Flavor:
In the Fief Element you take on the roll of a noble duke working to carve out a kingdom for yourself from the surrounding countryside. You must manage the growth of your city with the wealth and production of your nation and wage war on unworthy infidels. We have, of course, heard all this before.
Play:
Turns so far a loose and very simple. You select a card from a face up pool of options. First you must build the wall section depicted on the card, then you may build one of the kingdom elements associated with that card which will earn you victory points. These elements cover a range of developmental characteristics from finance to military strength. Players will each play between 8-12 turns before the randomly seeded scoring card turns up and ends the game. At the end of the game, players earn points in each category based on who controls major shares of each element, more points if the elements are scarcely represented and less if the board is cluttered with that element.
The 13 different building pieces are used to create enclosed boroughs to both score points and boost elements placed within their walls. Eleven of the wall sections depicted are simple shapes. One is a castle gate which in general has a diminishing end game point value and supports your commerce. The last is a tower section that my function as a normal wall section but may also be built atop a wall to create a multiplier for both military elements built on top of it as well as double the point value of all boroughs that it overlooks.
Play time for the initial tests were approximately 10 min and 25 min respectively. In the second game we tried a few changes which were interesting but extended the length of the game beyond what I am comfortable with the two player version requiring.
Thoughts and/or questions are encouraged.
Showing posts with label Molding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Molding. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Molding: AxGnomes
Flavor:
Chop it, Chop it, Chop it! Gnomes in Beaver-suits? Giant mechanical scorpions? What is going on here? Trees are falling and logs are cascading down rivers! Hurry and deliver your lumber on time or lose face and money!
Command your fellow gnomes, make savvy business decisions, and deliver you lumber to the meglocorps and secure yourself stacks of coin. Bank it and retire. But don't forget, you can't do it alone so make deals, engineer steals, and upgrade your technology to come out on top.
Play:
You must manage the leases on land representing the rights to the trees growing there, hire and pay the salary of gnomes chopping your trees, transport those logs, mill them into boards and deliver on the contracts you fought so hard to earn.
The game is played over the course of 20 years (30 years in a long game) with each year representing a turn consisting of four parts. In the first phase of the turn players mimic the passing of time by advancing all of their leases and contracts on their tracker board. In the second phase all passive board elements trigger such as trees growing and rivers pushing logs downstream. Any number of actions are taken by each player one at a time in the third phase following turn order. This phase is where all of the negotiation and planning will take place. In the last phase of each turn any player which has successfully completed the prerequisites for a contract makes a delivery and collects payment. After 20 turns the game ends and players compare stacks of money. Its all about the Benjaminicins (A famous gnomish inventor minted on every coin).
Chop it, Chop it, Chop it! Gnomes in Beaver-suits? Giant mechanical scorpions? What is going on here? Trees are falling and logs are cascading down rivers! Hurry and deliver your lumber on time or lose face and money!
Command your fellow gnomes, make savvy business decisions, and deliver you lumber to the meglocorps and secure yourself stacks of coin. Bank it and retire. But don't forget, you can't do it alone so make deals, engineer steals, and upgrade your technology to come out on top.
Play:
You must manage the leases on land representing the rights to the trees growing there, hire and pay the salary of gnomes chopping your trees, transport those logs, mill them into boards and deliver on the contracts you fought so hard to earn.
The game is played over the course of 20 years (30 years in a long game) with each year representing a turn consisting of four parts. In the first phase of the turn players mimic the passing of time by advancing all of their leases and contracts on their tracker board. In the second phase all passive board elements trigger such as trees growing and rivers pushing logs downstream. Any number of actions are taken by each player one at a time in the third phase following turn order. This phase is where all of the negotiation and planning will take place. In the last phase of each turn any player which has successfully completed the prerequisites for a contract makes a delivery and collects payment. After 20 turns the game ends and players compare stacks of money. Its all about the Benjaminicins (A famous gnomish inventor minted on every coin).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Molding: The Kingdom of Angwar
Flavor:
An evil rift has spawned in the land surrounding the kingdom of Angwar and the power of undeath grips the realm. The great lords of the Undead battle one another for the bodies and souls of the Angwar citizens. Thankfully, the populace is not without hope...
In 'The Kingdom of Angwar' you play the role of a powerful undead lord who is shaping the very land itself with evil magic and the might of your undead hoard. You must be careful, however, as every action you take strengthens the resolve of the citizens and knights of Angwar. Balance carefully your evil acts and you can lure more helpless cattle to your desecrated hellscape, overextend and face the wrath of the clergy.
Play:
A preselected player begins by bidding some number of 'Kingdom' cards they are willing to take from the central realm (a face down pile) into their province (the cards that will ultimatly form their Kingdom deck). After each player has had at least one chance to bid (each player must bid at least one) and the high bid stands the high bidder looks at the pile of cards in the central kingdom. They select one of these cards and give it to any player to add to his province, and pass him the rest of the central kingdom cards. That player does the same. This process repeats itself until all bids have been filled with kingdom cards. A player who has collected a number of cards equal to his bid can no longer be passed cards. Once all the central kingdom cards are gone for the turn any player who has not yet met their bid draws from a face down supply of kingdom cards.
All players will now have some number of cards in their province; the starting amount (probably 3) plus their bid. The players shuffle up these cards to form their Kingdom deck and starting with the highest bidder and working down take their turns. A player shuffles up his other two decks: The Resource deck and the Location deck, and then draws cards to fill his opening hand in any combination from these two decks. One location is played, and special abilities utilized, before the topmost card of the kingdom deck is flipped and makes his way towards the players inner sanctum. Location and resource cards will have values to combat the intruders and at the end of the round (large portions glossed here... see comments for clarifications) the player will tally the Victory points on the cards they played this round from all three decks to use towards the purchase of face up location cards for their location deck. If any kingdom cards find their way to a players inner sanctum their VP values are subtracted from the players tally for the round, as well as from that players stash of VP chips. Each player starts with a predetermined number of VP chips and the game ends at the end of the round in which any player loses their last VP chip. Scores are based on a players VP tally including every card in all three decks plus that players VP chips.
Three decks:
Kingdom deck - every card has some positive VP value and is obtained only through bidding or other manipulation (to be explained)
Location deck - Locations have a VP value often low but positive and are obtained through purchase at the end of a players rally phase.
Resource deck - Resource cards vary greatly in VP value but tend to be higher than locations and in some cases kingdom cards. These are earned by playing out locations and resource pairs or by winning combats against insurgent kingdom warriors.
sleep for now...
An evil rift has spawned in the land surrounding the kingdom of Angwar and the power of undeath grips the realm. The great lords of the Undead battle one another for the bodies and souls of the Angwar citizens. Thankfully, the populace is not without hope...
In 'The Kingdom of Angwar' you play the role of a powerful undead lord who is shaping the very land itself with evil magic and the might of your undead hoard. You must be careful, however, as every action you take strengthens the resolve of the citizens and knights of Angwar. Balance carefully your evil acts and you can lure more helpless cattle to your desecrated hellscape, overextend and face the wrath of the clergy.
Play:
A preselected player begins by bidding some number of 'Kingdom' cards they are willing to take from the central realm (a face down pile) into their province (the cards that will ultimatly form their Kingdom deck). After each player has had at least one chance to bid (each player must bid at least one) and the high bid stands the high bidder looks at the pile of cards in the central kingdom. They select one of these cards and give it to any player to add to his province, and pass him the rest of the central kingdom cards. That player does the same. This process repeats itself until all bids have been filled with kingdom cards. A player who has collected a number of cards equal to his bid can no longer be passed cards. Once all the central kingdom cards are gone for the turn any player who has not yet met their bid draws from a face down supply of kingdom cards.
All players will now have some number of cards in their province; the starting amount (probably 3) plus their bid. The players shuffle up these cards to form their Kingdom deck and starting with the highest bidder and working down take their turns. A player shuffles up his other two decks: The Resource deck and the Location deck, and then draws cards to fill his opening hand in any combination from these two decks. One location is played, and special abilities utilized, before the topmost card of the kingdom deck is flipped and makes his way towards the players inner sanctum. Location and resource cards will have values to combat the intruders and at the end of the round (large portions glossed here... see comments for clarifications) the player will tally the Victory points on the cards they played this round from all three decks to use towards the purchase of face up location cards for their location deck. If any kingdom cards find their way to a players inner sanctum their VP values are subtracted from the players tally for the round, as well as from that players stash of VP chips. Each player starts with a predetermined number of VP chips and the game ends at the end of the round in which any player loses their last VP chip. Scores are based on a players VP tally including every card in all three decks plus that players VP chips.
Three decks:
Kingdom deck - every card has some positive VP value and is obtained only through bidding or other manipulation (to be explained)
Location deck - Locations have a VP value often low but positive and are obtained through purchase at the end of a players rally phase.
Resource deck - Resource cards vary greatly in VP value but tend to be higher than locations and in some cases kingdom cards. These are earned by playing out locations and resource pairs or by winning combats against insurgent kingdom warriors.
sleep for now...
Monday, January 12, 2009
Molding: Krosis Prime
On the dense jungle planet of Krosis Prime your detachment has touched down, with a host of other units, into the unrelenting wilds. You are charged with security, reconnaissance and the preliminary extraction of valuable planetary resources.
In Krosis Prime you are in command of a detachment of trained mercenaries supported by the slush funds of large corporations, political extremists, and insane philanthropists. Your score is determined by the successful completion of missions, and the more people you can satisfy the more fame you can claim for your shard of an otherwise loosely organized world military.
The game begins with each player selecting missions from a closed source. The remaining missions will be made available later in the game. Each player controls a faction of similarly composed military units, including Space marines, Engineers, a Spider walker, an enforcer Mech, a drop ship and a mobile command unit.
On each players turn they may do one of the following:
As a bonus, and a requirement to foster interesting play, the activated unit may, depending on the type, combat alien forces on the surface or collect valuable resources which will help that unit's controller to complete his mission objectives. Clever use of unit influence and strategic deployment will help a player make the most of his mission cards. When a player has completed three missions the game will complete one final round before a faction is crowned the Krosis Elite.
In Krosis Prime you are in command of a detachment of trained mercenaries supported by the slush funds of large corporations, political extremists, and insane philanthropists. Your score is determined by the successful completion of missions, and the more people you can satisfy the more fame you can claim for your shard of an otherwise loosely organized world military.
The game begins with each player selecting missions from a closed source. The remaining missions will be made available later in the game. Each player controls a faction of similarly composed military units, including Space marines, Engineers, a Spider walker, an enforcer Mech, a drop ship and a mobile command unit.
On each players turn they may do one of the following:
- Deploy one unit to a terrain space (the unit must be able to navigate the terrain)
- Move one unit (adhering to terrain restricions)
- Scout new terrain (this includes moving a unit)
- Secure discovered terrain (a second search of the wild countryside)
- Seek additional missions
- Close a completed mission (a player's third mission ends the game)
As a bonus, and a requirement to foster interesting play, the activated unit may, depending on the type, combat alien forces on the surface or collect valuable resources which will help that unit's controller to complete his mission objectives. Clever use of unit influence and strategic deployment will help a player make the most of his mission cards. When a player has completed three missions the game will complete one final round before a faction is crowned the Krosis Elite.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)