Re: Supply Lines

From: "John Hart" <jhart@us.infogrames.com>

Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 00:00:00 +0000

<bharts@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:909m66$b0n$1@nnrp1.deja.com...
> I'm developing a fantasy wargame. I would like the game to have a great
> deal of depth so that players will be able to discover several
> different routes to victory, but I don't want players to become bogged
> down with details.
>
> Something that I'm working on right now: how military units will
> operate in the field.
>
> If possible I would really like to incorporate supply lines into the
> game. However, I have a feeling that such a system would overwhelm
> players with nitty-gritty details and make the game less enjoyable.
>
> What I have right now is that the player must simply pay a maintenance
> fee in gold each turn to the military unit. It's a simple system, which
> is why it's used by most everyone, but it suffers from being a bit TOO
> simple, in that several potentially important aspects of the game (such
> as raiding supply lines, etc) is neglected.
>
> So basically I'm fishing for ideas. If anyone has an idea I'm all ears.

A "best" system depends an awful lot on the time scale of the game.
If the turn length is days or weeks, you should really use supply trains
instead of lines.  That is, the army should have to carry their supplies
with them.  If war in your game feels pre-WWI, then there really won't be
"lines" of troops.

This being fantasy, however, all bets are off.  If this is an extremely
high-magic world, then your abstracted cost is completely appropriate:
supplies are being teleported to the troops as needed.

John Hart

References

Supply Lines
bharts@my-deja.com
Sat, 02 Dec 2000 02:18:49 +0000

Referenced By

Supply Lines
bharts@my-deja.com
Sat, 02 Dec 2000 02:18:49 +0000