thoughts on various game mechanic options (long post)

I appreciate the input.

Okay...my officer cubes permit full re-rolls of 1 or more dice of one troop type (kinda like Yahtzee). So how can I use re-rolls differently for cavalry? Or would there be a benefit to using cavalry in addition to officers in that instance? So if I did a Cavalry as EITHER re-roll a single die or roll their own dice, what could those dice do? Again...one die for each cube, up to 4 cavalry dice. The other dice results must be pretty powerful to offset a re-roll option. I was originally thinking "doubling a die" or something like that but then it sounds very "mathy."

I also had cavalry with their own victory condition (along with militia and infantry victory conditions) to contribute to the battle, but it didn't compare well to the militia or infantry for the bulk of the OVERALL BATTLE VICTORY condition. Should I keep that individual cavalry condition? I like it, but I would need to alter its contribution in some way.

It is also consistent with the "1-2-3 intelligence levels" model that I use for the battles. While you would need more spies, you can move spies around the board with player actions.

Frank,

Because you discussed reroll mechanics similarly, I would appreciate your input again. I want to ensure that the Cavalry dice aren't wasted when rolling positive results. So let me explain the current battle mechanics to put the cavalry options in context.

First the battle conditions are a subset of an array of numbers. I have attached an image of the current design of this matrix for your perusal. Currently, the array is made of 4 rows of 4 numbers--one row for militia, another number for infantry, another for cavalry, and finally a row for the overall battle condition to ensure the win. Exact battle conditions are revealed at the time of the battle, or earlier by the use of spies. In each row, there is one number for militia, one for infantry, one for cavalry, and finally a overall battle number (a big one) that players need to meet or beat. So the battle must be won overall (using that last big number) in order for the other battle conditions to matter. But if they win the battle and the other Troop battle conditions are met or beat, then there are supposed to be "SPOILS" based on those wins. Also, if a troop loses to their number, the troop loses 1 of their cubes as a casualty...so winning individual battles should be important. That said, the cavalry needs to be legitimately powerful considering a lot of resources need to be expended to make them. Their power must be necessary...just like Washington had learned over time. So, based on your reply, here are a several thoughts I had. I am hoping you can build on these.

1) The cavalry dice must be 100% useful...maybe not 100% successful, but useful if they result positively. Either they impart extra strength to win the battle, or they can be otherwise useful thus creating a meaningful choice.

2) The overall battle condition number is ultimately the number that wins the battle. Winning on an individual troop level simply provides bonuses and did not seem to matter to the players (and probably rightly so). The individual numbers are not currently tied to the overall battle (as opposed to adding up the 3 troop numbers to equal the Overall Battle Condition). That can change, but then the spy mechanic is in jeopardy of having a valid need.

3) I like your retreat concept. I am thinking it's not a face on the die, though. Maybe, the choice is by "sacrificing" a cavalry cube prior to their rolling, players can retreat all other cubes back to the campaign space and stop loss from the other troops.

4) Officers provide the full re-roll capability. Does having the cavalry provide a possibility of rerolling a single die (as a possible die face/result) seem worth the roll.

5) Basic face results for cavalry: Add to Militia's result (+1 to each militia die rolled); add to infantry's result; multiply something (e.g., double a die), "dead horse" (cav downgrades to infantry with no positive result); and "charge" (not sure what that can mean yet). If I roll 4 cavalry dice and they all land on "Charge!"...what does that do? All 4 should do something.

6) If I make the dice faces "special powers/effects" rather than numbers, then how can I incorporate them into the matrix to be one of the battle conditions? Or is there another number I need to have regarding the battle?

Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Mark

The militia and the infantry are just pips for the most part. Militia die is 0-1-1-2-2-3. Infantry die is 0-1-2-3-4-CANNON. The CANNON currently means that if the players have a cannon token in the fight (you just need 1 cannon token with all the troops) then it unlocks some extra points (e.g., it is worth 4 points + 1 point to each additional infantry cube in the battle) from the other infantry dice. (So if you roll 4 cannons, you would earn 16 for the total "pips" + another 12 for each of the other 3 dice that gets +1 for each cannon.) This was my way of including artillery, but this is where it can get mathy.

So, far my original design for the cavalry is similar to what you have. I have sabers for pips, but kept the sabers to only 1 or 2. The horseshoe (I had a horse with x's for eyes) downgrade to infantry would not have been permanent; it could be re-upgraded back to cavalry. I like your iconography choice of a horseshoe better than a dead horse. I think there should be a minimum value of 2 or something.

If the sacrifice of a cube permits a retreat, then I would opt to have the charge do something else. What if a charge maximizes one militia or infantry die of your choice. This way, if you roll 4 charges, you get to maximize 4 other dice...which is a big swing of points if you are rolling ones.

I like these ideas. So for one spy, there is no roll...for any additional spies there is one roll per additional spy (representing "going deeper")...but you only roll 1 die. If a spy is caught on the first, then there is no additional rolls for that spycraft action.

I definitely have a more thematic opportunity here. I would love to incorporate all of the various Continental currencies...and I do have an inflation mechanic. Currently, the money is dealt with as a 3-digit track (0-9; hundreds, tens, ones) representing millions of Continentals. As provision phase occurs, the troops need pay and gunpowder. I need to check if "counterfeiting" is an event card. I did read about that, but may not have simply included it as an event card (which I haven't printed a lot of newer event cards conceived). I did include a card on British corruption, which is "fortunate event" for the colonists.

Thank you so much for your ideas. Everything was great!