Bill Peters wrote:
Same thing happened in the Napoleonic Battles series, gents. I just leave the rule off.
When I have done an analysis of it all it turns out that the losses of leaders usually tend to balance out. Only if someone is unwise to leave R.E. Lee or Meade out in the open to be captured (or other top leaders) does it go over to the other side.
Most of us, by now, know to keep our best leaders out of harm's way. Committing a Division general into a melee is not wise, where it can get captured in the attack, is not smart as it would affect the Disruption recovery process.
I dont even think about the rule now. In the NWC we usually play that if Napoleon is captured then the game is over. If the army leader is captured you can play a rule that says the victory level is moved one level in the favor of the other player or something like that.
Like you guys, I tried to figure out which battles triggered it and I came up empty.
In a recent test game, I checked the rule again after the recent updates and it seemed fine but I now will know to not use it in future ACW games. Thanks for reporting. I was a bit worried when I read the Change log and saw something about the rule being changed.
Too many changes in the games these days. I am thinking of going inactive in two of my clubs and just play the WW2 games until the dust settles. Frankly I am getting tired of the pre-20th century games so that might be where I head anyway. Its not so much a WDS thing as its been a lot of years having to watch the facings of the units, etc. The WW2 games to include Squad Battles, Panzer Campaigns and Panzer Battles series have none of that.
"When I have done an analysis of it all it turns out that the losses of leaders usually tend to balance out."Unfortunately this is not the case. The side with higher graded leaders will suffer more. In small to medium scenarios, and scenarios where there are not large differences between the Victory Levels, the situation can change dramatically with the loss of a couple of leaders.
"Like you guys, I tried to figure out which battles triggered it and I came up empty."I tested it across six titles. It was present in all those tested. I am confident it occurs in all titles. The difference between what used to occur (v4.02 and earlier) and now is huge. Victory Levels remain unchanged so they cannot reflect that, even with the most cautious player, leaders will become casualties.
"I was a bit worried when I read the Change log and saw something about the rule being changed."The Changelog says:
"Reduced the victory point multiplier for killed leaders to * 1.25 and for captured leaders to * 1.5".
That is not what this thing is; this follows some other formula. Based upon the VP figures I got for Leader casualties it is way above a simple multiplier of 1.5. [Note: My 'should be' calculations are based upon what is written in the current Help Manual
not the recent change in the Changelog, otherwise the 'should be' figures would be smaller.]
I cannot deduce what the formula is that determines the VPs for Leader casualties in the current version.
"Too many changes in the games these days."I haven't played a game in months because I believe the changes have been for the worse, unbalance many scenarios and stray too far from simulation [discussed elsewhere at length so no need for more detail here]. I do believe that the upcoming 'Equal Force Challenge' should nullify many of the inequities introduced by recent changes so I hope to draw my sword for that tournament.