[GZG] Victory Point Systems - A Summary of the proposal

Due to the moderate amount of discussion on this subject, and with people
jumping in at various places, I am presenting the Victory Point
System proposal in a single e-mail to make it easier for people read
about the salient points.

Victory Points for Full Thrust - A Proposal

Currently there is no standard method for determining the winner of a
scenario. Except for custom crafted scenarios, many players rely on NPV, ship
count or other method to determine the "winner" of a game.

As recent discussions have shown, the use of NPV is not always a
straightforward determination of the value of a ship, which in turn means it
is not a reliable indicator of a victory. Other factors such as ship count and
fleet position are also not easily tabulated into comparable factors. To
simplify the process of determining who has won a scenario, I propose to add a
new system of Victory Points (VP).

1- Purpose of Victory Points
To determine who has won the game. Either by convention or agreement of the
players, a specified number of VP are to be earned to win the game. In case of
a tie or if both players exceed the required amount of VP on
the same turn, then a sudden-death format should be used with victory
going to the next player to score a VP.

2- Determining Victory Points
The total value of Victory points for a side should be determined before the
game, and VP values assigned to each ship. Based on player agreement, VP can
either be hidden or open, and various rules agreed on for the assignment of VP
to ships (i.e. minimum values, maximum values
etc.)

3- Victory Points During Play
As each ship is destroyed the opponent receives the VP value for that ship. If
at the end of the turn, one player has met or exceeded his VP
goal, then he/she has won the game.

Actual implementation - examples of possible methods

Determining VP totals for a side
 -     1 VP per 25 mass or 50 NPV
                or
-       1 VP per ship + 1 VP per 50 mass
                or
-       Total fleet NPV divided by 50

Assigning VP values to individual ships
-       1 VP per ship minimum
-       10 VP per ship maximum
                or
-       VP max = NPV/25

Determining VP goals
-       ½ of own fleet VP value
                or
-       ¼ of total game VP value

VP values may be hidden or open based on player preference. Additional VP may
be assigned for specific scenario goals.

These are not hard rules or numbers and would need to be play tested to
determine what the correct balance for VP is.

--Binhan

> On Wednesday 11 January 2006 17:41, B Lin wrote:

Shouldn't it be possible to determine how the enemy has deployed
their VP? Two options would be by pre-battle intelligence (spending
points?) or by using sensors to scan the ships.

The default VP assignmentss might be 10 per hundred CPV or NPV in a ship, and
damaging a 100 point ship might award you the following VPs:

1 pt first threshold 3 pts second threshold 6 pts third threshold 10 pts
fourth threshold

For variable hull rows, it might be 1/4/10 and 1/3/6/8/10.

Yes and no. If the players agree to open VP then the values are known. One of
the purposes of VP was to abstract outside factors, such as logistics,
economics or politics into something that impacts the tactical game.

Examples of campaign factors that might impact a tactical game:

If cruisers are essential to maintaining your shipping lines, then the loss of
a cruiser may be more damaging to your war effort than the loss of 3
destroyers.

If a specific SDN has your Supreme Admiral aboard, then the loss may be more
damaging to your war effort than the loss of any other SDN.

If freighters are carrying parts of your experimental prototype for your new
superweapon they would be far more valuable then their escorts.

Ships armed with missiles/fighters must return to base to re-load while
beam equipped ships can stay on extended patrol, thus making beam equipped
ships more valuable to your war effort than missile armed ones, despite
costing the same NPV.

Discussing VP is no different than discussing NPV - players can come to
an agreement on # of VP and how they are allocated and whether the information
should be open. People play with different house rules for total NPV, minimum
#'s of ships, maximum numbers of ships, ship sizes, types of weapons and
equipment and whether record sheets are open information or not. VP's wouldn't
be any different.

--Binhan

[quoted original message omitted]

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lMy real question is
what does this add to the game? If hidden victory conditions are in affect I
play pretty much as I would have normally.

If they are not hidden and I want to cheese I tie as many points as possible
in my small ships and they avoid battle.

Where is there a win?

Roger Books

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lPartial VP may need
to be added for ships that exit the board or leave the field of battle -
perhaps ½ value. If neither side achieves its overall goal, then the battle
is a draw or partial victory.

--Binhan