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Yes folks, you heard me write, it's a "I'm making my own game!" thread. However, this game is a little bit different from other ones I've seen. The name of the game is Mechwar, and is Science Fiction/Steampunk based (note, the name is still under debate, and I'm open to suggestions)

Here's how the game works. The game board is 3x2 feet, with the short sides facing the players. The board is divided into 3 1x2 sections, with 2 of them being "Player Zones" and the center one being a no-mans land. In the center of each player zone, each player has a Factory. There are 4 Mines, spaced evenly apart in the no-mans land. The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent's fortress. How do you do that? With Resource Points. You start out with 3 Resource Points. These points are used to create mechanized constructs, armed with various weaponry. To gain more resource points, you capture a mine, and you gain 1 Resource Point for turn per mine that you control. Here's a basic rundown:

Construction Phase
Here you build your Constructs. Each army has 4 different Constructs that cost 1 Resource Point, 3 different Constructs that cost 2 Resource Points each, and so on, with each army having one 4-point construct, typically being very powerful and designed to take out your opponent's Factory. When you create a new construct, it's placed within 2 inches of the factory. To capture a mine, you have to move a Construct within 1 inch of it. You can move away and it will remain yours. To capture one your opponent has, you must have a Construct within 1 inch of it, without any of your opponents Constructs within an inch of it.

The Movement Phase
You have 3 different options for movement; stationary, advance, or surge.
Stationary; Doesn't move, can fire all weapons, and gets +1 on your to-hit rolls.
Advance; Can move up to 3", and can fire all weapons, unless otherwise noted in the weapon's/vehicles rules.
Surge; Can move up to 6", and cannot fire any weapons unless otherwise noted.
If moving through terrain, roll a d6. On a 1, you may only move 1/2 the distance you would've normally moved.

The Shooting Phase
Declare that your Construct is shooting, and declare it's target(s). Check to see if it's in range; measure from the hull of the Construct to the hull of the target. The hull is any part of the Construct's main body (so no weapons, antennae, etc). Each weapon on the Construct may shoot at a different target.

To Hit; roll a number of d6's equal to the weapon's Rate of Fire.
If the target was Stationary; it hits on a 3+
If the target was Advancing; it hits on a 4+
If the target was Surging; it hits on a 5+
Note that various rules/weapons may affect what is needed to hit the target.

To Penetrate the armor of the target;
Each vehicle has an Armor Value for the front, the sides, and the rear. Each weapon has a Strength of Xd6. Roll a number of dice equal to X. If the total of all the dice scores higher than the targets armor value for that facing, then it penetrates the target's armor. If you succeed in penetrating the target's armor, then roll a d6 on the Construct Damage Chart:

1-2: Did you feel something? No damage is caused; the Construct shook off the damage.
3-4: Shocked! The Construct may not move or fire any weapons next turn.
5-6: Kablooey! The Construct is Destroyed, and is removed from the game.

So, for example.
A Gunman Spyder-Tank fires it's Autoguns at a Predator-Class Spray Tank. The Spray Tank moved 3" last turn, so it hits on a 4+. The Autogun's Rate of Fire is 2, so two d6 are rolled. 1 hits. The Autogun's Strength is 2d6, so 2d6 are rolled, coming up with a 5 and a 3. The Spray Tank's Armor Value is 7, so it penetrates. A dice is rolled on the Construct Damage Chart, coming up with a 4, meaning the Spray Tank cannot move or shoot next turn.

So that's the game for you. The average FAV (front armor value) in the game will be 7, and the average gun strength being 2d6. The highest Armor Value (with the exception of Factory's) in the game will likely be 12, with the highest gun strength being 4d6. All Factories in the game will be AV15 all around. The game ends when one player's factory is destroyed. Obviously, the beginning of the game depends on gaining the upper hand on Mines as quickly as possible. Here's a sample of a standard Construct for the first race in the game, currently tentatively named the Lupen. They are a race of humans that have had a curse placed on them, so that while having the body of the man, they have the head of a wolf, and have an unusual urge to chase rabbits and eat raw meat.

Predator Class Lightning-Tank: RP1 (meaning it costs 1 Resource Point to create)
FAV - 7
SAV - 6
RAV - 6

Weapons
Energy Rifle - Range 12", Strength 3d6, ROF 1

And here's an example of the next tier up of that Construct

Hunter Class Lightning-Tank: RP 2
FAV - 8
SAV - 6
RAV - 6

Weapons
Energy Cannon - Range 18", Strength 3d6, ROF 1

Special Rules; Target Lock Systems - when firing with the Energy Cannon, add +1 to your roll to hit.

Next level up:

Stalker Class Lightning-Tank: RP 3

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7

Weapons
2x Energy Cannons

Special Rules; Target Lock Systems

And finally, the 4-RP Construct of the army;

Annihilator Class Lightning-Tank: RP 4

FAV - 11
SAV - 7
RAV - 7

Weapons
Energy Destructor - Range 24", Strength 4d6, ROF 1

Special Rules;
Target Lock Systems
Energy Overload - Due to the immense energy needs of the Destructor, the Construct must remain stationary to fire the Energy Destructor. In addition, the Construct may not Surge.

So...what do you guys think of it so far? I'm open to plenty of suggestions

Sounds like a typical RTS game, but on tabletop. I haven't played any wargames with a resource system like this, and I believe that is the most interesting point here. You would need to put an upper limit on both the amount of RP you can have accrued at any one point, and on the amount of RP worth of mecha that can be on the board at any point.

Honestly I haven't played many wargames, but the general mechanics here seems very similar to GW games: you roll #D6 equal to your rate of fire, hit on ~4+. Then you roll your strength vs their armor value, and then you roll on the damage table. The weapon types and mech stats are also nearly identical analogues of 40k.

The Annihilator class, with range 24", doesn't actually ever need to move at all: centre to centre of deployment zones you would be able to hit the enemy factory straight away, on a 1+, and only need a slightly better than average roll to penetrate it.

I'm also thinking that it is too easy to kill models: if average AV is 7 and average Strength is 2D6, and stationary vs stationary is hitting on 2+... models are going to die pretty quickly. Buy a stalker-class straight up, park it in the middle of the board and it would on average destroy any <AV10 vehicle per turn.

As a general rule the less models you have on the table at a time, the more complicated the rules can be for each one. Currently, your rules are both less complicated than any wargame I've played, whilst at the same time having less models. I can see a game of this taking 15 minutes at most. Perhaps that is the idea you're going for, but atm I don't think it would make it as a fully-fledged wargame.

>

Trasvi's putting it very directly - with just a few tweak this would be quite playable!

Have you read the original battletech rules? You really can get super advanced with the mech genre stuff. From a game design perspective, you should have an interesting choice between 3-5 things to do on your turn and right now it feels a lot like move and shoot. Could you add in more stuff like smoke/tech trees/more detailed hit results? Maybe scoring a hit just causes you to roll on the hits table and it might just knock you over (depending on what kind of upgrades, etc).

I think you should doodle the robots / terrain / etc on index cards and play / tweak / play! And for the next version, we want a bonafide rules document, even if it's just a one pager

Kick ass,

John

Trasvi, you don't hit stationary models on a 2+, it's a 3+. With target-lock systems you will, however I may drop those anyways. These rules are far from finished yet, just putting out some test balloons. But you're right, I probably should change up the penetrating armor thing, and reduce weapon ranges.

What I want the game to be like is simple, but with lots of turns. So essentially a long stalemate, ending when one side is able to wrest control of one of the opponent's mines, thus gaining an advantage in Resource Points.

How about this:

-Any reference to Tier refers to the amount of Resource Point needed to create a Construct. For example:
A 1st Tier Construct is one costing 1 Resource Point
A 2nd Tier Construct is one costing 2 Resource Points
A 3rd Tier Construct is one costing 3 Resource Points

- Introduce Critical System Points. When a Construct is penetrated, roll a d6. The Construct loses that many Critical System Points. When a Construct has no more CSPs (Critical System Points) it is destroyed.

- Get rid of 4th-tier Constructs, for game balance reasons.

- Change starting Resource Points to 10.

- Each side automatically gets 1 free Resource Point at the beginning of each of their turns.

-If the number of a player's friendly 2nd or 3rd Tier Constructs (not the number combined, each Tier individually) exceeds the number of a player's 1st-Tier Constructs, than only 1st Tier Constructs may be created by the player until they are no longer outnumbered by 2nd/3rd Tier friendly Constructs.

Please note that this game is intended to be much smaller scale than 28mm, hence the short ranges.
So, here's a full list of Constructs for the Lupen:

1st Tier

Hunter-Class Lightning Tank

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical System Points

Weaponry
Lightning Rifle - Range 9", S 3d6, ROF 1

Hunter-Class Assault Tank

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical System Points

Weaponry
Assault Launcher - Range 9", S 2d6, ROF 3

Hunter-Class Spray Tank

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical System Points

Weaponry
2x Autoguns - Range 6", S 2d6, ROF 2

Hunter-Class Flame Tank

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
3 Critical System Points (due to the high levels of flammable material onboard the Construct, it is much more likely to go up in flames at any minute)

Weaponry
Flame Gun - Range *, S 2d6, ROF 1

*Roll to hit. The Flame Gun always hits on a 3+. Then, draw a straight line in any direction 6" from the hull of the Construct. All Constructs (friend and enemy!) under the line are take a single hit, using the strength above.

2nd Tier

Predator-Class Lightning Tank

FAV - 10
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical Systems Points

Weaponry
2x Lightning Rifles

Predator-Class Assault Tank

FAV - 10
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical Systems Points

Weaponry
2x Assault Launchers

Repair Tank

FAV - 9
SAV - 7
RAV - 7
4 Critical Systems Points

Weaponry
Autogun

Special Rules: Instead of firing, the Repair Tank may instead target 1 friendly Construct within 1". That Construct immediately regains d6 Critical System Points. It may not exceed it's starting value.

3rd Tier

Annihilator-Class Lightning Tank

FAV - 11
SAV - 7
SAV - 7
4 Critical Systems Points

Weaponry
*Lightning Cannon - Range 12", S 3d6, ROF 1

*If the Lightning Cannon penetrates it's target, roll 2d6 for the amount of the Critical Systems Points destroyed, instead of 1d6.

Special Rules
Target Lock Systems - The Annihilator-Class Lightning Tank may add +1 to it's roll to hit against non-stationary targets.

Ironclad-Class Assault Tank

FAV - 12
SAV - 11
RAV - 11
6 Critical Systems Points

Weaponry
2x Assault Launchers




All factory's are AV 16 all around, and have 10 Critical Systems Points.

Line of Sight - draw a straight line from the firing Construct to the target. If the line cannot reach any part of the target without being obstructed, the target cannot be fired at.

Cover - If a the target of a shot is more than 50% obscured from the firing Construct, then subtract 1 from your to-hit roll.

Moving Through Terrain - when moving through terrain with a Construct, roll a d6. On a 1, roll another d6 and halve it, rounding down. The Construct loses that many Critical Systems points.

Thoughts on the update? Background and more rules to come.

A move to a D10 system would offer up more variety as well and more precision. It would also help differentiate your game mechanics for other games.


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Also, some interesting game mechanics to try to incorporate:
direct vs indirect targeting/firing
minimum ranges
limited ammunition/resupply
different types of attacks: piercing/ballistic, explosive, energy, ECM/jamming.
only infantry capturing resource points
hiding/stealthy and detection

By hitting on 2+, i was referring to stationary target (hit on 3+), stationary firer (+1). With target lock +1 again to Autohit. But I see you change TLs.

I'm still not sold on the CSP's - with a single D6 you have a 50% chance to destroy everything except the Ironclad on a penetrate.

GW uses D6's for its mechanics because it revolves around the 'buckets of dice' philosophy - 120 attacks on the charge or whatever. D6 are cheap to buy and easy to roll in bulk. For a game where you are probably rolling only 6 dice at most at a single time, perhaps D10/D12 might offer different strategy. Your dice rolling mechanics alternate between rolling different #'s of D6 for a single shot - each shot requires 1 D6 when rolling to hit, 2-3D6 for strength, 1D6 for damage/shocking, and 1-2 D6 for CSP. I think that could get annoying/confusing having to change the number of dice constantly, especially when you're rolling 2-3 shots at once.

It might be interesting to make the board a little bigger - the way you describe it, the 4 mines in no-mans-land are going to be 12" from each other, which means that you'll often be able to camp one mine with long-range mechs whilst denying other mines to the enemy. Not sure how much you expect in the amount/size of scenery or scale of the models, but its something to consider.

It might be interesting to vary what abilities the mines offer, or the layouts of the map - different missions might allow you to drastically change the game strategy, for example if there was a mine *behind* your lines, or if one mine produced 3 RP instead of 1, or if a type of mine allowed you to produce Tier 1 mechs.

Range bands when firing are an idea employed in many small-scale games; You might fire 8 shots at close range, 4 shots at medium and 2 shots at long range.

How about different unit types which have various different rules, for example flyers, or fast ground vehicles. Or advantages for squads of mechs rather than individuals?

Finally, the penetrating mechanics heavily favour the lightning weapons; or at least, armor values don't rise at nearly the same rate as 1 D6 of strength can counter. 2D6 vs AV9 penetrates 1/6 of the time: 3D6 vs AV9 penetrates 5/8 of the time, or almost 4x as often. Against Av10, 2D6 penetrates 1/12 , 3D6 penerates 1/2, or 6x better. Add The Annihilator taking 2D6 CSP's and having the longest range, its pretty horrendously OP.

I know this is still very early concepts, and I don't intend to be mean, just I feel at the moment with only move/shoot as your only options and with the balance issues as above, there still needs to be a lot of change to core mechanics.

Why D10? percentages. 1d6 gives 6 results of 16.6% or D3 results of 33.3% 2D6 gives 11 possibilities of 9.09%. D10 gives 10 possibilities with 10% or D5 with 20%. If one really wanted, you could do 2D10 and get 5%.
The D10 system allows for more variety in whatever you're doing, whether it be basaltic accuracy, armor, combat ability, ect. If you don't need 10 different outcomes, the D10 also offers the ability of the D5, which is more concise than the basic D6.

I also think that you should focus more on the core rules and game play before you start making rules for individual models. One of the problems GW is having right now is that newer army books adjust the basic rules, creating an imbalance against older army books. If they had gotten the rules right the first time, they wouldn't need to adjust them piecemeal.

I also suggest you play "Advance wars: Days of Ruin" on the Game Boy Duel Screen. It is a great turn based tactics/strategy war game that also deals with resource management. The game is very well built and balanced, and even offers logistics (fuel and ammo supplies) and fog of war(night fighting).

As for your concept of bases, you might want to think of capturing them rather than destroying them. A more tactical solution that doesn't always favor the biggest gun.



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Also, good luck! I like your idea of incorporating resources.