I took a week off for my birthday, and ended up designing a kaiju board game somewhat based off of tafl. Here's the prototype game pieces for it. I'll probably post the rules for later, maybe after I come up with a clever name.
These were made with a Cricut Air, some cars stock, and some glue. I'm probably going to redo a few things (the Kaiju should be in another color, and maybe a little fancier, and the buildings could use windows maybe?), but for a first attempt I think they turned out pretty good.
Added bonus I ended up scaling the vehicles to Battletech pretty well on accident, so there's proxie potential.
Ok Here's the rough draft rules for the game I call:
The Terror of Taflicus: a Kaiju Tablut game
Taflicus is a board game inspired by the Saami game Tablut. Tablut is an asymmetric board game that has roots back to medieval times and beyond and is the source of modern reconstructions of the more well known hnefatafl games , aka "Viking Chess".
So far I've only played this game a few times with my wife. There's still lots of balancing work to be done (feedback would be appreciated), bit her are the rough rules:
In Taflicus! Players take the role of either a Kaiju, a rampaging monster attacking the city, or the defending military that has managed to trap the monster (with high voltage power lines) and is now moving in for the kill.
Taflicus! Is played on a 9x9 board.
In the basic game the Kaiju player has one game peice for the Monster, and the military has 4 Jeep pieces, 4 Copter pieces, and 4 Tank pieces. There are also 12 neutral Building pieces that belong to neither player.
The game starts with the city building phase: starting with the Kaiju player each player takes turns placing one building onto the board untill all buildings are placed. There are some rules on how buildings can be placed. Buildings can not be placed on the center square, nor on the corner squares of the board or any any square surrounding the corner squares. A building can also not be placed in a square adjacent to another building IF that building is already adjacent to a building.
The Kaiju player places their Monster piece on the center square and then the military places their four Jeep pieces, and two Copter pieces onto any corner square or any square adjacent to the corner squares. Set the remainder of the vehicle pieces to the side of the board for later
After all the prices are placed players take turns preforming their movement and actions.
Moves:
Each turn the Kaiju player makes one Move with their Monster, and the Military makes Two moves with their Vehicles. After the Military takes their two Moves the turn is over and a new turn starts with the Kaiju player.
Monsters and Vehicles move ortagonaly on the board in straight line. Pieces can not move through other pieces unless they have a special ability that allows them. A peice may not move twice in the same turn. If a piece is ever forced to move onto a square that is already occupied by another piece, or off the edge of the piece is removed from the game.
The military player may choose to forgo a move to Deploy a vehicle that is outside of the game onto a corner piece or adjacent piece that isn't occupied by another piece. A playerau not Deploy a Vehicle if they have more than sox Vehicles on the board.
Each peice has a special ability that either works while that piece is moving or immediately after they have moved.
Jeep: jeeps can Charge! A charging jeep can move onto a square occupied by the Monster or another vehicle to "push" that piece one space back. Remove the Jeep from the game after it has completed a charge. The Military may Deploy an additional vehicle after their last move this turn.
Copter: Copters can fly! Flying units ignore other pieces when moving so long as they end their movement on an unoccupied square
Tank: tanks can Fire their Cannons after they move. When a cannon is fired you may push an enemy Monster or vehicle one square back so long as it is orthogonal to the tank and there is no other prices between them.
Monster: The Monster can unleash an Atomic Acid attack after it has moved. When the Atomic Acid is unleashed choose a piece that is orthogonal to the Monster with no other pieces in between.
Victory conditions:
If the Kaiju player can get the Monster Piece onto any corner square they can knock down the power line tower and escape, winning the game.
If the military manages to remove the Monster from the board the city is saved, and they win the game.
Scenerios:
If both players agree at the start of the game they may choose to play with a Scenerio that alters the rules of the game. A Scenerio may start the game with a different amount or types of game pieces oieces may have different abilities, or there may even be different victory conditions for either player. Heres an example:
Nesting: in this scenerio the Monster has created a nest in the middle of the city. The military is a trying to capture the egg before it hatches. In this scenario if the military gets the egg to a square on the edge of the board they win, but if they take to long the egg will hatch and the Kaiju and son win the game.
Egg: an Egg is a special Piece that may occupy the same square as another unit without removing either from the game as a result. The Egg starts the game in the center square of the board
Crack counter: Each turn during the Kaiju players run add one Crack Counter to the egg. If there are ten or more Crack Counters on the egg it hatches and the Kaiju wins the game
Jeeps gain the transport ability. If the Jeep in in a square with the Egg, they may move the Egg along with the Jeep when it moves.
Kaiju gain the Incubate ability. If a Kaiju targets the Egg with an Atomic Acid attack add a Crack Counter to it rather than remove it from the game.
I'm continuing to test and refine the game as well as adding new Scenarios and Units. I've already got a few new pieces (Missile Launchers, Gravity guns, and some OC Kaiju). Right now I think the amount of game prices might be a bit off.
When I'm satisfied I'll probably put this up on Itch with the Cricut files and a refined rule book with some art.
This game was inspired by the work of David McCord and the New Venture Games game studio and YouTube channel.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
