Brikwars - Setting up and a Beginner's Guide

LEGO gaming, including group role playing games
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Fry_slayer
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Brikwars - Setting up and a Beginner's Guide

Post by Fry_slayer »

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Hello people.
Here is a guide to brikwars mayhem I wish to share with you. Sure anyone can throw a bunch of minifig together and let them fight aimlessly at one another. But for those of you who demand some "depth" in the seemingly purposeless brickshed, I compiled some thoughts and experience from the games I have played and hope some of you can benefit by getting more out from your games.

Below are key points on hosting a fun game through the experience I gained while playing the game myself.


1)Define battlefield objectives
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Just sending 2 armies at one another can be an objective by itself. But scenario like this can quickly run out of steam and the whole affair can degenerate into a formation war and trials of luck. For added spice a game should always try to put in an objective or two to keep the game on focus.

Examples of Objectives include:
-Capturing a castle
-Assasinating a leader
-Rescue a princess
-Survive for X rounds (for defenders)


2)Try giving multiple routes to the final objectives
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If there is only one way to reach the mission objective obviously all a player can do is to commit all his resource in one choke point. Having an alternative route so players can split forces into mutiple engagement provide more challenges and tactical decision involved. Some sort of reward should be available for a party to capture a particular spot.
Example wrote:A wooden tower is present at an alternative route to siege a fort. Should the defender decided to leave it alone the attacker can take over and launch arrows to the castle via the tower. It is for the scenario maker to make sure an advantage to be held for capturing the tower else much is meaningless.

3)Attacker should be allocated more forces than defender
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Logic dictates the aggressor should always have more minions at their disposal than the defenders. As of how much more it is up to the experience of the player to decifer. Usually at a ratio of 1:1.3~1.4 for my scenarios. You could try 1:1.5~2 if the defender have heavy range weapons and strong fortifications on their side.


4)Starting location should not be too far apart.
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People want to get into the action fast. If all the players are spending their initial 4-5 turns moving the troops everyone will fell asleep by the time their army clashes at the field. The opposing forces should be able to engage each other at turn 3 at max. So plan your forces start location accordingly. Since my standard rule dictate a fig not moving for than 5 inch it would mean the initial forces should not be more than 15 inch apart, or adjust that according to your prefered rules.


5)Add dynamic elements
This can be a lot of things, but on a field seeming run amok with soldiers, archers and knights some out of ordinary "stuff" can add extra charm to the game.

These can be:-
a)Monsters
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Dragons, yetis, orges, giant spiders, chuthulu you name it. These are usually the spearhead of the fight and tonnes of fun as they rampage through minifig troops, fortification and whack havoc across the field. Try using smaller monster for smaller fight and reserve big monster for big army fight though, you wont want a single monster to destroy all the soldiers. They should be treated as heavy support rather than the center of the army.

b)Belated reinforcement
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Lets say an agreed 20 rounds to be played it will add considerable amount of fun/depth to the game if a reinforcement of elite riders will come into battlefield at round 10. This can be the turning point of the game when it favors heavily on one side.

c)Magic
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Considered one of the last realm of dynamics to added in the game. Proper balance can be only achieve will experienced players for magic create havocs. But that is where the fun begins.


6)Avoid common mistakes
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Here are some points to consider and remember to avoid undesirable situation

- Don't start big. Often people (me included) underestimated the time needed for a big bunch of troops to resolve damage. Start small and work your way up. In fact most of the game you see in my folder take weeks to prepare and plan (on free time) and usually the game run for 2 days.

- Don't throw in all the dynamic elements when not everyone is familiar wiith the rules. Unfortunately the good stuff is the confusing stuff, so adding multiple "good" stuff when everyone is new to the game (like monsters, magic, catapult) can end up making the game a discussion of rules rather than playing the game.

-Special rules and condition have to be stated in advance.
"I didn't knnow by knocking down the castle gate will increase the game duration by 2 turns!" Is the type of phrase no one need to hear after a long battle.

-Set the the scenario and experiment a bit before hand
Game scenario planner should try to make the scene themselves or have a rough idea before the game so the placing of props can be as smooth and painless and possible. It is generally a bad idea to have the rest of the players waiting while u plan the scenario.


ImageWhy this guide?
Well it always dawn to me all the soldiers, knights and commondos we amass over the years have not fullfill their purpose of brickshed mayhem. By playing brikwars you can enlist all the slumbering troops and get them serve your brick kingdom instead of the other way round. I have no table top war gaming prior to this so slowly researched and learn my way through. IMO the experience is well worth it.

Players are always encourage to experiment new rules and style which fit, their style but ultimately dont forget, we play for fun. :wink:


Cheers. As usual feed back and comments are welcome.
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Strider
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Post by Strider »

thank you for making this guide.
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Blue Head
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Post by Blue Head »

Wow, taht will help me making brikwars. Thanks a lot!
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Post by engineerio »

great guide! Nice job. I love the write ups too... You could add a point of 'interest' to the games by having characters and personalities involved like you do in your brikwars write ups.

Paul
Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..."
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Post by Remyth »

Indeed. THis is a great beginner's guide, Fry! Very simple and stright-forward, but it seems that it would make a very good gude. I will have to try some of this stuff on my next battle. Thanks!

In Christ,
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Post by Fry_slayer »

Glad to be of any help to you guys who are starting mayhems.

Playing table top with LEGO provide a unique experience second to non. The sheer variety of themes and bricks and the nature of LEGO itself ensures the possibilties of scenarios are endless and the vibrant colors really add up to the charm.

Besides, other than building stuffs how else are we going to "play" with them? 8)
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Post by Sibley »

Great guide. I made some of these mistakes in my first game: there were way too many figs (about 100, with 3 players), and there was only one way for the attackers to get at the defenders. Also we didn't have any clearly defined goals; just "win".

Our second game added monsters and magic and had fewer figs, and was a lot more fun.
~Dan Sibley
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Post by HeartOfDarkness »

It would be interesting to adapt the battles to a specific storyline and make a long campaign, with territory to conquer, supplies to look out for, a budgeted army with only so-and-so men, specific objectives, and plenty of players that you can ally and betray. Maybe even a certian amount of villages and villagers that you can levy, tax for supplies, conquer, or even incite to revolt. :shock:

This is starting to sound a lot like a Legofied Age of Empires. But hey, Age of Empires is a pretty fun game, and I imagine that it would be even more fun in Lego form. Almost everything is. It would take some pretty devoted players, though.
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Post by Shadowviking »

HeartOfDarkness wrote:It would be interesting to adapt the battles to a specific storyline and make a long campaign, with territory to conquer, supplies to look out for, a budgeted army with only so-and-so men, specific objectives, and plenty of players that you can ally and betray. Maybe even a certian amount of villages and villagers that you can levy, tax for supplies, conquer, or even incite to revolt. :shock:

This is starting to sound a lot like a Legofied Age of Empires. But hey, Age of Empires is a pretty fun game, and I imagine that it would be even more fun in Lego form. Almost everything is. It would take some pretty devoted players, though.
Sounding almost exactly like Lego Medieval: Total War. That'd be cool!
...and that's how Equestria was made!
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Post by HeartOfDarkness »

But wouldn't it be more fun if you could actually move the little guys around, removing limbs and making funny noises as needed?
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Post by Shadowviking »

HeartOfDarkness wrote:But wouldn't it be more fun if you could actually move the little guys around, removing limbs and making funny noises as needed?
How would Lego AoE do that? But yes, this would be completely necessary (especially the funny noises! ;P)
...and that's how Equestria was made!
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Post by The Shadow Knight »

Thank you for the guide! I enjoyed reading it. It helps a lot! Thanks again! :D
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