Favorite SSR or the one you'd like to see:

[Cpl Uhl]

Balance is an illusion. Fun scenarios are a reality.

And as I was the Japanese, indeed it was fun!

 

[MrP]

I'm sensing some issues.....

You sense correctly

 

[ecz]

Balance is an illusion. Fun scenarios are a reality.

not necessarily.
I'm working on a few playtest where a SSR allows players to set the perfect level of VC by themselves chosing a number in a given range via a simple bid.

If you know how assign Maior Powers and Victory conditions in the wargame "Paths of Glory" (GMT) you get immediatly what I mean.
Alternatively you can see the old scenario by LFT #181 "The Bet" that uses this peculiar "assigning sides and VC" system.

For sure anyone getting a grasp with the scenario will be able to arrange a bid to play the attacker side that makes the game challenging. But if a bid is too high or too low the other is favored, assuming he has studied the scenario and bids reasonably. This could happen tipically in the very first playing.
If the player knowing the scenario is unable to find by himself a viable number of building to control or VP to amass (number that hides in the range given) balance ceases to be a problem of the scenario.

Of course this is my favorite SSR, but it seems that, leaving The Bet aside, no scenario uses this idea.

 

[ecz]

I'll try to explain the idea behid : it's a very special SSR to decide sides AND Victory conditions at once.

this is easily explained through an example taken from one of the scenarios I'm playtesting:


Victory Conditions: The Romanian Player wins if he exits off the East edge on/between 57Y10 and 57I10 at least as many Squad Equivalents he bid for (See SSR 2).

Well, SSR2 shows the terms of the bid and of the objective.

SSR2 To determine sides each Player secretly bids the number of Squads Equivalent he believes can exit off the East Edge on/between 57Y10 and 57I10 playing as Romanian. AFV Crews do not count. The higher bidder takes the Romanian side. A dr will decide sides in case of a tie. The bid number must be > 4 and < 10.

possibly an accurate balance could set the number at 7 or 8 as thousands of "ordinary" scenarios do. But with this rule the players can challange the opponent bidding very high or very low to try to play one side in particular. It's also a good way let players to bid appropriately to their skill as attacker or as defender and play the game they prefer.

not counting the fact the scenario cannot be unbalanced because if playings shows that 7 or 8 are too many squads for the Romanian, for sure 4 or 5 will be perfect.

 

[Khill]

defender getting a HIP squad

 

[Actionjick]

I'll try to explain the idea behid : it's a very special SSR to decide sides AND Victory conditions at once.

this is easily explained through an example taken from one of the scenarios I'm playtesting:


Victory Conditions: The Romanian Player wins if he exits off the East edge on/between 57Y10 and 57I10 at least as many Squad Equivalents he bid for (See SSR 2).

Well, SSR2 shows the terms of the bid and of the objective.

SSR2 To determine sides each Player secretly bids the number of Squads Equivalent he believes can exit off the East Edge on/between 57Y10 and 57I10 playing as Romanian. AFV Crews do not count. The higher bidder takes the Romanian side. A dr will decide sides in case of a tie. The bid number must be > 4 and < 10.

possibly an accurate balance could set the number at 7 or 8 as thousands of "ordinary" scenarios do. But with this rule the players can challange the opponent bidding very high or very low to try to play one side in particular. It's also a good way let players to bid appropriately to their skill as attacker or as defender and play the game they prefer.

not counting the fact the scenario cannot be unbalanced because if playings shows that 7 or 8 are too many squads for the Romanian, for sure 4 or 5 will be perfect.

Good luck with your project. I always liked games that gave you options or let .you buy or bid. Fun stuff!!

 

[pensatl1962]

Add a few chords to that tale, and you've got a solid gold country song.

I think David Allan Coe already did that one.
Edit: For those unfamiliar and/or who didn't attend Texas A&M:

Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison.
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But, before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a d***ed old train.

 

[ParaMarine]

I like uncertainty like when you have to roll dice to see exactly what sorts of reinforcements there’ll be.

 

[Stewart]

Kindling =/= NA

 

[Sven]

nice....possibly affecting weapons repair as well?

Yes, this is the SSR I like: Armor Leaders should be able to modify repair attempts.

 

[olli]

My one would be friendly side may move through their minefields to no effect .

 

[Chas]

My one would be friendly side may move through their minefields to no effect .

What do you think of this:

The Finns have Booby Trap Level A (B28.9) on board DW-10. Mine Exchange (B28.5; B28.9) is NA. Entry of a
minefield hex will not cause an attack (nor reveal any Mines) against Good Order Finnish units in the MPh/APh,
or against unbroken Finnish units Withdrawing into a minefield hex in the CCPh. Mines, Roadblocks, and A-T
Ditches may not be set up on/adjacent to Q10.

 

[Vic Provost]

SSR: All AFV crews that survive a CS DR are under recall and must move/advance/rout toward the closest friendly board edge and exit once they are adjacent to it.

The nonsense that a crew comes out of their Panzer with a faust or takes a victory building is not what they are supposed to be able to do. Crews are way too valuable to waste in nonsense tactics that often gets them killed. ASL Gameiness that is not at all right.

 

[Jazz]

Yes, this is the SSR I like: Armor Leaders should be able to modify repair attempts.

On second thought.....<shrug> After 10 years in the oil fields I learned that the tendency to drop and/or lose small mechanical parts is impervious to the affects of leadership?

 

[ParaMarine]

SSR: All AFV crews that survive a CS DR are under recall and must move/advance/rout toward the closest friendly board edge and exit once they are adjacent to it.

The nonsense that a crew comes out of their Panzer with a faust or takes a victory building is not what they are supposed to be able to do. Crews are way too valuable to waste in nonsense tactics that often gets them killed. ASL Gameiness that is not at all right.

It has been a while since I looked at them, but aren’t casualty VPs higher with a crew for an elite tank type of crew?

It isn’t really an SSR but a victory condition that doesn’t get used as the main one a lot, but BPV for victory is useful for keeping people from doing looney things.

 

[Yuri0352]

SSR: All AFV crews that survive a CS DR are under recall and must move/advance/rout toward the closest friendly board edge and exit once they are adjacent to it.

The nonsense that a crew comes out of their Panzer with a faust or takes a victory building is not what they are supposed to be able to do. Crews are way too valuable to waste in nonsense tactics that often gets them killed. ASL Gameiness that is not at all right.

Vic, I absolutely agree!

The notion that 3-5 highly trained AFV crewmen (or 2 in the case of the L3 or Pzkw I) possibly armed with pistols and maybe a submachine gun would seek to hold a victory condition building location or choose to guard prisoners rather than return to their original formation is utterly preposterous.

 

[Tuomo]

I'm in the middle of playing HazMo10 Fresh Grist and I'm really enjoying the funky Chinese Reinforcement SSR that basically gives them a squad (plus maybe a leader or SW) for every 3CVP they inflict. (Of course I would, I've got the Chinese). If you had told me that I'd get a 337 and 6+1 on turn 3 and a 337, 447/dmMMG, and 8-1 on turn 4, I'd be happy but that's all. But this SSR means I earned those reinforcements, and somehow that engages me much more.

We're about 2/3 of the way through it and it's still up in the air. I know others have said that this SSR forces the IJA to attack differently than normal, and maybe there'll be more Chinese wins as a result (the ASL Scenario Archive has it 5-2 Chinese, while ROAR has 5-4 Chinese), so I wondered if it would be an extra bit of goodness to adjust the IJA VCs to keep up with their CVP. Normally they need to Control at least 6 of the 7 multi-hex buildings; maybe that number could drop by 1 for every 10 CVP they've lost (FRD). That would enable the game to swing to the Chinese but still be contested, as the IJA could look to just hold on to what they've got. Shrug.

Still. Great SSR!

 

[Jazz]

The notion that 3-5 highly trained AFV crewmen (or 2 in the case of the L3 or Pzkw I) possibly armed with pistols and maybe a submachine gun would seek to hold a victory condition building location or choose to guard prisoners rather than return to their original formation is utterly preposterous.

Only in the real world, which ASL is not.

 

[Old Noob]

ASL is not the real world.......? Where did we go wrong?

 

[Jazz]

ASL is not the real world.......? Where did we go wrong?

I looked in the index and it isn't actually defined as far as the game is concerned.....