Re: Lorn Empire (Update 6 - Page 5)
Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:51 am
OK, I've had a better look now. First, let me say that I love the graphics, the little story is nice and overall the theme is good.
Now, here are some clarity issues:
(1) Need to define on the map clearly what constitutes an Empire region and a Farm region. I'm assuming that the Farmlands are all the regions that start with "F" and the Empire regions are everything else, but I hate to make assumptions when playing a map for the first time.
(2) The rule "Barracks bombard adjacent Farmlands", I've no idea what 'adjacent' means here, given my assumption in (1) above.
(3) At some point, you need to put in the legend the symbols for a Castle, maybe a Post if you want to save legend space, (and possibly Barracks if you change the names- you can't have them all be the same name). Also need to show sample symbols for impassible terrain.
As for the gameplay, here are my thoughts:
(1) Conquest maps are tricky, and most require extensive Beta testing. The trouble is always balancing the neutral values to prevent 'quick' eliminations, while providing room for players to accomplish something useful on their turn. Let me go into this in more detail with my next two points.
(2) The current neutral values are too high in some places. As Sully posted, 28 is enough to ensure that any decent player will avoid the center like the plague. Especially when the benefit is so low. Far smarter to just take the 5 regions around them for a +4 bonus, then stack and stack and hope that an opportunity comes around to bull rush and elimate a neighbor. This sort of gameplay experience doesn't seem terribly fun, as the options are currently very 1(maybe 2)-dimensional. Plus, the strategy is minimal and dice will play a major role in determining a victor.
However, a similar argument can be made about Feudal War, so perhaps it will have an appeal (if that's what you're aiming for in terms of a gameplay framework).
(3) The bonuses are okay, perhaps too low for the center (farm) regions. Conversely, perhaps the neutral values can be lowered to 1s for most of the center. Sixteen neutrals for a +6 auto-deploy is fair enough, but considering the awful risk that players take by exposing themeselves to a quick kill, I could even see the bonus as high as +8 autodeploy.
(4) The map needs to have more options. Opening up the center will help a lot; adding in some more impassibles for entering the center might help give the castles more protection. Alternatively, you could make entry into the center a one-way attack (say through the Castle, or Barracks, or some new type of place) and then have no way to attack back out except through a Post, which would guard against quick kills as each Post has a substantial number of neutrals.
Anyway, hope this helps, and keep up the good work!
Marshal Ney
Now, here are some clarity issues:
(1) Need to define on the map clearly what constitutes an Empire region and a Farm region. I'm assuming that the Farmlands are all the regions that start with "F" and the Empire regions are everything else, but I hate to make assumptions when playing a map for the first time.
(2) The rule "Barracks bombard adjacent Farmlands", I've no idea what 'adjacent' means here, given my assumption in (1) above.
(3) At some point, you need to put in the legend the symbols for a Castle, maybe a Post if you want to save legend space, (and possibly Barracks if you change the names- you can't have them all be the same name). Also need to show sample symbols for impassible terrain.
As for the gameplay, here are my thoughts:
(1) Conquest maps are tricky, and most require extensive Beta testing. The trouble is always balancing the neutral values to prevent 'quick' eliminations, while providing room for players to accomplish something useful on their turn. Let me go into this in more detail with my next two points.
(2) The current neutral values are too high in some places. As Sully posted, 28 is enough to ensure that any decent player will avoid the center like the plague. Especially when the benefit is so low. Far smarter to just take the 5 regions around them for a +4 bonus, then stack and stack and hope that an opportunity comes around to bull rush and elimate a neighbor. This sort of gameplay experience doesn't seem terribly fun, as the options are currently very 1(maybe 2)-dimensional. Plus, the strategy is minimal and dice will play a major role in determining a victor.
However, a similar argument can be made about Feudal War, so perhaps it will have an appeal (if that's what you're aiming for in terms of a gameplay framework).
(3) The bonuses are okay, perhaps too low for the center (farm) regions. Conversely, perhaps the neutral values can be lowered to 1s for most of the center. Sixteen neutrals for a +6 auto-deploy is fair enough, but considering the awful risk that players take by exposing themeselves to a quick kill, I could even see the bonus as high as +8 autodeploy.
(4) The map needs to have more options. Opening up the center will help a lot; adding in some more impassibles for entering the center might help give the castles more protection. Alternatively, you could make entry into the center a one-way attack (say through the Castle, or Barracks, or some new type of place) and then have no way to attack back out except through a Post, which would guard against quick kills as each Post has a substantial number of neutrals.
Anyway, hope this helps, and keep up the good work!
Marshal Ney