ACE of ACES is a recent example of an innovative breakthrough in the design of a wargaming system. The use of the booklet format provides a simple, playable system which is appropriate to the setting of the game. While we cannot expect every new game to offer revolutionary advances in the stato-of-the-art, I think that we can expect designers or developers to use contemporary standards. The new naval rules, COMMAND AT SEA, are an example of a reversion to prior art and, thus, represent a step backward. Players should be able to focus on the play of the game and not be held captive by complex calculations, convoluted die-rolling procedures, etc.
One annoying feature of many current boardgames is the mixture of types of die rolling in a single game: single die, sum of dice, 'read red first'. etc. If such a variety of ranges in probabilities is really necessary or desirable, then the game should use decimal dice all the time and the various tables should be adjusted to reflect the 00-99 probabilities. Another ploy is a sequence of rolls to reflect a series of conditional probabilities, If such a series of rolls does make sense, then the developer should recalculate the events as single probabilities and use 00-99 probabilities in a table (or even 000-999, if necessary). Again, the player plays the game., not vice versa.
Fletcher Pratt introduced the use of a plot to determine armor penetration as a function of range for various calibre guns. However.. many naval rules omit this simple one-page concept and tabulate the gunnery characteristics on page after page. GENERAL QUARTERS is an excellent example of innovation where the range capabilities of all guns and the penetration abilities are combined into a single table.
Many naval rule writers could usefully address the number of steps of damage which are required to sink a vessel as a problem in good game system design rather than expending their energy on devising pseudo damage systems based on their perception of how a ship sinks by the progressive flooding of compartments. Such microscopic analyses often confuse what is believed to be realism with what is, in fact, tedium, Many of the multi-phased naval movement systems (such as can be found in Task Force Games BATTLETWAGON) are ill-conceived exercises in 'wood-pushing' rather than reflections of reality. A movement system need only reflect the relative change in range over a period of three to five minutes. If the ships do not move significantly with respect to each other, the turn time is too short if the ships fly by each other in and out of range (SPI's FRIGATE was such a game), then the chosen interval is too long.
Wally Simon has pioneered the use of cards for governing the movement and firing of units, The technique works very well.. in some cases * while other applications have not worked very well, Speaking of cards, one could replace a die-roll/table lookup procedure with a series of cards which would obviate the necessity for rolling the dice. For example, in naval damage, one could replace the several page table of hit locations and damage possibilities with a simple deck of cards ... which could easily be modified to reflect new Ideas or altered probabilities.
Many miniatures and complex boardgames could be provided with more effective data sheets or bookkeeping forms to record the current status of units. Experienced players might be able to use the back of old envelopes; but if the games were properly tested using novices, suitable forms should have evolved during playtesting and should be passed along to those purchasing the games. Players play the games, not vice versa.
Separate cards with the game turn sequence or useful tables are much to be preferred to leafing through rules which sometimes approach the paging of an unabridged dictionary, Many boardgames would be enhanced by including a listing or extra printout of the counters so that one could determine whether a set was complete or not, and thus be able to replace missing units.
It is becoming more and more difficult to find simple board games for the neophyte (like Napoleon at Waterloo or the Avalon Hill classics). Those designers which provide a basic game or who provide a sample series of turns to follow, or the analog of the old Avalon Hill Battle Manuals are helping to expand and perpetuate the hobby rather than closing the doors to an esoteric fraternity. Why is D & D popular ? There are probably a lot of reasons. Certainly one favorable feature is that one does not have to know much to get started, In naval games one might accommodate the novice by providing data or diagrams for a typical task force or fleet organization so that players might deploy their units in a realistic manner (if they wish to do so).
Land combat games might include some basic concepts about how to employ or deploy tanks, cavalry skirmishers etc. While these various proposals may add additional cost, we would avoid many of the current situations in which a player opens a $15-25 game and is so overawed by the contents of the box that he either puts it unplayed on the shelf or heads for the nearest flea market to recoup part of his investment. Many complex things CAN be simplified, if one is willing to make the effort. Many of the things I have proposed have been done in the past; thus they do represent state-of-the-art, but they have gone unused or unnoticed- by designers or developers who ware primarily concerned with churning out new box covers than playable games.
Hidden movement is still a primitive concept in most games which attempt to use it, I think that there are still creative possibilities for adressing this problem without necessarily invoking the use of a computer. For example, we have seen the resurrection of the 3-D movies using the glasses with two-color lenses to suppress the extra image. I have always felt that one could use this same principle to make enemy units 'invisible' by giving each side units of a certain color and glasses to make one's own units visible. Sighted units could be flipped over; and, if backprinted in appropriate colors, could be seen by both players.
Boardgames or miniatures rules could also employ an updated version of Featherstone's "matchbox" scheme for some situations. It might also be possible to use infra red or ultra violet light to illuminate a playing area in such a way as to represent the range of RADAR.. SONAR or sighting distance. Some games might even be improved by the simple process of including an acetate template to ajudicate various kinds of ranges. The use of a transparent template would avoid a lot of finger pointing, hex-counting or tape measuring which takes time and slows down the game. The template can be put down on or hold over the unit and range circles can be used to determine what enemy units are detected or are in range. Going back to the more exotic IR or UV lights, a spot of light could be shined on the basic unit, with the diameter of the pattern of light equal to the desired range. Markings which respond to the IR or UV light would glow indicating datection.
We have come a long way from the point where a new boardgame was simply a different set of counters and a new map with the same old mechanics and CRT. We have come a long way from the point where the actions in miniatures were a succession of die rolls on a sheaf of tables. Every time we write a new set of rules where we fail to take advantage of the game mechanics or game systems or play aids which past innovators have developed for us, we are regressing; and we are depriving prospective purchasers and gamers of the benefits of the state- of-the-art. The designers and developers who do not incorporate existing technology into their games and rules are shortchanging the hobby.
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© Copyright 1981 Wally Simon
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