Heroscape extended conquest campaign using Valhalla Map

[kenjib]

So, now that Hasbro has put out a map of Valhalla, we can start making rules for an extended conquest campaign. I was thinking something along the following:

Setup:
1. Each player gets one or more generals depending on number of players.
2. Each player has a starting region.
3. Each player takes turns claiming additional regions adjacent to a region they already control until the map is completely filled.
4. Each territory is initially garrisoned with 200 points worth of units.

Play:
1. At the beginning of each round, each player is given a number of points depending on which territories they control.
2. Players take turns (determined by die roll) spending these points. Each point can be used to a) draft additional points into a territory at a 1-for-1 cost, b) redeploy units from one territory to another adjacent one at a 10-for-1 cost, or c) build or upgrade fortifications at a cost of 100 for each level of fortification (watchtower, keep, castle)
3. Each player in turn then has the option of attacking from one of their territories into an adjacent territory.
4. If successful they keep any conquered fortifications and must divide their army to hold both territories.

Attacking:
1. Attacking initiates a standard Heroscape battle. The attacker gets to choose the map used from among those available to the territory and it's borders on the Valhalla map, and the defender gets the first choice of starting zone with the addition of any previously installed fortifications to the chosen zone. Regions without a battlefield listed indicate selection from a handful of generic battlefields (or maybe more maps can be made for/assigned to various regions).
2. Units are selected from a draft, but all sides can only select units from the generals they control. The defender always gets to choose whether they draft first or second. In addition, any unique units, once killed in battle, can not be drafted again for the remainder of the game.
3. The attacker or defender may issue a retreat at any time. When they do this, the battle ends, they may move any units within their starting zone to an adjacent territory they control, and all other units are lost.
4. The point value of any lost units are subtracted from the points allocated to the relevant region.

Winning:
The game is over when either one player controls all territories, or all of his opponents concede.

[jbbnbsmith]

I think this is a very good idea, but I see it taking a huge amount of time to play due to the time involved in building a map, drafting armies, etc.

However, I think this would be a killer computer game. There is the grand scale strategic aspect of drafting a true army (huge point values), organizing your army into divisions ( Jotun, three squads of orcs, Grimnak, and Tornak will hold Nostraland etc), and moving your divisions around the board (map of Valhalla). Then whenever a battle begins, you are taken to a 3-D map of that particular area. Battle it out per normal HS rules, but with the option to retreat your troops if desired. Capturing and holding wellsprings allows you to support existing army or draft replacements. Game ends when one player controls a certain number of wellsprings.

So, there you go. Who wants to start programming it?

[bluekitsune13]

Sounds fun if there was a long term time investment. It would definatley be worth looking into.

[kenjib]

Yeah, I'm thinking it would be something you would do with someone you play often with over the course of months. I might try it with my nephew when my castle comes in.

[Annerios]

Having the map, especially with the square grid certainly helps with setting the territories, etc.

It would be great to have a computerized game version, as jbbnbsmith suggests, but if not, it would be nice to use the map on a PC to keep track of the territories controlled etc, since a lot of that will often change and writing all over maps is messy.

There is a PC game named Jagged Alliance 2 that serves as a good model of what you guys are suggesting. It has a square map and in squares with towns or landmarks worthy or control, you fight, liberate them and then can place red shirts there to guard the area, while your Merc groups are on the move, freeing more towns, etc.

The enemy can attack towns while your heroes are away and you can lose them, so you have to plan accordingly.

Your resources increase as you control mines and sell equipment from dead troops, etc. JA2 probably has more detail than would be needed for HS, but it is a great starting point.

One thing to keep in mind is that some commons, like orcs, would almost be inexhaustible in supply. Utgar has thousands of Orcs. By comparison, Jandar has only 200 Sentinels in his northern army. A little research would have to be done to determine when certain commons should be exhausted in supply. Of course once a unique is dead is it out of the game permanently, so giving the ability to retreat to fight another day is crucial.

Giving the victory depending on who controls a certain number of wellsprings is a good idea, since that is what the battle is all about. The"kill them all" scenario does not work that well for a campaign due to the vast discrepancy between the size of the armies.

Some thought should be given to a method for allowing the drafting of units aligned to other generals. In a two player campaign the players representing Jandar and Utgar should be able to draft from the units of the other 3 generals. Perhaps if you want to draft a Ullar unit, you need to roll the D20 and refer to a chart with modifiers based on whether you have killed that general's units in the past and other factors. As the game progresses, your actions in the game may make you unable to draft from a certain general. That keeps the game interesting for two players. With 5 players (if you can get that many for a game this massive) then the alliances and betrayals are controlled by the players (which is even more fun).

It may also be an interesting for advanced players to make the glyphs or items in the game transferrable. So, if you defeat Drake, for example, you could take his Katana of Thorian and give it to another hero (or assign it to a new custom hero). The placement of the glyphs in certain territories could make it worth fighting in battlefields that don't have a wellspring to control if you get to keep them.

With this style of game, you can expect some unbalanced battles. I have had two mercs get ambushed in Jagged Alliance 2 by a bunch of enemy soldiers when I was low on ammo. It sure is satisfying when you can outmaneuver your opponent and kill all of his troops in that type of scenario!

[kenjib]

Those are some awesome ideas Annerios. I especially like changing the victory condition to something about wellsprings and the shifting alliances of the neutral generals. Games are always more interesting when there is more than one resource to strategize over. In this case you would have wellsprings, territories, and alliances. This would allow the different players to take different strategies toward victory, adding a bit of depth to the game. Great stuff.

I was also thinking of making glyphs something you could buy. So, for example, you could spend 100 draft points to drop a +1 defense glyph in one of your territories. When a battle begins in which one or more of the involved regions has a glyph, you can put it anywhere you want within a certain buffer outside of your starting zone. Unlike castles, however, these are one shots deals that can only be used for the next battle. Obviously, it would be somewhere much easier for you to grab and hold than your opponent.

[Chimpy]

Here are some Ideas for allies and mercenaries:


You can "lease" heros/units to allies. They can be leased for control of a wellspring, country, rescoures or other heros.

Get an increse of movement, attack, and defense when in ally territory.

You can hire mercanies. These mercanies would either be area specific, or would travel from land to land. Either way you would have to have a hero in the area to recruit the units. Obsidian guards and Dzu-teh would count as mercenaries. You would recruit them by either controlling a obsidian sacred lava stone (as is the case for Obsidians) or controlling a certain tundra. (for the Dzu-teh)

[happyjosiah]

This sounds really cool!

[johnny139]

I've been doing somethign similar, but on a smaller scale. It takes place on teh southern border of Jutanguard, and it has a treasonous Taelord and some troops trying to invade Ullar's homeland.

If I had the time, money, and pieces, than I would probably do a world-wide campain.