Necronic
2008-10-28, 05:31 PM
Me and my brother have been tinkering around with a board game idea for quite some time. I am at a bit of a hurdle now, due to some design issues I don't know how to get over since this is my first one. My other brother told me that the best thing for doing this kind of stuff is getting involved in a community, so here I am. I know this isn't really a board game community, but its close enough for me (and hopefully you).
Here's the design.
Title: The Dead Shall Rise Again!
Style: Axis and Allies style combat, troop/resource generation, and movement. Settler's type cards to be used in battle or other areas. Victory Point Victory.
Setting: Civil War. With Zombies.
Players: 2
Philosophy: The civil war was one of the most famous modern wars ever fought by means of attrition. The concept of the meat grinder fits very well in this war. This game forces people to fight the civil war differently, because large numbers of casualties will lead to large numbers of zombies. Also, due to the nature of the game humor is very important and a tongue in cheek attitude will be present in the entire game.
Play Time: Shooting for 1-1:30 hours. Requires keeping the game simple.
General DesignThe idea is that the zombies will appear after the first couple of turns. At this point they will be small in numbers, but due to the rules that affect them they will grow until they become a serious issue for everyone. At this point the logical question is "Why would you continue to fight over slavery if their are walking dead everywhere?" The answer is that you wouldn't, the game is ended after a fixed number of turns and then a victor is determined based on Victory Points, which are gained or lost based on actions like conquering territory, fending off (or abandoning your population to) zombies, using holy or immoral cards, etc.. This Victory Point system will represent the image of strength and leadership that the new leader of the union will require to fight the invading zombie hordes. Basically it comes down to a moral(e) victory.
Zombies themselves will not be playable. They will be controlled by a simple logic that will be played out during a phase in every game turn.
Beginning the turn that they become "in play" they will be generated from the dead of any combat (after the combat), and may also generate by feeding off of the local population. If they are ever in a region that has no military presence then they will grow, feeding off of the people and if they actually eat all of the people in the region (determined by resource number of the region) which then makes the region a "Blighted Zone" which will then constantly generate zombies, generate no resources for the owner (becomes neutral). These Blighted Zones may be recaptured but only ever brought up to half population/resource. They will still generate zombies.
Once a region reaches a certain number of zombies then a number of them will move to surrounding regions, spreading the terror!
At the beginning they will be easily dealt with, but over time the hope is to see them as a significant threat to both players.
Zombies have a special combat mechanic which will be outlined later.
Union/Confederacy Based on the victory point system their main goal will always be to conquer the other player. This is to avoid people just focusing on the zombies.
Units Due to the desire to keep the game simple (as well as the lack of variety in warfare) there are only 3 units. The cards will be used to develop more of a variety in the warfare.
Infantry - Defense unit. Cheap, and fodder.
A: 6
D: 5
Special: May be supported by artillery.
Cavalry - The assault unit. Expensive, but fast and deadly.
A: 4
D: 6
Special: May move 2 regions in a turn.
Artillery - Supports infantry
A: special
D: special
Special: Each artillery unit can be attached to 2 infantry units, increasing its attack and defensive value by 1. They cannot be destroyed like a normal unit, and can be captured. A retreating army may not retreat with its artillery, but may opt to destroy it.
Combat: Combat works similarly to Axis and Allies, with a few noted exceptions. Zombies are the most important difference so I will adress them first.
Most important: Zombies are ALWAYS considered the attacker. Psychologically zombies have no psychology. They are not scared by people charging at them, they have no ranks. They just come towards you. Always coming towards you. Until they die. This means that yes, cavalry are almost always useless against them (with a couple cards causing exceptions).
Combat: Zombies act as a third (npc) player in combat, who at the beginning will equally split their forces against the players. Each PC player chooses (in secret) at the beginning of each combat round which troops will face what enemy (either player or zed). For that round the combats are considered seperate, so casualties caused by zed may not be taken in the army fighting humans.
Zombies have a starting attack value of 6, but with each turn it gets better by 1. This represents the fact that at the beginning, they are in the distance, but that they are constantly moving towards you, and if they end up on top of you they will devour EVERYONE. If the other PC is wiped out, then their zombies start in on you (haven't decided if their attack value should reset or not).
This means that each player has to make the choice as to who to fight. Do I know I am going to loose, and want to take out as many of those union scum as I can, weakening their chances to handle the remaining zed? Do I know I am going to win, so I can smash the confederates as fast as possible and then deal with zed. Do I not know how this might turn out, and have to hope that I don't end up with one of these armies too powerful, too late? Do I only have cavalry? Uh oh....
Lots of fun (I have playtested this and it is really quite a lot of fun).
Of course, not all combat will be three way. Hopefully you can figure out how else it might go based on Axis and Allies.
There is a lot more I could elaborate on here, but my hands are cramping and there is one more thing I want to talk about
cards Cards can be bought using the resources you gain each turn (haven't covered resources yet, but similar to A&A), or possibly won for free for doing certain actions. Cards are the wild card of any combat. They may even cut your breaks for no good reason (jk). They are also the chief source of humor.
Here are some examples.
Virgin Sacrifice By sacrificing a virgin in the senate floor you are able to move up to 8 zombies.
Roman Tactics You stake out your own wounded when retreating to keep the zombies from following your retreating troops (a mechanic I haven't covered yet).
Bone Saw Your casualties have a lower chance of coming back as zombies for this combat.
Off with their heads Your Cavalry whip out their cutlasses and put the weeks of practice chopping watermelons apart to use. They get to use their attack value against zombies for this combat.
Ah....and here is a drawing for the "Virgin Sacrifice" card
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/409/sirthatsabutterknifelow6sf.jpg
Here's the design.
Title: The Dead Shall Rise Again!
Style: Axis and Allies style combat, troop/resource generation, and movement. Settler's type cards to be used in battle or other areas. Victory Point Victory.
Setting: Civil War. With Zombies.
Players: 2
Philosophy: The civil war was one of the most famous modern wars ever fought by means of attrition. The concept of the meat grinder fits very well in this war. This game forces people to fight the civil war differently, because large numbers of casualties will lead to large numbers of zombies. Also, due to the nature of the game humor is very important and a tongue in cheek attitude will be present in the entire game.
Play Time: Shooting for 1-1:30 hours. Requires keeping the game simple.
General DesignThe idea is that the zombies will appear after the first couple of turns. At this point they will be small in numbers, but due to the rules that affect them they will grow until they become a serious issue for everyone. At this point the logical question is "Why would you continue to fight over slavery if their are walking dead everywhere?" The answer is that you wouldn't, the game is ended after a fixed number of turns and then a victor is determined based on Victory Points, which are gained or lost based on actions like conquering territory, fending off (or abandoning your population to) zombies, using holy or immoral cards, etc.. This Victory Point system will represent the image of strength and leadership that the new leader of the union will require to fight the invading zombie hordes. Basically it comes down to a moral(e) victory.
Zombies themselves will not be playable. They will be controlled by a simple logic that will be played out during a phase in every game turn.
Beginning the turn that they become "in play" they will be generated from the dead of any combat (after the combat), and may also generate by feeding off of the local population. If they are ever in a region that has no military presence then they will grow, feeding off of the people and if they actually eat all of the people in the region (determined by resource number of the region) which then makes the region a "Blighted Zone" which will then constantly generate zombies, generate no resources for the owner (becomes neutral). These Blighted Zones may be recaptured but only ever brought up to half population/resource. They will still generate zombies.
Once a region reaches a certain number of zombies then a number of them will move to surrounding regions, spreading the terror!
At the beginning they will be easily dealt with, but over time the hope is to see them as a significant threat to both players.
Zombies have a special combat mechanic which will be outlined later.
Union/Confederacy Based on the victory point system their main goal will always be to conquer the other player. This is to avoid people just focusing on the zombies.
Units Due to the desire to keep the game simple (as well as the lack of variety in warfare) there are only 3 units. The cards will be used to develop more of a variety in the warfare.
Infantry - Defense unit. Cheap, and fodder.
A: 6
D: 5
Special: May be supported by artillery.
Cavalry - The assault unit. Expensive, but fast and deadly.
A: 4
D: 6
Special: May move 2 regions in a turn.
Artillery - Supports infantry
A: special
D: special
Special: Each artillery unit can be attached to 2 infantry units, increasing its attack and defensive value by 1. They cannot be destroyed like a normal unit, and can be captured. A retreating army may not retreat with its artillery, but may opt to destroy it.
Combat: Combat works similarly to Axis and Allies, with a few noted exceptions. Zombies are the most important difference so I will adress them first.
Most important: Zombies are ALWAYS considered the attacker. Psychologically zombies have no psychology. They are not scared by people charging at them, they have no ranks. They just come towards you. Always coming towards you. Until they die. This means that yes, cavalry are almost always useless against them (with a couple cards causing exceptions).
Combat: Zombies act as a third (npc) player in combat, who at the beginning will equally split their forces against the players. Each PC player chooses (in secret) at the beginning of each combat round which troops will face what enemy (either player or zed). For that round the combats are considered seperate, so casualties caused by zed may not be taken in the army fighting humans.
Zombies have a starting attack value of 6, but with each turn it gets better by 1. This represents the fact that at the beginning, they are in the distance, but that they are constantly moving towards you, and if they end up on top of you they will devour EVERYONE. If the other PC is wiped out, then their zombies start in on you (haven't decided if their attack value should reset or not).
This means that each player has to make the choice as to who to fight. Do I know I am going to loose, and want to take out as many of those union scum as I can, weakening their chances to handle the remaining zed? Do I know I am going to win, so I can smash the confederates as fast as possible and then deal with zed. Do I not know how this might turn out, and have to hope that I don't end up with one of these armies too powerful, too late? Do I only have cavalry? Uh oh....
Lots of fun (I have playtested this and it is really quite a lot of fun).
Of course, not all combat will be three way. Hopefully you can figure out how else it might go based on Axis and Allies.
There is a lot more I could elaborate on here, but my hands are cramping and there is one more thing I want to talk about
cards Cards can be bought using the resources you gain each turn (haven't covered resources yet, but similar to A&A), or possibly won for free for doing certain actions. Cards are the wild card of any combat. They may even cut your breaks for no good reason (jk). They are also the chief source of humor.
Here are some examples.
Virgin Sacrifice By sacrificing a virgin in the senate floor you are able to move up to 8 zombies.
Roman Tactics You stake out your own wounded when retreating to keep the zombies from following your retreating troops (a mechanic I haven't covered yet).
Bone Saw Your casualties have a lower chance of coming back as zombies for this combat.
Off with their heads Your Cavalry whip out their cutlasses and put the weeks of practice chopping watermelons apart to use. They get to use their attack value against zombies for this combat.
Ah....and here is a drawing for the "Virgin Sacrifice" card
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/409/sirthatsabutterknifelow6sf.jpg