Alternate Unit Activation

[pkbrennan]

Random thought: I wonder how BrikWars would play as Alternate Unit Activation rather than You Go I Go...

Alternate Unit Activation:

Instead of one player doing everything they can with their units then letting the other player have their turn in its entirety, AUA uses a system of alternating between one player and another in the same turn. The first player "activates" a squad or a character and does everything for that element - move, firing, close combat, then the next player takes a turn with an element, either a squad or a character, and goes through all three phases with it, and the turn concludes when all elements from both sides have been used. Those with more "elements" will find that at the end of the turn they will have several elements left over they can activate and move all at once, so someone fielding many smaller elements might find themselves at an advantage.

One might need activation chits to mark units that have been activated and moved each turn. Also, in close combat the opposing player does get to reply immediately without using up an activation for that element - it is assumed that the element in CC is just defending themselves. This leaves them free to consolidate and strike back next activation. It also means that each element could take part in two rounds of close combat per turn, thus making each turn even bloodier.

In Void (i-Kore - remember them?) the opposing player gets a free strike in CC if an element disengages from CC on their activation (with all the usual saves and everything intact).

This might be one for the more serious wargamers to have a play with. It could either speed up play, or slow it down. In Void and Celtos it worked very well, but in other games it might not.

[Ben-Jammin]

This sounds like the system that WotC used in the Star Wars Minis game. Each player would move two units at a time. Once all the units had moved, then a new round would start.

[pkbrennan]

Yeah, that's AUA in a nutshell, although with Void and Celtos it was only one "element" at a time - either a squad or a unit (like the hero on his own).

[Rev. Sylvanus]

This might be less easy to pull off in Brikwars where it is much less common to see "squads" as autonomous units. One player I regularly play against, for instance, usually just deploys a line of melee guys and a line of archers guys behind them. And by line, I mean all the way across the field of battle.

For AUA to be more successful in brikwars, we would need the revamped squad rules, and both players would need to play with squad rules in order for this to be effective.

[stubby]

It could be done, but it seems like extra work for no real advantage. It changes the flavor a little bit, but it seems mostly cosmetic.

[IVhorseman]

^ my thoughts exactly ^

[pkbrennan]

I've played both You Go I Go and AUA and they are both very tactically different in gameplay. The advantage of YGIG is that the opposing player is unable to interrupt what you are doing to him unless he has units on overwatch, which in a high powered game, can cause a win within the first couple of turns with a few lucky rolls. The advantage of AUA is that the opposing player can reply to what you do in a very short time indeed, on his very next unit activation. Having played both systems, I do find that they are very tactically different.

For a start, battle plans usually need to be abandoned or adjusted on the fly within the first full turn of play, which means that chaos will ensue a lot sooner.

BrikWars will work well with both systems, but YGIG and AUA do play very differently indeed, and the latter might be useful as an alternative set of rules, as an addendum.

[Tzan]

Ancients A-Z is a rulebook for traditional tabletop battles.

Each side might have 10+/- "squads".
Each side has 3 markers in a cup.
Pull out a marker at random and move one squad. Until all markers are used.
One unit cannot move twice in a turn.

So the guy who pulls at the beginning of a turn needs to worry about immediate moves by the enemy.
Or maybe he gets 3 in a row, then the enemy gets 3 in a row.
Its possible to get 6 in a row. End of one turn and beginning of next.

There is no need to mark the units that moved because its only 3.

[Quantumsurfer]

I agree that they are very different tactically, given players with tactical grasp. But I also agree with Rev's assessment. BW doesn't have standardized unit sizes. I can put two guys in a squad or twenty. I can have all twenty two as individual characters or I can any combination therein. So AUA only starts to matter in very specific instances. A lack of tactical objectives, for example, significantly lessens the impact of such a system, as there is less to react to. At that point it becomes a matter of initiative, a chance to close the distance and kill your opponent first. There also grows a disparity between commanders who use different unit sizes. Since there is no real advantage to being in a squad, aside from already being close enough to group your attacks at a single target, it's pretty easy to outmaneuver them. I only really use them now as a convenience for moving large numbers of troops generally forward. I break them up as soon as is convenient. Anyway, the commander who uses them might be at a constant disadvantage in a AUA system. You move a guy, I move a squad, you move a squad, I move a squad, you move a guy, you move a guy, you move a guy, etcetera. It can get tedious.

I'm curious about your experience with the playstyles, though. What are some more of the advantages/disadvantages you've noticed?

[Quantumsurfer]

@Tzan: Aside from the possibility of multiples in a row by draw, that sounds a lot like Heroscape.

[Pwnerade]

There would have to be a limit on the number of units in a squad. Also, what do you do when one side has more units than the other?

[pkbrennan]

In the case of one side having more squads / units than another, he or she just gets to move the rest of them at the end of the turn phase. A good tactician would move his shite units first and leave the good ones till last...

As for squad sizes, I tend to keep them around 5 units or minifigs. Guess I am used to small WH40K and Void combat units. This might be best for those who have less men with expensive kit. For hoards, squads or elements of 10, 20, or even 30 minifigs should not be unheard of.

As for advantages with playing AUA as opposed to YGIG, the ability to react to what the other player is doing almost immediately is the biggest advantage. Both systems have overwatch rules, but I find them to be a PITA.