Re: DS2: Points or no Points

One of the things I look for in most of my miniatures games is a lack of
a points
system, simply because I believe that many times it leads to arguments
about
whether the system itself is balanced, if something is too cheap, or too
expensive
for what it does.  Even when playing FT, I don't normally bother with
"balancing"
the points values between forces.  Instead, I design scenarios which
have benefits
and drawbacks for both sides.  For example, one that I ran recently had
a KV
raiding force going after an ESU freight convoy.  Taking my cue from one
of the
recently mentioned book series, I assigned heavy escorting forces to the
convoy,
with the caveat that only one light cruiser and two destroyers could
independently
maneuver at any given time; the remaining ships had to stay with the
convoy, which
could only accelerate to try to get off the opposite board edge asap. 
The raiders
were somewhat limited in their forces, having a strike cruiser as their
heaviest
ship backed by destroyers, but they had the advantage of being able to
attack from
any angle, and to maneuver at will.  The independent escorts were picked
off, and
while some of the convoy did make it off the table, the mission had to
be
considered a victory for the KV, as they managed to destroy or disable
over 1/2 of
the cargo ships in the convoy.	If I'd bothered to evenly match the
forces points
wise, there would've been little point in playing the scenario, as the
KV should've
either whomped on the ESU, or, if I didn't put restrictions on the
commies, the
whole thing would've been just another space battle, with cargo ships
caught in the
middle.

Mark

Michael Brown wrote:

> Many moons ago there was a miniatures game highly detailed design
system that
> included economic and technological factors.	Days could be spent
optimizing
> the various factors (pre-PC). Such was Striker.
>
> The first time I ran a game, I looked at the minis, pulled out
Traveller Book
> 4/ Mercenary, and looked to see what was described for the Tech Level
I had
> selected.  I then assigned values to the various systems at whim.  It
worked.
>
> Too much of the real game balance is in the scenario.  ID the force
structure,
> SWAG the values (be consistent with things like size), and play! 
Total elapsed
> pre-game time <= 15 minutes.	John has it right, design the force
package, on
> capabilities and mission, then design scenarios to test it.
>