Do you want medics running around your squad-level games?
Do you want to have to plane CASEVAC / MASCAL in your battalion- and brigade-level fights?
What about hospital ships and support vessels at sea?
Do you deal with CSAR in your dogfighting games?
What about the replacement throughput at division level and above?
Tell us what you've seen, what you liked, what you'd like to see more (or less) of...
By: Brant
I would say that at the tactical level it depends on the scenario. I've seen games which did a good job of including care for the wounded as part of the scenario - here's an example:
ReplyDeletehttp://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.com/2011/02/winter-sports-wiring-party.html
I could imagine an Afghan/Iraq squad level game that forces players to respond to a MASCAL event.
Anything higher level than tactical would have to be highly abstracted, I would think.
Mike
www.madpadrewargames.blogspot.com
Leading on from the idea of MASCAL, you could do an entire (depressing) game with a random card draw for the initial event that then sets the associated action/s that will occur. Player has to structure their reaction force to initially a best bet depending on game conditions, then react and adjust to their estimation of the actions. Possibly a bit too visceral.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it is seldom included in board or PC games, I appreciate games that include some aspect casualty management.
ReplyDeleteRecent entries from the boardgame world include the "medic" unit from Boots on the Ground. Medic units (or at least the ability to dress wounds) have been included in some of the better FPS PC games. IMHO America's army did it best.
When given the opportunity, I almost always play scenarios that involve evacuating troops from combat. I believe one of the HPS 'Nam games included one such scenario, and I even recall classis flight sim "Chuck Yeager's Air Combat" had a "cover the L3 on a CSAR" scenario.
Sometime ago, Globalsoft released a helicopter sim called "Vietnam Medevac" (based on their "Coastal Heroes" engine) where you flew a Huey in CASEVAC missions. The game DID feature a functional door gunner position, but mostly it was about rescuing troops or WIA. I liked it, but that's just me...
I think there was once a dedicated "combat casualty" treatment/management game that nose-dived.
On a related note, this article recently appeared in the National Post newspaper. Worth a read if you are into this kind of stuff (which for better or worse, I am).
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/21/few-missed-chances-for-battlefield-medics-during-afghan-mission-study-finds/
Regards,
Jack Nastyface