Hi John,
No V-Hexes
I've recently played with no V-hexes (or one neutral hex just off the map edge) and really liked it.
It was a meeting engagement, and it resulted in a slightly slower start to the battle because the two sides were manouvering for position, before engaging, so there was not the normal rush to the centre and immediate clash.
But it was still an intense battle with plenty of casualties.
The biggest surprise was how it effected the map. The map features became far more important.
And I felt I had more freedom to organize my battlion in a more traditional fashion.
If you've not tried it, I recommend it for a different and probably more realistic SP experience. Especially if you are playing a PBEM campaign where force preservation is more important.
I think we may have the false assumption that without v-hexes there won't be a dynamic battle. I think this is only true for battles against the AI.
V-Hex PBEM Preferences
When playing with V-hexes I like to use prefs with a 10 hex wide 'no-mans-land' in the centre of the map and 10 v-hexes each side already set to each sides colours.
I also like to set v-hexes in 3 to 5 clumps max per side, otherwise by the end of the battle you can find yourself trying to defend 15 different locations scattered around the map; and splitting up platoons and sitting one undamaged section on each v-hex is often not enough to defend against sneaky units behind your lines.
I find the above works quite well for meeting engagements.
You can't say 'no capturing v-hexes on the last turn', because they can still get 'stolen' on the second from last turn and you're not allowed to capture them back.
Banning their capture by zero sized units may address some of the problem, but on large maps with only four or five companies (perhaps only two companies by the end of the battle
) you can only stretch your battlion so thin.
You may have 'clearly won the day' in casualties and captured objectives, but a lot of this can get undone in the last two turns.
Did you have any specific ideas for other V-hex prefs?
regards,
Simon