Trampling Out the Vintage: Designer's clarifications and rebuttal

Roberto Chiavini's review of Trampling Out the Vintage raised some points
that I, the designer would like to address.

1) The lack of a prison raid table is a glaring error for which I can
offer only an apology and no excuses. This will be posted ASAP on the
Microgame Co-op's website. In the meantime please refer to the
following:

Roll	Result

<1 	The Union player gets no victory points and all cavalry
	units (both sides) do not return.

2-3	The Union player receives 1 VP, or 0 VP's and 1 cavalry unit may
	return to the game next turn as a reinforcement unit.

4-5	The Union player receives 2 VP's, or 1 VP and 1 cavalry unit may
	return to the game next turn as a reinforcement unit.

6+	The Union player receives 2 VP's and 1 cavalry unit may return,
	or 1 VP and all of the Union cavalry units may return to the game
	as reinforcment units.

Notes: 

+1 for each Union cavalry unit exited off of the south edge of the map.

-1 for each Confederate cavalry unit exited off of the south edge of the
map.

+1 if the Confederate player has entered the 1st Georgia militia unit to
the game.

Except for the result of 1 or less, all exited Confederate cavalry units
return to the game the next turn if the 1st Georgia Militia has not been
entered into the game. If the 1st Georgia Militia has been previously
introduced then 1 exited Confederate cavalry unit will not return. There
is not additional penalty if no Confederate cavalry units were used in
pursuit.

2) The reviewer takes to task "a much needed clarification" of the
activation and initiative concepts for the game. Here goes:

-The initiative level is determined by both players rolling a die,
adding thier respective army morale levels and totaling the result. A
player may also add the leadership rating of one uncommitted leader and
the leadership rating of the Supreme Commander (Sherman or
Johnston/Hood) to this sum by announcing this beforehand. The high
roller (re-roll any ties) wins the initiative with the DR difference
determining the number of initiative points available for use in that
turn's operations phase. A straight "doubles" DR will end the phase,
regardless of the numbers to be added, if both sides have committed
their supreme commanders. This is spelled out in rule 5.2.

-Leaders are committed when they are used to do any of the following:

A) win the initiative phase DR (rule 7.2)

B) influence combat results by using their leadership rating as a DRM
(rule 8.2.1).

C) are displaced by enemy units that move into their hex (rule 8.1).

The activation of units, and the costs to do so, are spelled out on the
players' aid chart. Committed leaders command factors are halved
(fractions rounded up) as with all other committed units. A leader can
activate all subordinate units that it is stacked with/adjacent to, both
committed and uncommitted (rule 8.1). The costs to do so are also
spelled out on the players' aid chart. Only units that are both
disorganized and committed can not be activated in an operations phase.

All of these points are expressly stated in the rules and in summary on
the players' aid chart.

-There are a couple of minor clarifications that I would like to make
since the game came out.

A) the CRT has an obvious typo. The DR result of 4 in a 1:2 attack
should read "1R/--" and not "9R/--." Not a fatal error, but one that
should've been caught.

B) Optional rule 18.2 Railroad Repair. The 1 VP awarded to the Union
player for each station destroyed by the Confederate player is in
addition to the VP award the Union player receives for capturing the
station as listed in 16.1.

I'm not sure how much Mr. Chiavini's review is based upon "one man's
poison, another's tea," especially since he did not even play an entire
game before he reviewed it. The Microgame Co-op fosters and supports
designers who experiment and try to develop new approaches/techniques,
as well as topics, for the simulation gaming hobby. As the adverb on
Co-op's webpage states, this in definitely not a warmed-over Blue and
Gray, but a simulation that challanges players to make crucial decisions
each turn. Close attention was payed to develop a game that cast players
into the same historical dilemmas faced by the Union and Confederate
leaders, while at the same time making a truly competitive game
situation that would not replay over and over again according to a
rules-written script.

I can assure you that Trampling Out the Vintage was extensively
playtested. Blind playtesting sessions included 7th and 8th graders, for
some of whom this was their first game. The decision to keep the rules
short (8 pages), and not have a lot of clarification was mine to make as
a designer. This was after much feedback from playtesters and
proofreaders on how well the rules were written and easy to understand.
It is also this designer's opinion that rules should not intimidate,
enable its owners to play, and not tell them how to fight their
battles/campaigns. I guess you can't please everyone. 

Paul Rohrbaugh