When umpires assess players' proposals, they should always bear the following in mind 1) Is the proposal totally viable? If it is viable, then the proposal should be allowed. 2) If the proposal is not totally viable, on what count does it fail? a) If it is not viable because the ACTION and/or RESULT are ridiculous, then the proposal must fail, however good the REASONS might be; b) If it is noticable because one or two of the REASONS are faulty, then consideration should be given to the possibility that the proposal might succeed. In this case an umpire might feel that a dice throw would be an appropriate way to adjudicate upon the success or failure of the proposal. For example, should only one of the REASONS be faulty then a score of 3,4,5,or 6 on a D6 would allow the proposal to succeed; should two of the REASONS be faulty then a score of 5 or 6 on a D6 would allow the proposal to succeed. c) If it is not viable because all of the REASONS are faulty, then the proposal must fail, however good the ACTION and/or RESULT might be. TIME SCALE: Each game move represents one week of real time. MOVEMENT: Forced March: An army may move up to two "provinces" per move by FORCED MARCH. Normal March: An army may move one "province" per move by NORMAL MARCH. Weakened Armies: An army which has become weakened as a result of an OPEN BATTLE, AMBUSH, or SKIRMISH may not move until it has REST/PREPARED for two game moves or split down or amalgamated (see ARMY STRENGTH section). The Greek Navy: The Greek Navy may move to any part of the sea on the campaign map (other than through the Turkish-controlled Dardanelles) by NORMAL MARCH. ARMY STRENGTH: Armies are defined as being Large, Medium or Small, depending upon size. A Large Army has 100,000 men, a Medium Army has 50,000 men, and a Small Army has 25,000 men. They may, during the course of the Matrix Game Campaign, become weakened. Examples An army which has 80,000 men has become a Weakened Large Army; An army which has 35,000 men has become a Weakened Medium Army; An army which has 15,000 men has become a Weakened Small Army. When an army has become weakened, it may be split down or be amalgamated with another army to bring A up to strength. This occurs only if the split down or amalgamated armies are co- located whilst this takes place, and it requires the player to use a REST/PREPARE, RALLY, FATIGUED, RECRUIT/DESERT,'or WILD CARD matrix card as one of their ACTIONs or RESULTs. Examples A Weakened Large Army of 80,000 men may split down to become a Medium Army of 50,000 men, a Small Army of 25,000 men, and a Weakened Small Army of 5,000 men; A Weakened Small Army of 20,000 men and a Weakened Medium Army of 45,000 men may amalgamate to become a Medium Army of 50,000 men and a Weakened Small Army of 15,000 men. Any army which becomes weakened, and which has not split down or amalgamated with another army, may not move unless it has REST/PREPARED for two moves (see MOVEMENT section), although it can fight ff attacked and may act as a garrison. The equivalent fullstrength army sizes are : 1 Large Army = 2 Medium Armies = 4 Small Armies BATTLES The umpire can use any method to decide the outcome of an OPEN BATTLE, SKIRMISH, or AMBUSH which results from the Matrix Game Campaign, but players will probably prefer to use a set of tabletop wargames rules and model figures. In this case a set of "One Brain Cell" DBA-style rules is recommended, as will allow they players to fight their battle without causing an undue delay to the campaign game. SPECIFIC RULES: The First Balkan War 1) The game lasts nine moves. 2) The order in which players pick matrix cards from the matrix during the first move of the game is: MONTENEGRO; TURKEY; SERBIA; BULGARIA; GREECE. 3) Use the map entitled THE FIRST BALKAN WAR (1912). The Second Balkan War 1) The game lasts five moves. 2) The order in which players pick matrix cards from the matrix during the first move of the game is: BULGARIA; GREECE; SERBIA; MONTENEGRO; RUMANIA; TURKEY. 3) Use the map entitled THE SECOND BALKAN WAR (1913). The Balkan League Matrix Game Rules for the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912-13) Introduction The Matrix Assessing Player's Proposals Cards: The First Balkan War (1912) Cards: The Second Balkan War (1913) Maps (monstrously large: 622K) Back to Experimental Games Group # 17 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com