MP Tablut/Tafl - Game Mode Suggestion

[Bloc]

Hello everyone,

Today I had some time so I prepared something as a suggestion. I would like to suggest a game mode for Bannerlord. This is heavily inspired by Tafl Games as well as this old thread

Why?
Because I think it sounds fun and would be fun to play that game mode. And since Bannerlord already has Tablut in it, I think it would be appropriate to see something like that as a game mode. This can also be an appealing game-mode since -even though VIP Escorting Game Mods exist- this scenario perfectly fits for Bannerlord. Also

• Easy to implement: 90% of the game logic is similar to Captain mode. Hence, tweaking that side wouldn't be too hard.
• Encourages Cooperation: Without teaming up properly, you cannot win. You have to coordinate your defence or attack.
• Fits in Culture: It fits in the lore/culture of Bannerlord.

Tablut?
For those who don't know, Tablut or Tafl is a board game. Played in Lapland till the eighteenth century, tablut is the version of hnefatafl for which we have the most complete rules. A king attempts to reach the edge of the board, which has nine rows of nine squares. Eight defenders aid him in his quest, while sixteen attackers attempt to capture him. Tablut is also available in Bannerlord as you may already know

Spoiler: Tablut in Bannerlord

Player Count
This part is pretty much the same with Captain mode. Since the overall gameplay will be similar as well, I think it's safe to assume that everyone's PC is able to handle that many troop count. It's planned to be 5v4 but that can increase decrease depending on the taste. Where 1 out of Defender party will be selected as King randomly. Rest of the players will be either Defender or Attacker.


Objectives
Defenders: Defenders have to escort selected King outside of the map safely. There will be a timer as well so they can't fool around too much. If King dies on the battlefield, round ends, attackers win.
Attackers: They have to kill the King or block defenders' movement until timeout. This is harder than it sounds because the entire game area will be wide open and escape possibility is high since there will be no chokeholds ( compared to other lane-d maps )


Roles and Functionalities
Attackers: There will be 4 attackers. Each of them will have a chance to select their troops exactly like in Captain mode. There will be a cap of cavalry, however. We would like to restrict horses running around the map.

Defenders: There will be 4 defenders. Each of them will have a chance to select their troops exactly like in Captain mode. We can tweak defenders so that they can have better units but less body-count.

King: Once you selected as king, you cannot make any unit selection. You will be given two bodyguards. One of them will be high tier and another one will be a Bannerman. Bannerman will serve as a point indicator, hence, it might be good to get rid of it as soon as possible - but then you will lose your bodyguard.


Map
This is a really basic representation of the map.

Red Area: Escape zones
Blue Rectangles: Attack Party Start Position
Center Point: Defender Start Position


Possible Issues and Possible Solutions
Issue: Defender cavalry can give his horse to King and king can run away -> We can tweak King's abilities so that he cannot ride anything.
Issue: Attackers can crush defenders because units are not always balanced -> This can be tweaked and tuned with several tests.
Issue: King can spoil the gameplay by trolling -> This can be resolved with King election each round. Since currently, the game doesn't have voting logic, I wanted to believe in player base. And even if king trolls the game, he would die easily and the game wouldn't take much time.
Issue: Defenders can kill all attackers -> In this case round can automatically end
Issue: Khuzaits -> I know. For them, I think cavalry cap would be a lethal blow and makes them underpowered. Can be an exception for them to make it balanced but not overpowered.


Possible Screenshots

King and Bodyguard as seen in the Singleplayer

More Suggestions?
Sure. Throw it at me. I know we still don't even have Battle Mode - but hey, why not for the future?

 

[sniparsexe]

I think the overall idea is really good, but the current imbalance between troops worries me a bit. Khuzaits, as you said, will still be a problem after adding a cavalry cap imho. Can you elaborate on the cavalry cap? Like how many AI cavs a player will have, or how many players will be able to choose cav?

 

[Bloc]

Like how many AI cavs a player will have, or how many players will be able to choose cav?

The limitation will be limiting how many players will be able to choose the cav - but overall AI unit count is something that should be tuned for a fine balance. Tuning also can result in other balances too, i.e giving higher tier units to defenders and other tier units to attackers - which still turns out to be balanced etc

 

[sniparsexe]

The limitation will be limiting how many players will be able to choose the cav - but overall AI unit count is something that should be tuned for a fine balance. Tuning also can result in other balances too, i.e giving higher tier units to defenders and other tier units to attackers - which still turns out to be balanced etc

Thanks for explaining, yes these should be enough to balance teams. I really hope they will consider adding this, or something like this

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Interesting, like a VIP escort, righ? I think the current maps are too small for this mode, I would bet on at least doubling the size.

 

[Bloc]

Interesting, like a VIP escort, righ? I think the current maps are too small for this mode, I would bet on at least doubling the size.

Yeah exactly, VIP escape thing. But I think maps are not that small for captains map at least for 4v4 matches. You wouldn't want to make this map too big since it can make game really boring for some player in some cases ( i.e. if escort party goes North, then it's kinda really impossible for Southern attacker to catch and fight unless Escort party stops and waits )
Although I didn't do any test for it yet but from going one side to another on foot takes a while. And you can always spice things up with some hills etc ( anything that won't create a bottleneck in essence ) but yes, double the size map would be better. Also, it would make it possible to add more players into the game.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Yeah exactly, VIP escape thing. But I think maps are not that small for captains map at least for 4v4 matches. You wouldn't want to make this map too big since it can make game really boring for some player in some cases ( i.e. if escort party goes North, then it's kinda really impossible for Southern attacker to catch and fight unless Escort party stops and waits )
Although I didn't do any test for it yet but from going one side to another on foot takes a while. And you can always spice things up with some hills etc ( anything that won't create a bottleneck in essence ) but yes, double the size map would be better. Also, it would make it possible to add more players into the game.

If the bet is for the sake of a "small - contained" map, perhaps I would like to find a more maze-like terrain scene for this purpose. Yeah i'm agree with "spicing up" I also would enhance encounters in bottlenecks while having enough subterfuge available horizontally or at different levels (layers).

Just imaging, you known

 

[Bloc]

If the bet is for the sake of a "small - contained" map, perhaps I would like to find a more maze-like terrain scene for this purpose. I would enhance encounters in bottlenecks while having enough subterfuge available horizontally or at different levels (layers).

I actually thought about that too. Having a multi-layered city like map, defenders starting from inner castle/quarter and escorting king outside of the city.
That might also work, but then it would render majestic cavalry charges or archers quite useless. But then again, it's a tactic game, you have to be wise which street you go and which unit you pick

 

[danEN]

Seems like it could be fun in a controlled server, but if you're playing with a bunch of try hard randoms wouldn't the defenders just all charge an exit point in a big clump and the attackers would be too spread out to stop it?

There should be some sort of task the King needs to do before he can leave the map, or something like that just to stop the obvious straight charge out.

 

[Bloc]

..but if you're playing with a bunch of try hard randoms wouldn't the defenders just all charge an exit point in a big clump and the attackers would be too spread out to stop it?

On defenders' case, defenders can't carry the King like a bag or hostage in CS - so all they have to do is being around him and following him while he decides where to move. If they are clever enough, they can also form two groups, and both act like they are protecting someone ( assuming that there is no Bannerman to show which one is real King )

On attackers' case, all they have to do is moving mid of map as a start ( since it's know that King will be there ) and shifting towards the army they see from distance. Since the map won't be super large, they will always have a chance to catch that party.

But I see what you mean. If they spend too much time on their spawn or moving around, they might never catch it before King runs away. I guess rather than making King do something, we can make him walk slow like he is carrying something heavy. Then since protecting party also have to sync with King, they have to slow down and give time for attackers to catch up.