Greetings:

I'm relatively new to Vassal and CC&A and time-zone problems are keeping me from getting as much real-time play as I would like. So I'm wondering about PBEM. Given that CC&A requires frequent interaction with your opponent on questions like evasion and retreats, pbem doesn't seem really feasible at first glance, but I'm wondering if someone has evolved some ideas to make it workable.

Any tips and advice will be welcomed!

Thanks!

Tim

PBEM would be difficult given the amount of interaction but might be possible by breaking each move down...want to try

Player One
1 draw card/declare orders
2 move eligible units
3 declare all ranged combat
mail (detail moves, show new positions on map, detail attacks)
Player Two
1 resolve ranged combat
2 remove blocks / conduct retreats /check leader casualties / add victory blocks
mail (detail unit status, new position etc)

Over to you

WilyC

wilycoyote wrote:
PBEM would be difficult given the amount of interaction but might be possible by breaking each move down...want to try

Player One
1 draw card/declare orders
2 move eligible units
3 declare all ranged combat
mail (detail moves, show new positions on map, detail attacks)
Player Two
1 resolve ranged combat
2 remove blocks / conduct retreats /check leader casualties / add victory blocks
mail (detail unit status, new position etc)

Over to you

WilyC

Thanks for the reply. We've actually found PBEM works quite easily if you:

--establish that eligible units will always evade any heavier unit unless the lighter unit is on advantageous terrain;
--allow the opposing player to conduct your retreats and evasions. It's fairly straightforward given that there is often little choice of retreat/evasion path.
--discard the First Strike card. If you draw it, draw another instead.
--Allow the other player to roll your Battle Back dice. Vassal records the results, so there's no great issue of cheating here.

Every game presents subtleties and I'm not sure these simple rules can cover them all, but over 3 or 4 test games they've worked well.

Best,

Tim

I actually played by email through all of the scenarios Base game through Expansion 3 with a friend of mine.

We did have some live time to play a few of them but mostly they were done pbem.

The key is to have someone you don't mind making a few of the decisions (ie. whether to evade or not) as well as someone you trust.

I can send you an example of one of the logfiles if you like - just let me know which one - I've got them all!

Good luck!

Cavie wrote:
I actually played by email through all of the scenarios Base game through Expansion 3 with a friend of mine.

We did have some live time to play a few of them but mostly they were done pbem.

The key is to have someone you don't mind making a few of the decisions (ie. whether to evade or not) as well as someone you trust.

I can send you an example of one of the logfiles if you like - just let me know which one - I've got them all!

Good luck!

Yes, one of the nice features of Vassal is that the structure of the logfile allows you combine both live & PBEM play in a single game. Very handy when time is limited.

I agree, it's important to have an opponent that you know well, at least at the outset. But it does seem to me that it's possible to set up rules that can make PBEM practical for everyone. PBEM is not as much of a stretch as I thought it would be at the outset. I'm just surprised there hasn't been more discussion of it here.

Thanks for your reply!

Tim