Maps for Noobs

[Killometer]

Originally Posted by marroking1

The only thing is I think that it could use some more battlements. When playing on a map that has a couple of battlements here and there is that the fall of often.

The tournament edition is an adaptation of the scenario edition, where the battlements were primarily placed to direct traffic past the Orelds, so they have less impact in the tournament edition.

[BassistofDoom]

Originally Posted by Killometer

Middle school in 1981, eh? I wonder how many of the MfN judges were alive for any of the '80s?

That's true. I feel like I'm in the hangout version of the BoV. Also, as an update, I just played a match against my little brother on Embattled Fen. His kyrie dominated my Romans and Wyvern at the beginning but I came back and won with 7 10th Regiment left. The main problem is mobility but that's because we were trying to go for the wound glyph and the Romans only had 4 move(lost Marcus pretty early on) but the battlements also restrict melee. However, once you hop on the road it's easy to get to the other player. It's a good map but I have two more games to play before I make my final decision.

[Robber]

Remember that we can't approve the map, no matter how epically awesome they are. First we have to review at least 1 map and pass/fail it. Then, we have to accept either Flood Gates, Abandoned Catacombs, or Relic for review. So its going to be a long wait for any new nominations. Please do not nominate a map until we get moving a little bit more and crank out the maps we already have. Thank you.

Got another game out on Embattled Fen. My only complaint is that it is really open, which helps range. But the road benifits melee and I think the battlements hurt range more than melee. Range has a harder time surviving until they start getting to height. Melee can hold its own, IMO.

Killometer? Do you want to join the MFN? We could use the help and experience from an expert mapmaker. Same goes for you, Typhon2222. We still need 2 more judges.

[marroking1]

Got Yars Revenge set up right now. Should get a couple of good games in it today and tommorow.

[Robber]

Good! I'm about done reviewing Bad Moon Rising, probably just one more game on it. I had a few worries about range that came up in my last game, but the LoS blockers do the trick for the small amount of them. Anyway, I should be done reviewing by Wednesday. (I was hoping for today, and got slammed with homework... I had to make 20 punnett squares for biology and have to work on my research project. Then a small essay for history, some math... ugh. Anyway, there won't be a game played today or tomorrow).

[Killometer]

Originally Posted by Robber

its going to be a long wait for any new nominations.

No rush on my part. Liike I said, I just wanted to get Relic in the queue-you won't hear any squacking out of me about how long it takes to vote on reviewing it.

Killometer? Do you want to join the MFN? We could use the help and experience from an expert mapmaker.

While I appreciate the flattery, I'm so busy with my internship right now that I don't even have much time to commit to the SoV, much less a second judging project. I'd be happy to share occasional unofficial thoughts on maps under review, though, if you guys are interested.

[Robotunit197]

While I appreciate the flattery, I'm so busy with my internship right now that I don't even have much time to commit to the SoV, much less a second judging project. I'd be happy to share occasional unofficial thoughts on maps under review, though, if you guys are interested.

Any input that you can provide would be really great. The extra playtests and views that the judges may not see are always welcome.

[Typhon2222]

Originally Posted by Robber

Killometer? Do you want to join the MFN? We could use the help and experience from an expert mapmaker. Same goes for you, Typhon2222. We still need 2 more judges.

You're a prince among men, Robber, and I wish I could accept. But I almost never play the game 1v1 except at tourneys. My gaming group always plays 2x2 teams, with big combined armies (40-48 starting hexes per side), so we always have to use bigger maps.

[marroking1]

Got my couple of dozen games in today. And I have to say one thing I don't like the placement of the glyphs. That is the only to this point.

[Robber]

Real life intervened many times, but I finally managed to adequately playtest Bad Moon Rising. (5 times... How the heck does Marroking1 test that much?)

But anyway, on to my review of the map. This map features a grayscale-type feature in the aesthetics of its terrain. The map's starting zones are enlarged to the needed 24 spaces by water tiles, which nicely contrast against the grays and blacks this map features. However, the water tiles do not impair movement as much as I worried about, because each one touches a land tile so that figures are not trapped in the starting zone.

The two pairs of roads are a huge boon to melee, and the shadow in the middle allows for epic brawls between figures of all sizes. In one of my games, an enraged Krug faced off against an Ogre Warhulk with a small group of Death Chasers. Krug and his butcher knife won, and survived well into a barrage of fire from Krav Maga agents before falling.

Anyway, I should stop reminiscing. The shadow is wide enough to keep rats from choking it, and it forces range to go through a melee-hole to get to height. This melee-hole (as I call the shadow area) is expertly placed and along with the roads and the expertly-placed line of sight blockers really balance games out.

The initial worry I had with the map, as I posted earlier, was the road on height next to the starting zone. After playtesting, I find it to be balanced. It is only one space, so there isn't room to camp. The line-of-sight blockers keep fire off of the nearby glyphs and most of the map. Roads finish it off and allow melee figures to quickly engage any figure on that height.

So let me end with a little map-making praise. My favorite part of the map was the genius that inspired Gamebear to use the castle bases as terrain to support the higher levels. As a rookie mapmaker who works mainly with the castle and road sets myself, I have no idea how the fricking heck Gamebear thought of this. It is pure genious. Along with the aesthetics and epic gameplay, I am happy to vote Yes to induct Bad Moon Rising into the MFN. I also am hoping that the BoV sees the epicness of this map and the effort it took to design it this brilliantly. Good luck, Gamebear!!!

Next up for me is Embattled Fen, which I know Bassist of Doom is almost done testing.

[1Mmirg]

Bad Moon Rising is indeed on my list of maps I hope to consider in the BoV. Thanks for the review here, Robber; sounds good!

[marroking1]

Originally Posted by Robber

How the heck does Marroking1 test that much?

I play one game in the morning and one game at night. And maybe 4 or 5 games after school is done depending on how board I am. On that note I am almost done testing Yars Revenge.