Disabled Armor-Indirect by the Map-and more about Gardening Later

[Dan Caviness]

Hey everyone been really busy working on some big games but wanted to make a few comments about the game and solicit your inputs.

1. The new artillery tables are (obviously) more effective vs. armor. This type of subject is excellent grist for the mill and can be debated up to and including official army histories providing data on same but I am NOT going to go there. Whew. What I'd like to ask is doesn't a random disable on an unspotted tank seem a bit farfetched? Especially considering I recently disabled an IS-2m (sorry Smed and sorry Guderian) in Borisov with a disrupted one strength 81mm German mortar? Hey...I'm loving it...but they ain't....and I know how it feels on the other end as well having lost a couple of King Tigers now the same way.

I was thinking perhaps the new table would be better served if it handed out these armored results as disrupts rather than disables? Not all the time...but at least some/most of the time? I know you could probably drop a mortar round down an open hatch or something like that...but those points add up on the disables...and this had to be a very rare instance...no? You Army boys out there tell us...

In general we like new rules that increase the skill level required to play, or enhance the games' subtlety and nuance. I think the new arty tables are a bit of a step in the other direction...and they reward the unskilled player who just starts picking unspotted hexes and hoping. OK....I guess...but what about getting disrupts some of the time rather than disables? The old tables threw in the occasional disrupt. Yeah...it was once in a blue moon...but it happened. Since the new tables have been in play I can't recall seeing a single disrupted tank via indirect artillery fire...only disables.


2. Towed Artillery and towing vehicle size matching. I'm noticing in my Aachen test games I can pick up a 240mm Black Dragon US Heavy Divisional artillery piece (~65,000 pounds) with a Weasel (awesome vehicle but small with a 70 HP Studebaker for a power plant) and tow it all over Germany. Even across blue rivers. The crossing blue rivers loaded is probably a coding glitch and a seperate issue...but you see the same thing happening with all the various units in all the armies with some flyweight tow vehicles moving around some large loads. I'm guessing this issue has been raised before but I'm too lazy to search all the forums, and besides, can't resist chewing the fat with my fellow grogs.

Both these are obviously issues I could bring to Jason's attention but I wanted to sound out the faithful to see if I'm on the right track.

Then...lastly...I am relatively new to the ladder system here with the Blitz...but wanted to ask if there is any sort of size modifier for tracking purposes. I play the big scenarios most of the time. I play some 6's and such....but mostly 10's. Having been kicked off the ladder once a couple years ago for not playing...I was thinking someone who spends six months playing Showdown at Borisov or Fight for the Panther Line may deserve more credit than someone else playing quick scenarios?

I'm not denigrating anyone else's performance here guys...I'm just making an appeal for those of us who are hopelessly addicted to the big scenarios. Von Luck and I have spent most of a year now...maybe more...working on one...and with those long delays between reporting game results...it looks like we're slackers!!!

Well...slacker than some anyways...:bow:

By the way...Merry Xmas or Happy Holidays or Kwanzaa or whatever to all you boys....

Regards,

Dan