Opinions about "Game rules as used by players"

[Walrus]

Hey Guys
For me most of the rules we have come up with are about trying to limit gamey play and force more realistic fighting.
That being said, what is 'realistic'?

For me the FOO rules Weasel has created are more about trying to stop the classic '1 tube= 1 target' thing that happens with SP where 20 mortars are shooting at 20 targets, none in LOS or anyone with a radio, added to the fact that no-one bothers to by FOO as any '0' unit can call in arty. Tying each 'shoot' to an FOO means you have to think about how much to spend on FOOs (expensive in the game, for a good reason) vs how many 'shoots' you think you'll realistically need on the defence / attack to get the results you are after.

As Weasel keeps saying, these rules are just a start point for your negotiations at the set up phase. If you play the same opponents often, you start to know what a happy rules set will be for your games.
maybe you'll do away with the FOO rule because neither of you really play 'one tube = 1 target' type arty...but maybe you'll end up agreeing that the rule for on-board arty deployment is a good idea...1 hex max between units. That makes CB fire more effective and you can't split up your arty formations to take advantage of each wee bit of protective rough terrain etc...thus forcing you to think about moving your arty now and again to avoid CB fire...etc...

Shooting at AFV with inf that have no AT capability is generally used in the game to distract the afv, spin it to present it's rear to another AT unit perhaps, or to force op-fire and 'soak off' shots to allow a close assault or to allow another of your units to engage without fear of op-fire etc.
You could make the rule that you can't shoot at a buttoned afv. That's going to be harder to police in a large game for sure...so perhaps a more simple rule 'no inf shooting at AFV if you have no AT weapon' keeps it easier to police and easily stops any gamey play.

Again, you could just ignore that rule and blast away at anything with anything.
Same goes for Z-fire, helo use, amount of zero sized units allowed, how to take flags at the end of a game (single units, only platoons etc), use of smoke grenades by infantry and dischargers by afvs...and on and on.
The last thing any of us needs is a week exchanging emails at the start of a battle, just to get a happy rule set happening.
Weasels rules ideas give that process a head start and are not supposed to be 'hard and fast' rules at all.

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth. I find them a pretty good start at getting the game fairly realistic, less gamey and keeping things fun, fairly easy to police and not turning everything into a game-lawyer festival.

Happy fighting!!