Re: [DS] Point System (was RE: In praise of Cottage Industry)

In message
<2A5C49585B46EC42BB99D3000F725D4707470E@col1smx01.dscc.dla.mil>, "Be
ll, Brian K (Contractor)" writes:
> 
> While I do not use the point system much any more, it was (and is) a
> good tool to get a feeling of how a unit that I have not fielded
> will effect play (powerful vs not powerful). But it is not a good
> tool to guarantee that a game will be balanced.

I think the lack of a points system is a barrier to SG2's "crossover"
appeal to 40k'ers.  While I don't mind it, it does make game setup
more difficult, and IMO is really foreign to mainstream SF mini
gamers.  Remember: the rest of us can just ignore it (although,
really, who will?  Anybody play DS2 w/out points?)

I'd like to see variants on a straight-up points system-- you can
generate a force in your spare time, but when you arrive to the board,
it is changed somewhat.

Peter Pig's AK-47 has a really cool way to do this.  When creating
your army, you allocate army points to "political points."  You then
go through a 3-4 action flow chart, spending the points to take an
roll.  For instance, if you're a Superpower backed force, one of the
actions in the flowchart could be (this is of the cuff, but similar)
that the CIA tries to assassinate your opponent's leader.  Roll a d6.
On 1-2, it fails, the plot is discovered, and one enemy unit of the
opponent's choice could fight at High mission motivation.  On 3-6, it
inspires your country, giving you more recruits and you can field an
additional line infantry unit of green status.	Various results might
disband units before the game or dictate hidden deployment or VTOL
insertion.

Another way to do this would be like Necromunda, in which a scenario
for the game is rolled for or chosen, and this dictates which forces
of your army you can use and how they are set up.  If you're ambushed,
you might have to roll for units randomly until you have chosen 33% or
more of your force in points to use on the table, with the rest
possible reinforcements during the game.  It could even dictate high
or low mission motivation, etc...