4 battle reports, and how to balance a game via playtesting

During our week together, we photographed our games, playtested a lot and  learned a lot. Now we want to share with you the four most significant games and the lessons they taught us in game design and balancing.

We start with picture slideshows and continue with the battle report and lessons learned section.

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PLAYTEST 1

In our research recently we found that the Ankylosaurus was much smaller than we originally thought, so we scaled it down from large to a medium size class. Consequently, we had to playtest two of them together to see if their high points cost was still justified based on their armour, if not their size.

(The history nerds among you might note that the Ankylosaurus armour was roughly equivalent to that of a Sherman tank!)

In this game we learned that the extra strong Ankylosaurus is more balanced than we thought.

We played a T-rex and a pack of Deinonychus vs two Ankylosaurus and had a blast. It was a really fun game and the Ankylosaurus held up, so we decided on a small points cost reduction.

Lessons learned:

• The Ankylosaurus' armour makes it a tank that can stand up to the strongest attacks.

Changes made:

• Small reduction in points cost for the Ankylosaurus, based on the size reduction.

PLAYTEST 2

This was an ambush scenario where four herbivores started in the centre of the map, vs a Suchomimus, a T-rex, and a Carcharodontosaurus, spread out across three board edges.
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The T-rex and the Suchomimus made good use of the sneak rule to get as close to the herbivores as possible without triggering the herbivores' spot checks. Meanwhile, the herbivores meandered randomly, and subsequently split their movements between grazing and moving away from the approaching predators.

There were a few close calls when the herbivores randomly meandered toward the predators, but the spot check only triggers if the predator moves, which simulates the predator / prey relationship of the former using terrain to sneak close up on the latter.

The T-rex and Suchomimus got caught up in sneaking for the most of the game, while the heavy Carcharodontosaurus moving around terrain was too slow to catch the herbivores fleeing directly away from it.

As the game neared its fourth and final turn, the herbivores were approaching a grazing victory (winning the game by grazing enough times) and the T-rex and the Suchomimus pounced, attempting to kill as many herbivores as possible before the game closed. Sadly, they left it too late and the herbivores won by grazing.
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Lessons learned:

• Sneaking can effectively hide predator movement, but it requires tactical play to convert this advantage to a victory.
• The spot check mechanic works and effectively simulates a predator / prey relationship.
• The meander mechanic is an effective game tool for simulating random animal grazing behaviour.

Changes made:

• None; good play from both sides demonstrated a working game system.

PLAYTEST 3

In this game the predators were a pack of Deinonychus and a Carcharodontasaurus. As in the ambush playtest, the Carcho set up a bit too far away and spent the game trudging across the board, which we accepted as a lesson to learn from.

The Deinonychus on the other hand, with their spritely 20" move, whipped across the board and engaged in combat right away. The game immediately became a rapid and sharp combat with the Brachiosaurus coming to aid the overwhelmed Parasaurolophus and smashing up the Parasaurolophus they charged.

We called this game early due to other commitments. The Deinonychus were close to felling the Parasaurolophus, but ultimately failed after a Triceratops charge. After they were wiped out the outcome was clear and Charles resigned as the predators.

Ultimately it was a fun game that showcased the brutality of dinosaur combat.

Lessons learned:

• The size class system works by allowing area attacks against smaller dinosaurs and creating high damage when there's a massive size difference: the gargantuan Brachiosaurus vs the small Deinonychus
• The Deinonychus are vicious ambushers: their numbers and speed let them pick the battleground and fight quickly, but their small size makes them weak to counterattacks and much larger dinosaurs.

Changes made:

• Reaffirmed decision to change board to a rectangular shape, going for 60"x40". Players should start on the long edges (bringing them nearer each other at set-up).
• Recent rebalancing of all dinosaurs stats was effective, evidenced by a close-run fight.

PLAYTEST 4
The last crucial playtest was our game with the river terrain. The two rivers heavily influenced movements by forcing dinosaurs to either jump where they chose or pass at the fords.

The Carcharodontasaurus was the first to attempt this, and failed its jump. Nevertheless, it still reached combat later on, which is a good sign because it means the river functions as an obstacle to the player rather than a total obstruction to a plan.

This game was 200 points each, our biggest game yet, and we set it up like this:

HERBIVORES

• Kosmoceratops
• Parasaurolophus
• Edmontosaurus
• Ankylosaurus

PREDATORS

• Suchomimus
• Deinonychus x3
• Carcharodontasaurus

The Parasaurolophus was quickly cut down after being snuck upon by the Deinonychus gang, toppling after attempting to jump over the river, and then attempting to disengage only to be torn down with disengagement attacks of opportunity - one for each Deinonychus.

The hero of the match was the Kosmoceratops, who went down fighting in a corner against almost all the predators at once. One of its Special rules is to redirect an enemy to attack its own armoured head. This worked, but came at the cost of getting trapped. This is a good sign because the outcome of combat was based largely on player choices rather than game designer choices (even if we are the same at the moment.)

Lessons learned:

• The river terrain and jump mechanic works well, as shown in this playtest by varied results when dinosaurs tried it, and not completely hindering player goals.
• Disengagement attacks are too strong to simulate the quick snap at a fleeing dinosaur.

Changes made:

• Nerfed disengagement attacks a bit.

Charles taking notes between games

Summary
We learned a lot this last week. It was a intense and crazy-busy, but we definitely learned some good lessons and have edits to make, and can gladly say the game is really getting there and it feels streamlined and smooth. 

We can't wait to update you further and look forward to sharing the book mechanics with you in detail soon!

~ ​Wicked Wargames