1 . In the past, I've noted that when gamers find a set of rules which is half-way acceptable, there is a great hesitancy to change the rules to their liking. Despite their dislikes concerning certain procedures, and disagreements with the manner in which the rules are carried out, these gamers simply plow right on, playing the rules as..published, refusing to change the system. To these gamers, the published document carries with it an aura of legitimacy, and it's as if the published word stood on the same plateau as the Ten Commandments... an attempt to divert from the printed text will immediately bring down a thunderous lightning strike. I have never had any such hesitations. If I find something to my liking, I'm only too content to change it, to modify it, to add my own variations to the procedures. In truth, I've never found a published set that, without changing it, I'd want to play for a second time. I've heard lots of grousing about 'popular' rules sets... starting way back with COLUMN, LINE & SQUARE, WRG ANCIENTS, PIQUET, the DBM/DBA series, NAPOLEON'S BATTLES, COMMAND DECISION, IN THE GRAND MANNER, VOLLEY & BAYONET... you name it... the list is endless... and yet few people take the trouble to vary the system as given. When someone asks me to participate in one of these yucky games, I never say no... instead I gracefully accept and take my place table-side. This gives me a chance to groan and gripe about the rules. The surprising thing about my own groaning and griping is that it's usually drowned out by the moans and groans and gripes of the other players. Evidently, I'm not the Lone Ranger. 2. I've played a couple of games of PIQUET, which uses the 'groping for dice' method of firing and melee. When firing, your unit tosses a die, and compares the result with an opposing die toss... the opposing die is always a 6-sided die. In melee, the types of opposing dice vary, depending upon the situation. In PIQUET, if you're firing at a unit under cover, the type of hit-die you toss drops one level. In most games, when you fire at a unit under cover, you reduce the probability of hit by some standard value. For example, if the rules employ 6-sided dice, and if normally, a hit occurs on a toss of 4, 5 or 6, then if the target is under cover, you hit only on a toss of 5 or 6... your probability of hit is reduced by 16 percent. Or if the rules use percentage dice, the probability of hit for a target under cover is reduced by, say, 10 percent. Note this is a fixed percentage... regardless of the type of unit firing, the hit-probability goes down by a fixed number. This is not true in PIQUET. If the opposing die is 6-sided, the chances of scoring a hit with the different types of dice (getting a toss higher than the opposing 6-sider) are shown in the following chart. 10-sided die 72% to score a hit 8-sided die 67% to score a hit 6-sided die 50% to score a hit 4-sided die 30% to score a hit Assume your unit ordinarily starts with a 10-sider, and it drops to an 8-sider, you lose 5 percent (72-67). If your unit ordinarily starts with an 8-sider, and it drops to a 6-sider, you lose 17 percent (67-50). And if your unit starts with a 6 sider, and drops to a 4-sider, you lose 20 percent (50-30). Is this unequal decrease in hit-probability critical? Just something to think about. Back to PW Review February 2000 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com