Indignity; The Game of Origami Warfare

Many nights, as I lie awake yearning for sleep to drape her soft blanket o'er my
fevered brow, I conceive of ideas that seem brilliant. Sometimes, when I awake and think of those ideas in morning's light, they are revealed to be foolish thoughts of a half-dreaming mind; at other times, they survive my scrunity and bear fruit. This is one of the latter.

So: Indignity. This is a miniatures game of sort, in which you assemble a small army of paper creatures (frogs, cranes, tigers and giant crabs) in order to destroy your foe. Each unit has a cost; frogs cost but a single point, while cranes cost four points, tigers and flying cranes cost five points, and the terrifying Giant Crabs cost ten points. Each player assembles an army of a single hue, preferably out of sight of the other, and then deploys them at least six index-finger-lengths from an agreed central point. The player with the shorter index finger begins the game. Note that henceforth all distances are assumed to be in index-finger-lengths of the player taking action (moving, attacking, etc.), from the middle of the knuckle to the point of the finger.

Each player takes turns, moving all their creatures and then allowing their opponent to do the same. If this proves a trouble, try to move them in some order (say, from left-to-right) so that the creatures moved may be easily distinguished from those not yet moved. To move a creature, its owner must first find some point of it with his index finger, then alternate fingers, touching them point-to-knuckle, to find a destination. Frogs may move three index-fingers-length; tigers and cranes may move two, giant crabs a mere one, and the rare and precious flapping cranes may fly four index-fingers-lengths.

Three index fingers' length.

When a creature reaches an enemy, it may viciously attack, crumpling and (for the particularly violent) ripping at its paper enemy. Each creature, according to its offensive potential, may deal some number of indignities unto a foe; frogs and cranes deal one indignity in an attack, while tigers deal two with claws and fangs, and the terrifying crabs swipe with giant limbs for three indignities. Creatures also have different tolerances for indignity; frogs, upon suffering a single indignity, are instantly slain and tossed off the battlefield, while cranes must have both wings crumpled (in two indignities) to be defeated, tigers need all legs lost (in four indignities) to fail, and Giant Crabs need both upper and lower legs (of which, strangely, they possess only four) to be crumpled away to die; that is, they must suffer eight indignities before falling.

There are a few things that protect creatures from indignity. Firstly, in movement, the controlling player must be able to touch the target with his index finger within the length proscribed by the creature; that is, a frog cannot attack a creature if, in movement, it is but a half-finger too far away. Secondly, cranes, possessing long necks as they do, may defend themselves on being attacked. Should any enemy attack them, they may retaliate before being struck, dealing one indignity. This injures any attacker and renders them invulnerable to frogs. Thirdly, to prevent enemies ravaging through the ranks and striking targets as will, attackers may only approach within a half-finger's length (from the middle knuckle to the point) of any enemy if they intend to immediately attack the closest one. Measure this only when necessary.


The frogs may attack the cranes, but the tiger, though within movement range, is 'shielded' by the cranes. The cranes and tiger, for their own right, may only attack the closer frogs, unless they were to circle around.

Animal Names	Point Cost	Movement (in finger-lengths)	Indignities Sufferable	Indignities Inflicted	Notes
Frog	1	3	1	1	-
Crane	4	2	2	1	Retaliates
Tiger	5	2	4	2	-
Flapping Crane	5	4	2	1	Retaliates, flies
Giant Crab	10	1	8	3	-

From left to right: Giant Crab, Tiger (sadly headless), Crane, and Frog. Frogs are just wads of paper or aluminium. It makes them more enjoyable to toss.

For the sake of simplicity, units may be moved in groups, such that a group of, say, frogs, may have their movement measured all together, and them moved as a mass. This does not apply to combat unless ALL of the units in a group can move to the target (without crossing within a half-finger of another), and does not change the distance which any member of a group may move; it is merely a short-cut for the assistance of those who choose to use large numbers of units, most notably frogs.

Mass frog movement.

Normally, in this sort of game, optional variants may be suggested. The default victory condition is the utter annihilation of the foe; however, should one choose to play a series of games, one might keep a points-tally from game to game rather than a simple win-loss record. In this case, points might be awarded for surviving creatures (per their purchase price), with half-points given for a loser who preserves some number of his troops by retreating out of the bounds of engagement; let us say, for on this scale index-fingers grow impractical, six feet from the centre of the battlefield.

REASONS FOR RULES
-The half-finger radius is there to preserve sanity. Otherwise, it seemed far too easy for fast creatures to rampage through troops, attacking with pinpoint accuracy the units against which they have some advantage; frogs slaughtering tigers, tigers murdering herons, etc. If it is too much a trouble to manage, try taking it out and see if its absence is too much a detriment.
- I had considered taking turns unit-by-unit, rather than army-by-army. The trouble with this is that it gives rather too much advantage to the single unit - why bother moving frogs when it means that you can't move your Giant Crab? This is a rule that should probably remain in place.

THINGS WHICH WON'T MATTER
-When two players are particularly mis-matched in finger-length (say, an eight-year-old against a twenty-year-old), the person with the shorter index finger should use the other player's finger as a measuring tool rather than using their own.
-When resolving disputes, these three factors should be your guides and goals: simplicity, aggression (favoring the attacker), and amusement value.

I think that's all; I may edit this later.