September 24, 1998 - Company Update
CHARIOTLORDS Recreates Warfare in Biblical Times
CHARIOTLORDS Recreates Warfare in Biblical Times
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September 24, 1998 - Company Update
CHARIOTLORDS Recreates Warfare in Biblical Times |
Work-in-Progress Report by Charles Vasey, CHARIOTLORDS Designer
CHARIOTLORDS is a big four player game (five to seven hours duration) attempting to give gamers some of the flavor of warfare in Biblical times. It will be published by those old Doyens of Detail Clash of Arms as a deliberate exercise in simple gaming.
The period covered is from Pharaoh Thutmosis III (who won the battle of Megiddo) through to just before the appearance of Cyrus the Achaemenid, the lord of the lands. It therefore covers the Hittite and Egyptian struggle for control of the Levant, two Assyrian empires, numerous dynasties in Babylon, the Cimmerian (Scyth invasions), the "Catastrophe" (the invasion by Sea-Peoples of most of the Mediterranean littoral), the rise of Judah-Israel and many other events. At ten turns it covers 900 years of activity.
As you will all imagine this is not going to be at ASL levels of detail. Wristage will be at a minimum. Instead I have used a system comparable to the Gibson Games/Avalon Hill game BRITANNIA. Players activate, move, fight, redeploy and score victory points each nation depending on a chit draw. Because the game covers campaigns over ninety years and several rulers it includes movement, combat and then redeployment to see that key sites are not left uncovered. The actual combat system is based on the "6 kills" style with key differences between type of units (chariots really are powerful on the plains) as well as Assyrian Terror and the appearance of key historical leaders.
A key mechanism is that losses are replaced at a 50% rate, so in time all empires will run out of troops and naturally wither and die. This in built imperial half-life is a very important mechanism in simulating an era of change.
Victory is achieved by hitting key historical targets (not all of which are going to be possible) and by controlling terrain. The mixture of these two types of victory points is vital in ensuring that each nation is not forced to follow historical patterns, although the chit draw is important.
The range of nations is enjoyable from standard "empires" like Hatti, through regional powers like Elam, to the great raiders like the Libyans and the Arameans. The Chosen People sin and repent and the Acheans sweep down to a wine dark sea.
At present we are still busy proofing the rules and are into the next stage which involves trying to build credible two and three player versions to increase the game's appeal to the less connected elements of the hobby.
The map will most likely be mounted, 22" x 34", and in the colorful style of Joan of Arc and Africa 1880. The map will have a turn record and victory point chart on it. Also, there will be a master turn arrival chart, either separately or on the map, depending how much can be crammed into the Arabian Desert without it seeming busy. Counters will be larger than usual, with combat units 5/8" square and leaders/terror being 3/4" square. They will be black line drawings on pastel backgrounds (blue, red, yellow, and white). Mounting the map will add about $10 to the final cost, but for the stability of play, we think it will be worth it. In addition to eight pages of rules (which includes Designers's Notes and a brief history that take up two of them) there will be Victory Point charts, Replacement charts for each color, a Turn Arrival chart for each color (actually, the previous two will be on one chart) and two Combat charts. Although CHARIOTLORDS is a game for playing I believe it can generate much of the historical dynamic that saw empires rise and fall.
Clash of Arms hopes that CHARIOTLORDS will come in at under $56. It will be published in a French version as well and will be out in our next cycle of games, this winter.
Designer: Charles Vasey
Clash of Arms Games
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Copyright © 1999-2002. ConsimWorld.COM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Web Masters are encouraged to link directly to this page, this URL is not subject to change. For general site information: kranz@consimworld.com
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Copyright © 1999, 2000 ConsimWorld.COM. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Web Masters are encouraged to link directly to this page, this URL is not subject to change. For general site information: kranz@consimworld.com
