RE: [FT] Piquet in Space (was Core Systems)

Avalon Hill's Firepower (also an old Yaquinto ww2 game, probably Close
Assault) used a simpler version. The game is of squad-level combat.
Each squad is rated for number of chits and number of actions per chit.
All the chits go in a cup. Draw, activate, draw. A 'normal' squad is
rated 3/2. There is no limit on consecutive actions, which can get odd
and/or interesting.  Victory Games used a chit system for a WWII game
(Panzer Command ?), with one per regiment, plus the divisional
commander and one for the staff (IIRC). The Germans had a better chit
arrangement, and the Russians had numbers.

The earliest example of this sort of system was, AFAIK, The Sword and
the Flame, an old set Colonial skirmish rules. They used a deck of
cards. Each player could activate when his color was drawn. Face cards
were special for both activation, and in card draws for combat. S&F was
a lot of fun the one chance I had to play (15mm Colonials were never my
cup of tea).

I even spice up Space Marine (2nd ed.) with a card for each detachment
in a deck. Each detachment completes its turn before the next
activation is drawn for. It makes an immense difference in gameplay.
Then again, I always play SM differently. The Imperial Dispatches
playtests are always set up like an armor engagement rather than the GW
battle reports which invariably look like a WHFB game. Actually, SM was
played (in White Dwarf) more like WHFB than WHFB looked. By that point
the fantasy battle reports were between armies made up of war engines,
small expensive regiments and characters/monsters. Add in magic, and
there were amazingly few maneuver elements; many of those were very
mobile (some airmobile). A WHFB battle in WD156 had 11 units vs 14, SM
in SD144 has 23 vs. 23. Come to think of it, the Space Marine game has
a wider field of play; based on the distance between the start lines.

At 5:51 PM -0700 6/30/99, Binhan Lin wrote:
>Is Piquet a published system?	If so, where?  How much does it set you
>back?
>(Not to intice an advertizement.)
>
>Your discription reminds me of some of the chit/card draw systems I
>have seen
>for some wargames.
>I have played "Across five aprils"  -- an American civil war game that
>has a
>very simplied version.
>It includes only two types of chits:
>   Unit chit -- Each unit has it's own chit.  It moves when drawn.
>   Battle chit -- All units attack now.
>
>A good wargame.
>
>Donald Hosford
>
>Piquet is a full blown system - the web page is :
>
>http://www.piquet.com
>
>The rules are heavily based on luck - we've had games where one side
>had as
>many as thirty actions before the opponent even moved ( a 20 Vs 1 die
>roll goes
>a long way).  There are bizarre events that can occur, such as on the
>reload
>card - if you are already loaded, and this card comes up, you can fire
>your
>weapons (1 action) then reload (1 action) then fire (1 action) for
>each unit
>before you have to flip your card to the next one.  This tends to make
>firing
>occur in bursts with very little option to spread fire out.  People
>tend to
>conserve fire into huge volleys where many units will get to fire and
>then
>reload.  Movement is a bit iffy too since it's possible for the
>opponent to
>start at the far edge of the board and close with you without you ever
>getting
>a shot.  This is offset if you allow for bonus chips that can be
>cashed in for
>extra actions.  At least then you'll get one chance to fire (but you
need
>actions and the appropriate card to reload).  There is an interesting
>side to
>this though in that the luck eventually balances out - you just need
>to survive
>long enough for the luck to shift your way - which makes designing the
>scenario
>important.  There needs to be something that allows a player to hang
>on for a
>turn or two of bad luck (extra distance on the map, terrain feature,
>mission
>objectives other than destroy the opponent...)
>
>Some thoughts,
>
>--Binhan

Michael Carter Llaneza
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1991-1950
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Whenever I hear the "Odd Couple" theme, I get this image of Dennis
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