Robo Rally S2 [Turn 4]

[diginova]

Last time, a new type of war came out of nowhere and rocked the very fabric of society. When the cruise missiles were gingerly lifted from their silos in Berkshire, we figured the world would be a safer place. But we were reckoning without Robot Wars.

-jeremy clarkson

Intro

It's time again for the ultimate battle between bored supercomputers operating neurotic factory robots! It's time for

General Rules

1. This game will be using the current Avalon Hill third edition rules (pdf), with two minor exceptions:
   a. When you power down, you keep your last program, so if registers lock while powered down, you aren't stuck with random programming.
   b. Powered down robots can't capture flags or move archive markers.
2. If you want an additional demo of game play, there is one here, courtesy of Avalon Hill.
   In addition, for the first turn and first turn only, I will respond with the location your robot will end up after executing your program assuming no interference, as a sanity check as we don't want any turn-one accidental deaths.
3. If you have any rules questions, ask
   before
   it would affect gameplay. The Mod's decision is final in all instances.
4. Programming deadlines are 48 hours, with time passing at half speed on weekends. Reminders will be sent out 24 hours before deadline. If a robot is not programmed in time, a random program will be executed.
5. If Option cards that involve choices at the end of phases are in play, players can send interrupt requests with a specific phase to stop the game at when they send their program. If at least one interrupt request is received, the turn will be played out until that phase ends. Players will then have 24 hours to decide if they will use that Option. Players can also send in conditional statements if they want to automate their use of Options. These can be as complicated as you like.
6. Supercomputers cannot talk, and thus players cannot either outside of the game thread. All discussion/alliances/etc. must happen in-thread, and nothing agreed upon is binding.

Roboteers

Roaming the Factory Floor:

1. ●
   StrangerCoug
RADIO CONTROL
: (I) You now have the option of firing a radio control beam instead of your robot's main laser. The radio control beam can only target a robot within 6 squares, and it replaces that robot's entire program with a copy of your robot's program. In cases of card priority, the target robot moves after your robot.
2. ●
   xRECKONERx
CRAB LEGS
: (A) You may place a Move 1 in the same register as a Rotate Left or Rotate Right card, and during that phase your robot will move 1 square to the left or right, respectively, without rotating.
3. ●
   swyellowtail
GYROSCOPIC STABILIZER
: (A) On any turn you choose to activate this option, your robot is not rotated by gears or conveyor belts.
4. ●
   Cybele
DOUBLE BARREL LASER
: Your robot's main laser has been modified to fire two shots. May be used with FIRE CONTROL and/or HIGH POWER LASER.
FOURTH GEAR
: (I) Your robot may now choose to move forward 4 squares when it is executing a Move 3. Priority is that of the Move 3.
5. ●
   Yiley
RAMMING GEAR
: When your robot pushes another robot, that robot receives a point of damage in addition to being pushed. Even if the target robot can't be moved, it still receives a point of damage.
6. ●
   KingdomAces
EXTRA MEMORY
: Your robot receives one extra program card per turn. This option does not prevent your robot from being destroyed when it has received 10 points of damage.
7. ●
   Cheery Dog
ABLATIVE COAT
: Your robot is now covered with a special coat that takes 3 points of damage from any direction or source. Discard after your robot takes a total of 3 points of damage.
8. ●
   JDGA
BRAKES
: (I) Your robot may now choose to move zero when it is executing a Move 1. Priority is that of the Move 1.

Scrapped:

None

Awaiting Activation:

1. Feirei

History

Series 1 Recap

Prologue

:

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

Turn 1

:

Bolt actions speak louder than words.

Turn 2

:

Any port in a storm.

●

xRECKONERx

Turn 3

:

Close quarters combat.

●

Cybele

[Feirei]

confirm

[Cybele]

/in
Green.

[swyellowtail]

Baah. Seems like I may have to wait a bit first.

If this /in is successful, the following colors are my preference: Yellow (duh), Red, Orange, Green, Blue, Black (Ironic how black is the last color on the list) (Also, I would prefer to have it so that the pre-/in players get precedence with the color choice over the people that simply signed up)

(Actually, hang on, is this 8 player or 6 player?)

[diginova]

8

[xRECKONERx]

/in orange

[StrangerCoug]

/red since purple is taken

[JDGA]

/in black

[Yiley]

/in blue

[ribwich]

/in if there's still a spot left. Not sure since xtopherusD already has a color but hasn't posted.

[ribwich]

/out

sorry, just got hit hard by a bad situation. not gonna have time for this.

[KingdomAces]

/in to replace

I meant to post this earlier, but this topic fell off of my radar for a few days there.

[Cybele]

I think xtoph never confirmed his reservation, so you're probably /in for real, KA.

digi: any word when you're ready to start?

[diginova]

I just got back from a cruise, so I'll make the board and deal out Options tomorrow.
KA is in as Brown.

[Cheery Dog]

I'm sure I same to the last one just after it filled as well. Although I never posted this then

/in to replace.

I always forget to look for stuff in mishmash and rely on stuff coming up as new posts.

[KingdomAces]

I really would prefer to be a replacement if needed, hence why I waited so long to sign up. Cheery Dog can take it if he wants it.

[Cheery Dog]

I guess I can do that, although I think it may depend on when the turns end as to whether i can get orders in every turn. (I'll be V/LA Nov 6th-9th without internet access)

[StrangerCoug]

diginova is updating Australian WoF, so I've given him a whack about this game.

[diginova]

---

Prologue

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

---

We all heard the stories.
That the Rally was just an excuse for neurotic supercomputers to have some fun at our expense.
We should have listened.

We thought it couldn't be that bad — it was just a race in a factory.
We worked on factory floors all our lives — yeah, there are lasers and pits, but they aren't

that

dangerous.
They still have to have a productive purpose.
If we keep cooler heads, we'll all be able to get out alive.
We should have listened.

As we entered the arena for this Rally, we knew something was different.
They locked the door behind us, and there was a curtain hiding the arena.
What could they have had in store for us?
We should have listened.

As the curtain fell, it turns out that they removed all pretenses.
This isn't a factory, it's an execution ground for robots!
We should have listened.
But for now, there's nowhere to go but forward.

Roboteers, stand by.

Original Roll String: 8d100

8 100-Sided Dice: (87, 73, 41, 97, 82, 25, 77, 3) = 485

[JDGA]

Oh god, why did it have to be Maelstrom D:
(Also Yiley's lost a life already...?)

[Yiley]

I need a handicap evidently

[StrangerCoug]

This is going to suck.

[StrangerCoug]

P.S. Are there four or eight lasers crisscrossing the center pit? The center of the board where the lasers cross looks wrong.

[diginova]

That is 8, one from each direction. I'll off-center them a bit to make it more obvious.
Also, Yiley has 4 lives

(Also, it wasn't Maelstrom with the flags on the conveyors at least)

[swyellowtail]

I expect one of two things to happen:
Lots of push-to-death incidents
Lots of push-to-death incidents

Hey wait a second, that's only one thing.
Well, in all seriousness, getting shot by lasers here is actually a lot harder than it seems. Unless you're moving there intentionally or you get pushed by someone, you can't really get hit by them. (And if you get pushed by someone, you're probably likely to get shot by them either before they do it or on both phases)

Though, those lasers do 2 damage each, so I guess that balances out.