Nocan in the Arena

Since my last post discussing my arena combat rules, I made some changes. I'm treating it like a joust - the combatants have 3 passes to score points.

I decided to test out the rules combined with my joust campaign structure. For the test, I'm bringing back a character from my old blog. Nocan was a barbarian miniature that was miserable in combat - he couldn't (no can) hit anything! Let's see how his 2-dimensional avatar fares in the arena.

A little Chat GPT imagining

Backstory

Mocked by his clan for his lack of offensive skill, Nocan travels to the Empire to test himself in the arena.

Note: I'm using my LARP's world as the setting.

Results

Here are the results of Nocan's fights.

Versus the Orc

I did not take pictures of all Nocan's bouts. I recreated his fight against the orc so that I could get a few images. This is from round 2 of the 3rd preliminary tournament.

In the first pass, the orc rushes Nocan, knocking him down. As Nocan falls, he manages to get in a body hit. Score 3-1 for the orc.

The orc rushes again. This time, Nocan sidesteps the blow and clocks the orc in the head. Score 3-3.

This time, both score body hits. Score 4-4.

Finally, Nocan gets the initiative, and strikes the orc while avoiding its counter.

A 5-4 victory for Nocan against a veteran fighter!

Other Highlights

• Nocan proved his tribe wrong with his success in the arena. He reached the semi-finals of one tournament and won another tournament!
• He did not do so well in the regionals. Oh well, there is always next season!
• He did well when the pressure was on. He went 4-0 in bouts that went to extra passes.
• He leveled up, and will fight in the next season as an experienced (level 2) fighter.

GAME NOTES

• Limiting the bout to 3 passes really streamlined the game. The rules as they are could also work for jousts.
• For the latest iteration, I added a simple mechanism to account for different levels. The higher level fighter gets a number of re-rolls equal to the difference in levels.
• I plan to have levels up to 6. Between seasons, characters roll to level up.
• I decided to create two tournament circuits - one for levels 1-3 and another for levels 4-6. That way, there are no crazy mismatches.
• I also added "fighting stance." A fighter can choose to be offensive, defensive, or neutral. Stance affects combat rolls in various ways. I added this to give a decision point to the player. Otherwise, it is just an exercise in dice rolling. The rules did not work as intended, and I usually just adopted a neutral stance. I'm going to play around with these a bit.
• The campaign works great, though. It is quick with lots of drama. I think the entire season took about half an hour.

Voidfighter - First Impressions

I pre-ordered Voidfighter and I received it on my Kindle this morning.

Like a kid on Christmas, I immediately opened it up and have perused it for a bit.

Anticipation, But Why?

I have eagerly anticipated this game since I pre-ordered it a couple of months ago. Which is odd considering that this game does not fit into my current gaming preferences.

A couple of features that go against my preferences:

• Big (for me) board - Recommended for a 3' by 4' space. I don't have a space that big.
• Multiple dice types - based on a ship or pilot's rating, players roll 2D4 up to 2D12. I typically hate "groping for dice" mechanisms.

Usually, these characteristics would be enough for me to reject a set of rules.

So why was I so excited about this? A few reasons:

• I read that it had a campaign system. VERY interested
• Miniatures agnostic - can use any ship models
• Simple movement rules but with special maneuvers to add some spice
• Perhaps I could introduce it to my summer gaming group

Does It Measure Up?

I have not read the rules completely. I have merely been scanning it so far. But I like what I see.

• Movement is simple and should be easy to teach if I want to introduce it to my gaming group
• The campaign system (my initial draw) seems very playable
• LOTS of scenarios (12 in fact)
• LOTS of ships stats plus rules to make your own

So that's my very early first impressions, I'll post more as I delve deeper.

Doldrum Report

As mentioned Wednesday, I'm in a bit of a slump, wargame wise. But I have not been idle.

I made a bunch of these satyr horns for my LARP group.

It's basic, but it will work.

Satyrs are one of the creatures we'll encounter this season.

I haven't made any progress on a joust game. However, it dawned on me that I could use my joust campaign rules with arena battles.

I decided to do a quick test run. My character lost to the elf (who is facing backwards, I notice. Must have been an over the shoulder shot).

This test revealed a weakness in my arena rules - they just take too darn long! In this bout, the elf kept winning the maneuver roll but then failed to hit. The fight dragged on and on. I may need different rules.

Joust

I've been in a bit of a doldrum this past week so no battle report. However, I a new mania to discuss. We'll show how long it lasted

It all started when I was looking for something to read on my Kindle and I came across this.

Reading the particulars, I am a little leery of buying it, but it got me interested in some joust games.

Rules

I created some simple rules at one point but now I can't find them. So I went searching.

I'm looking for something incredibly simple, with maybe 1-2 die rolls per pass. It would be nice to have a little decision making. I also want something that will allow a character to develop skill over time. Here are some under consideration.

• Full Tilt - very easy albeit no campaign mode.
• Atteint! - from Alan Saunders aka Kaptain Kobold
• Joust: Heroes of the Lists - a THW title - not a fan of the THW mechanics but they often have good campaigns.
• To Cry a Joust - picked it up years ago. Seems simple. Also includes some paper miniatures.

I've taken cursory looks at the above. Right now, Full Tilt seems simplest. I would just need to create a campaign or import one from some other rules.

Campaign

Speaking of campaigns, I developed a simple one a few years ago. I lost the rules I used for the jousts but I still have the campaign rules.

The campaign follows a young knight trying to make a name on the tournament scene. He can participate in up to 4 preliminary tournaments. Making the semi-finals (requiring 2 wins) gets him an invitation to the regional finals. Making the semis there results in an invitation to the grand championship.

I tried it out using some extremely simple rules (1 die roll, no modifiers). Here is a season with Ser Gervaise (using this Knight Name Generator).

• Preliminary One - gets knocked off his horse in his first joust.
• Preliminary Two - makes it to the finals before losing 5-1. Still, he earns a ticket to the regional finals!
• Preliminary Three - he continues to joust to hone his skill. Alas, he loses the first joust.
• Preliminary Four - to the finals and victory!
• Regional - he wins his first joust. In the second, he is tied 3-3 after two passes, In the third and final pass, he misses but his opponent strikes him in the head. Gervaise loses 5-3 and his season ends.

Not a bad start. Two finals, one tournament win, and a trip to the regionals. Let's see how he does next season!

The entire season only took about 10 minutes. A season will likely take a bit longer as I add complexity.

Russo-Turkish War of 1866

I'm still on a late 19th century kick. This time I'm pitting the Russians and Turks in a fictional war. I purchased Dominion of Otto von Bismarck, but for this game I'm using a generic horse & musket variant.

Background

While war engulfs Austria, Prussia, and Italy, revolt breaks out in Bulgaria. The Turkish army begins suppressing the revolt while the Russians, with assistance from Romania, march to assist the rebels.

The Battle of Kurvavo River

The Turkish army takes up a defensive position at the Kurvavo River in Bulgaria. The Russians prepare to cross.

The opposing forces:

• Russian (top) - Cavalry, skirmisher, cavalry. 2 elite infantry in reserve.
• Turkish - Infantry, artillery, infantry. Bashi-bazouks (unreliable skirmishers), infantry, skirmishers

Russian cavalry charge across the river on both flanks. They rout the Turkish infantry.

The Russian cavalry (right) continue their rampage, routing the Turkish skirmisher. Russian skirmishers try but fail to take out the Turkish guns.

The Russian cavalry (left) charges into a wall of lead. They rout.

The Russians then defeat the Turkish left flank. Victory is in their grasp. Only the bashi-bazouks (right) stand in their way. But the bashi-bazouks fight valiantly and drive off the cavalry.

Then they fall on the Russian center and wipe them out.

A bloody Turkish victory!

Winging It

The Next Chapter of the Drake's Dragon's Campaign

The Dragons return to the air. This time, three pilots are on patrol in Goshawk fighters (average quality).

The pilots are veteran Al Hartley, and novices Randy Palmer and Josh Jenkins. Jenkins is brand new to the squadron.

Note: I randomly roll to determine who and how many fly.

Encounter!

While on patrol, they encounter 3 Cobras and an Adder (3 average and 1 obsolete fighters).

Hartley (green 1 - left) gets on the tail of the Adder. His shots rattle the enemy pilot. Meanwhile, 2 Cobras separate Jenkins. Bullets rip into his plane, damaging it. Jenkins flees the fight.

Hartley stays on the Adders tail and shoots it down. Meanwhile, Palmer (green 2) scores a hit.

Palmer finds himself in a bind. Evasive maneuvers! Whew, they missed!

But it gets worse for Palmer while Hartley tracks down another target.

With some nifty flying, Palmer turns the tables. His shots miss. Hartley manages to damage another Cobra.

With 2 planes damaged, the Imperial pilots decide to break off.

Final Tally

• The Dragons damage 2 fighters and destroy another while only having 1 damaged aircraft. They win this scenario.
• The campaign score stands at 1-1.
• Some Dragon milestones:
• Hartley gets his first kill, 
• With his third mission complete, Palmer rises to veteran status.
• Jenkins survives his first mission.

Drake's Dragons

Spurred by the dogfight I posted yesterday, I decided to start an aerial campaign. I resurrected a character and setting from my old blog.

The Lucranian War

The campaign is set in an imaginary world, where a diesel-era evil empire invades the democratic nation of Lucrania.

During this war, Devin Drake leads a squadron of brave aviators fighting against the might of the Empire.

Previously

The Dragons were marginally victorious in their last campaign, but suffered heavy casualties in the last two missions. They pulled out for some rest, but are now back in action.

I actually started a second campaign but it fizzled out. I'm considering that mission a one-off and am now starting a new campaign.

Mission: Intercept!

At the Dragons' airbase, the warning klaxons blare. Incoming air raid!

Only 2 Dragons, the commander Devin Drake and young Dewey Hobbes manage to get in the air.

Drake (green 1) flies a standard Goshawk fighter while Hobbes (green 2) pilots an obsolete Chick fighter. They face 2 Cobra fighters, an old Adder, and 3 Vulture medium bombers.

Using the heavy cloud cover, our heroes get a jump on the bombers. Hobbes damages one.

Then shoots it down. But the enemy fighters converge.

One gets on Drake's tail, damaging him. Hobbes takes damage in a crossfire.

Two fighters gang up on Hobbes and bring him down. Drake escapes into the clouds.

The cloud cover throws off the remaining bombers' aim. They do minimal damage.

They score 1 hit out of 4

The Lucranians are lucky the damage is not worse, but this goes down as a defeat for the Dragons.

Sadly, Hobbes did not survive the crash.

GAME NOTES

• Campaign Score - 0-1
• I determined the sides randomly. I think it was weighted a little heavily against the defenders. I will think about tweaking the randomizer.
• I use fictional planes for my fictional universe. There are 3 classes - obsolete, average, and advanced. I gave names for each class per nation.
• Lucrania - Chick (obsolete), Goshawk, and Peregrine (advanced)
• Empire - Adder, Cobra, and Viper fighters. Condor (light), Vulture (medium), and Buzzard (heavy) bombers.