"Marcus White" wrote in message news:... Hannibal is much too fine a game to suffer from its well-known lack of play balance. The following Play Balance Rules have been extensively play tested by Dean Bernadone, Henry MacHarney, Mark Edwards, and myself, Marcus White. My analysis appears below the rules themselves. 6.1 Carthaginian Reinforcements The Carthaginian player receives up to five Combat Units per turn. The Carthaginian reinforcements can be placed in the following locations: · One in Carthage or with any General in Africa · One in New Carthage or with any General in Spain if the city of New Carthage is Carthaginian controlled · One in New Carthage or with any General in Spain if the province of Baetica is Carthaginian controlled · One in any space that contains a Carthaginian General · One in any space that contains a Friendly Tribe AND Hannibal. 7.1 Receiving Strategy Cards · Each player is dealt a number of Strategy Cards during each turn (seven cards on turns 1-3, eight cards on turns 4-6, and nine cards on turns 7-9). · First Turn Option: If either player receives seven cards totaling less than 12 Operation Points, that player may expose the hand and require that all cards be reshuffled and re-dealt. This continues until neither player exercises this Option. 12.3 Political Consequences The loser must now remove a number of his own non-Walled, non-Tribal PC Markers from the map. PCs Removed = One + (Battle Casualties + Retreat Table losses + Retreat Path losses)/2 (rounded down) + the Tactical Ratings of all Displaced Generals. ANALYSIS: I love the game Hannibal because of its fundamentally Strategic nature. I sought therefore not to give the Carthaginian "gifts of redress," but rather "dilemmas of distress." · The extra reinforcement requires that Hannibal winter at a Friendly Tribe, perhaps yielding an advantageous position, and perhaps the expenditure of an Operation Card. It also gives the Roman extra incentive to spend Operation Cards to Subjugate these Friendly Tribes. · The First Turn Option is equally advantageous and results in more enjoyable lines. · The change in Political Consequences favors the Carthaginian to the extent that Hannibal is expected to win most of the battles, but Hannibal is brittle. When the Carthaginian loses a battle, it is more serious; and the formula above magnifies this effect. The increase by the Tactical Ratings of Displaced Generals tempts both players with greed, possibly resulting in one too many Double Envelopments or similarly disastrous decisions. I hope our fellow grognards find these Play Balance Rules to be reasonable, accurate, but most of all, MORE FUN! I hope to see reports and/or commentary posted here. Enjoy.