Apocalypse Megabattle 2011 Table Interactions

[Battleground]

Hi everyone!

We are now post-PAX and I told myself that I was going to launch into work on this year's Apocalypse Megabattle as soon as we were past that milestone. I will earnestly begin work on the two new satellite tables sometime next week. Here is a diagram of the approximate layout of the tables themselves and the projected theme for each table. The main table (City & Environs) will be much the same as last year, as will the Moon and Sewer tables. I do plan to add some additional changes to them, but they should be somewhat similar to the 2010 Megabattle in theme and general layout. I will be looking for help in building new buildings and structures for all of those tables, especially the moon and sewer tables which could use more terrain features. The tables will also require some touching up from the damage they have accrued over the past year.

I have a pretty clear idea of what I want the Ice Cap and Wasteland tables to look like, so I'll be starting work on those table myself and requesting aid as needed.

I have attached an image below of the general layout and player areas. You'll notice there is room for 60 players among the tables. Twenty for the main and ten on each of the four satellite tables.

What I am looking for in this thread is constructive ideas on how the tables might interact with one another. We have tried to accomplish this in the past but it has never functioned to my satisfaction. For example, last year there were guns on the moon table that would be able to fire down on the planet surface if a player had them in their control. I don't think this ever actually happened. If it did, it might have been once and with no real consequence.

This thread should simply be an idea pool, not a place for board members to troll. I will delete any irrelevant post, so please don't make me have to waste my time. Thanks in advance!

[Ed]

I think it would be cool like we use a "webgate" in the center table maybe after you cap objectives so as you turn on the  webgate you can use it and then thus warp to a other table deep strike. This would be hard to do because of the mass of people on the city table.

OH I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SNOW TABLE OMG!

[Logan007]

1.) I definitely think that it would be a great idea if there were access points between the sewer and city tables where (infantry) units could use to go between the two tables. The access points could be in no-man's land for each table.

2.) a Defense Laser can start in no man's land, and fire every game turn down on any table but the sewers. To establish who fires the gun (which maybe we can make indestructible) it can be whichever (non vehicle, non monstrous creature) model is in base contact with the designated "fire control" point. If both sides have a model in contact, then dice off as the opponents fight over the controls.

Nothing really appropriate comes to mind for the wasteland and icecaps -- maybe they can just operate under different rules? I.E. the battle over the icecaps is being fought during a snowstorm and so all models make difficult terrain tests to move, nightfight rules are in effect.

[Dissimulation]

One idea is you could have the 4 smaller tables all have a certain objective or goal that the team must try to hold or complete at the end of each turn. If you complete or control that certain objective on the mini table you give your team on the main table a certain advantage for the upcoming turn. On the main table they would have the "master objective". whoever completes this master objective would win the day!

For example, on the Moon board the objective could be to take control of the majority of a few control towers. Whoever owns the most control towers allow their team on the main table to drop a couple extra templates, moon nukes!

[Bill]

This kinda builds on Dissimulations idea of objectives. The most fun I have had playing apoc have been successes on one table granting bonuses to the entire battle. For example you can have battle wide goals of the first super heavy destroyed or the first character killed or first demon lord/titan kill etc etc. Once a goal is achieved the person shouts it and the appropriate side gets a bonus such as if a general is killed than an entire side gets fearless for a turn etc.  This can also branch to individuals such as first person to kill a squad gets an orbital bombardment anywhere on any table. All major events should effect the overall battle.

Another thing you can do is emergency withdraw from one table to another. Once per turn a side can withdraw a unit to an area in the battle that they are needed most.

Anything that connects the tables in my opinion should feel like they are orders from the highest of authorities to try and turn the tide of battle.

[the_trooper]

I'll be the wet blanket. 

I don't think going from one table to the next is a good idea.  Having a player have to split their attention will slow things down for an already huge game.

Having the side tables affecting the big table is probably the easiest mechanic as the games will be going faster on those tables by default.

[Ian Mulligan]

I agree with Rich. With each table on their own turn schedule, it would be impossible to fairly move from table to table.

I think increasing the ease in which a player uses table-specific abilities is the best place to start.

[jfoodmaster]

There was a White Dwarf article about 2 years ago that had an Apoc battle report that involved table interractions like controlling a moon laser to drop stuff on the planet. I think there were more interractions, but I don't remember. I'll see if I can find the issue on my shelf.

[Moosifer]

For the wasteland table you could have a "Michael Bay" (couldnt think of anything else to name it atm) rocket that could be fired by the controlling side on turn X, which when launched would land on a peice of impassible terrain on the ice table(the players from the same side on ice table would then gain control of the rocket), melting it turning it into dangerous terrain.  This would allow the wasteland table to fight for an objective (good) and help out their side on another table allowing for them to remove what will hopefully be a large peice of impassible terrain allowing for a flank to open up.

[blantyr]

I'll be the wet blanket. 

I don't think going from one table to the next is a good idea.  Having a player have to split their attention will slow things down for an already huge game.

Having the side tables affecting the big table is probably the easiest mechanic as the games will be going faster on those tables by default.

Not fair!  I was going to be the wet blanket!

I can see a standard approach to handling all bombardment interactions.  If at the end of a given turn some set of objectives is controlled by a given side on a given table, they enable the table captain of another table to do this or that thing which would play as a stratagem.  Simple enough.

I would limit it somewhat.  I once attended a Dakka Dakka battle where the opposition cleanly won the war in outer space and started orbital bombarding the heck out of one table.  Not fun being thoroughly clobbered and there being nothing one could do about it.  Some interactions, sure, but in moderation.

Moving units from one table to another could be done.  I could see interactions between the sewer and city tables especially.  Perhaps moves might only be allowed between those two tables.  Perhaps if a unit is going to move, it must be unengaged and adjacent to the 'tunnel' exit.  If there is no room to place the unit on the other table, the movement would either be blocked or one might come up with inter table assault rules.

Mind you, I am not a big fan of moving units from one table to another.  I don't want one player splitting his attention between two tables.  At the Dakka Dakka battle, the rule was that a player who moved stuff between tables gave up all control of the unit moved to the other table.  One of the players on the new table took over control of the unit.  Dakka Dakka also held all their tables in sync time and phase wise.  If it was movement phase of turn 3 order on one table, so it was on all tables.  This made gates between tables simpler.  If each table has its own clock (which I really want as I don't like all tables being slaved to the slowest table) then a unit which leaves one table might not arrive at its destination until the next movement phase for that side on the destination table.

Clumsy.  Complicated.  However, in the Dakka Dakka battle, the table that got nuked from orbit was strongly reinforced by gate from another table.  This turned out to be decisive.

Movement between tables might be tried on one pair of tables as an experiment?  Sewer / City seems the obvious pair to try it on?

I'll suggest that the bigger the table, the slower play is apt to be.  I note that a lot of the early suggestions here give the side tables an opportunity to make life on the big table more complicated.  Some thought might be given to not making things too too complicated on the big table.  I think in 2010 the big table only got to turn 3 or 4, while on the Moon Order got essentially wiped out on turn 5 so Chaos unofficially fought each other for a while.

Just for the big table, you might consider a rule that units must stay in or near their own deployment zone.  Some of the delays in 2009 were due to players that needed to be in several different places at the same time after bringing units onto the table far from their army's original deployment zone.  This resulted in a lot of hurry up and wait.  Last year demonstrated that we could play six turns with 10 players on 3 tables, but could not do so with 20 players on 6 tables.  We might consider long and hard how to simplify the lives of the 20 on the six.  (The simplest suggestion might be to break the six tables into three and three.  Keeping the complexity level of the special table rules on the big table comes next.  Special command and control rules to keep all members of a given army within a table or two of their deployment zone might be another.)

[cryptoron]

I am going to be the opposite of the wet blanket.  I love chaotic craziness at the megabattle. so   to people who want it easy.
Here is some confusion for the battle. (especially for the Moon, Mua ha ha!)

A. Tunnels between sewer and city
 
B. Web-way between wasteland and ice cap

C. "Moon of chaos" (aka The big Switcheroo) once per game, roll d6 from turn 2 on, on 4+ it happens, +1 to roll on                subsequent turns.
        1. place large blast template on center of moon table.
        2. Scatter 6d6.
        3. any unit(s) with a model touching the blast template is(are) swept up in the warp.
        4. roll 1d6; 1-3 city, 4 sewer, 5 icecap, 6 wasteland.
        5. Repeat #1 and 2, but on selected planet location.
        6. Units swept up into the warp from the Moon scatter from center point of template, with no mishaps making room for each other as best they can.
        7. any unit(s) originally from second location that has at least one model in contact with template on second planetary location is removed from table as per #3, and deep-strikes from location that the template first scattered to on moon.
        8. Mayhem ensues.

 

[cryptoron]

AND, if once per game is not enough, instead of leaving, the moon template can stay where it is and scatter 2d6 at the beginning of each turn.  The fluff could be that it's a malfunctioning vortex grenade. 

[blantyr]

I am going to be the opposite of the wet blanket.  I love chaotic craziness at the megabattle. so   to people who want it easy.
Here is some confusion for the battle. (especially for the Moon, Mua ha ha!)

A. Tunnels between sewer and city
 
B. Web-way between wasteland and ice cap

C. "Moon of chaos" (aka The big Switcheroo) once per game, roll d6 from turn 2 on, on 4+ it happens, +1 to roll on                subsequent turns.
        1. place large blast template on center of moon table.
        2. Scatter 6d6.
        3. any unit(s) with a model touching the blast template is(are) swept up in the warp.
        4. roll 1d6; 1-3 city, 4 sewer, 5 icecap, 6 wasteland.
        5. Repeat #1 and 2, but on selected planet location.
        6. Units swept up into the warp from the Moon scatter from center point of template, with no mishaps making room for each other as best they can.
        7. any unit(s) originally from second location that has at least one model in contact with template on second planetary location is removed from table as per #3, and deep-strikes from location that the template first scattered to on moon.
        8. Mayhem ensues.

I wouldn't want to touch this with a 6 foot measuring tape, and I don't think you want to have something this random effecting multiple tables.  However, if you could find 10 players who like craziness I could see one table being crazy.

I might suggest using a variation on the deep strike accident game mechanic.  There is a malfunctioning warp gate that is the main objective of the table.  If a psycher gets to the objective, one might try to use it in more or less controlled fashion.  Getting there would mean running a gauntlet of random warp circles that tend to appear at random near the objective.  If any model gets touched by said templet the effect might be similar to a deep strike accident.  The possibilities might include the unit getting lost and gone forever in the warp, the unit gets to deep strike wherever it wants, unit gets to deep strike wherever the opposition wants, unit transports to random place on table, unit transports to the objective, and unit is stuck in the warp for a turn, roll again next turn.

Feel free to mix and match.

Again, if such a table existed, I would avoid it, but it is entirely possible that there might be 10 nutso crazy folk who would want to try it.  Make it hard to get to the gate, but have the gate be very useful if a unit actually gets there.

But it might be best to limit such randomness to a single table, and the players know what they are getting into.

[Captain Bryan!]

I suggest only helmeted models can be used on the moon( same for airtight vehicles)

[Ed]

what about daemons?