Ulysses' Maps

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

2 new maps up!

Drider
Requires: 1 BftU and 1 FotA

Fen Hydro
Requires: 1 SotM and 1 TJ

 

[Sir Heroscape]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Significantly better! Loving the look of Drider!

Fen Hydro could you point out the Startzones? It's not immediately obvious and I'm concerned the glyphs will be to close to the SZ.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Significantly better! Loving the look of Drider!

Fen Hydro could you point out the Startzones? It's not immediately obvious and I'm concerned the glyphs will be to close to the SZ.

Thanks! I've had some pretty fun games on it. Definitely plays much better.

Here's SZs for Fen Hydro (bad part about real photos unless I get some little stickers or something).

It's also been a surprisingly fun hap for having those prominent hills on either side. Seems like those who tried podding up there wouldn't last for more than a couple OMs before reinforcements could help out from the SZs. This of course also fits the terrain requirements for the competition so any suggestions are welcome as always.

Edit: Looks like there are quite a few SotM + TJ maps being submitted for the ARV competition and I've only just thrown this one together so this is not necessarily going to be my second submission, but it really has been an exciting map to play my last couple games.

 

[Flash_19]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Drider is looking much better! I like what you've done with it!

Fen Hydro is a cool concept! I'm gunna have to think about it a little bit, I only had a minute to glance. I'm concerned about developing out of the start zone and what that's going to look like on the map, but overall, I think it's got potential! I'll think about it some more and let you know.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Drider is looking much better! I like what you've done with it!

Fen Hydro is a cool concept! I'm gunna have to think about it a little bit, I only had a minute to glance. I'm concerned about developing out of the start zone and what that's going to look like on the map, but overall, I think it's got potential! I'll think about it some more and let you know.

Yay! I'm glad I've made progress with it. It's certainly been more fun to play on and through the various revisions it's really drawn play out to the flanks more and more, which are the plays I've enjoyed most on Drider.

Fen Hydro all started with the SZs and trying to really stretch the terrain. There are gaps in lower levels of this build that I never thought would hold, but after many plays and cats walking across I can confidently say, it's rather sturdy. The start zones are very conscious in this map. It may be tempting to have your melee or range ready to charge a hill, but if you don't invest units towards the single swamp path on the outskirts, you either lose getting the glyph or the opportunity to contest it. It kind of played against our 'grab the hill' instincts and a surprising amount of our games were won or lost near the flats with units shifting around each other trying to eek out an advantage from height or/and jungle.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Figured I'd post my outtake from the Spartan Scrolls competition. The glyph positions were inspired by some of the old BoV and Gen Con maps. Never was quite happy with it after a few revisions, so I figured I'd throw it up here if anyone wants to offer suggestions or tells me to scrap it all together

I bring you Descent at Beyst

 

[superfrog]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

That map name

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

That map name

Thought you folks might enjoy that hahahaha

 

[Flash_19]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

That map name

Thought you folks might enjoy that hahahaha

That's hilarious!

I've definitely got a few thoughts for ya. First off, it looks really cool! The aesthetic is awesome. As of right now these are my biggest concerns:
1) The power of dragons on this map. Movement between the highest points on the map is very easy for Nilfheim (including dropping from the high position down to grab Kelda)
2) Building off number 1 - For a strong ranged and flying hero like Nilfheim, having two Keldas on the board that are so easily accessed by coming off those really high points makes that hero so much more powerful on this map.
3) The locations of height adjacent to the 6-hex glacier can be problematic because people load up figures on that height, and it turns into a game of "who's going to come down from their perch first?". This could be solved by making the height distribution not quite so "yours and mine" if you know what I mean.

That's all I got time for right now. I'll let you know if I think of more stuff to share!

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

I've definitely got a few thoughts for ya. First off, it looks really cool! The aesthetic is awesome. As of right now these are my biggest concerns:
1) The power of dragons on this map. Movement between the highest points on the map is very easy for Nilfheim (including dropping from the high position down to grab Kelda)
2) Building off number 1 - For a strong ranged and flying hero like Nilfheim, having two Keldas on the board that are so easily accessed by coming off those really high points makes that hero so much more powerful on this map.
3) The locations of height adjacent to the 6-hex glacier can be problematic because people load up figures on that height, and it turns into a game of "who's going to come down from their perch first?". This could be solved by making the height distribution not quite so "yours and mine" if you know what I mean.

That's all I got time for right now. I'll let you know if I think of more stuff to share!

Thanks for your sage words Flash!
I had been concerned about range on this map as well, but it's even more troubling thinking of playing against Nilf while he joyfully flies around healing and grabbing any prominent height in one move! I may pull the level 4 2-hex snow tiles on either side of the 6-hex glacier and plop them on the 2-hex sand tile islands, definitely do away with the Keldas, and perhaps throw balanced power glyphs in the water near where they had been. That is probably just the beginning of the changes I'll want to make. This one's been built a time or two, but no playtesting yet.
Thanks again for your ever valuable insights!

Side note: I set up Battlefield 23 today between work tasks (gotta love working from home) and I can't help but wonder if you made that whole backstory based on the VS default naming of your 23rd unnamed .hsc file. If so, that's pretty hilarious. If not, still a great looking map. Hopefully I can coax the wife to run a game on it tonight.

 

[Flash_19]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Thanks again for your ever valuable insights!

Side note: I set up Battlefield 23 today between work tasks (gotta love working from home) and I can't help but wonder if you made that whole backstory based on the VS default naming of your 23rd unnamed .hsc file. If so, that's pretty hilarious. If not, still a great looking map. Hopefully I can coax the wife to run a game on it tonight.

How dare you accuse me of something so repulsive!!!

...yep, that's pretty much exactly how it happened.



That combined with the fact that my favorite song of all time is a song called 23 by Jimmy Eat World - that was just icing on the cake. If you play, let me know what you think. I always appreciate additional perspectives! I'm looking forward to your next draft of the map! Always fun when the name of a map has some sort of fun backstory! Can't say I've ever named one because of a troll on Facebook though...

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

I played around with Descent at Beyst some more today.

• Kelda glyphs have been replaced by random power glyphs and lowered into the water
• Central 6-hex glacier has been raised several levels and the surrounding snow and ice smoothed out
• Walls have been rotated and placed to block fire from level 4 perch
• 'Moat' moved back and ice added to make contesting podding on the outskirts a little easier
• Added treasure glyphs because, c'mon, treasure is rad

Descent at Beyst v2 pdf

GIF:

Spoiler Alert!

This wins my personal best for biggest gaps in sub-levels for better or worse (it's stable, I swear!)

Spoiler Alert!

Hopefully these are actual improvements and not just me creating problems in even more areas I need to playtest for sure.

EDIT: Playtested this recently and all I'll say is the title is still appropriate. It wasn't terrible, but there wasn't much initiative to grab the two-hex snow in the 'moat', but that might change in a game with more ranged units I suppose. Most of the decision making was a little too straightforward for me to say it's a good map. I'll probably put this on the back burner or maybe recycle its footprint for a Hive map instead considering I've got a good place for it.
.
.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (2 New Maps 4/2020)

Guardians of the Forgotten Fortress Scenario<--PDF with rules

Scenario Rules

Spoiler Alert!

Guardians of the Forgotten Fortress
Requires: 2 RotV, 2 SotM, 2 TT, 2 VW, 2 TJ, 4 RttFF, 2 FotA
Set up:
Each player drafts a 500pt 20 space army. These will be referred to as "Drafted" figures. Players may not draft Dzu-Teh, Obsidian Guards, Marro Drudge, or Brandis Skyhunter. It is also recommended that players do not draft dragon units.

Place 6 Obsidian Guards on the red start zone spaces, 6 Marro Drudge on the green start zone spaces, 6 Dzu-Teh on the blue start zone spaces, and 2 Brandis Skyhunters on the orange start zone spaces. Provide one army card for each Guard unit for each player.

Place 10 power glyphs, symbol side up, where indicated by the ‘?’. These will be teleportation locations as defined below.

Player One starts in the yellow starting zone and controls their respective Guards (Dzu-Teh, Marro Drudge, Brandis Skyhunter, and Obsidian Guards) on the westerly half of the map.

Player Two starts in the purple starting zone and controls their respective Guards (Dzu-Teh, Marro Drudge, Brandis Skyhunter, and Obsidian Guards) on the easterly half of the map.

Special rules:
Each player receives two additional X OMs (each player should have 1, 2, 3, and three Xs total) which may only be used to take a turn on their Guard figure’s army cards. One X OM may be used before or after the controlling player's normal turn. X OMs can not be used on Drafted army cards. Guards are considered to be part of their respective players' army. A player may continue to place X OMs on Guard units even if all of their drafted units have been destroyed.

Guards’ Domain:
Each Guard unit has limited mobility.
Dzu-Teh may only occupy snow spaces, ice spaces, or spaces adjacent to a glacier.
Obsidian Guards may only occupy Lava Field spaces or Molten Lava spaces.
Marro Drudge may only occupy Swamp Water spaces or Swamp spaces surrounded by swamp water in their starting zones.
Brandis Skyhunter may only occupy spaces on the highest playable map level.

At the end of each round each player tallies:
1 point for every Drafted figure occupying a space that any of their opponent's Guard figures could occupy (any space an opponent's Guard may legally occupy).
Tally an additional point if that figure is on a lava tile (after rolling for lava damage).
At the end of each round players also subtract one point for every Guard figure present in their opponent's army and subtract one additional point for Brandis Skyhunter (2 total).

Teleportation: The glyphs on this map only represent teleportation locations and are never turned power side up. Figures may move over glyphs without stopping. Any Dafted figure landing on a power glyph may choose to teleport to any other power glyph by placing their figure on any unoccupied glyph. If you choose to teleport through a glyph occupied by an opponent's figure, you must land on an unoccupied space adjacent to the glyph and your opponent may roll one unblockable attack. You may not begin to teleport from a glyph occupied by an opponent's figure. Guards may occupy glyphs, but may not teleport.

Objective:
If all of a players army is destroyed (Drafted and Guards) the game immediately ends. The player with the highest score wins. Scores may be negative and you may still win even if your army is destroyed.
If both players still have figures in play at the end of round 7, the player with the highest score wins.

I've been having a lot of fun on this scenario that started as a random free build a while back. It has some heavy terrain requirements, expects you to have certain preset figures, and the scenario rules are, how did my wife put it? Oh, yes 'convoluted' Needless to say I'll be thoroughly amazed if anyone builds and plays this, but I'll leave it here for posterity and as map porn. Enjoy!

Edit: missed defining some terms and what happens when an army is destroyed before the end of round 7. Updated thread, will update build file soon.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 6/2020)

Westonian Weald

Been playing around with this one for a few days now. There are definitely some tough decisions to make with development here due to the water and bridge walls. I was trying to lessen the draw to the north and south rock podding zones to help even out the action on the map. I've tried to mitigate most common problems like Z-bomb and Nilf hopping, though Raelin can certainly get some height on turn one. I'm hoping the road will help units engage most figs on height expediently. As always I'd love any feedback!

 

[Sheep]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

I really like this map! I think these edits would make it flow smoother:

This evens out the glyph movement to 11 from each SZ. Not ideal, but certainly better than a 9-13 split. The other edit makes the trees easier to maneuver around.

If you have 2 more single hexes, I think I would lift the water up to the same level and throw the T-Glyph in there.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

I really like this map! I think these edits would make it flow smoother:

Oops, good call on the glyph, that was last minute and I wasn't thinking about how it choked it up there. Funny you pointed out the single grass hexes too, those have been moved a few times already and I think I agree with your take. Great suggestions, thanks!


EDIT: Revised per heroscaper2010 suggestions.

 

[Sheep]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

EDIT: Revised per heroscaper2010 suggestions.

Looks like you accidentally moved the wrong one grass tile down on the upper side.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

Looks like you accidentally moved the wrong one grass tile down on the upper side.

Son of a! I played around a bit before I decided to go with it exactly as you recommended and didn't fix the north side before I snapped the new pic. It might stay that way in the picture but it'll be correct in the build file, which for some reason didn't update like it should've. Thanks again!

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

Made some revisions to Westonian Weald after playtesting. Mainly, the road has been rerouted to provide a little better flow as the the previous pathing kept leaving us in a position where it was just as helpful to bypass the road to get where the action was. I also removed the single-hex grass pathway out of the SZ between the two water hexes and combined the water hexes. This map certainly places some restrictions on developing out of the SZ, but I'm hoping those restrictions will both make for interesting decision making and balance range vs melee on this rather long tournament style map.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 8/2020)

Threw a map up I've been tinkering with. Based on the footprint of Gorky Park by Shedim.

GPS New 10/2020!
Requires: 1 RotV and 2 RttFF
Based on Gorky Park by Shedim Kabal

 

[Sir Heroscape]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 10/2020)

I REALLY like this map!!! the only thing I'd change is I'd switch those glyphs. I think that it's a bit too OP for one of the glyphs to be accessible Turn 1 by either side. While the opponent can bring forces up to contest it, it's too immediate of a bonus to start the game.

Just think rats. Rats would be really OP on this map cause they can take the move glyph and never give it up and charge the map. Everything else about this map I like...but I think the glyphs need to switch places. Especially cause Wannok doesn't activate till the end of the round, it won't mean anything to take it till the end of the round.

I do love this map though.

EDIT: I just built the map cause I was so excited about playing on it, and realized the move glyph is on a grass hex...so clearly you can't grab it turn 1 unless you have 8 move...which is like 3 units in the game lol...so I think the glyphs are fine where they are. Disregard my comments.

 

[Flash_19]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 10/2020)

I REALLY like this map!!! the only thing I'd change is I'd switch those glyphs. I think that it's a bit too OP for one of the glyphs to be accessible Turn 1 by either side. While the opponent can bring forces up to contest it, it's too immediate of a bonus to start the game.

Just think rats. Rats would be really OP on this map cause they can take the move glyph and never give it up and charge the map. Everything else about this map I like...but I think the glyphs need to switch places. Especially cause Wannok doesn't activate till the end of the round, it won't mean anything to take it till the end of the round.

I do love this map though.

EDIT: I just built the map cause I was so excited about playing on it, and realized the move glyph is on a grass hex...so clearly you can't grab it turn 1 unless you have 8 move...which is like 3 units in the game lol...so I think the glyphs are fine where they are. Disregard my comments.

I was wondering about that same thing too, Sir H. Glad the move glyph is on a grass hex.

Looks great Ulysses!

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 10/2020)

Thanks guys!
Yeah, Valda is very consciously not in reach on the first activation for most figures. I've had some fun playtesting this. Lots of hiding from the perches by tucking behind the large tree near Wannok and rushing the glyph or its holders from cover. We also liked the setup strategy placing figures in the SZ, deciding who was starting with road bonus, who'd brave the front line in front of the walls, etc.

Let me know if you get a game in SirH!

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 10/2020)

I don't expect to see this in any tourneys, but it's been a fun casual map so I thought I'd release it into the wilds of the forums for our children's children to not look at

Riparian New 11/2020
Requires: 2 SotM, 1 VW, and 1 TJ

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Ulysses' Maps (New Map 11/2020)

A new riff on an old map by a cartographical legend. A reimagining of Gamebear's "Marpesia's Glory".
Requires: 1 SotM, 1 FotA, and 1 TJ
Marpesia's Glory reimagined by Ulysses