GauntletThrown
part time boogeyman on /vp/
Introduction
Hello and welcome to Land Wars, the forum based grand strategy game where people control kingdoms fighting over MS paint maps! You basically just make shit up in accordance with the rules and I'll just be the one who decides how battles play out, and when something is too absurd to be tolerated.
To start things off, you will need to submit a map for your kingdom that is 500x500 pixels in size. The map does not need to be of particularly high quality, but I do need to be able to understand what is going on. When the game is ready to start, these maps will be merged into a single large map. For an attempt at consistency, the scale for world maps will be 50 pixels per mile.
You will also need to decide on a theme. I'm going to be extremely lenient in regards to what is and is not allowed for this; however take note that all players begin the game with the same amount of power.
Game Mechanics
Troops: In this game you'll be able to design your own Troops. From ordinary swordsmen to magical walruses, these are the guys you will be sending to do things such as fighting in wars, maintaining order in your lands and just about everything else that can't be handled diplomatically (and sometimes for that too). Every soldier should have a name, a cost, and a description about a paragraph in length explaning what they do.
Troops have a value in Recruitment Points (shortened as RP), with 1 RP being the base value. This means that a troop can be about twice as strong but cost twice as much recruitment points or that you can have a swarm of really weak guys. At the start of the game however, you are limited to troops with a value of no higher than 1. If you want stronger guys you'll need to train them up in game. Furthermore, the max point value of a troop you can research is equal to 5 times the amount of territories you own!
Each turn you can recruit a certain amount of troops. Troops are recruited by spending your turn's Recruitment Point budget, which is based on how large your kingdom is. (Mentioned in detail below)
Example troop types and formatting:
Code:
Spearmanii (1RP): Example troop that's historically accurate (according to a single wikipedia article whose only sources are blogs written in Hungarian) and is armed with a spear and a shield.
Peasant Archer (0.75RP): Peasants that have been given rudimentary training and bows, organized into militias. Cheap but not as effective as professionally trained troops.
Sproke Alchemist (5RP): An alchemist that makes assorted Sproke-based potions to support his allies with [s]combat drugs[/s] refreshing Sproke goodness while immolating his enemies with experimental and volatile Antisproke concotions.
Nutjob (3RP): A nutty nigga with an army of squirrels under his command. Their bites will tear apart lightly armored enemies, but heavy armor and fire make them useless.Heroes: A hero is a special kind of soldier, which is basically just a much better special named version of one. Stuff like dragons, great knights, etc. Heroes are recruited using projects. You can have a maximum of 3 heroes at any given time, and you can only create 6 over the course of the entire game; so it is advised to carefully consider how they should be used. They can range from a single powerful individual, to a squad of elite troops, to a powerful beast tamed by your kingdom.
Supplies: Supplies are the resources and artifacts that your kingdom can use to their advantage. They come in two types; Strategic Resources and Artifacts.
Strategic Resources: Each map tile will have one special kind of resource. Soldiers designed to use strategic resources will be more powerful than an equivalent one that does not require them. Owning the tile associated with a resource will provide you with 100 of this resource each turn. These resources can be traded, stolen etc.
You get to make up the one on your home tile.
Additional Clarification: You start the game with 0 units of the strategic units and no troops that use it, but you can start the game with projects for troops that use it. Heroes may or may not be designed with strategic resources. Ordinary troops cannot use more units of strategic resources than their point cost, but they can use less. Projects do not have a maximum strategic resource cost.
Artifacts: Artifacts are special one-of-a-kind weapons/armor sets/war machines/macguffins/etc. that can be obtained via projects or by stealing them from other kingdoms. Think of them like the Hero counterpart to Strategic Resources; powerful but very limited in number. You may only create up to 6 artifacts over the course of a game, but you can loot as many as you can get your hands on. You get one at the start of the game.
Projects: Each turn you can work on a number of projects. This is the way that you will be able to create new weapons, new types of units, recruit heroes, build military encampments and other things. You can build pretty much whatever you want, but the golden rule is that the value of what you make is equal to the amount of points that the project requires.
Each turn, you gain X+1 project points. X is equal to the number of territories you control.
Development of a new basic soldier type: 2+
Recruiting a powerful hero: 10
Obtaining an artifact: 10
Building a fortress: 6
Developing a new technology: 5
Reverse-engineering an enemy technology obtained from battle: Approx 1/2 of initial point value
Recruiting a powerful hero: 10
Obtaining an artifact: 10
Building a fortress: 6
Developing a new technology: 5
Reverse-engineering an enemy technology obtained from battle: Approx 1/2 of initial point value
How to play
Once the game starts, you will be able to do a number of things each turn. All of which must be specified in your post at the time you make it.
Recruitment: Each turn you can gain a certain amount of troops. The amount of recruitment points you can spend is 100 plus 100 per owned developed territory (which is any area populated enough to recruit from)
Diplomacy: Other players may be willing to work together with you in order to deal with certain problems. Simple messages take no time to deliver, and should be in the game thread. It is also possible to trade things such as Strategic Resources, share certain kinds of research-like projects, or send non-hostile re-enforcements. "Trade" actions are not instant and will need to be validated in a GM update so I can know why the dwarves started using elven longbows.
It is possible to betray someone in diplomatic deals, intercept other players deals, and other such shenanigans. It is also possible for them to become hostile as a result of such behavior.
Combat: Your ultimate goal is probably going to be world domination. In order to attack someone, you will need to make a separate post in the game (Separate from your standard update post) and specify the following things.
- Who you are attacking
- What your objectives are
- The troops that you are sending into battle
- Any other important things that need consideration
- The tactics that you intend to use.
Once posted, the defender will then get an opportunity to prepare a defense strategy with whatever troops they have that are not committed elsewhere. If the defender is too far away, they may have multiple turns to prepare.
Note that the tactics you choose to employ will be the primary factor in who wins the battle, and how many troops will die. The troops you send and the terrain are also factors.
Espionage: Sometimes you'll want to do something a bit more subtle, like interfering with an enemy project or stealing stuff. To do that, you will need to post in the game to announce that you are doing a stealth action and which territory you are doing that action in, and then send the rest of the information (As specified under combat) to the GM. At this time, other players with business in that territory should send the GM a PM with any relevant information about how their defenses are prepared.
A stealth action that takes place outside of your established territory will be MUCH less effective than a non-stealth equivalent action. Like, less than half, and using too many stealth actions will increase the odds of your plots being uncovered.
A "stealth" attack involving your entire military is almost guaranteed to fail. A good rule of thumb is to consider if the group you send can realistically traverse an area without getting spotted..
You can also have a battle in neutral territory using agreed upon terms and stakes, where both sides post their troops committed in the thread and PM their strategies to me. You can't capture territory with them unless it's part of the terms, but they're good for settling disputes.
Territory Annexation: In order to officially gain a new tile, you will need to complete a five point annexation project. This project cannot be started if any hostile forces are present on the tile, and will be halted if you are unable to maintain your military dominance on the tile for the project's full duration. Once you complete the annexation process, you will have all the benefits that come with the territory!
Neutrals: At game start, there will be several "Neutral" territories that may or may not have a standing army. These can and should be annexed as soon as possible. Diplomacy with these neutral territories is not possible and they are much easier to take than an enemy stronghold.
Other: If you want to do something that isn't really covered by the rules, ask me first. If you feel that something has not been adequately explained, please let me know.
Each turn is equivalent to one IRL day (give or take), and I will post a daily update that covers various events, battle reports, the map, and where certain things are.
