Author: Adrian Forest (---.edu.au)
Date: 06-18-2002 19:54
Well, after reading this yesterday morning, I went home to have a game of CoC. Unfortunately, one of the players was excessively late, so we didn't really have time to play. Instead, I thought it might be fun to play 'Paperweight'.
So, I dug out some MageKnight figures, and we settled on a simple army selection system of 5 figures each, each one getting one Small, one Medium and one Large characteristic. The broken-off handle of a lightsaber pencil was our 'Small' object, a pen the 'Medium' and the edge of a pencil-box lid the 'Large'. These objects had a roughly 1:2:3 ratio. Victory conditions were the age-old 'Last man standing' kind.
The first game was a lot of fun, even though I did get thrashed (or '0wnz0red' as my opponent put it :) ). But with the second game, we discovered a few problems.
First, if an attacker needs 3 RPS wins in a row to kill a Large defense unit, this means the differences between Small, Medium and Large are exponential. This meant that an army with all Large defense figures would always beat all opponents, based on sheer survivability.
Second, a 1:2:3 ratio of measuring objects meant that no attacks can be made from a range that is out of range for an enemy next turn (especially with a two-step movement base). This meant sniper or artillery units were practically impossible.
We decided that one or more of the following changes needed to be made in order for the system to function fairly:
- An attacker should require 3 hits total to destroy a Large defense unit, with one attempt made for every attack.
- A much larger ratio, 1:4:12 or more, would be necessary to allow sniper or artillery units to function effectively. This style of unit should be able to attack an enemy unit that cannot return fire next turn, and with the current system this is impossible (unless the enemy unit has both Small movement and Small range).
- Some kind of points-based system is needed to offset the immense superiority of Large defense. Large defense has a greater value than Large movement or range, and this should be reflected. If a points system were introduced, perhaps an army of 15 S/S/S units might have a chance against 3 S/M/L units, just through sheer weight of numbers.
We did also consider reducing movement to a single step, but this would make movement worth even less.
The first game was a lot of fun, but once players started to notice and exploit the flaws in the system, it lost a lot of its charm as Large defense units dominated the field of battle.
I really would like to see a simple, diceless, recordless system like this work. This could be an excellent diversion in situations like the one we found ourselves in, or during boring events (such as lectures or classes).
One more thing: With two players who know each other very well, the game becomes more about second-guessing your opponent's RPS throw, and less about the tabletop tactics. In this situation, we found it was more tactical (and less stressful :) ) to use d6s, with the attacker trying to roll higher than the defender.
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