Remembering Axis & Allies Miniatures

 “Success lasts only three seconds. After that, you’re the same as you were before you had it.”

— Robert Shaw

My recent missive on print magazines — particularly my efforts to clip the most relevant articles from years of WWII History — reminded me how much I liked Avalon Hill’s Axis & Allies Miniatures game years ago. (Mark Painter’s nose-art-inspired advertising artwork also reminded me how much I enjoyed the game.) I bought into it when it released in 2005 and purchased occasional booster packs for the original and subsequent sets. Using the point system to create forces consumed most of my time, as I imagine it would for any collectible game where one builds a deck or combat unit. I mostly engaged in solitaire play, commanding each side in turn. I don’t recall much about the mechanics, but I remember I liked numerous aspects of the game; though ultimately the randomized booster packs necessary to maintain the collectible aspect became untenable. Like many games, it’s come and gone, forgotten after the initial buzz and now difficult to find, either in the original starter sets and booster packs or as single figures with cards on the secondary market.

Schweig’s Project List, Oct. 2015

In preparing to attend Nuke-Con Oct. 2-4 in Omaha, NE, I’m assembling a host of materials: signs for my numerous events, adventure components (scenario, character sheets, tent cards, handouts), rulebooks, compact miniature wargaming bits (tanks, terrain, reference cards). I managed to order two portrait-oriented Lion Flip-N-Tell Display Book-N-Easels to compliment the stand-up landscape portfolio I’ve had for years. These work really well as double-sided sign holders, with the portfolio format allowing me to easily change signs as needed. They also fold flat for easy packing and transport.

Nuke-Con provides me with a guest table where I can hang out and chat with con-goers when I’m not running games. I’ll have two of these portfolios set up on the guest table with information about my con schedule and products, while the third serves at my gaming tables to identify the event and display any in-game reference materials.

In trying to devise interesting information for signage to inspire guest-table conversation I thought I’d offer a brief outline of some of the projects on my immediate “to do” list. I regret many of these have languished for years, set aside when real-life jobs consumed my energy and then when my full-time parental duties took over my life; but with the Little Guy in kindergarten full time now, I have a little more time to focus on developing and completing game projects for publication.

Gaming Artifacts: Tank Battles

This feature is the first of a few I expect to write examining some of the “gaming artifacts” from my earliest days in the adventure gaming hobby, the idyllic “Golden Age of Roleplaying Games,” the mid- to late 1980s. Oddly enough, my first “artifact” isn’t for roleplaying games at all, though my involvement in them led me to dabble in other hobbies, including wargames and miniatures.

When I first discovered Dungeons & Dragons in the spring of 1982 I suddenly found myself exposed to all kinds of related adventure gaming materials at the local hobby shop, in advertisements in the venerable Dragon Magazine, and at the one local convention I attended. Besides buying nearly every D&D rulebook and module I could afford I acquired several Avalon Hill games (both wargames and lighter fare) and a handful of fantasy miniatures. I also created my own adventures for D&D and a host of small board and card games to play with our neighborhood gaming group. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I found myself – soon after diving into roleplaying games – exposed to and designing miniature wargames.

The tank game coalesced from a few components we acquired, some basic rules concepts about armored warfare, and a general interest in World War II tank combat. It didn’t have a catchy title beyond “Tank Battles” despite seeing several play sessions with both my brother and our neighborhood group.

The game was most likely inspired by two packs of 6mm “micro-scale” tanks I bought, each containing five tanks. I’m not sure where we found the minis; possibly PointCon, one of the first game conventions I attended, or maybe a forgotten corner of the late, lamented Branchville Hobby Shop which fueled my youthful exploration of adventure gaming. One pack was a set of GHQ Micro Armour “Centurion MK3 20pdr,” the other a pack of German Pkw IVs from another, less prominent manufacturer (whose name remains forgotten along with the location of the lost packaging). I gave them a very basic green paint job, with one side sporting red dots on the turrets, the other white dots (I wasn’t going for any degree of authenticity...we just wanted a simple tank game, not specifically a World War II game). The other components included a folding board consisting of two letter-sized pieces of corrugated cardboard with green construction paper glued to them; some cardboard-and-green-construction-paper contoured hill pieces, a few squares with “trees” (snipped toothpicks topped with crumbling modeling foliage moss, now hopelessly deteriorated); some rolled copper wire representing barbed wire; and a host of small card-stock European buildings from a cut-and-build book of my brother’s. I included a few small counters (and simple rules) representing infantry units and mortar squads, but those didn’t see much action on a board covered with hills, buildings, and cool tank miniatures.

The rules consisted of a few pages of handwritten notes, my standard format for game materials in an age well before personal computers, scanners, and laser printers. The very basic system included a random set-up system on each player’s side (with a small chance of placing some units in forward positions), a shoot-then-move action sequence, variable movement, rolls to hit and saving rolls, and graduated damage going from “disabled” (no movement, with a chance to “repair” each turn) to destroyed. Some oddities included increased chances to hit at closer ranges, a range bonus for shooting from higher ground, rules that offered a bonus to save if in cover (though no penalty to hit), a lack of terrain modifiers for wooded areas yet slower movement over barbed wire (assumed to also include tank obstacles), and sketchy rules for using air support to go with two airplane models we found later. I didn’t include line-of-sight rules, but I recall we played under the assumption you couldn’t shoot a target you couldn’t see from the attacking unit.

I’d date these “artifacts” around 1984-86 when I was in my final high school years. I have faint and pleasant memories of playing it with my brother and other neighborhood kids when we weren’t indulging our interest in D&D or other roleplaying diversions of the time. Much of the actual game play centered on moving around buildings or trying to gain the high ground before blasting away at enemy tanks. Few games lasted more than half an hour from set-up to finish, but “Tank Battles” remained on of our favorites among the quick games we could play in an afternoon.

The game has since sat in its box on a shelf for years, though I recently raided it to mount and re-paint the Pkw IVs for use in other games (notably GHQ’s Beer & Pretzels Game – WWII Micro Armour, an introduction to the company’s own tank rules offered as a free PDF download; and my own development of Panzer Kids). The rules were simple enough I might try running it with my four year-old Little Guy – who’s expressed an interest in playing some of Daddy’s games – but I think we’ll put our efforts to more practical purposes and see how much of Panzer Kids he can comprehend. “Tank Battles” served its purpose back in my gaming youth, not simply as a break from roleplaying games but as a vehicle for my growing enthusiasm for and interest in designing my own games.

Comments....

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Preparing for A Convention

I’m getting ready to attend a convention and run a game – something I haven’t done in a while – so I’m slowly pulling myself and my materials together in a somewhat-familiar way so I’m as prepared as possible to put a positive face on the event.

I haven’t attended a convention as a gamemaster in a while. Before becoming a father I had a regular calendar of several regional conventions each year, at which I’d do the gaming guest thing running roleplaying game sessions, speaking on panels, mingling with gamers, and occasionally hosting a dealers room table. I’ve since had little time or energy to regularly attend conventions; most of my recent forays have been as a regular con-goer, hanging out with gamers, playing in a game or two, and shopping among the dealers. Having worked both ends of the spectrum – from hard-sell game designer to average con-goer – I can appreciate the amount of work gamemasters put into their convention games as well as the relaxed and friendly atmosphere a good convention offers.

But I’ve set myself the goal of taking some new game designs to demo, playtest, and showcase at some small, regional conventions in the new year; so I’m trying to get back into the groove to make myself and my game look as professional as possible.

I’m planning on running a free-form, four-hour demo/playtest session of Panzer Kids, a kid-friendly wargame of World War II tank battles I’m developing. Although the first draft of the basic rules is complete, it hasn’t quite entered the layout stage yet. (And I’m still drafting “optional” advanced rules for the deluxe version.) So I’m prepping some essential materials for running a game at the convention, most of which are planned components of the final game: simple stat cards for various tanks for reference, a one-page summary of the stats on the cards, and a one-page rules summary to display at the table. My brilliant stroke of marketing genius (or shameless self-promotion) came in devising the stat card backs; since I intend to print and trim a host of them to give out to players, I put a short blurb about the game on the card back with the Griffon Publishing Studio website address so they can watch for further updates about the game in development.

Aside from game materials I need to produce, I must prep and pack all the wargaming paraphernalia for the convention: tank miniatures to match the stat cards, terrain pieces, my 4x6-foot, tan felt “desert terrain” mat, dice, hit tokens, and sign holders (for the aforementioned one-page game reference materials).

I always have to psych myself up for conventions where I’m presenting my game design projects. It’s not that I’m immersing myself in a role of game designer, but more training myself to project a positive, friendly, and open presence. Much of this actually comes down to believing in myself and what I’ve created to overcome a natural degree of self-doubt.

Once I finish with the “business” end of con prep – including making hotel arrangements, registering the game, and registering for the convention itself – I can move along to more enjoyable activities based more in my convention-goer role: perusing the program to look for games I’d like to join as a player, packing some board games to try in any open board game areas I find (and resisting the urge to pack everything...), compiling a short list of game goodies to seek among the dealers, and e-mailing a few friends I hope to see.

Over the years I’ve kept a small journal with notes from my past convention participation: game sessions I ran with times and number of players; impressions of convention space, attendance, and dealers; contacts I make; and ideas for future convention appearances. It’s all done in the spirit of learning by reflecting on past experiences. Using this method I’ve learned a lot and changed how I approach conventions, yet I also realize I am always learning, that I always have something I can improve and must adjust to new situations. I’m looking forward to the upcoming convention and my Panzer Kids demo/playtest session; we’ll see what notes I add to my convention participation notebook and what areas I can improve.

As always, I encourage constructive feedback and civilized discussion. Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Wisdom comes from examining and reflecting on one’s experiences with an eye toward learning from them. The turn of the New Year offers a milestone at which many people stop to reflect on where they’ve been the past year and where they’d like to go in the coming one. Some set their expectations high with those pesky annual and often-forgotten “resolutions.” Others examine where they’ve gone right or wrong in the past year and resolve to be more mindful of such opportunities to improve themselves in the coming months.

The New Year’s holiday offers a chance for me to reflect on my professional game activities over the past 12 months with an eye toward evaluating my strengths and weaknesses, finding my inspiration, and re-focusing my efforts

Achievements in 2013

Looking back over the past year I see my accomplishments range across a number of activities, few of which one measures in quantitative terms: publishing and promoting gaming product, communicating with the vast gamer community, and connecting with key individuals for both playtesting and networking. Some endeavors have had particular significance for me:

Blogging: Over the course of 2013 I wrote 52 blog entries on adventure gaming and game design. Yes, everyone seems to blog these days and many argue it’s going out of vogue; but blogging fulfills two goals for me. It enables me to communicate with gamers on both general subjects in the hobby gaming field at Hobby Games Recce and on specific issues of game design here at the Game Design Journal. Blogging also requires me to maintain discipline, both to produce relevant, polished editorial content in more than 750 words each week, and to do so on a schedule (every Tuesday morning at alternating blogs). I’m not always successful in the “relevant” and “polished” categories, but the exercise keeps my writing skills active.

Online Playtesting: I sent several projects through various stages of playtesting using online contacts and access through Google Docs (or whatever they’re calling it these days). I viewed this as an offshoot of my activities to increase my online interaction with the gaming community. Early in the year I sent various iterations of my fantasy roleplaying game engine using some innovative dice mechanics (the Oracle System,about which I’ve written before). When inspiration hit me to create a customizable random dungeon generation system, my playtesters rose to the challenge and helped me refine my vision for the product. As with any playtesting effort, some participants offered vague suggestions and impressions (if any at all), but more than I expected provided constructive criticism, fresh ideas, and positive encouragement. I am fortunate to have cultivated a small group of intelligent and loyal playtesters during 2013, an asset I intend to continue using throughout the new year.

Pay What You Want: In 2013 DriveThruRPG.com and its affiliated websites offered publishers the option of pricing products as “pay-what-you-want,” giving customers the option of downloading product for whatever price they wanted, even “free.” The trend quickly gained popularity among publishers for a variety of reasons. I chose to convert all my previously free downloads -- mostly short scenarios supporting my Pulp Egypt and Heroes of Rura-Tonga supplements -- to “free/pay what you want” in an effort to raise some extra revenue from generous donors. (I examined the pay-what-you-want issue and my views of it as a “tip jar” in an earlier journal entry.) The change provided some additional revenue each month; subsequently released free product has fallen under the pay-what-you-want price rationale.

Themed Dungeon Generator:An unexpected project evolved from playtesting the fantasy roleplaying game rules under development. In seeking to self-test the character and combat systems I turned to the venerable random dungeon generation tables of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide (with my own modified monster encounter table keyed to my own game). After finding that experience haphazard and thematically meaningless, I set about creating my own one-page, fillable PDF form to customize my own randomized-yet-themed solo dungeon experience. It suited my needs; with some polishing and quick online playtesting it released to the public through my DriveThruRPG.com e-storefront. It was one of several small game design diversions in which I indulged and the only one to yield saleable product. I generally don’t like releasing small supplements with low price points, but this one sold rather well and made what seemed like sidetracked efforts pay off. (You can read about my solo dungeon delves and the rationale behind Schweig’sThemed Dungeon Generator in past blog posts.)

Goals for 2014

I think I set a positive course for 2013, so many of those trends I intend to continue in the new year; however, many new directions and challenges remain:

Project Completion: I’d like to complete and bring to publication two projects that underwent significant development and playtesting last year: my introductory tank wargaming rules for a younger audience called Panzer Kids; and a fantasy roleplaying game using the Oracle System’s innovative dice mechanic for a basic gaming experience similar to old school renaissance retro-clones, tentatively titled Basic Fantasy Heroes. (I’m also allowing myself to go off on a few other diversion to develop a small abstract board game inspired by some interesting game elements and a quick battle game using 54mm plastic soldier miniatures, which I’ve mentioned before on this blog; I intend both for eventual publication in PDF form, quite possibly for free.) I fully subscribe to the philosophy that “We will sell no wine game before its time.,” which, regrettably, means projects take their time to reach publication, but they meet my personal quality standards on several levels.

Convention Scene: I’m hoping to return to the regional convention scene this year, partly to playtest, demonstrate, and promote my game projects, but also to enjoy myself, mingle with gamers, try new games, and enjoy old ones with new friends. Unlike my previous convention experiences years ago where I attended as a gaming guest running games, speaking on panels, and hosting a dealers table, I’m taking a more relaxed approach, especially in these times of fewer and smaller conventions, tighter finances, and fewer invitations to gaming guests. I have plans to visit a few conventions I’ve attended before, as well as leads on a few others, both well-established and relatively new, I’d like to try.

Continued Blogging: I sometimes debate whether it’s worth my time to continue writing two blogs, one each week, especially when I’m light on relevant topics, have little time and focus to write, or simply don’t feel as enthusiastic about my subject as I should. Part of my blogging satisfaction comes from a need to create meaningful content, but another comes from the interaction I enjoy in sharing these views on the adventure gaming hobby and game design issues. On occasion these missives and discussions inspire me in new directions. I’m looking forward to generating more discussions through blog topics that interest me and the gaming community at large.

E-Publishing: I need to re-focus some efforts to promote my e-publishing endeavors more effectively, beyond actually producing and releasing product (a challenge given my limited time, focus, and energy). I learned during 2013 to use social networking, blogs, word of mouth, and the Griffon Publishing Studio website to promote my activities and publications and intend to continue those practices. But I need to spend time to more effectively market my materials using the publisher tools offered by DriveThruRPG.com and its affiliated sites -- particularly the “featured product” messages -- to boost sales. I also need to start seriously looking to make several of my PDF products available through that website's print-on-demand program.

My reflections on where I’ve been and where I’m going with my game-design endeavors serves as both a kind of “annual report” of the past year and an outline of some tasks that lay ahead. In reviewing last year’s “New Year’s” post I’m relatively satisfied that I’ve at least confronted the challenges I set for myself in 2013; I’m looking forward to moving into 2014 with renewed purpose and some solid goals to achieve.

As always, I encourage constructive feedback and civilized discussion. Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Cutting Down to the Essentials

In adapting Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game for play with a three-and-a-half year-old preschooler I’ve learned some lessons about cutting down a game system to the essential rules, a task applicable to the kid-friendly tank skirmish game I’m developing.

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

My preschooler son has reached a point where he’s voraciously absorbing everything Star Wars we allow (i.e., only original trilogy material), primarily inspired by the numerous Star Wars toys, games, and other images in my office. Over the past few months we’ve read him the pop-up book, listened to the soundtrack in the car ad nauseum, got out some old Playskool figures (and the Millennium Falcon) he plays with, and finally watched Star Wars: A New Hope together (the pre-special edition version).

We spent a day at Historicon this past July where he inevitably noticed and intently watched the last half of a Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game playing out, including such ships as Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon and Darth Vader’s advanced TIE fighter. Between that and actually watching Star Wars he was hooked. Luckily I found a nicely discounted copy of the X-Wing Miniatures Game in the Historicon dealers hall; after adding a few more starfighters acquired in numerous quests to gaming stores near and far we were ready to play.

The game itself offers several levels of play, from the extremely basic quick-start rules to the main game and several more involved “additional rules.” The system includes some innovations on a style of miniature wargame “lite” popularized several years ago by the World War I aviation-themed Wings of War (an Italian game Fantasy Flight Games distributed in America). They’ve added several layers of complexity beyond the basic move-and-shoot system, including pilot actions (barrel rolls, focusing, evasion), pilot cards for each spacecraft to vary the pilot skill and actions, upgrade cards to enhance individual ships, and special eight-sided dice for attack and defense rolls.

Stripping this all down to the level of a three year-old seemed daunting at first, until I focused only on the quick-start rules, designed to get people playing right out of the box. These rules use the main ship stats, maneuver dial, movement templates, and dice in a very bare-bones game even young players can comprehend with a little adult gamer guidance. Gameplay focuses on the essential basics of movement and attack; no fancy actions, no dealing with pilot skill, no starship upgrades or special weapons. Granted, we play with lots of parental assistance using these extremely basic yet functional rules. From a parent’s perspective, it offers a chance to teach numbers using the movement and turn templates (“How far do you want your ship to move?”), counting dice to roll and their results, and direction (straight, left, or right; gradual turn or sharp turn). We also let the preschooler fly the Millennium Falcon, which, thanks to guns mounted on turrets, has a full 360-degree field of fire, so he doesn’t have to worry about lining up his target in a limited forward-facing fire arc. (It also gives him plenty of shields and hull strength so his ship has only rarely been eliminated during a game.)

We’ve played it several times, usually with Mommy flying Luke Skywalker’s X-wing fighter and Daddy fielding a pair of TIE fighters or the newly acquired TIE interceptors. With our help the preschooler has quickly mastered the basic game concepts (though his moves on the starfield don’t always make sense); so he’s recently asked for (and his parents desperately sought) some new additions to enhance his game experience. Although I thought he might appreciate the range rules -- allowing an extra attack die when firing on close targets or giving an extra defense die for those at long range -- my son saw the cardboard punch-out asteroid pieces used in some of the game’s missions and wanted to use those. Of course, they made the game harder for Daddy’s TIE fighters….

Panzer Kids Basic

My approach to a kid-friendly tank skirmish game takes a similar strategy as the X-Wing Miniatures Game’s incrementally more involved rules. I intend to release Panzer Kids in two stages, the free/pay-what-you-want PDF basic edition containing the barebones rules, several tank stat cards, rulers, and print-and-play top-down tank pieces (in lieu of miniatures kids can find or purchase from other sources). The for-pay Deluxe Edition would include all the basic rules plus tons of optional rules players can learn piecemeal and include in their game when they feel ready to add greater depth of play.

I’m in the process of drafting the core rules based on pages of notes and disparate paragraphs hastily written as inspiration came in the design process. As I write I’m finding a number of things to toss out of the basic edition. I knew I’d relegate many rules essential to complex miniature wargames to the more advanced deluxe edition -- hull down vehicle cover, static anti-tank guns, shots at close range, traversing difficult terrain, mine fields, and mission objectives -- but I’m still finding concepts I thought might work in the basic edition to move to the deluxe edition or even eliminate altogether. Here are a few I’d thought to include in the basic game that, in the course of developing a rules set for a younger audience, I ultimately decided to cut to stick more closely to the absolute essentials:

Variable Scale: I’d originally intended to include information (primarily speed and range, both measured in inches) for both 15mm and 6mm “micro-scale” tanks. I personally like wargaming with both, and have a small collection of tanks from the North African theater in both scales. But in considering what kids might have available to them, or what they might find in hobby, toy, and game stores, I decided to cut references to the 6mm scale. I’ll include some top-down pieces kids can print and play with in lieu of actual miniatures, but will relegate the 6mm information as an optional appendix in the deluxe version of the game.

Deployment Options: In determining how players set up games, I’d devised a few alternatives to the basic “put your tanks along your edge of the battlefield” strategy reflecting the terrain set-up and any slight disparity in the total unit point costs between Axis and Allied player forces. For instance, with cover terrain set up along the middle of the play area, the side with the slightly lower total point cost might deploy tanks up to 12 inches from their edge of the board. In writing these conditions out, however, I realized it might be too much for kids to comprehend amidst all the other nuances of miniature wargame rule. These options might go into a sidebar in the deluxe rules’ movement section, but they don’t belong in the basic game.

Unit Point Cost: The gamer in me insisted on rating each tank type with a “cost” to field it, a value reflecting its firepower, armor, and speed. Theoretically this helps each side build a force of relatively equal strength to make sure each has a fair chance of winning. But when I took a closer look comparing Axis and Allied tanks, I realized they had fairly close values. Rather than spend an entire section explaining the concept of unit point costs and balancing forces, I cut it and instead offered some suggestions for Axis and Allied tank face-offs (mostly from the North African theater). Most represent equivalent numbers of tanks (3 German Pkw IIIs against 3 British Crusader IIs), though the one exception proved the Pkw VI Tiger tank, which I paired against two M3 Stuart tanks.

Two miniature wargaming concepts remain essential to playing the game beyond simply moving and shooting in the open: line of sight and cover. Both might seem too complex to include in the basic edition, but through playtesting I realized they really form the core of tactical decisions for a small skirmish. Players need to maneuver their tanks around the available cover (mostly hills and oases in my desert games) to hide from enemy tanks and gain some small advantage from cover.

I also realize these rules remain bound to other constraints I’ve placed on myself, notably some foundation in the tanks’ historical performance (demonstrated in the tank stats themselves) and a desire to introduce young gamers to wargaming concepts one degree beyond simply moving and shooting. I have also, rather foolishly I might argue, taken on the challenge of trying to draft a set of miniature wargame rules intended for kids 10 and older to pick up on their own, learn, and play without adult supervision. Old Dominion GameWorks’ Mein Panzer Junior offers a set of basic move-and-shoot tank rules with some slightly more complex stages; but it presumes involvement and supervision from a miniature wargames-informed adult. (Downloading these free rules requires registration at the ODGW website.)

  

We’ll see how my continued development and writing for the Panzer Kids rules challenges my ability to hone rules down to their bare minimum while still clearly and concisely explaining game concepts to a younger audience.

As always, I encourage construction feedback and civilized discussion. Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Simultaneous Action Resolution

Many non-gamers assume players take turns in games, each one resolving their actions fully before moving on to the next player. Gamers obviously have a bit more experience with different player sequences and resolution, whether using an innovative initiative system in a roleplaying game, flipping playing cards to see which side’s units move and shoot in miniature wargames, participating in a shifting player order in a European-style board game, or, my favorite, resolving actions simultaneously so nobody’s knocked out of the game before they get a chance to take a parting shot.

Even in traditional turn-taking games I prefer every piece to have a chance to take action even if enemy fire that turn would normally destroy it; the Axis & Allies Miniatures Game and it’s War at Sea naval version do a good job of simultaneously resolving hits by noting how much damage units take and removing destroyed units at turn’s end after every piece has had a chance to move and shoot. In Panzer Kids, the beginner-friendly tank miniatures game I’m developing, I make sure to allow every tank within range and line of sight to a target a shot before accrued hits take effect and knock some tanks out of the skirmish.

While player sequencing helps maintain order at the game table, resolving actions simultaneously not only provides a better sense of fairness but forces players to remain involved and focused on the game throughout their and others’ turns. It’s a rules element I prefer, when available, in whatever games I’m playing; I try incorporating simultaneous action resolution into game designs when the mechanic seems suitable to the game’s style, overall mechanics, and theme. I’ve enjoyed some experience in other games with simultaneous action resolution:

Wings of War/Glory: One of the elements I like about Wings of War/Wings of Glory remains the simultaneous attack resolution. After all units have moved, everyone determines which enemy planes are in range and which ones they’re attacking, with target aircraft taking damage cards (or chits in the WWII version) with different damage values (including zero); aircraft with hits reaching their damage resistance value are destroyed. This procedure, however, allows the target plane to get off a shot even if, when taking hits itself, it would be eliminated at the end of the turn. In the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game -- a direct derivative of the Wings of War/Glory game with some original innovations -- ships move and shoot according to their pilot skill value (higher being better); less experienced pilots move first and shoot last in those respective phases, while veteran pilots naturally maneuver last and attack first. Although movement might seem like a simultaneous action -- with maneuvers revealed on a previously set dial, much as flyers in Wings of War/Gloryreveal cards for maneuvers -- the addition of actions like barrel-rolling, targeting, evading, and focusing all reveal the intentions of players moving first. Since combat is fully resolved in turn beginning with the better pilots, they can knock less experienced pilots out of the game before everyone’s had a chance to shoot that turn. I enjoy Wings of War/Glory that much more because I know, even if my plane’s going down in flames this round, I have a chance to take a parting shot at an enemy aircraft.

D6 System Roleplaying Game: When I run roleplaying games with built-in initiative systems I generally resolve actions simultaneously in my head, with an eye toward fairness to player characters and unexpected plot developments from actions with results that often clash. I frequently discard built-in initiatives systems -- intended to impose structure on player and gamemaster actions -- in favor of an improvised yet simultaneous task resolution method. Typically I’ll announce the characters’ adversaries intentions then go around the table to each player (usually varying my start point each round) asking for their characters’ actions and letting them know what relevant skills to roll. I roll the gamemaster character skills, noting how well they did in terms of success/failure and degree of success (for opposed rolls). As players reveal their skill roll results I figure out what’s going on in relation to opponent actions, then narrate the outcome. This certainly makes a bit more work for the gamemaster to mentally keep track of what all the characters and their adversaries are doing, but makes for some interesting moments as simultaneous action resolution brings about some unexpected results. I also find the technique -- or the simple omission of an intrusive initiative game mechanic -- far more cinematic.

Oracle System: I’m building the Oracle System -- the basis for a retro-clone-style fantasy roleplaying system I’m developing -- on the concept of simultaneously resolving combat between two opposing parties, including chances to hit and defend in one roll. A hero rolls her dice while the gamemaster rolls dice for her opponent; each counts up defend results (2s and 3s), a number of which (equal to the character’s armor value) can cancel out the opponent’s hits (4s, 5s, and 6s), with any hits getting through armor lowering the defender’s overall dice (both an indication of ability and health). In this fashion two opponents can conceivably knock each other out of a skirmish; even someone about to be vanquished still has a chance to inflict damage with a parting shot. (You can read more about the Oracle System and its simultaneous combat resolution mechanic in an earlier blog entry.)

Simultaneous action resolution isn’t right for every game. They often becomes a choice over other game concerns. For instance, I’m sure the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game designers felt using a pilot skill value was far more important to the overall game strategy than simultaneous attack resolution; in fact, offering different pilot expertise levels helps players build diverse squadrons essential for both varied skirmish scenarios and organized play (a cornerstone of the game’s appeal and marketing approach to the gaming community). Mechanics remain the primary consideration; if simultaneous resolution doesn’t work with the core game system -- or needs additional fiddling to fit it in -- it doesn’t belong. It’s a convention I enjoy in many games, but not at the expense of fluid and engaging gameplay.

As always, I encourage construction feedback and civilized discussion. Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.

Summertime Odds & Ends

Summertime has distracted me from my numerous game projects with several family visits, excursions, Historicon, and a few friendly gatherings at the house. Nonetheless I managed to find game-related inspiration in a number of occurrences I hope can fuel my enthusiasm in the coming weeks.

Tank Game Playtesting

Frequent GaDeJo readers might recall I’m developing a kid-friendly tank battle miniatures wargame. Last year my young 10 year-old nephew stayed with us for a week, during which time we played a few sessions of the tank rules, which he remembered and wanted to play during this subsequent visit. While running rules through my head -- and even playing games against myself on the basement wargames table to test rules firsthand -- helps solidify game concepts and rationales, nothing tops playing the game with a member of the intended audience: in this case, a young kid with little experience with miniature wargames but an enthusiasm for games in general. During a family visit this summer we once again set up tanks and terrain on the wargaming table and blasted away at each other’s units, consulting rules, rolling dice, and racking up “hit” markers.

In an open-minded view of the experience I realized through playtesting I needed to develop a few additional game elements. Defense values need a one-point boost; I’d initially added 3 to the armor-based value for a static defense number attackers had to exceed to score a hit, but this resulted in lesser-armored tanks taking too many hits too quickly (an issue when pitting slow German tanks with strong firepower and armor against faster but lesser-well-armed/armored British tanks). I should work out rules for capturing an objective in a scenario. I need to sort out the particulars when an attacker rolls critical failure (1) when shooting a target near an explosive objective (fuel or ammunition dump). And, in my modeling endeavors, I need a massive explosion terrain piece to mark the detonated fuel/ammunition dump.

Overall these playtest sessions reinforced decisions and revisions made after last year’s games and opened up new areas to consider and develop. This experience might just fuel my enthusiasm to push the project to the forefront of my limited development time; the potential to feature the game at distant wargaming conventions in early 2014 might also serve as incentive to fast-track development.

Reiner Knizia’s Palazzo

During my nephew’s visit we pulled out Reiner Knizia’s Palazzo as a rainy afternoon activity; my older nephew, now in his teens, seems interested in real estate, architecture, and the process of building structures, so this game seemed to offer at least some thematically appealing elements. The game reminded me how, while seemingly complex at first, the game’s subtle mechanics at several different levels drive gameplay, increase tension in the final rounds, and leave everyone guessing who will come out on top of Knizia’s elegantly intricate scoring structure

Inspirational Soundtracks

Lately my toddler son has been getting into everything Star Wars, inspired not only by Daddy’s “toys” but his observation of a Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Gameat Historicon, as well as other Star Wars bits evident in our household (such as my vintage 1980 mug featuring the faces of Darth Vader and “Bobo” Fett…). Now he’s demanded to have Star Warsmusic played in the car (giving us a much-needed break from listening incessantly to the B-52s’ “Love Shack” whenever we’re in the car). So I dug out a mix CD I made featuring Star Warsmusic for use in different stock scenes when running the roleplaying game. He’s three and a half, so we haven’t show the Little Guy any Star Wars films yet (though I intend to start with Episode IV…it’s just good parenting), though I have read him my Star Wars Pop-Up Book once or twice. So the Little Guy naturally started asking what’s going on during each musical track.

Listening to the tracks from the original three Star Wars films rekindled the excitement I felt as a kid. In the days before Netflix, DVDs, streaming video over the internet, or…shudder…video tape players, listening to the soundtrack (on vinyl records, no less) remained one of the few ways fans could relive the action in the films at the time of the original movie releases. I need to prep an all-Episode-IV CD just for him, condensing the tracks in order so we can listen to the movie scenes in sequence. The experience also reminded me how much music contributes to my creative process (both focus and ideas); whether I’m listening to a Mozart violin concerto, Basil Poledouris’ Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, or other thematically appropriate tracks, music helps blot out real-world distractions and allows me to concentrate on the project at hand.

X-Wing Miniatures Game

Continuing my Star Wars theme, I finally found some time to break open the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game produced by Fantasy Flight Games I bought from a friendly dealer at Historicon. The components have the high production value one expects from a high-end game from FFG: cards, thick cardboard turn templates and tokens, and, of course, extremely well-detailed, painted TIE fighter and X-wing miniatures (far better than the fine Galoob MicroMachines available 15 years ago we used as props in the roleplaying game). (Unlike Reiner Knizia’s Palazzo, however, only some of the numerous components -- the starship minis and stands -- actually fit into custom forms in the box.) A quick read-through of the rules brought a few interesting elements to mind, particularly when compared to the Wings of War/Wings of Glory game which broke ground in this field of casual miniature wargaming:

Graduated Rules: Several rules levels gradually draw players into subsequently more complex stages of gameplay. The “Quick-Start Rules” -- a four-page flyer separate from and situated on top of the “Rules of Play” booklet -- introduce the most basic elements to playing the game, most of which translate in some form to the general rules. Beyond the main rules readers also find “Additional Rules” and “Advanced Rules” expanding on earlier game concepts to increase the complexity level and cover specific conditions during gameplay.

Dice: The game comes with six eight-sided dice, three red “attack” dice and three green “defense” dice, each type with different symbols on them. They add an extra step (from the method used in Wings of War/Wings of Glory), determining whether an attacking craft hits a target ship within its field of fire and range. I’m not sure how I feel about this; it seems an obvious ploy to sell more separate sets of dice to gamers and capitalize on gamers’ natural predilection for nifty new dice; but the mechanic also allows for increased complexities in other stages, usually alterations to the number of attack and defense dice used or the conditions under which they’re re-rolled.

Ordered Actions: One element that often lends itself to confusion in Wings of War/Wings of Glory games is the simultaneous hit mechanic; target aircraft take damages in no particular order, with hits (and kills) simultaneously resolved. The X-wing miniatures game relies on the pilot skill value for establishing an order for revealing and executing maneuvers (lowest skill to highest) and in resolving hits (highest to lowest), resulting in situations where two craft might have each other in field of fire and range, but one shoots and scores a kill before the other gets a chance to attack. While I like that it resolves the order in which movement and hits are carried out among numerous players on a large playing area, I’m not so sure I like the non-simultaneous hit resolution system. I do understand, however, that variable pilot skill adds to the game, especially in its organized play format relying on different factors when calculating point costs for squadrons.

Expandability: The game offers several opportunities to expand the action, from addition ships from the classic Rebellion era to “upgrades” one can buy (for additional points in game set-up) to increase a ship’s capabilities.

The game seems easy enough to learn and teach to gaming newcomers, especially with the basic “Quick-Start Rules” and the essential concepts in the main rules. I’ve not yet had a chance to play the game (we came close with my nephews in the house), but the Little Guy’s been pestering me to play it, so we might try out the “Quick-Start Rules” to give him a chance to play with the starship minis and see how things work.

As always, I encourage construction feedback and civilized discussion. Share a link to this blog entry on Google+ and tag me (+Peter Schweighofer) to comment.