Common house rules?

[Fubar]

Just asking what are the most common house rules for any of the Steel Panthers games?

So far i've heard of only spending 10% of your points on Arty, does this include AT guns as they are in the Arty section? And what about mortar teams that are part of some company purchases?

And limiting air strikes.

And no shelling on turn 0 because it doesn't show on the replay.

I take it that both sides have to agree to any rules before hand, i don't want to start any games just to have my opponent start crying cheat or foul over some rule i was unaware about. :rolleyes:

If there's a sticky with these already i couldn't see it....sorry. :conf:

[Vesku]

There are no house rules that I know of, you need to negotiate before every battle what you want to use.

For example, I do shell on turn 0 if I think it's wise, no one has taken offense so far.

About 10% arty, some count every piece that is able to fire indirect, some allow 10% plus company attached mortars, some include airforces, you need to agree how you count it.

[Montana_Prussian]

There are no house rules that I know of, you need to negotiate before every battle what you want to use.

For example, I do shell on turn 0 if I think it's wise, no one has taken offense so far.

About 10% arty, some count every piece that is able to fire indirect, some allow 10% plus company attached mortars, some include airforces, you need to agree how you count it.

I never count direct fire only weapons in the arty. Shelling on turn 0 is fine by me in Assault or Advance.

[Narwan]

Afaik the 10% arty rule came from the WaW family of games were artillery tended to be too powerful in larger quantities. It was a common understanding but not a 'house' rule for those games. For the CAMO games arty has never been considered a real problem (the occasional debate notwithstanding).
Though you might want to look out for games where one side has cluster ammo for the arty available and the other hasn't. Especially in combo with ammo units to keep the cluster rounds coming it can unbalance a game.

Narwan

[Grumbler]

Yes, If both parties are focused on ladder points, ego-boo and are trying for that critical (so they think) advantage, then the pre-battle negoiations can make UAW labor contract negoiations look simple.

[PzHeinZ]

There are no house rules that I know of, you need to negotiate before every battle what you want to use.

For example, I do shell on turn 0 if I think it's wise, no one has taken offense so far.

About 10% arty, some count every piece that is able to fire indirect, some allow 10% plus company attached mortars, some include airforces, you need to agree how you count it.

Yes and things that are not specifically banned in those negotiations are IMO allowed.

All my opponents have agreed to 10 % arty and it includes everything that falls down from the sky to your positions except those company mortar shells. Is it usual that some people really count in AT/infantry guns too?...

I think I have never taken any barrages on me on turn 0, but I would not mind since it has never been discussed.

[retired from gaming]

House rules can be different for each and every battle. You are right however that some of them are more common than others. Grumbler is right - there was a time while back when people seemed to spend more time on pre-game agreements than the game itself. I switched to stock scenarios then and am still happy about that.

It all depends on what you expect really from the game. After you play 50 or 100 battles you will be able to tell what you like the best - historical forces, all-out battles or else. And then you start thinking about the rules which can give you the type of game you want.
Most people here just try to play more or less reasonable battles and those 2 or 3 house rules usually are enough.
I personally dont think pre-bombardment in meeting engagements is realistic (and usually dont see it in my battles) but wouldnt bitch if my opp does that unless it was clearly stated otherwise.
And for those few purchase battles I still play every now and then I usually say - Lets buy reasonably historical forces, as I hate to count if I have 1 gun above the limit or not.

If you are looking for good refference how historical buy shoud be alike check this article by Steel Good. It is a good start point.
https://www.theblitz.club/articles/strat...php?id=111

[Montana_Prussian]

I actually prefer stock scenarios as well,for the simple reason that they are historical,and there is no room for agument

Purchase games are just fine,too,IF both nplayers are on the same page. I like SGs article,and I well remember the debate that caused it to be written:smg:

[Grumbler]

There is a common misperception regarding just what a "Meeting Engegement" is. The US doesn't even officially use the term, AFAIK. The US term is "movement to contact", which is what most europen armies would consider a reconnaissance in force. IN WW2 most M/E's happened when the line of battle was broken, and one side was moving up reinforcements to restore the line and the other was trying to exploit the breach.
Ths Soviets saw a Meeting Engagement happening as a result of a breakout and persuit force bumping into the enemie's reserves. That theory was never tested, since no Soviet style army was ever able to achieve a breakout. Although nobody really knows what happened in the Sino-Indian border battles of '62. The Indians achieved a breakout in '71 against the Paki's, but It's debateable if they were using Soviet tactics or just a lot of Soviet type equipment. Anyway, the Paki's fled, which means there were no reserves to create a M/E.
Anyway, the SP idea that you have Brigade or even Battalion sized formations wander around loose is ludicrous. The closest I can think of would be the Eritrean-Ethopian war of 5-98 to 6-00. I think the war was brought to a halt because the Eritreans broke loose an Armored Brigade and the Ethopians had nothing left to counter it with which made negoiations seem like a good idea.
That armored brigade was part of an infantry division, so they could hardly be considered to have been operating in a vacumn.
No politican will allow a 1-star general to just drive off with a few thousand men and a couple of hundred armored vehicles. Not to mention what the 2 star thinks about that.

[retired from gaming]