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Made in us
Dakka Veteran





Visiting Hours is the thread to let you see what is going on in the world of On The Lamb Games. The VH updates once every two weeks on a Saturday, talking about a specific theme, topic, or releasing new content.

List of Articles
Scenarios - This Post
Fluff - Includes Short Story sneak peak
Brushfire Army Building - Loxodon Green sneak peak
Endless Party Building - EFT Pre-Release Book
Brushfire Siege and Fort - Early Ashigaru Renders
Endless Monster Builds: Part 1 - Monster Q & A
Endless Monster Builds: Part 2 - Brushfire Digest Cover
Endless Con Scenarios - Exomorph Troll
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 1 - The Exo Files 1
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 2 - The Exo Files 2
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 3 - The Exo Files 3
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 4 - The Exo Files 4
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 5 - The Exo Files 5
Brushfire Halloween - Exomorphs: Part 6 - The Exo Files 6
Endless Scenario - Empowered - Leir Satona Art
Scenarios - Xiang Gang / Loot the Room - Slavemaster Ainar Art
Scenarios - Last Bar / Halle's Ford - Halle's Ford Grid Map
Winter Terrain and Effects - Mandragora Art
Endless Art Trio - Gargoyle Demonite Art
Dungeon Densetsu - Hoarfrost Peaks PDF
Year in Review/Looking Forward - Excavator Dreel Art
Boss Fight: Co-op - Boss Yazz PDF
Miasma War: Preview - Mission 1
TempleCon Tourney Review - Tourney Photos
The Quiet of Graybasin - Kingfisher Cards
Brushfire Scenario - Burrowing Invasion - EFT Troll Art
The Miasma War KS Announcement - Gotz von Federwerk Green
Brushfire Scenario Templates: Dragon Attack! - Male Rhapsodist
Brushfire Scenario Templates 2: Objectives! - Random Scenario Template
Endless Kickstarter: Duchy of Deepwell - Deepwell Variant Art
Endless Kickstarter: Mini-Scenario - Nevsky Sculpt
Kickstarter Witch Preview - Witch Prototype Card
Endless Scenario: Airship Battle - Battle Map
Brushfire Mode: Sportsball - Sportsball!
Endless Challenge: Battsu 1 - Trials of Battsu PDF
Endless Challenge: Battsu 2 - Boss Dozz
Endless Challenge: Battsu 3 - Judge of Salamandros
Endless Challenge: Battsu 4 - Mage Stalker
Endless DLC: Gelato 1 - Misadventures of Gelato PDF
Endless DLC: Gelato 2 - The Kappa Krew
Endless DLC: Gelato 3 - The Furious Flayer
Night of the VikingRed - Newest Article
Endless DLC: Gelato 4 - The Monster Mafia


Scenarios

Scenarios or Missions are great ways to vary one-off and tournament games. Everyone still has blood in their eyes, trying to wipe out their opponent, but alternative objectives really temper a player, forcing them to think tactically. I had a discussion with one of our players the other day, about community created Scenarios, and the worry that such creations were imbalanced, and not a viable option.

I’d always strived to make the Scenarios/Missions in our games more like templates, something to build a game upon. So, I got to thinking about asymmetrical gameplay. Many games over the years have had one player in a superior position, RPGs spring instantly to mind, but most are not heavily regulated and played competitively like wargames. Are games where one player is at a clear advantage from the start bad? Is there a way to make it fair? The two ideas i’d fallen upon both have their pros and cons.

The simplest option would be for players to swap roles and play the Scenario twice. This would ensure both players are at the advantage, but takes twice as long and could easily end in a tie, even with our Victory Severity system. Alternatively, fine tuning the Victory conditions in favor of the weaker player could keep the Scenario balanced, but such a task requires far more testing, and debate, and still never removes that sense of weakness.

Campaigns

Once I have the grasp of the rules, this is the section of any game that I jump to. I want to know what I can do, where there is to go with my army of metal soldiers. One-off games are always enjoyable, they are a great way to get friends into a system, but eventually I want a reason to come back again and again. In our games we want you to be able to go as far as you want. Campaign rules should hook into many of the core mechanics of the game they’re used in, and the playstyle of the Campaign should reflect the world of the game itself.

Brushfire’s Campaign system utilizes the 3 Resource system of army building, allowing players to gain resources each week/campaign turn to recruit soldiers, build structures, and conquer their opponent’s nations. In a world based off of real, historical armies and nations, The Campaign system needed to reflect the same grand troop movements and nation ruling that many of history’s great commanders were faced with.

With 2.0 The Missions and Campaign system for Brushfire will mostly see cleaning up. A few portions written in 1st Ed were unnecessarily complex, or generally confusing. Sections repeated unnecessary information, but completely lacked a preamble at the head of their sections to explain the content that followed. Hopefully in the coming weeks these sections will be cleaned of the clutter.

Endless was much harder to design a Campaign system for, and is currently having two different versions worked on. As a console RPG brought to the tabletop, Endless needs a Campaign that mimics the style of gameplay seen there.

The basic Campaign System we have recreates the ‘out of battle’ portions of RPGs. I remember fondly in those classics that the manuals were broken into In-Battle, and Out of Battle sections, like a design doc ported as a manual, including the Cycle images one might find in a business meeting.

In Town -> Field Map -> Battle -> Results Screen -> Back to Town

In these Town sections, every player would have their post-battle rituals. Save, Heal, Save, Buy Items, Save, Level Up, Save. Of course, you would always rotate your saves, just in case.

So, Endless includes a framework similar to this, without the constant saving. Items can be sold/bought at the Item Shop from your Party’s inventory with any cards you own. EXP gained from winning (or losing) a battle is spent to level up or recruit new models at the Soldier’s Guild. Any poor saps that died have a chance to be resurrected at the Church of Numina. Any extra models can rest at the Town Inn, waiting for you to swap them into your active Party.

This is a very simple framework for those looking to run a League or even a Tournament, allowing progression to your team, and provide interesting management between battles. We hope that it is simple enough that no one will be afraid to use it, looking at it less as an optional mechanic.

The other System, which currently has the uninspired “Map Mode” name, is more of the proper full Campaign system, designed for a group to get together once a week play some games, and update their wall map or LGS forum with the results.

Dungeon Crawling is a big part of most console RPGs, and several Tactical RPGs have managed unique world maps, with linking nodes, with special battles fought at certain points. We wanted to bring these two concepts together as a single system. Unlike the loose framework of the Campaign system, The Map Mode will be a separate product. PDF or physical we’re unsure of at this point.

I’ll go into Map Mode with its own thread at a later time.

Q&A

I’d like to end each of these rambling blog posts with a little Q&A with you all.

On Topic Questions
Do you find Campaigns, Leagues, or Tournaments more memorable?

Do a variety Scenarios/Missions keep you interested?

Have you played games with asymmetrical balance?
How does being the weaker player feel to you?

Any Objective Types that particularly stand out as must haves?

Off Topic Questions
Is there a topic you would like me to ramble about?

Any changes you would like to see in this feature?


Lastly, I’d like to share some art with everyone to see what Heath has been churning out in between Kickstarters.



If you'd like to see more of my rambling, you can follow me on the twitters @OTL_Matt

This message was edited 56 times. Last update was at 2016/02/22 14:48:32



Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

I don't know exactly what the top picture is, but it's pretty adorable
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





That is the Minor Demonite, sort of EFT's 'mascot' in the Anime/JRPG sense, rather than a character that cheers at ballgames.


Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

Wait I don't get the demonite suit? You lied to me .

And the ebil penguin is cute as a button and love that chugoku art.

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






Sacramento, CA

 Alfndrate wrote:
Wait I don't get the demonite suit? You lied to me .

And the ebil penguin is cute as a button and love that chugoku art.


And now I picture Alf doing this at Gen Con:


-Emily Whitehouse| On The Lamb Games
 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

 miskatonicalum wrote:
That is the Minor Demonite, sort of EFT's 'mascot' in the Anime/JRPG sense, rather than a character that cheers at ballgames.

Ah darn, thought it was a Brushfire model!
   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

Birds in Brushfire?! heresy!

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







 RiTides wrote:
Ah darn, thought it was a Brushfire model!
Haha, yeh I thought that too, it's so cute!

   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





You might be able to find a use for it as a silly replacement for Tamatama or as a conscript or other low food sergeant.


Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






Sacramento, CA

 miskatonicalum wrote:
You might be able to find a use for it as a silly replacement for Tamatama or as a conscript or other low food sergeant.


Give it to Loxodon to use for his 'Emissary of the Sky Empire' ability, Fast Ball Special style.


Any thoughts to the questions posted in the Op?


On Topic Questions
Do you find Campaigns, Leagues, or Tournaments more memorable?

Do a variety Scenarios/Missions keep you interested?

Have you played games with asymmetrical balance?
How does being the weaker player feel to you?

Any Objective Types that particularly stand out as must haves?

Off Topic Questions
Is there a topic you would like me to ramble about?

Any changes you would like to see in this feature?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/07/14 15:55:06


-Emily Whitehouse| On The Lamb Games
 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







Haha yeh it'd be good for Loxodon's mascot, good idea.

I don't really have any input on the questions just yet but I'll have a think about it for sure.

   
Made in us
Dakar





Pegasus Games

RiTides wrote:
 miskatonicalum wrote:
That is the Minor Demonite, sort of EFT's 'mascot' in the Anime/JRPG sense, rather than a character that cheers at ballgames.

Ah darn, thought it was a Brushfire model!
You could always...Play EFT. The Minor Demonite should be one of those rumored GenCon releases if I recall correctly. There was one in the background of one of the Cyps desk pics.


Alfndrate wrote:Birds in Brushfire?! heresy!

That's what they used to say about reptiles. I keep telling myself that Loxadon will get all the birds to join Zabar by the third or fourth Brushfire expansion The only question then will be who gets the fish?



On topic answers:

-My most memorable miniatures gaming experiences have been a Mordheim Campaign/League (included both one on one player set up games as well as special scenarios set up by the organizer), a Bloodbowl league, and a 40k cityfight league (with map and territory conquest.) A good campaign/league system really takes a miniatures game to the next level.

-In my experience, having secondary objectives other than "Fight it Out" helps keep games fresh. Of course many games have those one or two annoying scenarios no one wants to play. Its a balancing act.

-I have little to no experience with asymmetrical balance in wargames. Defender against attacking horde or similar sounds interesting, but I would tend to keep those scenarios for playing with good friends, or as special scenario/convention kind of stuff. One amusing scenario I wouldn't mind playing more is the "see how long you can survive" style games where the weaker player is intended to lose eventually and success is based on how long they hold out. This usually includes some sort of troop recycling/spawning rule for the offensive player.

-Objective types "capture the flag(s)" and "hold the point(s)" are old standbys. I think EFT has variants of both of these currently. I can't speak to what would work best for Brushfire. Capturing and moving objectives works best in small scale games IMHO. Whole armies don't usually fight over objectives that one person can carry around.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






Sacramento, CA

 Galen wrote:

Alfndrate wrote:Birds in Brushfire?! heresy!

That's what they used to say about reptiles. I keep telling myself that Loxadon will get all the birds to join Zabar by the third or fourth Brushfire expansion The only question then will be who gets the fish?


Whats this about no reptiles? Scyzantium has been in Brushfire since the beginning, they were originally slated to get models before Ribenguo did (side by side with Vandalands), but were pushed back several times because we couldn't get a sculpt we liked for them.

While birds will show up here and there in Brushfire, such as Tamatama or Tengu Sakai, I doubt we'll do the Sky Empire in the Skirmish game... I just don't see them translating well.

The Fish army also wouldn't translate very well, you'd get like one activation before your army suffocates. Now, Cephalopods and Crustacean on the other hand...

-Emily Whitehouse| On The Lamb Games
 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





 Galen wrote:

-My most memorable miniatures gaming experiences have been a Mordheim Campaign/League (included both one on one player set up games as well as special scenarios set up by the organizer), a Bloodbowl league, and a 40k cityfight league (with map and territory conquest.) A good campaign/league system really takes a miniatures game to the next level.

-In my experience, having secondary objectives other than "Fight it Out" helps keep games fresh. Of course many games have those one or two annoying scenarios no one wants to play. Its a balancing act.

-I have little to no experience with asymmetrical balance in wargames. Defender against attacking horde or similar sounds interesting, but I would tend to keep those scenarios for playing with good friends, or as special scenario/convention kind of stuff. One amusing scenario I wouldn't mind playing more is the "see how long you can survive" style games where the weaker player is intended to lose eventually and success is based on how long they hold out. This usually includes some sort of troop recycling/spawning rule for the offensive player.

-Objective types "capture the flag(s)" and "hold the point(s)" are old standbys. I think EFT has variants of both of these currently. I can't speak to what would work best for Brushfire. Capturing and moving objectives works best in small scale games IMHO. Whole armies don't usually fight over objectives that one person can carry around.


Our friends at Mantic have made two games, Dwarf King's Hold and Project Pandora, which completely rely upon asymmetrical gameplay. They have more in common with board games than wargames, but the solutions they use are two-fold: Very rigid scenarios; These specific Undead spawn here, these others spawn here, Dwarves spawn here, The board is setup in this fashion, etc. At the end of each scenario it is stated that players should switch roles and 'see how you do!' A simple solution, but I'm never sure how elegant it is, or how much motivation players have to play the match all over again just to 'be fair'. This is of course even harder to accomplish when Brushfire doesn't have strict/rigid scenarios to play through.

Both on the tabletop and in video games, I've felt that CTF was one of the weakest gameplay types. Mostly from a 'realism' aspect. Or rather, from the complete lack of attempt at creating realism. Why are a bunch of Elves and Orcs fighting over a flag, instead of the forest itself? Why do Sandrakers need to storm a Blood Eagle base, destroy their generator...just to grab a flag? The silliest CTF game, Team Fortress at least manages to use 'secret info' as their flag, but the concept still feels trite.

Hold Point feels much more realistic, especially in a wargame. The famous Russian Order 227 of "Not one step backwards" leaps to mind in any similar situation of holding your ground, it thrills me and simulates that war commander sensation. Something I feel most players are looking for.

Its also interesting to compare the digital version of one of these modes, to the common wargame version.

In vidja CTFs, each team has a flag, you have to drop off the opponent's flag more than once at your own to win.
In tabletop CTFs, usually one flag is in the center, and there is more a tug-of-war sensation going on, killing the bearer, running it back towards your end and so on.

Vidja Hold Points, often, each team starts in control of a point, and there is a linear unlock system, you cannot take an objective further up before you've got the previous one in the chain, though some games do not have this restriction, but Vidja hold points require holding them for a period of time to control them, sometimes more players speed up the process, and enemies pause or reset the process.
Tabletop Hold Point have neutral objectives, but both sides can easily end Turn 1 in control of one or two objectives. Most wargames require a certain type of troop to contest an objective, no time requirement, just who ever controls it at the end of the game has it.


Many of these differences are intentionally designed due to attempts at balancing the game. Instantly controlling an objective would play havok in video games, and stealing a flag to drop it on your own would b incredibly sluggish as most tabletop games do not have enough movement over the period of the game to run back and forth like that.

There I go rambling again. Better save it for the next topic!


Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Dakar





Pegasus Games

It's hard for me to argue with anything you just said. I don't have the experience with FPS video games, so its nice to hear a differrent perspective. "Flag" games I've enjoyed usually involve 3-5 objectives that can be carried around. Realism does fall apart as you said. In 40k our gaming circle declared that the objectives were cages full of babies. 'Good' races would want to protect them and 'evil' races would want to torture/experiment on/eat them. It was a bit of a stretch to say the least The Mordheim collecting weirdstone/treasure tokens scenarios worked for both realism and gameplay, but again it works because it is not large organized armies battling one another.

You hit on my biggest worry about assymetrical gameplay - Balance. There is no question that it is harder to balance. Don't rule it out, just be careful.

random scenario thoughts:

Would the EFT map territories have advantages tied to them?
Mountain Shrine: while you hold this territorry you have one free Kirin available to include in your warband (still uses up one Crystal slot).
Temple of (gods name here) Holy element creatures in your warband that die may reroll thier reserrection check after the battle.
Bandit Camp: Experience as outlaws helps you get the jump on your foes. Add one die to your initiative roll once per battle.

I have been a bit concerned about scenarios that favor movement in EFT. Certain models with double move abilities or line follow through attacks could have a great advantage, being able to move 2-3 times farther in a turn than other models.

   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





In the EFT Map Mode, It was my intention that each zone/node would have some aspect to it, and some might give a direct benefit to the player that last conquered it/won a battle there.

I'm also working on an idea that in Map Mode, you would elect a party leader from your models, and this model would provide an additional benefit, the specifics of which have not been worked out yet.

In any scenario be it for EFT or Brushfire, or any game for that matter, I would suggest that players build their army before choosing a scenario, and just adding/removing models if the scenario has a different army size restriction. This would keep most players from designing an army that is supremely perfect for that scenario, and rather encourage jack-of-all-trades type armies, ready for any thing. Though to resist high movement enemies, the opponent could invest in a lot of Stop effects or movement reduction to control their opponent.

We do try to provide for many models to have the double move/follow through, so there is at least variety for both players to find a fast-type that they like and are willing to play with.


Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

Misk, this is something we can talk about, but I like the idea of control points.

Holding an Objective on the last turn is fun and all, but you're not actively trying to hold it. Your opponent could have a single guy controlling the objective and on the last turn you kill him, swoop in and claim the objective. I would prefer at least 1 mission where objectives that get claimed give points, and you either add up the number of points at the end of the game, or you try to be the first one to get x points from controlling objectives.

I think that it pushes players to actively play for that objective, and not try to grab it at the last moment.

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in ca
Scribe of Dhunia





Montreal, QC, Canada

 Alfndrate wrote:
Misk, this is something we can talk about, but I like the idea of control points.

Holding an Objective on the last turn is fun and all, but you're not actively trying to hold it. Your opponent could have a single guy controlling the objective and on the last turn you kill him, swoop in and claim the objective. I would prefer at least 1 mission where objectives that get claimed give points, and you either add up the number of points at the end of the game, or you try to be the first one to get x points from controlling objectives.

I think that it pushes players to actively play for that objective, and not try to grab it at the last moment.

Isn't that already how King of the Hill works in EFT? That's the way I read it.

   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

 Tonio wrote:
 Alfndrate wrote:
Misk, this is something we can talk about, but I like the idea of control points.

Holding an Objective on the last turn is fun and all, but you're not actively trying to hold it. Your opponent could have a single guy controlling the objective and on the last turn you kill him, swoop in and claim the objective. I would prefer at least 1 mission where objectives that get claimed give points, and you either add up the number of points at the end of the game, or you try to be the first one to get x points from controlling objectives.

I think that it pushes players to actively play for that objective, and not try to grab it at the last moment.

Isn't that already how King of the Hill works in EFT? That's the way I read it.


>_< I are dumb... I was looking in the Brushfire rulebook for King of the Hill. It is, and that is one of the scenarios I worked on with Misk for EFT. I haven't had an opportunity to really dig into the scenarios for Brushfire. I mean for the most part you can't really have too many varied objectives without it getting needlessly complex. Most missions pretty much boil down to: Kill point/annihilation, Objective Control, board control (i.e. Table Quarters). You can do variations on these, and you see these things in Malifaux and Warmahordes a lot. You basically need a skeleton for the mission that you can simply adapt to any ruleset.

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in us
Dakar





Pegasus Games

 miskatonicalum wrote:

I'm also working on an idea that in Map Mode, you would elect a party leader from your models, and this model would provide an additional benefit, the specifics of which have not been worked out yet.


That sounds like it has potential. It reminds me a little of Ogre Battle which, though I never played, I have seen quite a bit of back when a friend was playing through.
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





It will be less free form than ogre battle, but share similar ideas.

Once BF 2nd Ed is complete, I will bat out an example Map/dungeon to show what I mean.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/07/18 14:52:59



Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Dakar





Pegasus Games

Overall your EFT campaign plans sound like a great idea. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future.

   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

 Galen wrote:
Overall your EFT campaign plans sound like a great idea. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future.



Have you had a chance to try out the Miasma War scenarios?

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in ca
Lit By the Flames of Prospero





Edmonton, Alberta

 miskatonicalum wrote:
Spoiler:
 Galen wrote:

-My most memorable miniatures gaming experiences have been a Mordheim Campaign/League (included both one on one player set up games as well as special scenarios set up by the organizer), a Bloodbowl league, and a 40k cityfight league (with map and territory conquest.) A good campaign/league system really takes a miniatures game to the next level.

-In my experience, having secondary objectives other than "Fight it Out" helps keep games fresh. Of course many games have those one or two annoying scenarios no one wants to play. Its a balancing act.

-I have little to no experience with asymmetrical balance in wargames. Defender against attacking horde or similar sounds interesting, but I would tend to keep those scenarios for playing with good friends, or as special scenario/convention kind of stuff. One amusing scenario I wouldn't mind playing more is the "see how long you can survive" style games where the weaker player is intended to lose eventually and success is based on how long they hold out. This usually includes some sort of troop recycling/spawning rule for the offensive player.

-Objective types "capture the flag(s)" and "hold the point(s)" are old standbys. I think EFT has variants of both of these currently. I can't speak to what would work best for Brushfire. Capturing and moving objectives works best in small scale games IMHO. Whole armies don't usually fight over objectives that one person can carry around.


Our friends at Mantic have made two games, Dwarf King's Hold and Project Pandora, which completely rely upon asymmetrical gameplay. They have more in common with board games than wargames, but the solutions they use are two-fold: Very rigid scenarios; These specific Undead spawn here, these others spawn here, Dwarves spawn here, The board is setup in this fashion, etc. At the end of each scenario it is stated that players should switch roles and 'see how you do!' A simple solution, but I'm never sure how elegant it is, or how much motivation players have to play the match all over again just to 'be fair'. This is of course even harder to accomplish when Brushfire doesn't have strict/rigid scenarios to play through.

Both on the tabletop and in video games, I've felt that CTF was one of the weakest gameplay types. Mostly from a 'realism' aspect. Or rather, from the complete lack of attempt at creating realism. Why are a bunch of Elves and Orcs fighting over a flag, instead of the forest itself? Why do Sandrakers need to storm a Blood Eagle base, destroy their generator...just to grab a flag? The silliest CTF game, Team Fortress at least manages to use 'secret info' as their flag, but the concept still feels trite.

Hold Point feels much more realistic, especially in a wargame. The famous Russian Order 227 of "Not one step backwards" leaps to mind in any similar situation of holding your ground, it thrills me and simulates that war commander sensation. Something I feel most players are looking for.

Its also interesting to compare the digital version of one of these modes, to the common wargame version.

In vidja CTFs, each team has a flag, you have to drop off the opponent's flag more than once at your own to win.
In tabletop CTFs, usually one flag is in the center, and there is more a tug-of-war sensation going on, killing the bearer, running it back towards your end and so on.

Vidja Hold Points, often, each team starts in control of a point, and there is a linear unlock system, you cannot take an objective further up before you've got the previous one in the chain, though some games do not have this restriction, but Vidja hold points require holding them for a period of time to control them, sometimes more players speed up the process, and enemies pause or reset the process.
Tabletop Hold Point have neutral objectives, but both sides can easily end Turn 1 in control of one or two objectives. Most wargames require a certain type of troop to contest an objective, no time requirement, just who ever controls it at the end of the game has it.


Many of these differences are intentionally designed due to attempts at balancing the game. Instantly controlling an objective would play havok in video games, and stealing a flag to drop it on your own would b incredibly sluggish as most tabletop games do not have enough movement over the period of the game to run back and forth like that.

There I go rambling again. Better save it for the next topic!


I've seen it work when it's one objective in the middle, and your trying to bring it back to your base. We had a homebrew scenario in our 40k tournies involving a objective like this that was a favorit among the player base. Our twist was that the objective wasn't a flag but a spy that your trying to detain for debriefing/interrogation.

The idea was that he would be a 40mm base objective sitting in the middle of the board stationary until a unit "captures" him. The spy could only be move 6" a turn and could not embark in a transport. He also could not be targeted/killed. If the squad escorting him is whipped out he would then more D6" in a random direction chosen by the scatter die (A hit means he stands still). This is to represent him trying to take cover/hide/find help from his friendlies. He also could not walk off the board. You could also pass him off to other units.

Once he was touching a person's board edge well escorted by a unit, you got a Major Victory. If he was in your table edge+excoprted by one of your units you got a minor victory.

This kind of scenario would translate well to brushfire I would Imagen. Just move the spy with a deviation roll.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/07/18 20:41:34


 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





You may like the finalized scenarios for 2nd end. They will be done tomorrow and ready for testing with the next update.


Lockark wrote:If you stat it, they will kill it.
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






Sacramento, CA

 miskatonicalum wrote:
You may like the finalized scenarios for 2nd end. They will be done tomorrow and ready for testing with the next update.


And by done tomorrow, he means I'll be doing the InDesign work tomorrow and the update might come out tomorrow afternoon/evening.

-Emily Whitehouse| On The Lamb Games
 
   
Made in us
Dakar





Pegasus Games

 Alfndrate wrote:
 Galen wrote:
Overall your EFT campaign plans sound like a great idea. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future.



Have you had a chance to try out the Miasma War scenarios?


I haven't yet, but it looks like there are some interesting scenarios in there. I had been holding off to see if maps would get added in an update, but since the miasma campaign has been pulled from the pdf in the last update I might have to just have to throw some boards together with my dungeon tiles and give it a play. I still have the 3-28 pdf. Maybe I will pull it out this weekend. I want to get at least one game in this weekend.
   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

If I had decent map creation software, I'd whip the scenario maps up over several weekends.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/07/19 12:59:49


DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






Sacramento, CA

 Galen wrote:
 Alfndrate wrote:
 Galen wrote:
Overall your EFT campaign plans sound like a great idea. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future.



Have you had a chance to try out the Miasma War scenarios?


I haven't yet, but it looks like there are some interesting scenarios in there. I had been holding off to see if maps would get added in an update, but since the miasma campaign has been pulled from the pdf in the last update I might have to just have to throw some boards together with my dungeon tiles and give it a play. I still have the 3-28 pdf. Maybe I will pull it out this weekend. I want to get at least one game in this weekend.


Our sprite guy was going to do maps for the Miasma War campaign, but he vanished off the face of the Earth around April and we just haven't gotten around to replacing him yet.

The Miasma War campaign will be getting its own book in the near future.

-Emily Whitehouse| On The Lamb Games
 
   
Made in us
Old Sourpuss






Lakewood, Ohio

 Cyporiean wrote:
The Miasma War campaign will be getting its own book in the near future.


This is what I get for missing company meetings huh?!

DR:80+S++G+M+B+I+Pwmhd11#++D++A++++/sWD-R++++T(S)DM+

Ask me about Brushfire or Endless: Fantasy Tactics 
   
 
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