SECRETS OF BLACKMOOR
  • Main
  • TFOTT HOME
  • What Others Are Saying About The Movie
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • See the Movie!
    • AMAZON PRIME
    • Vimeo Video on Demand
    • Purchase a DVD
  • Shop
  • CONTACT

Battle In the Skies - Relative Movement

7/22/2019

3 Comments

 
Picture

(Image ​Courtesy the Dave Arneson Collection)

When Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax worked on the drafts for Dungeons and Dragons in 1973, they were exchanging sections of the rules for commentary and play testing.

There is plenty of evidence that this was how they collaborated.

During this time Arneson created an aerial combat system for D&D. In its original form it is a self contained game which he called Battle in the Skies, or B.I.T.S. Much of this game was redacted from the published version of D&D.

B.I.T.S. is heavily derived from Mike Carr's game Fight in the Skies, yet it also contains one truly novel idea. Within the explanation for movement are 3 options. Arneson's "Mode III" appears to be a novelty.
 
Instead of having everyone make their moves, either in sequence, or as written simultaneous moves, Arneson implements a system that models the distance moved by a unit as a relative property between the distance moved by all moving units. Thus a unit moving one square will not complete their one move until a unit moving 9 squares has already moved 4 squares, and then both units will move into their next square.

Here is the chart from Arneson's relative movement system:

Picture

(Image from the Movie Secrets of Blackmoor
​Courtesy the Dave Arneson Collection)

In B.I.T.S., units can move up to 18 inches. Arneson has chosen to divide each turn into 2 parts, with each unit moving half their movement per half turn. He then applies a chart that indicates who can move during each of 9 phases of the half turn.

It has taken me about a year of looking at this chart to truly understand it. As is typical for Arneson, his ideas are True Genius, but his writing is unclear.

Using the chart is simple, yet he designed it in a way that runs counter to how most people would understand it. The number headings for each line are a unit's speed. The numbers after the words "Move phase" are the movement phases in which that the unit is allowed to move.

Thus a unit moving a speed of 3 can move in phases: 2, 5, and 8.

In my game experience this kind of Relative Movement System does not appear in a published game until Star Fleet Battles (Stephan V. Cole, Task Force Games, 1979) is published, and then it is also used in the game Car Wars (Chad Irby and Steve Jackson, Steve Jackson Games, 1980).

My question to readers is whether this is an Arneson creation, or if there was a game published before 1973 that used this kind of movement system?

We're nearly done with Volume 1 of Secrets of Blackmoor.

​ Don't miss out, make sure to check out our store:

https://secrets-of-blackmoor.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

3 Comments
    ​DVD'S, Books, T-shirts, games and more available on our store.
    Visit the TFott Store

    Author

    Secrets of Blackmoor is a Feature-length documentary about the birth of the “Mother of all Games;” Dungeons & Dragons.

    Archives

    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy
All Contents Copyright © 2023 The Fellowship of the Thing, Ltd. - All Rights Reserved 
  • Main
  • TFOTT HOME
  • What Others Are Saying About The Movie
  • Reviews
  • Blog
  • See the Movie!
    • AMAZON PRIME
    • Vimeo Video on Demand
    • Purchase a DVD
  • Shop
  • CONTACT