For new gamers, PIQUET can be a disconcerting expenence, and perhaps nowhere more so than in the fickle workings of the impetus mechanics. A seemingly sound position can turn disastrously sour, all because your opponent wins a handful of impetus rolls back-to-back and draws just the right cards. This can leave a new player with the feeling that the game system has handcuffed him, in totally unrealistic ways, and that he has been defeated by sheer bad luck.

In the 14 months since the PKMailer came online, I've found that the impetus mechanics generate more controversy than any other aspect of the PIQUET system. Yet almost all of those complaints come from new players. And very often, the voices answer those complaints are not only the PIQUET designers, but also other gamers who - a few brief months before were themselves asking for changesin the impetus rules. This led me to wonder why expenenced PIQUET players seem to have no difficulty living with the frustrating, unpredictable effects of the impetus system.

Part of the answer seems to lie in developing and executing a battle plan. Players who have an idea what they want to do, dispose their forces accordingly at the setup, and can ignore distractions will use their impetus much more efficiently than players who try to respond to each passing event or act on each card as the battle unfolds. But planning can take you so far. Almost every battle will present unforeseen threats or opportunities which demand a response. For new prayers, these threats seem to explode into crises, and opportunities slip away, as the opponent runs off four or five impetus wins back-to-back with the player having had no chanae to intervene. Again, however, experienced players seem to find a way to manage this unpredictability.

I believe the key lies in learning to "read" the battlefield in PIQUET. For unlike most games, PIQUET does not present the players vnth an up-to the-moment, God's,eye view of the battlefield. The PIQUET tabletop more like what you might find at a command post: much of the information is outdated or inaccurate. Because there is no fixed and balanced sequence of activity a player must look beyond where units are now, to where units could be when that player next has the opportunity to respond. When you see your opponent's tank unit over behind that hill, you must remember that this is onlly it's apparent position, based on the reports you have available. That tank unit might already be moving or it might never have been there at all. Which is to say, by the time you get the initiative again, that tank unit might be somewhere else entirely. But where?

The answer - the area within which that tank unit could be by your next opportunity to respond - is what I call the unit's "Threat Zone." Learning to reliably estimate your opponent's Threat Zones is one ofthe most important aspects of learrung to "read the battlefield." This helps you to spot threats and opportunities with enough lead time to get to the cards you'll need for your response.

Factors

How do you estimate a unit's Threat Zone? There are several factors to bear in mind:

THE NATURE OF THE THREAT

Are you trying to decide whether to launch an attack or move a critical asset which might leave you temporarily off-balance? Whether to patch up a known weakness in your line, or let it wait while you focus your efforts elsewhere? Knowing where you're (potentially) vulnerable is the first step in identifying your opponent's Threat Zones.

PIPS REMAINING IN THIS INITIATIVE

Can you finish the attack or movement and rewiew your balance in this Initiative? Will you likely have another chance to patch up that weakness before your impetus is gone? This is why big impetus wins (12+ pips) are so pivotal in PIQUET.

PIPS REMAIMNG IN THIS PHASE

This is the upper limit on how much impetus your opponent would win in his next Initiative. If there will only be three pips left in the Phase at the end of your Initiative, you know your opponent can't win more than three pips next time ... and after that you'll dice off again.

YOUR CARD(S) NEEDED

Knowing what card(s) you need for a given action, and how many are left in your Sequence Deck, is critical to success in PIQUET. In a general sense, this enables you to use your impetus efficiently by skipping to the cards you want. In terms of estimating a unit's Threat Zone, this gives you an idea of how long it's likely to be before you draw the card(s) you need.

THREAT CARD(S) NEEDED

What card(s) will your opponent need to make good on the threat or block the opportunity? How many are left in his Sequence Deck? You should make a habit of monitoring your opponent's basic Sequence Deck (as described in the Sequence Deck lists) before each game. There may be special and/or extra cards you don't know about, but you should still know his core cards. Obviously, you'll have to do some guesswork as to which cards he's turned up - unless your group turns them up publicly but you should still try to keep track as best you can.

THREAT SPEED

How far the threat unit can move on each card? Is there any terrain which will slow it down or require a Difficult Terrain card?

All of these factors, taken together, should give you an idea of how much time you'll need to respond to the threat or opportunity, and how far the threat unit(s) could reasonably move within that time. To estimate the unit's Threat Zone, extend a pie- shaped arc, roughly sixty degrees to either side of the unit's facing out to the its maximum move range, then add its medium direct fire range to the end and sides of that arc, adjusting for terrain as necessary.

If that Threat Zone reaches one of your critical vulnerabilities, then you must whether it may be prudent to protect that vulnerability as top priority. If that Threat Zone will block a perceived opportunity, then you must consider whether it might be better to pass on the opportunity, as it will probably slip away before you can seize it

EXAMPLE (GT scale):

You are playing the U.S., fighting against Germany in North Africa (1943). You win the first Initiative of a new Turn. There are 12 pips left in the Phase. Your anti-tank gun (ATG) unit shoots up an enemy armor unit. However, its covering infantry is driven back during the firefight. With two pips left in your Initiative, you turn up a Tactical Artillery Move card, which would allow you to limber your ATG, so you can move it back to a more supportable position. Your opponent has a Mixed Tank unit 25" away; there are no significant terrain features. Do you spend your last pip to limber your ATG?

DISCUSSION: Obviously, you won't be able to complete your move-pull the ATG back to your main line and unlimber it- on this Lnitiative, and your opponent could get up to 12 pips on the next Initiative. You'll need a total of three Tactical Artillery Move cards for this maneuver. one to limber, one to move back, and another to unlimber. Alas, there are only two of these cards in the U.S. deck which means your ATG would be limbered (and very vulnerable) until at least next Turn.

Your opponent has three Armor Move in Open cards, and he hasn't used any yet (you won the first Initiative in the Turn), which means his Mixed Tank unit will probably get two or three moves before you can finish. At 8" permove, that means it can move 16-24", plus a medium direct fire range of 12". Its Threat Zone extends 28-36", which easily encompasses your ATG unit. In other words, it is very likely that your opponent's Mixed Tank unit will be able to move up and destroy your limbered ATG ... and indeed may already be moving to do that!

CONCLUSION: You don't have time to limber your ATG unit and pull it back to safety. It would be better to find a way to move support up to the ATG unit's position rather than vice versa.

Note that while this seems terribly detailed on paper, it's fairly intuitive in actual play. By knowing these general principles, you quickly learn to spot where your opponent's units could be, and structure your plans accordingly. By learning to read the battlefield in terms of Threat Zones, you can buy yourself time to react. Or, as in the example here, you may see when there isn't time to finish a given maneuver, so you can make alternative plans and not waste impetus on a losing proposition.

The goal in all of this, of course, is tobecome as efficient as possible in your use of impetus. As you gain those skills, youll find that the seemingly capricious whims of the impetus rules are less frustrating and that superior tactical skill will almost always prevail over superior die rolls.