the players make the map, and if they are making an imbalanced map, that is their fault (except for the person who is choosing his starting location first, in which case he is playing strategically)

Each player should be placing map pieces in such a way as to make sure that the map benefits himself the most. This might mean making all the starting locations as equal as possible.

I think that when you first start, you dont know what is a "balanced" map. But with experience, this will become apparent. While city hexes seem nice, they also have **** resources, so they are not by definition "better" than a non city hex. Lots of cities wont help you build your strong hex units, or feed your armies.

The distribution of cities and food are the two most important factors in building a balanced map. After that the prevention of isolation by map holes and geography is very important.

Baenre said:

I like the Epic variant, but I disagree that it's a "must". Due to time constraints, most of my games are the standard game, and I've only had ONE two-player game where one player dominated so badly that it was a blowout (and in that case, an epic game would have just dragged out the pain); all the rest have come down to the wire.

mateooo said:

All very true but when you are first learning the game you do not realise just how important setting up the board correctly is. For that matter it took our group at least a half dozen games between the 15 or so of us to even notice that it made an impact. I do realise that cities aren't everything but not being within several hexes of a city can be quite a disadvantage, especially when one person set it up to control 2-3 of them right out of the gate.

For the most part now the regulars know what to look for in a set and make sure nobody tries to setup an advatage for themselves. For new players though we immediately point out strategic needs in placement and not just the cities but resources in general.

Baenre said:

We have played so much and slighty changed a few things that i cannot remember them all sorry. I will say though that playing the EPIC varient is a must. If you play the original game with experienced players it's not much fun and just becomes solitaire for 3-4 seasons for a win to one lucky player.

I like the Epic variant, but I disagree that it's a "must". Due to time constraints, most of my games are the standard game, and I've only had ONE two-player game where one player dominated so badly that it was a blowout (and in that case, an epic game would have just dragged out the pain); all the rest have come down to the wire.

I guess it has to do with my group more than anything. The last time we played a regular version of the game it was over in year 4. Those games rarely last at the max two hours due to how fast people could dig up that many runes that quickly. Playing the alternate version allows for more breathing room and makes the game usually last into the final year. As i said though it probably has more to do with my group than anything else.

I like the concept of new races. Here is an idea for an Orc race and a Dwarf race

Orcs are a Neutal Faction

They have 5 Tactics Cards, 0 Influence (They're tough but savage and non-diplomatic)

As for their units, I decided a 1/2/3/5 spread

Init 1: Orc Skirmisher (1 Wound, Triangle Base)

Special Power, Ambush: Kill 2 triangle based units. If none are present, inflict 1 wound.

Init 2: Orc Shaman (1 Wound, Round Base

Special Power: Battle Frenzy, chose two standing units other than the shaman itself. These units immedately draw and resolve a fate card (Even if they have already acted). Inflict wounds and routs as normal but treat any "Special" power draws as blanks.

Init 3: Orc Warrior (Square Base, 2 Wounds)

Special Power, Cleave: Inflict 2 wounds. If this kills an enemy, you may allocate 1 wound to another enemy creature of your choice.

Init 5: Orog (Hexegon Base, 4 Wounds)

Special Power, Pulverizing Blow: Instantly kill a creature that has more than one wound. This must be alocated to a hexigon model if possible.

Dwarfs are a Neutral Faction

They have 5 Influence and 0 Tactics (Dwarf are expert traders and known the world over, but are more defensive in nature when it comes to warfare.)

As for their units, they have a 2/3/4/5 spread, Dwarves are slow but hit hard.

Init 2: Dwarf Thunderer (Square Base, 2 Wound) (Think Dwarves with Rifles)

Special Power: Thunderous Barrage, Inflict 2 wounds and 1 rout on the enemy.

Init 3: Dwarf Runesmith (Circle Base, 1 Wound)

Special Power, Rune of Destruction: Kill 2 Triangle units OR 1 square unit (Player decides)

Init 4: Dwarf Warrior (Triangle Base, 1 Wound)

Special Power, Hold the Line: Stand 1 routed unit. The dwarf warrior counts as double for combat resolution.

Init 5: Rune Golem. (Hexigon Base, 4 Wounds)

Special Power, Unstoppable: Remove all wounds on this creature, then draw another fate card and resolve it.

So what do you think?

I like the concept of new races. Here is an idea for an Orc race and a Dwarf race

First impression, too many of these units have specials that do multiple things under different conditions. Special abilities should only do one thing, IMHO.

Init 1: Orc Skirmisher (1 Wound, Triangle Base)

Special Power, Ambush: Kill 2 triangle based units. If none are present, inflict 1 wound.

Exhibit A. Kill 2 Triangles or inflict a wound. First off, if he's going to outright kill 2 triangles, he should also get killed himself. Triangle units aren't supposed to be that cool. Also forget the wound, that's what a Damage draw is for.

Init 2: Orc Shaman (1 Wound, Round Base

Special Power: Battle Frenzy, chose two standing units other than the shaman itself. These units immedately draw and resolve a fate card (Even if they have already acted). Inflict wounds and routs as normal but treat any "Special" power draws as blanks.

This one is interesting.

Init 5: Orog (Hexegon Base, 4 Wounds)

Special Power, Pulverizing Blow: Instantly kill a creature that has more than one wound. This must be alocated to a hexigon model if possible.

Instantly killing a unit is cool, giving it the added bonus of "must be assigned to a hexagon unit if possible" seems a bit powerful to me. I'd drop that last part, but otherwise it's fine.

Init 2: Dwarf Thunderer (Square Base, 2 Wound) (Think Dwarves with Rifles)

Special Power: Thunderous Barrage, Inflict 2 wounds and 1 rout on the enemy.

Again doing two things in one ability, although this one isn't necessarily broken for a rectangle unit. On a thematic note, I'm opposed to bringing guns into Terrinoth. Feels too much like Warcraft to me. I don't believe there are any guns in any of the three games so far, although I could be mistaken.

Init 4: Dwarf Warrior (Triangle Base, 1 Wound)

Special Power, Hold the Line: Stand 1 routed unit. The dwarf warrior counts as double for combat resolution.

This one could be tricky to keep track of when combat ends. At least they're init 4 so it won't be too long, but some people might have trouble remembering how many of their Dwarf Warriors drew orbs and therefore count double when it comes time to tally strength. A better mechanic might simply be to say "stand 2 routed units of initiative 3 or lower." The added strength will be tracked automatically by the added standing units, requiring init 3 or less is a balancing factor - only units that have already passed their chance to attack can be stood up.

Init 5: Rune Golem. (Hexigon Base, 4 Wounds)

Special Power, Unstoppable: Remove all wounds on this creature, then draw another fate card and resolve it.

Doing two things again. I'd drop the second fate card. It seems overpowered and it leads to questions like "what happens if the second fate card is also an orb?" Removing all wounds is a cool ability, but given this thing is init 5 and given damage MUST be assigned to wounded units first, there's a fair decent chance that if it takes any damage it will die before it gets a chance to heal, so I don't think that's broken.

Thanks for your comments. I think the following changes might be good to inact to balance out the creatures based on your advice

_

Orc Skirmisher

Special Power, Ambush: Kill 1 Triangle based model, then advance one ally +1 up the inititive track.

_

Orog

Special Power, Pulverizing Blow: Instantly kill a creature that has more than one wound. This must be allocated to an uninjured multi-wound creature if possible.

_

Init 2: Dwarf Crossbowman (replaces Dwarf Thunderer)

Special Power: Bolt Barrage, Inflict 2 wounds and 1 rout on the enemy.

_

Dwarf Warrior

Special Power, Hold the Line: Stand 1 routed unit of your choice. If one Dwarf Warrior draws an orb, you gain a +1 combat resolution at the end of the battle. This does not stack.

-

Rune Golem

_

Special Power, Unstoppable: The Rune Golem inflicts 1 wound on every different type of enemy standing unit. (Maximum 4)

_

Your orc units have a combined health of 8. All other existing races have 7, which seems to me to be an important balance issue. You might reconsider.

Stefan said:

I don't know if the Combine Unit health for unit types is necessarily a big deal.

For example, the Uthuk's "base" health values are 1-1-1-4, but with an Orb for the Flesh Rippers, that's 3-1-1-4 = 9!

Also, you have to take into consideration the unit counts:

Humans: 8x1+8x2+16x1+4x3 = 52 health for all figures

Elves: 16x1+4x3+8x1+8x2 = 52 health

Undead: 8x1+8x1+16x1+4x4 = 48 health

Uthuk: 8x1+16x1+8x1+4x4 = 48 (but with an orb for flesh rippers, this could be as high as 64) health

Each race has different strengths, and part of that is the more "intangible" of the special abilities. I'm not sure that the Orcs having 8 "combined health" affects balance, depending on the number of each figure and the special abilities.

IMHO - the unstoppable power of the Rune Golem doesn't seem that great. Mostly for the reasons already pointed out by Steve-O.

I suggest unstoppable the trait and power . (Or they can have differing names to avoid confusion.)

Trait : In battle, this unit can only be voluntarily routed. When retreated, this unit is not considered routed.

Not great, but it does add some agility to an otherwise slow military.

Power: Add 3 to your army strength when resolving the battle. This power may only be invoked once per battle.

Counts as a damaged fortification. Similar to the wall upgrade allowed to human fortifications. Although 3 may be too high, now that I think about it I think the wall upgrade is only 2. So maybe the power should be add 2 instead of 3.

Otherwise I agree with Steve-O. You have a great start and I see some very interesting mechanics.