Gamesmanship: It means a lot of things to a lot of people but our concern is how it pertains to the way we play our games. The way in which we approach our competitor during battle and the discussions after the game is down. The small article below is just an icebreaker and is written tonguc-in-cheek but I'm sure each of you has a memory that is similar or an incident that was close but got out of hand. How did you handle it? Was it a rules error'? and honest mistake? This is what we want to know. Questions comments and interesting approaches to the handling of gamesmanship are the goal. MARSHAL TACTICS VS. CINC HOT DICE Monsieur Le Marechal Tactics has just completed the movement of his well organized units into their final positions for his upcoming attack! This is the ultimate of planning the Coup de Grace of battle! his opponent is completely at his mercy with no way out! To think, four batteries, two brigades of infantry, and a regiment of cavalry all ready to attack. But that's not all... over an hour of bombardment had taken place and his enemies reserves were pinned to the left flank by a diversion. Victory would be his!!! All it took was some skillful maneuvers, clever deception, and of course a firm grasp of the rules ... now his foe was done! ... Meanwhile .... CinC Hot Dice was quickly pushing those little figures around the board (heck, he thought, it beats chits any day) and into position. Now ... he pondered ... is it those guys in the big hats or the yellow plumes I'm supposed to worry about`? Oh well ... As he shoved some more figures into a ragged defensive line. Three regiments of foot, a single battery, and where did that cavalry go? Better move up the reserve. Nope, he's got some units over there so I better not. "Neat game. Who painted the figures? Nice job!"... ... The Moment ... 10AM: The guns have fallen silent and only smoke hangs in the air when suddenly a barrage is launched followed closely by the scream of a thousand men. It would soon be over, or so you would think. Everything has gone according to Marshal Tactics' plans, his overwhelming forces were in place and his opponent was weakened. He had superiority in all phases, infantry, cavalry, artillery, and quality. Just do the calculations, roll the dice and rout those babies. Hot Dice: "AwRight rolled a '6'! So I had 62 points multiplied by three and that gives me 186 points for the defense." Tactics: "Oh S***!1 Rolled a `1' with a bonus for quality that's a `2' so you multiply my 122 points times 1.5 and that's 183? That can't be right! Lets start the calculations over. I had support and .... The plan was perfect no way I could lose." Net Result: A minor victory on the battle field for CinC Hot Dice but a Major Defeat for Tactics versus Dice. How often has this happened to you? Which side were you on and how was it handled? Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 2 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com