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Gaming => Battle Reports => Topic started by: Justin Swanton on March 13, 2023, 06:15:41 PM

Title: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 13, 2023, 06:15:41 PM
Hi chaps. It's been a while, I know. I've been concentrating on getting Optio ready for publication which means lots of playtesting and tweaking. Here's (https://www.dropbox.com/s/47unw2x7fwzpzzf/Optio%20AAR%2013%20March%202023.pdf?dl=0) a battle report of the latest game with my playtester, Peter, who narrowly won after some pretty extreme see-sawing that saw him an inch from routing himself. Peter played Carthage, yours truly Rome. Enjoy!

(https://i.imgur.com/wfQILOv.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/rtqGaK2.jpg)
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Imperial Dave on March 13, 2023, 06:19:45 PM
hopefully dice will make it into the last version  :)
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 13, 2023, 06:22:49 PM
Quote from: Imperial Dave on March 13, 2023, 06:19:45 PMhopefully dice will make it into the last version  :)

Of course. Each player gets a rubber squeegee die to squeeze on, for therapy. "This is a wargame!"
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Imperial Dave on March 13, 2023, 06:30:18 PM
needs more dice  ;D
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: dwkay57 on March 15, 2023, 09:04:33 AM
Interesting - the Carthagians always seem to sneak in a victory somehow.

Do like the pre-battle maps and movements - I must do something similar myself!
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 15, 2023, 10:39:28 AM
Quote from: dwkay57 on March 15, 2023, 09:04:33 AMInteresting - the Carthagians always seem to sneak in a victory somehow.

Do like the pre-battle maps and movements - I must do something similar myself!

I find the prebattle terrain game the easiest and funnest way of generating terrain. It's done in 5 minutes without all the fussy and arbitrary throwing of dice to put a hill here and a forest there. The two players tend to choose a battlefield that doesn't decisively favour either - unless one player surprises the army of another on terrain that suits the first.

You'll need ferrite magnets to create it. Want to know more?
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 15, 2023, 10:48:58 AM
Quote from: Imperial Dave on March 13, 2023, 06:30:18 PMneeds more dice  ;D

OK, two squeegee dice per player. Satisfied?  >:(
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Imperial Dave on March 15, 2023, 05:33:00 PM
Quote from: Justin Swanton on March 15, 2023, 10:48:58 AM
Quote from: Imperial Dave on March 13, 2023, 06:30:18 PMneeds more dice  ;D

OK, two squeegee dice per player. Satisfied?  >:(

Suppose so.... ::)
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: dwkay57 on March 17, 2023, 09:18:17 AM
It's more the creation / provision of the maps that I'm really interested in (being a bit lazy and not a geographer) Justin. You did explain the mechanics a while back and I'm not sure how they would work in a solo game.
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 17, 2023, 09:58:22 AM
Quote from: dwkay57 on March 17, 2023, 09:18:17 AMIt's more the creation / provision of the maps that I'm really interested in (being a bit lazy and not a geographer) Justin. You did explain the mechanics a while back and I'm not sure how they would work in a solo game.

Probably not very well. The idea is to have a certain amount of fog of war. Each player has 5 blocks, and one player doesn't know which block of his opponent is his army until either his scout spots it or his army bumps into it. I have another pre-battle terrain game which doesn't use fog or war. That would work for solo play.
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Imperial Dave on March 17, 2023, 12:08:38 PM
I do love a pre-game game
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Justin Swanton on March 17, 2023, 12:38:51 PM
Quote from: Imperial Dave on March 17, 2023, 12:08:38 PMI do love a pre-game game

And then there's the exciting pre-game pre-game...
Title: Re: Rome vs Carthage: a wild see-saw battle with Optio
Post by: Imperial Dave on March 17, 2023, 04:26:41 PM
Game?