I believe it is both (art and science),actually! Some things like malfunctioning weapons,falling angles of projectiles,different penetration factors of rounds every 25m etc are not really warrant to a game throwing dice. Unless of course you have nothing more than a squad ,maybe even a fire team,or a vehicle or two. Things just get tooo carried away,easily. I've seen it and been there a hundred times. BTW ,on the "chinese farm" I'm not too familiar with it,but I bet you it took tactics to get both those forces there. You see I also play tactics on the map that generates the engagement areas. I learn every time (mostly what not to do again!) and,not just on a 4'X6' "BOXING RING"Mobius wrote:I think the last part is a fallacy. If you mean genuine accepted tactics of the day. If so you will never learn anything new. If you will start with a realistic game system some call a simulation then what works should work in real life. But maybe a different tactic will work better. You can try something new rather be stuck with what is the accepted way of the day.jb wrote:Clearly you miss the point...I've just got to say it... Anybody can pile on true statistics,the real skill is which ones to suppress and still have a real feel for the simulation,to include being able to use genuine tactics.
It we had games that used what the general's thought were genuine accepted tactics in WWI then charging machineguns with waves of men should have been the way to win. But machineguns had those high ROF that come with extra die rolls.
I don't know if any of you have played the 'Chinese farm' scenario of the Arab-Israeli wars but it is an interesting lesson of why the results were what they were. Not as much tactics as you might have thought. Sheer tank and gunnery superiority. Things you find out when the underlying pillars are realistic.
Jb ,you are correct about skill in suppressing superfluous factors. Trying to keep just enough to get the real feel is the ideal. That is why game design is an art rather than a science.
tac·tics
The military science that deals with securing objectives set by strategy, especially the technique of deploying and directing troops, ships, and aircraft in effective maneuvers against an enemy
A procedure or set of maneuvers engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal.
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