Modern Vehicle Gaming Details

[madman]

Sorry. The dense woods. The nails are just around the periphery. Probably a minimum of 5 and spaced every 2 inches or so. I have seen and played both with and without a base. I like the base best but it is, of course, twice the work.

I wasn't in on the game with the sand. Just talked with the game master as he was cleaning up. For clean up can the pastel approach be put in a washing machine to remove the markings? If so I assume you are using chalk based pastels. Are the pastels applied to sheets or fixed game boards?

The recon photos are an interesting idea. Unfortunately for me back to the need for or use of a referee.

I have a lot of 1:25,000 maps of an area south and west of Hamilton Ontario. Centered around the Grand River Valley. Always thought that would make an interesting area to game in. The relief lines on the maps were 10 feet which pretty much matches what I want in game terms. Problem is every scenario would be on a sloping world and being a fairly flat area there would be only 3 to 8 say levels over the entire table for 80% of the area. But the whole table would need to be covered by levels. So the approach of hills and assume the rest is flat is the best compromise. The other issue is all the little creeks and rivers should be below the table. Oh the fun!

[panzergator]

Out a thin piece of foam, or better, insulation, under your cloth cover and indent the stream and rivers in it.

[Mk 1]

The recon photos are an interesting idea. Unfortunately for me back to the need for or use of a referee.

I have implemented the techniques of hidden movement, detailed scenarios, and variable and often unbalanced forces, using techniques that have not required a non-playing referee.

I have played in games where there was a non-playing referee, but in my entire gaming history have only put on one such game, and that was a 1/72 (20mm) skirmish game that didn't go well enough for any of the participants, myself included, to want to repeat.

I have been one of the gamers in all of the micro armor games I have put on.

My approach as the scenario-builder (vs. referee) is as follows:
1) It helps a lot to have a set of gamers that like interesting games (rather than being focused just on winning). I am rather fortunate that I've managed that, at least at the games I have put on at my home.

2) My hidden movement is all done with chits on the actual game table. No need for blind record keeping or impartial refereeing of when someone can see someone. Play the chits just like models, except the opponent can't tell what they are, and some of them are blanks.

3) In multi-player games I take a subordinate unit. Often I take the reserves, or the unit that needs some event to happen before I come on to the battleboard. So my own God's Eye advantage is diluted, and everyone else has had some time to figure out their own plans/strategy/opponents before my God's Eye advantage comes in to the competition.

4) For almost all of my games, and importantly for all my head-to-head games, I make the forces variable. So despite my advantage as the scenario builder, I don't actually know what the opposing force is, nor do I know ahead of time what my own force will be. At least not in detail. Maybe I know both sides will have a company of infantry. But I don't know if I'll get tanks, AT guns, artillery, or recon in support, nor if my opponent will.

5) And then I give my opponents some similar information -- through the recon process when I can -- about what forces I have available to me in my dice rolling variable forces.

Not suggesting you should do things this way. But this is how I approach the question of the non-gaming referee. I too don't want to sit in some elevated position as the line judge, I want to be on the court serving my overhand smash and my back-hand lob with the rest of 'em.

[mike robel]

The stock terrain for Dunn Kempf was in the 1/11 ACR maneuver rights area. Platoon leaders got to take their platoons out two days per month then, so I would use Dunn Kempf to visualize what we were going to do, go out and do it, then come back and go over what we did.

[SKeeM]

So I like Team Yankee in 6mm on a 6x4 table at 150-200 points. I have not played enough games to determine if anything needs to be adjusted for the scale difference. The rules are written for 15mm, but the game plays way better in 6mm. On a 8x4 you can run a NATO battalion against a USSR Regiment.

[Hoth_902]

SKeeM,

What is the ground scale for team Yankee?