Subject: Suggestions for Columbia's VICTORY
From: Scott DiBerardino <sdiberar@student.umass.edu>

These are the house rules I've developed (and pilfered!) for use with Columbia
Games' generic block game Victory.
I hope others out there can find some use for them...

Scott's VICTORY Suggestions
by Scott DiBerardino / sdiberar@student.umass.edu
v1.1   99.06.08

The following suggestions were designed to redress perceived flaws in the
basic Victory engine that were felt either to unbalance the game or provoke
unrealistic (and boring) strategy. Hopefully someone will find these ideas as
useful as I have. Foremost in my mind has been to preserve the simplicity and
basic integrity of the Victory ruleset; in particular, I have endeavored to
not change any units' firepower values, a popular pasttime among Victory players.

PROBLEM: It is hard to apply enough force to take a city, and there is little
incentive to do anything but pile infantry into your cities and defend.

SOLUTION: A city may only be used as a supply base if it can trace a supply
line to another friendly city.
RATIONALE: This allows for the tactic of starving out a city by siege
(although a blockade would most likely be required against port cities.)

SOLUTION: Do not check army or naval stacking in a battle hex until the end of
the battle. Units in excess of the stacking limit after the battle must retreat.
RATIONALE: This allows proper concentration of force to attack a hex, provided
you control the surrounding countryside. This also provides incentive for the
defender to guard his flanks.

PROBLEM: The air war seems to dominate the game. With first fire and few
natural predators, air units routinely crush ground forces.

SOLUTION: Only one air unit may base at each airbase (city, town, CV or EN).
RATIONALE: This forces forethought in assigning air units to bases,
incidentally making the long-range Heavy Bombers more useful.

SOLUTION: Ignore friendly fire when firing Flak - 6's do not damage friendly
air units.
RATIONALE: It was bad enough that ground units get plastered before they even
get to fire.

PROBLEM: Some units seems too much better than others. Compare Armor vs.
Infantry, or Mechanized for that matter; or Submarines or Destroyers vs. any
other naval unit.

SOLUTION: Armor, Artillery, Mechanized, Cruisers, Battleships, and all air
units except regular Fighters cost 2pp per step. Elite Armor costs 3pp per step.
RATIONALE: After extensive numerical analysis, taking into account likely
targets and first-fire capability, these costs seem to equalize things.

SOLUTION: Armor gets G3 when attacking or defending in a clear or desert hex
that does not contain a city. Elite units (fighters and armor) fire before
regular units of the same type. Elite Armor may respond 1 hex, just like
Mechanized infantry.
RATIONALE: These new abilities balance out some units that were on the line
between cost breaks. They are fairly intuitive changes.

PROBLEM: As a game of attrition, Victory perhaps is too successful. It can be
hard to form front lines when so many units get annihilated so easily.

SOLUTION: Combat lasts only two rounds instead of three.
RATIONALE: Not sure I have one, other than 'it works for me.'

Anyway, that's it! Comments are welcome.
-scott / sdiberar@student.umass.edu