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Subject: 
November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Mon, 6 Nov 2000 14:50:24 GMT
Viewed: 
741 times
  
Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Any and all are invited to participate in the first NELUG medieval
Brikwars event, to be held at my place on Saturday, November 18th.  The
start time is open-ended - I will be awake and available to help set up
at the crass-ack of dawn, but would probably anticipate us not starting
the actual game play before 10:00 a.m.

The theme, as might have been communicated excessively already, is a
quasi-historical medieval battle.  As Eric J mentioned, think Tolkien
and you'll be on the right course.  Swords, bows, horses, dragons,
wizards, skeletons, castles, catapults, peasants, ogres, orcs, frog-men
in the lakes (Jar Jar?), and the like are all condoned and welcomed!
Gunpowder, internal combustion engines, and matter teletransporters are
discouraged.  We'll be going by Brikwars 2000 rules, which aren't all
*that* different from the '98 rules, but have a lot more information and
refinement to them.

If anybody has any castles or forts, they are more than welcome to bring
them - I, for one, will not have anything to defend, and will therefore
be on the prowl.  Presumably there will also be others gullible enough
to throw vulnerable men against unyielding walls in great displays of
chaos and blood spillage.  Specific objectives to the battle will become
available as more information (re: number of players, types and numbers
of fortifications, etc.) becomes available.

R.S.V.P.'s are not necessary, but if you think you *might* be coming, it
would be great to hear from you.  If you have any questions or require
any clarifications, please feel free to ask.  And finally, directions
will be forthcoming.

shaun!


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug, lugnet.gaming
Followup-To: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Mon, 6 Nov 2000 15:19:54 GMT
Viewed: 
672 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Shaun Sullivan writes:

The theme, as might have been communicated excessively already, is a
quasi-historical medieval battle.  As Eric J mentioned, think Tolkien
and you'll be on the right course.

Right.  TL2 or lower, and this is as good a time as any to say that we kind
revised the point totals down to about 225 per person.  You don't have to have
225 points, but try not to exceed that amount by too much (and try to have your
army totals done before the day of the game, and written out in an easy to read
fashion... if you want any help with anything, feel free to email me and I'll
help to work stuff out).

If anybody has any castles or forts, they are more than welcome to bring
them - I, for one, will not have anything to defend, and will therefore
be on the prowl.

Ah.  This raises an interesting point.  If anyone *really wants* to defend a
castle, 225 points is obviously not really enough to build a castle and an army
to defend it.  If this is something you want to do, please let either Shaun or
I (or both) know ASAP, and we'll try to work out how many points you should
build on based on how many people we know are planning on attending- it will
likely be you vs. everyone else to give you the most points possible.

That's about it!

(FUT lugnet.org.us.nelug)

eric


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Mon, 6 Nov 2000 16:49:35 GMT
Viewed: 
487 times
  
"Shaun Sullivan" <shaun_sullivan@irco.com> wrote in message
news:3A06C530.827EB5F5@irco.com...

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Any and all are invited to participate in the first NELUG medieval
Brikwars event, to be held at my place on Saturday, November 18th.  The
start time is open-ended - I will be awake and available to help set up
at the crass-ack of dawn, but would probably anticipate us not starting
the actual game play before 10:00 a.m.

...anyone on their way up feel like stopping by Wenham to pick me up? :-)
I'd really appreciate the ride, and it looks feasible because the Bostonians
will have to drive North past me to get there.  No castle figs for me...so
if anyone has extra I'll play with that, or simply be content to sit by to
watch and learn how the game is played.
--

Tim Courtney - tim@zacktron.com

http://www.ldraw.org - Centralized LDraw Resources
http://www.zacktron.com - Zacktron Alliance

ICQ: 23951114 - AIM: TimCourtne


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Mon, 6 Nov 2000 16:55:12 GMT
Viewed: 
476 times
  
Gah.

Slings.

You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
hands-down the best weapon in the game.  Well, that is, if you're more
concerned about point expenditure vs. effectiveness than you are about style,
anyway... and of course, being a gamer, I am that occasionally.

More to the point, my good friend Neil (you know, the guy who isn't *really* a
LEGO guy who has been at the two previous BrikWars events) is a gamer, and he
noticed this.

Why, do you ask, are slings so good?

Well, they do as much damage as a sword, at range.  Not *just* at range,
either- at throwing range.  But not just throwing range!  Oh, no!  Slings
effectively DOUBLE the 'fig's power for purposes of throwing... and there's a
certain incident with a certain Ninja on top of a certain roof with a grenade
that might give a decent example of throwing range... and that was without a
sling.

So.  Neil sent some mail back and forth with the Great Sage, the Divine One,
Mike Rayhawk, and suggested a fix- instead of *doubling* the 'fig's power,
Slings add +1 to the 'fig's power for throwing.  Mike gave it a nod (although
apparently eventually hes looking to change around the Throwing rules) and Neil
asked me to post here on Lugnet to ask that we all use this rule for the
upcoming game, out of a sense of sanity.

Does that sound good to everyone?  Bad?  Indifferent?

eric


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 15:17:19 GMT
Viewed: 
563 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Shaun Sullivan writes:

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Any and all are invited to participate in the first NELUG medieval
Brikwars event, to be held at my place on Saturday, November 18th.  The
start time is open-ended - I will be awake and available to help set up
at the crass-ack of dawn, but would probably anticipate us not starting
the actual game play before 10:00 a.m.

Snip.

Hello Shawn and all, I would like to participate, even though I'm not a
proficient BrikWars general. I have a classic LEGO yellow castle looking for
some action and a few good plastic men willing to defend it, but I'm not
certain about the total CP of all this just yet.

I'm no 100% sure about making it there because I'm trying to finish a Ferris
Wheel (minifig scale) for the Greenberg show and I'm also working on a LEGO
C.E. X-wing, so my building time is sort of limited. In any case, count me in.

Jorge F.


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 19:30:03 GMT
Viewed: 
541 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:

Gah.

Slings.

You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
hands-down the best weapon in the game.

I don't know if anyone is actually following my babbling about slings, but I
have to correct the above.  This is from email that went back and forth between
Neil and Mike Rayhawk, and is the Final Word on what is going to happen with
Throwing rules and Slings.  If you're using either one, or think you might be
facing them (and you are, believe me) then you might want to read this text:

+++

Here's the final results of stuff that Mike Rayhawk
and I discussed:


So to review:

        The distance a minifig can throw things is (Power x Skill) / Mass.

        A sling costs 1 CP.  With it, you can hurl stones for 1d6
Stun damage.  The max range is calculated by using your normal
throwing range as if you had +1 Power, or 10", whichever is less.
        In addition, when using a sling, you must be in a space with
no head level obstructions within 1" of the minifig.  Also, on a
critical failure, the minifig has suffered the Ewok Effect, hitting
himself in the head for 1d6 stun damage.

+++

You'll note that this bring Slings more in line with their CP cost.

Full disclosure time:  I'm posting this without specific permission from Mike
or Neil.  I have implied permission from Neil because he and I discussed making
sure everyone knows the rules we're using going into this, and I feel that Mike
Rayhawk probably doesn't care, since you'll all find out about it on the 18th
anyway.

Once again, if anyone has any questions, lemme know.

eric


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 19:35:56 GMT
Viewed: 
480 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Jorge Fernandez writes:

Hello Shawn and all, I would like to participate,

We'd love to have you!

even though I'm not a
proficient BrikWars general.

Then we'd *really* love to have you!  :D

I have a classic LEGO yellow castle looking for
some action and a few good plastic men willing to defend it, but I'm not
certain about the total CP of all this just yet.

Well, when you say you aren't "proficient", I assume it's because you haven't
played before.  Don't worry about that... the game is actually pretty simple.
If you sit down with the rulebook and have the castle in front of you, you
should be able to work out the CP pretty easily.  I know it looks like a lot to
begin with, but don't be too overwhelmed.

I'm no 100% sure about making it there because I'm trying to finish a Ferris
Wheel (minifig scale) for the Greenberg show and I'm also working on a LEGO
C.E. X-wing, so my building time is sort of limited. In any case, count me in.

Well, I certainly hope you can make it, at least with a few men if not with the
Castle.  As I said in another post, don't worry too much about the Castle and
your men going over the 225 mark we set... just try to let us know how much it
is so we can try to make sure there will be two sides of roughly equivalent
value.

eric


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug, lugnet.gaming
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 19:55:44 GMT
Viewed: 
688 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:

Gah.

Slings.

You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
hands-down the best weapon in the game.  Well, that is, if you're more
concerned about point expenditure vs. effectiveness than you are about style,
anyway... and of course, being a gamer, I am that occasionally.

More to the point, my good friend Neil (you know, the guy who isn't *really* a
LEGO guy who has been at the two previous BrikWars events) is a gamer, and he
noticed this.

Gah, slings!

Neil is absolutely right of course, the slings (and the Throwing Things
rules) are way unbalanced.  Over e-mail he and I argued the matter back and
forth and came up with the following revisions:

Throwing Things:
----------------
The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
complicated and generates ranges that are much too long.  Instead, the new
formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)".  Most minifigs have 1
Power, and most thrown objects weigh 1 Blok or less, so in most cases the
range of a thrown object will simply be (Skill").

Slings:
-------
The power of slings has been dramatically reduced.  Slings will have a range
of (2xSkill"), not to exceed 10", regardless of the unit's Power.  Slings
now do 1d6 Stun damage instead of normal damage.

Sling  TL1 (2H to load) 1CP  Range(2xSkill", max 10") UR3  1d6 Stun Damage

A minifig needs space to swing a sling around, so he may not use a sling if
there is a head-high obstacle within 1".  Any time a unit makes an attack
roll with a sling and rolls a critical failure, he suffers the Ewok Effect
and hits himself in the head with the sling for 1d6 Stun damage.

Other Ranged Weapons:
---------------------
Thrown Rox now do Stun damage instead of normal damage.

If you want an archery-equivalent to the sling, between the ShortBow and the
LongBow is the new MediumBow, with the following stats:

MediumBow  TL1 (2H) 2CP  Range 8" UR4  1d6 Damage, requires Quiver to load.


Does that sound good to everyone?  Bad?  Indifferent?

Of course, as with all BrikWars rules, feel free to ignore or modify these
according to personal taste; and feel free to email me any comments or
suggestions at rayhawk@artcenter.edu.


- Mike.


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug, lugnet.gaming
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 20:27:01 GMT
Viewed: 
700 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Mike Rayhawk writes:

Neil is absolutely right of course,

Well, there's something you don't hear often.

The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
complicated and generates ranges that are much too long.  Instead, the new
formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)".

Ok, already I have a fairly universal question about this formula.

The standard trooper has 1d6 skill, and 1 power.  We'll assume he's trying to
throw something with a mass of 1, as well.

So, we look at the formula, and we get 1d6 x 1 / 1 = 1d6".  I assume this means
that the trooper decides to throw a grenade, and you roll to see how far he can
throw it.  You roll a 4, he can throw it up to 4".  You roll a 1, and he
fumbles and drops it at his feet, and has a few seconds to regret not having
married Betty when he had a chance.

But, now let's assume the crazy bastard is trying to throw something with a
mass of 2!  You look at the formula, and you get:  1d6 x 1 / 2 = 1d6 / 2.  What
does this mean in BrikWars terms?

Does it mean that you roll the D6 and divide by two?  That seems reasonable.
So, you roll a 3, divide by two and get 1.5, and he throws it 1.5 inches.

What if he has a skill of, say, 1d10+4, and is throwing a mass of 2?  Do you
roll a d10, divide that by 2, and add 2?

What if you have a skill of 1d6, and a power of 3, and you're throwing
something with a mass of 2?  Do you roll 3d6, add up the total, and divide it?

I know these questions seem anal, I just like to know these kinds of things.

thanks,

eric


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug, lugnet.gaming
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 21:06:59 GMT
Viewed: 
720 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:
The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
complicated and generates ranges that are much too long.  Instead, the new
formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)".

Ok, already I have a fairly universal question about this formula.

The standard trooper has 1d6 skill, and 1 power.  We'll assume he's trying to
throw something with a mass of 1, as well.

So, we look at the formula, and we get 1d6 x 1 / 1 = 1d6".  I assume this
means that the trooper decides to throw a grenade, and you roll to see how
far he can throw it.  You roll a 4, he can throw it up to 4".  You roll a 1,
and he fumbles and drops it at his feet, and has a few seconds to regret not
having married Betty when he had a chance.

That's why in real life you try to throw grenades through, around, or over
obstacles that you can then hide behind.  And also I think that bad things
should happen to any unit who rolls ones.


But, now let's assume the crazy bastard is trying to throw something with a
mass of 2!  You look at the formula, and you get:  1d6 x 1 / 2 = 1d6 / 2.
What does this mean in BrikWars terms?

Does it mean that you roll the D6 and divide by two?  That seems reasonable.
So, you roll a 3, divide by two and get 1.5, and he throws it 1.5 inches.

That's about the size of it.  You could also try taking a jigsaw to your die
and cutting it in half so that you could roll any .5d6's that crop up.
However your no-jigsaw solution is probably the more elegant one.


What if he has a skill of, say, 1d10+4, and is throwing a mass of 2?  Do you
roll a d10, divide that by 2, and add 2?

Sounds good so far.


What if you have a skill of 1d6, and a power of 3, and you're throwing
something with a mass of 2?  Do you roll 3d6, add up the total, and divide it?

You could divide 3d6 by two ((SkillxPower)/Mass), or you could multiply 1d6
by 1.5 (Skillx(Power/Mass)), whichever you prefer.  The second method is
more likely to hit the maximum or minimum numbers than the first method, but
the two methods are otherwise equivalent.


I know these questions seem anal, I just like to know these kinds of things.

Regardless of what order in which you do the adding and multiplying and so
forth, any method you might choose will be algebraically identical.  The
shapes of the probability curves vary slightly, but not enough so that I'd
want to force players to conform to one method as opposed to another.  So,
just do whatever seems natural and everything should go smoothly.


- Mike Rayhawk.


Subject: 
Re: November 18th Brikwars, Medieval Style
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.org.us.nelug, lugnet.gaming
Date: 
Tue, 7 Nov 2000 21:16:40 GMT
Viewed: 
1076 times
  
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Mike Rayhawk writes:

Regardless of what order in which you do the adding and multiplying and so
forth, any method you might choose will be algebraically identical.

I wasn't as interested in what order the things occur in mathematically as I
was in making sure I understood how the dice made the transition from Skill
dice to Range.  For example, you don't convert 1d6 to 3.5 and use the formula,
or roll the die and then apply the formula (although I guess that would
actually work just as well, now that I think about it) or some other bizarre
option I hadn't thought of.

eric


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