tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post7824992347895336560..comments2024-02-08T13:50:49.374-08:00Comments on All Hell Let Loose: Heights and their effect on the battlefieldCharles the Modellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12986855572880983472noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-67485732678768207092019-06-02T01:53:05.167-07:002019-06-02T01:53:05.167-07:00Hi NPG, it is a tricky question!
I think a lot de...Hi NPG, it is a tricky question! <br />I think a lot depends on the scale of the game. We intend our rules to be fairly large scale - 1 stand for a platoon, 1 inch for 100 yards. Therefore we are abstracting a lot of things - line of sight and visibility to varying degrees. We have chosen not to have hidden movement or complicated spotting rules to simplify and speed up the game play. The ability to hit a target includes an assumption about whether it is visible or not. We also apply a general visibility range based on the general environment with steppes having a greater range than bocage!<br />In one version of the rules we distinguished between shallow and steep slopes. I doubt this will make it into the final version but it might survive as optional rules for scenario specific play. Ridgelines that break LoS are still in but I don’t think we’ll apply that at lower tiers of hills only the highest tier.<br />I can absolutely see that for some game play dead ground etc would be an appropriate consideration. I have climbed too many hills thinking that the ridge I can see is the top only to be very disappointed, so I know what you mean.<br />I think the option might be to allow units near to a ridge line (variable by game system and ground scale) to benefit from cover against fire from units higher up a hill? Use a change in the hill tier to represent each ridge.<br />However I think my original question was aimed very much at the strategic question. Why take the hill? What major advantage does holding it grant? Why expend so much effort and so may troops to hold that particular piece of ground. Why did/ do hills matter so much and how to reflect that in a set of rules.<br />Thank you so much for commenting!Charles the Modellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12986855572880983472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-11419085517995091112019-05-31T13:55:50.997-07:002019-05-31T13:55:50.997-07:00I'm following this thread with interest. Regar...I'm following this thread with interest. Regarding depressions, the same effect might be observed for other levels of terrain, when adjacent to higher levels. <br /><br />Do you intend to consider the slope gradients and their effects on visibility and movement? There is also a sort of folding ground that can conceal troops even when close to the enemy, without necessarily being high enough to warrant another tier. I guess it depends on what you choose as the difference in height between tiers.nitpickergeneralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04155941088394913107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-44865427014432758742019-04-01T00:23:45.483-07:002019-04-01T00:23:45.483-07:00Our next game will be a Battle of the Bulge game r...Our next game will be a Battle of the Bulge game roughly covering the Elsenborn Heights, designed to test artillery and height rules. I hope we’ll learn a lot. I promise I’ll post an update. Thanks for the comments!Charles the Modellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12986855572880983472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-405626836938560272019-03-31T05:03:40.186-07:002019-03-31T05:03:40.186-07:00Hi Charles,
I would agree with you that hills and...Hi Charles,<br /><br />I would agree with you that hills and high ground are incredibly important, I only wonder if become too important with players utilising them as forts. I would imagine as you play test it through you'll find out either way. I will be very interested to see how that works. <br /><br />D <br />Dougiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250229454791256006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-42621521061675255862019-03-25T13:06:00.759-07:002019-03-25T13:06:00.759-07:00Hi Dougie, thanks for the feedback. I think you ar...Hi Dougie, thanks for the feedback. I think you are right we haven’t considered being seen.<br />I am also concerned about complexity. My expectation though is that most games would have no more than 1 Tier.<br />Some scenarios though would have genuine high points where hills were really important. I feel that many rules don’t give players the incentive to really fight for the high ground, I mean really fight. So I wanted to try and give players a reason to capture high ground and hold it.<br />Does that make sense?Charles the Modellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12986855572880983472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-543495834905413167.post-63085713817887569832019-03-24T22:27:13.222-07:002019-03-24T22:27:13.222-07:00Hi Charles,
An interesting set of ideas I hope yo...Hi Charles,<br /><br />An interesting set of ideas I hope you progress these rules through, however I feel your rules are unnecessarily complicated. Being elevated on the battlefield allows you to see over intervening terrain but also be seen. I wonder if you are making being on hills too effective with the shooting and defense bonus. Dougiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250229454791256006noreply@blogger.com