STARBUCK LIVES!!!

But only because he flew away really, really quickly.

Ran a game of TACSHIP because I was curious how it played, and it would be easier to teach than Void Racers. It’s a space fighter game written in 1992 by Jon Tuffley – best known for Ground Zero Games, Full Thrust, and Dirtside. The rules are not complex, and can be played on a hex mat or open table. It’s a generic set of rules that have enough to get you going. You can stat up some craft that somewhat resemble something seen on TV or at the movies, but it requires you to squint a bit. Unfortunately, terrain rules were absent. Yes, space is big, mostly empty, and objects are very far apart, but a few items would have been nice. 

Having recently finished painting some excellent Studio Bergstrom 1” fighters, I wrote up some stats at equal point values per fighter, loaded up the bag, and headed off to the club.

Cobra Mk 1
Total Thrust: 9 (9)

Damage Track: 10 (10)

Survivability Modifier: +2 (2)

Front Fixed Lasers: 2x Laser 2 (4)

Turrets: None (0)

Hard Points: 3 (6)

Total Points: 31

Tarantula Interceptor

Total Thrust: 9 (9)

Damage Track: 10 (10)

Survivability Modifier: +0 (0)

Front Fixed Lasers: 2x Laser 2 (4)

Turrets: None (0)

Hard Points: 4 (8)

Total Points: 31

Total Thrust: how many thrust points the fighter can generate per turn. Points may be spent to accelerate/decelerate before each turn’s movement, and any unused thrust can be used for turning while moving.

Damage Track: hit points, though damage is assigned at a randomly rolled point on the damage track. If damage goes past the right-most box on the track, the fighter has suffered a critical hit and is destroyed regardless of how many boxes are left unchecked

Survivability Modifier: the number added to the damage assignment roll. This represents how resilient the fighter is.

Front Fixed Lasers: at any time during its movement, a fighter may stop and shoot all its front fixed lasers at one target. Roll the distance in hexes from attacker to target, or greater, on a D20. Apply any damage immediately. If the fighter has a turret, they may stop and shoot at the same target or at a different time during the same move, or even at another target.

Hard Points: places to carry missiles, mines, and decoys. No matter how many hardpoints a fighter might have, only a maximum of 2 may be armed and ready to fire (after movement is completed) in one turn.

<< The Sides >>

The Meatbags
 


Starbuck and Apollo (played by Zak),
and Boomer with Jolly (played by Steve, of Hachiman's Toy Chest fame).

VS.

The Appliances

001, 010, 011, and 100.

Commanded your humble author.

Yes, the rules are simple enough to allow first-time players to run multiple fighters.

<< The Setup >>

Partway through the first turn.

An expanse of space cluttered with asteroids. Simple rules: asteroids block line of sight and attacks. Enter a hex with a rock, the fighter is destroyed.

The scenario was a simple meeting engagement with the goal of annihilating the other side. Each ship had a starting current velocity of 9, and the forces were deployed at the center of the opposite long edges of the table.

Before the game, I changed the initiative roll from 1D6 to 1D6 + current velocity. This gives a wider range of values (less ties which then had to be rolled off), and going faster than your opponents improves your chances of going before them. Also, fighters may pass through hexes/spaces occupied by other fighters, but may not end their movement in the same hex with another fighter. Fighters do not block line of sight or attacks.

D20’s for noting initiative next to each fighter and making laser attacks.
D6’s for rolling initiative and determining damage of missiles and mines.

D10’s to note from one turn to the next how many of the required straight hex moves between turns were done.

<< The Game >>

The Meatbags ventured forth aggressively, accelerating to engage their mortal foe: the Appliances - which just brought them under the lasers of the Appliances that much sooner. During the first turn, actually. Most of the action took place on the Appliance’s side of the table, so their Tarantula fighters decelerated a bit to have cheaper turns and more thrust available for maneuvering through the cluttered battlefield.

The Meatbags swooped half their Cobras around to the side, while the rest flew straight across. A Tarantula was soon vaporized, but the constant pounding of laser fire was taking its toll on the both sides.

Boomer was soon taken out by enemy lasers.

Jolly got a missile off only to suffer some damage from an Appliance mine which claimed Apollo. Then Jolly got too close to the missile’s target. The cold and methodical Appliance in its heavily damaged Tarantula calculated that it would be impossible to outrun the missile, so it made the only logical choice: come to a complete stop, use its last thrust point to bring his lasers to bear, and shoot Jolly. If the attack failed, the launcher of its demise would also be caught in the blast effects of the nuclear warhead’s detonation.  

The hail of laser bolts (yeah, it’s the ‘70’s) annihilated Jolly’s Cobra! Now only the missile had to be detonated. Zak rolled a 1 on 1D6, inflicting only 1 point of damage on the Tarantula’s damage track. It survived!

Starbuck, having watched the ruthlessly efficient deletion of his friends, dumped all his thrust points into acceleration and exited his side of the table before the Appliances have any hope of catching him.

<< End of Game >>

Elapsed time, from explaining the rules to end of game: about 90 minutes.

One Meatbag fled the field, 60% intact.

Three Appliances were still on the table, at 100%, 40%, and 20% intact.

Appliance Victory!

Only 1 missile (Meatbags) and 1 mine (Appliances) had been launched.

<< Thoughts >>

There were a lot of victorious fly-throughs of the victims’ explosions - just like in 1978.

With the rules as they are, I wouldn’t bother with missiles on a cluttered table like we had. Mines would have been much more entertaining. Missiles require a bit more room to use.

First laser shots were fired at a range of 13 hexes. Laser fire could easily reach over ½ the table width, if not for the asteroids blocking Line of Sight.

Laser shots made at point blank (1 hex) were automatic hits – that rankles some folks.

Steve said that the game was more fighting speedboats than star fighters - had to agree with him, there.

Yet it can be tweaked just enough to be a good convention and club game, where time is often limited and quick, easy rules are appreciated. There are more detailed space fighter games out there (I was writing one, own a few, and have played a few more) but the “detail vs. playability” balance is quite good. Naturally, a 3D version would be very cool, but that would include more record keeping, and more arithmetic. Math doesn’t go over too well with mildly inebriated convention attendees or gamers pressed for time. It could use some mods, though. Yep, some mods would be really nice about now.

Oh, look!

<< Mods >>

Below are some ideas that may be implemented at the next as-of-yet-to-be-scheduled game. Feel free to experiment and post your results in the comments, below!

> Fighter Design:

360° Turret - Cost of laser weapon(s) + 2 points per laser.

Example: a 360° turret with 2x Laser 1 would cost 2 for the Laser 1s, and another 4 for the +2 points per laser weapon for a total of 6. Expensive, but can shoot in any direction. All lasers in a particular turret must fire at the same target at the same time. Approved!
> Terrain:

Gas Cloud: A +1 to attack’s range per hex/inch the attack must travel through. Approved!

Dust Cloud: A +2 to attack’s range per hex/inch the attack must travel through. Approved!

Asteroid Field: A +2 to attack’s range per hex/inch the attack must travel through. Each hex/inch flown through by a fighter requires

a piloting check: fighter player rolls a D20, and an opponent defends the honour of the asteroid by rolling another D20.

If the fighter player rolls equal to or higher than the asteroid player, the fighter flies on.

If the asteroid player rolls higher than the fighter player, the fighter takes 1D3 damage. Approved!

Big Asteroids, Stationary: Blocks line-of-sight, so not attacks my pass through a hex/space occupied by a big asteroid. A fighter may try to fly though the hex/space occupied by the big asteroid: fighter player rolls a D20, and an opponent rolls another D20 for the big asteroid.

If the fighter player rolls equal to or higher than the asteroid player, the fighter flies on.

If the asteroid player rolls higher than the fighter player, the fighter takes 1D6 damage. Approved!

Big Asteroids, Moving: All the rules of the big asteroid, above, except that at the end of each turn it moves its current velocity (1D3 + 3) in a single direction (across to the opposite side of the table, roll off if two possible directions fulfill that requirement), both of which are determined pre-game, and remain the same for the entire game. If big asteroids collide, they maintain their current velocity, but roll randomly for their new directions. If it hits a moon or larger body, the big asteroid is removed from play. Anything “smaller” (gas and dust clouds, or asteroid fields), and the big asteroid just moves through it, neither terrain item being effected. Approved! 

The ability to fly “through” a hex/space containing a big asteroids gives it a bit more of a 3D feel.

> Movement:

Sideslip – The fighter moves into either the forward-left or forward-right hex/space and maintains its facing; basically just changing with row of hexes it’s in without turning twice. It follows the same rules, thrust point costs, and restrictions as turns. Approved! 

Hard Reversal – May only be attempted if fighter’s current velocity is at or under its thrust points. Fighter may not have changed its current velocity this turn. Move the fighter half its current velocity in hexes/inches then stop, and turn it so it is facing the opposite direction. The fighter maintains its current velocity; it’s just facing, and moving, the opposite direction. This uses all the fighter’s thrust points this turn, so acceleration, deceleration, or any turns are not allowed. Approved!
 

> Combat:

D10 Ranges/Rolling – Using a D10 instead of a D20 for combat rolls, this also means that 10 hexes is the maximum range for all lasers. One could just as easily use a D6 or a D12 if it gives the game you want. Approved! 

Rule of One – A to-hit roll of “1” is always a miss no matter what the range of the laser attack. Approved!

<< Thanks >>

Thanks to Zak and Steve for playing and tossing around ideas afterwards.

A special “thank you” for “Toaster” on Space Combat News for his Tacship posts!

<< Links >>

TACSHIP by Jon Tuffly at The Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers (SFSFW) - http://www.sfsfw.org/a/03/tacship.php

Studio Bergstrom: 1” Fighter Ships - http://studiobergstrom.com/index.php?categoryID=25

Hatchiman’s Toy Chest - http://hachimanstoychest.blogspot.com

Starship Combat News - http://www.star-ranger.com/Home.htm

<< END 100 >>

VOID RACERS: the Second Playtest!

And this is slightly after where we all made it through the first gate and promptly flew off the edge of the mat!

Got together with a few members of the local club and had another go at Void Racers. And, boy!, did we go. Right off the mat. Inertia does, indeed, fight you both tooth and nail. 

This was a four player game around a new course: a simple loop with 3 numbered gates. As can be seen in the photo at the top, a few gas clouds were added to grant cover but not imperil movement as they act like stationary, perpetual smoke clouds.

All 4 racers made it out of the starting gate at maximum acceleration. The next turn we all crossed the firing line; mayhem ensued. So far, so good.

Here's where the education started. It had been discovered that speed was a form of cover, so going faster (at least twice as fast as your nearest opponent) was better than going slower. Everyone increased their speed. We all blasted through the first gate.

It was at this point that Newton bitch-slapped us. Unable to generate enough thrust - or temporarily unable to control our racers due to a critical hit - we discovered that the universe may be infinite, but felt game mats are not. Eventually, we made it back on course (see what I did there?) and dropped our speeds. 

Then the body-count started to climb. Weapons fire and critical hits took their toll on our racers. By the passing of the third gate, there was only one racer left.


Things learned:

Like all proper, old school wargames, clipboards were required!

There was the desirable effect of players having to choose between lining up an attack, or favorably positioning themselves for their next movement phase.

The race course will be surrounded by a energy barrier that allows errant racers to return to the race though at very low speeds. Have to see if this will be abused.

The dogfighting aspect of the game seems to be working, but the racing portion still need some tweaking, as it's proving far too deadly. Simple solution: there will be two levels of play - racing and dogfighting. Instead of inflicting damage, racing will use the same rules and weapons for combat, but the damage will be nonlethal and short-lived. Thrust points instead of structure points will be lost for a turn, and critical hits will temporarily disable random systems. Combat will still have a part in the race, but racing shall be what wins the game.

And, yes, we're still using counters. The miniatures are on the assembly table.

Thanks for stopping by!

Even More VOID RACERS!

Sample Work In Progress Racer Play Sheet.

Fear all the little blanks that need to be filled in! Well, not really.

Welcome back!

The top third of the sheet is where all the information about the racer goes: thrust points, modifiers, places to track damage, etc. The gray box in the center is for listing weapons, with range, ammo, and any "to Hit" modifiers and spacial rules. Those familiar with MEKA TAC - GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION will notice a similarity with that game's mecha sheets.

The rest of the sheet is for tracking your racer's movement across the table each turn. As the racer's movement during the previous turn has a effect of how it may move this turn, this information needs to be recorded. Each turn has its own line.

Initiative = last turn's speed + modifiers + die roll. The higher the score, the earlier in the turn your racer activates. This is a racing game; speed is good.

TP (Thrust Points) Spent: It's a spot to jot down the number of thrust points used in the current activation. Each racer has a finite number of them, and unspent thrust points cannot be saved for later use.

Vector: This is where the shorthand notation (usually one or two pairs of a letter and a number) of where you'll end up at the end of this activation, and where you'll end up next activation if thrust points are not used. Movement is based from where you'll end up if the racer does nothing, not from where the racer starts its activation. Momentum is a cruel mistress, so plan ahead.

Speed: The number of hexes the racer enters during its activation. This is the path from where the racer starts its activation to where it ends its activation. Do not count any turns, only movement through hexes.

Facing: The racer's final facing at the end of its activation, or latest facing, as certain factors may force a change the racer's facing outside of its activation. Thrust comes out the back of a racer, so where it's pointed is important.

VOID RACERS is MEKA TAC - GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION with a slightly more complex movement system. More about that next posting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Void Racers Mini Playtest #1

Furball at the First Gate, End of Second Turn.

Had a quick playtest this weekend. As it was just one game of several others planned, it ended up only lasting a few turns. We had 4 independent players, while I refereed. The players were experienced gamers, but not regular wargamers, so their gameplay was very educational.   

The VOID RACERS Playtest Course.

The map above was the intended course, but on a small table. The players easily grasped most of the mechanics, though the movement system took a little experience to master.

Observations:

The players didn't gracefully swoop around the bottom of Gate 1 to get to Gate 2; that would have impeded shooting the crap out of each other. They passed through the first gate, then burned their thrust points to immediately go back through in the other direction. As they had all passed through the gate in the correct way, there was nothing lost by going back through the other way. It's space; you can do that.

Area effect weapons are very, very messy in close quarters.

Bigger play areas are preferred, as there is greater opprotunity for maneuvering out of weapons' range.

The game is doing what was envisioned, so work shall continue.

SUNDER THE STARS: 3rd Playtest!

Click on images for bigger picture!

This was the third playtest for SUNDER THE STARS held two weeks ago at Comic Store West with the Army Group York miniature wargaming group. In play were optional terrain items - a large planet, three gas clouds (-1 to hit per hex) and two each of dust clouds (-2 to hit per hex) and asteroid fields (-2 to hit per hex AND a chance of colliding with something unpleasant). Zach had brought some handmade terrain to liven up my rather flat paper terrain with the pertinent rules printed on them to speed play. We had three hours, so the optional shield setting rules were dispensed with as the rules needed to be taught and the game played to conclusion by closing time.

A new group of players had chosen the same old adversaries: the Grand Terran Imperium vs. the League of the Star Wolves. Yes, the Wedgians and the Vikings were at it again! No love for the Buggians?

For the Wedgians ~ 50 points of ships for each player.

Commodore Tony - Battleship, Medium Cruiser and 2 Frigates.

Captain Dieter - Medium Cruiser, 2 Destroyers and 2 Frigates.


For the Vikings ~ 50 points of ships for each player.

Jarl Zach - Battleship, Medium Cruiser and 2 Frigates.

Shipmaster Thomas - Medium Cruiser, 2 Destroyers and 2 Frigates.


The teams rolled off and the Vikings had to set up first. They divided their forces for any eventuality. The Wedgians then deployed their fleet - all to one side and away from the Viking battleship!



By the end of the first turn, the Wedgians had sunk a Viking cruiser and frigate, while Shipmaster Thomas dispatched one Wedgian cruiser, a frigate and damaged another frigate. Both sides attacked then tried to take advantage of available cover. Jarl Zack's forces were too far away to aid his sword-brother.



The Wedgians had dispatched a Viking destroyer and frigate while Shipmaster Thomas sank a Wedgian frigate and had bloodied both of their destroyers and another frigate. Fear not, brave Thomas! Your Jarl had not forsaken you!



Well, maybe there was a little forsaking. With Shipmaster Thomas' last destroyer out of the way, Commodore Tony sent his battleship to deal with the smaller units of Jarl Zack's remaining fleet while the surviving elements of both his and Captain Dieter's forces hunted the Viking battleship - which meant they had to abandon the "Dray Maneuver" and left the cover of the gas clouds for open felt.



VENGEANCE! The Wedgian battleship was sunk and their cruiser heavily damaged in the storm of direct fire and homing weapons from the remains of the Viking fleet! Jarl Zack's flagship withstood withering Wedgian attacks without a scratch! For the sake of Wedgians with delicate constitutions, any further images shall be withheld. The Vikings swept the skies of the remaining enemy vessels.

Two hours and fifteen minutes from setup and teaching the rules to the end of the game, with time left for a leisurely breakdown and after-game kibitzing.

Tony and Dieter took advantage of deploying after their opponents by concentrating their forces against one enemy group and making use of available cover. Thomas had a desperate fight to delay the Wedgians long enough to allow Zack's forces - and his battleship - to get to where the action was. Dieter used the planet to shield one of his destroyers from Zack's ships while getting clear shots at Thomas. Had Zack's battleship been farther away, it would have been a very different game.

Terrain did not slow the game down noticeably and was sufficiently thick in some cases to prevent attacks altogether. The players had to include the terrain effects in their decisions on movement and firing. The weapon ranges seemed to be working, as well. The last thing I wanted is a "push all the figures into the middle of the table and roll lots of dice" or a "just sit there and shoot at everything" game.

Tony has expressed a desire to buy a fleet and has cursed me for it. Zach has instructed me to bring SUNDER THE STARS as backup game when attending Monday nights. I think they liked it. Development shall continue.


The game mat and ships used for the Grand Terran Imperium are from the Terran Federation range, part of the Galactic Knights line produced by Monday Knight Productions.

The ships used for the League of the Star Wolves are available from Ravenstar Studios.

Additional shots of both sets of ships may be seen here: Starship Size Comparison.

       Wins/Losses
Wedgians: 1/2
Buggians: 1/0
Vikings:  1/1

SUNDER THE STARS: 2nd Playtest!

Click on images for bigger picture!

This was the second playtest for SUNDER THE STARS held 3 weeks ago. In play were the optional terrain items - a large planet, small moon and various gas clouds - and the optional shield settings - double front, double back and maximum. There were 4 players: Bryan, Rob, Jason and Ricardo, with this humble narrator as referee. The players formed two teams, selecting one member of each team as "commander", and each player had 50 points of ships command.


Fleet commander Rob and future Hero of Terra (posthumously) Bryan each took a taskforce from The Grand Terran Imperium, consisting of one medium cruiser, two destroyers and two frigates.


Jarl Jason and shipmaster Ricardo took their forces from The League of the Star Wolves: one medium cruiser, two destroyers and two frigates for Ricardo and a battleship, one medium cruiser and two frigates for Jason.



The table was set up lengthwise, allowing plenty of room for maneuvering before hostilities could commence. The moon and planet did not figure into their tactics as both were at the extreme ends of the table. In the game they were impassible areas that spell instant annihilation for any spacecraft that entered their space/hex.

Both sides took advantage of the optional shield settings and locked them on double front. That doubled the shield value against all attacks from the front 180°, but defending against attacks from the rear would not get the benefit of shields in the defense rolls.



The gas clouds, however, had been embraced by Commodore Rob. Get used to seeing his ships there. They impart a -1 to hit modifier for every hex/2" fired through.
:[Ricardo shows off his hyper-dimensional jazz hands.]:



Commodore Rob also employed a unique tactic for his flagship: hiding way back, out of harm's way holding the ship in tactical reserve.
:[Hyper-dimensional jazz hands does have a price. It took weeks for Ricardo's fingers to return to their natural color]:



Jarl Jason and his staunch ally Ricardo continued their advance. Their missing frigate and two other ships with damage tracking dice told of their losses.



Bryan's force had been reduced to a cruiser and a destroyer, and Ricardo's forces had been whittled down to just a cruiser, while Jarl Jason's remaining battleship and cruiser try to attack Rob's forces still hiding in the gas cloud. Please note the location of Rob's flagship. To the left. No, farther. All the way over there.



Ricardo's cruiser was not long for this battle.



All the while, Commodore Rob's flagship was doing donuts in its very own private gas cloud. Understandably, Jarl Jason was taunting him mercilessly to come out and fight him. As this was not a dark ages infantry battle, Rob ignored him.



Ricardo had been slain! Long will they sing his saga into the night. Jarl Jason swung his remaining ships around the gas cloud to minimize its interference. Meanwhile, pizza had been delivered to Rob's flagship.



Jason's cruiser got behind Bryan's cruiser and took advantage of its double front shield setting. Bryan is down to a destroyer. Having finished his pizza, Rob's flagship barrels forward to see what all the hubbub was about.



Sacrificing his cruiser, Jarl Jason managed to sink the remaining Wedgian destroyers and one of the frigates. This shall be the final blow to defend the Star Wolves' way of life!



Or not. In a blaze of direct fire and homing weapons, the flagship of Jarl Jason was sunk. With the skies cleared of opponents, Commodore Rob dictated a quick eulogy for Captain Bryan to be sent to his surviving family.

Observations:

The optional shield setting rules worked as expected, but will lengthen the game by about 50%. Four players with 50 points of ships each should take about two hours - this took almost three. The players liked the option, but agreed it made for longer games.

I thought that terrain would also greatly lengthen the game, but later playtests disproved this.

Point defense will have a smaller area of effect when in terrain that grants a cover bonus like gas clouds, dust clouds and asteroid fields.

The use of tactical reserves and exploiting any available cover are perfectly valid and both can effect the outcome of a battle. Ignore them at your peril.

SUNDER THE STARS is still doing what is asked of it, so development will continue.

The game mat and ships used for the Grand Terran Imperium are from the Terran Federation range, part of the Galactic Knights line produced by Monday Knight Productions.

The ships used for the League of the Star Wolves are available from Ravenstar Studios.

Additional shots of both sets of ships may be seen here: Starship Size Comparison.

       Wins/Losses
Wedgians: 1/1
Buggians: 1/0
Vikings:  0/1

Game Development – Part 3: Complexity

Relaxing Pastime
or
Surrogate Religion?

 
The prevailing bias has been in no way concealed, and anything useful gleaned from the following would be implemented at your own risk. There may also be dabbling in hyperbole and sarcasm. You have been warned.

This is not a slam against "serious" gamers or even "serious" games. May you continue to enjoy quoting chapter and verse form your collection of amended and cross-indexed rulebooks during the third day of the first turn of a game that sprawls over several groaning ping-pong tables. There was a time I would be standing right beside you. Well, maybe not that close, but within polite arguing distance.

When I started “gaming” back in the summer of AD1977, it opened a whole new world of responsibility avoidance and addictive escapism that is only now being experienced by the great unwashed with online games like World of Woecraft and it’s trendy, yet short-lived, competitor of the moment. All RPG’s were “tabletop” and the only limits were your imagination sparked by whatever cool fantasy/Science Fiction book, movie, comic or TV show recently experienced. All true wargames were complex because they were “simulations” of supposed real-life events, be they ill-documented past, misunderstood present or highly implausible future. We reveled in the esoteric knowledge imparted by these verbose tomes, steeped in eldritch charts, mystic lists and the typically all but useless table of contents. There was a kinship, a brotherhood amongst the gamers as they congregated to perpetuate their chosen game(s) and indoctrinate willing converts. These tended to manifest at schools and colleges, and involved pilgrimages to regional gaming conventions. And, amazingly enough, all this happened before there was a PC hooked up to the Internet in every bedroom across the First World.

I was 11, and gaming was serious business.

My first game was D&D. Just “D&D”. Please note the lack of an “A” at the front. Then there was Metamorphosis Alpha, which eventually became Gamma World. The RPG explosion that was the 1980’s produced many games like Traveller, Top Secret, Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, Mekton, Space Opera, Bunnies and Burrows, Villains and Vigilantes, Bushido, and Space: 1889. There were also the wargames of the time, by such companies as Avalon Hill, FASA, SPI, Yaquinto, TSR, GDW and Task Force Games. Then there was the phenomenon of the mini- or micro-game: wargames that were fun, fast, portable and reasonably priced. Having always used miniatures with the RPGs, it was a very short stumble into the world of miniature wargaming. In the 1990’s, patient zero was diagnosed with what would become the “collectable game” pandemic.

I was, and still am, a bit evangelical about gaming, with a website AND a blog devoted to it. Sad, but there it is. I’d like all of these types of games to become as mainstream as watching televised sporting events while trying to get drunk, just so I can stop hiding behind the story of being a model railroad enthusiast every time I enter a craft store, feverishly looking for that elusive bit to finish the latest project. Not holding my breath, though.

As I grew older, switching from one set of rules to another every session became tiresome, as it could be months until we came around to any particular game again, forgetting enough of it to be annoying. Even using my razor-honed skill at making FAQ and summary sheets, it became tedious. I grew to appreciate :gasp: simpler games.

Yes, I could still build an 80-ton mech in my head using Mekton II, but how often did I play it? Meka Tac’s rules were nowhere nearly as “robust” as Battletech or Mekton Zeta, but it only took a few minutes to build a force of mecha and a couple hours to play a decent-sized robot battle to its obvious conclusion. Folks who were not gamers but have played Trivial Pursuit could easily enjoy that ideal gateway drug: Settlers of Catan. From there 'twas but a short, slippery slope to Kill Doctor Lucky, Bitin Off Hedz, Munchkin, and Plague & Pestilence. One Page Fantasy Skirmish was quick to grasp and fast to play, and introduced many of the fundamental miniature wargaming concepts like LoS, initiative, movement and range while still being fun. G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. gave us a desperately needed Victorian Science Fiction fix, and Where Heroes Dare! would let players Pulp to their heart’s content. I think my next RPG will be run with Action Squad.

Being much, much older, I view “gaming” as gathering friends together, old and not yet met, to push toys around a table and rolling dice while laughing. And I'm not alone in this philosophy.

I’m still a gamer, and will continue to be so as long as I’m able. I haven’t lost the faith; just no longer possessed by the desire to master the mysteries of rules written like tax law.

Game Development – Part 2: Background “Fluff” In Non-Historical Miniature Wargames

Metaphysical Mandate

or

Plague upon Humanity?

The prevailing bias has been in no way concealed, and anything useful gleaned from the following would be implemented at your own risk. You have been warned.

Background information is essential for Role Playing Games. The players can, if they choose, ignore any part, or all of it and create their own worlds to taste. Not always a good thing, but experimentation is essential to learning.

With historical miniature wargames, there should be a brief overview of the period, as those buying the rules are quite often familiar with the times, conflicts, and participants, but not always. Research should be a part of historical miniature gaming, if, for nothing else, to get the uniforms close to the proper color. Yes, there will always be the great fledgrau debate, but one should put in the effort.

In non-historical miniature wargames, unless you have something galaxy-shatteringly new and unique, you've paid for the license to use someone's intellectual property or this is just a thinly-veiled miniatures catalog, the fluff should not be the focus of the rules. Keep any background brief, avoiding lengthy studies into the inner working of the various races, empires, clans, corporations and factions. And no short stories, please! Put them on your website or publish a pdf, if you must. The horrifying fact is that many folks will be looking at your game just to push toys around a table while rolling dice and will completely ignore your magnum opus.

The best examples of fluff show what the players can do with your rules and their own imagination. Include a few examples or, better yet, a set of short army lists. Just enough to get them started, but not enough to stifle. If things pan out, source books based on each faction may be an option, and a bit more background on the units may be called for to the fill the empty page-space between specialized rules and new, unique units.

Some backgrounds are a marketing mechanism to sell an associated miniature line. I can’t blame the company, as they are a business and have a perfect right to not only sell their goods but to make a profit, as well. And, if the figures are good, members of the miniature gaming community will rejoice in another option to field upon the table.

Yet, sadly, there is a third category which is usually a retread of previously existing fictional universes with the serial numbers filed off because the author either lacks imagination or the licensing fee. Tolkein, Burroughs, and popular TV and film franchises often fall prey to this. Also, the “[insert traditional fantasy race here] IN SPACE!” route has been flogged to death.

In conclusion, fluff is often poorly done and does nothing but add to the page count in an attempt to cater to the “thicker is always better” rules fan. Below are examples of my rather lazy and uninventive attempts at pandering to this mindset without wasting too much time on something that in absolutely no way impacts how the rules play on the table. They are presented both in the pretentious format and the older Giant Shooty Spacefleets style.


Pretentious: The Grand Terran Imperium - The homeworld of all Humans in the galaxy. Imperial fleets plied the stars to enforce the will of the emperor, ruthlessly suppressing anything that might threaten the stability of the empire or hint at independence.

“Old Style”: The Wedgians - They’re big, they’re bad, and they’re completely devoid of anything resembling a sense of humor. And, yes, their ships are triangular. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.


The High Lords of Hephaestus

Pretentious – A former Terran colony that rose to the status of “satellite nation”, the original settlers adopted a Greco-Roman motif. Their fleets were decidedly heavy on fighters. Intelligence circles occasionally heard whispers of something called “The Golden Throne”, though nothing substantive.

“Old Style” – A colony founded by Human frat boys with a fighter fixation and possessors of the largest “secret” stash of pr0n in the galaxy.


Pretentious: The Council of Bulblubla - An aquatic species possessed by the desire to expand beyond their home shores.

“Old Style”: The Blub-Blub-Blub – Fish people in space. Ya need more than that? Really? Well, they’re blue. And scaly. Um, that’s all I got.


The Clans of the Great Hunt

Pretentious - A loose alliance of felinoid sapients who would attack each other if no other suitable prey or conquest was available.

“Old Style” – Cat-babes on the prowl. In space.


Pretentious: The Union of Queens - Sapient insect colonies that were constantly searching for the next hiveworld.

“Old Style”: Buggians – Bug folk that were constantly searching for the next picnic.

Next time – Complexity: Relaxing Pastime or Surrogate Religion?

Game Development – Part 1: What’s in a Name?

As some of you may already know, I’m currently working on, among other things, a starship combat game that will accommodate engagements of individual ships, task force vs. task force and fleet battles using the same rules no matter how large the action. It hasn’t gone to playtest, yet, but it's looking pretty good. The rules will incorporate things learned from 30+ years of tabletop gaming and the recent exercise of editing and expanding MEKA TAC into MEKA TAC – GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION.

It has come to my attention that the main reason why many “serious mecha wargamers”* are hesitant to download a fresh, modern, easy to learn, playable on an open tabletop or hex mat and FREE mecha battle game is not that it did away with the archaic overheating-as-play-balance mechanism or a that battle between a dozen or more mechs can reach a definitive conclusion in a single evening of play.

No, it’s none of that.

It’s the name.

GIANT STOMPY ROBOT EDITION

If someone downloaded GSRE, read it through and found it wasn’t for them – for any reason, such as disliking the ability to easily scale the weapon ranges and mecha movement to fit the size of mecha miniatures in their collection - great! At least they looked and made an informed decision. I respect that. But to be afraid of the word “edition” just boggles me.

[ring-ring] 'Scuse me, folks. Hey! Yeah. What? Wait. It's STOMPY? They're afraid of the word STOMPY?! Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Later. [click]

Okay. So, it seems the more pretentious the title, the greater the possibility of perusal. Taking this lesson to heart, the working title of my spacefleet battle game under development, which was referred to as GIANT SHOOTY SPACEFLEETS, shall henceforth be called:

SUNDER THE STARS.

Next: Background “fluff” in non-historical miniature wargames – metaphysical mandate or plague upon humanity?

*Yes, they are out there.