[WarInEur] RE: map grid

[Kent & Sue Haunschild]

Bob, I think that the part that concerns me is the rail hexes because ultimately, supply cannot advance any faster than the rail head.  I can live with the hex orientation because while it does have a bias, the Axis supply range was increased from 6 to 10 and the Soviet's from 4 to 6. So the hex bias is sort of factored in to the second edition.

The biggest change as you have pointed out is the inability to convert hexes during Mud and a rail net which is not only greatly reduced, but has been gerimandered to actually increase the number of rail hexes that need to be repaired.

SPI designed the MSU to compensate for this but I think the concept was inadequately game tested because their use guaranteed that the Axis could reach Moscow in supply in 41.  That ugly reality is what gave us the no chaining of MSU errata rules.  Unfortunately, I think that was an over kill.

Maybe the prodcution cost should have been doubled to reduce the number that could be built or the supply range of sequential MSU's reduced, or the political points cost for Moscow reduced because its capture pretty much guarantees that the Turks and Spainards are going to enter the game on the Axis side. But eliminating chaining would not have been my first choice.

Whatever choice players want to experiment with is possible in a board game.  In the computer game once you click on the first winter effects and eliminate chaining, then the Germans have no chance of knocking the Soviets out of the game.

Steve's attrition option is meant to be played with chaining allowed, but the MSU is subject to attrition and as it is attrited the supply range drops so you can't move them continuously but have to stop and allow them to recover.  It will be interesting to see how this affects the flow of the game.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Wardall Clark 
  To: warineur at mailman.halisp.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 1:36 AM
  Subject: [WarInEur] RE: map grid


  A hex grid cannot treat travel in all 8 compass points the same . Every grid has favored and non-favored 
  directions of counting.  Two points which are the same distance from a third point "as the crow flies" can 
  be different number of hexes away from that third point.  In one, the distance in Km divided by 33 
  equals the number of hexes it takes to move from one to the other, whereas the other distance in 
  hexes is greater than the crow flies distance divided by 33 Km. 
   
  In first edition WitE the least favored directions were northward and southward. In WIE the least-favored 
  directions are Westward and eastward.  The direction from Kiev to Minsk on the WIE mapboard is a 
  favored direction while the direction from Moscow to Minsk is a non-favored one. Kiev is Moscow is also 
  favored.  If you trace this exact same triangle of cities in the 1st edition map the dimensions in hexes 
  come out different even though the map scale is unchanged. 
   
  Given that Germans are driving pretty much due Eastward they have 12% farther to travel in 1st edition 
  WitE than in WIE. By the same reasoning, supply tends to fall behind its historical and 1st edition
  accomplishments by about 86% even if all the other rules were the same. 
   
  BOB 
  > From: "Kent & Sue Haunschild" kentsue at cox.net

  > 
  > I'm not sure it's the hex orientation that is to blame. Did a little rail hex counting. The distance to Kiev and Minsk 
  >is the same in both editions. 
  ored 


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