RE: Paces as a unit of measure

The point I was getting at was that "paces" instead of "inches" or even
"centimeters" is an odd measurement for a wargame.
<phb> Plus, once combat was imminent, I'm not sure a "pace" was strictly
adhered to either. </phb>
Keep in mind the U.S. Army's definition of "pace" is a thirty inch step.
It
is not used as a way to execute movement (i.e. take two paces to the
front,
execute a left flank, etc....). In instruction, the terms "step,"
"thirty
inch step," or "fifteen inch step" (for marching backwards or other
complex
maneuvers) are used.
<troll>What it really boils down to is I personally don't like DB
Anything.
Essentially, any excuse to mock or snicker at the rule systems is
sufficient
for me :P.</troll>
Happy gaming
Jay

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
[mailto:owner-gzg-l@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU]On Behalf Of
Mike.Elliott@bull.co.uk
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 5:50 AM
To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Re: Paces as a unit of measure

Tom (&Beth)

While it is certainly true that each individual human's pace is
different
depending on their height, the fact remains
that the pace as a unit of measure has been around for a very long time.
After all many units of measurement started out
as human body measurements e.g. cubit, foot, palm, hand and  yard.

pace
     a traditional unit of distance, considered equal to the length of a
person's "full" pace, that is, the distance between two
     successive falls of the same foot. Thus one pace equals two steps.
The
Romans counted 1000 paces in a mile, with each
     pace being a little over 58 inches (or about 148 centimeters). In
more
recent times, the pace has usually been defined as
     exactly 5 feet (or 152.4 centimeters); this unit is called the
great
pace or geometrical pace. In the military, however,
     the term "pace" is often used as an alternate name for the step;
see
military pace.

military pace
     another name for a step. In the U.S. Army, the military pace is
defined
to be exactly 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) for
     ordinary "quick time" marching and 36 inches (91.44 centimeters)
for
double time marching. The same definitions are
     generally used by marching bands.

step [1]
     a traditional unit of distance, equal to 1/2 pace. The step is
traditionally equal to 30 inches or 76.2 centimeters.

quoted from:
How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
 © Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/

The original point was that it was a strange unit of measurement to use
in a
set of Ancient wargames rules. I think the above is
sufficient explanation as to why Phil Barker (the author of DBA) used
it.
Given Phil's particular interest in the Romans its not
surprising that he did. It seems a trivial point on which to cast out a
very
good set of simple rules. I rest my case.

Cheers, Mike

Mike,

I gotta say there are problems with paces as measure. As Beth pointed
out,
everyone's paces vary. That can be quite problematic. Sometimes people
have
a heck of a time learning formation drill because of this difference.

And can you imagine what 4'10" tall pygmy tribesmen would say about your
"standard pace"? Great bleedin' leap they'd call it!

As I recall from a bit of CF land nav training, part of the trick to
good
land nav (other than having a good bit of skill with map, compass,
judging
reference points, and working in a team which really is the key) was to
pace
out a reference distance like a 100 m or a km or so and get a feel for
your
standard pace. Once you know what your standard pace is, on average, it
becomes far easier to navigate effectively (given that, for some sad
reason,
your GPS is conked).

Even 120 ppm or 60 ppm can be quite fun to try to keep within +/-10%
when
marching. It takes a good sense of timing or lots of practice to get
this
plus or minus a pace regularly. Of course, this need for practice is
usually
generously granted (in place of that rather mundane and rather indulgent
activity known as sleep) by most infantry instructors I've met. They're
a
generous lot, when it comes to handing their recruits "growth
experiences"
or "self-improvment excercises". ;)

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From - Wed Dec 13 16:38:36 2000
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From: "David Reeves" <davidar@nortelnetworks.com>
To: Full Thrust <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Subject: re: DS2/FW/BGC figures identified. Thanks
Date: 08 Dec 2000 13:45:58 -0500
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tom,

would you post or direct email your identified pic list.  i've been
trying to p
uzzle these out as 
well so i can send in my DS2 order.

thanks,
dave