Kill Points or VP Points

[Strela]

I tend to agree with Ed that balancing and scoring Panzer Campaign scenarios is a black art. Do you ever wonder why the sub 20 turn games regularly feel finely balanced yet a campaign game can go pear shaped very quickly when it comes to points. The challenge is that the longer a scenario the more likely players will do things completly unexpected and break the 'assumed' victory criteria the designer built.

The system is also better at set piece battles where both sides have clearly defined roles. The reason we didn't initially release an overall campaign game in Kharkov '43 was that both sides swapped roles over time and we couldn't make the existing victory system work - something that Marquo struggled with in his mod of the same campaign. We have no idea how our alternate system of victory point locations will work in the newly released Kharkov '43 campaign, but we are following Larsonney's AAR with interest!

Now that said, scenario designers do have a fair amount of flexibility in that by setting points for objectives either high or low can focus or defocus on killing units. With the values of units precomputed, setting objectives points is the major variable available. Ed's suggestion of high value static units is another that is pushing the system, but could increase or decrease VP's over time, by adding or subtracting these high value units.

As a final note - it is hard to balance scenarios in PZC. It takes a lot of time and a lot of playtesting to get enough results to be confident you have it right. If the designer misses something then it can totally unbalance a scenario. In Kharkov '43 we had to change some of the later scenarios where the Soviets were being beaten back and deviod of artillery and air as the Germans were using their 'travel mode' halftacks with impunity. It is hard to cover off all contingencies. Add to that a 200+ turn campaign that takes at least 6 months to play and you are struggling to get enough results to make a balanced call.

So - all good conversation but a difficult one - I ultimately think it comes down to the scenario designer determining what is the key thing the player has to do (almost singular) and then reward them for actions that take them along that path. Easier said than done!

David