Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

Gents,

I'm looking to form a pool of testers to try some new ideas with the Napoleonic engine. It primarily focuses on the ZOC problem, the ease of eliminating forces, and the resulting tactics that come from that. The angle that will be initially taken will be to reduce the number of movement points available to each unit during a turn. I'll get the play testers to play some scenarios this way and we'll see how it goes. Adjustments will be made accordingly. If we can't get a satisfactory result from this then we'll examine potential engine changes to address it. However, keep this in mind, an engine change is not the ultimate goal here, but rather a better flow of the game, buy the best means possible.

This testing will use either the Eckmuhl or Waterloo engines, or both depending on the amount of response I get to this.

It's required that you create a second install of the selected game to do this testing. This is non-negotionable...I can't have version issues to deal with here. I will walk you through doing this if need be, but it is a must.

And finally, we'll need you to be able to have a good turn around rate so that testing can move forward at a good pace. The goal here is to get the results within a couple of months so appropriate changes can be made. If you can only do one turn a week, then this assignment isn't for you.

Please direct all inquires and sign ups to me at Rich at hist-sdc.com

Regards,
Rich

Maréchal Hamilton, Baron d'Barbancon
21st Division
VII Corps, ADR

Saxon Leib-Garde, de la Jeune Garde, Garde Impériale

Unfortunately, adjusting the movement rate will NOT resolve the melee ZOC issue - I know the game engine well enough (and have experimented enough over the years) to be absolutely certain of this.

Adjusting the map scale, stacking limitations and pdt fire factors help a fair bit, as this increases ranges and makes it harder for attackers to get good melee odds. Thus a scale of 1 hex = 50yds (instead of the standard 100yds) would be beneficial for battalion level conflict. However, this would mean that each 100yd hex would become <b>four</b> 50yd hexes! Thus this isn't really an ideal solution.

Potentially useful engine changes (all present in the 1996 game Age <i>of Rifles</i>, a game where the advantage lies with the defender rather than the attacker) might include:

1./ Pinning fire - defensive fire may pin down (but not necessarily disrupt) an attacking unit. This prevents further movement or melee, but the attacking unit can still fire.

2./ Frantic defensive fire - automatic defensive fire (at full effect) <b>whenever</b> an attacking unit moves adjacent to a defending unit, except of course if onto the defender's flank or rear.

3./ The possibility of defensive fire causing the attacker to actually <b>rout</b> and thus cause other nearby units to rout or disrupt.

4./ A new defensive formation which defenders can assume in certain terrain or if dug in. Also the ability to dig in (of course a feature already present in the ACW series)

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Richard</i>
<br />Unfortunately, adjusting the movement rate will NOT resolve the melee ZOC issue - I know the game engine well enough (and have experimented enough over the years) to be absolutely certain of this.

Adjusting the map scale, stacking limitations and pdt fire factors help a fair bit, as this increases ranges and makes it harder for attackers to get good melee odds. Thus a scale of 1 hex = 50yds (instead of the standard 100yds) would be beneficial for battalion level conflict. However, this would mean that each 100yd hex would become <b>four</b> 50yd hexes! Thus this isn't really an ideal solution.

Potentially useful engine changes (all present in the 1996 game Age <i>of Rifles</i>, a game where the advantage lies with the defender rather than the attacker) might include:

1./ Pinning fire - defensive fire may pin down (but not necessarily disrupt) an attacking unit. This prevents further movement or melee, but the attacking unit can still fire.

2./ Frantic defensive fire - automatic defensive fire (at full effect) <b>whenever</b> an attacking unit moves adjacent to a defending unit, except of course if onto the defender's flank or rear.

3./ The possibility of defensive fire causing the attacker to actually <b>rout</b> and thus cause other nearby units to rout or disrupt.

4./ A new defensive formation which defenders can assume in certain terrain or if dug in. Also the ability to dig in (of course a feature already present in the ACW series)






<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

in regards to option 4.. How often did troops in the Nappy age actually "dig in" ?


Monsieur le Marechal Baron John Corbin
Duc de Paive
Commanding the Division de Cavalerie de la Jeune Garde
NWC President

Is the present game engine THAT defective? I'm not sure that the ZOC rules actually are that unrealistic, particularly if played with the limited ZOC option. If one accepts a fairly large degree of abstraction in the game (that is, that the outcome rather than the actual observed incident replicates reality), I think the engine provides a fairly realistic outcome as a result of a melee where a ZOC kill is the outcome.

Unit cohesion would have faced severe stresses if that unit were assaulted from one or more flanks with its line of retreat blocked. In those circumstances, disintigration would have been a real possibility, by which I mean a large number of men killed or wounded, a far larger number surrendering and probably the largest number of all scattering or going to ground. For game purposes, this could only be represented as the unit ceasing to exist. Most of the men would still be alive and unhurt and possibly would have rejoined the colours over the course of the next few days, if given the opportunity. But in a battle situation, it does not matter what might have happened over the next few days.

I actually like the HPS system as it recreates to me the defining characteristic of the Napoleonic era - the balance between fire and shock. One doesn't like to be too categoric, but the seven years war seems more akin to the intention here - that is, an emphasis on firepower to the exclusion of manouevre and shock.

Lt Colonel Neville Worland
Chef d'Etat-Major
Ier Corps de Réserve de Cavalerie
Army du Nord

The biggest problem lies within the ZOC domino effect, where one succesive melee can lead to the next. It's enough to charge one unit, get into the rear of the line of the defenders, occupy every units' 2 rear hexes and roll up an entire defensive line in one single turn.

Aggressive players love this. I lost that way almost 2 fresh inf. divisions within lone 15 minutes!

ZOC sucks! [:D][:p]

<center>Maréchal T. Nowacki
<b>V KORPUS ARMII RENU</b>

Comte de Liege
Duc de la Moskova

Chasseurs a Cheval de la Vieille Garde</center>