Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Fri, 2007-05-25 16:13.
For once, I was able to actually play one of my games with some friends. (While I've gotten a few congratulatory e-mails - none of my friends have actually played D&B. We tried making characters, which gave me a nice list of which rules I need to clarify though)
Each of us had 4 frigates, and there was a small island in the center to break up the board. I managed to capture one of his vessels, but in the end, he sunk all but one of my ships, while I had barely dented his fleet - so it was a pretty lopsided loss for me.
Spending the point of blood lust is a useful ability. However, giving any given attribute more than one point is also probably overly powerful, and a re-occurring ability. I went for d6s due to availability - but +2 is a whopping 30% bonus. (He went for +2 gunnery and +2 buccaneers) so few of my shots were successful, and almost all of his were. (and my dice were cursed.) Changing to a d8 or d10 might help mitigate this a little.
I think I need to reduce the number of points granted - perhaps to just 3, and/or make the admiral stat a required one. The arc for a broadside might use a little better definition too. Also, I had one oddity, where the disengagement from a boarding attempt ended up with the ship crashing into another - we deemed this doesn't count.
Some sort of a wind gauge to help remind players about directions might help.
Any other suggestions?
At the moment, I'm considering two variations of these rules. Both are more modern games based on WWII. The simpler one is about PT boats, while the other is based around hunting submarines. I'm trying to make the information within accurate enough to use as a teaching tool. Hopefully, I might be able to submit one or both of these games to Junior Generals
There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.
Aardvark Tested, Mother Approved...
For once, I was able to actually play one of my games with some friends. (While I've gotten a few congratulatory e-mails - none of my friends have actually played D&B. We tried making characters, which gave me a nice list of which rules I need to clarify though)
Each of us had 4 frigates, and there was a small island in the center to break up the board. I managed to capture one of his vessels, but in the end, he sunk all but one of my ships, while I had barely dented his fleet - so it was a pretty lopsided loss for me.
Spending the point of blood lust is a useful ability. However, giving any given attribute more than one point is also probably overly powerful, and a re-occurring ability. I went for d6s due to availability - but +2 is a whopping 30% bonus. (He went for +2 gunnery and +2 buccaneers) so few of my shots were successful, and almost all of his were. (and my dice were cursed.) Changing to a d8 or d10 might help mitigate this a little.
I think I need to reduce the number of points granted - perhaps to just 3, and/or make the admiral stat a required one. The arc for a broadside might use a little better definition too. Also, I had one oddity, where the disengagement from a boarding attempt ended up with the ship crashing into another - we deemed this doesn't count.
Some sort of a wind gauge to help remind players about directions might help.
Any other suggestions?
At the moment, I'm considering two variations of these rules. Both are more modern games based on WWII. The simpler one is about PT boats, while the other is based around hunting submarines. I'm trying to make the information within accurate enough to use as a teaching tool. Hopefully, I might be able to submit one or both of these games to Junior Generals
There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.