Making my own board game...

[braveheart101]

I have started work on my own game, and I need some help. The setting is a fantasy world of my own invention (no name for it yet). I have two armies planned to use at first. The bad guy army will be FrostKin, and the theme will be big units of horde troops supported by warbeasts and titans. The Good guy army will be LionKin, the theme for them will be small powerful units supported by Griffins and giant Lions.

The rules are like this: Troops have their own profiles, and the weapons the troops carry will have their own list of stats. On the troops SP stand for speed, AKA how far they can move. AV stands for armor value, AKA how much you have to get on a d6 to hit them. WO stands for wounds.
On the weapons RA stands for range(If there is a cc next to the RA, it means its a close combat weapon). POW stands for how how hard the weapon hits. When you are attacking some one, subtract the weapons POW minus the enemys AV to see what you have to roll on a d6 to hit.

Here is an example card:

Knights of the lion : Pts per sqaud of 5: 50
knight: Lance
SP: 2 RA: CC
AV: 3 PoW: 5
WO:1


Well, here is a rough draft of the basic rules as I have them now:

The turn:
1: see who goes first:
Each player rolls a d6, the higher roller goes first.
2: Movement:
Each player moves all their troops according to the troops SP, the winner of the starting roll first.
3: Fight
All troops fight, winner of the starting roll first.

The phases in detail:

Phase 1:
Each player rolls a d6, the higher roller going first. There are some modifires to these rolls.
Objective taken: 2+ to d6 roll for the player who last took an objective.
Overwhelming hordes: 1+ to the d6 roll for the player who has 1/2 or more units than his opponent at the start of the round.

Phase 2:
Starting with the player who won the inniative(spelling?) roll, all players move their troops according to their SP.


Ok, I need to think of some good movement modifiers, and a good combat system.

[Onacara]

So what kind of help are you looking for exactly?

[braveheart101]

Well, mainly rules critiques. Like: what do you think of seperating the troops stats from the weapons stats, and how could I make the rules better?

[jbbnbsmith]

Well, mainly rules critiques. Like: what do you think of seperating the troops stats from the weapons stats, and how could I make the rules better?
We would have to actually see the rules before we could critique them.

[braveheart101]

Well, here is a rough draft of the basic rules as I have them now:

The turn:
1: see who goes first:
Each player rolls a d6, the higher roller goes first.
2: Movement:
Each player moves all their troops according to the troops SP, the winner of the starting roll first.
3: Fight
All troops fight, winner of the starting roll first.

The phases in detail:

Phase 1:
Each player rolls a d6, the higher roller going first. There are some modifires to these rolls.
Objective taken: 2+ to d6 roll for the player who last took an objective.
Overwhelming hordes: 1+ to the d6 roll for the player who has 1/2 or more units than his opponent at the start of the round.

Phase 2:
Starting with the player who won the inniative(spelling?) roll, all players move their troops according to their SP.


Ok, I need to think of some good movement modifiers, and a good combat system.

[Majai of Dreams]

A few points to ponder when thinking up some help here...

What is the object of the game? Defeat all opponents figures?

What kind of map is it played on? Hexes? Large territories? How big of a map? If we have to devise a movement system, the space of the battlefield is vital.

Are there cards and figures?

I like the separation of stats on weapons vs the creatures they are on if they are interchangable. For example, do the Knights of the Lion have to wield a lance, or can you equip them with something else?
That would a add a huge level of variety to the game.

As for your combat system, if you are going for "simple is better". Rolling a six sider is a great start. The system reminds me of heroklix, it is all in the attackers roll to see if they roll well enough to pierce the opponents defenses.

So if you could paint a picture of the actual map lay out for me, I can give some more detailed advice.

Good start, keep the ideas coming!

[braveheart101]

Well, it would be hex based like battlelore or heroscape, and there would be single individual hexes with terrain drawn on them so you can mod the battlefield.

[Majai of Dreams]

Well, it would be hex based like battlelore or heroscape, and there would be single individual hexes with terrain drawn on them so you can mod the battlefield.

How many figures per hex?

How many hexes on the board. Is the movement more symbolic, like 1 hex represents a huge area of battlefield, or does 1 hex hold one unit and capture a more "to scale" feel, like Heroscape?

If you do not want movement to play a big roll, make movement standard, like each unit moves 2 hexes a turn. And maybe some special units can move more. Or if it is a larger board like Heroscape, you could have a wider range of movement.

[braveheart101]

1 hex represents a large enough patch of ground to hold, oh, a unit of 10 foot troops, 2 monsters, or 3 cavalry troops, so about 10 feet a hex. The board is going to be 10-15 hexe's wide, and 20-25 hex's long. Cavalry will be able to move 3hexe's a turn, and foot troops will be able to move 2 hexe's a turn.

PS. Richard, why did you neg rep me with a postive message.

[Majai of Dreams]

OK. So these hexes are going to be several inches in diameter to hold a hand full of figures. (I assume there are miniatures, and they are sized similar to Heroscape.)
Have you ever played the game Battlemaster? From the makers of Hero Quest. It had a huge mat playing field with large hexes that held troupes of army cards.

I am conceptualizing it better now. So you begin the game with a drafted army and set them up on your side of the board and send the troops out to crush the opponent.

If each hex holds multiple figures, is there a group combat system? Or do you resolve each individual units attacks separately?

The biggest thing to think about when making figure limits to squares is to keep it balanced. The bad guys will be slowly whittled away, while the good guys will have staying power, but once a unit drops, they lose considerable strength. That I think will be your biggest challenge. No making the big guys too strong, and the swarming units too weak.

[SpiderCoach]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

[Onacara]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

I'll playtest for free. :-)

[SpiderCoach]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

I'll playtest for free. :-)

I hope you're serious. I'm probably gonna take you up on that. :)

[Drumline3469]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

I'll playtest for free. :-)

I hope you're serious. I'm probably gonna take you up on that. :)

I'll playtest for free if you can bring it to Gencon!

[SuperflyTNT]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

I'll playtest for free. :-)

I hope you're serious. I'm probably gonna take you up on that. :)

Ditto here. I'd playtest it and give honest criticism or praise, and I'm far closer to you than Ona is! Hit me up at Gencon if you want to get a sidegame going to test it out.

[braveheart101]

The game wont use miniatures. It will use counters made in paint.

[Onacara]

braveheart-
Don't mean to hijack your thread here, but I have a question too that fits with the thread's theme and might be helpful to you later. I created a game that's ready for some independent playtesting while graphic designers finish up the last drafts of the artwork. We're paying the graphic designer, of course, but is it customary to pay playtesters? If so, how is the amount of pay determined?

I'll playtest for free. :-)

I hope you're serious. I'm probably gonna take you up on that. :)


200% serious...and I can get my boys involved too to get a perspective from different age groups.