PLAYTEST REPORT: THE HILLS OF STANLEY
Today we have a guest blogger. Sort of. My friend, Jim Werbaneth, wrote this article for his magazine, Line of Departure. He's given me permission to repost it here.
PLAYTEST REPORT: THE HILLS OF STANLEY
by Jim Werbaneth
Frequent Line of Departure contributor Mark Walker's first venture (That was a while ago, wasn't it? --Mark) into wargame design is a multi-scenario game of the 1982 Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina. The scale is far different from that of Bodyguard to Overlord; the hexes are a kilometer across, turns represent two or three hours, and the units are companies, platoons and batteries.
The basic premise of the game is that intangible factors such as morale, training and cohesion count for more in the long run than raw firepower. It is an idea borne out time and time again in history, including that of the Falklands-Malvinas con¬flict, in which the British professionals beat a better-armed force of Argentine draftees.
The intangibles enter the game in two main ways. First, when a unit fires, the player must roll on the Precombat Firepower Modifier Table. A unit with a high morale rating stands a good chance of receiving a beneficial column shift in the actual combat resolution, in effect getting firepower greater than the simple sum of its guns. By contrast, the lower a unit's morale is, the greater the probability it will get a bad column shift, as the troops waste the weapons at their disposal.
Second, a unit that suffers an adverse combat result can try to withdraw instead. Again, better units can better maintain their cohesion and avoid losses.
Basically, movement and combat can take place throughout the player turn. A unit can make a mobile attack at face value by spending half its operations points, which in the game serve as a movement allowance. This can take place before, during or after movement. By spending all of its operations points, it can make a deliberate attack, at double its normal firepower.
There are other types of combat besides normal, general purpose fire. Units can undertake opportunity fire in the enemy player turn. In addition, active forces can make assaults, anti-tank attacks, and call for off-map artillery, naval gunfire, and air missions.
With the freedom to mix combat and move-ment, players have many more possible tactics than in the standard move-fire type of wargame. For example, some units can make deliberate attacks to suppress defenders, with others going into the enemy hex to eliminate them through assault. Ultimately, the resulting gap can be exploiting by reserves that spend all their operations points on movement. Meanwhile, the other player has to decide when and where to engage in opportunity fire.
The Hills of Stanley does not cover the entire campaign for East Falkland Island at once, as did Port Stanley (3W/The Wargamer Number 28-----January 1984). The map is divided into four areas of varying sizes, portraying the areas around Goose Green, San Carlos, Fitzroy, and Port Stanley itself.
There are only two strictly historical scenarios, covering the attack on Goose Green and the final assault on Stanley. The other four represent a number of hypothetical deployments, aborted Argentine plans, and missed Argentine opportunities (a recurring theme of the defense; as one scenario notes, "General Menéndez was not an aggressive counterstrike kind of guy").
Be sure to check out NIGHT OF MAN, a science-fiction, card-driven, board and counter, tactical battle game, designed by Mark H. Walker and published by Flying Pig Games. It is on Kickstarter until December 31st. You can view the Kickstarter page and place a pledge right here.
PLAYTEST REPORT: THE HILLS OF STANLEY
by Jim Werbaneth
Frequent Line of Departure contributor Mark Walker's first venture (That was a while ago, wasn't it? --Mark) into wargame design is a multi-scenario game of the 1982 Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina. The scale is far different from that of Bodyguard to Overlord; the hexes are a kilometer across, turns represent two or three hours, and the units are companies, platoons and batteries.
The basic premise of the game is that intangible factors such as morale, training and cohesion count for more in the long run than raw firepower. It is an idea borne out time and time again in history, including that of the Falklands-Malvinas con¬flict, in which the British professionals beat a better-armed force of Argentine draftees.
The intangibles enter the game in two main ways. First, when a unit fires, the player must roll on the Precombat Firepower Modifier Table. A unit with a high morale rating stands a good chance of receiving a beneficial column shift in the actual combat resolution, in effect getting firepower greater than the simple sum of its guns. By contrast, the lower a unit's morale is, the greater the probability it will get a bad column shift, as the troops waste the weapons at their disposal.Second, a unit that suffers an adverse combat result can try to withdraw instead. Again, better units can better maintain their cohesion and avoid losses.
Basically, movement and combat can take place throughout the player turn. A unit can make a mobile attack at face value by spending half its operations points, which in the game serve as a movement allowance. This can take place before, during or after movement. By spending all of its operations points, it can make a deliberate attack, at double its normal firepower.
There are other types of combat besides normal, general purpose fire. Units can undertake opportunity fire in the enemy player turn. In addition, active forces can make assaults, anti-tank attacks, and call for off-map artillery, naval gunfire, and air missions.
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| One of the small maps. |
With the freedom to mix combat and move-ment, players have many more possible tactics than in the standard move-fire type of wargame. For example, some units can make deliberate attacks to suppress defenders, with others going into the enemy hex to eliminate them through assault. Ultimately, the resulting gap can be exploiting by reserves that spend all their operations points on movement. Meanwhile, the other player has to decide when and where to engage in opportunity fire.
The Hills of Stanley does not cover the entire campaign for East Falkland Island at once, as did Port Stanley (3W/The Wargamer Number 28-----January 1984). The map is divided into four areas of varying sizes, portraying the areas around Goose Green, San Carlos, Fitzroy, and Port Stanley itself.
There are only two strictly historical scenarios, covering the attack on Goose Green and the final assault on Stanley. The other four represent a number of hypothetical deployments, aborted Argentine plans, and missed Argentine opportunities (a recurring theme of the defense; as one scenario notes, "General Menéndez was not an aggressive counterstrike kind of guy").
Be sure to check out NIGHT OF MAN, a science-fiction, card-driven, board and counter, tactical battle game, designed by Mark H. Walker and published by Flying Pig Games. It is on Kickstarter until December 31st. You can view the Kickstarter page and place a pledge right here.
Mark H. Walker served 23 years in the United States Navy, most of them as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal diver, he is the designer of the Lock 'n Load, World at War, and Nations at War series of games. He has quite a few new titles up his sleeve. Stay tuned. Sign up for his newsletter to get design insights, game updates, and stuff.
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