Remember the Fallen

 

And the Winner Is . . . !

 I managed to complete the third season of my "chariot" races. I'm still using scratch-built sci-fi rocket cars.

For these final races, I added a reroll option. I rolled randomly (D3) to determine the number of rerolls for each car. I made a board (right) that allows me to track rerolls (represented by a penny).

Finale of the fourth race. Red pulls ahead for the win.

But in the next race, Red wipes out.

Here is a successful bash. Green knocks into White, causing him to lose ground. White would come back to win this race.

I don't have a picture of the final race. Onyx the cat discovered that I had miniatures out so he tried to play with them. I put them away and finished the last race on my virtual board. Going into the final, Blue had a 20 denarii lead over Red. A Red victory coupled with a last-place Blue finish would tie up the season rankings. At first, it appeared that fate would favor Red. He was in the lead with Blue last. Alas, White passed Red and ran away with the race while Green crashed, giving Blue a third-place finish. Final season standings were Blue, White, Red, and Green.

This may be the last races using my rocket cars. I have received my chariots from Irregular. I need to paint them, but I look forward to getting them on the board. They fit perfectly into my 1 inch squares.

Just a note - I may not be posting much over the next few weeks. I am heavily involved in LARP preparations. I am forming a Byzantine-themed LARP unit. However, some may be interested in my posts on my LARP blog. During this month, I have been doing a series about Byzantine arms and armor.

The Third Season Begins

 I have already run 2 racing seasons (some virtual). I am now doing an all-miniature season using my scratch-built rocket cars.

In race 1, White wipes out in the first turn.

Green had taken the lead, but at the finish line Blue surges ahead.

In the second race, Blue takes the early lead. He swerves in the turn.

But comes out alright in the end. Red manages to pass White for second place.

Third race. The pack is spread out.

But things tighten up. Still, blue wins. This time, White steals second place from Red.

And They're Off!

I've tried gladiator games in my new "arena" but now let's try some chariot racing. Except I don't have any chariots yet. Instead, I whipped up some quick and easy rocket cars for some sci-fi racing instead.

Here they are at the starting line. The arena shows the cars' relative positions while the track (left) shows where the pack is located.

They're off! As they near the first turn, Green has pulled out into the lead.

First turn. Green and Blue failed their control tests so they were disadvantaged when rolling for movement. Green failed while Blue succeeded. Blue could have moved up, but he is blocked by Red. He tried to bash Red out of the way, but he failed.

Here Red and White engage in some unsuccessful bashing.

And some more, which caused White to swerve.

Blue starts falling behind.

And into the home stretch. Red gives it all he has and manages to slip past Green!

I've only been doing single laps, but I'm still enjoying the races.

I've been running another campaign, with a combination of virtual and miniature races. This was race 6 (out of 7). With his win, Red has a commanding 30 point lead (a victory nets 20 points). If Blue wins the last race, he could tie White for second.

Let the Games Begin!

 Now that I have an "arena" I am experimenting with some ideas for gladiator fights. Below is an illustrated explanation of the rules.

Activation

Each side rolls D6 + modifiers* for activation points. 
High roller goes first. Each side has Roll / 2 Action Points (APs)

* Modifiers would include armor, experience , etc. For today's battle, I did not apply any modifiers.

Actions - Movement and Maneuver

Actions are then taken alternately - high roller then low roller.
It costs 1 AP to move one space.

Example: Nocan (left) faces Axel. Nocan rolls a 5 so gets 3 APs while Axel only gets 1. Nocan moves forward 1 space as does Axel. Nocan moves another space but Axel's movement is over so Nocan moves a third time.

I don't have a photographic example, but figures can also maneuver while sharing a space. A maneuver costs 1 AP and allows a figure to slip to the side of his opponent, giving an advantage when attacking.

Combat

Melee combat occurs when combatants occupy the same space. The figure that moved gets to attack.

Rules Note - initially I required an AP to attack, but it became too easy to escape combat, and figures began circling without any combat.

Combat is based on my MicroBattle rules. It involves the following steps:

• Attacker makes a Res Test. A base Res Test requires a 4+ to succeed. In this example, Axel and Nocan were in the same space. Axel attacked and scored a 5 (green die). A hit!
• If hit, the Defender makes a Res Test to block or avoid damage. Nocan rolled a 4 (red die). Just enough to prevent a wound!
• The Defender also makes a Res Test to determine if he must retreat. Nocan's 3 is a fail. He must back up one space.

Here, Axel wounds Nocan and forces him to retreat!

Nocan suffers a second wound, then (below) Axel finishes him off.

I then tried a bout between Axel and Sir Cadian (a heavily armored knight). I broke off the fight mid-game because something was bothering me about the rules. I added a rule for maneuvering to give the player some choice - do I go in for a frontal attack or do I try to sneak around? The problem was that it was too easy for the opponent to counter the maneuver. For example:

• Nocan and Axel start in the same space. Nocan has 2 AP and Axel has 1.
• Nocan goes first and decides to maneuver.
• Then Axel goes. He maneuvers also. They are back to face-to-face.
• Nocan can then maneuver or attack. If he maneuvers, he'll need to win initiative to be able to make a side attack.

Let's take a look at another example:

• Nocan and Axel start in the same space. Nocan has 3 AP this time and Axel has 1.
• Nocan goes first and decides to maneuver.
• Then Axel goes. He maneuvers also. They are back to face-to-face.
• Nocan maneuvers.
• Then with his final AP, Nocan gets a side attack.

The problem I'm having is that the dice seem to be dictating the choice of tactics. If I have 2 more AP than my opponent, then a side attack is a viable tactic. Otherwise, attacking will guarantee a chance to hit and seems to be the better option. I would prefer the choice of tactic to be equally viable, then rolling dice to determine its success. Perhaps I need to borrow from Red Sky Black Moon and add a maneuver roll (I discussed this RSBM mechanic in this prior post). When a figure does a maneuver, he gets to make a Res Test. If he succeeds, he can attack immediately.

I'll have to think about it a bit.

My New "Arena"

 I am putting together a portable playset for chariot racing and gladiator games. Here is what I have so far:

The board is cork and is gridded into 5 by 6 1-inch squares. I hope those are big enough for the Irregular Miniature chariots. The wood bit will represent the spina that runs through the middle of the track.

The box itself is about 6 x 8 inches. Other pieces in the box will be a small tin of miniatures, some dice, and perhaps some terrain.

I already have some 10mm fantasy figures painted up. They will be my gladiators.

By the way, I tried out a variant of MicroBattle for gladiator bouts. It seemed to work OK. I'll have to provide a detailed report.

The Excel Hippodrome

Sometimes I feel like experimenting with a game but don't want to dig out my stuff. In some such cases, I go virtual, as I did last week on my chariot racing kick.

Here is my virtual board in Excel. The board is on the left with the track on the lower right. I added a virtual dice roller (upper right). The colored D's are disadvantage markers. I got the chariot markers from Junior General.

Above is a shot of a race I ran. Blue and Green had already wrecked. Yellow and Red were neck-and-neck as they rounded the last corner. Yellow lost control and crashed, giving Red the win.

The race was part of a mini-campaign. I ran 7 races (all just 1 lap as I'm still working on the system). The teams earned denarii based on their standing in the race - 20 for first, 10 for second, and 5 for third. No denarii for last or for wrecking!

Green jumped out to an early lead in the campaign, with two victories in the first two races. Yellow then went on a hot streak followed by a Blue victory. Meanwhile, Red was slowly building up his earnings with a series of second place finishes. After five races, he and Green were tied, with Yellow only 5 denarii behind and Blue only 10 behind Yellow.

From then on, it was all Red. He handily won the last two races for a dominating season victory.