Domains at War

Hmm… I was planning to go full gameserver with an independent client and a protocol suitable to play by AIs (and King of the Hill DaW tournaments / teaching neural networks to crush my poor players), but roll20 API is also a good idea. I should probably learn javascript anyway…

I'd love to run through the basic scenarios again...but I might change my mind part way through, depending on how long they take in this format. I'm guessing we'd all like to eventually test something a bit more representative of where we'd like to take it, no?

"I can na' change the laws o' physics, Cap'n!"

                                                         - Scotty

Nice.

 

Well, the one example scenario is very basic, but the epic one actually makes use of almost all the rules, since it includes heroes with items and a wizard. The only thing it doesn't have is nonhuman units. Obviously at some point then we have to have the battle of the Necromancer Prince vs the Free Monster Alliance to test all the monstrous units, with particular emphasis on how high-undead armies can work.

 

I'll rig up the basic battles in Roll20 over the next couple days.

Sounds interesting!

I always thought that Roll20 would be a good way of playing D@W:B. I played a few games of the most basic scenario but wouldnt mind playing that one again, still have not figured out how to win against the beastmen...

[quote="jedavis"] Hmm... I was planning to go full gameserver with an independent client and a protocol suitable to play by AIs (and King of the Hill DaW tournaments / teaching neural networks to crush my poor players), but roll20 API is also a good idea. I should probably learn javascript anyway... [/quote]

Gracious. Far be it from me to limit your scope, though. :)

 

If you’re just looking for a webpage with a 6-mile hex terrain dropdown, a generate button, and output of a set of terrain features that need placed on a map, I should be able to get that put together by saturday evening (very conservatively) depending on how my holiday travel goes.

Ed: Well I Scotty’s Law’d that one pretty hard (“Always tell the captain it’s going to take 50% longer than you think it’s actually going to take”). It’s up at http://jedavis.me:5000/terrain/

Alright, go ahead and join the game officially.

https://app.roll20.net/join/475292/RfBhpw

The current map should be the setup for the epic battle, as that's what I found out I already had all the resources for almost preloaded. If guys would like to try the smaller battle first, that'll be pretty quick to whip up. You'll notice that I used the little colored dots roll20 has to mark divisions, so you know which archers belong in Menna's Joint and which ones are the Autarch's. The little icons represent the heroes and unnamed lieutenants; feel free to alter them as you see fit. The way they are is just leftovers from the first time we did this.

I've placed one half of the map in Fog of War, under the assumption that I'm going to play the barbarian side, because as mapmaker I get first dibs. Whoever wants to pick up the other side is welcome to.

 

EDIT: oops I forgot there's a terrain stage of setup! I guess just whoever wants to, draw some terrain on the map.

any chance of regular updates/screenshots being posted somewhere for people who just want to lurk and observe?  It might also be possible to just follow that link and peek, but I wasn't sure.

You can peek! I'll also be taking screenshots regularly once we get started.
 

Alright! I rolled random terrain and arranged my army. Whoever wants to play the opposing side, volunteer, and set up your forces at your leisure. Also, remember you get a certain number of lieutenants; I suggest marking units with flags if they have a lieutenant.

 

I thought about using the pre-established terrain, but eh. Let's roll on charts!

I’ve used VASSAL for play-by-post (of ASL : Advanced Squad Leader) extensively. VASSAL is built for virtual tabletop and PbP, although I’ve never tried VASSAL VTT. Logs are exchanged via e-mail for PbP. There is an automated logging facility, which logs movement, dice rolls, LOS checks and text entered (which is used both for resolving game mechanics and general discussion). For ASL, VASSAL has existing hex maps as well as overlays, not unlike D@W.

I’ve not used any of the RPG VTT. How do they support PbP? Is anyone here familiar with both VASSAL (or similar) and Roll20 (or similar)?

I’d love to play a lot more D@W as well, and PbP could be a “leisurely” way to play.

I've done Roll20 a decent amount. It's workable.

That VASSAL though, that looks really intriguing for this - the list of already created modules is impressive, and I can't see that D@W:B wouldn't be able to be covered by that.

I am somewhat taken aback this is the first time I've heard of it.

Oh yeaaaaaaaah Vassal exists! That'd make much more sense than roll20. You'd just have to create a module for it. I played the 40k tabletop a bit with it and yeah, very well made. I imagine it'd be a huge timesink up front to make it compatible.

 

Anyway the map is all set up now so I'm just waiting on ya'll to set up the opposing army.

Yeah, sorry...I've been way busier this weekend with Christmas preparations than I expected...

*I* meanwhile am less busy because it's christmas so I've been sitting here refreshing and tapping my foot

Oops! Now you're waiting for me again, seeing as I wont the roll-off for tied Initiative. I've never seen someone roll that many 1's in a row!

So! Blobloblah has joined the battle as the Auran forces and deployed his troops. Here's how it looks right now: He's the southern forces, where I'm attacking from the north.

I've chosen to deploy Baal and Peymann in Phalanxes. Since they were already veteran heavy infantry, this makes them super-heavies, and destroying their units outright should prove nearly impossible. It also reduces the number of units I have, which is good, because moving units costs points! Most of my commanders have lower leadership and strategic values than I'd like relative to the number of units they're supposed to be commanding.

I also have fiewer lieutenants, so that sucks. Also, upon closer inspection, I've deployed only three of them! I'll drop the last one now, on my cavalry, because obviously cavalry are important.

 

http://imgur.com/KhXjyAu

The black arrows represent my predictions for the battle. His general starts in a cavalry unit, which is both a blessing and a curse. Cavalry are extremely powerful, and having a high-quality commander ensures that that unit will be effective. He's also stacked lieutenants on it, meaning that he'll always be able to active all of them, even if they take hits. Thus, it's obvious that he's going to want to use Royal Squad as early as possible, and since cavalry go fast, having them flank is a natural choice.

Meanwhile, he's just sort of dumped all of his non-horse units in the middle, and with that lake there, they're more or less forced to move straight forward and be the anvil to his horse-hammer.

 

On my end, I have essentially the exact same layout, except that my commander will be in the center, and I've assigned one division to outflank around the lake. *My* cavalry commander is Jagtai, the peerless barbarian. He's equipped with a sweet bow, the precise shot proficiency, and Eyes of the Eagle, which grants him the ability to target heroes at twice the normal range. Unfortunately, at this scale, that means I have a range of TWO hexes, (Unless mounted heroes count as Large?) meaning there can be exactly one hex between us. So he'll have to get in close. Once he does though, WYVERN POISON ARROWS! BAM! Admittedly, this poison is an unmodifier throw, so if I'm targetting Tarkaun, he survives on a 6+. On the other hand, a 25% chance of insta-death per hit is nothing to scoff at. Also, while we're here, he's got 15 AC. Jagtai's THACO is -2. So Jagtai only hits on a 13+. Or maybe an 11+, if he uses his +2 arrows? Do magic arrows stack with magic bow? I assume they do, because otherwise why mention that he has both?

So a 50% chance to hit and a 25% chance for each hit to kill; that's an average of eight attacks. And in brigade scale, heroes get three extra initiative passes. That's four attacks per round. If I can get Jagtai close to Tarkaun, I'm looking very good. If somehow Jagtai closes on Mennic, the fragile wizard, he'll hit on a 4+ and instagib if he rolls 6 or less. Even without the poison, mennic only has 44 hp, so 1d6+6 won't take many shots.

 

WOW that was a lot of numbers let's get back to strategy. So yeah. Jagtai kills people. Jagtai's horses are lined up with the general's horses. My anvil is smaller than theirs, but more muscular and compact, like corned beef. I also have a second hammer. Flanking is extremely potent in Domains at War because it not only grants a bonus to hit, but also imposes a penalty on shock rolls, making it much more likely to break troops, so I think that second hammer is going to help me a lot. If I use the lake to my advantage, having a smaller anvil won't hurt me much. If I screw up, my general is going to easily be surrounded and cut to pieces. Fun! I'm very excited.

Clearly you actually put thought into your deployment. Maybe I should have done the same?

Speaking of Initiative, seeing as I have it, would you mind if I cast some pre-battle spells? Obviously there's some potential advantage, but I already had something in mind, and just rediscovered that some things need to be cast in advance at this scale (I'm only now reading my Commanders in detail...oops).