tier Five: Vestal
Hit Points: 13
Damage: 2-4
Attack: Diagonally
Movement: 3 squares in any diagonal direction
Special ability: Light of Elrath: able to heal 4 hit points worth of damage to allied units. 2 turn cooldown
Tier Six: Angel
Hit Points: 20
Damage: 6-8
Attack: Any Direction
Movement: 4 squares in any direction (flies)
Special ability: Divine Intervention: Able to ressurrect a dead unit, with fully healed hit points. Two Charges. Doesn't work on Heroes.
Hero: Paladin
Hit Points: 35
Damage: 10
Attack: Any Direction
Movement: 1 in any direction
Special Abilities:
Bless: Target ally does maximum damage for five turns. 3 Charges
Regeneration: Target Ally regenerates 2 Hit Points for the next 5 actions they undertake. 3 Charges
Guardian Angel: Target Ally is rendered immune to all harm for 3 turns. Spell is broken once the target attacks another creature. One charge. Doesn't work on Heroes.
Just an example of course. I think i can come up with more in due time
Uniformity is important though. Same movement/attack rules for all creatures of the same tier should be important.
____________
Coincidence? I think not!!!!
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gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted February 09, 2012 10:45 PM |
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I like the idea Jir, but the current concept of ranged attacks makes it a bit unbalanced (especially if you have multiple creatures like the bow man who can ranged attack in every direction). Maybe (for the sake of balance) you could give them a maximum range? Something like
Quote:
2. Bowman - Can move 1 square sraight forward. Cannot attack adjacent peices. Can range attack two squares straight or diagonally from itself.
This makes their use far more strategic, since this way you can create barriers instead of instant death zones where when something moves in range it auto-dies by Bowman. Of course, a health system would work to balance this just a well, but health systems would be hard to keep track of for your casual player. Perhaps health would be more for a variation, same with my range range limits idea, but right now ranged creatures seem to be rather powerful.
Quote:
All those different movements will be impossible to remember and plan for tactically.
And this is why you have a legend for your creatures. Also, much like chess, it's just a matter of playing the game a few times to remeber how your creatures move (I mean, how many times did you have to be told that the horsey moves in an "L" did it take for you to get it?). This being a bit more complicated game of chess (sorry Jir, but that's how I see it), it souldn't be too hard to learn how it works.
Also, what other factions might we see come up?
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 10, 2012 09:33 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 13:53, 10 Feb 2012.
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Quote:
All those different movements will be impossible to remember and plan for tactically.
as gnomes spointed out:
Quote:
the moving capability stated for this creature on their reference map
Quote:
You'll need to assign every level similar roles/movement so it would be easy for the player to differentiate between the units.
Hmm, I thought about that. But I'm not sure about it now. I'd like to have it not that fixed, having some faction with different focus. But probably blance will so be - not there.
Overall: Thanks for the nice ideas, Lexx!  great you contribute.
Some ideas I allready had, but was not sure to implement them. Maybe I'd go for a "beginner" and one "advanced" option, the first easier (no special abilities, no HP) and closer to chess, the other more complex, but also more interesting in tactical aspects.
The hitpoints and damage, would make it much more complex and maybe a bit difficult (what happens when an attack is survived?). Especially, it will maybe be annoying to note the HP every time, since this is determined to be board, not pc game...
Having one Tier more is of course possible. s well as, theoretically, bigger battlefields.
Quote:
2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
3-3-2-4-5-6-4-2-3-3
Took me a moment to understand what you mean. I was not sure about that either, yet normally, I'd agree. The pattern for the game as I see now would be
2-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
4-3-2-5-6-2-3-4
I like your haven idea!
Quote:
I like the idea Jir, but the current concept of ranged attacks makes it a bit unbalanced (especially if you have multiple creatures like the bow man who can ranged attack in every direction). Maybe (for the sake of balance) you could give them a maximum range? Something like
you're probably right.
Quote:
This being a bit more complicated game of chess (sorry Jir, but that's how I see it), it souldn't be too hard to learn how it works.
You may see it so, if you wish
Quote:
Also, what other factions might we see come up?
Necropolis, definitely. Probably rampart. The 6th one is not yet decided, I'm not sure - dungeon is probable, but not sure.
EDIT: added the basic rules and an optional paragraph for more continuity. Comments are welcome!!!
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Drakon-Deus
Undefeatable Hero
Qapla'
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posted February 10, 2012 03:19 PM |
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Bring in the dungeon!
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 10, 2012 04:40 PM |
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I think it is quite probable you shall have it
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Drakon-Deus
Undefeatable Hero
Qapla'
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posted February 10, 2012 05:36 PM |
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and dragons u can't have one without the other you know...
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 10, 2012 06:10 PM |
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probably, one "dragon" unit is gonna be in, but no different dragons with different color (like back in H2 days)
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gnomes2169
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Duke of the Glade
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posted February 11, 2012 01:47 AM |
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Can we make variations? If so, I'm totally making a devils and demons apocalyptic version. 
____________
Yeah in the 18th century, two inventions suggested a method of measurement. One won and the other stayed in America.
-Ghost destroying Fred
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 11, 2012 02:10 AM |
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If you wish, of course =) If you so keen on demons, you can also make an expansion which adds inferno to the factions
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted February 11, 2012 03:33 AM |
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Did this chess battle in Wake of Gods-with 100% chess movement restrictions-. The day when further Heroes sequels will allow me to do similar things, I quit WoG on the fly. Until then...I have things to do.
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Drakon-Deus
Undefeatable Hero
Qapla'
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posted February 11, 2012 09:35 AM |
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Giants on one side and BD's on the other? How do you balance that, Sal?
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted February 11, 2012 10:20 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 10:21, 11 Feb 2012.
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looks like nice work, salamandre!
...will add stronghold creatures next
EDIT: jus tnoticed the 30 minutes edit I made yesterday is...gone!!!? O.o
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted February 11, 2012 12:51 PM |
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Quote:
Giants on one side and BD's on the other? How do you balance that, Sal?
Do you think we can create full chess board with moves and such but can't match simple stats? How naive
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted May 15, 2012 12:55 PM |
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got back on this. Took the general lineup in fo r balance's sake and made the complete lineup for haven, started them for academy, stronghold and necros. comments? IDeas?
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