Reply To: Check Your Six Game: Hankow Jingbao

[zippyfusenet]

Thanx for the attaboys guys, I like the encouragement.

Jim, my opinion is that CY6! works very well for big games, provided your players know the rules. I have been interested in Bag The Hun since I bought the first edition. The obstacle I ran into was that printing and constructing the components needed for play, especially the card decks, exceeded my level of craftiness. If I could buy some card decks ready-made, I’d try playing a game.

I was introduced recently to part of BTH. An intrepid GM at a convention this past fall offered a CY6! game without written orders. He had grafted the BTH card-activation mechanic into CY6! in place of the normal written CY6! order logs. When a flight’s ‘move’ card turned up, the player could choose any legal move from the CY6! maneuver sheet, making appropriate speed and altitude adjustments, with pilot skill checks as necessary. When a flight’s ‘fire’ card came up, the player could target and resolve shots per the CY6! mechanics. It made for a very different game.

In normal CY6!, I find that the order and movement phases of the game turn move pretty fast, even in large games with many players and aircraft. This is because all players write their orders at the same time. Experienced players can usually do this quickly, without a lot of dithering. Then, most turns, several players execute their movement at the same time. Usually they do whatever they have plotted, sometimes they make an adjustment. It all goes quickly, and then everyone has fun swearing at the predicaments they’ve wound up in.

Where CY6! slows down is in the fire phase. Every shot requires 1) a to-hit dice roll, after figuring the value needed 2) if successful, choose the correct damage dice, roll and total the damage 3) the defender figures his ‘to save’ value and rolls on the Robustness table, this may result in a Lucky Hit requiring further dice rolls to resolve. Some GMs add optional rules with another dice roll when a fighter runs out of ammunition. In big games, once the sides have engaged, there tend to be a lot of shots taken every turn, because the players get target-fixated and line up on their quarries while over-looking the planes that are lining up on them. Most turns, 1/3 to 1/2 of the fighters will take shots, and there are often 3 or 4 bombers shooting back. Then there may be flak to resolve. Then there may be air-to-ground bombing or strafing. It all takes much longer to work out than the orders and movement. The saving grace is that hits come often and damage is either a clean miss or brutal, so there’s tension on every shot and frequent dramatic results.

With the BTH card activation, on the other hand, the movement part of the game turn takes much longer, while the shooting is faster. This is because the formations activate one at a time when their cards come up, and the player must then take some time to figure out his move. You can’t plan too much in advance, because you can’t tell before your card turns which enemy formations will already have moved and which not. So you have to evaluate the situation *right then*, and dithering ensues.

On the other hand, there just aren’t as many shots taken under BTH card activation, because the ‘fire’ cards often turn up at unfavorable times. One may appear when no target is in range. If you line up a shot on an enemy formation that hasn’t moved yet, it likely won’t be there any more by the time your fire card appears. Or, since fire is not simultaneous, you can line up a shot, but get shot down yourself before you get a chance to fire. Consequently there are a lot fewer shots taken than in straight CY6!

I suppose straight Bag The Hun has different move and shoot mechanics that may harmonize better with the card-draw activation engine. Overall, I thought it was interesting. Fun, in a different way. I’d be happy to play BTH some more, if I could get the card decks and other components.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid!