Throw your order markers away!

[DrakeNBake]

Here is a thought try taking out the order markers from the game. It makes the game go so much faster and the flow of play is intense. Works well with two players for a 1000 pt. game that goes well on a bigger map.
Try it sometime. You might like it.

[DarkSpade]

Problem is that it makes a lot of units over priced or just plain worthless.

[Troy Spiral]

How would this work in actual gameplay having no order markers? You just move whatever figure you want each turn?

[Fezzikthedoor]

Originally Posted by Troy Spiral

How would this work in actual gameplay having no order markers? You just move whatever figure you want each turn?

Badly. And not the way the designers intended. Just play the game, people, and trust that after millions of hours of playtesting (done by the consumers who have purchased it) that it works pretty well.

EDIT: That may have come off a little short tempered. Sorry 'bout that. If you're really curious, do a google search--the topic and several methods have been discussed in length on here before. Short version: some folks think it works ok for big battles, most folks think it just changes the game way too much to be a good idea.

[Troy Spiral]

I pondered it a bit. Seems like just "i order one army , you order one army" wouldnt be all that horribly game changing would it?

Just instead of being locked in for the next 3 turns , your choosing an army on the fly.


Random aside: "simultaneous order marker placement" seems bad to me. Far to wishy-washy of a rule, easily abused. But the other choice, rolling first to see who places ALL order markers seems to harsh for the person that wins the roll.

[Scath]

I have not even played Heroscape once, but I already do not like this idea. From reading the rules I think that order markers add a lot to strategy and tactics. For a simplified game you can house-rule it and I am sure that there are many kids who play Heroscape this way just to use their favourite character as often as they like. However, for the sake of simplifying the game to its backbone you can easily say... let us not build any map nor use any OM... just pick 2 or 3 units and let's roll.

[SoulfulKillingMachine]

Or you could use the X marker as a wildcard, or use two sets of markers to have two choices each turn, etc. There are many alternatives, but removing them altogether is like playing without a D20 and just assuming every power works every time.

[southwest ninja]

ive actually only played WITHOUT turn markers for the most part. its not bad at all. moves really fast and like stated make large point battles move much faster. i also think it brings alot more strategy into it because you cant even get a hint of what the enemy is going to do and vice versa. they could react to a trap a lot sooner than they could if using turn markers. we still go 3 rounds is a turn and roll for initative though.

[StealthSuitStanley]

Originally Posted by southwest ninja

ive actually only played WITHOUT turn markers for the most part. its not bad at all. moves really fast and like stated make large point battles move much faster. i also think it brings alot more strategy into it because you cant even get a hint of what the enemy is going to do and vice versa. they could react to a trap a lot sooner than they could if using turn markers. we still go 3 rounds is a turn and roll for initative though.

I usually play this way, except we roll for initiative once and that's how the game starts.

It is true that certain units, Spartacus, Dund, etc. that have abilities that relate to the order markers become overpriced, but we don't usually choose those units for games anyway.

In reality, I prefer this way, but I do play with an eight-year-old mostly. He usually makes really bad choices with his order markers so we just got rid of them altogether.

[southwest ninja]

Originally Posted by StealthSuitStanley

I usually play this way, except we roll for initiative once and that's how the game starts.

It is true that certain units, Spartacus, Dund, etc. that have abilities that relate to the order markers become overpriced, but we don't usually choose those units for games anyway.

In reality, I prefer this way, but I do play with an eight-year-old mostly. He usually makes really bad choices with his order markers so we just got rid of them altogether.

we used to just follow the initial initiative roll (sounds cool) but some ppl complained so we adjusted accordingly. and i feel the same way about characters like dund. i dont use them in game with turn markers in the first place so there is no loss there either.we actually have a lot variations on the rules. we determine height advantage by the figures head and not the base. it seems kinda silly to give drake height advantage over braxas for one hex when she is still cleary over his head. but that only comes into play if the base level is different. so in essance you need higher base and higher head.

[Riptide]

Originally Posted by SoulfulKillingMachine

Or you could use the X marker as a wildcard

This is the way that half of the group I play with uses the "X" marker... sort of. We use it as a 4th turn marker. I really think that taking the markers completely out would definitely lessen the ammount of strategery needed and kinda cheapen the experience for me.

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by southwest ninja

we determine height advantage by the figures head and not the base. it seems kinda silly to give drake height advantage over braxas for one hex when she is still cleary over his head. but that only comes into play if the base level is different. so in essance you need higher base and higher head.

Read this: http://www.heroscapers.com/community...ad.php?t=13252.

I've always played with order markers and always will. That's the way the game was designed to be played and it plays just fine. IMO, and no offense to anyone, on reason people don't use the order markers is because they can't deal with the strategy. You're supposed to play three moves ahead, it's up to you to determine the best course of action before the round starts. You lose the guy your next order marker was on, or your opponent got out of range? Oh well, adapt, that's what the game is about. It could happen to either player, and if it happens to you more often, then you know you need to get better at strategy (I know it happens to me more often than I would like).