Duel - A Cyborg Sniper vs. "La Famiglia"

 Once again I used my system for Duel

This time the optional rules for Heroes have been used and I pitted one Hero versus another one - both very different from another:

The Cyborg "56". His ressource points went into:

Fast, so he can move twice per turn. Precision shot, so he can take out his targets without effort. Volley, so he can stand his ground against multiple opponents. The remaining 3 points went into 3 points of toughness (=additional wounds). Also he wears light armour and is a "gunslinger", so he gets a bonus of +2 on each die rolled. Also, everyone rolling dice against him receives a +1, too, or a +3 when in melee combat.

Roberto, the halfling mafiosi with his band of 5 followers (1 ressource each). His remaining resource went into the skill "coordinate", so he can act with all 5 of them at once!

The starting setup: Roberto starts on the left side and has to leave via the right border. The cyborg starts on the right side and has to prevent Roberto from reaching his goal.

The game starts with both Heroes entering the playing area. Roberto moves in his 4" ...

56 is fast, so he runs 8" along the street. None of the combatants can see each other yet.

The next turn takes Roberto and his ragtags closer to the corner ...

56 takes moves into position into his "crow's nest" ...

Initiative. (Note: Even though I have seen 56 rolled a 3, Roberto a 5 AND even though I placed both numbers at the corresponding teams for this shot, I swapped the numbers around the moment I removed the dice from the table. This is why now Roberto gets to act first and THEN 56 acts.)

Roberto opts for bloodshed: He moves 3 gangers into a position from where they can take on 56. As he cannot move the other 2 into a position where they can draw line of sight to 56, he send them around the corner, so they can open fire the next turn.

Here we can see his devious plan: counting on 56 to act somewhat slower due to having to return fire, one ganger goes for a duel score of 3, 56 goes for 4, the remaining 2 gangers go for a 6 each so for each of them 2 hits are safe (then again, chances are one of them gets slain before he can even act! A sacrifice for "la famiglia"!)

Having to reroll due to 56's cover, the first ganger botches his shot: 3+1 = 4, 3+2 = 5. Even when adding the additional +1 he would get for 56 being light armoured, none of the results would be 7 or more! So, not a single hit from this ganger.

Now 56 returns fire: 3 hits (4+1+2 = 7, 4+4+2 = 10 twice) are more than enough to remove one of the "Duel Score 6" gangers.

The remaining "Duel Score 6" ganger fires back: with a 3 and a 5 (6+3 = 9, 6+5 = 11) he scores 2 hits, both counting against 56's toughness. 1 toughness remaining - if that point gets lost, the next hit causes 56 to go down!

56 is a skilled mercenary relying on his abilities to take out opponents even under pressure. He does not move but instead releases a "volley" on the two remaining gangers. He selects a Duel Score of 2, the gangers opt for being slower (3 and 5 ... poor fellows ...)

With results of 3,4 and 5 even after rerolling one hit for the ganger in cover, 56 scores 3 results >7 (as he gets a +2 per die rolled - remember?) That's enough to take out one of the gangers entirely and to have the other one go down.

Mess with the best - die like the rest! End of turn 3.

Initiative. 1 for Roberto, 4 for 56.

Upkeep. Rolling a 6 on one of the dice, the ganger gets back up again.

Roberto orders the ganger on the street closer to the building, so he has at least some cover. The remaining gangers are ordered into a position where 56 cannot draw line of sight to. He himself goes into hiding in the alley, too.

Having only one target to react to, 56 takes his time, just to play it safe. The ganger however plays it safe in the same way, so both combatants open fire at the same time (Duel Score 4).

56 rolls 3 hits, the ganger rolls 1 hit (1 and 4) - 56's toughness has been used up, the ganger is wasted, too.

56 moves into a position, where he can draw line of sight to at least one of the gangers. The ganger opens fire with a Duel Score of 2. His rolls of 1 and 4 after having to reroll 1 result that was a hit initially, are not sufficient any more to hit even once. 56 rolls 2 hits (2 and 5) and 1 miss. The 2 hits, however, are enough to take out the ganger.

Another one bites the dust. End of turn 4.

Initiative: 3 for Roberto, 6 for 56.

The ganger backs away, Roberto himself hides behind the terminal. For 56 this is not going as intended. He's a sniper! His actual job is to sit still and to shoot sitting (or running) ducks. Not to hunt actively ... Yet, if the wants to prevent Roberto from reaching his goal, he has to hunt that coward down, apparently.

End of turn 5.

Initiative: 4 for 56, 5 for Roberto.

56 cannod afford facing multiple opponents anymore, as this would be his demise: One of the opponents would bite the bullet while the other one takes him down. He has to catch the remaining fighers flat footed and one by one. So he rushes down the street, hoping to catch the other fighters as intended. Roberto and his remaining ganger move down the back alleys of the buildings.

End of Turn 6. 

Initiative: 3 for Roberto, 5 for 56.

The ganger moves behind the .. well .. whatever this is, ready to rumble. However upon returning fire, 56 takes out the ganger with a Duel Score of 1 and rolling two 6es even after rerolling one of the hits due to the ganger's cover.

So, apparently Roberto has to take things into his own hands now. He moves around the corner and goes for a Duel Score of 5. 56 tries to repeat the stunt he has just pulled off - and fails miserably. Of the 3 dice he has got, not a single one scores a hit!

Roberto shoots - and lands 3 hits. More than enough to finish off 56.

End of turn 7 - and end of the game ...

Having been stripped of every single one of his bodyguards, Roberto can leave this area safely. He writes a mental note so he remembers calling the major later that day and discuss renaming this street to "bullet road" or "via sanguina" or something ...

Soooo ...

What a close game!

If it hadn't been for the fumble in his final turn, 56 could actually have stopped Roberto from crossing this place. Alas he failed. 

However, the battle he delivered to his opponent was epic and pulse driving! Taking down 5 gangers before biting the dust - that's something you still have to imitate!

Did you like that battle report?

Are you curious about the game?

Then go for the rules here: Download Duel - they are entirely free!

And if there are ever any questions, here on the right of this blog you can find the ways to contact me!

Thanks for reading!

Kind regards,

Kai

PowerPoint Wargame - the wargame you can play at work

 I wanted to have a wargame that:

- could be played solitaire

- was sci fi

- could be played at work

After some tinkering I figured, I could use Microsoft's PowerPoint for everything:

To generate a backdrop, to host the hexmap, to move counters from A to B. 

Now all I needed were some tried and true combat mechanics as well as the time to jot everything down.

Well, what shall I say? Here I am, playing the PowerPoint Wargame. And as I want to share my joys, I'd like to share the game with you folks:

If you want it - come and get it´

Here an ingame screenshot of a possible starting setup:

Duel - Super Cheap

 The biggest strength of CatZeyeS' skirmisher "Duel" is: It is entirely system agnostic. If you want to, you can play it with stuff you have lying around - with no need to craft fancy terrain.

The following battle report has been done to show, what you can do with just a couple of everyday objects and some generic pawns:

Here we can see the basic setup:

In the upper left corner, there is team black, in the bottom right corner, there is team purple. Team red marks the corners. Throw in some dice and a measuring tape and you're set.

As the gaming area is 30cm x 30cm (that's 1' x 1') and a pawn's base is roughly 1cm, I made centimeters the unit of measurement and added the optional rule "celerity" allowing each pawn to move up to 6cm.

The scenario is the basic scenario, where you have to get the treasure (the pearl in the centre) out of the gaming area.

Turn 1 - initiative

1 for team black, 2 for team purple - team black gets the first move.

Taking turns moving their pawns, both teams advance (or rather: enter the battlefield).

As the stone obstructs line of sight entirely, there is no duel initiated during this turn.

Turn 2 - initiative

1 for team black, 5 for team purple - once again, team black receives the first action.

The first black dude moves around the stone while still using the stone as cover. A risky action, as he ends up drawing line of sight to 2 purple dudes. Black dude selects a 3 for his duel score, the two purple dudes select 2 and 6 respectively. The black dude decides to shoot the purple "6" dude if he survives the attack by purple "2". 

Let's interrupt here for a second to recap the rules for shooting: For each participating fighter a duel score is selected. Duel scores for each fighter are revealed simultaneously. Lowest duel score gets to shoot first, equal duel scores shoot at each other simultaneously. After selecting the duel score, the player of the fighter whose turn it is to shoot rolls 2 dice and adds each die individually to the duel score. If one result of such an addition is 7 or more, a fighter takes a hit. 1 hit and he is down (and cannot shoot back any more, but may recover), 2 hits (which can come from different sources!) and he is out of the game!

The purple "2" dude gets to shoot first. He rolls a 2 and a 5. 2+2 = 4 - a miss. 2+5 = 7 - a hit. However, the black dude is in cover, so one hit has to be rerolled! It doesn't matter: The purple dude rolls just another 5, taking the black dude down. Being down, the black dude cannot shoot back. So the purple "6" dude fires and takes the black dude out of the game.

Purple moves a dude next to the container where he cannot establish a line of sight to any of the black dudes (they are too far behind the stone for doing so!) so black moves another dude into position.

Black selects a duel score of 3, purple a duel score of 2. Purples shot misses entirely (2+4 = 6, 2+1 = 3), whereas black scores 2 hits, even after rerolling for cover (3+4 = 7, 3+6 = 9).

Purple moves the next dude behind the container. He and the black dude cannot draw line of sight to each other. 

Black moves another dude into a position where he is able to draw line of sight to the purple dude behind the container. Both select a duel score of 2. Both shoot simultaneously at each other. After rerolling 1 die each due to cover, their shots miss (black: 2+3 = 5, 2+1 = 3 / purple: 2+4 = 6, 2+4 = 6)

Purple moves in another of his dudes - risky, as he is now facing two black dudes. The fighters select their duel scores: Purple goes with 3, black with 4 and 5 respectively. Purple decides to shoot the black dude at the front, as this one is NOT in cover - as opposed to the purple dude who is from the point of view of both black dudes.

Purple dude's attack result is 2 hits (3+4 = 7, 3+6 = 9), so the black dude at the front is taken out before he can even react. 

The black dude at the back, however, does shoot back and even after rerolling his results are 2 hits (5+2 = 7, 5+3 = 8), taking out the purple dude.

Black gets cocky and moves another dude into position to shoot the purple dude behind the container. Both fighters select their duel scores: Black goes with 3, purple with a 2. Purple shoots first and even after rerolling, he scores 1 hit (2+2 = 4 - a miss, 2+6 = 8 - a hit). The black dude goes down before he gets to react.

A fighter lying on the ground is easy prey. So purple moves to the right of the container. However, there is still one black dude standing! Purple and black can draw line of sight to each other and select their duel scores. Both select a 4, causing them to shoot simultaneously. After rerolling due to cover, the black dude has scored 1 hit (4+2 = 6 - a miss, 4+3 =7 - a hit), whereas purple has scored 2 hits (4+4 = 8 - a hit, 4+6 = 10, a hit), taking the black dude out.

What a bloody second turn! Purple has got 2 fighters left, black has got 1 fighter left. Time for another turn! Time for ...

Turn 3 - initiative

6 for team black, 4 for team purple - once again, team purple receives the first action. Before acting, however, both players check during the upkeep phase, whether their fighters get up again:

For this check, each player rolls 2 dice per fighter that is down. If one die shows a 5 or more (a 4 or more if noone shot at the fighter the turn before), the fighter gets up again. And - olé - the black dude comes back!

Purple decides to remain in position and just open fire. Both fighters are in cover, so both have to reroll 1 hit. For duel scores, purple selects a 3, black a 5 - daring! Purple's shots miss entirely (3+1 = 4, 3+2=5), whereas black places 2 hits (5+3 = 8, 5+6 =11) even after rerolling one hit.

With his final action, the black moves into the open, firing at the purple dude on the ground, who cannot fire back. Black wins!

What a tight and action packed game!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the action on screen as much as I did offline.!

If you want to find out more about "Duel", go to the game's page: www.catzeyes.de/Duel 

Also make sure to check out other CatZeyeS games as well, if you are into free games! (Well .. who is not?)

And do make sure to check out the CatZlinkS on the upper right of this page, so you can find the means to contact me - or to join my crowd of crazy gamers!

Kind regards,

Kai

Working on the SSSSSS

First of all I want to boast with a new coverdesign, which is going to be the front and back cover for a print version:

The two fleets depicted are courtesy of two awesome members of the Super Cheap Wargaming group at facebook!

Anyways.

I received a playtest report! YAY! There is nothing cooler for a gamedesigner than seeing other people playing his games! 😃

Issues mentioned:

* "Stat 6 ships are autohitters". That's true. I've got an approach for this, which includes rolling more dice to the mechanics of a "success-system":

A ship's stat equals the number of dice it gets to roll to attack an opposing ship. 
Each result of 5 or 6 on a single die is a success.
For short range, the attacker receives a +1 (success on 4,5,6), for long range a -1 (success on 6 only).
The formula 7-(ship's stat) gives you the number of ship's defense dice.
Attacker and defender roll their dice. If the attacker rolls more successes than the defender, the defending ship is damaged / destroyed.

By using this mechanic, I could implement a "hull point" system, where you have to shoot down the hull points of a ship before it gets destroyed. I just need to figure out, how to balance those ...

* "Low stat ships are slow". Also true. The current iteration of the rules recommends placing the ships on a 2"x2" base and using 2" as the scale for 1 step.
I need to add into the rules that a ship MUST move at least 1 step and may only move full steps!
So, even with a movement of just 1 step a ship technically moves 4" - which is few, but at least a visible bit on a 3'x3' area.

* "Low stat ships cannot hit their opponents and thus are useless". Well. That depends. In a carnage scenario, this might be true. However, in the "pickup from asteroid base" they are the ships carrying the cargo. They are not meant for hitting hard, but for protecting what they are carrying! Now watch your opponent deciding between having to hit your lighter ships in order to not get harassed or shooting your heavy ship in order to prevent it from scoring victory points!

Thanks for reading and kind regards,

Kai

Check out the latest iteration of the rules here: https://bit.ly/SuSiStShSkSy
If you want to playtest the game, too, please do take the "success-system" as described above instead of the "auto hit" system into consideration!
Also, if you think you figured out, how to implement "hull points" into the system, please do drop me a note!

Super Simple Star Ship Skirmish System

 ... or "how many words starting with S can you fit into one title"? 😇

In the facebook group „Super Cheap Wargaming“ a trend occured:

Crafting spaceships out of clothespin parts.

Pretty awesome, if you ask me ..

However, the people there started wondering, which ruleset they could possibly use. 

And while there are many rulebooks available for a price, the availabilty of free rules is scarce at best.

So I took some time and mixed some rules I have learned from another starship game with some other rules I‘ve written and that have proven pretty well balanced to create a fast paced star ship skirmisher.

And the best part is – of course, as with every other CatZeyeS game – the rules are here for free!

Currently I'm in the process of developing them - what I'm lacking right now are playtesters as well as ideas for scenarios.

I hope some of you guys do have some ideas - feel free to chat me up at FB, Twitter or reddit to talk about them. You can find the according links here on the right -> 

And here comes the current draft of the rules:

https://bit.ly/SuSiStShSkSy

(sorry for the weird name ...)

Enjoy!

Kind regards,

Kai

Create your own miniatures

Did you ever want to make your own miniatures, but did not know, where to start?

It's easy: Start with the KISS formula:

Keep it stupid simple.

Basically in every miniature game, fighters have at least one of the following three roles:

The melee dude, who likes to take the fight as close as possible.

The ranged dude, who likes to shoot.

The supporting dude, who does not exactly fight but rater uses his abilities to support the others.

Of course, combinations of these three archetypes are possible, too.

But for the moment let's focus on these three. 

Because all you need now, are Icons - or rather: graphics - representing these roles:

A sword can mark the melee dude, a bow is a symbol for the ranged dude and a wand can classify the supporter:

All you need to do is:

Find some graphics, print them out and Stick them to some meeples - voilá, your own miniature!

Ok, the shield here stands for "extra armour", but as you can see: anyone can be anything! It's up to you to create your own fighters and to unleash them on your enemy!

You need a game to play with those?

How about a nice game of Whack & Slaughter :)

Photostudio - no need for something professional

I love looking at photos from miniatures painted by people with wicked skills.

One thing that never ceases to impress is a cool backdrop as well as a cool platform to put the miniatures on.

When I saw how a certain company selling minis take their product photos, I figured:

Actually it is DEAD simple to create your own "studio":

Looks nice, doesn't it?

Photo taken with smartphone, effects (borders, logo) inserted with a photo editing app on the same smartphone. 

And this is, what it looks like from 3-4 feet distance:

See?

Nothing special.

A printed sheet of paper with a backdrop Image scavenged from the Internet on a cardboard and the mini stands on a piece of fishtank decoration.

Voilá 😀