I was considering tonight how it is difficult to represent an encirclement in EA, to a great degree because of the lack of any logistical mechanism. Forces cut off from their lines of supply don't suffer from depletion of ammunition, which means they keep fighting at the same efficiency as their opponents. I am considering the following as a scenario special rule:
Logistics: wrote:
Armies are reliant on logistical support to keep fighting at peak efficiency. Armies that receive no supplies will quickly run low on ammunition, fuel, and even food. Needless to say this can have an adverse effect on morale.
Once sides have been chosen, players will determine "Lines of Communication". In most cases this will be the same as the board edge on each player's chosen side (or the edge congruent with their deployment zone if corner deployment). In some cases a player may not have a board edge in their deployment (breakout scenarios, for instance). In this case the player who chose sides will chose a board edge to be their Lines of Communication, and the opponent will receive the edge opposite.
Any formation with an enemy formation that a) has at least one unit within 30cm and b) has at least one unit closer to the formation's Lines of Communication will receive one blast marker at the end of the End Phase. This occurs after all rallies are complete, but before checking for Victory Conditions. This may break the formation as normal. It also applies to broken formations.
Now, my wording is inelegant (and I'd appreciate some of you wordsmiths out there to suggest clarifications), but the effect is simple. You have a board edge, or parts of two, that are towards your supply depots or home territory. If you have an enemy with 30cm who has a unit closer to your Lines of Communication, your formation receives no supplies. The extra blast marker incurred might be due to the deterioration of morale, or due to a unit running out of ammo at an inopportune time, but the effect is the same. It occurs after rallies in the end phase to represent a lasting effect - formations that didn't rally may break, broken formations will tend to scatter, and even freshly rallied formations will suffer.
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SG
Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.
