The Essence of Lock n' Load

[Adam Parker]

This is from the General Forum - the tongue in cheek "things I hate about Matrix thread"! With some posts being a great discussion on the heart of this series. What do you think makes this game tick? Here's my .02 as posted there:

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

Something else I noticed. A lot of flipping and adding and taking away of counters can go on an on an on.

Not really because...

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

After the first battle and all those units were shaken, then on the following turn everyone rallies, lol, I can see some of these scenarios taking quite some time just to eliminate one unit...

I'll tell you the essense of this series as I see it. Shaken units lose games!

1. To rally a unit you need a good order leader IN the hex, a good order Medic, Chaplain or Hero IN the hex or some sort of self rally ability. Otherwise units don't rally and flip back to good order.

2. Shaken units alone in hexes entered by the enemy are automatically eliminated.

3. The Impulse/Activation system then makes the whole process nail bitting. Which side wins the initiative to move first? Can you reach that hex with those un-rallied Shaken units or can you reinforce it/abandon it first?

That my friend is how I've always managed to lose to myself so far! [:D] You don't have to kill the enemy with fire - just eliminate him.

Husband your leaders, keep a reserve. Lay good suppressing fire. Maneuver for the kill. But where will units Shake? And will you be lucky enough to do something about it?

As for suppressing fire - you've only got 33%-50% of seeing non-adjacent, unmoved enemy units in blocking or degrading terrain in order to fire on them and cause a casualty or a damage check resulting in a Shake... LOL. Nothing is certain in this game.

[Magua]

I'll add one other thing about "Shaken" units. Invariably, you end up wasting one or more leaders' time in an effort to rally your shaken units. If they are doing this, then they are not activating your good order units, and lending their leadership rating to combat.

In a sense, shaking two of your opponent's MMCs can be more advantageous than eliminating one. If you can shake enough of your opponents MMCs you will also take his leaders out of combat too.

So, it is always better to have your enemies shaken, not stirred.

Sorry. Sorry. I just couldn't resist. [:'(]

[ravinhood]

2. Shaken units alone in hexes entered by the enemy are automatically eliminated.

Hrmmm, not sure I like that rule, they should at least get one more melee attempt at 1/2 combat value as sort of a I know I'm gonna die, but, I'm gonna take some with me. Just because I'm shaking doesn't mean I won't try to defend myself when confronted with my death.

[Hannes]

I really do love that rule.

Beside that - some squads are able to try to rally before Melee occours. That simulates this "I fight before I die/surrender" pretty nice, doesn't it?

In general - how I see it here:
From Shaken to 'removed' doesnt necessarily mean: KIA.
It means: this unit(s) is (are) not essencial anymore in the ongoing actions.

In another game I was often pretty bothered how br... shaken units become agile all of a sudden and rout, rout - rout forever. And most of the time rallied quiet fast too, if not Italien or so.

See: 1 turn is about 2 minutes of realtime.
WHEN you become shaken, it is imho anyways pretty unusual that you recover as quick ... if we talk about something like "simulating some reality" in a game.

So I am more then happy about the way Lock 'N Load plays those 2 minute turns.
Shaken units are a real problem.
You don't dig foxholes like nothing.
You are not starting to repair broken stuff with a whistle on your lips.
and and and

[Magua]

Yeah, I sorta see a Shaken unit as one that has temporarily lost it's ability to function as a combat unit. The accuracy and volume of enemy fire has caused the soldiers to temporarily lose their will to fight, hugging the ground for all it's worth. Some may be wounded, some panicked and maybe even one or two KIAd. A small group of soldiers are not going to bounce back from this very easily. Should an enemy unit move on their position, the shaken soldiers are likely to put their hands in the air, or rout.

I think the rule does a good job of recreating this.

[markhwalker]

Yep, you have it exactly. That's why medics can "unshake" units. It isn't so much that they are rallying them, but rather, shooting the screamer on the end of the line with morphine, bandaging the graze cut on the Sgt's arm, and helping the unit return to fighting form. It's why they can only do one per Rally Phase... that stuff takes time, whereas Lt. Winters can run down the line yelling "Everyone keep firing, etc" in no time. Kinda...

Best,

Mark