killercactus' maps-5/28/2010 - Over Drudge It (1x SotM)

[Scape Goes Up to 11!]

Fire Swamp reminds me of a particularly delicious Bloody Mary I once had, looks like a fine map too!

I'm hoping to track down a VW set, and this will be the first map I make when I get it.

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by DaddyScaper

KC, the maps look great and the formatting with the spoiler tags gives the presentation a very sleek look.

Concerning The Fire Swamp, though, you made a grave error and I insist you correct it by changing the feature name "Quicksand" to "Lightning Sand." Some things are just sacred.

Thanks - and you're 100% right. I was thinking the sand was called something else but it wasn't coming to me. I also renamed the molten lava hexes as Fire Spurts in my description.

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Zexion

Thank you so much for the tip. I always wanted the lava set, but I can't get my hands on one because of its discontinuity. What about the boiling lava? Paint spare flats red?

I would think a lava set wouldn't be hard to repaint at all. You could probably find a RotV set or a SotM set for about $20, and repaint some lava from there. I bet RotV has enough terrain for sure to repaint 2 entire VW sets. I'd just repaint the entire hexes with white primer, then red, then some dark grey on the tops. Molten lava should be an easy brighter red repaint of some water or swamp water tiles.

The next time I can get to Wal-Mart, I think I'm checking the MS prices and trying to do this.

[tcglkn]

Fire Swamp is a very nice map. I will try to play this map soon.

[killercactus]

I playtested Decline of Sight and Dune Buggy yesterday.

Game 1 on Decline of Sight:

Tandros
Erevan
Ana
Sharwin

vs.

Tor-Kul-Na
Nagrubs x2
Stingers x2

I played the heroes, and I played them poorly. My brother, playing the Marro, was frustrated by the LOS blockers, but his Stingers found a few ways to get off shots at my heroes, and he just tore through them. I think I could've played this army differently, and used the LOS blockers more to my advantage than I did. It also didn't help that the glyph turned out to be Common Attack. Even though I got decimated, I think the map did its job. The matchup and glyph were really bad for me.

Then, we played 2 games on Dune Buggy:

Khosumet - 75
Anubians x3 - 300
Badru x1 - 380

vs.

Su-Bak-Na - 160
Hounds x2 - 340
Marro Warriors - 390

I played Wolves and my brother again played Marro. This game was much closer - Anubians and Hounds went back and forth, with him adding a few potshots with the Warriors. He got the defense glyph first with a Hound, but I eventually killed it and took it. There was one turn where I rolled a 19 for Fury, which Khosumet made a 20 and I had high ground, throwing 10 dice at 3 different Hounds. I didn't kill any of them. That turned the game to his favor. He finished me off with a wounded SBN and a Hound left standing. The Hounds were a little frustrated moving through the hilly terrain, but still did fine. The Marro Warriors didn't dominate as much as I thought they might, thanks to the Wolves 6 movement and good defense. My brother also rolled like a Champ for Marro Plague. I liked this map so far.

Game 2:

Zelrig - 185
10th Regiment x3 - 410

vs

Cyprien - 150
Sonya - 195
Phantom Knights x3 - 415

I played Einar, and he played Utgar. Zelrig's job was to kill as many PK's as possible. He spread out his starting zone but Zelrig still killed 4 or 5 and put 2 wounds on Cyprien before going down. I thought I was in good shape with my 10th Regiment against the rest of his army, but Cyprien got some good rolls when he needed them, and the PK's didn't die quite fast enough. My range really helped on this map, but so did John's speed and Flying. I really thought I had it in the bag, but a couple of bad defense rolls here and there cost me. John won with 2 PK's and a heartbroken Sonya left.

I really liked the 2 maps, even if my brother handed me my butt 3 games in a row (and they were only the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th games he's ever played!)

[pauldragon]

Dune Buggy looks like crazy fun. I'll have to see if I have enough sand to build it. Sounds like it plays well, but it sucks that you lost 3 in a row to your bro.

I really love the look of Eldwyn's Forest, but I'll have to buy a few more RtFF sets before I can try it. Really nice.

My favorite is still Underground Oasis, and I like the minor changes you made. We'll be playing this map again soon.

Keep up the good work!

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by pauldragon

Dune Buggy looks like crazy fun. I'll have to see if I have enough sand to build it. Sounds like it plays well, but it sucks that you lost 3 in a row to your bro.

I really love the look of Eldwyn's Forest, but I'll have to buy a few more RtFF sets before I can try it. Really nice.

My favorite is still Underground Oasis, and I like the minor changes you made. We'll be playing this map again soon.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I'm really not worried about losing 3 games to John. I like losing to new players - it makes it more fun for them. I especially like losing to them when I'm actually trying to win. I consider myself a very good Scape player, and that 3rd game I had a very good army and I played it to win. I still lost, which tells me that my brother could have some serious skills if he keeps playing.

For Eldwyn Forest, I took a page out of Underground Oasis' book and used 24-hexers to cover empty space. It really lets you get more out of your terrain if you don't have to cover up hexes on Level 1. 4x RttFF is quite a lot, but I just love all those trees and a high bridge messing with sight lines. I'm such an evil map builder.

[killercactus]

I added Riverbed Plateau to the front page. I wanted to make a map just out of RotV, and again wanted to try to use the terrain to give heroes the advantage. This map makes it tough for commons to bring up reserves to the front lines because of the water and high ground. I can't wait to test it out!

[Zexion]

Looks good. Finally a map I can try. The map favors heroes more than squads, you say?

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Zexion

Looks good. Finally a map I can try. The map favors heroes more than squads, you say?

Well, really I would think it favors Uniques over hordes of Commons. I haven't tested the map yet, but the idea is that if some commons get over the river and onto the high ground and then die, the reinforcements have to again go through the river and climb the plateau before they're back in position, which will take a few turns. Uniques don't have to worry about reinforcements - once they get on the plateau, they're good until they're dead. D-E-D dead.

[Filthy the Clown]

Originally Posted by killercactus

Well, really I would think it favors Uniques over hordes of Commons. I haven't tested the map yet, but the idea is that if some commons get over the river and onto the high ground and then die, the reinforcements have to again go through the river and climb the plateau before they're back in position, which will take a few turns. Uniques don't have to worry about reinforcements - once they get on the plateau, they're good until they're dead. D-E-D dead.

I played a game on Riverbed Plateau last night (Battle Report). Fun map! The river crossing does indeed slow things down. I was fielding MRT, Romans, and Mittens.
Mittens + river crossing = good!
MRT + river crossing + scout movement bonus = good!
Roman legos + river crossing (and without Marcus) = bad!

It seems like a toss-up between moving everything up en masse, or rushing to the high ground and glyphs and hope that you won't need speedy reinforcements.

Flying units (and venocs) are going to have a field day on this map (Protectors and Atlaga come to mind). That being said, I was playing against a wolf army, and the extra move of my MRT (and the 6 range) helped me on the road to victory.

Unfortunately, I placed the glyphs on the high ground adjacent to your designated glyph spots. I will try another run with a different army, and the correct glyph placement.

Added bonus: the map fit perfectly on my coffee table, with just enough room for a cold beverage.

Cheers,
Filthy

PS-Keep the ROTV-only maps coming, please!

[killercactus]

Originally Posted by Filthy the Clown

[It seems like a toss-up between moving everything up en masse, or rushing to the high ground and glyphs and hope that you won't need speedy reinforcements.

That's exactly what I was going for - awesome! Thanks for trying the map out!

I think my next project is a SotM-only map, but I'll keep it in mind to jump back to RotV-only. I know that's a set that a lot of players have.