Jason Liang
Arcane
Chaos Overlords is a little-known strategy game classic published by New World Computing in 1996, and deserves to be enshrined in the Codex Playground.
The goal in this game is to seize control of a city full of corruption and injustice... by who else, but the Codex-beloved Ally of Justice himself:
To fully experience this game, we are going to play through Rance's conquest of this city under the following conditions: we (actually, you guys) will play this game IRONMAN and BLIND. First I will introduce the game. After that, each round, you guys will decide Rance's strategy with very little input from me. I will then post the results of the round, and so on until the game ends.
This is the initial set up screen. First we will play on thehighest funnest difficulty level, HOMICIDAL MANIAC. The initial set up screen allows us to choose from several victory conditions. For this game, our objective will be 1 Year, ACCEPTANCE.
The unlimited time victory objectives:
KILL 'EM ALL: Eliminate the 5 other players completely.
THE BIG 40: Control 40 sectors.
SIEGE: Control all 6 HEADQUARTERS.
ELIMINATE: Kill the 5 other RIGHT HANDS while keeping ours alive.
BIG MAN: Control the center 4 sectors of the city for a total of 40 weeks.
ARMAGEDDON: Control all sectors.
The limited time objectives (Can choose from a game length of 6 months, 1 year, 2 years or 4 years)
At the end of the time period:
GREED: Have the most cash.
ACCEPTANCE: Have the most support (from controlling sites).
POWER: Control the most sectors.
DOMINANCE: The most points out of all 3 greed, acceptance and power.
Acceptance allows us to take over the city using the Support mechanic, which is only used for this objective and dominance. Rance will be recognized as the King of the city by controlling the city's key infrastructure. Greed is probably the most interesting objective, but not well suited for a first time playthrough.
When we start the game, an 8X8 city with 64 sectors is randomly generated. As the red player, Rance begins in control of sector B2, in the northwest corner, where his HEADQUARTERS are located.
Each section has 3 different SITES, out of 22 different possible sites. In addition to Rance's Headquarters, B2 also has a CASINO and a RADIO STATION.
Each player also starts with one gang, the RIGHT HANDS.
In the lower right corner is our queue of 3 gangs. Gangs are our main agents for defending our sectors, invading enemy sectors, making cash and taking over the city. Each round, we can hire OR dismiss 1 gang from our queue, which then is replaced by a randomly generated gang next round. Then, each round, each gang we've hired can perform one action. Our initial queue is a mixed start with a pretty nice early gang, the DOMINATRIX, a mediocre early gang, the FIGHTING NUNS, and an awful early gang, TEAM STICK MAN (the game Devs actually).
So each round, we need to help Rance choose which gang to hire or dismiss, where to hire them, and which action each of his gangs will take (what to do, where to move, who to fight).
Next, we'll take a closer look at Rance's city, the abilities of a gang, and the actions gangs can take.
The goal in this game is to seize control of a city full of corruption and injustice... by who else, but the Codex-beloved Ally of Justice himself:
To fully experience this game, we are going to play through Rance's conquest of this city under the following conditions: we (actually, you guys) will play this game IRONMAN and BLIND. First I will introduce the game. After that, each round, you guys will decide Rance's strategy with very little input from me. I will then post the results of the round, and so on until the game ends.
This is the initial set up screen. First we will play on the
The unlimited time victory objectives:
KILL 'EM ALL: Eliminate the 5 other players completely.
THE BIG 40: Control 40 sectors.
SIEGE: Control all 6 HEADQUARTERS.
ELIMINATE: Kill the 5 other RIGHT HANDS while keeping ours alive.
BIG MAN: Control the center 4 sectors of the city for a total of 40 weeks.
ARMAGEDDON: Control all sectors.
The limited time objectives (Can choose from a game length of 6 months, 1 year, 2 years or 4 years)
At the end of the time period:
GREED: Have the most cash.
ACCEPTANCE: Have the most support (from controlling sites).
POWER: Control the most sectors.
DOMINANCE: The most points out of all 3 greed, acceptance and power.
Acceptance allows us to take over the city using the Support mechanic, which is only used for this objective and dominance. Rance will be recognized as the King of the city by controlling the city's key infrastructure. Greed is probably the most interesting objective, but not well suited for a first time playthrough.
When we start the game, an 8X8 city with 64 sectors is randomly generated. As the red player, Rance begins in control of sector B2, in the northwest corner, where his HEADQUARTERS are located.
Each section has 3 different SITES, out of 22 different possible sites. In addition to Rance's Headquarters, B2 also has a CASINO and a RADIO STATION.
Each player also starts with one gang, the RIGHT HANDS.
In the lower right corner is our queue of 3 gangs. Gangs are our main agents for defending our sectors, invading enemy sectors, making cash and taking over the city. Each round, we can hire OR dismiss 1 gang from our queue, which then is replaced by a randomly generated gang next round. Then, each round, each gang we've hired can perform one action. Our initial queue is a mixed start with a pretty nice early gang, the DOMINATRIX, a mediocre early gang, the FIGHTING NUNS, and an awful early gang, TEAM STICK MAN (the game Devs actually).
So each round, we need to help Rance choose which gang to hire or dismiss, where to hire them, and which action each of his gangs will take (what to do, where to move, who to fight).
Next, we'll take a closer look at Rance's city, the abilities of a gang, and the actions gangs can take.
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