Maurits Pino - Feb 2, 2005 2:34 pm (#522 Total: 532) Salla - some questions I recently bought this game and just started playing. Some questions: Retreat (1) If Retreating 1 would not be possible for stacking reasons, but 2 would, should the retreat be by two hexes? This seems reasonable. Eg when an attacker rolls 1 attacking 2:1 (i.e. AR1) he could argue that had he committed less artillery to the battle, he would have had to retreat more (die roll 1 @ 1:1) and he would have survived. Retreat (2) Given the difficulty of crossing rivers voluntarily, it would seem that retreats across rivers would be prohibited (exc perhaps bridges, exc perhaps assisted by engineers). Mountain The "mountain" south of Salla is not very high at 400 sth meters. It's good enough for down hill skiing says a friend from the region, but 3MP to enter and tripled defence seem a lot for a hill ... HQ under air attack In the review in Moves of 4 plain wargames games, the reviewer notes that the ability of axis bombers to hit Soviet HQ makes it very easy to effectively eliminate soviet divisions - HQ have zero defence. He believes this was an error. My feeling is until so far that a HQ should always be accompanied by a combat unit to protect the HQ against a broken through enemy mechanised unit that could to easily kill it. Thanks in advance for comments - Maurits Jeffry Tibbetts - Feb 3, 2005 12:39 pm (#523 Total: 532) The Roman Empire did not achieve greatness by holding meetings, but by destroying everything that stood in the way of that greatness Rules Questions Answers Maurits Pino: Re Salla: Retreat (1) If Retreating 1 [hex] would not be possible for stacking reasons, but 2 would, should the retreat be by two hexes? I AM OF TWO MINDS ABOUT THIS. YOUR SUGGESTION THAT A SECOND HEX OF RETREAT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE IS REASONABLE; HOWEVER, THE OPPOSITE POSITION HOLDS THAT A HEX CONTAINING THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF UNITS WHOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT TO ENTER, THUS EXPOSING THE RETREATING UNIT TO SUFFICIENCT ADITIONAL ABUSE FROM THE BATTLE TO WARRANT ITS ELIMINATION. (A THIRD POSSIBILITY WOULD BE THE DISPLACEMENT OF ONE UNIT IN THE HEX INTO WHICH THE RETREAT WAS BEING ATEMPTED IN ORDER TO 'CREATE ROOM' FOR THE RETREATING COMRADES-IN-ARMS -- ALSO A REASONABLE MILITARY POSITION.) [ FOR THOSE WITHOUT THE GAME, STACKING IS 2 FRIENDLY UNITS PER HEX, MAXIMUM, AND RETREATS MAY PASS THROUGH, BUT NOT END IN A HEX OCCUPIED BY A FRIENDLY UNIT. ] THE INTENT OF THE DESIGNER -- AS I RECALL, THIS WARGAME HAS BEEN IN PRINT SINCE JULY OF 1991 -- WAS THAT THE PLAYERS WOULD HAVE TO PLAN ATTACKS AND DEFENSES SUCH THAT RETREAT PATHS WERE AVAILABLE OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. THEREFORE, RULE 7.6 SHOULD HOLD AS WRITTEN: ONE MAY RETREAT THROUGH FRIENDLY UNITS, BUT NOT END A RETREAT STACKED WITH A FRIENDLY UNIT. Retreat (2) Given the difficulty of crossing rivers voluntarily, it would seem that retreats across rivers would be prohibited (exc perhaps bridges, exc perhaps assisted by engineers). RULE 8.6 IS PRETTY CLEAR: "THE TUNTSA RIVER...MAY ONLY BE CROSSED BY UNITS TRACING A PATH ACROSS THE BRIDGE HEX OR THROUGH THE HELP OF A FREINDLY ENGINEER UNIT." CCROSS-APPLYING RULE 7.6 RETREATS, AND YOU ARE CORRECT THAT UNITS MAY NOT RETREAT ACROSS THE RIVER EXCEPT AS NOTED. Mountain The "mountain" south of Salla is not very high at 400 meters. It's good enough for down hill skiing says a friend from the region, but 3MP to enter and tripled defence seem a lot for a hill ... YOU SHOULD NOT WANT TO GO UP ON THE HILL. IT IS OPEN, EXPOSED AND STEEP TERRAIN WHERE YOU CAN BE SEEN AND SHOT AT. UNITS MOVING UP ONTO THE HILL ARE DEEMED TO BE MOVING SLOWLY AND VER-R-R-RY CAREFULLY. HQ under air attack YOUR APPRCIATION OF THE VULNERABILITY OF THE SOVIET DIVISIONAL HQS IS CORRECT -- THEY WERE RELATIVELY SMALL UNITS (IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER UNITS IN THE GAME). IT MIGHT BE ARGUED, HOWEVER, THAT SINCE AIR SUPPORT IS TREATED LIKE ARTILLERY FIRE IN THE GAME, THAT RULE 8.1 "HEADQUARTERS HAVE NO COMBAT STRENGTH; IF ATTACKED BY ANY ENEMY UNIT (OTHER THAN ANOTHER HEADQUARTERS) WHILE ALONE IN THE HEX, THE HEADQUARTERS IS ELIMINATED." MIGHT WELL BE AMENDED TO READ: "....IF ATTACKED BY ANY ENEMY ground UNIT (OTHER THAN ANOTHER HEADQUARTERS), or if receiving an 'EX', "DR', or 'DE' combat result due to enemy artillery ranged combat or air support, then THE HEADQUARTERS IS ELIMINATED." THAT WOULD MAKE HQs A LITTLE LESS VULNERABLE. LET US CALL THAT LAST STATEMENT AN OPTIONAL RULE. I hope you enjoy the games. Jeffry Tibbetts