Minimal Mech Combat or Minimal Robo Combat Game Design By Timothy Swenson (This game is freeware and may be freely distributed.) 1. Introduction Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, and transforming toys - Big, powerful robots have been the staple of all three for years. Minimal Mech Combat (MMC) is a simple game that attempts to create the feel of combat between these mechanical warriors. It makes no serious attempt to cover all aspects of Mech combat and is not designed to. 2.0 Robots Robots are comprised of the following elements: ATTACK: The ability of a Robot to hit another Robot with a ranged weapon. ARMOR: The amount of damage a Robot can take before being destroyed. HIT: The ability of a Robot to hit another Robot in Close Combat. BLOCK: The ability of a Robot to block a hit by another Robot in Close Combat. MOVE: How many hexes a Robot can move in a turn. WEAPONS: Any weapons that a Robot has. OTHER: Any other abilities a Robot has. ATTACK, ARMOR, HIT, BLOCK, and MOVE are called Attributes. Robot Turn Record: During the game Robot Attributes, WEAPONS, OTHER, and damage are tracked using a Robot Turn Record. Attributes can change during the game due to damage and is tracked by filling in the ovals on the Record. At the start of the game, the Robot Stats are entered on the Record. If a Robot has MOVE of 4, then fill in all but 4 of the ovals. As damage takes place during the game, the other ovals are filled in. 3.0 Robot Design Each Robot is designed using a number of Build Points (BPs) to spend on the Attributes of the Robot. Each unit of ATTACK, ARMOR, HIT, DODGE, and MOVE cost 1 BP. Each Attribute may not be greater than 5. Weapons and their BP costs are listed on the Weapons chart. Jump: Jump allows a Robot to jump over objects and costs 2 BPs. See Movement for more explanation. Average Robots are 18 Build Points. Other Robots can range up to 24 Build Points. Example Robots ATTACK: 4 ATTACK: 4 ARMOR: 3 ARMOR: 4 HIT: 2 HIT: 4 DODGE: 2 DODGE: 2 MOVE: 4 MOVE: 2 Weapons: Weapons: Laser Grenade Other: Other: Jump 4.0 Turn Sequence Turn are comprised of the following phases: Initiative Roll Player 1 Movement Player 1 Combat Player 2 Movement Player 2 Combat Before each turn, both players roll a die. The player with the highest die roll becomes Player 1. Ties are re-rolled. 5.0 Setup Map: Minimal Mech Combat does not come with a hex map. It is up to the players to create the map on which to engage their battles. The map can be of almost any size. Terrain is placed on the map at locations agreeable by both players. See the Terrain Chart for the types of terrain. Be creative in designing the map. Counters: Counters can be created using different colored sheets of cardboard. Miniatures or small toys can also be used, and add more flavor to the game. Victory Conditions: The players create the victory conditions for the game. It can be as simple as "destroy all of the enemy" or more detailed as "Do not allow enemy robots to exit our side of map." Players also decide the initial placement of the Robots at the start of the game. Also needed for play is a number of 6-sided die. 6.0 Movement MOVE is the number of Movement Points that a Robot has per turn. The number of Movement Points used in moving into a hex is determined by the terrain in the hex (See the Terrain Chart). Some terrain can block movement. Robots may not pass through a hex with an enemy Robot. Robots may end their turn in a hex with an enemy Robot to engage in Close Combat. Jump: Robots that have the Jump option may perform a Jump maneuver once every 3 turns. Jumping allows a Robot to "jump" over 1 hex and into the next hex, in a straight line. Jumping costs 3 Movement Points. If a Robot has MOVE less than 3, then they are too damaged to Jump. The terrain in the landing hex is ignored, except for any terrain that blocks movement. Jumps can be over other Robots, walls, etc. 7.0 Combat There are two types of combat in Minimal Mech Combat: Ranged and Close. Ranged combat uses weapons fired from a distance. Close Combat takes place when two Robots are in the same hex. Ranged Combat: Ranged Combat may only be performed with ranged weapons. Each Robot may only fire one weapon per turn. Ranged Combat takes place when two things happen: When the defender is within range of the attackers' weapon and there is a clear Line of Sight (LOS) between the attacker and defender. A clear LOS is defined as a line drawn between the attacker and defender that does not pass through a hex with another Robot or blocking terrain (See Terrain Chart). Attacks are made by the attacker rolling 1 die. If the roll is less than or equal to ATTACK, then the attack is successfull. The attacker rolls another die and compares this with the Ranged Combat Damage Table to see where the damage has occured. If the weapon does more than 1 hit of damage, a roll is done for each additional hit of damage. Close Combat: Robots that are in the same hex may engage in Close Combat. The player who has the current Combat Phase is the attacker. Attacks are made by rolling 1 die. If it is less than or equal to the attacking Robots' HIT, then contact has been made. The defending Robot has a change to block the hit. The defender rolls 1 die. If the roll is less than or equal to the defending Robots' BLOCK, then the attacking hit has been blocked. If the block was not successfull, then the attacker rolls 1 die on the Close Combat Damage Table to see where the damage is. The defending Robot takes 1 hit of damage at this location. Damage: Damage is applied to Attributes by marking off an oval on the Robot Turn Record. If damage is to a weapon, it is the defending players choice as to which weapon is destroyed. Damage is immediataly marked off on the defending Robot Turn Record. A Robot is considered destroyed when all ARMOR ovals are filled in. Ranged Combat Damage Table Close Combat Damage Table -------------------------- ------------------------- 1 - 3 ARMOR 1 - 3 ARMOR 4 MOVE 4 HIT 5 ATTACK 5 BLOCK 6 Weapon 6 Weapon Weapon Chart ------------ Laser Cost: 1 Range: 6 Damage: 1 hits Grenage Cost: 2 Range: 3 Damage: 1 hits May fire over walls and objects. Does not need a clear LOS. Missile Cost: 3 Range: 5 Damage: 2 hits Terrain Chart ------------- Terrain Movement Combat ------------------------------------- Clear 1 No Effect Trees 2 Blocks LOS into hex, but not out hex Stream 2 No Effect Walls Blocked Blocks LOS Rubble 2 -1 to HIT or BLOCK Robot Turn Record Mech Name: _______________ Unit # ________ ATTACK O O O O O ARMOR O O O O O HIT O O O O O DODGE O O O O O MOVE O O O O O Weapons Range Other _______________ ______ _______________ _______________ ______ _______________ _______________ ______ _______________ ______