John P Kelly - 10:45pm Mar 27, 1999 PST (#560 of 562)

LGE Tinkering

I have been tinkering with LGE & have come up with the following house
rules. Any opinions regarding them, good or bad,
would be appreciated. John P Kelly

House Rules

Crossing Arrows It costs 1 extra MP to use a crossing arrow. A unit may not
use a crossing arrow if there is an enemy fleet in
the surrounding sea zone. A unit may use a crossing arrow if an enemy corps
occupies the area to be entered only if he has a
friendly fleet in the surrounding sea zone. The idea of not ever being able
to cross at a defended crossing arrow, even when one
controls the seas, seems a bit extreme.

Garrisons If the number of corps attacking a garrison is equal to the
strength of the garrison then there is no additional DRM. If
the number of corps attacking a garrison is less than the strength of the
garrison then there is an additional +1 DRM. If the
number of corps attacking a garrison is greater than the strength of the
garrison then there is a -1 DRM. Numerical superiority
ought to somehow figure into all combats.

Advance through Captured Territories Corps which are advancing through a
territory that was captured on the same turn by a
force that moved earlier in the turn, may continue moving through the
captured territory by paying MP equal to those expend by
the initial force in capturing the territory. For example, if the initial
force paid 1 MP to move into the territory, then rolled twice
on the Siege Combat table before successfully defeating the garrison, then
the total cost would be 3 MP. If one force can
capture a territory & still keep moving then follow on forces should be able
to do the same.

NPC Capture of Provinces If a NPC captures a province then the controlling
or allied PC may not then garrison the captured
territory with its own forces. A captured territory may only be garrisoned
by the country that captured it. Is a NPC really going
to freely give away all of its hard won gains to an ally?

Capture of a NPC Capital If a NPC capital is captured then the forces of the
NPC may not invade & attack any provinces that
were not originally in their home country until they have recaptured their
own capital. A NPC needs its priorities to!

Attrition Any force that enters a winter turn without a LOC to a province in
their home country will lose 1 division per corps.
For this purpose only, a LOC may be traced through sea zones that are either
free of enemy fleets or that contain both friendly
& enemy fleets. A LOC may not be traced directly from a blockaded port into
the surrounding sea zone. Its not much but it is
an easy way to at least work a little attrition into the game.

Land Combat Initiative After combat is resolved determine who has the
initiative. If the player without the initiative has any units
remaining in reserve, or has a superiority in the total number of unrouted
cavalry plus artillery units already committed to the
battle (i.e., not still in reserve), then he may then roll 1D10. On a DR of
9 or 10 he will win the initiative. If the defender played
a Counterattack or Cavalry Countercharge card in a sector in which the
attacker had a superiority of cavalry plus artillery units,
then the attacker will retain the initiative on a DR of 7, 8, 9, or 10.
Artillery & cavalry cost a lot so lets make them clearly worth
more. Counterattack & Cavalry Countercharge become something less than a
sure bet to win the initiative.

Counterattack A defender may not play a counterattack card if he has less
than 2 divisions in the combat sector. If he is holding
no other card than a counterattack card he is assumed to play a Static
Defense card. If it takes at least 2 divisions to assault
then it should at least 2 to counterattack.

Cavalry Countercharge A defender must play a cavalry countercharge card if
his only defenders in the combat sector are
cavalry. He is assumed to play this card even if he is not holding it. What
else is cavalry really going to do but charge anyway?
Dismount, hah!

Squares Formed A defender may not choose this option unless he has at least
some infantry in the combat sector. No infantry
no square. Pretty obvious.

Artillery If a defender has only artillery present then he must select a
Static Defense option. If an attacker has only artillery
present in a sector then may not attack from that sector unless he rolled a
bombard option. If an attacker has 2 or more artillery
units deployed in 1 combat sector then he may convert a result of rearguard
or night into a bombardment result. He must
bombard in the sector in which he has 2 or more artillery units. A pure
artillery force can only do so much. It costs a lot, so lets
make it a little easier to actually use.