Brass Golem Games

I’ve also gone with abstract representations of naval fleets and sea transport, somewhat akin to classic Diplomacy mechanics. Seas are split up into provinces roughly the same size as land provinces, except that sea movement is from province to province, with the individual hexes not mattering. Players control fleets, which can either be in ports, or sea zones. Naval battles are handled via abstract roll when opposing fleets occupy the same sea zone.

Sea transport comes after naval movement, and is allowed from any coastal land hex to any other coastal hex within a range of 2 Sea Zones chained through a player’s fleets, at least in theory. In practice, most factions have no inherent shipping capacity, and so must make use of Ports, which provide extra shipping capacity for entering/leaving the Port. Port Capacity is increased by any fleets making the same move as transported units. Gibraltor/Bosporous style straits also allow some extra shipping capacity across them.

A couple of extra twists: Walled Ports cannot be besieged unless their sea zone is blockaded. Some Port Resource production (e.g. Fish) can be blockaded. Factions have varrying bonuses in basic shipping capacity (Vikingar!), naval battle bonuses (Greek Fire!), sea zone range (range 3 allows deep sea moves), as well as the number/quality of ports and fleets. I’m also considering piracy mechanics, but that’s probably more complex than it’s worth.

I’ll be back in two weeks (once a week was overly ambitious!), with details about faction creation and faction experience.

One of the side effects of having tactical battles is that you need seperate mechanics for siege battles, as the sorts of defense bonuses used to represent walls in more abstract games like Civilization or Warlords don’t work. I’d long considered either having a seperate tactical siege game, or working walls into regular tactical battles, but in the end decided that this either meant too much extra complexity, and/or siege battles that had no interesting decisions. I’ve instead gone with abstract siege battles, of the sort usually found in boardgames.

Walls are assumed to contain any other sites present (like cities and ports), and have two upgradeable stats: size for how many military units they can fit, and a defense bonus used for siege rolls, representing how easily the defenders can hold out. Cities/Sites within walls have a control rating representing how loyal the populace is to the defenders, and how long they are willing to hold out.

When opposing armies meet outside a castle, the defenders have the option to retreat behind the walls. A large enough attacking force can then lay seige, making a Siege Roll each season (turn). Various factors modify Siege Rolls, including faction siege bonuses, the walls’ defense rating, any heros’ siege bonuses; I’m also considering engineers that can build siege engines in forests for further bonuses. Succesfull siege rolls accumulate Siege Points, causing the defenders to capitulate when siege points are equal to the defended sites’ control/loyalty, which can happen either by adding siege points, or by reducing the defenders control politically.

Defenders are allowed to sally at any point, which is treated like an ordinary field battle. I’m debating allowing besiegers to storm before a siege is completed, using an abstract mechanic resulting in heavy losses, but I haven’t yet been able to decide how to handle such a roll and what the range of results should be.