POLL: fixed or variable?

[British Tommy]

Mad Baron brought up the subject of variable turns and how some players dislike it. I thought a poll on the subject would be interesting for scenario designers.
So cast your vote now! :)

[OWL]

Fixed turns are worthless in every battle or scenario!! They simply result in unrealistic final turns to influence victory locations!


Owl

[fluidwill]

Even though Murphy's law decrees that the variable ALWAYS favours my opponent it's STILL way better.

[kineas]

One of the finest features of CMx1. No more last turn rushes with a gun damaged tank onto the flag.

[Ratzki]

One of the finest features of CMx1. No more last turn rushes with a gun damaged tank onto the flag.

I don't know about that. I have seen several last few turns flag rushes to try to trigger the extended turns so that a poor plan has a chance with the extra time given.

[fluidwill]

Flag rushes still happen, I've done them myself (I'm not proud, though I do apologise to my opp if I think I'm stretching credibility) but you know, the flags ARE the objectives. I'm happy when I can rush my troops at a flag in the last turns, usually my tattered remnants are sucking dirt and trying to survive the game by that stage...
Also in my experience the victory LEVELS in CM are fairly close so that even a flag turned neutral can swing some ladder points your way (if you worry about such things).
Perhaps its a matter of style? Those who try and control the chaos of war as portrayed by CM prefer fixed endings whilst those who embrace the chaos prefer variable endings?

[kineas]

You can rush within this system too but the random turns make this tactic marginally effective at best. Allegedly there is no logic behind the extra turns, no matter what the manual says, it's just a random roll at the theoretical end of the game.

[Mad Baron]

It's a game after all. The ''realism'' of fixed or variable turn games is all relative. So was such-and-such a battle just 30 minutes in length, or did it go for 33, or 36..?? Fixed implies a timetable, which often is a part of any real battle. Influencing victory locations is part of the game, regardless of how many turns the game lasts. And I would add that sometimes games are already decided well before the last turn...so I don't particularly care, but prefer the fixed setting.

Optimum realism might be to play battles with the turns set to maximum (120, which is only 2 hours ''real time''), or to play operations with max time limits. But I still personally prefer the fixed setting. Like, ''Hey, you have 25 turns to do what you have to do...now do it, or lose.''

[Hedgehog]

I know many times when I think the battle is mine and the variable goes on and on, and the battle swings the other way, I suppose you should have that in your sites really, Perhaps that adds to the excitement and annoyance of the game, But I still think that variables should stay in place.


Ted

[Mad Baron]

I don't object to Variable, just prefer Fixed. Variable is a nice option to have for the game beforehand I suppose, to select or not. Opponents can wrangle out all the particulars for any game on their own.....

(I just think [my last ''editorial'' on this] that 3 or 6, or whatever, extra minutes to a game doesn't actually add any additional ''realism.'' It adds to the excitement of game-conclusion possibilities, but still doesn't relate to any actual realism, real world.)

BUT...all said and done, the Combat Mission series is the best gaming experience I've ever had!! Bar none! ;)