Strategic Map Rules

[mrpwase]

When I first started playing CM, I was disppointed to find that you couldn't play a large, strategic campaign, in which you can command divisions and whole army groups on a large strategic map, then play individual battles as they pop up.

So recently, I started making a set of rules (based, strangely enough, on Advance Wars 2 for the Game Boy Advance) to simulate a war, rather than a series of scenarios and operations, which is essentially what CM is.

Would anyone be interested, at some point in the future (rules aren't made in a day, and I have a LOT of maps to make - something close to 200), in playtesting these rules? The campaigns are playable as either 2 player (each player commands a nationality) up to - well, a lot of players, each commanding a different unit, about a battalion in size. It would be about a month or so before I finish the maps, and then there's the bookkeeping rules to lay out and Excel spreadsheets to design and the like, and I have to go back to school next week anyway (as a sixth former, I'm not that young) - but I thought I'd warn you in advance.

Anybody interested? Reply here or email me - mrpwase@gmail.com or mrpwase@aol.com (or both).

[theike]

did i see that correctly? 200 maps in just one month?...

Is your idea to make al these separate maps like u walk through them?...i mean the map after the first being what terrain would lie walking over the edge of the one before?

U could if u like use some of my maps from my mappacks posted on cmmods...there is alot of different stuff in there and in my oppinion they are mostly made to be played pretty tactically. (editing those will save u alot of time)

If im interested?...mostly i dont go to war on rules i dont know about;) so i couldnt say.

(i was just wondering about the maps)

Its always good to just go ahead...people might join in later when they see what its al about.

[ September 01, 2004, 05:01 AM: Message edited by: theike ]

[mrpwase]

Hmm...I think I know what you mean. Roads which reach the edge of a map correspond to the next map, and the overall strategic map is a tile system. Roads, ports and airports are all marked on the map (airports are needed to field aircraft, and ports can create naval artillery to be used in battles, but there are roads other than those marked on the map - small local roads, or those connecting cities.

But terrain doesn't exactly match from one map to another. Generally towns and forests are placed in the centre of maps to avoid confusion.

The rules are pretty simple, and the main gameplay is (obviously) in the battles themselves, but there are other things to consider, like positioning of artillery and reserves. Only two friendly 'units' (usually a battalion of troops or a company of vehicles) can occupy a tile at once, but you can have four on a tile - the front line could be set in a tile rather than on the edges, if you know what I mean. Setup zones are used to designate territory, so you can setup anywhere in your territory. There are 'turns' (dawn, midday, dusk, night) and days. Reinforcements arrive daily, if you can afford them - reinforcement revenue is based on the number of tiles you own. Mechanised units and panzers move faster than infantry. Supply is initiated at dawn and arrives at midday (handy, that). A unit that is cut off gradually becomes weakened and then unfit, but cannot die of hunger (to simplify things).

That's just the basics, I may add more rules as I think of them. I'm going to play a quick campaign using the rules first, to check they work alright, then I'll open it up to the public...I was just wondering whether anyone would be interested in playing a strategic game rather than just a mostly incoherent series of scenarios.

Thanks,

mrpwase

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Many of us use ROQC or BCR, which are both single player campaigns you can find on this board, but there are no maps which are "linked" in this fashion.

I think quite a few of us would LOVE to have a lot of maps (200 is awesome, but even 50 that went together would be fantastic) that were linked by a topographical overview.

So, I am one vote highly in favor of your project.

[RawRecruit]

I've been working on this very idea myself for a small while. The system is entirely web-based. The site is still under construction, and the rules have not been ironed out or tested yet, but anyone is welcome to take a look and let me know what they think. Unfortunately the bookkeeping pages won't be readily available as they're protected for the players only.

This game is divisional level and so will only have 4 players per side, but if it works and the players enjoy it I'll certainly consider expanding the size.

You can find it here.

[mrpwase]

And I thought I was the only one. :S

I had a look at your site: it's pretty impressive. At least you've actually got somewhere with the rules.

Is that map on big Combat Mission map, or a series of interconnected ones?

On the subject of my 'strat map' (must think up a new name...), at some point I'll make a 'map pack' with all the pictures you'll need to make your own strat map. All you need is Excel in some form, and you basically then make the cells a certain size and resize the pictures so they fit, then put the pictures in the cells in a certain order and voila! Instant strat map.

...I need to get a website for this.

[RawRecruit]

It's connected maps of 1.2 sqkm each. I did the operational map first and then started designing the CM:BB maps from it. There's a mountain of work to get this sort of thing up and running so I'm glad to say Sgt_Kelly is doing some maps and co-GM'ing.

I like your Excel idea for coming up with the 'strat map'.

[mrpwase]

I couldn't think of anything else to use, except Fireworks (my image program, for making the unit notations and terrain tiles), and that would take too long and would look bad in the end anyway. Plus, Excel allows me to a) keep all the tiles in order and looking decent conveniently provides me with a grid system. Of course, your strat map looks a lot better.