Red Alert 3 - Board Game news

As you can see the RA3 Board Game is coming soon (if the EALA allows). It will be ready for printing by September and for sale around October, maybe even earlier!

The game will be played on the turn basis - you play a turn and then your opponent plays a turn. There wont be any need for scouting (cause you can use your eyes to do that), and there will probably be little changes in Wall constructing, resource gathering and damage calculation. Rules are very simple so everyone can join the fun (well not so much simple as not simple, I would recommend it for ages 12 and up)!

First for some game mechanics:

----------------Content----------------
1. Some basic info on units and gameplay
1.1. Units
1.2. Gathering resources
1.3. Credits

2. Maps, different ground textures and types
2.1. Maps (playing fields)
2.2. Types of ground

3. Ingame Objects
3.1. Players Base
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1. Some basic info on units and gameplay>

Each player starts with an MCV (Mobile Construction Vehicle) on a designated Start Position* and a number of credits between 10 000 and 40 000. Units are built later in the game, when the player builds the required building.

* Start positions are on the map and cannot be changed

1.1. ---Units---
Units will be build from molded plastic or cardboard. Only one unit can be placed on a square at a time, unless the one that is currently on it can be crushed be the other.

For a unit to be built you must need a Unit Profile Card (you need just one for each type of unit - one Conscript Profile Card for any number of Conscripts you want to build), enough credits, and structures. The UPC (Unit Profile Card) is crucial, cause the card contains all info about the unit and more.

Conscript UPC
(In the top left corner is the unit's name and an icon determining if it's amphibious or not - if it's not amphibious, then there is no icon; going to the right: tier level (the number of, in this case, little army man), class - represented by the icon (army man: infantry; tank: armoured vehicle; airplane: air unit), and faction. Going from the top: cost (in credits), build time (in turns), health, range (in squares), speed - movement (in squares), armour (in percentage or "None" for 0 armour), rate of fire (in number of times a unit can fire in a turn), attack against: infantry, armoured vehicles, air units, buildings. on the right: picture of the unit with a catch phrase, under it - the special ability, special ability type, and "Builds from"; on the left is the description)

The ability of a unit to retaliate to an attack is measured in rate of fire - if the unit didn't attack in the turn in which the enemy entered its range, it can retaliate. If the number is 1/X then the "X" determines the number of turns in which the unit can perform one attack; its next attack can be performed in X turns counting the one in which the firs attack was performed.

1.2. ---Gathering Resources---
Ore gathering will probably be changed to the old RA way of collecting.

If it changes then a number of cards with numbers 0,100,200,300,400,500,600,800 and 1000 will represent quantity of resources on a tile. An ore collector will be able to gather them by removing the upper tiles and showing the ones under (For example: if a gold tile that had 200 was gathered from for one turn then the card with the 200 written on it is removed, showing the "100 card" and so on...).

If it stays the same, then a special page will be made for each node, on which the total quantity of resources for that node will be calculated.

1.3. ---Credits---
Credit is the currency with which you can build structures and units. You can earn them by Gathering Resources (see 1.2.).

They can be calculated in many ways, but the most common would be:
1. using a pen on a piece of paper
2. the monopoly* way

* Using make-up money

Maps, different ground textures and types>

2.1. ---Maps (playing fields)---
Playing fields (maps) will be in dimensions of 50x50 (small), 80x80 (medium), 120x120 (large), and 150x150 (huge). one square is 1 square cm or 0,16 square inches. Each map will (would) be bought separately, or downloaded and printed.

All of them will be viewed from top down with different textures for different type of ground. Cliffs will be just thick lined on the edge of a square on which they are represented, also they cannot be shot over by any tank or infantry, only artillery type units and aircraft.

2.2. ---Types of ground---
>Water - blue/light blue colored, only accessible to Amphibious units, Water units and Air units.
>Grass - green/light green colored, only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units.
>Snow - white colored with traces of gray and blue, only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units.
>Dirt - light yellow orange colored with traces of light and dark brown, only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units.
>Rock - gray/light gray colored, only accessible to Air units.
>Crater - dirt + crater textured, only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units.
>Mountain - brown/light brown colored with traces of gray, only accessible to Air units.
>Bridge - only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units.
> (+/-) Minerals - gold or precious stone (ruby, emerald, topaz, sapphire, amethyst...) colored with rocky texture, only accessible to Amphibious units, Ground units and Air units. (still TBD)

3. Ingame Objects>

There will be an array of object to be placed on the map. Those object are not part of the ground so they can be removed after being destroyed.

Those object are:
>Foliage - trees of all types
>Garrisonable Buildings - housing objects and similar
>Oil Derricks - provides credits
>Banks - provides credits and garrison
>Hospitals - increases health of infantry
>Repair Depots - increases health of vehicles
>Players base buildings

* Note : Airfields, Docks, Academies, Tech Labs, Observation Posts are not included because of the game mechanics

- Foliage:
In this category are trees, shrubs and, even tho the aren't foliage, rocks and misc buildings. They all cannot be crossed over by an infantry unit, but CAN be leveled by any ground or amphibious armoured vehicle. They CAN also be build-over.

- Garrisonable Buildings:
In this category are housing objects, bunkers and similar. They all have different garrison capacities (from 1 to 8). Except these objects, only once that can be garrisoned are the Banks. They can give bonuses to units inside in Range and/or Attack Power.

- Oil Derricks:
Objects that provide credits (25 credits per a turn).

- Banks:
Objects that provide credits (25 credits per a turn). They can be garrisoned by 4 infantry units, giving them a Range bonus of 20% and an Attack Power bonus of 10%.

- Hospitals:
Objects that heal the infantry units of its capturer by 10% of the units base health per a turn.

- Repair Depots:
Objects that heal the mechanical units of its capturer by 10% of the units base health per a turn.

3.1. ---Players Base---
This type of ingame objects is controlled by the player. They provide a player with tech, units, power and credits. Depending on the faction the player is playing he can build different structures.

To build a structure, a player first pays for it and then builds it. If the building is destroyed before its finished (can happen only to Soviets and Empire), a player is refunded half of the buildings value.

A player can also repair damaged structures or sell them. When the structure is being repaired, a sum of credits is subtracted form the funds and the building gains health (p=c/100, r=2*p; p - repair cost per a turn, c - cost of the building being repaired, r - health that the building gains each turn being repaired)

Each faction builds differently:
- Soviets - first place a building then wait for it to be built
- Allies - wait, then place the building
- Empire - builds the nanocore which then builds the structure

More soon to come