2 replies to this topic

[gregoryk]

Greetings,Now that MP2 is available for download to owners of the first edition, i would like to comment on the Morale Values. They have been modified somewhat from the original, so that an "average" Morale is '13' for Morale Checks, and '12' for Recovery (formerly Rally) Checks. In general, they proceed up or down two for each Troop Quality. So a typical Elite Morale/Recovery value is 17/16. As with many such decisions, this represents the designer's (in this case, me!) judgment about national training, cohesion, esprit de corps, etc. However, there is nothing that says there are not mitigating factors that might influence the relative staying power of a unit, for better or for worse. Fatigue, poor unit leadership, dissension, etc, can bring a unit that fights at a certain level to have less staying power. An example of this was the Hermann Goering Division in Sicily, which came very close to pushing the US 1st Division back into the sea. Inexplicably, they faltered and left the field just at the moment when they very likely had victory in their grasp. Similarly, Canadian troops following their landing at Normandy heard about an SS atrocity — the murder of Canadian POW's. Though it is not clear that their fighting prowess improved, the Canadians fought with a tenacity in the next several battles that was above their usual Morale.Feel free to inject scenario- or unit-specific Morale factors into your games. And if you disagree with the fundamental Morale values, change them! It is your game, so make it your own.Cheers,Gregory

[Sacha]

Hey here's a question.....Why did they change in the first place?again

[gregoryk]

The values and rules have changed only once, from the first edition to MP2. The change to the values was to marginally increase Morale effects. We found repeatedly in playtesting that the higher values rarely had any effect unless a '20' — critical failure — was rolled. The lower values strike the right balance. Units will still most likely pass basic Morale checks, and Recover quickly. It just will not be as easy as it was in the first edition.Cheers,Gregory