Slitherine

This seems to be a game with great potential (still NOOB here, getting the feet wet) and I'm looking forward to playing more and hopefully getting some of my long-time, wargamer friends involved.

However...
I'm curious why stacking isn't allowed; not just in this game (OOB Pacific) but in other similar games like Panzer Grenadier and Battle Academy. Is no-stacking a deliberate design decision or an unfortunate requirement of the underlying game engine (Unity if I'm not mistaken)?

The ability to stacking units (i.e., have multiple units in the same hex) was the norm for table-top, paper wargames for decades. It is a straight-forward way to simulate the critical military principle of concentrating forces. For a game with no stacking, the minimum and maximum force concentration per linear frontage (i.e., one hex in the game) is always one unit and can't be modulated by players to suit the tactical situation. A quick read of historical battles will show that leaders constantly sought to amass overwhelming concentrations of power in focused attempts pierce enemy defensive lines. Tactical doctrine manuals of nearly every nation discuss how, when and where to do this most effectively. That such an important tactical facet is completely missing from the game feels very unrealistic to me and somewhat chess-like.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear why it works the way it is and how it is a proper model of combat - understanding such design decisions can make a game more enjoyable for me. Thoughts?

-Mark R.


P.S. I did do a forums search and I only found one question regarding stacking from way back in Jan 2014, but it went unanswered at that time.

mroyer wrote:This seems to be a game with great potential (still NOOB here, getting the feet wet) and I'm looking forward to playing more and hopefully getting some of my long-time, wargamer friends involved.

However...
I'm curious why stacking isn't allowed; not just in this game (OOB Pacific) but in other similar games like Panzer Grenadier and Battle Academy. Is no-stacking a deliberate design decision or an unfortunate requirement of the underlying game engine (Unity if I'm not mistaken)?

The ability to stacking units (i.e., have multiple units in the same hex) was the norm for table-top, paper wargames for decades. It is a straight-forward way to simulate the critical military principle of concentrating forces. For a game with no stacking, the minimum and maximum force concentration per linear frontage (i.e., one hex in the game) is always one unit and can't be modulated by players to suit the tactical situation. A quick read of historical battles will show that leaders constantly sought to amass overwhelming concentrations of power in focused attempts pierce enemy defensive lines. Tactical doctrine manuals of nearly every nation discuss how, when and where to do this most effectively. That such an important tactical facet is completely missing from the game feels very unrealistic to me and somewhat chess-like.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear why it works the way it is and how it is a proper model of combat - understanding such design decisions can make a game more enjoyable for me. Thoughts?

-Mark R.


P.S. I did do a forums search and I only found one question regarding stacking from way back in Jan 2014, but it went unanswered at that time.

The possibility of stacking is often based on the scale and even in table-top games was restricted and often not possible.(basically it depended on scale) The concentration of force is often via the attack from multiple directions (in OOBP flanking Bonus. Anyway in more modern combat like WW2 combined arms was more important,which is reflected. (Air bobmartments are too weak , but that is opinion)

I think the flanking bonus that it gives is the right idea although I think the bonus you get should be higher. I don't notice much of an advantage. I also think the bombers should be a little stronger.