Since my card variant fails (over and over). I thought of a dice variant. Which is easier to play and design, and more fun to play too. Still a lot of strategy. But also a whole lot more of luck.
Feel free to burn this down. Or give suggestions for simplifications.
This example is sort of based on Dune2/2000. Although limited in options, I am leaving out special stuff etc.
2 players, starting player is decided with a coin or die.
You have 3 different types of dice:
A body type die:
1 - Infantry
2 - Trooper
3 - Trike
4 - Quad
5 - Light Tank
6 - Heavy Tank
A weapon type die:
1 - Rifle
2 - Grenade
3 - Sonic Blast/Atomic (pending)
4 - Missile
5 - Cannon
6 - Rocket
A weapon multiplier die:
Depending on the weapon;
roll + 1 - weapon roll.
The minimum is 1, regardless of a roll and combination. However, a player might choose an unit to have no weapon at all and thus turning it into a wall.
Meaning that when you roll a 6, you can have 7 rifles on one unit if you want to. But the maximum number of rockets is only 2.
Now to get started; Design Phase
I like the number 6, so let's roll 6 of each die type. 18 dice.
Each player rolls his/her dice. Then one player starts making 1 unit combination. Then the other player makes one. Until all dice are used up.
The cost of an unit is body points + weapon points * number of weapons.
The cheapest unit will be an infantry without weapons. This is 1.
These costs are also sizes of units. For protecting one unit, you need to have at least the same amount of points in front of that unit. As soon as it is less, you can target the unit behind.
Placement Phase
There are 2 ways to play now.
1 - Each player buys the units he/she wants. With 30 points, this is fun enough.
2 - The cheapest unit is placed just enough times on the table to match the opponents most expensive unit. The very next unit is placed just enough times on the table to match the opponents unit just enough. etc.
Example:
Player A has as strongest unit 10 points, player B has as cheapest unit 1 point. Player B can now place 10 of those cheapest units.
Player A has as second strongest unit 9 points, Player B has as second cheapest unit 2 points, Player B can now place 5 of those on the table.
With 6 or 7 designs, the last 3 or 4 are lonely units. With 8 designs, the last 4 are lonely units. But I decided on 6 designs.
I rather go with the second way of play, since it limits players, yet requires more strategy in the design phase. Opinions on these 2 ways of play are welcome.
Placement is a bit odd:
The combinations are placed on a chart. With each combination being represented by a letter. Then several of these letter's are placed on the table depending on the costs. The costs of each unit can be noted down on little pieces of paper and being attached to the chart.
Now, for the combat; Combat Phase
Each body point is now to the power of 2. So are the weapons. So we have 1, 4, 9, 16, 25 and 36.
If you have 2 grenades on one unit, you have 2 x 4.
Roll a die for each weapon. Rolling a 6 is a hit.
You place the hits on a tracking table.
When both players are done, all projectiles are in flight. Now the players can remove units of the opponent by dividing the hits amongst them in a most optimal way.
You simply remove any unit that got hit. If damage was insufficient, you start tracking health for an unit. Thus a rocket with 36 is still 1 on an infantry unit. The remaining 35 damage is lost!! But 1 rifle hit will reduce a heavy tank health with -1.
For tracking health, ehm... a tiny piece of paper with a number on it will do?
You can only target the front line if this is wide enough. It is possible to have like 3 or more lines. But you can only target those lines which are not protected. Multiple front lines are possible (forcing your opponent to a harder choice of targets), as long as each front line protects what is behind.
Combat is thus simultaneously.
After each round, each player may change positions of certain units.
For example, if troopers are dealing with rifles. You might want to place the damaged trooper behind a healthy trooper.
Any questions?
