Battle Engine
Battle Engine is a way to solve differences on opinion when the other party is not listening. With non-lethal weapons, it can be adapted to "group jousting" (boardgame) as well.
Pieces
Each party gets the pieces he has on duty in the area where the Battle takes place. They are the Army NPCs:
PAY NAME MOVES HITPTS MOV&HIT HIT&HIT DAMAGE ARROWS G1 G2 G3 R1 R2 R3
(-) General 2 4 1 1 1 8 8
N9 Colonel 2 4 1 1 1 8 1
N9 COL (A) 2 3 1 1 1 2 8 1
N8 Lt. Col 2 3 1 1 1 8 1
N8 LTC (A) 2 2 1 1 1 2 8 1
N7 Major.. 2 3 1 1 4 1
N7 Maj.(A) 2 2 1 1 1 4 1
N6 Captain 2 2 1 1 1
N5 LTN.... 2 2 1 1
N4 M. Sgt 1 3 1 9 1 1
N4 M.Archr 1 3 1 3 1 1
N4 Maceman 1 3 2 1 1
N3 Srgeant 1 3 1 5 1 1
N3 T.Archr 1 2 1 2 1 1
N3 T.Axemn 1 2 2 1 1
N2 Corporl 1 3 1 1 1
N2 Archer. 1 2 1 1 1 1
N2 Axeman. 1 1 2 1 1
N1 Private 1 2 1 1 1
(-) Recruit 1 1 1 1 1
"G" and "R" values tell if the piece gives extra hitpoints to the pieces around him "Give" (number tells to how many directions), or is eligible to receive them "Receive". It is possible to Receive only one bonus point per category.
The Army CO's are officers themselves and may (yet are not forced to) take part in the battle. Death is the result in the game if you die in the battle.
RulesThe playing field resembles a chessboard, yet may be of any size the contestants agree upon. One row in the middle is "no man's land" and both players have 3 or (in large battles) 4 rows on their side of it. The width of the board can be experimented from 6 to 12 squares wide, depending on the number of pieces.
In the initialization, players can arrange their pieces on their side of the board in any order. When both are done, it is revealed where the opponent has pieces, yet only their horses are visible (no other distinction is known but if a piece is an Officer of not.
Rule regarding temporary level-up of Officers: If a N7 piece is present, all N5 pieces act as if they were N6 (not promoted but during battle as long as N7 is present). If N8 is present, all N5/N6; if N9, all N5-N7; if GEN, all N5-N8, are temporarily upgraded a level.
The player who has more pieces nearest the no man's land starts. The turns alternate.
Lawful moves for Pieces not in Panic:
- If the piece is next to an opponent, it may Hit and give Damage according to the stats.
- If the piece has arrows and is in the same column or row as an opponent unhindered, it may Shoot, lose 1 arrow and give Damage.
- If the piece can move such that the zigzag distance to its
nearest enemy (who it is, may change during the move) is reduced, it may move. It always moves one square and not diagonally.
For pieces in Panic:
- If the piece can move such that the zigzag distance to its
nearest enemy (who it is, may change during the move) is
increased, it may move. Such a move may never go directly towards the enemy backline, though.
- The piece may move directly towards its own backline, regardless of enemy presence.
- If the piece is on the own backline, it may escape the battle.
Panic is a player decision: once a certain piece is Panicked (makes a panic move), it cannot be unpanicked.
Losing the last hitpoint means KIA, and the piece is removed. This may also happen if the bonuses were the only thing keeping the piece alive, and either piece is moved.
If the player's last Officer is killed, the rest surrender (are lost, but not killed - your choice which would have been preferable). If the last Officer escapes, all the remaining pieces Panic as a result. (Merely Panicking your last officer has no effect.)