Grandkhan
Telvanni Master Wizard
BattleNES: No Plot, No Polls, Only War!
Welcome now to BattleNES: No Plot, No Polls, Only War!
This is going to be the beta-test of the new combat model I want to test for later NESes. In it, I will be running armies built by 4 players against each other in military combat. There will likely be six battles in all - each player will play every other player once. I may resurrect this later if I want more playtesting/am bored.
How it works
First, players will build armies up to 200 points from the table below. I will accept the first four people who sign up with an army. I will not accept any sign-up post which doesn't have an army build attached to it. Think very carefully about your army build - you won't be able to switch up most of it when the game begins!
You won't know a huge amount about how my combat model works. This is deliberate, because I kind of want it as black-boxy as possible as in a normal NES to stop players gaming the system and exploiting my bad initial balance. Half the point of this NES is to iron out any massively OP or UP units in battles.
Once I have four players, I will build up a set of proper maps, and begin the battles. First, I will give players the map and their objectives - these may vary from battle to battle. Then, players will send me battle orders.
Battle orders should include their armies deployment, preferably a specific one (though I will accept any deployment as vague as "cavalry on the wings, infantry in the middle, Guards on the left, artillery in the back." You will not see your enemy's deployment before the battle, and you may not attempt to deploy conditional on the enemy's deployment. This is because I do not want to be stuck evaluating an infinite loop in battle orders.
Battle orders should also include the player's strategy for the battle. I would rather this be not hugely specific, because no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. I will attempt to follow your guidelines as close as I can, though where this is impossible I will act to the best of my ability for to get the player who's turn it is (because battles will be evaluated in turns). Turns will then changeover and I will do the exact same thing for the other player. Your battle orders may include conditions based on your enemy's actions, but not their deployment. For example, you may include the lines
but not
After the battle is over (one side has completed its objectives OR one side has been completely killed or routed) I will declare a winner and write up the report for the battle (probably blow by blow format).
What you know about the combat model.
Flanking your enemy units and attacking from the side or from the rear gives you bonuses in combat. Remember this and use it to your advantage, except on units that cannot be flanked, though they can be attacked from the rear for a smaller bonus.
Morale is a thing. Morale controls whether a unit will break after taking casualties, whether they will fire at a unit that they are directed to rather than the closest unit, as well as whether they will pursue a fleeing enemy. Fleeing units turn around and run to the closest edge of the board that is not their enemies deployment zone, presenting their back to the enemy if so. Fleeing units can fire at other units, but will still keep running until they either regrouped (based on a morale check), are destroyed, or exit the board.
Fortifications exist. You may not build them or purchase them, but some battles will start with them deployed. Units can walk over fortifications.
All movement and range is based on squares on the grid.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. The first battles will probably start next week or later if I haven't made proper maps for them yet. Battles may also be time consuming for me to resolve, so be patient.
Units
Please construct a 200 point army bought from this list:
Riflemen|10|2|1|2|8|1|2|2|None
Guards|13|2|1|2|8|3|2|3|Always retreat facing the enemy if possible
Engineers|12|2|2|2|8|1|1|1|Get 33% more on average out of fortifications
Skirmishers|10|1|1|2|8|1|3|1|Cannot be flanked
Pikemen|6|0|1|2|0|2|3|2| May move again at end of turn if not in combat and pass a morale test
Machine Guns|15|4|1|3|8|0|1|2|None
Cavalry| | | | | | | | |
Hussars|15|0|1|2|0|3|4|3|Cannot be flanked
Dragoons|15|2|1|2|4|1|4|3|Cannot be flanked
Cuirassiers|20|1|2|2|2|3|3|3|Extra attack if first turn in combat
Artillery| | | | | | | | |
Howitzers|20|5|1|2|12|0|1|2|Can fire over allied and enemy units.
Mortars|20|4|1|2|10|0|1|2|Ignores fortifications
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!
