Re: [GZG] Gzg-l Digest, Vol 37, Issue 24

On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 10:05:10AM +0100, Ground Zero Games wrote:

>There are a number of possible solutions to this that immediately
>spring to mind - the most obvious ones being a mission-based scenario
>system of some kind (so that you have to bring a reasonably balanced
>fleet to the table, or risk getting a mission that cannot be achieved
>with the over-specialised force you have chosen), or a victory points
>mechanic structured so that a player cannot claim a "win" through a
>Pyrrhic victory.

It's a bit dependent on the culture, but as a rule of thumb from the
modern era I would expect substantially more weight to be put on
preserving one's own force than on destroying the enemy's (even if
overall numbers and technological capabilities are about equal). Of
course, we only want to game the times when there's actually a fight.

I was thinking earlier about a force generation system that took into
account logistics states: the usual approach to FT has two shiny new
fleets going at each other, but particularly in a long war it seems
likely that ships would be damaged, low on ammunition, and so on even
before the fight begins. The point value system can accommodate this, of
course: the damaged systems simply count as non-combat tonnage for CPV
purposes, since in game terms they aren't there.

Looking forward from there, I'm wondering about a random force
generation system: give it a navy list and some standard formations, and
it spits out a group of ships and their supply/damage states. I realise
this takes away the pleasure of the fleet-building phase, but as an
optional rule it could add a substantial feeling of realism. ("These
were the guys who happened to be on station on the day when it all blew
up.")

Combine that with a victory point system that rewards force preservation
at least equally with campaign objectives, and you could get some very
interesting small-fleet engagements...

R
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