Programming Note…
Inspired by discussion in C3G about how great it would be to play out a battle in an urban environment with tight alleys and littered with innocent (or guilty) bystanders, I’ve decided to use my battle mat in the upcoming set of battles to depict just such a setting. Since I don’t need to leave the markers on the mat overnight, the actual layout may vary.
I’ve marked the various parts about the map in the photo. Oh, I also need to add some fire escapes to the buildings. Some extra info:
Figures may jump from one rooftop to a same-level or lower-level rooftop separated by an alley space no larger than 2 spaces wide by rolling a number of dice equal to any number of unused movement points. Each shield represents one space the figure can jump. If the figure lacks the number of spaces to make the jump, the figure simply remains at the edge of the rooftop, and the entire movement points are expended.
I’ve mixed a collection of various bystanders. If a figure ends his movement adjacent to a bystander, you reveal it at the end of that figure's turn. If it’s a Thug, it will get an immediate free attack. Thugs remain on the map and will fire on the nearest figure at the end of each round. If it’s a Civilian, ignore. If it’s a Cop, you may place the Cop on the Army Card of the figure. You may remove the Cop from the Army Card to ignore any one wound received. If it’s the VIP, that team wins the game. (Note: a team can still win by taking out the other team, so this victory objective isn’t necessary to win.)
If a figure kills any bystander other than the Thug (directly or indirectly), it immediately takes an unblockable attack die. If a figure kills the VIP, that team loses. At the end of each round, each bystander will be randomly moved on the map after Thugs conduct their fire.
Alleys are considered shadow spaces.
It costs 2 movement points to move from one floor to the next. Figures may move freely within the interior 1st Level and Rooftop, but must remain within the stairwell spaces on levels in between.
Those are just some highlights. I’ll also keep the facing rules I’ve been using. I will also use knockback rules, but figures can’t be knocked off rooftops. The edges of the rooftops will be considered the same as edge of map spaces for knockback purposes, so figures will simply end their knockback there without taking any damage.
I’m looking forward to giving this a run in the next battle!