Part 71: The Basics
Rules: The BasicsGTS is, in essence, a very traditional system. You have hexes, you have counters, you have combat factors, you have movement factors, terrain effects and so on.
The defences around Kastelli (aka Kissamos)
Some nice features of the game is that the central dot that you can see above is used in two ways: it both shows what the terrain within the hex is, as designated by its colour (not super colour-blind friendly, though its usually easy to guess the hex terrain, with the only exception being distinctions between villages and towns), and also allows for line of sight measurements with more accuracy. Each hex is approximately 500 meters of terrain, and each unit is roughly company-sized.
The main engine of the game is a chit-pull system. Chit-pull systems are ones in which you put chits in a cup, and pull them out one by one, activating the represented unit in turn, which allows for fog of war effects without hiding information from the players since you are never sure who exactly is going to be able to act next. The last chit in the cup, however, is always pulled as the first chit in the next turn, which can have some quite frankly devastating consequences, which I will explain in a forthcoming strategy post.
An indispensable tool in your wargaming repertoire
Activations chits come in many flavours:
- Random Event, for both sides. When pulled, you pull another chit from a different cup, and do the random event as detailed within the rules. Random events are dependant on the game being played, so for Crete it is events like air strikes, Greek forces routing, tanks breaking down, resupplies, reinforcements, and many more. Most events tell you to put back the event chit in the draw cup, meaning that your tanks can break again and again!
- Divisional Activation.
- Formation Activation.
- Direct Command.
The latter three allow you to move units, fight and actually perform actions, but it is first important to talk about the two different currencies within the game: Command Points and Dispatch Points. These points are the grist for the machine of the game, and are the source of most of the decision-making for the game. Command Points are spent for a variety of things, including buying Dispatch Points, preventing your troops from retreating and getting extra activations out of your troops (with some more that I'm probably missing). Dispatch points are a bit simpler: they just allow you to place Formation Activation chits within the cup, either spending 1 DP to place the chit next turn, or 2 DP to place it for this turn: the only chits that are always placed in the cup are Divisional activations, Direct Command and Random Events for both sides, otherwise.
With that out of the way, lets explain what each different type of activation allows you to do:
You really thought we were going to have a wargame LP without charts?
Okay, that's a lot of things. Let's simplify. We can roughly divide the above chart into three different types of actions: General Actions (most actions), Combat Actions (three actions), and Engineering Actions (the four middle actions). Engineering Actions can mostly be performed by all units (with some exceptions for "Build ENT") can only be done if you pull a Divisional or Formation Activation chit, as a first action. General Actions can be performed on all chits, no matter what, as a first or second action. Combat Actions, which are "Move into enemy Fire Zone", "Fire Action" (with an exception) and "Assault Action", can only be performed by Direct Command, Formation Activation or the second action of a Divisional/Formation Activation.
Okay, that's not easier at all, but we are getting there. To boil it down even further, Combat Actions require the expenditure of some sort of currency (either Command Points or Dispatch Points) in order to be performed. Formation Activations are only in the cup if you spend Dispatch Points. Direct Command only allows you to move a unit if you spend a Command Point to do it. Finally, second activations also require the expenditure of a Command Point to do. So, in very direct terms, spend points = shoot stuff.
Direct Command chits allow you to move whichever unit you want within the game, at the cost of one Command Point, but they are not allowed to activate again as part of that pull.
Divisional Activations allow you to move all units of a Division, which is usually colour coded (more on this later). The first activation does not cost Command Points, but if you want to do a second actions, it costs 1 Command Point. The second action cannot be the same as the first action. You are allowed to pass as an action as well (sometimes you just want to fight).
Formation Activations are the real deal. They allow you a full activation of all colour-coded units that are In Command (more on this later), and you can do a second action for 1 Command Point, much like Divisional Activations.
Lastly, and since this explanation has already gone long enough, a brief explainer on Fire Zones. Fire Zones are basically where your units can project fire: most units will only project fire in the hexes immediately in front of them, but some will have longer ranges. These Fire Zone prevent enemy movements as shown by the Activation system, and also enable you to perform Opportunity Fire if an enemy moves out of them. Not too bad!