RTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

"The initials actually stand for "Regards to Starcraft."

1.01 Overview. This scenario uses a highly accelerated "factory" mechanic to bring on constant reinforcements as players fight for strategic points.

1.02 Necessary materials. Only the Ogre Designer's Edition is required.

2.0 SETUP

2.01 Maps. Use maps S1 and G1, with G1 to the east. Towns are intact but uninhabited; railroads are considered to be regular roads. Towns, roads, and bridges are intact but may, by player agreement, be destroyed during play. You may prefer to speed play by making all terrain indestructible.

2.01.1 Overlays. Town and road overlays are added to S1 to make it as connected and resource-rich as G1, as follows:

• 2-hex towns with roads on 0401-0402, 0420-0421, and 1811-1812
• Roads connecting 2005-1806, 1806-1810, and 1813-1816. The result should be an unbroken road connecting the roads in the towns at 2005 and 1816.
• On G1, a road is added to connect 0418 and 1712.

2.02 Starting Units. Players pick colors, and each chooses an end of the board. Each player takes one Mark V, one Mark III, and one Vulcan. All starting Ogres enter together, on the road, on the player's first turn. The western entry hex is S1-0115; the eastern one is G1-2315.

2.03 Cruise missiles. Cruise missiles are not allowed in this scenario, as they would destroy the resources being fought over.

3.0 GAME PLAY

3.1 Resource areas. Each cluster of adjacent town hexes (regardless of how many hexes are adjacent, if any) represents a resource area. There are 16 on the map, 8 on each side. Resource areas cannot be destroyed; even if town hexes may be destroyed, the resources remain intact.

3.2 Factories. Each resource area may support a single factory, which may be placed in any town hex within the resource area. Under no circumstances are multiple factories allowed in the same resource area.

3.21 Factory Creation. A factory, represented by any building counter, may be placed in any unclaimed resource area, on or adjacent to a Vulcan at the end of its move.

3.22 Factory Destruction. If a player occupies an enemy factory hex at the end of his turn, that factory is automatically destroyed and anything being built there is lost. Factories cannot be destroyed by ranged attacks.

3.3 Reinforcements. The purpose of factories is to build reinforcements. Since some reinforcements take longer to build than others, players will want to keep record sheets and make sure they agree on what turn it is!

3.3.1 Reinforcement appearance and phase. Reinforcements appear on the factory that built them, as the first phase of a player's turn. This is before movement, so reinforcements may move on the turn they appear.

3.3.2 Time to build reinforcements. Each army can build one armor unit (6 VP) equivalent per turn. This means:

• Infantry is built in groups of three squads; one 3-squad counter is the turn's build.
• LGEVs and Light Tanks are built in pairs; one pair of identical units is the turn's build.
• Regular 6-VP armor units are built one per turn.
• Large armor units – Superheavies, HWZs, and MHWZs – require two turns to build. Place a marker on the factory on the turn it starts such a unit, to indicate that a large unit will appear next turn. You do not have to tell your opponent what that unit will be.
• Ogres require a lot of time and should not be built until you have a secure position, if at all! Place a marker on the factory to indicate it is building an Ogre. You do not have to reveal what type of Ogre it is, but you do have to write it down on the turn you start it, and reveal the note when the Ogre appears.
  Any type of Ogre can be built, in a number of turns based on its VP value:
  • Mark I – 4 turns
  • Mark II – 8 turns
  • Mark III – 16 turns
  • Mark III-B – 20 turns
  • Fencer – 22 turns
  • Fencer-B, Mark IV, Mark V, or Vulcan – 25 turns
  • Mark VI or Doppelsoldner – 40 turns

3.4 Ogre repair. A damaged Ogre which spends one turn motionless and not attacking or being attacked, either in the same hex with a friendly Vulcan or in a friendly factory hex, is completely repaired, but not rearmed with missiles. An intact Ogre that spends a turn the same way is completely rearmed with missiles. (The friendly Vulcan must have at least one intact arm.)

3.41 Complete Ogre destruction. If an Ogre loses all its weapons (including APs) and treads, it is completely gone and cannot be repaired – remove it from play.

3.5 Howitzers. Since the howitzer is immobile, a strict interpretation of the rules would suggest that it could be placed only on factory hexes. Therefore, for this game, all HWZ are built as MHWZ which move normally. Any MHWZ can turn into a HWZ at the end of its movement phase, but HWZ may never turn back into MHWZ.

3.6 Optional limitation on factory abilities. The type of units that you can build depends on the number of factories you own.

• 1-2 factories: You may build only infantry, Light Tanks, or Light GEVs.
• 2-4 factories: You may also build all regular armor units.
• 5-6 factories: You may also build double-value armor units: Superheavies, HWZs, and MHWZs. These take two turns to complete.
• 7 or more factories: You may also build Ogres (see 3.2.2).

4.0 ENDGAME

4.01 Ending the Scenario. The game ends when one force is completely eliminated or one player resigns.

5.0 VARIANT SCENARIOS

5.1 Multiplayer. For a game of heroic scale and even greater time requirements, add two more maps, use overlays to balance resources and road nets, and play with four players.

5.2 Small Map Changes. There is no reason not to give each side a few more resource areas if you like; make sure the two sides have equivalent road connectivity.

6.0 DESIGN NOTES

Homage to Starcraft, specifically. One of my favorite computer games ever. I only wish that I could still play the original version.

I've tried to make design decisions that keep the factories appearing and the units popping out, and reward aggressive play and thoughtful defense, as in all the best RTS games.

This is definitely a scenario to set up and play for a couple of hours at a time, over however many hours it takes.