Subject: MYSTARA-L Digest - 11 Jan 2008 to 12 Jan 2008 (#2008-5) From: MYSTARA-L automatic digest system Date: 13/01/2008, 19:00 To: MYSTARA-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM Reply-to: Mystara RPG Discussion There are 2 messages totalling 131 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Warmachine / X10 scenario rules (2) ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:32:45 +0100 From: Knud Gentz Subject: Warmachine / X10 scenario rules Hej, my long-planned playing X10 has started and we made our first experiences. I will post the course of events if anyone is interested, but for now I have a question concerning the warmachine rules. Ville stated that the stacking limit is not very well thought-out anyway, but since my players seem to be out for decisive battles, I would like to keep it in the rules. Now if 2 units combine to a new unit, do they count as 1 unit for stacking purposes? Can they split again afterwards? If so, why have the stacking limit in the first place, since I can circumvent it by combining and splitting. If they do not count as one unit, why should I combine them? Thanks for your advice Knud -- In the beginning was the word and the word was content-type: text/plain. ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:18:20 -0500 From: Rodger Burns Subject: Re: Warmachine / X10 scenario rules On Jan 12, 2008 6:32 AM, Knud Gentz wrote: > Hej, > > my long-planned playing X10 has started and we made our first > experiences. I will post the course of events if anyone is > interested, but for now I have a question concerning the warmachine > rules. Ville stated that the stacking limit is not very well > thought-out anyway, but since my players seem to be out for decisive > battles, I would like to keep it in the rules. Now if 2 units combine > to a new unit, do they count as 1 unit for stacking purposes? Can > they split again afterwards? If so, why have the stacking limit in > the first place, since I can circumvent it by combining and > splitting. If they do not count as one unit, why should I combine them? > X10 is always a fun module. I wish I had a chance to play it with a gaming group. My opinion of stacking rules: No, they aren't necessarily realistic (the idea that a 500-square mile area can hold only two military units, regardless of terrain type or unit size, is absurd on the face of it) but it does make for an interesting game. The Nomads' march around Lake Akesoli is already bad enough; imagine how bad it would be if the entire Darokin army could pile into those hill hexes and force the Nomad divisions to attack them! (As a possible justification - while the space within a single map hex may be sufficient to hold any number of military units, the ability to maintain communications between them using pre-industrial means is more restrictive. A force that's attacking an enemy, or being attacked, can get messengers off to one other force in the hex to reinforce it, but no more. So even if you've chosen to stack three or more units in a hex, only two will be able to participate in any fight - and you might as well use the other forces elsewhere.) (Also, a couple of 'house rules' to consider: - The Nomad HQ units are an exception somewhat to the normal stacking rules; in a hex where there's two Nomad Regular divisions or Nomad Guard divisions, a single Nomad HQ unit can stack in the hex, making three units total. This helps to make these 'baby units' more useful in a fight, and reflects their presumed ability to handle communications and coordination. - The AEF units recruited by the PCs have no stacking limit; all nine of them can pile into a single hex and fight as a single force, if desired. Much better than expecting the PCs to lead their personal army into battle in five different places across a hundred-mile front.) I'd personally consider the "Combining Units" ability to be not a map-level action but a tactical-level action. The stacking limit still applies, but before a battle starts forces can either combine or split to match against their opponents. Combining to a single unit allows two smaller forces to battle against one larger force on equal terms, and prevents the larger force from splitting unequally to gain advantage. An example of this: The weakened Darokin V and VI Legions have both taken heavy casualties, and are down to only half their force each (580 men per unit, for a total of 1,160 men). Unfortunately, they're defending Athenos alone against a raiding attack by the Nomads' 12th Division. The Nomads have 1,162 men in their force, so this would normally be even odds - except that under the "Dividing a Force" rules the Nomads commander could split his force, sending as few as 10 men off to divert the VI Legion (and dying horribly, but them's the breaks) while the rest of his force fought the V Legion at 2-1 odds. In order to prevent this, the V and VI Legions combine their commands, fighting as a single force and facing the Nomads on equal terms. It's still not a guaranteed victory, but the chances are much better than they were before. > Thanks for your advice > Knud > > -- > In the beginning was the word and the word was > content-type: text/plain. > > ******************************************************************** > The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp > The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com > To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM > with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. > ******************************************************************** The Other Worlds Homepage: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/OtherWorlds.asp The Mystara Homepage: http://www.pandius.com To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM with UNSUB MYSTARA-L in the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of MYSTARA-L Digest - 11 Jan 2008 to 12 Jan 2008 (#2008-5) **************************************************************