BiggaBullfrog's Maps and Scenarios - Updates 3/2023

[Robber]

I played on forest brawl at the Christmas tourney in MD- My friend loved it (he played rats x3 omnicron snipers x2, Krav against x5 blade gruts, grimmy, hydra?) but I didn't like it as much. I played against death chasers of thesk and he got orc battle rush and initiative.

Wiped out a big chunk of my army before I could react. Not hugely fair.

I probably would have lost to him anyway- he went on to win the tournament.

I think that if the river were a little bit wider (2 spaces wide?) it would be more fair. the other battles were a little more clean, without any complaints. 90% of the people playing on it liked it- still pretty good.

[BiggaBullfrog]

Originally Posted by Robber

I played on forest brawl at the Christmas tourney in MD- My friend loved it (he played rats x3 omnicron snipers x2, Krav against x5 blade gruts, grimmy, hydra?) but I didn't like it as much. I played against death chasers of thesk and he got orc battle rush and initiative.

Thanks for the feedback!

I think the Death Chasers of Thesk admittedly have the potential to control Forest Brawl, along with Interception and Don't Call it a Comeback... (I don't own them and haven't proxied them, so I don't know first hand). When going up against them on one of these (or another split-start zone map), I think the best way to counter their Battle Rush would be to start farther back in the map and take more of a turtling approach-giving your opponent map control but hopefully spreading his/her forces pretty thin in the process-but that's just theoryscape. I'll have to proxy them to see for sure.

[UtahScott]

Moltenclaw's Gulch 2.1



Bigga & I were unable to adequately discuss all modifications before he left; he didn't have time to upload the build changes, either.

Improvements (besides those Bigga already covered in post #44):

Spoiler Alert!

Better start zone egress.
More usable height/lava on height. Removed inaccessible Moltenclaw perch.
Glyphs now equidistant on foot (9 spaces); flying 8/7 spaces counter-/clockwise.
Better pathing: Wider/easier gulch entry, wider sides, can circle around glyphs.
Can climb lava mountain from start zone; travel between sides and gulch more open.
Modified right front area, moved water tiles forward.
Aesthetics: opened lava tubes, sand, cliffside spring.

[BiggaBullfrog]

It's been a nice while since I've posted here

However, I have been messing around with not just a map, but also a scenario lately, that I have finally decided to post up here (even though it's almost midnight here--it's pretty much become now or never for me and I'd prefer now).

Little backstory to the map (you can skip if you just want to get to the goods below)--I spent two years in Japan, two years I very much enjoyed, but did not get to play any 'Scape during. Before that time, whenever I played 'Scape, I would tend to get competitive, especially with my brother. Not to where I'd be overbearing in trying to bend things to my advantage; I just played strong armies I knew would win against whatever my brother threw at me. Basically, trying to create a double-blind draft tourney-style thingy in my game room. My brother didn't like that a whole lot, so I was surprised when I got home (in fact, it was the day after the night I got back--it hadn't been 24 hours) and my brother challenged me to a game of 'Scape. So we built a fun map, and had some really fun games. I thought about why, and I determined it was because that more than winning, simply enjoying time with my brother had become my priority, and did things like giving him tips and using figures I'd never used before (which was surprisingly awesome--Erevan and Moriko kick butt and are now a couple of my favorite heroes).

Anyway, all these games and fun memories kind of made me really want to make not just maps, but scenarios that would shake up gameplay to create those fun memories for others. Like the armies I'd made before, a lot of the maps I've made before focused a lot on the competitive aspect, something to use in a tourney. But I wanted to make something cooler, something that while the map itself wasn't competitive, the memories made would be. Also, due to the time spent in Japan, I wanted to make it somewhat reminiscent of that as well. Thus, after many drafts and tests and all that other stuff that goes into map/scenario-making, I came up with:

Ishigaki Island



Map Download

Scenario Download

So as far as inspiration for the map goes--the accompanying scenario is based on a song I heard and really came to like while I was in Japan called Shimanchu nu Takara. The song is by a group called Begin who hail from a small island called Ishigaki (meaning Stone Wall). Thus, I decided that since I wanted an island to go with the scenario, I might as well make the name Ishigaki to give props to them.

I really like the map itself for what it is--it started out much more asymmetrical than what it is now, but I don't mind so much. I think it's pretty solid on its own, but even more so with the scenario.

So here's the good part. That song I mentioned, Shimanchu nu Takara, was the inspiration for the scenario. Basically I dissected it into four sections--first verse, second verse, third verse, and title--and made those into four different scenarios. Then I got the idea of, instead of letting players just choose a scenario and draft for it (which you are more than welcome to do if you wish), I would spice things up and keep players on their toes by making it so any of the four scenarios may occur. Thus, when you're drafting, you're not just drafting with the mindset of "Okay, I've got to kill all his guys he's drafting," or "Alright, grab all the glyphs, got to draft guys good for that." Instead, your mindset is "Okay, so I need to draft an army that is flexible enough to be able to either A. kill all his guys, B. grab all the glyphs, C. hold a glyph for a long time, or D. kill all my opponent's heroes." One army, four options. From my experience, the draft is a very fun part of that scenario.

So yeah, that's more or less it, assuming I haven't left anything out. Quick disclaimer: the song I based this off of has no mention towards violence of any kind--it is a very peaceful and feel good song and does not endorse this scenario at all. I just took words from it and used them.

Alright, thanks for checking this out. Please download it, look it over. Give it a whirl if you like. Questions are more than welcome. And, as always, please leave comments and critiques to help this (or any) of my maps/scenarios get better.

[BiggaBullfrog]

Two new maps here, made for the Ruins of Valhalla map contest. I'm pretty pleased with both of them. From the Ashes plays really well - well balanced with all builds as far as I could tell in my playtesting. It's also the first map in which I used the battlements primarily for LoS blocking. Earlier all I'd really thought to use them for was aesthetic and/or pathing purposes - I hadn't realized how well they can be used as LoS blockers until recently. Jotun Tripped... is bigger than I usually aim for (at least, than I recently have aimed for), but I think it plays well. In my playtesting it was still pretty balanced all around. That said, it's been such a *long time since I've actively worked on playtesting and developing maps that I'm definitely more than rusty, so if you end up using one let me know what you think!

Backstories for the contest are included below.

From the Ashes

Requires: 1 RotV, 1 VW, 1 FotA

Spoiler Alert!

The war of Valhalla changed the face of the land. Castles fell, mountains entrenched, and plains became scarred with blood and smoke.

There once was a wellspring here, the wellspring that gave the kyrie Raknar his famous vision of the war and the death it would bring. When the wellspring was found all sides rushed to claim it, and a great battle ensued, at the peak of which ancient magic was invoked to crack the earth, and a volcanic eruption destroyed the warriors so eager to die for their cause. None survived the eruption, and the land was unapproachable for many years.

Time passed. The war waged on. Stories were told, and some were nearly forgotten.

Eventually the land cooled, and refugees from the war stumbled across it, unaware of its history. They took advantage of the landscape, hiding among it and slowly fortifying it, relying on the still-smoking land to keep enemies from venturing too close. For a time, they lived in peace.

But not all stories are forgotten. And rumor spread that a wellspring long-forgotten was reemerging. So, naturally, the call to war was sounded once again.

Joutn Tripped...

Requires: 1 SotM, 1 BftU, 1 RttFF

Spoiler Alert!

The war of Valhalla changed the face of the land. Castles fell, mountains entrenched, and plains became scarred with blood and smoke.

Sometimes, though, the land of Valhalla was literally broken by some even of misfortune and accident. Such it was with a certain road on the outskirts of the Forgotten Forest.

It was once a beautiful path winding its way from the center of the forest south into the marshy Ticalla Jungle only a few miles away. During a fierce battle, swarms of Marro were fighting their way into the forest while a brave army of Ullar's strongest warriors held them at bay. At one point in the battle, the giant Jotun charged forward, driving the Marro before him. Then, spotting an artifact partially concealed in a gap in the road, Jotun paused to pick it up.

But, as happens to everyone now and then, the giant lost his footing. The resulting crash of his fall broke the earth, driving the road down several feet into an undiscovered cavern of the Underdark lying beneath Valhalla. Now the point has become a new center of attention, as all entrances into the Underdark are strategic points any army desires. And if you look closely, you can still see the imprint of Jotun's face in the road....

On the bright side, Ullar's forces were still able to drive away the Marro swarm. On the other hand, Ullar had to tell Jotun to lay off the Twinkies.

I hope to be uploading a few more maps soonish. I have some new ideas (and I recently made myself some Thaelenk Tundra terrain, so there will be at least one of those maps in store). I also have some ideas to revamp some of my old maps to make them better. I have no idea on a timeframe though, as it will have to be balanced with playtesting my customs, playtesting other customs (I play on doing some C3V work before the end of the year), and my life that has decided to hit me on all sides with stuff. But I'm sure it will only be so long before I make this Jungle and Tundra map that's been sitting in my head the past few weeks. So we'll see.

[tannergx]

Thanks for posting these Bigga. It was fun to check out what you did in the build downloads.

~tgx

[BiggaBullfrog]

Originally Posted by tannergx

Thanks for posting these Bigga. It was fun to check out what you did in the build downloads.

~tgx

It's great to hear from you tannergx! I'm glad you enjoyed looking at them. I really owe a lot of the inspiration for From the Ashes to your Ruins of Fort McAda. I played a few games on it a while back and loved it.

And I didn't realize you're in California now. That's too bad, it was great being able to meet up with you at events. You know, like six years ago.

[BiggaBullfrog]

Finally finished this map that I've been working on and off for months, ever since I made my custom Tundra terrain. It uses both of my custom terrain sets (Tundra and Jungle) and looks pretty neat with them - I bet it looks better with the real stuff. Anyway, I'm super pleased with how this map turned out. It's pretty, fun, and balanced, and I've been impressed with how my games on it have turned out. Of course, that is all my own opinion - feel free to let me know what your is!

April


Requires: 1 RotV, 1 TT, 1 TJ

Also, I forgot to add these earlier. A couple maps I made for lefton4ya's Cryptolith Map Contest.

Highways Over Innistrad

Spoiler Alert!

Requires: 1 SoI, 1/2 RotV, 1 RttFF

Sister map to Circles Over Innistrad (both use half of a RotV).

Circles Over Innistrad

Spoiler Alert!

Requires: 1 SoI, 1/2 RotV, 1 TT

Sister map to Highways Over Innistrad (both use half of a RotV).

[zeekthefreak]

Love the maps. Alot of them are only 1 or two sets which is good for all the people who dont have alot of sets. (Cough cough -->me)

[BiggaBullfrog]

Thanks for the complement! I've actually been wanting to do a series of maps that require small amounts of terrain (1 Master Set and 1 Expansion), but haven't gotten to that cause I've been playtesting customs so much recently. Someday though, hopefully soon, I'll start giving mapmaking the time I want to again.

[BiggaBullfrog]

Whaaaaat!?

It's been two years since I've uploaded a map (feels like more) and I feel completely out of my element! But while playing around studying on the school library computer I learned that downloading is cool, and got the ol' Virtualscape running on it (I have a Mac, so can't run it on my own computer).

After a bunch of memory games, I was able to recreate a map I built last year that turned out pretty well from a single picture of it. Then I forced myself down memory lane to make a picture, a .pdf, and figure out how to upload them (and change a .bmp to a .jpeg so I could edit the picture). It feels super weird doing it again, but I couldn't stop in my giddiness, and I figured I'd take it all the way and post it up! So here you go: a not spectacular but pretty darn okay map called:

The Feast Hall of Ash (1 BftU, 1 MtCB, 1 FotA, 1 VW)


No, it's not very true to its source material at all. It's more of a concept for another map I want to build someday, and hopefully will. Now just to see if I can use this computer to create custom cards too.... It will be weird to start producing stuff again and not just critiquing others'. I also really need to clean up this thread's OP. And get better maps in there. So many maps from my teenage years that just... aren't great.

[superfrog]

I like this one quite a lot!

Using 4 sets for one map is a bit of an investment of resources, but I love the aesthetic you pulled off.

I used school library computers for VS many times in college, so I'm glad you figured that out!

By the way, I have links in my signature with tutorials for posting maps and making custom cards in case you need a more thorough memory jog (although it looks like you remembered the maps stuff pretty well).