18 Jan 03

        Rules       

'k.k. Armee' Mod:

Reduced Scale:  I play GA at 2/3 scale, using 15mm figures and a 4' x 8' table.  My primary reason for this is to reduce the number of figures needed to field armies.  It also has the added benefit of increasing the scale dimensions of our battlefield, so that we are less likely to be fighting at the 'edge of the world'.  Since Sam plays with 25mm figures, and the rules seem to be written with this scale in mind, and I play with 15mm figures, which is 2/3 the size of 25mm, this seems appropriate.  Rather than re-calculating all the distances, I simply made my own ruler and shrunk it down to 2/3 normal size.

Battlefield Awareness:  This is a category for several related mods listed below.  The point of all of them is to allow a player to look at the table and his forces, and have a good idea of what their current status and capabilities are.  Nothing slows me down more than having to frequently refer to a roster in order to determine which of my units are strong and which are weak, which can skirmish or not, etc.  

--Casualty Counters:  Rather than keeping a roster for marking casualties, we use 1/2" cardboard counters marked "1", "2", or "3" on one side and painted dark green on the other.  The value of the counters can only be examined during combat if that unit is involved.  I think this is a good balance between the roster and casualty cap systems - a player has some sense of the current strength of unit, without having perfect intelligence on every unit. 

--Normalizing the Forces:  In my battles, I modify the rosters to try and average the unit strengths for a Force, grouped by morale class and type.  For example, using the Austrian IV Korps from Wagram, I would replace the Trained 8SP unit with 6SP, and raise two other units from 5SP to 6SP.  The net result for total SP for the Force remains unchanged, but I now only have to remember that IV Korps has five 6SP and one 5SP units.  I tend to think of individual units as merely sub-divisions of the Force, rather than specific battalions and regiments.  You will be able to see a more specific example of this once I post more scenarios.