Houses

For some time we have been hallucinating about buildings that could be used in Scape.

Not just facades but actual destructible structures that most figures could go in. They’d have to have roofs that you could stand on, windows you could shoot out of, and doors too. Maybe it sounds easier than it is- I guess I don’t have a lot of spare time and I was at a loss at how to proceed.

I used to be a wood and screw guy. Working on miniatures over time has changed me to a glue person, and working on Scape stuff has expanded my imagination to work with whatever is small, cheap and easy to work with.

Initially I’d considered using the thin wood from those Clementine orange crates that you can buy in the winter. You know the ones, they usually come from Morocco, I think? (do you think they cross the Atlantic by boat or plane?)

I thought maybe I’d construct something with slots that the wood would easily fit into. I still consider that a possible idea but it would take more spare time than I currently have (I’d have to give up Scaping for an evening!) I was tired of dreaming about it and wanted to do it so I decided to build a flimsy prototype instead.


it had been a nice neighbourhood until the vikings moved in

It ain’t all that pretty, but it does the job. It has a frame of popsicle sticks and dowel and it’s walls are made of plain white cardstock. There’s a fold so the walls just hang on the frame. A flat roof, divided into hexes, covers the top. Instead of a doorway we left one side open so we could move the figures inside easily. There’s a tiny wall piece on the door side to represent the wall on that section. There’s four hexes inside and four on the roof.

Originally I had cut windows in the walls so that people could fire ranged weapons at enemies outside. But could the enemies then fire back inside? Perhaps with a chance to hit ruled by 20d? How would we judge LOS?


a vampire cuts his way through the evening rush to get home

We tried a couple things and ended up going with the simplest option. Figures inside could fire out through the walls (imaginary windows) but enemies outside could not fire in. They could shoot at the walls, which had 3L and 4D. If the wall was destroyed we removed it from the structure and the people inside could be attacked. There was an advantage to being inside a house so now it was time to add some disadvantages.

If two walls that joined at a corner were both destroyed the roof fell in. Anyone inside the house was crushed and killed. Anyone on the roof had to shake for falling damage. Climbing up to the roof from inside would take a full movement turn, and the same for climbing down.


it had seemed like a prime location until the war started

So with the playtest rules all figured out we made four of the little houses and played our first game. We were interested in exploring house to house fighting, so we put glyphs in all four houses. The attacker had to find the Brandar. The defender didn’t know which house it was in and so had to protect everything. The victory condition for the attacker was finding the Brandar and then carrying it into the starting zone.

I found it rather terrifying to be inside when there were enemies without trying to destroy the house. Sometimes figures inside were crushed by the falling roof and once a couple Zettians on top with their great defense perished when the roof collapsed.

Next we tried stacking the houses to make a tower. It held more figures but the potential for a partial collapse made it hazardous. I looked the look but my sons didn’t want to trust it.

Then we decided that armies could buy parachutes for five points each. We have a well organized dwarf drawer and they have little wooden gyrocopters and parachutes, so it was easy to adapt them for everyone. The attackers began landing on the roofs of the houses and the defenders shooting up through the ceiling.


Marr on the roof attack a parachuting undead

The houses ended up being typical of a new idea in our game- we played it in four of five games and then put it on the shelf. Perhaps in a few months or a next year we’ll use it again. Or maybe they will change into something else. We go in spurts. Sometimes we’re crazy for water battles and boats and then we don’t use them for a while. And sometimes small boats slip into scenarios where there is a lot of splash....