Didn't vote mainly cuz I don't hate 'em and I don't love 'em either. A lot of text in the ASLRB for not that big a deal. If the rules could have been simplified to just a paragraph or two, I would probably play more scenz that use Slopes. Slopes are kinda like a really, really ugly girl with a dynamite bod...looks interesting, but is it worth the effort? :laugh::laugh:
The complexity seems to be the problem with almost everyone I have spoken with. They are very easily made less verbose. The concept is easy to understand and easy to implement.
I think they add a completely new dimension to the game. Now all hills don't need to be terraced plateau's...think of the board 39 forest covered hills and all the blocked LOS"s that make it a mostly unused board...with the addition of slopes you suddenly can see over the tops of some of those tree covered hills as now if you're a full level above the blocking tree hex and on a slope you're 1.5 above and can see over...AND if you don't want that for a particular scenario, an SSR simply states :Slopes are NA.
There are undulations in the earth, it is very rarely a flat plain like the salt flats...even the Russian Steppes have small rises and dips, slopes depict these in ASL terms. You get HUGE bang for your buck.
Steve Swann, you know I love you, but...I think you are not giving them a fair shake, and would like them if you tried them....is it the complexity of the writing for those rules that turns you off, or just "I don't like them"?
Interesting to see the hard line stances taken one way or the other.