EPICNES [the Troquelet Returns!] New Nes, Eight Players in Merrie England!

TROQUELET RETURNS! NES [EPICNES]

Hi, my ISP had some problems so my net wasn’t functioning... I’ve been lurkin’ round here a while to see what the NES is up to.

Time to stick my oar in once again!

This is EPICNES. I decided to go back to the drawing board with the King Arthur/Scotnes ideas, and here’s the result! Aside from the basic UKNES system there’s a new method of movement and combat which will leave MUCH less up to luck, rewarding strategy and planning. Terrain and different kinds of units, castlebuilding, and parts of the feudalism mechanism are all here! Welcome to Merrie England....

THE RULES

Each of you has just succeeded to the throne of a major kingdom. Your goal will be to turn your petty fief surrounded by barbarian lands into the most powerful nation in the world or at least England [another English NES to placate UKnem and Jason! ]. You will build Peasants, Knights, Fleets, and Castles to strengthen and protect your empire.

Turns will happen every day at 4.00 in the afternoon, San Francisco time, except Sundays [my day off!]. With each turn will come a map-update, reports from of “The Daily Alchemist” [turn summary], and income updates.

Land you own is divided into provinces with a number like in the UKNES system. Sea is owned by nobody and divided into seas with a letter, all as usual.

Here’s what’s new:

A province is either Grassland, Forest, or Hills. Grasslands produce 3 gold pieces a turn, Forests produce 2, and Hills produce 1. Forests and Hills however are more easily defensible and slow down troops.

A province with a Castle produces DOUBLE income. A Hill Castle produces 2 gold for example, a Grass Castle produces 6.

Each turn you receive money to spend based on your income. However, you must also pay upkeep. And at the end, money not spent is halved and sent on to the next turn.

Each Peasant, Knight, or Fleet you own costs 1 gold per turn in upkeep. Castles are free - they support themselves.

Example. I have 2 Grass Castles, 1 Hill Castle, and 2 Forests. That’s 6+6+2+2+2= 18 gold. However I also have the 3 Castles mentioned above [but they are free of upkeep!] and 2 Knights. 18-2 means I have 16 gold to spend this turn.

You start with 11 gold at the beginning of the game: 6 from your Grassland Castle starting province and 5 from your treasury. Your starting province has a Castle, so you get 6 income per turn from that province.

You may spend money to buy:

Units [Peasants, Knights, or Fleets - the armed forces]

Castles [protect your land and boost income]

Marches [the necessary logistics to move troops from place to place]

1. UNITS

You may only buy units to start in a province with a Castle. So it’s a good idea to place castles strategically so your forces can reach any space in one turn after building them.

Knights and Fleets cost 3 gold each, while Peasants cost 2 gold each. There’s no limit to the amount you can build per turn.

2. CASTLES

You may only build 1 Castle per turn. You don’t need Knights or Peasants in the province to build Castles though - the serfs can do the work. Castles cost 6 gold each. Only 1 Castle per province!

A Castle can NEVER be destroyed unless the player occupying it decides to destroy it on purpose.

3. MARCHES

Units that have just been built cannot move.

You have 2 free marches a turn. Extra ones can be bought at 4 gold each.

One March can be used for the following:

1. To load any amount of troops onto fleets [4 units per fleet] move the fleet up to one space, and unload them, attacking anything in the space.

OR

2. To move any number of troops in one province to another adjacent one.

OR

3. To move any number of fleets in one sea to another adjacent one.

Here’s an example of two Marches. I move 4 Knights from Province A to B. In Province B there are already 3 Peasants and 1 Knight. The whole stack, 5 Knights and 3 Peasants, now moves for one March to Province B.

BUT!

There are limits to the amount of moves one unit can make per turn:

A Knight can only make up to 3 Marches.

A Peasant or Fleet can only make up to 2 Marches.

Troops may NOT switch fleets while at sea. That means no multi-fleet convoys.

However it’s made up for by the fact that fleets can move up to 2 seas if you expend enough marches.

When a Fleet makes a transport that counts as a March, of course, even if the Fleet never moved, because it loaded and unloaded troops. And it counts as a March for the unit crossing over.

But remember, the whole move only COSTS one March altogether.

ALL troops must stop and end their turn once entering a Forest or Hill space, or an enemy province!

SPECIAL RULE: only 4 units may ever occupy one of your Castle spaces, NO EXCEPTIONS! If you are ATTACKING a Castle you can use up to EIGHT units, total.

COMBAT

Any foreign Knights, Peasants, or Castles together fight. Fleets may coexist unless one owner ordered that they should fight.

In land combat, total units on each side are totalled.

A KNIGHT counts 2 points on offense, 1 on defense.

A PEASANT counts 1 point on offense, 2 on defence.

A CASTLE counts for 2 points on Grass or in Forest, 3 on a Hill [even if no Knights or Peasants are there to defend it, the serfs still will!].

A HILL itself without a Castle counts for 2 points [even if no Knights or Peasants are there to defend it, the serfs still will!].

Whoever has less points is labelled the LOSER [attacker in a tie always loses]. The other player is the WINNER. For that round at least!

Two dice are rolled. The LOSER loses points worth the same as the number on the HIGHER dice. The WINNER gets enough points taken away to equal the number on the LOWER dice.

Peasants are destroyed before Knights.

The another round is played, and another until:

The first side to lose half its force in NUMBER of UNITS [castles don’t count] is DEFEATED and must retreat or die.

Here’s an example of a fight to make things clear.

Alex attacks Becka’s Forest Castle. Becka defends it with 4 Peasants, bringing the defensive total up to 10. Alex only has 3 Knights and 4 Peasants, for a total of 10. He’s the loser in a tie, because he’s attacking.

The dice rolls read 3, 2. Alex removes 3 Peasants. Becka removes 2 Peasants.

However, BECKA has lost the battle because she just lost 2 of her 4 Peasants, reducing her army to 1/2 its size while Alex still has 4 of his 7 units. She retreats, and Alex occupies the Castle.

MORAL: use combined arms! Knights on defense are NOT useless because they die LAST so they aren’t risked in the battle, and they boost your numbers. Same for Peasants on attack: they are useful cannon fodder to keep your knights safe.

Water combat: the winner is the player or alliance with the most fleets. Each loser fleet rolls a dice. On 1, 2, or 3 the fleet sinks. On 4 or 5 the fleet may retreat safely to any friendly sea. On 6 the fleet may retreat safely AND an enemy fleet is also sunk!

ABOUT SERFS

Serfs are the villeins, virtual slaves of the aristocratic lords, unfortunately, but they are very useful. They build your Castles, for a price, and they will muster to defend a province.

If a province is empty of real troops and an enemy enters the serfs will muster. They are worth one point on defense. They use the defenses of Castles and Hills. They only last one turn since any casualties at all will kill them, but they may inflict minimal casualties on an enemy. A serf defending a Hill Castle can win a round against two Knights or four Peasants. Don’t underestimate their use, and don’t think an empty province is easy pickings if it has good defences - you’ll need a few Knights to take even an empty province out.

POSTCOMBAT

Castles are never destroyed, just occupied! So don’t make Castles just to leave them vacant because they can become strongholds for your foe.

All units that can’t retreat die. Retreating to the fleet is a valid option, ONLY if you attacked over water.

TREASURY

Any money not spent in units, castles, or marches is divided in half, rounded down, and added to your treasury to be used next turn.

Example: my income is 12 gold + 5 treasury gold = 17 gold. I spend 9 gold, leaving 8, which reduces to 4 and next turn I will have my income + 4 treasury gold.

DIPLOMACY

ANY kind of secret or public agreement can be made, and there are ZERO penalties for breaking them except getting a rep for backstabbing. And in the NES that’s more than enough to get a dogpile on you. So be wary of which treaties you break.

The map shows the legend and the country identifications.

The year is 1030. Each turn brings 6 years of progress, so the next turn will be 1036.

Let’s begin! Have fun.

APPENDIX: Example of Arthur of Essex’s 1st turn ORDERS

“To: The Troquelet

ORDERS

I have 11 gold to spend.

I buy 3 Knights and 1 Peasant for 9 and 2 gold, no gold left over.

I use Free March One to move a Knight and a Peasant from 10 to 11 and claim it for Essex.

I use Free March Two to move 2 Knights from 10 to 9 and claim it for Essex.

I buy zero extra marches.

I store zero gold.

My total troops are 3 Knights and 1 Peasant. Next turn I will pay 4 gold upkeep.

End orders.”

Map and Timeline in second post.

There are SEVEN open spaces as of now!

Galloway: Jason the King

Once all players have joined, you can start sending in orders.

This NES is a sort of crossover between board NESes like UK and RPG ones like RTOR. So while roleplay won't change the game, feel free to use it if it helps you get more into the feel of the era, game, etc. for example you can take a name for your king, and so on.

CURRENT DATE: 1030 AD.

1030 AD: Eight new Kings rise to the thrones of Medieval England and the Great Expansion Chaos begins...

Ill Be Galloway! Welcome back, Troq!

Jason

I'll be Henry II of the Welsh


Good to see you Troq!

I'll be Robert Bruce of Dalriada.

Hi

I'm pretty new of CFC NESes.

I read through the rules, and if there is nothing more to know, and no problem for you guys, I'd like to claim Wessex

Saluti

i havent joined yet, but i just might. some questions first.

Two dice are rolled. The LOSER loses points worth the same as the number on the HIGHER dice. The WINNER gets enough points taken away to equal the number on the LOWER dice.
.......
The dice rolls read 3, 2. Alex removes 3 Peasants. Becka removes 2 Peasants.

Click to expand...

i understood it as Becka would have to remove 2 POINTS not units, so that would be ONE peasant (2 on defence). am i right?

do empty (non claimed) provinces have defences? or does just walking a unit through it claim it?

if only 4 units can defend a castle then the best defence you can have is 11 (castle on hill=3 +4 peasants) which is crap if you think about it, since 4 knights and 4 peasants will take that, and 5 knights and 3 peasants will take it easily. you sure about that limit?

as far as fleet combat goes, if i get it right, its smaller fleet looses half his own and the larger fleet looses 1/6th of the size of the smaller fleet.
naval superiority is gonna be EASY as hell to keep in this game once you get it (start building fleets early).

if 2 countries send in a unit into an unoccupied territory at the same time. which values are used? attack for both, or defence for both? or is it always a 1 or always a 2 (meanining that they using better/worse all the time).

alright, to hell with work.

i'll join as Moray (brown in 68)

Hey Troquelet! Come to the UKNES7 thread, if I don't get orders from Jack_www next turn, then Austria will be free, and they need a strong leader!

Also, I'd love to join lol, I love these old ARTNESs. I'll play as Anglia. Just to warn you that I send orders as often as I can, but every now and then there will be a turn I can't(I'm REALLY busy at the moment), and in that case please just continue as I have been doing.

Damn, better print this rules out and read them lol, could be a long read!

Nemesis

if 3 knights attack one claimed territory thats on a hill (1 defence from serfs) and the die roll comes up 6/6 does that mean that EVERY one in the combat dies? does the attacker get to take the province since the serf defence is dead or does the defender keep it cause there are no attackers left.

Addition to last post. (if both attacker and defender are killed...)

Or maybe the province becomes neutral. I REALY like this option. the government installed by the old owner is destroyed but the attacker has no one to make a new one. lol.
this would make for VERY interesting 'raiding' attacks. considering how expencive movement is, a raid into enemy territory could be VERY effective.

i would like to suggest a limit on how much a combatant (defence or attack) can lose in a single round.
a player may not lose more unit value(/strength) in one round of combat then the sum of the enemy's units value(/strength)
that way 3 knights wont all die to an undefended hill, just cause the dice came up 6/6.

and another question. if i attack with a bunch of knights (no inf) and in round one i am supposed to lose 3 points, do i lose 1 knight (and the other one is injured???) or do i lose 2 knights (which is realy 4 points) which is sort of punishment for not having any inf with em)

when do we send in orders?

i'll play yorkshire...

ONE FREE PLAYER LEFT - MERCIA

Once this last player joins, play can begin!

Thanks to Roddy's eagle eye for rules . The result:

RULE CHANGES AND CLARIFICATIONS 1

1. CLARIFICATION: Points lost are those in battle, not number of units. Losing 2 points is equivalent to losing two attacking peasants, or one attacking knight, or two defending knights, or one defending peasant. Yes, Roddy was correct.

2. CLARIFICATION: Unclaimed, white provinces have no defense. However, as in the rules, provinces which are CLAIMED, that have colors, but EMPTY, no military units, are still defended by the SERFS [see main rules].

3. CLARIFICATION: the first unit to walk through an unclaimed province claims it.

4. CLARIFICATION: if two players send troops into the same UNCLAIMED province, the side with a larger number of units attacks and the smaller side defends. In a tie, all units attack.

If the province is CLAIMED whoever claims it defends.

5. CLARIFICATION: Extra point losses are disgarded. If I have 2 Knights and lose 3 points, I lose ONE Knight ONLY, because I can't lose ONE and a HALF. And yes, this means that if I roll one, I lose NO Knights!

6. CLARIFICATION: If a battle occurs in any province claimed or unclaimed and no units OR CASTLES remain in the province, the province reverts to neutral and unclaimed. If a Castle is in the province, the province stays with the defender!

Now for the rule changes.

RULE CHANGES TO UNIT LIMITS

1. As DEFENDER you may put up to 5 units in each Province, but only 4 in a Castle Province.

2. An Attacker may attack any Province with up to 6 units, but only 5 when attacking a Castle Province.

Note: Yes, I know this means the attacker will automatically "lose" any battle against a castle. However, you forget that he has the advantage of numbers, and can take three casualties while the defense can only take two.

Also this will serve to break-up the huge "killer stacks" that might result if people decide the risk of putting all one's eggs in one basket is worth the price of not paying extra marches.

CHANGES TO NAVAL BATTLES

Now Naval Battles will run like this: each round each ship rolls a dice. The difference between the dice totals for each side is calculated and for every five points a ship is destroyed on the losing side.

At this point all ships roll a dice and on 6 must retreat. Then repeat, etc... until all ships are dead or retreated.

I'll take Mercia

Go ahead and send in orders everyone!

just one thing before I do how many units do we have to start!!!

Zero. But you start with 11 gold [6 gold from Grass Castle + 5 Treasury].

Hi, OK, I checked some orders and there might be a few mistakes.

Revolutionary, you have 11 gold to spend, not 3. Are you sure you want to spend just 3?

Sheep2, you sent both of your Marches to the same province. Are you sure you don't want to claim 2 provinces this turn?

I'll send you PMs to make sure.

ok thanks