From: David Ferris Subject: Generic Legions: BBV replay If you suffered through my last GL replay posting you might recall that I had been searching for an easier to play, quicker version of GL suitable for very large battles (scenarios with lots o' miniatures on the table). Several members of my local game group had been compaining about the original computer-assist version (CAV) of GL, not because they had any problems with the game system, but because they couldn't "roll their own dice". The manual version of GL which the computer-assist program is based upon, now known as the FBV (Full Blown Version), is rather chart-intensive and requires a lot of work from the players, so it's not really suitable for scenarios with lots of miniatures on the table, and even the CAV bogs down a bit when there are more than about 200 units in the game. My first attempt at a quick-play manual manifestation of GL, the one I described in my previous replay, worked okay and was fun but it wasn't a quick-play as I was hoping for. I thought it was worthwhile anyway, so the charts for this puppy are now available on the GL web site as the MBV (Medium Battle Version). Meanwhile I moved on and went into a math-induced coma (many thanks to Pat Phalen of the PIcatinny Interest Group for help with the binomial distribution formulae) and came up with a new system for the BBV (Big Battle Version). We tried it for the first time last night. Eight people showed up for the game, which was a bit of a shame as I had only prepared six armies, and the ol' game room gets a bit tight with that many people crammed in. Fortunately two of the attendees were teens, so they took up less space. The crew was much the same as last time. Marty, the engineer, took the Undead (who had ravaged his Dweasel formations in the previous playtests). Rick, fellow AT&T'er and computer support person, took They Who Are Having a Bad Day, stating that it was the obvious choice in his current mood. Pete, the chiropractor, who had never played Generic Legions before and didn't know what to expect, took the Irvanians. Larry the librarian selected the Squishies. Larry's young son Nathan picked the Robot army again, only this time he was his father's ally rather than his opponent. Young Rafe took the Dirty Rotten Stinking Earthies. Mike, also a computer support guy, split his time between helping his nephew with the DRS Earthies and asking my wife a bunch of legal questions. I stood back and reffed. I could tell right off that I had succeeded in my goal of making the rules easy and quick-play. The players started shooting at each other *before* I finished explaining the rules. At game's start each side of the table was covered with sprawling armies. By the end of the first hour there were burning wrecks everywhere. The action went on for a total of about three hours, with a good portion of the 250+ units having been blown to the proverbial smithereens. The players had probably the most fun with CAG, or Close Assault Gumption. They went around chanting "Let's CAG! Let's CAG!" and singing little CAG ditties, which is always a sign that the game is seriously warped. Several interesting situations came up in the course of the game. F'rinstance, when Undead infantry defeat opposing units in CAG, the opposing units become Undead too. (There seems to be an unwritten rule that I didn't know about that states the Undead units have to go around saying "Spleens! Spleens!") Meanwhile, when Irvanian units beat other units in CAG, there's a chance the defeated units become Irvanian. So what happens when a squad of Undead meets up with a squad of Irvanians in CAG? I hadn't thought of that possibility. So we rolled for it, and of course the result was a squad of newly-Irvanian zombies. "Hey, this is a lot better than being Undead. I feel... kinda happy!" A few problems came to light; I made a typo on the Undead player's info sheet and he thought his Scud launchers' range was only 24 inches. The Bad Day player, realizing how dangerous the Scuds were, carefully picked them off from long range on the first turn. The Undead player, thinking his Scuds weren't in range, didn't launch in time. My fault. Also, the Irvanian 'Sters came out way too weak in the conversion process between the MBV and the new BBV, so I have to up their stats a bit. The Undead need more transport for their infantry, as otherwise they shamble about too slowly to be of much use and are picked off at long range before they get a chance to do anything. All in all, a fun scenario, especially with the inter-army diplomacy bit thrown in. I'm happy with the overall thing and will try and get the BBV charts (and instructions for their use!) up on the GL web site in short order. I've been working on instructions for the MBV and the fantasy Legio Genericus rules but I doubt if I'll get those finished and postable in the next few weeks. DLF ferns1@aol.com The pertinent web sites: Generic Legions: http://users.aol.com/ferns1/genleg.htm HOGS, the Hopatcong Organized Gaming Society: http://users.aol.com/ferns1/hogs.htm PicaFight: http://www.planet.net/pjtsavo/picafight.html