Art De La Guerre

[Andy Fyfe]

Hi Guys,

When placing a village at the start of the game the second paragraph on p75 contradicts itself:

"The player choses a flank sector to place the village. If there is already a river or coastal area the village must be placed touching the river or coastal area. The player then rolls 1D6 to determine the position of the village within the sector as for other terrain (see below)."

Should the last sentence have an addition at the start saying 'If there is no river or coastal zone then...'?

This is not a big deal and I don't want to be accused of "sweating the small stuff" but it always causes confusion.

[madaxeman]

Yes you’re right. 

Otherwise the entire sentence about “..next to the river..” would be redundant 
_________________
www.madaxeman.com

[Hazelbark]

Also remember there are 4 flank sectors. (p 75 map)

[SteveR]

I don't think this completely covers it.

When the village is placed in a flank sector with a river or coastal area you still need to roll. This is because a roll of 1-4 allows you to place it anywhere in the sector, as long as you obey the other constraints.

But if you roll a 5 or a 6 then it must be placed touching the river or coastal area as per the paragraph on placing the village and, in my opinion, in addition you must obey the requirement to be more than 2 UD from any table edge. So it cannot be touching your back edge.

In practice most players want it more forward so the point is a bit niggly but this seems to most comply with the rules.

I've had some discussions about this but further to Dan's point about there being 6 sectors with 4 of them flank sectors I think that if a river or coastal area is there then you must choose one of the two that touch it to place the village. This is because:

1. People like water sources and, more importantly

2. The ability to have 2 anchored flanks seems a bit strong

[Andy Fyfe]

[SteveR]

Hi Andy,

The roll for placement happens between step 4 and 5 of your list.

I know you've read page 75 several times but look at the second paragraph again. It says you:

A. Pick a sector.
B. If there is a river or coastal feature the village must be placed adjacent to it.
C. But it then goes on to say that you must roll to see the placement of the village within the sector.

Since the water runs the entire edge (short table side) of the chosen sector this roll only mandates placement relative to the long table side. A 1-4 means it can be anywhere along the water, a 5 or a 6 means it cannot be within 2 UD of the long table edge. As I read it.

Since a village gives you a "free" road I can see a theoretical use for the village to provide a guaranteed transverse road and this would be most useful inside your own deployment area. But like I said most people want the village more forward anyway to anchor a flank. And even if it must not touch the long table edge 2 UD in allows for this anyway. So it's pretty moot.

To me the ambiguity was in the second sentence - is the player compelled to choose a sector which has water if a river or coastline is present. And thanks to the scolding of Dan Hazelwood I've been convinced you must.

[Andy Fyfe]