Below you will find the second in a series of designer’s notes articles from The Last Hundred Yards series designer Mike Denson. In this segment he will discuss initiative and the activation cycle in LHY. You can also find this article on his ConsimWorld Community page. Enjoy! -Rachel
The Initiative System
The Initiative system in LHY represents the momentum swings that can occur during small unit combat. This momentum is like the momentum you see in team sports like college football. The team that acts has the momentum and dictates the pace and direction of play, while the team without the momentum can only react. Momentum can be a fickle thing. One moment your team has everything going its way, then suddenly, the momentum swings to the other team, usually due to some event or mistake like a fumble or interception. It’s very much the same in small unit combat. The attack is progressing well, but there’s a sudden disruption—the leader is wounded, a unit gets lost, an unexpected mortar attack or a sudden enemy counterattack—and momentum is lost. The best combat leaders, like the best coaches, adapt and adjust their plans and actions to the circumstances at hand until momentum is regained.
In LHY, Initiative is determined by a die roll during the Initiative Phase of the game turn. A player may receive a beneficial die roll modifier provided he had the Initiative (e.g., momentum) the previous game turn. The player with the highest adjusted Initiative die roll gets the Initiative and is the active player for that game turn.
So, what does it mean to be the active player with momentum? First, because the active player has the Initiative in the current game turn, he will benefit from any Initiative die roll modifier in the subsequent Initiative Phase, thus increasing his chance of being the active player in the next game turn. In addition, he can conduct actions with all his units, while the non-active player’s units may only react to the actions, of the active player’s units, conducted within their line of sight (LOS). For instance, when firing, a unit of the active player may fire at any enemy unit in its LOS, but the non-active player’s units may only fire at enemy units that conduct actions within their LOS. When maneuvering, any or all the active player’s units may maneuver, while the non-active player’s units may only maneuver in reaction to enemy units that conducted actions in their LOS. Thus, an attacker with the Initiative (momentum) can and should press the attack because he will find it very tough to achieve his objectives once he loses momentum.
Activation Cycle
The Activation Cycle is the heart of the game and is based on the premise that “where there is action, there’s a reaction.” This is certainly true in combat, and this is the basis of almost all small unit actions. Combat at a small unit level is primarily about fire and maneuver. Almost without exception, any fire or maneuver action in LOS of an enemy unit will certainly draw a fire or maneuver reaction and set off a chain of further reactions. The Activation Cycle in LHY is intended to model the initial actions of units possessing the Initiative and the resulting reactions of enemy units. During each Activation Cycle the active player, having won the Initiative, selects and activates a platoon or possibly two platoons if the Coordination effort was successful, and any supporting units. Coordination is determined by a die roll at the beginning of the Activation Cycle. If successful, it allows the active player to activate two platoons together simulating a coordinated attack. The active player then conducts fire, maneuver or recover actions with some or all his units. It is important to note that in LHY, each unit is limited to a single action or reaction per game turn.
Once the active player has completed actions with units of the activated platoon(s), he calls for Reaction from the non-active player. The non-active player may react by conducting fire, maneuver, or recovery reactions with his units in reaction to active player units that conducted actions in their LOS. Once the non-active player has completed his reactions, he then calls for Reaction from the active player. The active player could then react with any of his units to units of the non-active player that conducted reactions within their LOS. Players continue to alternate reactions in this fashion until both players have finished reacting, at which point the current Activation Cycle ends. The active player may then activate another platoon, beginning another Activation Cycle. This process is repeated until all the active player’s platoons have been activated.
To illustrate how the Activation Cycle works, the subsequent narrative follows Lt. Murphy (representing the active player) commanding the 2nd Platoon (the Activated platoon). The actions of the 2nd Platoon followed by both the non-active (enemy) and active (friendly) players’ reactions constitute one Activation Cycle.
Lt. Murphy has been tasked with securing an important road intersection. Having advanced to a position along the edge of a wood line approximately 200 meters away, he’s had the intersection under observation for several minutes. He sees that the area around the intersection is open, consisting primarily of fallow fields. The farm near the intersection is typical of those found in eastern France, consisting of a sturdy wooden farmhouse and a few outbuildings surrounded by a stone wall. It appears that the farmhouse is uninhabited. Lt. Murphy instructs the 1st Squad to cautiously advance and secure the farmhouse (initial friendly maneuver action) while he holds the balance of the platoon in reserve to provide cover fire if needed. After maneuvering to within 75 meters of the farmhouse, enemy MG fire suddenly erupts (enemy fire reaction) from one of the outbuildings and the 1st Squad goes to ground. The 2nd Squad, still in the wood line, immediately opens fire (friendly fire reaction) to suppress the enemy MG position. In return, the 2nd Squad immediately suffers enemy small arms fire (enemy fire reaction) from the farmhouse. At the same time, Lt. Murphy notices an enemy squad maneuvering (enemy maneuver reaction) to a position along the stone wall. Lt. Murphy responds by calling for company mortar support (friendly mortar fire reaction) against the farm and sends the 3rd Squad along the tree line to the left to try and outflank the enemy (friendly maneuver reaction).
In the example narrative above, the Activation Cycle of Lt. Murphy’s 2nd Platoon ends with the 3rd Squad’s maneuver reaction because neither player has any further reactions. If there were other platoons in this scenario, the active player would select and activate another platoon, and the Activation Cycle would be repeated.
In our next segment we will discuss the Maneuvering and Fire Mechanics in LHY.
The Last Hundred Yards Designer’s Notes: Intro & Time Lapse System
Author: Mike Denson
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