Some Random Thoughts

Hexify
I am a fan of gridded games because you don't have to fiddle with a ruler. As I was playing Spandau and Lewis yesterday,  I wondered if I could adapt it to a grid. I tried an experiment this morning with a couple of my rockets. Using a hex grid, I had to change the maneuver chart (turning in S&L uses 45 degree increments; I had to modify it to 60 degree increments).

Here are a few shots of the action:

The two rockets approach

They zoom in for head-on shots. Both ships are damaged.

Trying to turn around

The red rocket gets the advantage and tried a deflection shot. It misses.

After some more maneuvering, the rockets find themselves separating. They decide to break off.

I ran into a few issues:

• I used a smaller board than usual. This board was 8 x 8 inches. Yesterday I used a 10 x 16 inch board.
• My grid uses 1" squares whereas I use a scaled down ruler (20 cm to an inch) for my S&L games. As a result, the craft moved further on the board.
• The modified maneuver table drastically affected maneuverability. Here's a comparison of the allowable turns based on a die roll:
• S&L - 1-2 = 45 degrees, 3-4 = 90 degrees, 5-6 = 135 degrees, 7+ = 180 degrees
• Modified - 1-3 = 60 degrees, 4-6 = 120 degrees, 7+ = 180 degrees

Thus, for rolls of 3-6, the craft turns less than standard S&L.

As a result of these issues, the craft were far less maneuverable and tended to fly away from each other and off the board. I'll have some work cut out for me if I want to hexify S&L.

Pirate Plunder

My wife and I have been a bit lazy with gaming lately, We've been reluctant to pull out games, especially those with hefty set-up. As a result, we've been tending toward card games lately. Alas, I miss dice sometimes.

Anyway, I've been toying with the idea of designing a simple game using cards and dice. Last night I had an idea for such a game with a pirate theme. It takes some ideas from One Deck Dungeon. On the table, there will be 3 cards representing locations (such as a town, a deserted island, a fat merchant ship, etc.) Each card has a challenge that requires rolling dice. Win the challenge and you can draw from a treasure deck. There are 5 special treasures; get 3 to win the game. When a location is defeated, it is discarded and can be replaced by another from a locations deck. Players keep taking turns until someone gets 3 of the special treasures.

I'm currently working on the rules.