13 May 2009 - BattleBlog - Rules Downsizing

[Hobbit]

For every HexPack there's only a 16 half-page-sized booklet to work with. Two of those pages are taken up with your standard "this is what a HexPack is, here is how to use it" text. Roughly four pages are taken up with two scenarios. Then roughly two pages are taken up with a track that points to one of the Starterbooks and then the credits. That only leaves 8 pages (roughly 4 full-sized pages) to provide some cool Enhanced Scenario Play Options.



Now keep in mind that these are designed as "Introductory Box Set Companions." Or in otherwords the rules here have to be useful to someone that only has the box set and can help to bridge on to Total Warfare and Tactical Operations.



Now Lakes and Rivers was relatively easy. Toss in Clearing Woods and Underwater Combat. Then toss in some Planetary Conditions, which always make scenarios more fun and challenging.



Cities and Roads, however, was much more challenging and proved yet again it can often be more difficult to pair rules down than to write them to the Nth degree to cover every possible situation (not that writing that way is easy, mind you...just that they both can be challenging in their own ways). Obviously you've got to toss in pavement and building rules. However, you've only got 4 pages, not to mention you don't want to flood a player that's still potentially getting his feet wet with the game. So that means despite all the fun you can have, you simply can't let a unit enter a building and you can't let them skid. Too complicated and far too much space is swallowed in such situations.



You also run into interesting situations where the designer of the scenario has something in mind that's very cool, but that you can't possible fit in all the full rules to cover. For example in Scenario 2 you're fighting in the city and if either side intentional or unintentionally destroys X number of buildings they lose. Well for those that have Tactical Operations, you know the "Missed Shots" rules are crazy long and complicated...because it's a crazy complicated process. So you've got to find a way to make a short, fun rule that simulates missed shots, and then reference Tactical Operations for those that one the 'real deal.'

Then again, the challenges of doing something new that we've not done before and making it work are part of the reason I'm still here after all these years.

Type at ya later!

Randall