"scenics in superhero gaming" Topic

what do you guys do for superhero battles? build elaborate cityscapes of gargantuan size out of paper and polystyrene or play on paper maps a la Heroclix?

How do you solve the problem of super fast heroes that can move across the board seven times in a turn?

Do you think it would be a nice idea in a ruleset to have "off table" actions? say Silver Surfer flies off board super fast, Gladiator flies after him, they dice off to see if Gladiator manages to tail him, they fight a round of combat off board -- actually in outer space -- then the victor reenters the board?
Thanks…

ganeshagames.blogspot.com

The Flash might be able to move across the board in turn or less but that really isn't much of a problem since everyone else cannot. 9 times out of 10 it really isn't a scenario you need to game out with figs if he is running that fast.

That said elaborate and long chase scenes at high speeds really are not what you can do too well in 25mm on your regular static 8 foot table.

mostly paper maps, although i am building some modern buildings to use too, only a few currently though.

regards

jim

I do all my superhero gaming on the WWII battlefield. So I use just about any and all scenery of the period.

When dealing with Superman, Johnny Quick, Spitfire or the Flash I always have something in the game to counter their speed like a special weapon or character that can either dampen their speed, freeze them, etc.

I've found Superman is pretty hard to fight against so you put plot devices in the game that makes him more vulnerable like civilians in danger, magical weapon. etc.

Brian
battlegroundweirdwarii.com

Started using the Heroclix maps, then graduated onto actual 3D Buildings, either scratch-built or Plasticville. The rules system I use allows heroes and villains to utilise street furniture and vehicles as weapons, so plenty of 'bits', such as fire hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, cars and dumpsters, to use. Last game had the toughest super-Nazi being belted round the head with a fire hydrant and then stuffed head first into a dumpster. By super-clowns. Never underestimate super-clowns…

My Superfigs games are played only on 3-D terrain. Lately several friends have built a huge amount of the Worldworks paper stuff but they cut out all the windows and doors and in many cases totally customize the files so that they look every bit as good or better as my regular stuff made from Gator Board. I feel that if I am going to go to the trouble of doing nice paint jobs on all my models then the scenery should be as complementary as possible and maps aren't that at all!

The "Fastlane" skyscrane at Toys R us makes a neat piece to fight over/on.

Someone at Little Wars this year had a modern game with lovely 3D printed urban terrain. I THINK it was foamcore, and had interlocking road/ground tiles, large buildings, and open windows. It appeared commercial, but I've not seen it anywhere else. Did anyone else see it, and know where it came from?

build elaborate cityscapes of gargantuan size out of paper and polystyrene

Yes, this one.
we have the city divided into Districts. We only have space to set up one district at a time, but that has worked out well.
Picture of a game in progress. picture

Picture of a diffrent district from the first. picture

For gaming we use a rule set I wrote, and it handles the speedsters just fine.
You can go racing across the table, but no one else can, so effectively you're out of the fight.

DS6151
Impressive! I wish I had the space to arrange something like this. But I guess you are in a lucky minority and most SH players play on paper maps?
A

ganeshagames.blogspot.com

DS-- what are the plastic and glass structures in your pictures? Those look great as modern skyscraper-style buildings alongside the Worldworks stuff it appears you have.

Andrea,

I go with full 3D models and scenics for my supers games. They just have more visual appeal for rousing Superhero style action, though I have used paper maps in the past.
Here are a few pics of the modular golden-age city boards I'm working on right now:

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I have always handled speedsters as essentially having limited teleport. They can get just about anywhere on the board they want but have to buy special abilities/effects to simulate their being able to take actions in the middle of all their zooming around. Coming up with a simple system for abstracted off-board movement/combat is not that difficult. My players have never had a problem with a quick "make a contested maneuver roll to track the fleeing villain into the skies" and fighting a few rounds of combat off-screen. Occasionally this leads to a situation where the rest of the team needs to make a quick trip to some remote and unexpected locales to pick up a wounded or fallen team mate, (Iceland in one memorable instance!) but that's life in the Super Hero biz!

Mark

I've got some nice "skyscraper rooftop" pieces in storage, which generally get set up with jumpable gaps between them, and a *long* fall if you miss the leap. Also been working on a Ditko/Doctor Strange inspiered "astral plane" table for a while now (really ought to finish that…) that's essentially a maze of walkways and platforms laid out over an infinite void (ie one of my starscape mats).

And yes, I enjoy seeing things fall long distances. Why do you ask? :)

DS-- what are the plastic and glass structures in your pictures? Those look great as modern skyscraper-style buildings alongside the Worldworks stuff it appears you have.

Those are plastic storage creates from the Dollar store with a reflective foil from the $1 USD store wrapping paper aisle. I just cut out one handle as a door, glued in the wrapping paper, and set it out. I have tons of the shiney stuff left, so it only cost $1 USD for that and $1 USD per building.
And they stack of course, so we can change the height of the buildings if we need to.
Even better, the cars, lamps, mailboxes, etc. are easily stored in them on the shelf.

We make extensive use of the Worldworks buildings and objects, especially the roads, those are really good. We have also made many of our own from free texture sites.