The Book of Heir Apparent Scenario (Design Phase)

[johnny139]

The Book of the Heir Apparent Scenario

A C3G Scenario with the Vlatavan Villa Map

http://i.imgur.com/VIXY0.png
Download the VS File (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/downloads.php?do=file&id=3610)

Required Sets: Rise of the Valkyrie™ Master Set, Marvel the Conflict Begins™ Master Set, Fortress of the Archkyrie™

HEIR APPARENT
(2 Players)

Much of Europe has a long history of nobility and heritage, and with this comes a history of violence, spite, and power struggle. These conflicts continue even to this day: in a small kingdom somewhere in the Balkans, an heir falls into an assassin's crosshairs, no doubt on the payroll of someone seeking the throne. If they can usurp the kingdom, no one knows what the future may hold for the surrounding region.

In response to the impending threat, the family attendants hire their own protection. On a clear and sunny day, the enemy arrives.

GOAL:
Player 1's Goal: Defend the Heir to the throne and defeat the attacking army.

Player 2's Goal: Assassinate the Heir and take down anyone in the way.

SETUP:
Required Sets: Rise of the Valkyrie™ Master Set, Marvel the Conflict Begins™ Master Set, Fortress of the Archkyrie™, Road through the Forgotten Forrest™

The Fortress Door should be placed in the Doorway for this scenario.

Player 1 drafts an army of 395 points that includes at least one squad of Civilians. Player 2 drafts an army of 450 points.

Player 1 starts the game with one Civilian in the violet start-zone and all other figures in the blue-start zone. Player 2’s figures start in the red start-zone.

SPECIAL RULES:
Protection Program: The Civilian placed in the violet start-zone is considered the Heir. The Heir cannot be targeted for any attacks or special powers as long as it is adjacent to a figure you control. Anytime the Heir would be destroyed, you may instead destroy an adjacent figure you control.

VICTORY:
When the other Player has no figures on the battlefield, you win, or if the Heir is destroyed, Player 2 wins. If the battle reaches the end of Round 6, then the battle is over and Player 1 wins.

MAP BIO: Under the heel of the Soviets throughout the Cold War, the tiny nation of Vlatava has always been a land of strife and hardship. Even so, in recent years its aristocracy has begun to re-emerge, including figures such as the nefarious Count Vertigo, figures of vast wealth in an impoverished land. One of many, this villa is calm for the moment, but none can tell when its walls will come crumbling down.

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-Rulings and Clarifications- N/A-Strategy, Tactics and Tips- N/A-Heroscapers Community Contributions- N/A

[johnny139]

I don't think anyone's really hurting for more "castle on a hill" maps, but I figured a one-set casual wouldn't hurt... and it's nice to get more locales.

I don't imagine there's too much to make in the way of fundamental changes, here, but, thoughts?

[A3n]

How do you see this map played?

Is one army supposed to be attacking the castle?

Or is it just a left to right battle in front of a castle?

[johnny139]

I expect it to be a castle siege map - one start zone behind the asphalt, the other inside the castle.

(Sieges aren't quite as interesting in C3G because of all of the flying and leaping, but still. I have a scenario in mind.)

[Scapemage]

To be honest this isn't my favorite map, but I still think it's the right type of map for a scenario. :up:

[Griffin]

I hope you don't think I am picking on you, because you do amazing work in all you do, but I don't feel that this map is super enough for C3G. :2cents:

[Hahma]

I'd say that it seems like it would need a pretty specific scenario with certain units to make the most of the map. Perhaps low-level units. Maybe a situation where the attackers have a leaper but can't leap high enough to get over a battlement so attackers would have to destroy some battlements first for the leaper to get to the wall walk. Seems more like a "classic" map as supers would make short work of gaining access. But if there are specific lower level units that gives it a more "classic" feel, it could be fine.

[tcglkn]

This map seems similar to Corner High Rise but not as expansive. I'm not seeing anything that makes this map stand out in my mind. It's a decent map, I'm sure it works well, but it's nothing special. :shrug:

[A3n]

Now that you have answered me, I think it's too wide for what it does, especially down the castle end. I don't think there will be much action on those sides & the ruling about not able to shoot across empty space doesn't lend anything to it.

To be honest this reminds me of one of my personal maps, Kings Dive, (which I have just noticed that the links don't work anymore) but I much prefer mine & they use the same amount of sets.

EDIT: I just fixed the links to mine if anybody is at all interested.

[Hahma]

Yeah, I remember helping you name that map a long time ago A3n:D

[Swamper]

I like it. I think it would be play better if you went left to right with it instead of a siege though.

[johnny139]

Alright, I should probably explain myself further.

1) It's not supposed to be particularly exciting - it's a castle and a road and some grass. I'm intending a scenario to go along with it, but figured I'd get the map done first for a variety of reasons: not to distract from E-Ray, not get bogged down with that aspect in scenario design,

2) Going by the scenario, this WILL be a small-scale skirmish map, best taken advantage of by smaller armies. Heck, let me just outline the scenario for you:

Player 1: 350~ Points including one squad of Civilians. One Civilian is the Princess. Player 1 has to protect the Princess for X Rounds. It's the sort of army that best suits street-level heroes; Batman, Punisher, Daredevil with some support.

Player 2: 550~ Points of invaders who have to kill the Princess within X Rounds. I'm planning on forcing Count Vertigo as a "leader" for Player 1 to target as a victory condition, but I'm not sure.

3) The design is rough, and I realized from A3n's first question that length would be better than height here - a necessity, with scenario in mind. So I'll be working on that.

4) If your problem is with the design itself, I'd be happy to hear it. If your problem is with the concept as a standalone map, I'd consider not putting it through that process. If your problem is with the scenario AND map together, well, let's hear why. :D

[Griffin]

If you want a scenario, just make one. Once the scenario is done, we could easily enter the map as a stand alone competitive map with not testing or anything, just as we did with Grundy's Grave and Negative Zone.

[quozl]

If you want a scenario, just make one.

Agreed.

[johnny139]

Alright, so, now that I've got some more free time, I'm ready to get this one rolling. First of all, made the map tighter and more straightforward - since it'll be a charge into the castle more than a battle around it.

http://i.imgur.com/VIXY0.png

The download file in the first post has been updated with this new map.

Secondly, I've retooled the front post into the Heir Apparent Scenario. I think it works overall... not 100% sure, any input would, of course, be appreciated.

[Taeblewalker]

I would like to see a suggested list of assassins. Bull's-Eye, Green Arrow, Catwoman, and a few others come to mind.

[quozl]

Alright, so, now that I've got some more free time, I'm ready to get this one rolling. First of all, made the map tighter and more straightforward - since it'll be a charge into the castle more than a battle around it.

http://i.imgur.com/VIXY0.png

The download file in the first post has been updated with this new map.

Secondly, I've retooled the front post into the Heir Apparent Scenario. I think it works overall... not 100% sure, any input would, of course, be appreciated.

Looks good to me. Do you want to run an initial test?

[johnny139]

I'm planning on doing so sometime this week. :up: Any glaring problems people notice beforehand they should probably bring up though.

[johnny139]

Alright, so, built the map - which looks very nice, even if it is sort of generic castle in feel - and played a few games.

GAME 1 | Batman, Robin, Civilians vs. Thor

Complete massacre. Thor took one wound from a Civilian near the end, but was able to kill Batman AND Robin without breaking a sweat. Then he tore through the enemy army. Way too easy.

GAME 2 | Wonder Man, Civilians vs. Blob, Pyro, Toad, Destiny

A lot more even... though still not exactly fair. Wonder Man really tore through the Outcasts, but ultimately they did some wounds and it came down to him vs. Blob in front of the Fortress Door. Blob got a good hit on him, but whiffed right after and was killed in one blow.

Just for fun, I continued on as if Blob had blocked that attack. It actually ended up being a good match - ultimate, Blob was able to kill him with a single life left, and after spending FOREVER attacking the door, he was able to break through and kill the Civilians. It was an interesting match.

Two things it revealed, though - the guys inside have it rougher, because of their lower point cost, and the advantage of the castle probably isn't enough to justify that in a C3G match. Secondly, the door is SUCH a game-stopper... I'd like for it to start with, like, six wounds, or something, just to speed things up.

I'll play some more soon to see how those changes feel.

[tcglkn]

Why don't we just redesign the Fortress Door with a C3G version that works better for our game? I've been wanting to do that for a while.

[johnny139]

I've actually been feeling the same thing - I would give it high defense and Fire Weakness and rename it the Wooden Door. (Never got why it would be so much tougher than solid concrete as in the Breakable Wall.)

[tcglkn]

I actually have plans for the C3G Breakable Wall. It's just too low on my list of priorities. Maybe REJ would like to run with my ideas? :ponder:

[quozl]

This version of the door would a great start:

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/gallery/files/6/1/6/4/newfortressdoor_original.jpg
New & Improved Fortress Door

[Red Eyed Jedi]

I actually have plans for the C3G Breakable Wall. It's just too low on my list of priorities. Maybe REJ would like to run with my ideas? :ponder:


Sounds like a plan to me. Put me in Coach!

[Smithy Winfred]

This design hasn't been touched in a while, I just wanted to see how it is going and what the problem is.

[johnny139]

Mostly just a matter of time - I haven't had enough free time to get my usual playtests in, nevermind rebuild this map to better suit the scenario and then test it. Hopefully I'll be able to over the summer (but then again I'm heading to China in the fall, so, maybe not!).