Due to the recent interest shown by new players in TATW hotseating, JWANT and I decided to start up a new Young Bloods game. This is for players who are new or relatively new to TATW hotseating, and preferably hotseating in general. Complete rules will be posted later, but for now we plan on having this be a Good vs. Evil game. Please post if you are interested in joining, and what faction you might like.
You may reload your turn as many times as you want
Turns must be taken within 24 hours. Extensions available upon request, but please try not to be late every time
Please PM or VM the next player in line
Territorial
Players cannot capture any settlement outlined in white (i.e. out of bounds area). There is no restriction on where armies and agents can move. So armies and agents can move into out of bounds areas, but may not capture any settlements there
Isengard’s northern border – South Tharbad is in bounds. North Tharbad is out of bounds
Gameplay
Good vs. Evil
No Invasions
You may gift regions to another faction, but all units except one which appear as a result of the transfer must be disbanded immediately
No gifting settlements at risk of capture
No heroic victories
Battles against other players must be auto-resolved. Battles against the AI can be fought
Post screenshots of all battles against other players: deployment screen and results screen. I think this makes following a hotseat much more interesting. Note – you do not need to post screenshots for lopsided battles, i.e. 1,000 vs. 100, but please mention the battle in your post
No assassinations or sabotage. You may recruit assassins to act as (expensive) extra spies, but you may not use them for anything else
No surrounding armies with smaller stacks to deny a retreat. You are allowed to block bridges or river crossings
No mercenary transport ships
All crossings points of the Anduin are in play
Units defeated by a player coming after you in the turn order may not move or attack on your subsequent turn
The previous rule includes sieges – if defeated units retreat to a settlement and the enemy immediately lays siege, the defending army may not sally out on the turn immediately after the defeat, even if there are units inside the settlement which were not defeated. This is because the game engine prevents the sally where the defeated army comes later in the turn order
Bribing is allowed
Sallying from a settlement under siege is not allowed if it results in the settlement falling to the besieging force immediately thereafter (on your turn)
You are not allowed to lure an ambushing army a tile further to bring it in range of more of your forces
You are not allowed to siege a settlement for the sole purpose of denying a retreat into that settlement. You must instead allow the retreat and then siege the settlement
You may use siege engines (ballista, catapult, etc.) to attack a settlement immediately instead of sieging for a turn first
Buildings
No destroying any buildings if the settlement is at risk of capture
Exterminating settlements is not allowed. You may sack or occupy
On the turn you capture an enemy settlement, you are only allowed to destroy inns and cultural buildings. This rule stays in effect until you have held a captured settlement for 3 turns
After you hold a captured settlement for 3 turns, buildings can be destroyed without restriction (provided the settlement is not at risk of capture)
Spies
Whether a spy may open the gates of a settlement depends on the size of the settlement’s garrison. If a settlement is defended by 720+ elves, 900+ men, or 1500+ orcs, then spies may NOT open the gates. If a settlement is defended by fewer than this number, then spies may open the gates without restriction
Note – Isengard must have 1500 soldiers in a settlement before it is safe from spies, even if some of those soldiers are dunlandings (men). This is because the standard unit size for Isengard is 250 across the board. Rhun, on the other hand, falls under the 900 man category because its standard unit size is 150
The purpose of this rule is to allow players to defend their settlement without fear of losing their garrison due to spies. Its justification is that settlement with more defenders have better surveillance and it would be harder for spies to operate. I also want to keep the rule simple, which is the reason for the hard limit. So basically if you defend a settlement with 6 full units worth of troops, you are safe from spies
Spies may open the gates against the Rebels (AI) without restriction
Rules are open to change based on a vote by a majority of players
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
I have been playing Westeros hotseats for few moths already, but i have few questions about TATW hotseasting:
1) Are there any economic or financial changes to vanilla, because most of castles and towns here are totally "undeveloped" ?
2) How many turns does HS like this usually takes? Im interested in this, because it will affect the way i play. If its "just" around 40 turns then there is no big need to develop and upragde cities, but if those HS are longer, then its one of the most important things here, i believe.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
Finally! I would like to play Dale. It would be my first, serious HS. A friend of mine would also play. His first pick would be Silvan Elves, but if they're taken, he'll play High Elves.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
Originally Posted by Jadli
I have been playing Westeros hotseats for few moths already, but i have few questions about TATW hotseasting:
1) Are there any economic or financial changes to vanilla, because most of castles and towns here are totally "undeveloped" ?
2) How many turns does HS like this usually takes? Im interested in this, because it will affect the way i play. If its "just" around 40 turns then there is no big need to develop and upragde cities, but if those HS are longer, then its one of the most important things here, i believe.
Most town are undeveloped in TATW too, except the important ones like Barad-dur, Minas Tirith and so on. However in TATW there are more resources on the map, so the economy is a little bit bigger.
A hotseats takes as many times it needs to take. If someone gets the upperhand very early for example with Mordor then it will be finished early. However if there is a balance between the powers of factions, then it can take more than 40 turns to end the hotseat.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
Originally Posted by Benek1818
I'm looking at the map now and see that HE, Dwarves, Eriador and Orcs are not in play. Is that right?
That is correct, for now. Depending on player interest, these factions could be included. But a fair warning: hotseats with more than 7-8 factions tend to take very long to play, and people get bored and leave. So if there are more than 7-8 players interested, it would be better to start 2 games instead of 1 large one.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
No word from NoldorinElves, so I gave SE to pontyak. Also, due to player interest and balancing concerns, I removed Harad as a playable faction. It is now 4 Good vs. 3 Evil, but the Evil factions are generally more powerful.
KhalFrodo will have first choice among the 3 remaining factions. Then we just need 2 more players.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
Im now looking at map, and it seems that both Osgiliath setlements are rebels ( in vanilla they were divided to Mordor and Gondor i believe), am i right? And if yes, are there any other map changes to vanilla?
Last edited by Jadli; January 04, 2015 at 11:00 AM.
Re: Young Bloods IV (new hotseat, multiple factions open!)
Originally Posted by Jadli
Im now looking at map, and it seems that both Osgiliath setlements are rebels ( in vanilla they were divided to Mordor and Gondor i believe), am i right? And if yes, are there any other map changes to vanilla?
There are no map changes to vanilla, so W.O. is Gondor's and E.O. is Mordor's at the start. That map isn't 100% accurate but it is the easiest for me to edit. You'll also notice that south Tharbad doesn't appear at all (north of Dunland). Isengard is allowed to capture South Tharbad, but is not allowed to capture North Tharbad. We always set that border at the river.
Young Bloods IV
?
I would like to play Dale. It would be my first, serious HS. A friend of mine would also play. His first pick would be Silvan Elves, but if they're taken, he'll play High Elves.
Originally Posted by Jadli
