We have several new videos out on Pub Battles, if you haven’t seen them yet. We’ve been very hesitant to do any because making good videos is very hard. Most wargame videos are like watching paint dry!
We’ve tried to keep most of these really short and to the point. Let us know how we did and if you want to see more. Watch our Youtube channel to see more coming out.
If you’re new to Pub Battles, here are some rules tutorials to get you up and running quickly. They can also be good to confirm you’re doing things right.
How do you win the game in Pub Battles? I love the new Victory Conditions. They are much more in line with real military objectives. They sound real and feel real. Games can’t always do this but I love it when they can describe things in real world terms.
For example, how do you win?
Be the first player to reach 20 points.
OR
Defeat the enemy army.
Ok, the second victory condition here sounds much better but what does that mean in game terms? As a gamer, this feels a little fuzzy. How do we do that exactly?
I got this question via email today:
What are the concrete victory conditions for Marengo? Is it to destroy the opponents army, or exit off the boards…?
Let’s take a look at the rules. What is the Objective for the Scenario?
Both sides are running out of time. The French are sitting on the Austrian supply line! The Austrians MUST breakout and reestablish a supply line to the north or east. The French are also in a very tenuous and overextended position. They must defeat the Austrian army to end this campaign.
Ok, so let’s break this down. The Austrians MUST breakout. They can’t just carefully attack and then
fall back if things start going bad. An
Austrian controlled retreat back to base at Alexandrie is a fail: They lose.
The Austrians can win by marching out of Alexandrie and off the board along their marked north / east supply lines. I’m pretty sure the French are going to have a lot to say about that. So the Austrians are going to have to fight their way through the French army to get to those supply lines.
Note: The Austrian Supply Lines are the Red Supply circles on the top and right.
These are the Victory Conditions for the Scenario. The standard Victory Conditions from the
basic rules are also in play. So if the
Austrians are ‘routed’ (suffer 50% losses) while trying to breakout, they
lose. They also lose if the French can ‘break’
them (sack an Austrian baggage train) while trying to breakout to the north
east.
What about a ‘forced back’ result? The Austrians deploy for battle, fight the French, clear a supply line, then pack up their trains and march safely off a supply line while keeping their casualties below 50%. That sounds pretty good to me. I’d call that a breakout: Austrian Victory.
Of course this would all be much more simple, if the
Austrians just march out there and destroy the French. If they can ‘rout’ or ‘break’ the French
army, then it is pretty easy to establish your supply line again right? Heck, you don’t even need to at that
point. You just defeated Napoleon. The campaign is over!
So what is the answer to our email question? Is the objective to exit off the board or destroy the enemy? In short, it is both. All of the above.
See how this is much more in line with real world, military terms? How do you win? It’s complicated. –but it makes sense. Much better than something like: be the first player to get 20 points.
We like to get gamers thinking like real officers, not gamers. The real world is messy and complicated. Yes, you’re gonna have to use your brain and think about things. It’s not going to be that simple but that’s good! That’s the best kind of learning and training you can do.
