Campaign Game
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 2:28 am
I am very satisfied with the way individual UoC II scenarios play. I find the campaign game needs work, however.
The problem is that (at least in the early game), there are more reinforcements to be obtained through meta-gaming than through actual game play. And the meta-gaming is not fun, it is tedious.
Consider the Wadi Akarit scenario. One can earn up to 180 prestige by taking objectives. How many are available through meta-gaming? Many units will not carry over to future scenarios: 168 US RCT, DdM Constantine, 8 BR Arm Bde, L Force, and TF ´Benson´. By meticulous research, one can figure out that these units will not carry over, and cannibalize them for parts worth 250 prestige. Of course this is a gross oversimplification. Many of the parts recovered can´t actually be transferred anywhere useful. And there are other units, such as 4 Indian ID, which actually will appear much later in the game, but it is best to strip their precious specialist steps during Wadi Akarit, in order to have them available between now and then.
If I don´t like meta-gaming, you say, the solution is simple: Don´t do it. But then the opposite happens. Ignoring which units carry through and which don´t makes it terribly easy to squander hard-won reinforcements on units that will never be seen again, or at least not seen again any time soon. So, I find myself tediously scraping all the scenarios to document the order of battle, then tediously analyzing the order of battle to determine which units will pay off in the future, and which should be recycled, and then carefully juggling the process of re-organizing my army while also fighting a battle.
Actually, I rather like that last part. In a typical UoC scenario, the battle is decided and most units are freed up about halfway through. Re-organizing some while continue to actively use others keeps the game challenging during the mop-up phase.
I suggest:
1) Each unit should be designated (by the scenario designer) into one of five categories:
a) Unit carries over to future scenario. It retains all steps.
b) Unit carries over to future scenario. It retains regular steps, but specialist steps are automatically moved to the force pool. (This is for the case when the scenario where the unit returns is in the distant future.)
c) Unit will be automatically reinforced in a future scenario. Steps displaced by the reinforcement are automatically moved to the force pool.
d) Unit will never be seen again. All of its steps are returned to the force pool.
e) Unit will never be seen again. A certain value of steps will go with it. If the unit is understrength or absent, the necessary steps will be deducted from prestige, or the force pool, or another unit. If the unit is overstrength, the excess will be returned to the force pool.
Each of the five categories is fair to the player and either not gameable, or not worth gaming.
2) Document how this stuff works. I don´t think it is necessary to actually know which category each unit is actually in, as long as it is clear that meta-gaming is futile.
3) How about some re-org objectives as part of the scenario objectives? Like: The optional bonus scenario is available if you can get at least four full strength armored divisions across the river. The units available in the bonus scenario are the ones on the other side of the river when time runs out. Or: Units on the far side of the river at the end of this scenario will be available at the beginning of the next scenario. Units on the near side of the river will become available on turn 3. Or: Unit XXX will be tasked with breaking through the fortified enemy line at the beginning of the next operation. Reinforce it appropriately. (Actually, this last one could just be a sentence in the scenario briefing.)
The problem is that (at least in the early game), there are more reinforcements to be obtained through meta-gaming than through actual game play. And the meta-gaming is not fun, it is tedious.
Consider the Wadi Akarit scenario. One can earn up to 180 prestige by taking objectives. How many are available through meta-gaming? Many units will not carry over to future scenarios: 168 US RCT, DdM Constantine, 8 BR Arm Bde, L Force, and TF ´Benson´. By meticulous research, one can figure out that these units will not carry over, and cannibalize them for parts worth 250 prestige. Of course this is a gross oversimplification. Many of the parts recovered can´t actually be transferred anywhere useful. And there are other units, such as 4 Indian ID, which actually will appear much later in the game, but it is best to strip their precious specialist steps during Wadi Akarit, in order to have them available between now and then.
If I don´t like meta-gaming, you say, the solution is simple: Don´t do it. But then the opposite happens. Ignoring which units carry through and which don´t makes it terribly easy to squander hard-won reinforcements on units that will never be seen again, or at least not seen again any time soon. So, I find myself tediously scraping all the scenarios to document the order of battle, then tediously analyzing the order of battle to determine which units will pay off in the future, and which should be recycled, and then carefully juggling the process of re-organizing my army while also fighting a battle.
Actually, I rather like that last part. In a typical UoC scenario, the battle is decided and most units are freed up about halfway through. Re-organizing some while continue to actively use others keeps the game challenging during the mop-up phase.
I suggest:
1) Each unit should be designated (by the scenario designer) into one of five categories:
a) Unit carries over to future scenario. It retains all steps.
b) Unit carries over to future scenario. It retains regular steps, but specialist steps are automatically moved to the force pool. (This is for the case when the scenario where the unit returns is in the distant future.)
c) Unit will be automatically reinforced in a future scenario. Steps displaced by the reinforcement are automatically moved to the force pool.
d) Unit will never be seen again. All of its steps are returned to the force pool.
e) Unit will never be seen again. A certain value of steps will go with it. If the unit is understrength or absent, the necessary steps will be deducted from prestige, or the force pool, or another unit. If the unit is overstrength, the excess will be returned to the force pool.
Each of the five categories is fair to the player and either not gameable, or not worth gaming.
2) Document how this stuff works. I don´t think it is necessary to actually know which category each unit is actually in, as long as it is clear that meta-gaming is futile.
3) How about some re-org objectives as part of the scenario objectives? Like: The optional bonus scenario is available if you can get at least four full strength armored divisions across the river. The units available in the bonus scenario are the ones on the other side of the river when time runs out. Or: Units on the far side of the river at the end of this scenario will be available at the beginning of the next scenario. Units on the near side of the river will become available on turn 3. Or: Unit XXX will be tasked with breaking through the fortified enemy line at the beginning of the next operation. Reinforce it appropriately. (Actually, this last one could just be a sentence in the scenario briefing.)