Writing a Sci-fi Tabletop Wargame – Part 10

As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.

Last Weeks Poll Results for Orders

Here are the results from last weeks polls.

Based on these results, the following section will be added to our living rules:

ORDER GENERATION

At the start of a turn each player will roll 2D6 and add the number of Generals they have on the table to that roll; this is their ORDER POOL.

WHO GOES FIRST?

Who gets to use an order first in the turn is determined by bidding. Once the ORDER POOL has been generated, each player should say how many orders they wish to use to bid for the FIRST ACTIVATION of that turn. Any orders that have been used to bid for the FIRST ACTIVATION are lost from the ORDER POOL regardless of whether the bid was successful or not.

For example, Player A rolls 9 for their ORDER POOL, and decides to use 4 orders to bid for the FIRST ACTIVATION of the turn. If they bid more than the opposing player, they can activate a unit first that turn. If they bid less than their opponent then they will have the SECOND ACTIVATION that turn. Regardless of whether the player wins the bid or not, they lose the number of orders that they used to try and claim the FIRST ACTIVATION that turn. In the case above Player A will have 5 orders remaining in their ORDER POOL which they can use to attempt to order their units with in the coming turn.

ORDERS

When an order is being issued, the player must first determine the score needed in order for the target unit to activate. To do so add the COMMAND RATING of the unit to that of the nearest friendly General on the table. This combined rating will then be used as a score which the player must equal or beat on a roll of 2D6 in order for the order to be effective. If the player does not achieve the score needed then an order is lost from their ORDER POOL and the next player then attempts an activation.

For Example, Player A wants to activate an elite unit on their left flank that has the possibility of claiming an objective. The units COMMAND RATING is 2, and the nearest General’s COMMAND RATING is 4, giving a combined total of 6. Player A rolls a 7 on 2D6 and so is able to issue an order to that unit.

THIS WEEKS POLLS

There are two further poll it has been suggested to me to add in regards to Orders.

Firstly, if a unit has been successfully given an order, does it carry out any actions the player wishes OR should it be a specific order such as move or shoot.

Secondly, if a unit has been issued an order can you then issue another order to the same unit? If so, should there be a limit on the number of orders any one unit can receive?

Next week we’ll begin to look at the stats of a unit.

–Peter

Suggestions?

Do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.

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