KAIJU CONQUEST LATEST GAME PLAY 11 NOV 18

A long time friend of mine, Todd, and I played a game of Kaiju Conquest yesterday. I was trying out the following new rules:

1. NEW RULE - Seven Phases per game round vice 6 phases. Adding Draw Card Phase as the first phase. This is used for the Tactic and Mission Cards. All seven phases as follows:

1. Draw Card Phase

2. Portal Phase

3. Resource Phase

4. Movement Phase

5. Battle Phase

6. Re-Deployment Phase

7. Victory Phase

RESULT - I needed to add the Draw Card phase because in previous games, the players would draw the cards during the Resource Phase. This caused a problem as there are cards that can be used in the Portal Phase. By drawing them in the Resource Phase they cannot be used until the Portal Phase in the next game round. This is not necessarily a problem, but it did not feel right to me. If the players are going to discard and draw their cards, they should be allowed to use any of those cards during the same game round.

Keep this new phase for now.

2. NEW RULE - Using Mission Cards (10 cards in a deck for each player). During the Draw Card Phase, the players will each draw 3 Mission Cards and pick one. Once they achieve the Mission, they can draw another 3 cards and pick another card on the following Draw Card Phase, or they can discard the Mission and draw another 3 cards to choose another Mission. 

RESULT - These cards add extra flavour to the game and allows players to achieve extra VPs if they succeed in the Mission. With 10 Missions per deck, and 6 game rounds, there will only be a maximum of 6 Missions achieved per game. By the end of Game Round 6, Todd achieved 4 Missions totalling 15 VPs,  and I achieved 3 Missions with 11 VPs.

Keep using Mission Cards for now. Some of the Mission objectives and will need to be modified.

3. NEW RULE - Using only the Tactic Cards for Portal, Resource and Movement Phases. Twelve cards per deck per player. 

RESULT - Each player starts with 4 Tactic Cards and on the Draw Card Phase of each game round can discard any number of cards and draw back up to 4 cards. With only the 12 cards in a deck, this allowed all of the cards to get used as much as twice during the game for a 6 round game.

Keep this rule for now.

4. NEW RULE - Nukes, Bio-Bombs are 4 RPs each to purchase. Nukes and Bio-Bombs were originally 5 RPs.

RESULT - Making the Nukes and Bio-Bombs 1 RP less to purchase makes it easier to get them. During this game I only bought one Bio-bomb, and since they stay on the board after use, it forced Todd to avoid the zone it was placed in as it affects the MUs/EMUs only.

Nukes and Bio-Bombs currently stay at 4 RPs.

5. NEW RULE - GSWs are 4 RPs to purchase, vice the 3 they were originally. The GSW will also have 6 attack dice and 6 Hit Points. Each time it takes a hit, it also loses an attack die. Previous GSWs only had 4 Hit Points to destroy.

RESULT - The GSWs at 4 RPs makes them a little more expensive but also gives them an attack value to defend the zone and city they are in. As the maximum dice allowed to use is 6 each battle round and the GSWs use 6 attack dice, they can last for one or two rounds before being destroyed, but maybe take out as much of the enemy forces in the process.

Keep GSWs at 4 RPs with 6 attack and 6 HPs. It seems to be working. 

 

6. NEW RULE - Elite Military Units (EMUs) can be purchased for 1 RP to replace the regular MUs. The MUs have Movement  of 1, Attk Dice of 1, no Armour value, and 1 Hit Point. The EMUs have Movement of 1, 2 Attack Dice, and Armour Value of 1, and 1 Hit Point. You basically need 2 Hits to eliminate each EMU.

RESULT -  The EMUs proved valuable and made quite a change to the game. When playing I realized that we were adding more than 12 units to the board. What would happen for example, is the UNRF player, Todd, would spend 1 RP to replace as many of his MUs into EMUs. However, on the next game round, if they still survived, Todd would gain a certain number of more MUs and then convert them to EMUs. So eventually he would have more then the usual 12 units on the game board. We went with that as I could do the same thing for the Sazzarran forces. The only problem was he already had the upper hand on me and better dice results, that I could not keep any of the zones I tried to take.

For the next game I may try it with the EMUs costing 2 RPs to replace an MU.

7. NEW RULE - Decoys and Blips are used for the Sazzarran Kaiju, and military units to hide their movement in the Movement Phase. They are only revealed when engaged in combat.

Thee blips and decoy are not final images.

RESULT - The hidden movement system using the Blips seems to work. This is actually the third game trying it out, and so far so good. For every two Kaiju and MUs deploying through a Portal, the Sazzarran player also gets 1 Decoy token. So if 2 Kaiju and 8 MUs were deployed during the Movement Phase, there would also be 5 Decoy tokens added to them. All Blip tokens have Movement of 2, regardless of the actual unit/Kaiju underneath. When engaged in combat, the blips are turned over. Any Decoys are removed. The MU or EMU remains in play, and the Kaiju revealed is replaced with the actual stand up Kaiju.

Keep the blips as they are working for now.

8. NEW RULE - When a Sazzarran Giant Shield Wall (GSW) is built on a city zone the Sazzarran get full VPs for it at the end of the game. Usually, the Sazzarran get full VPs for destroyed cities they control and only 1 VP for non-destroyed cities they control.

RESULT - In previous games if the Sazzarran player wanted to control a city without destroying it they would place a GSW on it, but would only get 1 VP for controlling it. If they wanted to destroy a city they would have to destroy the GSW first, or have the UNRF do it for them. This became stupid, so we decided that since the intent of the Sazzarran forces is to subjugate and enslave the humans, that putting up a GSW around the city would emphasize their control of that zone. 

Keep the ruling of Sazzarran GSWs in non-destroyed city zone get full VPs, vice only 1 VP. 

9. NEW RULE - Each Mecha and Kaiju must be bought and played once before being able to buy any of them again. There is only one of each type. This allows the players to think more carefully about which Mecha and Kaiju they deploy each game round, because they will not be able to get the same one again until all of them have been put into play and the same one has been destroyed that it can be purchased again.

RESULT - In the numerous games played previously, the players could choose which Mecha and Kaiju they wanted to buy. Sometimes we would buy the same ones over and over because we liked their combat stats and special abilities. The problem with this is that certain other Mecha and Kaiju would not be chosen would be considered useless to the game. So, I adjusted all the special abilities and made the rule during this game that we had to use each of our Mecha and Kaiju before being able to purchase them again. 

This ruling worked out quite well. The result in this game was that I only had the Warlord Azzarro left to purchase, and Todd had purchased all of his Mecha with 3 remaining on the board. We were able to use nearly all of them and their abilities during combat. So it worked out.

Keep this rule for now.

10. NEW RULE - Using 6 six-sided dice per player. Each die has 4 hit sides, 1 double hit side, 1 Special Ability side and one Miss side. Every hit symbol rolled is a hit against an opposing MU, Mecha, Kaiju, GSW or city, by choice of the player that rolled the dice. If a Special symbol is rolled, the player can choose to use that to activate the Special Ability on their Mecha or Kaiju. 

RESULT - My first version of this game each player was using several 10-sided dice with the players having to roll a certain number or higher to hit opposing targets in battle. Eventually, I went with as many as 10 ten-sided dice, then 10-six-sided dice. That still became too much for dice rolling and applying the results as we were still using the number system. 

Now using the symbols for the last three games improved ease of game play and applying the results against opposing targets, as the damages are simultaneous and do not take effect until the next battle round. The idea was for the players to also limit how many of their forces were placed in each zone, as the maximum dice to use were 6, regardless of how many actual attack dice from combined units you could have. 

However, it did not bring game time down, as it still takes 2 to 3 hours to play 6 game rounds. 

The reason for length of game play is due to the players taking the time to strategize what Tactic and Mission Cards to use, which Mecha or Kaiju to purchase, where to place their MUs and GSWs, where to move and countermove their forces on the game board, and finally, what targets to apply the dice results against. The only random element is when rolling the dice. Everything else is by choice of the players.

Keep the 6 dice with symbols. This is working for now.

11. NEW RULE - Playing the game only as 2 player vice 3 or 4 player. 

RESULT - This will still be practiced to see what kind of feedback I get from the players. Although having 3 or 4 players involved in the game can be a little more challenging as they have to share the resources, it can also take longer in game play to strategize between the players.

A 2 player game is easier to handle, as the players control all of their own pieces. Its possible in the future that a better 3 or 4 player variant can be created, especially if new alien species are involved.

OVERALL RESULTS

The game lasted 2.5 hours of fun and complete slaughter of the Sazzarran forces. The only thing left belonging to them on the game board was a GSW in Vladivostok.

The UNRF player had 59 VPs on the game board and another 15 VPs from four Mission Cards, for a total of 74 VPs. The Sazzarran had 3 VPs on the game board and another 11 VPs from three Mission Cards, for a total of 14 VPs. A total first time overwhelming victory for the UNRF player. 

The Elite MUs made a big difference in the battles as you needed to use up 2 HPs in order to eliminate each EMU, instead of just one for each regular MU. Also, not being able to buy the same powerful Mecha and Kaiju each game round if it was destroyed on the previous game round, made a difference, especially for me as the Sazzarran player, as I had to figure out what I wanted to risk sending into battle. I did not expect Todd to just focus on destroying each Kaiju that came through and ignoring any hits I was throwing on to the cities. 

The one advantage to the Sazzarran forces was having the blips and decoys. By placing the decoys in sea and other zones, they could block movement of UNRF forces trying to counterattack as they would have to engaged the blockading units, not knowing if they were real units or not. This occurred a few times during the game, and helped the Sazzarran forces, but it was not enough to win the game this time.

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SESSION 6 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

I have been remiss in posting regular sessions each week. It has been a busy few weeks with work, Scouting and promoting my game at local game stores and conventions.
In fact, the game has been played about 10 times since my Session 5 blog post. For this blog, I will only talk about the last two games played based on each Phase of the game.

CORE GAME OBJECTIVE: The Sazzarran player must destroy or control as many cities as possible in 6 game rounds. The UNRF player must control as many cities and land zones as possible while preventing the Sazzarran player from destroying the cities.
Victory Points are half of the Hit Point (HP) value of a City (rounded up). Land zones are 1 VP.
Sazzarran Player get full VPs (half the city HP value) for each destroyed city and 1 VP for each city controlled but not destroyed.
UNRF player gets full VPs for each undamaged or damaged city they control, and only 1 VP if they control a destroyed city zone.
If any force from both sides are in the same land or city zone, neither side gets any VPs.
When playing a four player game, players on the same side with their forces occupying the same zone get full VPs.


SETUP: The UNRF player gets to place all 12 of his Military Units (MUs) on the board. He can place them on any city, land or sea zone, although the cities are preferred to protect them against attack from the Kaiju.


PORTAL PHASE: The only change is the Sazzarran player gets to draw four Target City Cards, choose two of the cities, and discard the other two. If the UNRF player has the Crimson Valkyrie in play, and rolls a 4 or better on 1d6. then he gets to look at all four cards before the Sazzarran player chooses his two target cities.


RESOURCE PHASE: Both players draw five Tactic Cards. On 2nd and following game rounds, the players discard any cards, then draw back up to five cards to use in Resource and following phases for that game round.
Both players receive their Resource Points (RPs) for that round, and build their respective MECHA, Kaiju and Giant Steel/Shield Walls (GSWs). The Sazzarran player cannot build any GSWs until the 2nd game round, once he has zones controlled. Once a GSW is built and placed on the game board in a zone they control, the players get to place one of their MUs with each GSW. MUs are no longer "bought", but are automatically received. For the Sazzarran players, they get two MUs deploying with each Portal. For both players they get one MU each game round for each of their GSWs in play, including the Resource Phase that they were built and placed.


MOVEMENT PHASE: Sazzarran Portals are placed at the Target Cities and Sazzarran forces and Kaiju are moved first followed by movement of UNRF MECHA and MUs. Forces from both sides can move to any zone, whether friendly, neutral or enemy occupied in this phase.


BATTLE PHASE: Combat starts from top left hex zone, covering each hex column and going all the way to bottom right hex zone on the board.
There is still a maximum of 10 dice used, but if the total attack value is more than 10 from one side in a battle, then that player gets to use the excess as re-rolls. For example, if they had total of 12 attack, then 10 dice would be rolled and two of those dice could be re-rolled once.
After the dice are rolled, the players indicate if they are using any of their Tactic Cards. They place them face down in front of them. Once all Tactic Cards are placed, they are revealed. The Cards that have the die number of 6  are activated first to those that have a die number of 4 listed on them.
Players also use their dice to activate any abilities on their MECHA or Kaiju.
The dice results are used starting with the 6s and going down to the 1s. This way, the Sazzaran or UNRF player can destroy an opposing player's GSW with a 6. For the Sazzarran player this allows for any rolls of 1 to 3, and any 1s from the UNRF player to take effect as city damage. For the UNRF player this allows them to take control of the city zone if they manage to destroy all the Sazzarran MUs and Kaiju in the zone.
There is only one round of battle from all MUs MECHA and Kaiju in each zone, whether they are destroyed or not.


RE-DEPLOYMENT PHASE: This had to be brought back into play. The main reason being so it allows the MECHA and Kaiju to move back to a friendly zone with a GSW to heal/repair to full health.
The UNRF player moves his MUs and MECHA first, followed by the Sazzarran MUs and Kaiju.  A player can only move their forces to a friendly or neutral zone, and cannot move through a zone occupied by opposing forces.


END PHASE: No change. This phase is used to determine if the victory conditions have been met. If so, the game ends. If not, the game continues until the game round indicated for the scenario, or certain victory conditions are met by either side.

Playing the game as indicated above worked out well so far. Gaining MUs based on Portals and GSWs in play still balances the game, especially with the UNRF player having all his MUs placed on the board on Round 1.
Using excess attacks as re-rolls also helped. It allows the players to put more of their forces into battle than being restricted in a 10 attack limit.
The victory conditions seem to be working so far.
The first game was UNRF 20 VPs and Sazzarran 18 VPs with 9 cities destroyed. You would think the Sazzarran player would have won with that many cities destroyed, but the UNRF player managed to have control over some of them, depriving the Sazzarran player of more VPs.
The second game was only played to Round 3 because the player had to leave, but the Sazzarran forces were losing with only 3 VPs at that point in the game.
The Sazzarran forces have to be played aggressively if the Sazzarran player wants to maximize damage to the cities and control as much as possible, forcing the UNRF player to split his forces to counter the Sazzarran advance.


That is all for now. Please provide comments/questions below about the game if you have any. Also, please Like and Share my ATC Games page, especially if you like this style of game.

SESSION 5 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

Several nights ago I played two games of Kaiju Conquest by myself, conducting a four player game. The first game was played using the following:
1. The Objective was to control the most zones, earning VPs. Land zones were 1 VP, City zones were half their HPs (rounded up), and destroyed city zones were 1 VP.
2. Trying out the Resource Points being earned on the odd numbered rounds. There were six rounds in the game, with 20 RPs on Round 1, 15 RPs on Round 3 and 10 RPs on Round 5.
3. I would not be using the Tactic Cards for this game as I wanted to see how it would play out without them. Also, because the Tactic Cards were not used, I tried an older version where the RPs would be used for movement and extra dice rolls.
4. There were no Bases to be bought in the game. Each city would be its own Base. Even if the Sazzarran player were to control the zone, they would get the benefits of using the city as a Base for themselves. Which really means when a MECHA or Kaiju is in a city zone they control, they can use RPs to heal back to full health by spending half the Build Value of MECHA or Kaiju.
5. The UNRF player would start on Round One with one Military Unit (MU) at each land and city zone on the game board, which actually covers all of them (24 zones). These would not be paid for in RPs.
6. Both sides an use RPs to get the GSWs (Giant Steel/Shield Walls) to protect the cities from the opposing forces.
7. Lastly, each battle would be played until only one side or the other remained in the zone.

The first game lasted almost 60 minutes exactly, and that was with me playing as four people. The RPs on the odd numbered rounds did not work for me as by Round Four I had no points to spend on either side and there were no battles to occur. A dead round. At the end of Round Six, there were barely any forces from either side on the game board. I would go back to playing one turn of battle between players at each zone rather than elimination. The Sazzaran side won the game with a lot more Victory Points than the UNRF side.

During the next game, I went back to the following:
1. The Objective was still the same: to control the most zones, earning VPs. Land zones were 1 VP, City zones were half their HPs (rounded up), and destroyed city zones were 1 VP.
2. RPs being available on all six rounds, starting at 15 RPs on Round One to 5 RPs on Round Six.
3.  I still did not use the Tactic Cards for this game, but I went back to using the dice to activate the special abilities of the MECHA and Kaiju.
4. No Bases to be bought., The cities would be the bases.
5.The UNRF player would start on Round One with one Military Unit (MU) at each land and city zone on the game board, which actually covers all of them (24 zones). These would not be paid for in RPs.
6.  Both sides can use RPs to get the GSWs (Giant Steel/Shield Walls) to protect the cities from the opposing forces.
7. Each battle would only be fought once in each zone. So there could still be surviving units from one or both sides at each zone.

The second game lasted just under 70 minutes. The Sazzarran forces won again.
1. The Objective and VPs still works.
2. RPs being available for all six rounds was more ideal.
3. Not having the Tactic Cards made game play quicker but less thematic and flavourful.
4. Having the cities as bases of operation was good. It allowed the UNRF player to deploy his MECHA and MUs at any city he still controlled. It also allowed the Sazzarran player to use them to deploy and heal their Kaiju when they were able to control a zone.
5. Having all the UNRF MUs deployed on Round One helped.
6. The GSWs were still a good idea in the game. The UNRF were able to build a couple each Round to protect their cities and hopefully claim the VPs for them a the end of the game if they still had control (Just having a friendly GSW in a city zone would give control to that player).
7.The battles only being fought once in each zone allowed more MUs, MECHA and Kaiju to last longer and at least have more on the game board by the end of Round Six to control zones.

Yesterday, I had my daughter, KeleighAn, and her boyfriend, Justin, over to conduct a 3-player game. They each played the UNRF as I played all the Sazzarran. I wanted them to play the UNRF this time, as they usually win a game.

The game was played the same way as the points listed for my second game. The game lasted about 63 minutes. They won the game as the UNRF with more VPs, mostly in city zones controlled. They used a good tactic by building the GSWs as much as possible to protect their cities. Myself as the Sazzarran forces just could not get enough rolled 6s to destroy those walls.

So, it is possible for the UNRF side to win, if working together and using good strategy to repel the Sazzarran invaders. KeleighAn and Justin had played the game before using the Tactic Cards, and would still prefer to have them played in the game, even if the game lasted a little longer. It does allow me to use the Tactic Cards as a possible Stretch Goal, or just Advanced rules when I go to Kickstarter.

If the game continues playing well like this, I will soon be able to get prototypes made to send out to Indie Game Alliance. I still need blind playtesters to try it out before going to Kickstarter.

SESSION 4 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

These last two weeks have been kind of a tactical pause for me. In that time I have been re-writing the rules as well as creating the giant wall tokens to try out on the next game. I also updated the MECHA, Kaiju and Base cards, and the Tactic Cards. Of course, other things in life get in the way like playing board games and RPG's, as well as cleaning house, etc.


On May 9th, I setup a demo at Board N Brew Café, a local game store. There were three people who came to play; Carter, Justice, and Marius who is one of the store owners. This game would be four players with me as a fourth. Originally, I wanted to try out a three player game, since that has not been done yet, but I decided to try it next time.

The objective for this game was to be the players with the most zones controlled by the end of game round six (I still prefer to say game turn, vice game round, as it sounds better to me, but that is not the preferred method now). The UNRF players were Carter and Justice. The Sazzarran players were Marius and I. While we were working together in our teams to get the most controlled zones, there would still be competition to be the single player to have the most controlled zones as well.


We played three game rounds before calling it quits. The game had lasted 90 minutes by that time, although there were delays with Marius having to serve other customers and short discussions on the cards and game improvement. The actual time may have been closer to 70 minutes. But even for three rounds that was still too long for what I was trying to achieve.

The two biggest things I was looking at for this game was game time and using the Giant Walls. There were labeled as GSWs for short: Giant Steel Walls for the UNRF and Giant Shield Walls for the Sazzarran. The GSW tokens were double-sided hexagons with an open space in the center to place over the city images on the board, and they had a steel surface image for the UNRF GSW on one side and a yellow cross hatched side to represent the GSW for the Sazzarran.

UNRF Giant Steel Wall on the left, and Sazzarran Giant Shield Wall on the right.

So, game time was still too long. If this was a two player game it would have lasted 60 minutes for sure with experienced players. For a four player game and three of them not knowing all the capabilities of the cards it would of course take longer to play. So I am looking at 60 to 180 minutes game time.


In order of the Phases, these are the points we found:


PORTAL PHASE: The Harpoon and Crimson Valkyrie MECHA cards each have a Special Ability to look at the top one or two cards of the Target City Deck so the UNRF players have an idea of what Cities the Sazzarran forces may appear through their Portals. The cards stated to use during the Resource Phase. I have to change that to state using during the Portal Phase.


We tried a new method of the Sazzarran players drawing two Target City Cards each, choosing one of those cards as their Target City. The other card would be placed facedown at the bottom of the Target City deck. By doing this, the Target City deck could be used up by game round 4. The players would have to shuffle and could possibly draw some of the same target city cards during rounds 5 and 6, or even later rounds if playing other scenarios that could last up to 10 rounds.


This new rule added with the Harpoon MECHA being in play allowed the UNRF players to look at one of the players' hands. If the Crimson Valkyrie was in play, the UNRF players could look at both hands of the Sazzaran players to see all the city choices. So the UNRF players could see as many as four possible target city destinations but only two of them would be the Portal location. This ruling seemed to work during the game, so I will be using that again for future games, until something better comes along.


RESOURCE PHASE: The players would normally receive 15 Resource Points (RPs) on the first round, 13 on the second, 11 on the third and so on to the 6th round where they each receive 5 RPs each to build their forces. Having added the GSWs to the game and hoping they would get used, I figured we would each get 6 more RPs for each round. The end result of that was by the third round we had all our Military Units (MUs), MECHA, Kaiju and nearly all the Bases on the game board with about 7 GSWs.
That turned out to be way too much on the board. So, I will go back to 15 RPs starting. However, Justice came up with the idea of having RPs available every second round. For example, it would be something like 20 RPs each on Round 1, 15 RPs on Round 3 and 10 RPs on Round 5. This way, the players are practically forced to save some of their RPs for future rounds. That method will be tried in the next gaming session.
In all the games played including this one, the UNRF would need to buy Bases. The Sazzarran would start with Portals, but could also buy Bases once they controlled a zone. I found that the Sazzarran were still winning most of the time, and it may be because of the Portals and being able to get Bases. Therefore, to try and balance the next game, the UNRF will no longer need to buy Bases, but can deploy their forces from any city zone. Also, they can deploy their MUs and MECHA at any zone on the board on the first round. Buying the GSWs will also fortify their city zones to prevent the Sazzarran forces from destroying or controlling the city zones. The Sazzarran players would not get Bases, but would still use the Portals and when controlling a zone can buy and deploy their own GSW to provide protection while deploying their forces from the zone in future rounds.
The GSWs were each worth 3 RPs. This seemed to work for cost. They would protect a city zone from being damaged during the Battle Phase. More details on that in the comments for the Battle Phase. During the game there were about 7 GSWs on the board, but that was because of the extra 6 RPs the players had. Take that away, and it may not be as easy to get GSWs. But that is the option the players have in getting Bases, MECHA/Kaiju, MUs and now GSWs. After the game it was recommended the GSWs be reduced to 2 RPs each, especially if we lower the availability of RPs to every second round. Something to try out the next gaming session.
The last step of this phase was for the players to draw as many Tactic Cards as they each have MECHA, Kaiju or Bases in play. For example, if a UNRF player had one Base and two MECHA, he would draw three Tactic Cards. The maximum allowed is five cards. The players are allowed to discards any Tactic Cards, then draw back up to maximum five depending on number of Bases, MECHA or Kaiju they each have in play. The players are then allowed to use any Resource Phase Tactic Cards before going to the Movement Phase. This seemed to work so far. I will keep this method for the next gaming session.


MOVEMENT PHASE: The movement for the MUs was reduced from 2 to 1 zone per round, unless using a Movement Phase Tactic Card which can allow for more Movement points. This seemed to work as before the MUs were able to move quicker around the board. However, I may go back to 2 Move per MU to allow for quicker movement and enemy engagement on the board.
The movement of the MECHA and Kaiju seemed to work. They had an average Move of 3 zones, with some moving as much as 4 or 5 zones. There were also Movement Tactic Cards to allow MECHA and Kaiju to move further across the board.


BATTLE PHASE: This was where the game play slowed down, especially when by the third round, there were about 10 city zones occupied and at least 7 of them were contested that a battle had to take place. Only playing one turn of battle between players at each zone still works, especially to keep the game going and not being bogged down trying to eliminate each other in each zone. Also, having more RPs to buy units did not help. Less units on the board means less to destroy, and easier to control.
Using the Special Abilities of the Bases, MECHA and Kaiju, as well as the Tactic Cards further slowed down the momentum of the game as the players had to take the time to determine if they wanted to use the abilities/cards depending on their die rolls. Some abilities/cards could only be used if a certain die number was rolled. For example, the Nuke Em All card required two rolls of 6 to be used to activate the card. So, the players had to strategize if it was worth sacrificing dice to activate an ability or card.
An idea that developed from that was to use RPs instead of the die rolls to activate the Special Abilities and Tactic Cards. The RP cost would be listed by the ability on the cards. The players would have to save RPs in order to use these abilities. The Pro is that the players do not have to sacrifice dice to try and get better attacks, etc, and can actually use the dice to do their regular hits. The Con is validating using RPs to activate an ability. I would have to look at is as the ability being related to research and development of weapons/technology that would give the MECHA/Kaiju an edge in battle. To be played out at next gaming session.
Maybe it would be more fitting if I call them Command Points instead of Resource Points. Command Points denote High Command giving them Points to build and deploy their forces as well as activate the special abilities on the character and Tactic cards. Something to ponder, anyway.


The GSW rule of having a Defense Value of 6 and 2 hits seemed to work. An opposing player had to sacrifice a die roll of 6 to basically destroy an opposing player's GSW. It has its pros and cons in that a player could only attack with two dice that round and still get a 6 that could be used to either destroy the GSW or be used against an MU, MECHA or Kaiju. The players also could not damage a city with rolls of 1 or 2 so long as the GSW remained in play. This proved beneficial for both players, especially if the objective was to control zones for victory points. However, as soon as a 6 was used to destroy a GSW, any rolls of 1 or 2 during that battle could immediately be used to damage the city.
One recommendation to this was that the GSWs were DV 5 and took two hits. This means a player would have to roll at least two 5s during a battle, and use them to destroy the GSW. It is either that or use two 6s, but I think still having a DV of 6 and needing two rolls of 6 would make it much harder to destroy a GSW. I guess further game play will decide that issue.


END PHASE: In this game, the Sazzarran players had a total of 58 VPs. The UNRF players only had 7 VPs. Too overwhelming for my taste. So, take away the VP aspect and just go with zones controlled would still be the Sazzarrans having 11 zones and UNRF with 5 zones. A little more fair. Although some people may like having to calculate Victory Points.

Therefore, in the next gaming session, and as a primary game objective, the team with the most VPs in controlled land based hex zones wins the game, whether cities are destroyed or not.  Each land zone or destroyed City zone is worth 1 VP. Each damaged or non-damaged city zone is worth half its HP value in VPs, rounded up. Those values are listed beside the HP value. A tie can be broken based on the number of controlled land and city zones.

Comments are appreciated.

My next demo events are as follows:
May 16th is Apt to Game for Edmonton Game Designers meeting
May 18th - 21st is DPX Expo
May 23rd and 30th is King's Court Cafe

SESSION 3 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

Since my last post, there have been changes to the game board as you will see from the image below. Also, you may have noticed that I changed the first word of my blog titles on this series from Playtest to Session, as each session could involve one or more games. 

I had put out a query on several Facebook sites for people to tell if they liked the brick grid or hex grid system, and whether they liked the blue screen style background or the real earth background. The results were very near the same for both. So in the end it is still up to me to decide what to use. Go back to Session 2 blog for a view of the brick grid system.

For now I chose the blue screen hex grid as I want to have a war room style setup as if you are standing over a hologram table and looking at the pieces as they are moved about the surface.

On Wednesday, April 18th, I went to King's Court Cafe where Kyle King, the owner was gracious and very open towards having a game developers night at his place of business. I was the only person that night with a game to playtest, but it still worked in my favour as four people showed up for the game. Three of them played the game with me as a fourth player. I was on the UNRF side.

The game objective was the same as the last session. The Sazzarran forces must destroy or damage as many cities as possible before the end of game round 6. The UNRF forces must destroy as many Kaiju as possible before the end of game round 6. The player with the most Victory Points was the overall winner. Victory Points for the Sazzarran player was based on half the Hit Point values of the cities (rounded up for the odd numbers). The UNRF received VPs based on the BV/VP value on the Kaiju cards.

BV/VP value is the number 3 on right side of card.

We managed to get to Round 3 before we broke into discussion about the game mechanics, and what to improve. By that time we were already 90 minutes into the game. Of course, we had been discussing and the others had been learning the game strategy while playing, so it took longer than normal.

There were quite a few things that came up during the first game played that night. They were as follows:

1. Some of us had a hard time rolling 6s in our attacks, so we could not always use our Special Abilities on the MECHA or Kaiju or use the Tactics Cards. The solution to that was any roll of 4+ could activate a Special Ability or Tactic Card. This later changed to point 2 below.

2. There are more powerful Tactics cards than others in our decks, but they could all be used the same way with a roll of a 6 on a six-sided die. The solution to that was placing a dice value on the cards. For example, Nuke Em All, a very powerful UNRF Tactic Card, would require using two 6s to activate it. Whereas, a card like Power Strike with +2 Attack Dice would only require using a 4. These die numbers would only work for the Battle Phase cards.

3. Also for the Tactic Cards was to add whether the card is used before or after rolling the dice, during the Battle Phase.

4. Changing the way we receive Resource Points. Normally, you would get 5 points per Base and Portal in play, and you could save some RPs for future rounds to build more and bigger Kaiju. The solution to that to try out was that the Game Round Tracker would also have a smaller number listed beside the Round Number. This smaller number would be the number of RPs each side would get each game round. For example, Round 1 is 5 RPs, Round 2 is 7 RPs, Round 3 is 9 RPs, and so on to Round 6 at 15 RPs for each player.

During the second game that night, myself and Kyle played a 2 player game with the same objectives, but mainly using points 1 and 4 above. For Point 2 the rule was that the Nuke Em All card needed the two 6s to be rolled to activate it. I have yet to write on the cards the die numbers needed to activate them. For Point 3 there were a few cards that we agreed would only be used before or after rolling the dice.

That game lasted just over an hour (we did have some discussions on game mechanics during the game), and Kyle won as the Sazzarran forces with 36 VPs, 8 destroyed cities and a couple of damaged cities. I as the UNRF only had 11 VPs, and that was only because I used the Nuke Em All card to try and catch up in VPs. It obviously did not work by the end of Round 6.

The points from the second game are as follows:

1. Using the increasing RP values for each game round worked. I will continue to use that for future games to ensure it is still effective.

2. Using the 4+ rule to activate special abilities or Tactics Cards helped. I will continue to use that but modified based on Point 2 above from the first game play.

3. We also found that if the objective for the UNRF player was to destroy only the Kaiju, the Sazzarran player would mostly build Military Units (MUs) so the UNRF player could not get the VPs. The solution to try next time was that the Bases can only create the MUs, based on their Attack Value. So you build a base for 6 RPs, and each game round in the Resource Phase you receive 3 or 4 MUs for each Base, depending on the Base. Sazzarran Bases have AV 4 and UNRF Bases have AV 3.

This way you do not need to use RPs to build MUs, but the MUs are still produced through the Bases. So it makes the Bases more of a vital target to destroy if you do not want MUs appearing all the time, and the RPs can be used to build more MECHA, Kaiju, Bases or Walls (see point 4 below on the Walls).

4. With the assistance of the Portals, the Kaiju were able to stomp cities all over the place (of course Kyle was getting some good rolls and good combinations of Tactics cards to use against me). To help slow them down and add a little challenge, the solution for next session will be to build 1 giant wall section for 1 RP. A giant wall section would be a a thin token no longer than a hex side. Every wall section you build goes up along a hex side to protect cities and force the Kaiju to have to destroy the walls to move through.
Of course the Kaiju could still use Portals to appear in a city that is behind a section or more of wall, but if the Kaiju wants to move out of that zone it has to defeat the wall section. You simply need a d6 roll of 6 to destroy one wall section. So this could force a Kaiju to waste its attack rolls on just trying to break in or out of a zone.

5. There are a few Kaiju cards (maybe even MECHA cards) that need some adjusting in their special abilities. Some of them have similarities to others. I want to try and make them different as much as possible.

I am still getting great feedback from the people playing the game. Each time we keep improving something to make it better, engaging, more challenging, and hopefully fun. Thanks to Mike, Roger, Alex, Scott for playing and providing feedback. Thanks to Kyle for allowing me to present the game at Kings Court Cafe. I will be seeing you there again next Wednesday. After that I will be trying to rotate to other boardgame cafes in the city so others who want to play the game do not have to drive far.

Stay tuned for more posts on this series of new playtest sessions. Comments are welcome below as well as subscribing to the email list, especially as things get closer to the Kickstarter.

SESSION 2 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

This last weekend, my family and I tried out a four-player version of Kaiju Conquest. The idea was to have the core game be made for four players with scenarios created for 2 to 4 players.


I was observing, taking points from the players, and answering any questions while three of my family members and a friend played the game.

New game board version as of 09 April 2018

The objective of the core game is the Sazzarran players must each damage or destroy as many cities as possible before the end of Game Turn 6. The objective of the UNRF players is to destroy as many Kaiju as possible also before the end of Game Turn 6. The players with the most VPs at the end of the game wins. Also, the individual player with the most VPs wins. For example, the UNRF could have the most VPs as a team, but one of the UNRF players has collected more VPs than the other and is the overall winner.



For each city destroyed by a Sazzaran player, they would get the Target City card of that city for their Victory Points (VPs) at the end of the game. If a city was damaged, the Sazzarran player whose forces were last to occupy the zone of the damaged city, would get the VPs for it. If both players had their forces in the same city zone, then they both get the same VPs.

The VPs for the cities is half of their Hit Point value listed by the city image (rounded up). For example, Tokyo is 16 HP. If the city were destroyed the player whose forces destroyed it would get 8 VPs (half of 16 is 8). If the city was only damaged at 11 points, the player would get 6 VPs (half of 11 rounded up is 6)


Cities of 4 to 6 HPs are worth 1 VP each.  (There are 8 cities for total of 8 VPs)
Cities of 7 to 9 HPs are worth 2 VPs each. (There are 3 cities for total of 6 VPs)
Cities of 10-12 HPs are worth 3 VPs each. (There are 2 cities for total of 6 VPs)
Cities of 13-16 HPs are worth 4 VPs each. (There are 2 cities for total of 8 VPs)

Total VPs earned would be 28 if a person could occupy them all with their own forces.



When a Kaiju is destroyed by a UNRF player, that Kaiju card will be placed by the player whose MECHA destroyed it. The VPs for each Kaiju is also their full Build Value (BV).



When a MECHA or Kaiju is destroyed, that same type cannot come back into the game. The players on both sides only get one of each type. There are 8 MECHA and 8 Kaiju, split into 4 for MECHA for each UNRF player and 4 Kaiju for each Sazzarran player.



Each player also gets 12 Military Units (MUs), each a different colour for ease of identifying who owns which unit, The colours of the MUs tokens also matches to the Resource Point (RP) Trackers on the gameboard, which at the time of this game were green and yellow for the UNRF, and orange and purple for the Sazzarran.



The UNRF players each start with one Base on the game board in a zone of their choice. They get 5 RPs for each Base that is already in play on the game board. Any number of those RPs can be saved for future turns, or used to build MECHA and the MUs. MUs are each 1 BV. MECHA are their BV listed on the right side of their card.



The Sazzarran players each have one  Portal to start. Each Portal is 5 RPs, also for building their Kaiju and MUs, and saving some for future turns. The Sazzarran player can also build Bases on the 2nd Game Turn, during the Resource Phase. However, those Bases are 6 RPs to build, so the Sazzarran player must either save RPs or gain more by occupying non-destroyed zones.



During the game we used the Tactics cards, which at the time were only used for the Battle Phase. Each team has a deck of 24 cards, which they shared. The cards did add some flavour and theme to the game. The players would roll all their dice. If any 6s were rolled and the players wanted to use any of them for a Tactics card, then they would indicate how many and place their chosen Tactic cards in front of them. Once all players involved in the battle zone had their chosen Tactics cards, they would reveal them and apply the results. This worked best as some cards can be used to counter another card a player used. This way, nobody knows what is played. if it still counters another players card, then it is a bonus for the player who used it.






Turn 4 of the game

The points difference was very close. The Sazzarran players had damaged a few cities and destroyed 5 of them. They scored about 23 and 27 VPs. The UNRF destroyed a total of 5 Kaiju, with highest score being 29 VPs. We all thought it was pretty balanced with the rules. One thing we did try in this game was not having the Portals appear every turn.


In this version, I just had them draw Target City Cards for the first turn, and the Portals would just stay in the game board. So the Sazzarran forces would always come through the Portals and would have to build a Base if they wanted to expand away from the Portals. In fact, the players thought that if the Portals were not going to move anyway, and they still provided 5 RPs each per turn, then they might as well have had a Base in the zone instead.



IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE


After the game ended we decided on the following:


Setup and layout
I may be adding Target City Chart for the VP value of each city. It will be easier for the players to have them right in front of them when checking VPs and there is still space to add them on the board.


MECHA and Kaiju Cards
Just a couple of typographical errors to fix. Otherwise, no change at this time.

MU Cards
I had a Military Unit card for each player made. It had the same template as the MECHA and Kaiju cards, but had the stats of the MU. On the other side of the card was the list of Game Phases as a reference for the players. I may consider moving the Game Phases to the game board and adding something else to the back of the MU cards. I will discuss that with the players at the nexct session.


Tactics Cards
There would be Tactics cards that can also be used during the Portal, Resource and Movement Phases of the game. Those new cards will be introduced in the next gaming session.


Target City Cards
If there is a change, it may be to add the VP value of the city on the card. I will discuss that with the players at the next session.

Portal Phase
There will only be two Portals drawn for each game turn with the Target City Cards. There may be a scenario where only two Portals are drawn and they remain in play for the rest of the game, as we had played this last game.


Resource Phase
The players will gain RPs first from Bases and Portals in play, as well as zones occupied. Then they will build their forces to be placed at a Base or also through a Portal for the Sazzarran.


Players still gain 5 RPs for each Portal or Base in play. They will also gain 1 RP for each land zone they occupy. There are 33 zones that contain a land mass. Even if four players each had two Bases in play, no Portals, and split the zones equally to at least 8 each, they would have 18 RPs each with 1 RP remaining.


In a two player game, the maximum one player could possibly gain with all his forces is 40 RPs (20 for the 4 Bases and 20 for the zones, using the four Bases, four MECHA or Kaiju, and 12 MUs to occupy them).


In a four player game, the maximum one player could possibly gain with their forces is 28 RPs (10 for the two Bases and 18 for the zones, using the two Bases, four of the MECHA or Kaiju, and 12 MUs).


The maximum allowed per player in the game is 30 RPs as shown on the RP Trackers on the game board.


Movement Phase
No change. Sazzarran deploy their forces first, followed by the UNRF moving their forces into battle with the Sazzarran.


Battle Phase
Currently, the only change is in Tactics cards and revealing which ones you will use after rolling the dice, but before applying the damage results.


End Phase
No change. this is just for determining if Victory Conditions have been met at the end of each game turn.


The next confirmed gaming session is at a local game store next Wednesday, April 18th. It is called King's Court Café. I have two sessions booked for that evening. If another game occurs before that time, I will post a new blog on it.

SESSION 1 OF A REVISED KAIJU CONQUEST

Playtesting a modified version of Kaiju Conquest last night was an overall success. I am so pumped about how well it worked out and the feedback I got.


When I received a lot of feedback on what to improve for the original game version during EPOC, it was almost a bitter pill to swallow after spending four years playing the same rules with the same components, and then I finally get some info that could totally change a little on how the game is played. But swallow that pill I did, and I pressed on to create a better, more enjoyable game.


My youngest daughter, KeleighAn (pronounced like KellyAnn) and I played the game, while her boyfriend, Justin, observed and provided input. The objective was the same that I used for my original game. Originally, the Sazzarran forces had 6 turns to control and/or destroy 12 cities and zones with two bases on the game board or they would lose and the human UERF (United Earth Reaction Force) would win. In the new version it was still 6 turns, but the Sazzarran forces just had to destroy 8 cities and get two bases on the game board.


The game lasted 90 minutes with discussion in between about the game mechanics. Normally, playing this scenario takes from 90 minutes to 3 hours, depending if you are playing it for the first time or not. So it was a good thing it lasted 90 minutes. I figured if you take out the discussions, etc, it would actually take 60 minutes of straight play through. So even better.


Because this will be a big change to the game, I want to start with what the game was like before this time, and what they will be like for the future, so you can see what significance this will have. So bear with me on this. I will keep it as short as possible.
For the components here is a comparison between the original and the new game:

ORIGINAL LIST                                       NEW LIST
1 x 36 page rulebook                                    1 x 12 page rulebook including 4 scenarios
1 x gameboard                                              1 x gameboard same size, but using a brick grid system
2 x 8.5 x 11 inch Reference Sheets              2 x poker sized cards with reference data
48 x Mecha and Kaiju Character Cards       24 x Mecha and Kaiju Character cards
        (some multiples of each)                              (one of each type, but with 4 Base cards each)
48 x Mecha and Kaiju standees                   24 x Mecha and Kaiju standees (including 8 Bases)
        (including 8 Bases)
48 x clear plastic bases                                 36 x Plastic bases (12 blue, 12 red, with 6 green and 6
                                                                              purple for 3rd and 4th person)
120 x Military unit tokens for both              48 x Military unit tokens (double sided but 12 each for up
         factions of 5 types (double sided                to four players, each set of 12 a different colour)
         for four players)
16 x Target City Cards                                 15 x Target City Cards (one city image not used on board)
48 x Resource Cards (24 for each side)       48 x Tactics Cards (24 for each side)
3 x Portal tokens                                           2 x Portal tokens
6 x Bio-Bomb tokens                                    3 x Bio-bomb tokens
6 x Nuke tokens                                            3 x Nuke tokens
27 x Control Tokens
40 x Damaged City tokens (1, 3, 5               40 x Damaged City tokens (1, 3 5, and 10 pt increments)
        and 10 pt increments)                                   There is possibility of reducing these even more
16 x Destroyed City tokens                          15 x Destroyed City tokens (the new board can only fit
                                                                           15 city images, vice the 16 in the original board)
2 x Victory Point Tracker tokens                 1 x Turn Tracker token
4 x Command Point Tracker tokens             4 x Resource Point Tracker Tokens                                  20 x 1d10 dice (10 red, 10 blue)                  20 x 1d6 dice (10 red, 10 blue)

You can see that some things have been reduced by half, or removed altogether, and others have been replaced with something else. The end result is to have a game box and game that is smaller with less components, but still re-playable and affordable for funding goal on Kickstarter.
The comparison between game phases is as follows so far:

ORIGINAL GAME       Play Time                    NEW GAME               Play Time
1. World Event Phase        1 minute                      1. Portal Phase                1 minute
2. Resource Phase            10-20 mins                    2. Resource Phase           2-3 mins
3. Movement Phase           5-10 mins                    3. Movement Phase         2-5 mins
4. Battle Phase                 10-20 mins                    4. Battle Phase                 2-5 mins
5. Re-Deployment Phase    2-5 mins                     5. End Phase                    1 minute
6. Control Phase                 2-5 mins
    (scenario based when using Victory
     Points)
Total time per Game Turn  30 -61 mins                                                    8 - 15 mins

The game time for Movement and Battle Phases are dependent on number of forces being moved and number of battles being conducted.   
In the original game it took me about 12 pages to explain those 6 phases without graphic images added. In the new game it is 4 pages for the 5 phases without graphic images. Already an improvement by keeping it as simple as possible.

Now on to the game play. I will explain what we do for each of the phases in the new game version.
In the Portal Phase, the Sazzarran player draws two Target City Cards. The Sazzarran player only looks at and keeps those cards. Each Target City card matches to a city location on the game board.
There will be a Portal appearing at each City during the Movement Phase. The human UNRF player does not get to see the Target City Cards until the Movement Phase.

Turn 2 of the game.

In the Resource Phase, both players draw 5 cards from their Special Attack Deck (will be changed to Tactics Deck for next game). Each time they use a Special Attack card in the Battle Phase, another one replaces it.

The Sazzarran player gets 5 Resource Points (RPs) for each Portal, and 5 RPs for each Sazzararn Base that is already in play on the game board. In the first turn, the Sazzarran player will not have any Bases in play so only starts with 10 RPs to build Kaiju and Military Units (MUs).

Also during the Resource Phase, the UERF player gets to place two UERF Bases on any land zone on the game board. A land zone is any zone that shows a land mass. A sea zone is any zone with no land mass showing. The UNRF player also gets 5 RPs for each UERF Base in play. On the first game turn, the UERF player also starts with 10 RPs to build MECHA (Mobile Enhanced Combat Heavy Armour), Bases and MUs.

The MUs only cost 1 RP each, have a Movement (MV) of 2, Attack Value (AV) of 1 (# of d6 rolled), Defense Value (DV) of 3 (Number or higher needed to destroy the unit), and Hit Point (HP) value of 1 (number of hits before being destroyed)
The Bases, MECHA and Kaiju each have their own stats for MV (2-5), AV (2-6), DV 4 to 6 to  hit), HP (2 to 4), and Build Value (BV) from 3 to 8. All cards are are double sided, with a healthy green neon glow side and a Damaged red neon glow side. They also have a special ability on both sides of the their cards.

                                        MECHA on left and Sazzarran/Kaiju on right. These are the leaders of each side.                                   Both show healthy green side and Damaged red side.

Once the UERF player has built his forces, he places them anywhere on the game board of his choosing. This is for the first game turn only. On subsequent turns, he has to deploy them from a Base already in play on the game board.

In the original game it could take as much as 20 minutes for the players to get their forces as it was based on drawing Resource Cards, and you get what you see on the card. However, it took a while for first time players to sort it all out and deploy them, considering sometimes you would get from 8 to 16 Resource cards of units, MECHA and Kaiju.

In the Movement Phase, the Sazzarran player reveals the Target City cards, places each Portal on a Target City and then places the built Kaiju and MUs on to those Target City zones with the Portals. There must be a minimum of 1 Kaiju and/or MU going through a Portal.
The Sazzarran player can then move the MUs and Kaiju up to their MV allowance to attack not only the city they are in but neighboring cities. The objective, after all, is to destroy at least 8 cities before the end of game turn 6. The sooner they do it, they sooner they can celebrate and have a big kaiju party.

After the Sazzarran player has deployed any or all of her forces, the UERF player will move any or all of his MECHA and MUs to battle the Sazzarran forces, and hopefully save their cities from harm. Oh boy, are they in for a world of hurt.

The only movement penalties in this game is the MV allowance of the MU, Base, MECHA or Kaiju. For ease and fluidity of game play, there is no penalty for moving through land or sea zones. The map of the game board is currently just there as thematic flavour to the geographic locations of the Pacific Ocean region.We tried using terrain modifiers but it just took a little longer for people to figure out who could do what, so best removed altogether for now.

In the Battle Phase, the Sazzarran player chooses which battles will take place in an order of their choosing. At each contested zone, there will only be one round of battle, whether any or all forces on one or both sides are destroyed or not.

The players total the AVs of any or all of their respective forces, and roll their dice at the same time. They can only roll a maximum of 10 dice, with some exceptions in certain special abilities or the Tactics cards.

Once all the allotted dice are rolled for the contested zone, the players can line them up in order from 1 to 6. Any 1s and 2s rolled are automatic hits to a city if they are in a city zone. If there is not city in the contested zone, then they are considered misses. Each city has an HP from 4 to 16. The players use Damage City tokens to reflect the current damage. Once a city takes that number of hits, it is destroyed, and a Destroyed City token is placed on it.

Each roll of 3 is a miss, unless a specific MECHA or Kaiju  (usually the Scout class) are Damaged, and it brings their DV down to 3.  Each roll of 4 to 5+ will hit an MU, Base, MECHA or Kaiju, depending on their current DV to hit. However, in this game, the HP value is how many hits you need to Damage or Destroy the target. There are no Damage chits used for the Bases, MECHA or Kaiju.
Each roll of 6 will not only hit a Base, MECHA or Kaiju but will also allow the players one of three choices: Apply each 6 rolled as 2 hit points on a target; use the character's Special Ability, or use one of the Tactics cards that have special attacks.

It is possible, but not easy, for a player to roll enough hits to not only Damage a Base, MECHA or Kaiju, but also Destroy it in the one round. However, the opposing players choose where the hits go on their respective MU, Bases, MECHA or Kaiju, but must maximize the hits as much as possible to be fair for both players.

If  an opposing player cannot apply hits to a Base, MECHA or Kaiju, because of their current DV, then the hits could be thrown on to the weaker MUs, if they have not already been destroyed.

Example: The UERF player has an MU with AV 1, DV 4 and HP 1, and a Jungle Warrior with AV 3, DV 5, and HP 3. The Sazzarran player has a Thunder Dragon with AV 4, DV 5 and HP 4. The UERF player rolls 4 six-sided dice (d6), getting a 1, 1, 4 and 5. The Sazzarran player rolls 4d6 and gets a 2, 3, 5 and 6. The 1s and 2 from both players rolls are applied as collateral damage hits against a city, if there is one there. So that would be a total of 3 hits. 3 pts in Damage tokens are placed on the city. If no city in that zone, then they are misses.
The roll of 3 by the Sazzarran player is a miss. It is removed. The roll of 4 by the UERF player is no effect as the Thunder Dragon can only be hit on 5+ in its healthy state. However, the roll of 5 by the UERF player is a hit, but he needs at least 4 hits at 5+ to Damage the Thunder Dragon. He is outmatched. So the 5 is wasted. The roll of 5 and 6 by the Sazzarran player hits the Jungle Warrior as its DV is 5+. With the roll of 6, the Sazzarran player can now choose to use it as 2 more hit points against the Jungle Warrior for a total of 3 needed to Damage it, or use the Thunder Dragon's Special Ability, which is Sonic Blast in which the DV is ignored altogether, meaning the Jungle Warrior could be hit on 3+ as a minimum. Lastly, the Sazzarran player could choose to use one of the five Special Attack cards in her hand.

The Sazzarran player chooses to exchange the die for 2 hit points. The Jungle Warrior has now taken 3 hit points at 5+, and is now Damaged and the UNRF player will turn it over to its Damaged side. The battle for that zone is now over, and the players continue to the next contested zone.

We also included a rule in the game, that if a Kaiju or MU is in a city zone with no UERF forces during the Battle Phase, each MU and Kaiju in that zone get to make one attack each using their full AV against the city. This is usually bad for the smaller 4 pt cities as they have the least amount of infrastructure and can be more easily destroyed with the right die rolls.

Once all battles have been resolved, the players go to the End Phase to determine if the victory conditions have been met. If they have, the game is over, and the victor gets to parade the heads of their opponents MECHA or Kaiju around the block. If the conditions have not been met, the game continues until the victory conditions have been met, or it is the end of the game based on number of game turns required to play.

Turn 5 of the game. Second last turn.

In this game play, the Sazzarran player won on Turn 6 with 2 Bases and 11 cities destroyed. The UNRF will have to work harder if they want to protect their world.


THE TAKEAWAY FROM THIS

We found that we do need the Resource Trackers and a Turn Tracker printed on the game board. We do not need any reference material printed on the board as it can be applied to just one double-sided poker sized playing card.

I had to adjust the wording for the Bases, MECHA and Kaiju to fit the new rules. Easy peasy.
I also have to adjust the Tactics cards to conform to the new rules. Also easy peasy.
Having only one generic Military Unit token rather than 5 different ones for each side (originally it was Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Transport for the UNRF, and Army, Sea, Air, Reapers and Drones for the Sazzarran) definitely made it easier and quicker to play. I can also use the other different coloured tokens for the third and fourth players as MUs, keeping the same images. I have to modify the borders so will show those later.

I am also going to add a card for the MU. It will be double-sided, with the MU pic and stats on one side and the Game Phases on the other side.

The one thing we found with the MUs was that they were filler for extra RPs to be used that could not be used to build a Base, MECHA or Kaiju. Of course, the players can save any extra RPs for the next game turn. However, by adding the MUs, it not only gave the players an extra attack die per MU, but they could easily eliminate the MUs first when taking hits that could not be used against the Bases, MECHA or Kaiju.

More to follow as our next game will be for 3 and 4 players. The end result now is to have the core game be for 4 players initially, but can be played solo or up to 4 players, ages 14+, and take from 30 to 60 minutes to play a game.

I like to thank Scott M., who also attended EPOC, for giving me this insight to hopefully create something new and better.