Re: [GZG] ground combat campaigns

I've been thinking about this for a while, and still no results. Some
thoughts:

Political decisions have to be exogenous (outside the direct control
of the player). That doesn't mean the politics isn't important, but
their political masters remain a level above them. What they do has to
fit political constraints, and the progress of the war has political
implications. Even in dictatorships, the political and military roles
tend to diverge. This casts the player as a general officer.

The tabletop games that result should represent narrative "turning
points". They should either be critical moments in the war when
everything turns on the skill and courage of a few men or engagements
that are meant to be typical of how the war was going in general at
that moment.

The "turning points approach" has three advantages. It doesn't force
you to play one system or another. If two people want to play
stargrunt, then why should they be playing dirtside? Or vice versa.
Second, it's always relevant; that is, you're not rolling up scenarios
which are foregone conclusions, and the battles are dictated by and
help to decide critical military events. Third, the battle fits the
subjective experience of experiencing the history of a war: a series
of decision points and critical junctures. I guess there's a fourth
point, two: it cleanly separates the strategic from the tactical. So
strategy doesn't just feel like tactics with larger formations.

The consequence is that there isn't really a direct connection of the
campaign map to the game table. You're also not following one unit
from battle the battle. Like I said, I'm still working on it and am
not making much progress (at the moment it's still mostly narrative
and negotiation rather than a system).

On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 8:32 PM, John Tailby <john_tailby@xtra.co.nz>
wrote:
> has anyone got any rules for ground combat campaigns.
>
> I'd like to play some games where the strategic decisions impact the
on
> table action. Ideally I'd like a map where the map scales to the
table so if
> there's a hill on the map then there's a hill on the table. I'd also
like
> some simple supply rules but I don't really want logistics to
dominate the
> game.
>
> Some recon and surveilance assets would also be useful
>
> I don't like GWs campaigns where you take your standard table top army
and
> get to reuse that army for every game.
>
> Who has done games like this?
>
> Any input or ideas appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> John
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-- 
Robert Mayberry
(678) 984-5113
Robert.Mayberry@gmail.com
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