As I am currently working on the "rules" for the Invader-Bot for the campaign (there will be a Defender-Bot in the near future), I figured I would share my explication of the various terms utilized within. If something is unclear, please let me know in the comments, so that I can look at how to better explicate it.
The list below is probably incomplete, but it is a good start, at least. We changed up work, this week, to where I have students everyday, instead of alternating days, and so I have less time to think and type as I am mentally exhausted after trying to herd a hundred cats, I mean students.
The goal remains to have these rules finished by the end of the week, but as it has warmed up considerably here, going from sub-zero teens to the low 40s, I may be going into town with my son, this weekend. As this is pretty much a day trip, a slight delay might be the result.
Terms
Enemy Concentration – A body of enemy of some strength, the exactness of which are fluid due to fog of war. As a rule of thumb, the greater the number of Sightings in a location and its immediate surroundings, the greater potential strength of the enemy force that might be located there. In a campaign, there may be several Enemy Concentrations discovered, whether one is a “main body” or the force has been divided, perhaps unwisely, the Player is not in a position to know with any surety.
Field Force – So named as to help Players avoid confusion over terms and bodies of troops, a Field Force is a Player-owned entity, usually comprising at least a brigade in strength, but this can vary. The initial placement of a Field Force is determined during the Winter Quarters Phase, immediately preceding the start of a Campaign Season. A Field Force can clear adjacent Sightings, or resolve them, and may Hold and therefore defend a location against possible attack, attack an Enemy Concentration or attempt to Evade the same. Another function a Field Force is to add Scouts to the map, in addition to any established during Winter Quarters. These come from its own strength and may well be unavailable to the parent Field Force for any battles during the Campaign Season.
Location – Simply put, a Location is a single point on the map. It may be either relatively empty or may contain a Population Center or a significant terrain or structural feature of some sort, such being clearly marked on the map. Examples of the latter include railroads and ports.
Population Center – A hub of human activity and living quarters of a size greater than a hamlet or village; in most cases being a town, city, capital city, or fortress. Usually, a Population Center will have a local garrison or constabulary, and generally exert some small amount of influence over its own and adjacent locations. As a result, they will attempt to clear any adjacent Sightings, although far less efficiently than Scouts. For a brief time, they will contain the spread of Sightings, with the more populous or fortified locations holding them off a little longer than the others. However, being hubs of human activity, by their very nature rumor and truth spread like wildfire amongst the people, meaning that Population Centers will eventually succumb to enemy activity, if not kept in hand by the Player.
Resolve – Also Resolving, is the term which signifies that one or more Sightings has been confirmed as being an accurate report of enemy activity, wherein an Enemy Concentration has been located and the appropriate marker placed on the campaign map.
Scout – Usually a cavalry picket or screening force of some kind, also a dedicated squadron of cavalry sent on an intelligence gathering mission. Scouts should be thought of as a scouting force, ones which the Player utilizes as the primary means to either confirm or reject Sightings reports. Scouts will often suffer casualties while carrying out their mission, so strategic consumption could become a concern. When they contact an Enemy Concentration, they can either try to hinder the enemy’s movement by harrying them or try to evade them.
Sighting Reports – Referred to as Sightings or Sighting Markers, Sighting Reports represent a combination of rumor and truth which may, or may not, indicate the presence of enemy troops in an area. As the saying goes, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire; Sightings, then, are a general guide to what might be going on in a specific location. However, it is up to the Player to confirm or reject these reports with Scouts. The general rule is that the more Sightings reports in a location, the greater likelihood that the enemy are present there in some numbers.
Will in the invader Bot have an assigned level of aggression?
ReplyDeleteFor example: the Bot will Not attack any field force that is numerically superior. Or the Bot will attack any enemy field force regardless of size.
Yes and no. I have it, currently, at three levels of initiative, which feed into the decision whether or not to attack. The bot's strength is determined right before a decision needs to be made to attack or now, so there is some weight to that choice, but I'd not say it's a tremendous amount.
DeleteThe best thing about this is that it can be tweaked to suit at will.
Now that my stress week of work is over, I can give it some more thought as I finalize the last table to be done, which includes the attack or not decision.