Game Design Concepts Continued…

Through some 4 iterations of the rules screening wasn’t in Leviathans…and I wanted it that way (my eternal ‘keep it simple’ mantra). However, regardless of how many tweaks I made to Ship Cards or how many different ways I tweaked extent rules (such as introducing two Location Dice in the Green and Red arrows to take into account target movement) there still wasn’t enough tactical movement play.

Just as important, the game still was lacking the feeling of “naval warfare” and “fleet movements”. While the required use of Line Of Sight (LOS) to make Screening work properly did slow the game down slightly, both the needed game play AND aesthetic feel elements combined to demonstrate it needed to be in the Commander’s Manual and not shuffled into the Captain’s Manual as a plug and play optional rule.

In Leviathans Commander’s Manual ships have two screening options: Defensive and Offensive.

Offensive is just that…a tactic designed for offensive play. At the end of its movement a ship spends a certain amount of MP and designates a target ship it is “hugging” (this can be an enemy or friendly ship, but the ship must be a larger Type than itself). During the combat of that turn any LOS from attacking ships that target the Offensive Screening ship that crosses any hex of the ship it is hugged are blocked. This allows for some great screening movements as you use both your own ships and even the enemy ships to run say a fast destroyer right up through the middle of a formation and try and get into the Stern of the big ships.

Defensive Screening is all about protecting a ship that’s getting pummeled (again, the very definition of what a lot of naval warfare is about). In the game, at the end of movement a ship that is adjacent to a friendly ship spends a certain amount of MP and the controlling player announces it is “hugging” that ship. Then, just like in Offensive Screening, any LOS drawn to any hex of the ship being hugged that passed through a hex occupied by the Defensive Screening is blocked; i.e. if the attacks are made they’re directed at the Defensive Screening ship. During play testing I’ve had a number of Armoured Cruisers and even a Battleship or two survive several turns longer, than might have been the case otherwise, to bring their big guns to bear because I sacrificed my smaller ships in such screening moves, helping turn the tide of the battle.

Not only did the inclusion of screening rules solve all the issues addressed above, but as I believe I’ve mentioned before, it also allowed for more realistic “protect the convoy” scenarios. A lot of other similar games have no rules of how one unit can ‘take a hit’ for another unit to protect it and yet “protect the convoy” is a staple of almost every game out there. This allowed us to deal with the problem, while ensuring that when you put Cargo Ships into play (I’ll talk about those once I get into discussing the Captain’s Manual down the road) you’ve a chance of winning.

See ya next duty shift!

Randall