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Made in de
Experienced Maneater






Anyone else read the ruleset for Black Powder Red Earth 28mm? Looking to discuss it with someone from a game design perspective.
It's a slick modern ruleset, that has a lot of potential, but I have a few problems with it.

The biggest for me: the LOS angle
LOS angle is described as: 90° to the left from the hip position, and 45° to the right
I understand why they did that, as it gives a good representation of a shooting angle when handling guns. But only when you're right-handed.
For left-handed, it should be flipped. Though this isn't an option in the rules. In fact, it's never explained in the book why this angle is used.

From a gameplay perspective, does it really matter though? I think the impact on how you play is minimal.
Why not just go with the easier 180°? Or with 90° to the front, like Spectre Operations for example.
It sounds like someone wanted to give the game a realistic and different spin, just for the sake of being different, without a lot of impact.

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

I have not read the rules or played them and I am solely basing this response on my knowledge of game design and what you wrote.

In the Black Powder military days, everyone was trained to do it right handed. There were no "lefties" allowed in the ranks. They learned to do it the other way. That is my take on it anyway.

As for restricting firing arcs, it is a good way to create a more tactical gameplay experience. In the example above, they are clearly creating a situation where approaching an enemy to their left will provide enhanced benefits and therefore "promote" such a approach in the rules to reflect the reality the game designer wants to reflect.

There is now a "relatively" safer angle of approach in which you can reduce the chance of the enemies fire impacting you. The tactics will then be about how to exploit that advantage with maneuver.

I am a big fan of restricting fire arcs as it promotes maneuver, placement, and tactical thinking.

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Made in de
Experienced Maneater






 Easy E wrote:
I have not read the rules or played them and I am solely basing this response on my knowledge of game design and what you wrote.

In the Black Powder military days, everyone was trained to do it right handed. There were no "lefties" allowed in the ranks. They learned to do it the other way. That is my take on it anyway.

As for restricting firing arcs, it is a good way to create a more tactical gameplay experience. In the example above, they are clearly creating a situation where approaching an enemy to their left will provide enhanced benefits and therefore "promote" such a approach in the rules to reflect the reality the game designer wants to reflect.

There is now a "relatively" safer angle of approach in which you can reduce the chance of the enemies fire impacting you. The tactics will then be about how to exploit that advantage with maneuver.

I am a big fan of restricting fire arcs as it promotes maneuver, placement, and tactical thinking.

That's history bit is good to know. Though I forgot to mention it: despite the name, the ruleset is ultramodern (Private Military Contractors vs. religious fanatics/insurgents/mercenaries), not Black Powder era.
I don't think in days without fixed firing lines, this is still valid?

   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

Oh! The name made me think it was Black Powder! Good to know.

Edit: Unit vs unit or model vs model?



This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/19 16:34:09


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