Ship and 5-player Map Added - Paronychodon's Maps

[Paronychodon]

Welcome to my map thread! I have actually designed quite a few two-player, multiplayer, and just-for-fun maps, but have only built and tested a few of them. Please bear with me as I slowly add to this list.

Map: Ship of the Bitter Sea
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 2 RotV, 2 SotM, 2 FotA, and 2 TT.



Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

This is a map that I have been thinking of building for quite a while, and I've got to thank the Gang of Four's Pirates! scenario and Dr. Weirdscaper for inspiration. Though not quite a legal build (the sail tiles float above the deck, only held by friction), it is an aesthetically pleasing and surprisingly sturdy map (especially considering the "keeled" base of the ship). This is obviously not a double-blind map. Players should be familiar with their starting situation before drafting begins. I think the Glyph of Thorian fixes the issue of some of the more potentially broken armies that can be drafted. The set requirements might seem like a lot, but the TT sets are only used in the sail and can be substituted with different-coloured tiles, and the extra FotA is only needed for ladders. Anyway, this map is a lot of fun for an evening of drafting. Stay tuned for more maps on this theme.

Map: Five for Fighting
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 SotM, 1 BftU, and 2 RttFF


Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

There seem to be precious few (if any) five-player maps. Not that I blame anyone for this. It's physically impossible to build a symmetrical five-player map on a hex-grid system. So, I built an asymmetrical five-player with nice colour-coded start zones for those nights when you've got one too many people for a four-player map, and are a person short for a six-player. I think it's come out quite balanced. Each start zone has a slight advantage over the others: grass and swamp have a road going from their start zone to their opponents', dungeon has dungeon tiles (the only start zone linked to special powers) and is one hex removed from its attacker, and stone and sand have ruins. Funnily enough, since designing this map, I have built but have not yet played on this map, so I am very interested to hear feedback.
Also, there is a lot of leftover terrain from the sets required to build this map. Which is why I built...

Map: Moor Pass
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 SotM, 1 BftU, and 2 RttFF. Both Moor Pass and Five for Fighting can be built at the same time using only these sets.

Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

As mentioned above, this map was really just made out of the scraps of Five for Fighting, but I think it turned out pretty well. I think the tile combination looks pretty cool, and you've got to love swamp water on height (yay, Drudge!). All in all, it's a pretty fun and balanced map.

Map: Rise Up!
Date uploaded: 5/11/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 FotA


Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

So, the towers from FotA usually make a pretty poor additon to a tournament map, but I actually really like them. The question becomes, "How do I integrate towers while making them accessible to most units?" My answer to this is, as the title suggests, "Rise Up!"

The map is constructed in such a way that most of the terrain is not on the bottom level. This makes the towers a lot easier to scale. Treasure glyphs toward the centre of the map, along with a direct wall-walk "road" spread the action around the map.

In answer to any questions about stability, I have playtested this map. It is perfectly functional for regular play. Moving the map on a table once it is built is difficult because pieces can shift. If the map needs to be moved once built, I recommend building it on a piece of cardboard or disassembling it into well-connected sections.

Map: Curious Gorge
Date Uploaded: 5/11/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 FotA

Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

This map also plays with height a little bit with cliffs on either side with a bridge in the middle. Even with changes in height, figures can get around pretty easily thanks to the wall-walk tiles. I think the map is a good balance between tight spaces where a lot of large figures can't go and good movement options. Do you take pot-shots at your opponents startzone from the cliff, go for the Treasure glyphs, take the bridge, or sneak across the water.

It's noteworthy that there is enough space under the bridge for most medium figures that I've tried on the grass and water tiles, and in my estimation, the Hydra has enough to room to use the water route to cross the map.

[Matt Guy]

Do you use vietualscape?? It doesn't work that great for me, though.

[Paronychodon]

I do use VirtualScape, but I export my images to Illustrator for the text before putting them into the pdf.

[wriggz]

Towers rarely provide extreme height since the attacking figure must be 10 spaces higher than the height of the defending figure.

Normally towers are an issue due to accessibility, I believe you have addressed this here.

[Paronychodon]

Here are some new maps.

Map: Ship of the Bitter Sea
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 2 RotV, 2 SotM, 2 FotA, and 2 TT.





Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

This is a map that I have been thinking of building for quite a while, and I've got to thank the Gang of Four's Pirates! scenario and Dr. Weirdscaper for inspiration. Though not quite a legal build (the sail tiles float above the deck, only held by friction), it is an aesthetically pleasing and surprisingly sturdy map (especially considering the "keeled" base of the ship). This is obviously not a double-blind map. Players should be familiar with their starting situation before drafting begins. I think the Glyph of Thorian fixes the issue of some of the more potentially broken armies that can be drafted. The set requirements might seem like a lot, but the TT sets are only used in the sail and can be substituted with different-coloured tiles, and the extra FotA is only needed for ladders. Anyway, this map is a lot of fun for an evening of drafting. Stay tuned for more maps on this theme.

Map: Five for Fighting
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 SotM, 1 BftU, and 2 RttFF


Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

There seem to be precious few (if any) five-player maps. Not that I blame anyone for this. It's physically impossible to build a symmetrical five-player map on a hex-grid system. So, I built an asymmetrical five-player with nice colour-coded start zones for those nights when you've got one too many people for a four-player map, and are a person short for a six-player. I think it's come out quite balanced. Each start zone has a slight advantage over the others: grass and swamp have a road going from their start zone to their opponents', dungeon has dungeon tiles (the only start zone linked to special powers) and is one hex removed from its attacker, and stone and sand have ruins. Funnily enough, since designing this map, I have built but have not yet played on this map, so I am very interested to hear feedback.
Also, there is a lot of leftover terrain from the sets required to build this map. Which is why I built...

Map: Moor Pass
Date uploaded: 6/12/11
Requires: 1 RotV, 1 SotM, 1 BftU, and 2 RttFF. Both Moor Pass and Five for Fighting can be built at the same time using only these sets.


Discussion:

Spoiler Alert!

As mentioned above, this map was really just made out of the scraps of Five for Fighting, but I think it turned out pretty well. I think the tile combination looks pretty cool, and you've got to love swamp water on height (yay, Drudge!). All in all, it's a pretty fun and balanced map.