EP '14 mechanics/balance

[Nitram Draw]

As a scenario designer, I've only designed scenarios for more casual wargames thus far with a small number of turns. People sometimes called them puzzle scenarios, but with a limited number of turns the moves people can make become easier to predict, so it's easier to make a challenging and entertaining scenario. They might feel like a puzzle to some, but the trick is to find just the right balance between making sure they can be won and making sure they require good play to be won

With a campaign scenario for a fairly complex wargame like this, pretty much anything can happen and you can never cover every possibility. Even though I'm often critical about some parts of a scenario or a particular mechanic, I can only applaud the effort and research that goes into these titles to make them function at the level they're functioning now.

After giving it some more thought, the balance does seem to be suitable for smaller scenarios (where the primary problem tends to be running out of time rather than some particular flaw). The 1st Masurian Lakes scenario, for example, might be entertaining to play with the current low Russian supply level as all the German units are in their historical position so there's a limited number of things the German can do within the turn limit as they can't waste too much time moving men around.

In a longer campaign game, particularly one where the attacker is slow, the defender knows where his forces are is, you know how capable those forces are and you know about mechanics that work in favour of the attacker, something that might work well in a smaller scenario can become a problem. Receiving no replacements isn't much of an issue for a scenario with just  a couple of days worth of fighting, but it can quickly become an issue if it occurs for over half a campaign game in a scenario where you should be attacking and the defender has the first half of the campaign game to prepare for that point where the attacker no longer receives replacements or only very limited replacements.

Yes I agree in the longer scenarios it can be very difficult to get it right, as it were. I know Ed did a lot of work and testing to do this and I do enjoy the game but I enjoy the fight not necessarily the winning or losing.
That being said I do think it may be possible to tweak the longer campaigns to stimulate more aggressive actions on both sides. For example by placing some high value VP hexes (enough to give the Russians close to or at least a draw if they hold them all) closer to the front you create more reasons to assault harder or stand and fight longer. Then maybe the Russian will go for the early termination. Another would be to adjust the German minor and major point levels to within 1 point of each other, to basically say if the Germans DON'T get an overwhelming victory then the best they can get is a draw. Then it would be like the players notes suggest, all or nothing for the Germans.
I really wish this system could give 'temporary' or variable VP hexes that reward you for taking something quickly but that then becomes less valuable as time goes by. That would really provide the incentive to act.