Zones-of-control in CotA

[kilowatts]

I posted in the general discussion forum about why I think hex-based games are a thing of past. As I was writing my treatise I realized that I had seen something occur in my playing of Tempe Gorge Crisis that was the answer to something that's been driving me nuts about hex-based games for years. What's been irritating me is...

ZOC ()

Zones-of-control, can't live with them, can't live without them. They never work properly but how else can you simulate a units weapons effect at a distance? In a hex-based game of CotA's scale some form of ZOC would have necessary to show how a unit can influence events outside its immediate location. Well I realized that CotA does a bang-up job, and it doesn't need any special rules to do it. Zones of control arise naturally from the modelling of each units firepower and formation.

In my game I tried to move Allen Force southwards past an Evanglismos occupied by german forces. It didn't work. Because the germans units were able to pin Allen Force on the hillside. The whole process was much more accurately simulated than any hex-based game.

Great job.

Mike

[JeF]

Mike,

good spot. I fully agree.

ZoC are a way to simulate what HTTR/COTA (and a couple of other games as well to be fair) models quite perfectly : frictions between opposing units.
I sometimes make a parallel beween HTTR/COTA and hex/turn wargame with Bn/Bde sized units and 1 km hexes. COTA offers a much more detailed simulation, while the traditional hex wargame have to deal with much more abstraction. ZoC is one of them.

Mind you, my first victory in AA:RDOA was when I made the same parallel and remembered how attacking from multiple hex sides would shift columns in the CRT. An abstraction (shifting column) to a situation RDOA modeled perfectly : frontal assault did not work, you needed to manoeuver to flank the position and attack from 3 sides.

Cheers,

JeF.

[JeffroK]

An SPI boardgame, Covering the BAOR v Soviet attack, used "Friction Points" to represent the control units have over adjaecent hexes. The number of points depended on the terrain, unit type etc. They also gave DRM for attacking from flanks.
 
COTA/HTTR represents this by the ability to cover terrain through direct or barrage fire, it can be expense to try and slip past a defending unit or attack an isolated company which has the support of Arty & Mortars.

[Arjuna]

Good point. Here's a recent excerpt from a post I made on the war-historical newsgroup concerning this issue:
 

Zones of Control ( ZOCs ) are an abstraction designed to overcome the
limitations brought about by a long time interval. Ie in a game where
a turn equals say 2 hours, then an enemy motorised force can in theory
move up to 32kms ( @ 16 kph cross country in open terrain ). This
could then see the enemy force moving straight past the gap between
friendly units and being kilometers away before its their turn to move/
react. Reduce the time interval and units can react and prevent enemy
units from moving past them.

In HTTR/COTA units move and react every minute, so the most motorised
units can move is around 250m before an enemy is able to respond. But
in general the speed of a motorised force is savagely reduced once
they think or know the enemy is nearby - ie everyone slows down when
danger is ahead. So mostly when they are near enemy they are moving
50m or less per minute. This means that once detected, the enemy will
get to fire on them or move to block them. That's why there is no need
for ZOCs when you use a small time interval and a small spatial grid.

 
Check out the full discussion here:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.war-historical/browse_thread/thread/c1c8a8bff2403e51/77f6cc8f660d6df1?hl=en&
 

[kilowatts]

Thanks for the link. My day is now shot.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: kilowatts
Thanks for the link. My day is now shot.

Be advised that it's an unmoderated forum - not for the faint of heart or those suffering from high blood pressure [;)]

Stay clear of the political booby-traps and you'll be fine ... probably ... [;)]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[RayWolfe]

C'mon Eddy, everyone there is self moderating. I've never met a finer bunch of apolitical, rational and pleasant fellows. Compared to the spats we have in the beta forums, they are angels wrapped in gossamer!
Ray [;)]

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: RayWolfe
C'mon Eddy, everyone there is self moderating. I've never met a finer bunch of apolitical, rational and pleasant fellows. Compared to the spats we have in the beta forums, they are angels wrapped in gossamer!

That's like saying the Gobi dessert is a pleasant paradise ... compared to the Sahel [;)]

We both know the only reason we ever got invited to the beta team is because then Arjuna has *some* measure of control over us, which is preferable to letting us run amuck in here [;)]

BTW : do you know why we had to sign that NDA in blood ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Arjuna]

Yeh and since I gave that link Gifty and his mates have hijacked that thread with a no hold barred ding dong over Iraq...nothings sacred anymore. [;)] So stick to the top 75 posts of that thread.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
Yeh and since I gave that link Gifty and his mates have hijacked that thread with a no hold barred ding dong over Iraq...nothings sacred anymore. [;)] So stick to the top 75 posts of that thread.

It's a Golden Rule that only the the first 9 posts in any thread are worth reading.

[Let's see if Ray figures this one out [:D]]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[RayWolfe]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
[Let's see if Ray figures this one out [:D]]

I would have done so but I didn't read this far down the thread! [:'(]
Ray

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: RayWolfe

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
[Let's see if Ray figures this one out [:D]]

I would have done so but I didn't read this far down the thread! [:'(]
Ray

LOL - Ok, I give up - you win this round - but since you don't read so far down the thread you'll never know I actually admitted you won a round ... for once [:D]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx