I have played CD, CA, and OTT for years, very much enjoying the playability of the basic game system versus all the other rules on the market. In reading Mr. Chadwick's designer's notes, and playing a few basic modem games using CA, I knew that you had found a game system that would let me play, not waste time in crunching charts to determine that, in a game that took seven hours to play, only seven minutes of game time had expired. This revelation led me to continue with CD, and I have not regretted the commitment. But being a gamer, and like most gamers thinking that we know everything about everything, I like to tinker with a rides set, oftentimes to satisfy my own ego. Not to say that CD needs tinkering. I think the system stands fine on its own. But in playing CD, as wen as most any other rules set dealing with most any other subject, I find that often times a scenario I have played in--or worse yet, that I designed-has a distinctive lack of play balance. Sure, on paper a scenario may look even, but as I do a lot of games at conventions, I try to ensure that both sides have an equal chance of obtaining victory. Often times this is not the case. Numbers can be deceptive. Just because both sides have a battalion of tanks does not guarantee that there is balance between the two battalions (especially if one battalion is comprised of Tiger IIs and the other BT-5s!) Common sense should be a consideration, but sometimes this isn't enough. And so, being a gamer, I decided to come up with a point system for rating vehicles for CD. I know what you're thinking: Another headache to have to deal with. Honestly, I myself do not like anything that takes away from gaming time, but as a tool to create balanced scenarios, a point system should help. It's not fair to take a company of Panthers against one of Shermans (fun maybe, but not fair); a poor gaming experience may discourage a potential gamer, especially at a con. So this is my offering. It takes into consideration a vehicle's offensive and defensive capabilities, such as armor and penetration of the main weapon. The formula I used breaks down as follows: [(Front Armor + Flank Armor) / 2] + Penetration at Half Range + Rate of Fire = Value For penetration, I use the AP round (if available) of all weapons and rate of fire for all weapons as well. I do not include machineguns, as they have a tendency not to penetrate armor. Therefore, a Tiger II would be as follows: [(16 + 8) / 2 ] + 13 + 2 = 27 As you can see, I used the penetration from the 25" range, half the maximum of the 88L71. For comparison, a T-34/43 with the 76L39 would be as such: [(9 + 5) / 2] + 2 + 2 = 11 If a weapon has a penetration value of 0 or less, I don't add anything for that value. If a vehicle has more than one weapon (such as a Lee/Grant tank), then I use all weapons to determine point value (the Lee/Grant should be rated as a 12). I hope that some of you will be able to use this point system as a way to build balanced scenarios. 1939 France Vehicle : Point Value AMC 35 (AGC 1) : 5.5 AMC 35 (AGC 2) : 4.5 AMR 35 2T (II) : 1.5 AMR 35 2T (III) : 3.5 ANR 35, 2T (IV) : 3.5 Char B 1 : 9 Chat B 1 bis : 12 Char B 1 bis Flame : 10 D 1 : 6.5 D 1A : 5.5 D2 : 8 FCM 36 : 7 Fr 17 : 2 FT 17 (SA) : 5 H35 : 7 H39 : 7 Lorraine APC : 1.5 Lourd 3C : 11 Panhard AC : 4.5 R 35 : 7 S 35 : 8.5 Germany Vehicle : Point Value Gw I : 10 PzKw I : 1.5 PzKw II B : 5 PzKw III E : 6 PZKW IVD : 4.5 P,zKw 38(t) : 5.5 SdKfz 221 : 1 SdKfz 222 : 4 SdKfz 223 : 1 SdKfz 231 : 4.5 SdKfz 232 : 4.5 SdKfz 263 : 1 Italy Vehicle : Point Value L3/33 Tankette : 1.5 L3/35 Tankette : 1.5 M11/39 : 5.5 Japan Vehicle : Point Value Type 89 Chi-Ro : 4.5 Type 92 Tankette : .5 Type 92 Osaka AC : .5 Type 93 Sumida AC : 1.5 Type 93 Light Tank : 1.5 Type 93i Light Tank : 4.5 Type 94 Light Tank : 1 Type 94 Medium Tank : 4.5 Type 95 Ha-Go : 4 Type 97 Te-Ke G : 4 Type 94 Te-Ke M : 1 Type 97 Chi-Ha : 5.5 Type 98 Light Tank : 4.5 Vickers-Crossley AC : 1 Poland Vehicle : Point Value 7TPdw : 1.5 7TPjw : 4.5 TK Tankette : 0 TKS Tankette : .5 TKS/20 Tankette : 3.5 Vickers E : 1.5 Vickers E/47 : 3.5 wz. 29G AC : 4 wz. 29M AC : 1 w4 34G AC : 4 w4 34M AC : 1 United Kingdom Vehicle : Point Value A9 Cruiser MkI : 4.5 A9 Cruiser CS : 3.5 A10 Cruiser Mk II: 5.5 A10 Cruiser CS: 4.5 A13 Cruiser Mk III: 5 Mark VI B: 1.5 Matilda I : 6 Morris : 1 Recon Carrier: 2 Rolls Royce : 2 Universal Carrier: 1 Soviet Union Vehicle: Point Value BA-FAI: 1 BA-10: 3 BA-20M: 1 BA-32: 3.5 BT-2: 4 BT-5: 3 BT-5A : 3 BT-7: 3.5 BT-7A : 3.5 T-26/31 : 1.5 T-26/31TU: 4.5 T-26/33: 3.5 T-26/37 (T-26S): 4 T-28 : 4 T-28/M-1 : 4 T-35: 8.5 T-37: 1 T-38M: 1 T-38M2 : 1 1940 France Vehicle : Point Value R40 : 7 Germany Vehicle : Point Value PzJr I : 4.5 PzKw IV E : 6.5 PzKw 35(t) : 5.5 SdKfz 251/1 : 1.5 SdKfz 251/2 : 3.5 SdKfz 251/10 : 4.5 Italy Vehicle : Point Value AB-40 : 1 M13/40 : 6 United Kingdom Vehicle : Point Value A13 Cruiser Mk IV : 5.5 Churchill I : 11 Daimler Scout : 2 Daimler Mk II : 5 Matilda II : 10 Matilda CS : 9 United States Vehicle : Point Value M3 GMC (75) : 4 Soviet Union Vehicle : Point Value KV-1/39 : 9.5 KV-1/40 : 11.5 KV-12 : 19.5 T-28/M-2 : 5 T-34/40 : 9 Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly #4 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Greg Novak. 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