As much as a like the rules I could not help myself and made a few additions and changes here and there. Most of these are for limiting artillery and boosting the abilities of infantry. Not that surprising really when using a ruleset called tank on tank. The rule amendments which have not been discarded include...
1) One hex in the game was either a 6 inch move or a 6 inch grid square, depending if I was using free movement or a square grid.
2) Rather than use two D6 dice I used one D12 dice instead. This changes the odds making them even. This has the effect of improving the odds of infantry surviving a hits with a defence of 7 on the open and 10 in cover. While increasing the vulnerability of tanks with defence ranging from 9 to 11 depending upon tank type.
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| D12 using the dice calculator anywise.com |
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| 2D6 |
4) Mortar units can only attack personnel units and must be within 12" of the spotting unit.
5) Infantry can use 1 action point and improve their position when in the open.
6) Artillery and mortar units can provide smoke cover for a single personnel unit for 1 action point. The smoke lasts for the duration of the opposing players turn and if attacked the unit is treated as if in cover.
Hi Peter, not sure that your rule number 2 is going in the right direction, as the bell curve of the 2D6 seems really necessary for the differentials in the tanks armour ratings to show through and make the vehicles feel right for their armour thickness and role.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of tankies will already raise an eyebrow over the gun values being so generic, with range being the only influence in demarking muzzle velocity / penetration capability, but it all seems to works so well, but I feel pretty sure that is down to the existing 2D6 relationships between firing and defending aspects of the game.
The difficulty in making the game as sold, more infantry centric is the scale (is it 1km per hex from memory), with whole towns being represented by a single hex.
I agree that the activation system is a universally useful mechanic.
I agree the differentiation between tanks does get blurred with the D12 approach, while providing an advantage the personnel units. That is the trade off I guess, and I may well return back to the 2D6 in the future as I really like these rules. They are just so well written and take up just 5 pages.
DeleteYes, it is a deceptively clever design. I believe the company have brought (or are bringing out) a computer version of the game.
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