possibilities for op-fire in GGWAW II

[WanderingHead]

hi all,

I just wanted to publicize some thoughts on op-fire, for 2by3 to consider if they get around to GGWAW II (which I hope they do).

I think op-fire is too powerful because it is free. There is no risk and no expense. But it has to be free, because otherwise automatic actions can be exploited by the enemy.

In general, I'd like to see more opportunities for op-fire, but have it less powerful. For instance, I really think that air in England should opfire on units taking the direct route to Scotland. Malta air should op-fire on units moving from Italy to North Africa. I think the map and rules were tweaked a little because as currently implemented, either of these would make op-fire too powerful, essentially shutting down certain operations.

There are many possible ways to tweak it, but what I am thinking is as follows.

When a phasing unit's movement triggers op-fire from nonphasing units, the op-fire would take place against the zone the phasing unit is moving from. All phasing units in that zone would take part in the resulting combat. For the combat, any hits against phasing units are treated as normal. A single hit against a nonphasing (op-firing) unit does not cause damage, but rather prevents that unit from any more op-fire for that turn. A double hit against a nonphasing (op-firing) unit causes it to be damaged (not destroyed).

The op-firing unit(s) would use the combat analyzer with a simple rule to determine if this combat should take place. If the number of expected hits on the phasing units is equal to or greater than the number of expected hits against the non-phasing units, the op-fire combat would take place. Note that even if the hits are equal, it is a big advantage to the non-phasing units since they are still less likely to get damaged.

The phasing units that defend against the op-fire should still be capable of subsequent combat (as now, although now they don't actually fire), but should not be able to undo prior moves.

This whole scheme would allow for effective escorting of units to mitigate against op-fire. Escorting units might dissuade the op-fire (if combat analyzer determines it is not beneficial) or at least shut down subsequent op-fire.

Also, this doesn't make sense unless some of the rules and map layout are changed to give more op-fire opportunities. I'd even think that perhaps surface fleets should be able to op-fire on units that go around them via adjacent zones.