Free Building Ideas & Discussion

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Rebuilt Tavern with the idea of encouraging the use of the entire map (see Yoda's post). The same scenario rules apply as in the Leopard of Valhalla, with the Hearth taking the place of the Upstairs Room.

The Hearth

[Yodaking]

You really do have some great looking maps, especially for hero heavy armies which are what I prefer to run when I can. Be sure to give us some after action reports.

[kolakoski]

The Last Tavern!

Posted Yesterday at 10:44 PM by kolakoski
Updated Today at 11:58 AM by kolakoski
Well met!

This is my last attempt. The delayed hostility rules from The Lost City of Ashra! should work well for this Map.

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Hot or . . .

Cold?




Older Pics



Set up and/or enter from the Sand.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

I posted this before creating this thread, and forgot about it until it came up randomly yesterday. It's germane I think.

From my blog:

Hail Utgar!

I have been creating scenarios for Heroscape almost as long as I have been playing it. It is a great pleasure to take iconic moments from historical and/or fictional stories, and reset them in Valhalla.

Pirates!, for example, was designed to recreate the ambience of a classic Errol Flynn, ocean-going Swashbuckler, Captain Blood and The Seahawk being prime examples.

A Swell Party! and The Rapture of Raelin! are about gatherings such as weddings, investitures, etc., where enemies are at close quarters in a "neutral" setting, when battle begins, as found in numerous novels.

I have been recently working on a Lost City scenario, and have attempted to create The Lost World numerous times.

CREATE YOUR OWN BATTLEFIELD!

The Only Limit Is Your Imagination!

[The Rapture of Raelin!]
[Note: The Red Power Glyph should be on the elevated space, with Raelin on top (don't ask).]

[My mapmaking skills have improved since then, fortunately. ]

. . . and the size of your collection. For The Rapture of Raelin, for which I constructed a Map last night (see above), I stipulated that there would be a Ballroom, on pillars with stairways going down on both sides, connected to an island pyramid by a wide causeway. What could be simpler, right? Wrong! Pillars are 9 levels high. That means that the stairwells and the pyramid must be 9 levels high as well. In spite of making most of the steps 3 levels high, it took practically every piece of terrain I own to construct them. And, of course, my suspended Ballroom is a House of Cards, just waiting for the right moment to collapse. [Note to self: Earthquake scenario, with increasing odds of Ballroom collapsing as the game goes on.]

chas always tells me that a written description of the Map is not enough, that there must be pictures (or Virtualscape), as [many][most] of you are [too lazy][too lacking in confidence] to build their own Maps. Although I have been able to post some pictures of late, and Virtualscape freezes my computer (and takes forever, when working), it is not my intention that any Map of my creation, or any Map at all, be considered as definitive.

The model for my scenario creation, while inspired by many, is not the Movie, where everything is laid out in detail for you - the passive observer, but the Novel, where, no matter how detailed the description, your imagination generates the setting.

Thus, in The Rapture of Raelin! above, are pillars, as opposed to "normal" terrain necessary to set the scene for the story? I think not. A slightly raised Ballroom will work just as well, and require far less work and manipulation - and far less terrain. Any sized Ballroom will do, so long as you have Raelin (or a proxy for her), a Glyph of Lodin and the designated HoB placement restrictions.

Even the Vine Swings can be created without pillars or water, or left out altogether. In general, it is the concept of the scenario, with a few key elements and/or mechanics, that matters, and it can be achieved on Maps as small as a card table or as large as your living room, with however much or little (within reason) terrain you may have.

So. Look over my (and others') scenarios for what is important, and create the rest, with what you have in the way of terrain and units. Don't be intimidated, by the size of the Maps displayed, into passing up fun scenarios. Play on!

[kolakoski]

Well met!

From my blog:

A rebuild of The Last Tavern:

The Shrine of Death!

The Start Zones are located in the Sand at the bottom of the Map (to the right in the picture below), set off by Large Ruins. The No-Fly Zone and other obstacles result in the Wound Power Glyph being approachable only on foot. From the Start Zones, players can only reach the Wound Glyph by traveling around the Walls (from the Confrontation Sets) and the Hives to the area near the Gate, and then along the Shadow Path to the Dungeon tiles.

Treasure Glyphs (on far left) and Wound Glyph (far right)


The Gate

Treasure Glyphs


Power Glyph . . .


Can you see which one?



Swamp Gas creates a No-Fly Zone over Swamp and Dungeon tiles (including Shadow Path)

The rest of these pictures were taken before Glyphs were placed.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

dok had this to say about Shrine of Death in particular, and my maps in general:

One thing you should probably try to do on this and other maps you've posted recently is to move the desirable bonuses off of high ground. A lot of your elevated terrain is next to jungle, and the power glyph is on elevated terrain. If, in stead, you have the jungle next to relative low ground, and put the glyph in a low spot, you create more incentive for players to stake out those areas of the map, as well. As it is, the map looks like a few really desirable spots with kill zones between them.

The following map is a raw response to dok's comment.

Start Zones are the Sand hexes at either end of the map.




The elevated area is accessible (via Road hexes) from the entrances at either end (near the Jungle Bushes), and at the breaks in the battlements (near the Hives and near the Great Evergreens)

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Another exercize in playability:

The Maze

[Shedim Kabal]

I like the Maze, though I feel like the Hives aren't doing much besides looking good. Anyway, this is a great map for Romans to go against Wolves. Lots of LoS blockers to help mitigate the chokepoints, a few high spots to desperately hold against the Pounce. I kind of want to make a path behind the two Hives and big trees near the start zones.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Thanks for your comments, Shedim! I plan on revising this map soon. There is space to pass from the Start Zones between the Hive and the nearest Jungle Bush. However, I see that it would be better to make the routes to the high areas more accessible to non-flyers. I'll take a shot at that soon.

[kolakoski]

Well met!

In response to Shadim's comment below, I have revised the Maze to make the map more accessible to all units, and both elevated areas equally so from the Start Zones.

I like the Maze, though I feel like the Hives aren't doing much besides looking good. Anyway, this is a great map for Romans to go against Wolves. Lots of LoS blockers to help mitigate the chokepoints, a few high spots to desperately hold against the Pounce. I kind of want to make a path behind the two Hives and big trees near the start zones.

The Maze Redux!






I could put a 3-hex Dungeon tile on the point (near the Water).




Redesigned Start Zones


Hives/Jungle Bushes are more useful here.

[Shedim Kabal]

Love where you're going with this. As many have said those ruins just look fabulous.

My thought on seeing the new version is that wide expanse where you talked about putting the rock outcrop does look rather conspicuous...

What if you put the tree there and the rock in place of the tree, and then had a path connecting the start zone to the battlements?



I think I'm going to try to build a BftU FotA RttFF TJ map based on this build. Might have to use void spaces to get the maze feel, since I don't have the ruins.

Keep up the inspiring work, sir!

[kolakoski]

Well met!

Another rebuild of the Maze. This one has more . . . character.

Rebuilt Start Zones (keeping Hive/Jungle Bush entrance)




Rebuilt the flanking heights


Rebuilt the center (now Labyrinth)


Added Treasure Glyphs


Polishing the mirror . . .


. . . results in a much more interesting map . . .


. . . well worth leaving up for a while