Some rules I'm working on - opinions appreciated!

That does look better, haha.

I was on the Yahoo group for the VLB game-system (now dead, along with all other Yahoo groups). A few years ago on TMP I started asking questions about it, and apparently there was a lot of pent-up anger and fascination about the rules because people had a lot of very strong opinions about it. It reminded me a bit of Piquet, if you use the Event Horizon rules that were included in 2d Edition. I haven't played a Piquet-type game in years, so I don't know if they use the Event Horizon anymore or not. It was a really interesting rule though.

I remember Sam Mustafa (long ago when he was still on TMP) shared his thoughts on VLB games. His problem was that Jeffrey's never figured out how to reduce his rules to something playable, so that if he wasn't there in person to explain things and grease the wheels, the game wouldn't work.

I didn't know that there were two rulesets that attempted to put Jeffrey's theory into a game though. That's interesting. I'd be interested in reading them someday if I ever see a copy around.

That said, I think my system comes really close to solving the helicopter-view conundrum that has vexed wargame designers for years. It seems much more complex when you read the rules than it actually is. Really, you just take a picture of the map and draw your positions. Then you place the models that you positioned in the Tactical Zone on the map. Both players then write their initial orders based on a read of the terrain, the enemy troops they can see, and their mission. Then they text the picture to themselves to keep a record of it. After that, they are required to played a certain number of turns without deviating from the plan. Each turn is 5 minutes, so we can fine tune the timeframe that armies are locked in to orders very finely, based on an army's historic performance was. Say, the 1806 French might get to begin testing to adjust orders on turn 4 (after 15 minutes have passed and heading towards 20 minutes). The 106 Prussians might not be able to begin testing to adjust their orders until 30 or 40 minutes or even longer has passed. And, as I say in the rules, you don't need to record every move, every turn. Your initial orders are the most important, and the adjustments (if necessary) will be quite limited. I wanted to make it that way to keep people from needing to use their phone too much. Ideally, you would only be changing orders once, or at most, twice during a normal game.

As for pudgy fingers, you can use a stylus if necessary!