Mmirg's Moderately Marvelous Maps - updated 1/6/10

[yagyuninja]

Hey, I played on Underground Iceways last night and I'm thinking of using it for my tournament. It so conveniently fits the sets I had available.

Anyway, I played

PK x3
Q10
Sir Dupuis

vs

Sentinels x2
4th Mass x2
Drake v.1
Theracus

And we used treasure glyphs. The game was pretty fun, and movement was certainly encouraged. The glyph areas were under-used, but probably because we used treasure instead of normal glyphs. PK rocked on this map, always able to get height or shadow. I'll have to give it a try with a less mobile army. I liked the two-hex snow piece on the 7-hex bunkers. That gave ranged defenders there something to think about. Could be hard to dethrone a Q9 sitting there, though.

[1Mmirg]

Thanks for the feedback, yagyuninja. That double spaced spot can be an issue, but it's got quick road access and no LOS to the glyphs or even much of the opposing side at all--and it takes a couple of rounds to get Q9 up there, to begin with. (It is fairly similar to the double hex space right outside the Highways/Dieways start zone.)

Like you, I've found this map generally keeps you moving. It's hard to play very static. I really like that almost all the high points have shadow spaces, giving defenders a bit more of a chance of dethroning the current "king of the hill." That seems to help keep things cycling, at least in our games. (I haven't done PKs on this map, yet. I'll have to try that--sounds like a blast!)

Thanks, again, for the feedback!

[fomox]

Underground Iceways looks interesting. I hope to get a few games in on it over the weekend.

Nit-picky construction notes:
I believe there's an extraneous ice tile in the middle left on level one (right next to the empty hex). As far as I can tell it doesn't support anything and gets covered by the 7-hex dungeon tile on level two. Not a problem, really, but seems a little silly.

There's also one ice hex (level two, bottom left) that is outlined in red. It just means you still had a tile selected when you printed it out. If you click outside the map before printing it should clear it up. Also not a big deal.

-fomox ~ giver of advice no one asked for

[1Mmirg]

Much thanks, fomox. I hope you enjoy it.

I did put the ice tile in the middle--it was extra and I figured a little more stability is a good thing (not sure about anyone else, but we're sliding maps from cardboard to table and back to cardboard and over to another table all the time. It's extra, I'll admit. In retrospect, probably should have cut it.

I didn't know the selection trick. Makes sense, I just didn't realize it was even doing that until I printed out the instructions myself. Thanks for the tip!

[fomox]

So I got a bunch of games in on Underground Iceways. Both sides were all over the place, except a couple of games where one glyph was relatively useless. Even then there was some running around the center.

Movement out of the start zone feels a bit restricted, but no one was getting early shots on the opponent's start zone, so it didn't feel like a problem.

I did notice that the side corridors (on the outer edge near each glacier/rock barrier) are a bit one-way. The player coming from the rock side has to give up height to attack the glyph, while the player from the glacier side does not. Particularly melee forces, but even a bit for range. I might remove the one hex snow right on the edge, or maybe switch it with the ice tile next to the glyph.

I do really like it, though, and felt there were lots of ways to hide figures from the opponent as I advanced. Very fun.

[Darkmage7a]

Hey, Thought I'd let you know Flooded Temple II (revised), and Underground Iceways will be played at Green Mountain Montage 6/12/10

[1Mmirg]

That is excellent news. Each is a bit of an experimental map--trying to use pieces or sets that don't seem to see as much tournament action/use. But I enjoy each and feel they are balanced and fun. (Are you trying the Glyph of Mimicry? Or just two strong low glyphs?)

Hope you have a great event!

[Typhon2222]

Hiya 1Mmirg,

Your Underground Iceways looks like a blast. I plan to use it at our upcoming Legacy Tournament.

[1Mmirg]

Alright, it has been a long time (too, too long), but I've been messing around with maps again recently.

I still have a goal to create a solid, full-sized, tourney-quality map that uses only the BftU as a Master Set. This map tries to do what my Iceways didn't, really open up the map (not have it feel so tight):



Icy Cavern by Mmirg (Now Revised: Icy Cavern 2)

We've had a lot of fun with this one.

• Shadow spaces next to high points.
• Road spaces border all high points.
• Glyphs pretty well covered from all highest points.
• Some start zone coverage.
• Lots of road access and LOS blockage.
• Color-coded start zones.
• No 7-move flying to a glyph.
• Glyphs within 8 walking spaces of start zone (love my Knights).
• No unsightly gaps in the build (I did have to spin the support pieces in a few places to get a solid edge of the fortress bases facing forward).
• LOS encourages movement, even from high points

It's not perfect (it's not a pretty as some, for sure), but it's ready for comments. Love to hear your thoughts.

(Also, I can't seem to render a high quality image or to have the image I save in VirtualScape appear on the front page of my PDF anymore. I'm sure I'm just forgetting something obvious, but I'd love for someone to remind me how to do those things.)

--

EDIT: Revised version is thanks to Typhon's computer help and Gamebear's advice. I made some changes to keep all high points on the map out of range of a Raelin in the start zone.

[ZBeeblebrox]

Love that Map, 1mm!!

If I did not have my tournament already set, I'd use it this weekend.

Nice job.

[1Mmirg]

Thanks, ZB. It's a bit large (not more than Ticalla, I don't think, but still on the big side). That was, though, part of my goal. How "full-size" of a map can one BftU + 2 exps. pull off? Pretty full-sized this map responds.

Too bad I missed the window for your tourney. I had this done almost two weeks ago, even tested, just been so busy I never posted it. (Plus, I was still trying to figure out why I can't get a high res picture with VS or a cover picture that doesn't have a menu across it...)

Thoughts are welcome. There are still a few things that I wonder about (like could battlements help, or is it better to keep movement open on this style of map?). Love feedback.

[Typhon2222]

1Mmirg, afraid I can't give any suggestions for getting high res pic with VS or avoiding the menu issue. (I run it on a Mac.) But if you'd like to shoot me the VS file, I can easily do it for you.