Cult.44
Senior Member
Now that I'm dipping my toes in the design waters and working on a scenario for MwT IV contest, I'm coming across quite a few challenges. The one I'm wringing my hands over most at the moment is getting the balance right (or at least reasonable).
The scenario is basically some German light tanks and infantry attacking 2nd-line British troops in a rural-meets-suburban environment. I came up with an initial OB that I haven't altered much and started doing solo playings of the scenario. At first, the defender seemed to have the advantage but after trying different attack and defense variations, it now seems like the attacker has a definite advantage. (Of course, its quite possible I'm not seeing better approaches to defense.)
It seems to me there's a potential conundrum here. I could adjust the OB (or VC) so that players have good chances when attack and defense are optimal (finding key hexes, weak points, sneaky lines-of-sight, using appropriate tactics, etc.). But I'm wondering, when you get out in the real world, that players (especially if it's a first playing) probably won't use optimized attack or defense strategies. So what's balanced under optimal attack/defense execution, becomes highly unbalanced with sub-optimal playings.
Is this kind of thing a worry for anybody else? Any rules of thumb you use when tweaking OB and VC?
I suppose, ideally, a scenario should remain balanced when both opponents have the same level of ability regardless of how optimally they play.
The scenario is basically some German light tanks and infantry attacking 2nd-line British troops in a rural-meets-suburban environment. I came up with an initial OB that I haven't altered much and started doing solo playings of the scenario. At first, the defender seemed to have the advantage but after trying different attack and defense variations, it now seems like the attacker has a definite advantage. (Of course, its quite possible I'm not seeing better approaches to defense.)
It seems to me there's a potential conundrum here. I could adjust the OB (or VC) so that players have good chances when attack and defense are optimal (finding key hexes, weak points, sneaky lines-of-sight, using appropriate tactics, etc.). But I'm wondering, when you get out in the real world, that players (especially if it's a first playing) probably won't use optimized attack or defense strategies. So what's balanced under optimal attack/defense execution, becomes highly unbalanced with sub-optimal playings.
Is this kind of thing a worry for anybody else? Any rules of thumb you use when tweaking OB and VC?
I suppose, ideally, a scenario should remain balanced when both opponents have the same level of ability regardless of how optimally they play.