When I first started doing MGs I didn't use a matrix. They only came about as a tool to educate players into matrix think. That strange elusive way of thinking that lets players begin to realize that it is okay to MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO ALONG. The real heart of MGs is really in the arguments. The game Is all about the interplay of the various arguments and what they cause to happen (or should I say describe happening). You used them In just that way in your mini matrix encounter. I ran a fantasy RPG last year where I let the players make two matrix arguments after each run to improve their characters and create social connections. I used not matrix since the players were all very familiar with what the "matrix" of a fantasy RPG world "should" be. They just made it up as they went along. I as referee was free to rule arguments strong or weak, and to counter argue when I wanted to. I often counter argued with a weak argument when I wanted the player to win, but for him to work for it. Your players were doing roughly the same thing in your game. The other great innovation you have applied is the use of a mini matrix game to settle questions not covered (or covered clearly) in the rules. The Giants attack was critical, and was going to add a lot of spice to the outcome of the game. By having the players have a say in what was going to happen-if-you-were-able to pull them much further into the game than they might otherwise have gone. So It could be useful to plan to use a matrix argument at some critical moment just to draw them in, in that way. The whole idea about leaving a hole in the rules for a scenario might scare some, but speaking as a scenario writer it happens anyway, no matter what. So why not plan for it? Situations always arise, like spotting ambushes, infiltrating the enemy and the effect of certain weird terrain that standard rules never quite work for. A matrix argument keeps the unpredictable element unpredictable. Quite literally no one knows what will happen when the dawn patrol slinks out into no mans land for a look see. This is as how it should be. Wargames disperse the fog of war very quickly. They then try to add in back again by using complex spotting rules (an analogue of war since they are slow and boring marked by the sporadic excitement of rolling dice.) I hope you will be able to make use of such mini matrix games in the future to make your rules work better. r firmly believe that standard miniatures rules are better at handling battle results that MGs are. So use MGs to do what they do not do well, supply, campaign issues, infiltration, and spotting. Together the two gaming approaches make for a stronger game all around. Back to Experimental Games Group # 19 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