Map configuration & Army builds

[Rick]

Maybe I'm doing this wrong (or just differently than many) But it seems to be that the effectivness of the army build depends quite a bit on the terrain it has to fight upon to reach and defend the objective hex.

My friend and I always decide on the maps BEFORE the army build. That way we know what we are up against and can build a force to take that in account.

Tiger Heaven is well.... heaven for heavy armor, whereas Knife Fight seems to demand a largely infantry build with aromor playing a supporting role.

Any thoughts?

Rick

[richyj1]

Building armies prior to knowing the terrian might tend to make one seek a more balanced build...

[cannonfodder]

While a good commander will do his best to match the battlefield to the units he or she has at his or her command it is not always possible. Your opponent is also trying to match the terrain to his advantage so you don't always get to fight where you want.
Some of the fun comes from using units in less than ideal conditions. It also forces you to be creative and to make do with what you have.
The problem with rolling map first is that you end up with nearly identical armies fighting each other. You roll Tiger Heaven and everyone brings long range supertanks. You roll knife fight and both players are right up against the 15 unit limit fielding as much infantry as they can get onto the board.
The challenge is to build an army that will perform well on any of the maps, from either end of any map, and against whatever your opponent brings to the table as well. If this were easy to do then this game would already be in the dustheap. It isn't and it isn't. Game on.

[carson]

** We make armies first & THEN determine the map.
Sometimes we roll for the maps as inthe book. But in many cases each person simply alternates placing 2 map sheets each.
We almost NEVER know what the terrain will look like ahead of time unless we've decided to use one of the dedicated maps such as Tobruk, DDay, etc.....

[tragicmishap]

I usually just assume it's not Tiger Heaven and build from there. All the other standard maps have a significant amount of cover, as well as most custom maps. If Tiger Heaven comes up, I usually get worried. I just have to hope my opponent doesn't have the right build to beat me on Tiger Heaven.