3 things I'm tired of

[Crossroads]

While I never owned any other classic boardgames but Avalon Hill's Panzer Leader and Rise and Fall of Third Reich, PL especially is guilty to these old sins.

While I don't have the rulebook in front of me, and not having played it for some 10 years, there certainly were symptoms of uber Axis there. Only German tanks were allowed to transport infantry (I am sure Panzerblitz must have allowed the Soviets to do the same?), and not only that there was a special rule how they can approach the enemy counter, drop the infantry, and then perform a combined or separate assault as one wished. Together with an artillery barrage that was a significant advantage to Axis player.

As for EA=off, it reminds me of the PL CAT (Close assault tactics I believe) rule, where an enemy counter can first receive a disruption from either direct or indirect fire, after which any armored unit can override it and destroy it given it has enough action points left. It was a cool rule on a board game, as it provided for fast action. I am sure Tiller et al had played their PB and PL and atleast I see similarities with original assault rules and those board games.

JTCS is a fundamentally different game based on whether one plays it with or without EA. There are certain old scenarios which I immensely enjoy with EA off. After all, against a skilled opponent, surround-disrupt-assault is not an easy task.

Having said that, I prefer the EA optional rule, and would welcome more optional rules in the future should Matrix guys have the resources to do so. Unit facing would be such an addition that again would make us study each scenario again.

I don't like AF mostly for the retreat behaviour, and many good suggestion have been made how it would be better. Unit facing is still valid in this scale imho. I've seen several documents where e.g. a basic Sherman platoon encountered a Panther platoon traveling on a road, and destroyed the lot without any friendly casualties. For infantry platoons, facing is an issue as well, and to cover more alleys of advance one should have more men on the hex. TOAW allows for break-up and combination of units, with a penalty attached.

Here's hoping Modern Wars gathers a new following that would allow Matrix to invest in enhancing the engine with new (optional) capabilities!