rules in general

bibio · Post by **bibio** » Tue May 19, 2009 2:08 pm

after playing a lot of different card driven games recently I'm more than convinced that for a good fun game it is definitly the way to go, especially when there is also the chances of random events.Win or lose i am wanting to come away after a game without feeling that the rules were too complicated .
With Sharpe'practice , mud and blood and sword and the flame the skirmish side is well catered for ,but what about larger battles ,apart from the piquet stable and victory without quarter are ther any other card driven rulesets?

iain

Yermolov · Post by **Yermolov** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:32 pm

If card-driven games are your thing, La Feu Sacre from Too Fat Lardies would be something to check out for the Napoleonic era. There are other sets out there as well.

Card driven games can be interesting, but for me they can be very gimmicky. I played a few games of the original Piquet, and while I can appreciate the random activation order, the rules where you see the enemy coming up to get you but you cannot fire due to not having drawn a 'reload' card seemed idiotic. YMMV of course.

quindia · Post by **quindia** » Wed May 20, 2009 2:06 am

Yermolov wrote:the rules where you see the enemy coming up to get you but you cannot fire due to not having drawn a 'reload' card seemed idiotic. YMMV of course.

That is definitely a matter of perspective and it takes a different way of looking at the rules. I like card driven mechanics for the narrative they create. Presumably if you are waiting for a reload card, you have already fired, possibly at an ineffective range! Remembering that a turn is normally ten to thirty minutes depending on the scale, you need to remember that the unit fired not one shot, but a series of volleys. They are now enshrouded in smoke. They may be firing blind, panicked and firing too high, or actually even waiting for more ammunition. The narrative in waiting for a reload card is not that the unit merely stands stunned and watches the enemy march forward as if on parade, but that their fire is ineffective... now if you had held fire for another turn...

In the end, I don't think it's any more idiotic than taking turns to move, knowing that the enemy cavalry can charge exactly 24", etc.

j1mwallace · Post by **j1mwallace** » Wed May 20, 2009 10:21 am

We've been using Too fat Lardies card driven rules for our 1938 games. With the addition of some extra cards for flavour they have given us some of the most enjoyable games we've had for years. I'd agree. for a fun game card driven is an excellent way to go.

Yermolov · Post by **Yermolov** » Wed May 20, 2009 2:26 pm

quindia wrote: In the end, I don't think it's any more idiotic than taking turns to move, knowing that the enemy cavalry can charge exactly 24", etc.

Fair points.

I guess I prefer the way the TFL rules handle the random activations, where not everyone gets to move, but if the end of turn card is flipped, everyone can fire. Newer versions of Piquet have removed some of the nastier impetus swings from what I understand. The main thing I remember from playing that particular set of rules was that in every game someone was going to get screwed, and you just hoped it wasn't your turn.

Adam Hayes · Post by **Adam Hayes** » Wed May 20, 2009 9:31 pm

Yermolov wrote: Newer versions of Piquet have removed some of the nastier impetus swings from what I understand. The main thing I remember from playing that particular set of rules was that in every game someone was going to get screwed, and you just hoped it wasn't your turn.

Piquet is definitely not for the ultra-competitive gamer and definitely not for competition wargamers. Having played Piquet fairly regularly for the last ten years I can confirm that a certain sang froid is best developed to cope with the times when control is not in your own hands. We have found however that winning the majority of the initiative is not guarantee of success and the games do ultimately read very much like real battle accounts, with inexplicable delays and the action being concentrated in only one area of the battlefield at a time. To me though the most important aspect of the rules is that a game is edge of the seat stuff until the very last throw of the dice, with either side able to grab a victory from the jaws of defeat.

I haven't played any of the newer Field of Battle variants of Piquet but as I understand it they simplify some of the card driven mechanics and even out the initiative mechanism.

bibio · Post by **bibio** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:21 pm

i have not played piquet for a while but one of the things I did enjoy about it was the uncertaintyany thought of battle plans went out the window.
iain