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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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