[kzucker]

Game design is like baking. First you have to whip your ingredients to a froth. That is- you read everything over and over until your head is going in circles.

Next you have to check the flavor, and just lightly flavor til you have suggested something to the player's imagination. That is what we are doing now with Four Lost Battles (see examples below- this is today's output).


HIDDEN FORCES

1.53 Current Strength is Face-Up: The visible face of a unit is its current strength. EXCEPTION: The top unit in a stack may be inverted if it has a flag on its reverse side.
1.54 Obscuring Hidden Forces: A Force remains revealed as long as it stays in an EZOC, or sighted by an enemy line of sight. As soon as units are no longer in EZOCs, or as soon as revealed units are no longer sighted by the enemy who originally spied them, they are re-hidden.
1.55 Command Status: HF Markers say "In Command" or "Out of Command" on their reverse sides–command status is hidden. In placing a HF Marker on your stack you must respect the command status of the stack.


CARDS
(I changed the following by adding the option of revealing an enemy stack.)

Spies Bring News from Enemy Camp

The Enemy player places all his Arrival Cards face down. You
get to see one of these cards, or any one enemy stack, at your choice.


KATZBACH SPECIAL RULES

22.31 Bridges: Each bridge with the symbol "i" is liable to wash out (a total of 12 bridges). Immediately after the first occurrence of Thunderstorm on the weather die roll, roll again for the southernmost bridge. On a roll of "1" or "2" the bridge is damaged and marked with a "Burnt Bridge" Marker (washed-out). (It cannot be repaired during a Thunderstorm turn.) Continue rolling for the next downstream bridge until a "3–6" results—then stop rolling for this turn. Start again with the southernmost bridge still standing on the next Thunderstorm turn. After the play of "Thunderstorm Delay," roll for bridges for each skipped turn of Thunderstorm.
22.32 Thunderstorm Modifier: After 3 or more consecutive turns of Thunderstorms (including the current turn) subtract "-1" from the die.
22.33 Pontoons: Pontoons may be set-up anywhere, deployed or not, at the owning player’s option. If deployed on a River hexside, roll for a pontoon’s destruction like a "i" bridge. The pontoon may be re-deployed on the following turn.
22.34 Thunderstorm LOS: Line of Sight is limited to two hexes during Thunderstorms.


OTHER NEW RULES (BREAKING NEWS)

I have notes to add a rule on "Oddball units" and I think, a special card for these "spare change" units that were not on the battlefields but weren't really missed. Oddball units such as O'Meara's Bde in Vandamme's Corps - not mentioned or listed anywhere. If you draw the Oddball card you get them. They go in amongst their own formation.

"Self-Commanded" Leaders: What is the proper term for this? Self-commanded leaders are, in effect, Corps Officers with a Command Span of [1]. They may command no other formation than their own. NOTE: Commanders have a Movement Allowance of "10."

Some notes on Schwarzenberg for the Historical notes.

Schwarzenberg, (his other names?)
Covered the Austrian retreat after Hohenlinden in 1800. Avoided capitulation at Ulm, riding with the cavalry under Ferdinand. Became Austrian Ambassador at Paris, conducting negotiations for the wedding of the Archduchess with Napoleon in 1809. Not a dynamic master of war, he used tact and diplomacy to hold the Coalition together. After the war, Blücher toasted him as "The Commander-in-Chief who had three monarchs at his headquarters and still managed to beat the enemy." His chief of staff, count Josef Radetzky v. Radetz, who had fought at Mantua, Rivoli, Marengo, Landshut and Wagram, also maintained cordial relations with the Russian chief of staff, Prince Volkonski.

I was also reading Elting's Atlas chapter (maps 132-139) on this campaign, and he mentions that Vandamme had the best trained troops of Davout's Corps (that was, the 1st an 2nd divisions). I had categorized some of the 2nd division troops as 1's so I raised them to 2's, just because they were under the eyes of the Marshal, during May and through the armistice.

NEWS ON THE COUNTERS

We received the counter graphics this afternoon, fronts and bhacks (cough), but I had neglected to tell him to put flags on the backs of the leaders, so they just have their pictures there again. That's regrettable, because that will require a re-do.

PLAYTESTING
It is possible, if we stay on schedule, that in five short weeks we will be printing the rules.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
May 16th- Box to printer
May 23rd- Counters to printer
May 30th- Box and Counters to finishing, Cards to printer
June 6th- Cards to die-cutter, Maps to printer
June 13th- B&W components to printer
June 20th- Delivery of all components

STATUS OF COMPONENTS

Box Art: 100% completed.
Counters: We now have a playtest set of counters. We have about 10 days to finalize all the numbers on all the counters.
Maps: Joe's working on them, we expect a draft tracing any day.
Cards: Still some production unknowns: principally, who will die-cut them?
The text of the cards is going to present a challenge, since this will have to be printed first. In fact, we have to be finalizing the text of the cards in the next 7 days (!) to afford the graphic designer two weeks to finish up.
Rules: The rules are as discussed, frothed and partly gelled but not flavored. Playtesting- baking, in the hot oven is in the critical phase now.

It takes 26 guys to create a game, who are named in the game credits. That doesn't include all the tradesmen, who make our wonderful products!

I have instituted a Corps-color key area to be printed on each map, sort of a quick key to setting up the game.

(Grossbeeren)

FRENCH FORCE KEY
IV CORPS
VII (less Devaux X)
XII (less 29 Lt X)
III C CORPS

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
IV/38 XX, 24 XX
XII/29 XX
III CAV/5 Lt XX

COALITION FORCE KEY
III, IV PRUSSIAN CORPS
SWEDISH/2X, 4X
XIV Illowaiski, Lowenstern X

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
XIV RUSSIAN CORPS


(Katzbach)

FRENCH FORCE KEY
III CORPS (less 39 XX)
V CORPS (less 17 XX)
XI CORPS (less 31 XX)
II C CORPS

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
39 XX, 17 XX, 31 XX
VI CORPS

COALITION FORCE KEY
XI CORPS
CAV CORPS
I PRUSSIAN CORPS
VI, IX, X RUS. INF
I CAV CORPS
VIII RUS INF.


(Kulm)

FRENCH FORCE KEY
I CORPS (less O'Meara X)
XIV/42XX
I CAV/1LC XX

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
VI CORPS
XIV CORPS (less 42 XX)

COALITION FORCE KEY
AU 1 XX, 2 RES XX (less H-Homburg)
II, III, V RUS INF CORPS
II C CAV CORPS
II PRUSSIAN CORPS

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
1. H-Homburg X
2. Chasteler, Nostitz
3. Hohenlohe


(Dennewitz)

FRENCH FORCE KEY
IV CORPS
VII CORPS (Menu X Elim)
XII CORPS
III CAV

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
1. VI CORPS
2. GUARD CORPS
3. GUARD CAV CORPS
4. I CAV CORPS (less 1LC XX)

COALITION FORCE KEY
III, IV PRUSSIAN CORPS (less Hirschfeldt)
SWEDES/Moerner X, HArt
XIV Pahlen X, Sisoeff X

ALT. REINFORCEMENTS
1. SWEDISH CORPS
2. XIV RUSSIAN CORPS
3. IV/Hirschfeldt X