Entropy City: Making a Wargame

One of the big untouched sections of the game for a long time has been the question of people on foot, what options will people have, in its earliest days my answer was simple “but I want this to be a bikes game” however as the actual development started in 2021 the arguments from playtesters and people following the project started to get more detailed and I began to see that if it was being asked for I should probably figure out a way and if it doesnt work then atleast I’ve crossed it.

Now for a long time thats as far as it had gotten, something for future Jason to worry about, lets get the bikes right first but Im reaching that point now where I feel if I dont start answering these questions it will become too late, I can start with some simple answers.

• If someone comes off their bike theyre removed from the game.
• If someone starts on foot then theyre an on foot miniature.

I feel too many dangers of crossing back and forth and feel they should be deliberately kept seperately, atleast for now keeping a hard line between riders and people on foot so then what is their place on the table?

The first revelation for this was actually another unanwered development step, for a long time Ive been wanting “traps” to be part of the game, spike strips and explosives make a lot of sense for the setting, molotov cocktails as well and in the case of the spike strip it certainly makes a lot more sense for this to be exclusive to your on foot troops.

The other issue I came across the moment I started putting actual thoguht into this was people on foot should never be able to keep up with the bikes, therefore whats the point of them right? I mean sure they could have guns and they can be easier to use but is that it? Well no I more see them as advance troops setting things up. So the current deployment rule shoves them closer towards the board so long as their touching a piece of terrain, this solves the problem and can be argued in world pretty easilly, certain missions may have to change this slightly.

However theres a larger mechanical problem Ive been struggling with, which is simply how they work, a large part of the games mechanics so far have been centered around the bikes feeling like bikes right? So then someone on foot should be able to react to things easier, theyre not in the middle of riding their motorbike at the same time. My plan for this is two fold, firstly they can use their actions at any point, they dont HAVE to use all at once. I have CONSIDERED going the activation token route specifically for the people on foot however my concern is whether that adds too much complication.

So thats a lot of answers, all of which still need to be tested however I think it works but the proof will be in the pudding. I also struggled for a long time with the busting mechanic, because by rights, them busting makes no sense someone on foot cannot crash, however I think the simple solution to this is just “something has gone wrong” I think this ‘problem’ was me over thinking it but again proof is in the pudding during testing.

So I mentioned the traps? What are the traps like you can’t test them without something to represent them Jason.. Okay okay well maybe I did create some stand ins using images Ive found and edited for my use. These images are just for playtesting, when the game becomes a thing I will obviously need to get real art done at some point

Below you will find both a 50mm & 70mm flame token used for the molotovs, rule is they spread a little before they disperse, pretty much like they’re designed to in real life. And finally the token for the spike strip.

Final update in today’s post is regarding status’s, theres been an addition to the existing states a rider could be effected by. So far we have had the following.

• Bleeding
• Burning (Untested)
• Max Stress
• Stunned

However in an attempt to add more depth to the game and help weapons feel different I am adding “distracted” which basically is a condition that can stack that forces your TN to become harder and harder to meet. So in theory if you were trying to roll a TN14 but you had Distracted+2 then you need to get to TN16 (remembering that if you go over 21 you crash because its blackjack but with dice).

So I guess this is where my rant comes to an end however I have a question for you, do you like the idea of my solution for the on-foot activations being able to be split up? Do you feel Im missing something? Do you have other questions? Please ask and comment away would love your feedback.