Brainstorming Session: Theme, Mechanics

So our big assignment in game design now is that we're creating a Print 'n play board game. Which is awesome, 'cus I've always wanted to create something like this but never really found a good place to start. Anyways...

I have my mind set on a certain theme. So I've thought of different mechanics that can work around that theme, since I'm still not entirely sure how the game should be played. I don't know if I want it long, short, simple, (relatively) complex, etc...
My theme is a thing that I'm going to call "Demonhunter" for the time being. I'm looking to create a competitive 2-4 player game that possibly involves collecting resources, chance-based movement, different game phases, and a set space for the players to work in, unlike in Pocket Civ, which did not come with pre-determined space.

In this game, there would be two different sides of the board. This is a mechanic I know I want to keep for sure. However, I'm not entirely sure about whether or not I want to make it possible for opposing sides to cross over into each other's territory. This depends on the balance of the game. If the goal of one of the phases is to collect resources quickly, then could the opposing player steal the main player's resources from their side tactically?

Another mechanic, specifically about the space, is the shape of the board. Is it a basic square, grid pattern that the players move across linearly, or is it a bunch of hexagon pieces that the player puts together, in order to spice up the game everytime? I think the hexagons /might/ be a better idea, especially if resources come into play. I could include cards that indicate where to place the resource pieces and have special challenge versions of the game. If I create a grid setup, do they come apart, or are they all together? If so, should I create resource tokens instead of tiles to change up the game? And if more than two players want to join, should I add on additional rectangular pieces to each side in order to join up?

After the game starts, it's important to consider the game's central mechanics.
If I were to do phases, I was thinking about a resource collection phase and a fight phase, to keep things simple. The players would use the resource phase to collect various resources such as stone, wood, fire, etc., which could be traded in before the fight phase for different types of soldiers. Then these soldiers are used in the fight phase.
There would be four different types of soldiers to, yet again, keep it simple. Each would do different amount of damage to one an other (like rock paper scissors). For example, a regular "soldier" class would be effective against a "magic" class. Then a "magic" class would be effective against a "flying" class. Then, in order to balance everything out, both sides would have a "hero" class. Hero classes would be effective against /all/ classes, so the player wouldn't have to worry about getting enough resources to purchase every class. This allows for strategy on the player's part and careful expenditure of resources.

There is a problem with this system, however. If all classes are semi evenly matched against each other (there is also a disproportional amount of luck required, seeing as you and your opponent cannot know about your opposing armies), what is the point of gathering different resources? Well, you can sort of see your opponent's strategy based on what resources they go for within the time limit or turn limit (idea pending).

But, in another case, a different system to try would be classes that do more damage but also cost more resources. So, depending on what you earn, you can get a bunch of low cost troops and swarm, or you can buy a one or two big guys and deal out a ton of damage. However, keeping track of damage is another thing to consider, and may be difficult to manage.

The fight phase, and the game ends when one team is wiped out, or, alternatively, the hero is killed, for hardmode. The resource phase has a bunch of different ways it could end: a. when the entire map is leveled (all of the resources have been expended), b. time runs out, or c. the players have taken a set number of turns. Leaning towards a or b as an option, but could probably be played either one of these ways.

Alternate Versions of Theme:

Another version of the game I thought of was one with a ranking system, and health points. This I found more difficult because health points on PnP games is generally (from what I've seen) a sloppily done mechanic that is annoying to keep track of.

The player would start with the lowest rank. After collecting a certain amount of resources, they would get higher, the higher the rank, the more specific resources. If the one of the two, three, or four players meets, then one can chose to attack the other.

With an idea like this, balancing comes into play. Because of the open-ness of attack, I'd like to say that a player rolls the die in order to decide how far they move. The map would need to be medium-large for a game like this, so a player can keep their distance from another if they want to.


I'll post more versions if I think of them. In fact, I'd like to create a game that can be played in many different ways, because it'd keep things interesting. However, for this assignment, I need to narrow the scope to one main, effective version, in order to learn how to execute and balance a game correctly.