07-01-2014, 07:31 AM,
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vince hughes
Second Lieutenant
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Posts: 1,310
Threads: 61
Joined: May 2012
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RE: Balancing scenarios.
Larry,
Balance is also a 'personal' thing.
There are plenty of AAR's on PGHQ that claim 'impossibility' for one side to win and yet .................. They do win. Funnier still, I have seen the same claim made when in fact the side that is being claimed can never win has won MORE times than the other side anyway ?? You would think that before writing down such a claim they would at least investigate previoys results. The fact they have not must make one leary of that person's ideas on how to 'balance' the scenario.
So balance claiming really is in many cases based on one's own experience in that scenario. However, there ARE some scenarios for example that might have a 16:1 win/loss ratio ... In that case, I do not think there is much argument, although it irks me when the person who got that 1 win has not AAR'd it ..... People want to know "How" !
One other problem is that with so many scenarios available, I only ever play a scenario once, meaning that 'balance' considerations are left in the wake of my dust as I move on elsewhere.
My final thought would be that when I also read peoples opinions on what would balance the scenario, I wonder if they have then gone onto play-test the claim. Usually it is just that, a claim and again, based on the scriber's personal experience of the one game with the scenario concerned.
Best way to check a semblance of balance is to look at the win loss ratio of scenarios played around 10 times or more.
5-5, 6-4 of course seem balanced. Even a 7-3 is on the cusp as a win there in the7 column may have been a last gasp one etc. However, 8-2, 9-1 etc then imbalance has to be suspected.
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07-01-2014, 08:09 PM,
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RE: Balancing scenarios.
(07-01-2014, 12:04 PM)zaarin7 Wrote: Over the last 20 years I play tested games that got published and those that weren't. I can tell you that finding the balance point, especially in historical based games, is the hardest part of play testing.
As AP don't bother play testing scenario's that's not a issue
I agree that no scenario can claim to be unbalanced until its been played 10 times. Its a good job there have been not many scenario's played that many times as I believe that there would be a lot more "unbalanced scenarios" in the PG lexicon. However unbalance is more of an issue in FtF games which are very much in the minority in PG plays.
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07-02-2014, 02:20 AM,
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larry marak
Recruit
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Posts: 1,343
Threads: 194
Joined: May 2012
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RE: Balancing scenarios.
Vince, how much Irish is Wayne?? Sounds like he enjoys life way to much.
#5 another way to balance an unbalanced scenario..take from golf, give one side or the other 2 or 3 optional rerolls.
I really think the reason Boganovo has seen 4 revisions in order of battle, besides improved info on the units involved, is that the town on the board is about 2 hexes too big for the situation. Historically, the 6th Panzer units did take the town, but with difficulty. It was seize shelter or freeze to death outside. January's in Bogdanovo range from 25 to -18 degrees fahrenheit, and that's the HIGH for the day. The soil was frozen a meter deep.
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