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David Derksen
Canada
Winnipeg
Manitoba
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There was an online Game Design Concepts course back in 2009. It is still available to follow through at http://gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/
The first real assignment was to design a World War I game where the primary objective of the players could not be territorial control, or capture/destroy.
Since that would leave out most of the trench warfare, and with my exposure to and research I had done in learning Canvas Eagles, I made an airplane technology game.
Even with the standard caveats, it hasn't been tested enough; it needs more detail; I was rushed - I'm still pretty happy with the mechanics. It expresses the concepts I was trying to get across. Give it a try if you get a chance.
I kept waiting to post it here until I could work out proper gameboards but I just don't seem to be getting around to it so . . .
AIR SUPERIORITY
by David KW Derksen
In World War I the ground battle had quickly settled into a locked battle of the trenches. In the air however, the war quickly drove research into the new technology of air warfare.
Goal:
In this two-player game, you have to try and move your technology along in aircraft development while preventing your opponent from doing the same.
Contents:
these rules,
the Technology Chart,
17 counters (9 for each player, and 1 timeline marker),
and some 6-sided dice (up to 10).
Set up:
Decide which side the players will play and place the Technology chart within reach of both players. Place a counter on the Timeline on Fall 1914. Each player places a counter on their Resource track on the 10 and a counter on the Technology track on the first box.
Game play:
Each turn represents the development in 6 months of the war. Both players’ turns take place simultaneously for each step.
Assign Resources:
Each player’s Resource track will have a marker showing the current value of your country’s resources that they can allot to achieving air superiority.
You can use the resources to buy planes at any of the current levels available to you (at applicable costs) - just move the Plane markers up one for each purchase. Some planes will allow you to make Resource attacks or Dogfights. The starting planes will only allow you to make Resource attacks.
You can also use the remaining resources to purchase rolls on the Research Track. Rolls are purchased at 1 roll per resource - move the Research marker up one per purchase.
Once all your purchases are made, reset your Resource track counter to 10 for the next turn. You can’t save resources from one turn to the next.
Research Roll:
The counter on your Research track indicates the amount of dice to roll to see if you can develop the next level of technology.
If you roll a 6 on any of the dice, you may advance your marker on the Technology track to the next level. You may only advance one level per turn regardless of how many 6s you roll.
Once you have rolled all the dice allowed, reset your Research track marker back to 0.
Resource Attacks:
Decide which planes which have the capability to make Resource attacks will be doing so this turn. These planes will not be available for Dogfights this turn.
Starting at Technology level 1, roll for those planes making Resource attacks - the value needed to roll is on the Technology Chart. If you roll the value needed, your opponent has to move his marker on his Resource track down one. If you roll a one your plane is lost - move your plane marker on that Technology level down one.
If you lose a plane of a Technology level higher than your opponent has achieved then they may increase their Research marker by one.
Dogfights:
The remaining planes that are capable of Dogfights and did not make a Resource attack now participate in Dogfights.
Starting at Technology level 1, roll for those planes making Dogfight attacks - the value needed to roll is on the Technology Chart. If you roll the value needed, your opponent has to move one of his plane markers on one of his Technology tracks down one (he must decrease one plane if possible - even if that plane type didn’t participate in Dogfights this turn).
If you roll a one your plane is lost - move your plane marker on that Technology level down one.
If you lose a plane of a Technology level higher than your opponent has achieved then they may increase their Research marker by one.
Advance Timeline:
Advance the marker on the Timeline one level.
When the marker gets moved to Armistice, the game is over. The player who has the highest technological level is the winner. If both players are tied at the same technological level, then the player with the most planes built in the highest technological level would win. (1 level 3 plane would beat 4 level 2 planes).
If it is still tied then the player with the higher Resource level would win a minor victory.
If Armistice is not reached, return to the Assign Resources step.
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Technology chart [The format on these are a bit wonky in this medium - leave enough space between the numbers to use counters.]
GERMANY
Resources: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Research: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Technology: Planes
Type 1: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Basic planes - no guns: Resource attacks only (6) Cost - 1
Type 2: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Stable planes - no guns: Resource attacks only (5-6) Cost - 2
Type 3: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Mounted guns: Resource attacks (6) Dogfights (6) Cost - 2
Type 4: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
May shoot through props: Resource attacks (6) Dogfights (5-6) Cost - 3
Type 5: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Fighter planes: Dogfights only (4-6) Cost - 3
Fall - - Spring - Fall - Spring - Fall - - Spring - Fall - Spring - Fall - Armistice
1914 - 1915 - 1915 - 1916 - 1916 - 1917 - 1917 - 1918 - 1918 -
BRITAIN
Resources: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Research: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Technology: Planes
Type 1: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Basic planes - no guns: Resource attacks only (6) Cost - 1
Type 2: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Stable planes - no guns: Resource attacks only (5-6) Cost - 2
Type 3: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Mounted guns: Resource attacks (6) Dogfights (6) Cost - 2
Type 4: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
May shoot through props: Resource attacks (6) Dogfights (5-6) Cost - 3
Type 5: 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
Fighter planes: Dogfights only (4-6) Cost - 3
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Notes:
I figure I'll make the counters be the roundels for the various countries. I am also thinking about making extra country cards to allow more than two players to play - France, Italy, Austria, Russia. What was really slowing me down was that I wanted to use specific planes from each country in the particular types - I'm thinking I'm over that for now.
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