Getting to know your Optional Rules

[Wolfgang]

Good points! I can see how this rule would tend to favor the attacker over the defender.

I started experimenting with this rule when I had a regular opponent and we started getting draw results pretty consistently.

Although I've only seen the game invoke it in draw situations - the defender isn't in a state of victory to begin with, nor is the attacker. But then I can see how the extra turns could tend to result in a victory for the attacker if the game is that close.

By the same token, if the defender was closer to a minor victory than the attacker, then it would tend to favor the defense. Although i can see how this would be a rarer situation than the above.

Hmm, interesting. I dont think I'll run this as a default for pbem.

[-72-]

Wouldn't variable ending also have the possibility of ending the game earlier? I am not that versed in the SB mechanics but that was how the rule worked in the original Steel Panthers series way back when.

The idea there was so that you couldn't build an attack or defense just to last long enough based upon set knowledge of when the game would end.

[Wolfgang]

Wouldn't variable ending also have the possibility of ending the game earlier?

I don't think it does.

By the way, I started using this rule when i had a regular opponent and we started constantly getting 'draws' :chin: so I figure I'd give it a try as a way to help decide those a lil better... using it as a Tie breaker mechanic basically.

Overrall, the extra turns didn't seem to make a difference in a really even match. The draw tends to stay a draw in my experience. I think it speaks to the effects of a solid defense/attack plan combined with an effective execution of said plan.

Even on defense when the extra turns could hurt you - if your margin from defeat is that slim - then the attackers plan/exec was just a lil bit better anyhow (all things being equal). Even in those cases - a wiley defender with a lil luck can still manage a draw.

I've seen it become a situation for the attacker too. Wherein the margin the attacker has is so slim that a single counter attack could throw them back into a minor defeat, especially if you catch them flat footed in a post assault type of posture - in which case it would be the attacker suddenly wishing the game would end sooner.:conf:

So although I don't use it as a default in pbem matches... In cases where draws start to crop on a regular basis with a particular opponent, wherein your playstyles start to become too familliar to each other - I think this can be an interesting and fun mechanic to invoke. ;)

[TheBigRedOne]

Wouldn't variable ending also have the possibility of ending the game earlier?

I don't think it does.

This is correct. It only adds the possibility of extending the game. Sometimes it doesn't even do that.