RE: NP1 D-Day to Caen
As the designers themselves say, the inter round gaps are half an hour to an hour, and since the German reserve battalion starting at the back of the map can get to the front lines in under 20 minutes, it seems pretty ridiculous to say no one can move a foot in an hour.
I understand that some players may find this restriction too harsh but when i play Operations i regard all the battles as connected sequentially in time, so there is no abstract 1/2 to 1 hour interval between battles where there is a presumed ceasefire and units on the frontline can move off unmolested, to me this can only happen (in reality) at night or after a ceasefire is called.
(The only exception to this would be if each battle was a whole day with abstract nightime between battles)
The reason i play this way is to introduce realistic consequences to the choices a player makes to where he decides to stand and fight or manouver to.
For example if you allow unrestricted unit redeployment a force cut off holding a village only has to survive to the end of that battle and then before the next battle it can "magically" fall back to safety during the next battle set up phase, the potential to do this is too unrealistic for me to accept in any game.
Therefore the "teleportation" disease is always worse than the cure.
It also leads to REALLY gamey behaviour like in Round 2 when I get my TRPs you can be guaranteed they are going exactly where your troops ended last turn, followed by the dumping of my 105 and 150 mm shells on their thus entirely destroying your round 2 advance before it even starts (I'm happy to be Germany by the way). Totally ahistorical which will lead to a silly result in game terms.
Well i think it creates an interesting game within a game myself as the both players can, irrespective of TRPs, accurately target known enemy positions at the start of a new battle with a Fire Plan.
This can be thwarted by using the last few turns of a battle to relocate and fool the opponent into locking and therefore wasting his next battle Fire Plan arty on empty space, or the player can just take the fire knowing they are suffering for another force's relief.
This way also rewards feints if it draws next battle arty away from other more important units or new battle reinforcements.
Finally it is unenforceable, and any rule that is unenforceable is pointless. Someone could move a unit unintentionally and then has no way of getting it back to where they had it except by wiping out their whole move and redoing it.
Yes, this rule system relies on player integrity and rewards carefull setting up and forward planning, any mistakes made during the set up phase by a player that does not benefit that player is just tough, the game would not be re started, and i doubt a player could accidentally misplace enough units to create a positive outcome brought on by said error without it being deliberate, then i would stop the game based on ethical reasons.
So to conclude i cannot compromise on these restrictions so i will have to withdraw my offer.
Good luck with your defence.
Cheers
Sgt Bilko
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