Skirmish

[Demon of Fides]

Skirmish

Overview:
Skirmish is a tabletop boardgame designed to be played in person or over the internet using a Chess Board and tokens or chess pieces. Skirmish simulates a small battle between forces from two Archipelago Nations using a D6 system.

The Board (Preparation and Rules):
The board should be an 8X8 chess board or similar, with any obstacles/etc agreed upon prior to the deployment. A completely clear board is recommended for new players, but obstacles that stop movement or ranged weapons can make terrain unique. The board is divided into halves, and each force may deploy their units however they wish within the back two rows of their half. These two halves also represent telluric fields. Each half of the board is given a telluric rating out of five in both Magic and Technology according to their statelet. A reference table is included below,
Technology
1 - Primitive. Very lacking in technology. Basic metallurgy or crude engineering is possible but that's about it. Catapults, two-story houses, and iron swords are about as high as you can go.
2 - Medieval/Pre-Industrial. Buildings are sturdy and can be built tall. Some chemistry is understood, possibly up to dynamite. Coal may be used as an energy source.
3 - Modern. As in today, August of 2011. Certain items, like computers and iphones, are commodities, while there is other emerging technology that is still in development.
4 - Postmodern. What is reasonable to expect in the next hundred years or so if you have a decent sci-fi mind. Scary advances in genetics and computing.
5 - Far Future. What, in all likelyhood, Earth won't get to for a pretty long time. Easy space travel, technology-based teleportation, that sort of thing.

Magic, which includes things like wizardry, psionics, supernatural creatures, and the sort of technology that science will never approve of (ie steampunk)
1 - Nonmagical. Magical miracles that science cannot explain are possible but exceedingly rare and the public believes that science will come up with a reason sooner or later.
2 - Very low magical. Supernatural occurrences may be relatively common but are misunderstood or difficult to harness.
3 - Decently magical. Magic is believed in, though not necessarily easy to perform.
4 - Highly magical. Supernatural occurrences are common and believed in, though may still be under the control of an elite or a subbranch of culture.
5 - Magically saturated. Supernatural power is common and prevalent. Nearly everyone has it and it's a cornerstone of civilization. To go without is unthinkable and disastrous, akin to the world losing electric power all at once.
That becomes important when we move on to units, but falls under the rules of board setup.

The Units:
The first part of building a skirmish force is agreeing upon a points limit with which to buy units. Typically, a small game would use 200 points or so. Depending on your statelet, certain units will be available for purchase with these points. An example is below,
COLONY: SILVER SNIPER
Points: 15 Points represent how many 1 point units this unit would be likely to kill before it is killed
Speed: 3 Speed represents the maximum number of spaces this unit can move per turn
Weapons:
-Sniper Rifle [T3, M1] Range: 4 AP: 2The sniper may attack any unit within four squares (diagonals have an initial extra cost of one, but no penalty after. Thus, the sniper may shoot 4 squares in any direction or 3 diagonally). The sniper then makes an Armour Penetration roll with a modifier of +2 against the enemy armour. If the attack hits, the target takes one damage counter (killing most units, units will specify if they can take more than one hit without dying in their rules). The telluric rating on the weapon indicates that the weapon will only work if the target is in a suitable telluric field (see Haywire rolls below).
-Arm Blade [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 3 In order to use this Melee weapon, the Sniper must be in the same square as the target unit.
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2 Like weapons, the armour will only work if its effects take place in a suitable telluric field. This powerarmour, in Technology 4+, forces weapons to take a -2 penalty to AP

Haywire Rolls:
If a weapon, armour or psychic power is used in a telluric field which is inadequate to meet its rating, the user can elect to make a haywire roll. A haywire roll involves rolling a D6 and then subtracting the difference between the telluric field and the required telluric level.
i.e. using the above sniper rifle to hit a target in a T2,M3 field would have a -1 modifier to the roll.
If the roll is greater than 3, the attack/armour/magic is a success and proceeds as normal.
If the roll is between 1 and 3, the attack/armour/magic fails and nothing happens.
If the roll is 0 or less, the attack/armour/magic backfires and deals one damage to the user.

The Gameplay:
After assembling a force and deciding on the layout of the board, the forces are deployed. Players may either flip a coin or agree on who deploys first. That player places their units in squares within the back two rows of their half. Up to three units may share the same square. The second player then similarly deploys their units.
This begins the first turn, the player who deployed first may now select a unit and move it up to its speed in squares. That unit may then shoot with either weapons or magic if any units are in range. If not, that ends that players turn. The second player then repeats the process and they continue, moving and shooting with one unit at a time.
Victory conditions are agreed upon between the two players at the start of the game, examples include;
-Destroying all units
-Killing one specific unit in the enemy force
-Moving a specific unit in your army into a specific square that is not contested by an enemy unit.


ARMY LISTS:
COLONY: BRONZE BATTALION
Points: 5
Speed: 2
Weapons:
-SMG [T3, M1] Range: 3 AP: 2
-Arm Blade [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 3
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2

COLONY: SILVER SNIPER
Points: 15
Speed: 3
Weapons:
-Sniper Rifle [T3, M1] Range: 4 AP: 2
-Arm Blade [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 3
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2

COLONY: GOLD GUARD
Points: 25
Speed: 3
Weapons:
-Pulse Canon [T4, M1] Range: 4 AP: 3
The Pulse Canon shoots at AP4 if the user did not move this turn
-Fists [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 2
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 3

COLONY: JUGGERNAUGHT
Points: 50
Speed: 6
Weapons:
-Shimmerblade[T4, M1] Range: 1 AP: 6
-Blade [T1, M1] Range: 1 AP: 3
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2
-Padding [T1,M1] Modifier: 1

COLONY: EMMISARY TANK
Points: 100
Speed: 5
Weapons:
-Tank Tracks [T3,M1] Range: 0 AP: 7
-Blade [T1, M1] Range: 1 AP: 3
Armour:
-Durium Explosive Reaction Armour [T4,M1] Modifier: 5
-Metal Plating [T2,M1] Modifier: 2
-This unit must make a haywire roll to move into board spaces with less than T3, M1.

COLONY: HERETICS
Points: 30
Speed: 2
Weapons:
-Psionic Blast [T1, M3] Range: 3 AP: 5
Hits all enemies in the target square
-Blade [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 2
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2

COLONY HERO: THE OTHER
Points: 130
Speed: 4
Weapons:
-Psionic Maelstrom [T1, M3] Range: 5 AP: 3
Draw a line between the caster’s square and the target square, all units in those squares are hit by the AP:3 attack.
-Blade [T1, M1] Range: 0 AP: 2
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 2

COLONY HERO: GOLDEN ELITE
Points: 150
Speed: 5
Weapons:
-Railgun [T4,M1] Range: 10 AP: 5
Cannot be used if the unit has moved this turn.
-Scattergun [T2,M1] Range: 3 AP: 3
hits all units in the target square
-Shimmerblade [T4, M1] Range: 1 AP: 3
-Blade [T1,M1] Range: 1 AP: 2
Armour:
-Powerarmour [T4,M1] Modifier: 4
-Armour Plating [T1, M1] Modifier: 2


--anyone want me to make an army list for their statelets?--