Unpub Preview: Arsenal

One of our upcoming events is Protospiel-Milwaukee (and Mid-West Unpub.) This is not an event I will be able to attend, and it is being managed by James Mathes of Minion Games. Games coming to Protospiel-Milwaukee register through a different entity, and by doing so don't get a page here on Unpub.net. This is our first time with this type of partnership and we're testing these policies out. One way we can support the games and designers coming to this event is through these previews. So, today we are offering the first in a series of previews of games coming to Protospiel- Milwaukee.

Arsenal,  a tactical combat/tableau building/dice combat game, was designed by Keith Matejka. He's bringing it to the Ramada Plaza on March 9th and 10th for the big event.

Let's hear what Keith has to say about his game...

What was your inspiration for Arsenal? Battletech, Heroscape, Summoner Wars, Mechwarrior,Neuroshima Hex, multiple modern First Person Shooter video games.

What is your favorite part of Arsenal?  Constantly changing the loadout of the player's robot to adjust to the current situation on the battlefield.

To your knowledge, What do other people find most interesting about Arsenal? - The balancing of attaching weapons & gear and keeping the player's robot light and agile.

What has been the most challenging part of designing this game?  Throwing out and resigning core mechanics that just didn't work.

What advice would you give to players attempting Arsenal for the first time?  Leverage your Pilot's abilities as much as possible. Don't be afraid to remove a weapon to increase your action points for the next turn, especially, if it's out of ammo.

What has surprised you most in play-tests of Arsenal? How much people love chucking handfuls of dice. I tried multiple combat systems to simplify it and reduce the number of dice, but every time, players preferred rolling lots of dice at once instead of 1 or 2.

People who like___________ will like this game. Why?  Heroscape

What do you hope to accomplish at Protospiel-Milwaukee on March 9th and 10th? Design feedback to polish/balance card powers

Tell us anything else you want to say about the game that I haven't asked or you haven't said already. The core design goals of my game are/were -- 1) Customizing the player's robot on the fly. 2) Chucking lots of dice to resolve combat.

Thank you Keith. Best of luck at Protospiel-Milwaukee (and Mid-West Unpub)!