There seem to be two basic approaches to command in wargames: do you
get to move every unit as you'd like to, or are you restricted in what
you can do?
Every game has some sort of restriction, of course, even if it's
as minor as a difference in movement speeds. But I'm thinking here
about restrictions that take different forms during the game.
There are several ways this can happen: a card-based system that
selects units for you as in Piquet or Tin Soldier, dice that
constrain your options as in Chain of Command, or simply an
aggressive pinning/morale system which means that troops under fire
are likely to keep their heads down rather than charge out and be
heroes.
Some of this depends on scale, since there's an averaging effect. It's
fairly unlikely that a whole company or battalion will hide behind
cover when told to advance, but if you're dealing with people as
individuals it's much more plausible. Similarly in a naval game, every
ship will keep moving and fighting even if her captain is having a
temporary mental embolism; it would be unrealistic to say that you
could only move some of them, though a system could limit the number
of changes of orders that can be given.
But I think the objection to restrictions, and similarly to random
movement, is more of a psychological one. Many people drawn to
wargaming, certainly including me, like the idea of being in
control. As with a game of chess, or Luke 7:8:
For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers,
and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he
cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
In a restrictive system, I say unto one, Go, and he saith, Are you
quite sure about that sir? If you're used to chess-like games, this
can feel quite different and wrong; it's all very well, but it's not
the sort of game I'm used to. It as if one's Lego bricks had the
option of saying "I don't want to be stuck to that bit over there".
I have had similar visceral objections to other game mechanics, but I
have grown to like this one. It's a way of remembering that the little
plastic soldiers on the table are representations of real people, who
want to go home to their wives and families even more than they want
to win the battle.
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