Tabletop Spaceship Wargame Part 7, Adding movement!

So this is where we left off with rules.

Turns:

• Players alternate turns. 
• A player can [only] act on their turn.
• On their turn, a player [Moves] and then [Attacks] 
• Flip a coin. The winner of the toss gets the first turn.

Movement:

• Your ship can move [anywhere] on the play space.
• The play space is [infinite] size.
• Your ship may move at [any] time

Attacking

• Your ship can shoot [Once] per Turn
• Your ship deals [1] damage per shot
• Your ship hits [on a D6 roll of 4, 5, or 6]
• Your ship damages targets [automatically]
• Your ship can take [1] damage before being destroyed

The game is starting to take shape but there aren't enough systems in the game to create meaningful choice. Because all of the movement variables are equal and infinite, there is no difference between them - they do not impact play at all. 

So this post will be about bringing in a basic movement system, what choices will be made to construct that system, and what each decision means for the other systems in the game.

In a previous post, I laid out the advantages and disadvantages of a freeform movement system versus a grid based movement system. I've judged that a grid movement system better suits the accessibility goal of the game.

So what is a movement system? Let's take a look at a couple of different games that involve movement and see what elements they share.

The examples of movement that I will use are Quake 3 Arena, Chess, and Warhammer: 40,000. Each of these games are very different but have the same goal of competition against another opponent.

In Quake 3 a single character is controlled by the player and can move in two dimensions to a great extent by 'running' and vertically to a limited extent by 'jumping'. The 'level' or environment may provide additional movement options keyed to a discrete location.

The goal of the Deathmatch game mode is to be the first to a set number of 'frags' - achieved by killing other player characters. This is accomplished by using a variety of weapons with different statistics - damage, arc, time to target, area of effect, ammunition supply - to harm other players by hitting them with projectiles. Hitting with these projectiles is hampered by both the attacker and the target's movement and relative position. 

A slow projectile fired at long range will take more time to reach the target, giving it more time to avoid the attack. A pinpoint attack with slow fire rate will be difficult to use if the target is close. Having a discrete movement system allows the weapon interactions to have more options and choices. These choices expand further with the restrictions that terrain provides.  

Chess has a set of pieces controlled by each player and the objective is to trap the enemy's King piece. Each type piece has a set of rules that governs their movement - knights, pawns, rooks, bishops, queen, king. 

Unlike Quake, all pieces attack in the same manner - they must have a valid target based on their movement rules, and when they move onto a space occupied by an enemy piece according to those rules, they capture the other piece. This highlights how player options are provided by each piece with it's movement. The ideal move captures an enemy piece and prevents the enemy from capturing your piece. 

In Warhammer 40,000 each player controls a set of pieces that represent different infantry, vehicles, and artillery units. Each of these units has different attacks, defenses, and movement types. The goal is to either capture ground or destroy the opposing army.

Different units move at different rates and interact with difficult terrain in their own way. Infantry can be slowed, vehicles may be immobilized or destroyed, flying units ignore it unless they stop inside the terrain in which case they may suffer casualties. Since Line of Sight and weapon range are vital to attacking targets, moving relative to other units and terrain becomes the core of the game. All weapon and unit functions are built out of how a unit can bring that weapon to bear.

The common elements in these games is that movement is fundamentally tied into achieving goals. In quake, movement helps protect characters as well as provide avenues to attack. In Chess, positioning is how you attack and how you protect your pieces. In Warhammer 40,000 movement is used to protect your forces, achieve mission goals, and to attack the enemy.

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The Movement system needs to provide a way to bring attacks to bear, and to avoid enemy attacks. This means that weapons need to have limitations to make movement meaningful. I'm following the majority of games in the field by including range, line of sight, and firing arcs as rules for attacks.

Movement can now make a difference when weapons have a limited range and field of fire. Now for the basic rules of moving ships around on a map grid. I've decided the grid type will be hexagons.

Turns:

• Players alternate turns.
• A player can [only] act on their turn.
• On their turn, a player [Moves] and then [Attacks] 
• Flip a coin. The winner of the toss places their ship anywhere within [3] Hexes of their board edge. Then the other player places their ship.
• Ships take up 1 Hex and must face one of the edges of the Hex.
• The player that deployed second gets the first Turn.

Movement:

• The play space is [20 x 40 hexes] in size.
• Your ship may move at [the start of your turn]
• Your ship may rotate once, turning to face a Hex edge adjacent to it's current facing
• It may move 4 hexes towards the edge it's facing.

Attacking

• Your ship can shoot [Once] per Turn [After you finish movement]
• Your ship can shoot [At targets within it's forward 60* arc] that are within [10] Hexes
• Your ship deals [1] damage per shot
• Your ship hits [on a D6 roll of 4, 5, or 6]
• Your ship damages targets [automatically]
• Your ship can take [1] damage before being destroyed

Hmm. Lots of refinement left. But baby steps!