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Ditching the complex covert operations rules we never use ..

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:30 pm
by Hannibal
Hi folks!

I'm talking about Standard WOK here, not Duel, OK?

If we are ever to streamline the Rules-manual for lots of newbies, we might as well first just kick out the bits that WE never use and that just serve to confuse newbies unnecessarily, IMHO.

Prime example: that page-or-so about spying options. it goes on about options for "sabotage missiles", "sabotage defences", steal population". Whaddya mean you forgot all about them ever being there! Precisely.

IMHO, they serve no purpose, and they have 3 bad effects:
1) Newbies get unnecessarily confused by options nobody uses or should use.
2) Newbies are disadvantaged by considering and trying to use them instead of the most useful way of using spies.
3) If we are ever to rewrite/streamline the rules, before lots of newbies get here, why bother to rewrite bits that none of us use, and newbies shouldn't get side-tracked by?

I'm not knocking the fact that they were in there at all - you put in options, you see which get used and how they work out ....

But let's drop'em for the rules-rewrite, OK?

I've dodged the issue of the contentious rules on "Spy ALL oppopnent's provinces" personally I think we scrap it, but that's maybe another poll. Comment on THAT aspect in the thread if you like. But the poll is just about dropping or retaining the three non-used options as they stand. Er, if you have a great idea for spying options that WOULD be worth being an option, put it out on the thread. Otherwise, best keep it clear and simple what spying is for, and how it affects Intel and EFF, which is complex enough already.

Vote? And feel free to comment on the thread.

Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:38 pm
by korexus
Erm, did you read the rules since the re-write?

Sab and steal ops can now be done long range, which can make them very useful options, used properly. Even when it was short range only, sab missiles was very handy to someone who could plan well.

As for the multi-province spy option. That has got stupidly complicated now, but something along those lines should be in there, probably.

Ooh. I'm probably in auto disagree mode again. Tell you what, I'll agree that the manual is a bit confusing. :wink:


Chris.

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:06 am
by trewqh
Argh! What new manual? I just realised that after Egbert created a new, shorter version of the manual, we commented but somehow forgot to finish it up and put it on the website. :?

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:16 am
by Donut
LMAO... Smooooooooooooth!

I always really liked the sabotage ops but there was one major drawback: Spies are really expensive. It's hard to devote workers to enough spies to do damage, and they are so easily destroyed by missiles (God I hope I'm remembering right). The other problem was that sabbing missiles was a huge guessing game, or was a pre-emptive strike. Missiles could be made and moved before you ever got to spying, so the best use was to clear out the provs in range of your big army, which meant that you had to do multiple provinces in order to be effective...