Re: Suggestions and Advice Solicited!

On Wed, 03 Jan 2001 11:29:45 +1100 Beth Fulton
<beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au> writes:
>G'day Glenn,
>
> >Do you play in cm's, have a large table,
> >or use the floor
>
>We use a full sized tennis table and the floating map idea. If players 
>
>happen to fly off both sides/ends (so we can't slide the mat to keep 
>everybody on the board) but aren't disengaging then their position 
>gets 
>marked on a gridmap until they come back on.
>

That sounds good - how often does that occur?  And if the table
'extends'
forever what's to keep a bloodthirsty gamer from going 'for the jugular'
other then self-preservation (and we have touched on the short term
styles most space/naval wargamers play with already in various threads
recently.)  

Playing 'people wise' (or 'ship wise' for the naval types) seems to not
be a positively reinforced value in war games/war game circles.  Once in
a pseudo-historical Napoleonic scenario in Espana (imagine a tilde there
okay?) during the Peninsula phase I had three SMALL Spanish local
militia
(and some were armed with carbines) plus a small unit of  militia
lancers
trying to get armory emptied while an equal number of French/Bavarian
regulars (foot and Cav) came across a small river (Hussars (?) found
crossings first turn and Infantry found two fords by end of turn two)
and
the scenario was appropriately titled - "Surrender, Flee or Die!"  As
the
Alcalde (my mother would have been proud <grin>)  I refused to rally (to
it's destruction) one battalion letting it rout off the board in rough
brush terrain and voluntarily routed a second battalion off the board
rather then let its rallied remanent armed with carbines face
(untouched)
french line with muskets and bayonets - I was promptly wrote up in the
newsletter (by explicit incident not name) as an example of how bad
rules
allowed people to flee 'without penalty' in a game.  The campaign I was
a
guest in for that scenario had that province 'pacified' by the French
the
rest of the game year so it wasn't quite the 'freebie' it was made out
to
be IMO.  But it was a 'people' decision I felt that a 1808 'born in the
village' [per the scenario] Alcalde (Mayor to non-Hispanics) might have
legitimately made in that scenario - as it was only 1/3 of the supplies
clearly got off the board and another third escaped due to die roll
bonuses as the pursuing cav chased the militia lancers overlong.  And
while the militia was unavailable that game year they were alive to come
back next year.

I also got flack when as  a guest commander of French marines and North
African (Algerian) troops in a Franco-Prussian campaign (again as a
guest
commander) when I saw a French force attack across a river against a
superior Prussian and Bavarian force I held the village until all
non-surrounded French troops were off the board then (facing  multiple
battalions to my one and the Krupps guns moving up) (they started the
game in medium range of the entire board, IIRC) plus infantry from the
crushed right flank moving past the mopping up of the French martyrs
(and
they say followers of Islam are suicidal - not that day!) I elected to
again voluntarily rout my  battered but marginally intact battalion of
Algerians off the board (regular move would have resulted in multiple
short range fire in to my flank as I column moved.)  Less historical in
some people's minds I am sure but the French C-in-C had stated we could
not win this game - we had to delay and withdraw intact (and promptly
the
French Right wing 'counterattacked' the advancing Prussian forces -
crossing the river to meet them!)  THAT was good military sense??!! 
Maybe but I would do it again (oh, I had the turn prior moved off
another
Algerian battalion off the board intact so it's not like I left the
French forces completely uncovered.)  If I had been able I would have
had
the intact force in the village but due to the troops positions in
relation to each other and the only road 'out'	it would have taken two
turns under fire to effect the switch of battalions.  And I chose not to
risk in for a battle already disastrously lost by my French 'masters.' 
No regrets.

Gracias, Glenn/Triphibious
You don't have to be French to be a 'frog', or even human!
Nektons - Real Marines!
Starguard, Dirtside 2, Full Thrust, Ratner's Space Marines, Stellar
Conflicts and Uprisings, and Full Thrust/2nd.  Resistance is everything!

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