Titanomachina: Myrmidon Mega-Ants

 

For a while now, and perhaps ever since I played Battle Masters by Milton Bradley and Games Workshop, I've had the idea of a game wherein each unit has a corresponding card, and when that card is drawn that unit can activate. Sound familiar? Well, something that had irked me for a while was how Titans (and other 'war engines') were treated vis-a-vis infantry in Epic 40k and Epic Armageddon, especially after they worked reasonably well in Epic Space Marine (2nd edition). I think big things like Titans work best when they are treated as collections of small things, and that a big failure of games like Warhammer is because the big stuff is treated like big amorphous bricks. That's on top of stuff like heroes and commanders just being extra-elite workhorses rather than crucial morale and command-control nodes. 

I also really like how ants work. They're eusocial organisms, and my biggest disappointment with 40k was always how Tyranids did not work like them. 

Bringing the Myrmidon Mega-Ants into Titanomachina is thus my way of showing that it can be done better, and in a way that I can find fun and satisfying. The notion is that players can build a deck of 22 cards with a matching set of 22 bases-worth of Mega-Ants. Players have different types of bases, and as well as a card for each base activating all instances of that kind of base, each card can also be used for some other purpose, like returning destroyed bases to the board, and coordinating mass actions by several different types at once. 

The tricky part now is, surprisingly, figuring out how to fit the Myrmidon figures into a base that gets under the maximum file size for Tabletop Simulator. I mean, also figuring out the card layout and meaning, but mainly playing with the models that miniature master Jason Miller has provided.

It's a nice little game development distraction while I figure out how to deliver the incredible giant robot action of Titanomachina. I might even release it as a separate-but-compatible game...

Hal-con 2024: The Next Round

Hal-con 2024 was, I think, a rousing success in that everyone who tried Titanomachina seemed to enjoy it, or at least they were 'locked-in' by round 3. The Extra Life game turned into two games in the two hour time limit, with a knock-out in round 8 for the first game, demonstrating just how fast the game can go with experienced players. It was also great to see familiar faces coming back to give the game a go, especially with Mario and Luigi bouncing around in their game. I had a great time, and it was fantastic to share the game with new people and friends alike. 

The one specific failure was the same one as last year: no units to sell. However, with this year's improvements (option to not charge systems, changes to collisions) bringing 9-round games in under an hour that it might actually be a blessing, because now I can sell a much faster game. The actual changes that I want to make after Hal-con have dwindled to tweaking the boards to include increased definition of board squares (overlaying a 4pt grid over the map) and adding a little bit of sign-posting in the otherwise empty margins of the board to clarify stuff like arcs and turns. Where these changes have dwindled to tweaking graphic design, I'm making a renewed push to produce something that people can buy. 

What would that be? Currently there is a fantastic company that has produced many of the prototype components that I have used in development, the Board Game Makers, based in China. Here's the plan as it stands right now:

• Box (10.5" x 12" x3")
• Box insert
• Rule book (A5 size, 24 pages)
• 2x 55-card Poker-size decks including 2x dual-sided Dashboard cards, seven Weapon cards, eight Crew cards, thirty system cards colour-coded to each Titan, two Personality cards, two Pass cards, two Damage diagram cards, and two Shield diagram cards. 
• 52x blank 25mm dice (black)
• 4x 50mm tall plastic standees (colour-coded to each Titan)
• 1x Sticker sheet of 48 Titan-specific habitat stickers (12 each)
• 1x Sticker sheet of Titan-specific images for plastic standees and initiative stack dice 
• 40x Shield tokens (transparent plastic poker chips)
• 2x Dry-erase markers
• 4x poker-size card sleeves

This would also include the cost of shipping, not only to the buyers, but also to the distributor warehouse. The rule book would contain a link to the .stl files so that those inclined could print the miniatures for themselves (or use a printing service, which is something else I'm exploring).

Note that the current version has 100 cubes for players, which makes for a pleasantly dense board. However, dice, even blank dice, are not one of those products that gets significantly cheaper in bulk. Having 12 habitat cubes for each player rather than 24 simplifies and speeds up set-up and opens up the board a bit more for interactions between the players. It's not worse for game-play and significantly cheaper. 

Likewise just 48 stickers to mark the blank dice as habitat blocks belonging to whichever Titans rather than 240 to mark and decorate the blank dice seems like an acceptable compromise on cost, aesthetics, and utility. Likewise the extra Titan stickers can be used on the dice in the initiative stack, since the sheet has more than enough for four plastic standees and I'm not sure if I can buy fractions of a sheet - something to explore to see if sheets can be split between boxes. 

Other cost-savings can be found dispensing with boxes for the cards, although I'm much less inclined to do that because the card boxes protect the cards and can look rather nice with a little effort. Likewise the box-insert. Where these things help preserve the set from damage they seem worth it.