What do you think of round bases for generals.

[timmy1]

I would hope that in a compy my opponent would base his general on a round that is 10mm radius and I get mine on a 40mm square, because that would give me up to 25mm more command limit (roughly - I am no Greek type maths bod) and boy can that make a difference with TC.

[neilhammond]

it does makes them much, much easier to identify.

i'm suspicious that as competition around FoG tightens up (most games are friendlies round here) there will be pressure to conform to rules like careful edge/edge corner/corner touching.

I doubt if most (experienced) FOG comp players would be that bothered. If a player wants to use a round base then fair enough. It might be prudent to keep a set of blank 40x40mm bases handy just in case someone complains - in which case put them on the square base for the game.

However, you can't use a round base and complain when you're round base is just out of influence range of a unit taking a critical test

[WhiteKnight]

I hope FOG will never descend into..." your commander isn't quite base to base, corner to corner by 3mm so he can't count as being with the BG"...unfortunately this did occur at a comp I was in, and of course success/failure in a test can hinge on this, as can a final score, which can then effect placing in a comp! My opponent was sensible enough to say it didn't matter, thinking he had taken the moral/legal high ground!!! With round bases, or any shape that doesn't allow conforming, it strikes me that the "you are 1mm out there chum" thing can't really happen!

In fact, for my part I would prefer an entire rule change that said if a commander were in any kind of base contact with a BG he could count as with them, but that he could at any point in time he could only count as with ONE group, indicated by a token if necessary.

Martin

[ars_belli]

IMHO two different situations are being conflated here. It's a bit like the difference between a pickup basketball game and the Olympics. Players in a pickup game are free to design or modify the rules of the game as they see fit, while those who choose to compete in the Olympics will be subject to all of the rules set by the national and international governing bodies. Once a player has made the choice to participate in official competitions, then he/she has also chosen to subject themselves to the official rules set for those competitions.

To return to wargaming, in a private campaign or a game among friends, it should be pretty easy to accommodate any number of issues that fall outside the standards called for in the rule book, if that is what the players wish. In this example, all that would be required is to set up a 'house rule' to accommodate round command bases. Done.

However, once a gamer has chosen to take part in official tournament competitions and rankings, then he/she has also chosen to adhere to the standards set by tournament organizers, and by the national and international governing bodies. Those standards should be clear, consistent, and fair. IMHO the simplest way to to do that would be to adhere closely to the standards laid out in the FoG rulebook. In this particular case, it would mean that only rectangular bases of the stated dimensions would be allowed, in part to remain consistent with the definition of a commander being 'with' a battle group. Players who choose to compete in such official tournaments and ranking systems would then need to make their basing decisions accordingly.

Just my two denarii's worth.

Cheers,
Scott