Since the recent play-tests, I have looked back at the lessons that I learned and have made a few minor changes to the rules.
The most important changes are:
One other thing that I also learned was that upturned blue golf tees are a great way to record the hits made on a ship during the gunfire and torpedo phases of a turn. It is a simple mechanism, but nonetheless very effective.
The most important changes are:
- To increase the Flotation Points each type of ship is allocated.
- To adjust the Critical Point for each type of ship (i.e. the point at which a ship's Flotation Points have been reduced to such a level that it cannot risk continuing to fight without serious chance of being sunk).
- Allowing ships with secondary armament to engage different targets from the target being fired at by the main armament and allowing the port and starboard secondary armaments to engage different targets.
- Adjusting the wording of the movement rules to include the following: 'Ships may turn sixty degrees after moving forward one hex; the turn 'costs' the loss of one hex of movement.'
One other thing that I also learned was that upturned blue golf tees are a great way to record the hits made on a ship during the gunfire and torpedo phases of a turn. It is a simple mechanism, but nonetheless very effective.
I would suggest that the smaller ships (destroyers, etc.) could turn faster, or at least in a shorter arc. Perhaps you could reflect this by not charging them move distance for making a turn of 60 degrees. Also allow them to make a turn of 120 degrees with the move distance penalty.
ReplyDeleteDick Bryant,
DeleteThanks for the suggestion.
I did consider what you have suggested, but decided - for the moment - to stick with the 'a sixty degree turn costs one hex' option for all ships.
My reasoning is that once the game starts, players will forget which ships have to lose movement when they turn and which do not.
We'll see how the new rules work at COW, and if they don't work in the way that I hope that they will, I'll look again at removing the 'turn cost' from destroyers and torpedo boats.
All the best,
Bob
The amendments look like sound choices. Hopefully the faster speed of the smaller ships will make it easier for them to sacrifice a movement point to turn.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what the shellmarkers were, quite effective. Golf tees have changed!
Ross Mac,
DeleteThe destroyers proved to be a bit too fast in the play-test, which is one reason why I decided on the 'a sixty degree turn costs one hex' change to the rules. It also means that battles can be fought out in a relatively small area.
I found these funny looking golf tees online, and decided that they looked more like shell splashes than normal tees as well as being more stable. I might even add a dab of white paint to the point of each of them to make them look even more realistic!
All the best,
Bob
Good decision to bolster the overall amount of punishment each ship can take before cutting off the exchange - to prevent sinking. Regards. KEV.
ReplyDeleteKev,
DeleteWhen I originally wrote the rules it was for single ship vs. ship actions, but now that there are likely to be more ships involved in each battle, increasing the amount of punishment ships can take means that they survive just that little bit longer ... which makes the game more enjoyable.
All the best,
Bob