Ollie's Maps. New map 12/1/11.

[kriegskeks]

The map looks interesting. I was playing with the idea of lava start zones too. Right now I'm trying to make a small map with just 3 expansion packs and no master set.

[ollie]

The Playgrounds of Valhalla have inspired me to dust off a few old concepts. While I have higher dreams for the idea encapsulated in this new map, I think this is fun and playable as it stands and I hope it inspires some similar, but better, attempts on the same theme.

Originally Posted by ollie

Ruff Stuff



Theme song by Gomez.

Two players, 400-600 point armies, 24 hex start zones, kill 'em all. Heavy snow, slippery ice.
Required Sets: SotM, BftU, Lava, RttFF, TT, Jungle.

I didn't say in the build instrucitons, but it's heavy snow, slippery ice, hot lava, wet water and so on. The works.

Heh, it's a mess isn't it? Here's what I was thinking:

We have a bunch of cool game tiles that both look thematic and have interesting game influences. The look is superficial; the gameplay is what makes Heroscape great. Therefore, screw the look. Put the game tiles together with no thought other than gameplay. I think this map will generate interesting play (I haven't built or tested it yet).

I'd hate to see every map looking like this one. Aesthetics are important. However, having this map, or a similarly motivated better one, show up at a tournament would please me. Nyys's Contradiction is the closest I've seen at a tournament. Are there other similar maps out there?

As for those higher dreams I talked about at the start of the post, I'd love to add much more asymmetry (but maintain pseudo-symmetry for gameplay) and make the road tiles do something useful. Get a honking great hive on there too. Expect another map or two from me in this vein.

On the musical front, I was quite happy to be able to use a misspelled title to go with a map that goes against heroscapers.com convention, given our collective preference for correct grammar and such. I guess I'll turn to Slade if I make another like this. I'm also happy to get a Gomez song enmapped. Possibly my favourite extant band, and one of the best live acts I've seen.

[nyys]

Contradiction immediately came to mind when I first saw the picture. I'm not sure this one sits well with me aesthetically (like you said), but if it plays like a great map...

Hmmm... maybe the next terrain expansion should come with all white Dry Erase tiles and a bunch of markers. Build the profile first then fill (color) in the type of terrain.

[Riggler]

Ollie,

I'd play the ugliest map ever, and I'd do it over and over, if had exciting gameplay (and was asymmetrical....maybe with split start zones)

[ollie]

New map!

Originally Posted by ollie

Mole Hills: Hellbound (a mod of Jonathan's original Mole Hills).


Theme song by The Breeders.

Two players, 400-600 point armies, 24 hex start zones, two optional glyphs, kill 'em all.
Required sets: RotV, BftU (shadow tiles only), RttFF (small trees only), Lava x2.

This one is a mod of Jonathan's classic Mole Hills. One of my favourite maps. I've regularly played a version that is essentially like this. The only untested part is the addition of shadow tiles. As the water barrier sometimes gives a ranged army a little more of an edge than usual, I'm confident that it will play well.

It's screaming out for a buddy map, and that is probably going to be my next project. Left over from the build requirements there is all of a BftU except the shadow tiles, a whole lot (more than half?) of an RotV including all the water, the road and large tree from RttFF, and even a little bit of lava (a seven hex lava field and a bunch of molten lava tiles).

[ollie]

New map.

Originally Posted by ollie

Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight


Theme song by The Wonder Stuff (I couldn't find the actual track so the link is the title track from the album it's on).

Two players, 24-hex startzones, 400-600pts, two random glyphs, kill 'em all.
Required Sets: BftU, SotM, FotA. (Note for symmetry freaks: you can switch out the rock outcrops for a spare hive if you have one.)

This started as a reworking of Fists of Fury to make it playable, but I kept tweaking it and it doesn't look much like the original anymore. I haven't played on it yet; if anyone gives it a try please let me know.

[Darkmage7a]

Looks cool Ollie, nice use of uncapped pillars. You're the only person I know who gives each map a theme song. Excellent touch. If uncapped pillars reallly catch on maybe someone will start a dedicated thread, who knows.

[Killer Lawnmower]

Looks nice Ollie!

[ollie]

Thanks both!

[tomcollins2000]

Nice job I like it.

[ollie]

Thanks!

[Kroz]

I love your take on Molehills. It makes you think twice about taking height.