CYBERBOARD TIGERS IN THE MIST, v.2.1

CREDITS

First, I want to thank Holger Janssen, who created the v.1.0 TitM Cyberboard gamebox which this gamebox is based on. I simply replaced his hand-drawn map with a scanned map, and added some enhancements to the counter mix. 

Second, a big thanks to TitM's game designer, Ray Freeman, for allowing me to place this gamebox up for general access. It is my hope that the availability of Holger's and my work will increase the enjoyment and playing frequency of this fine competitive game.

GAMEBOX DESIGN NOTES

You won't find scenarios with the gamebox; you have to design them yourself. Why? That was Ray's stipulation and a hedge that you genuinely own the paper-and-cardboard version of the game. If you *do* own the game, and are new to CyberBoard or have never designed a scenario, fear not--it's very easy to do. I suggest checking out Chris Fawcett's fine tutorial on how to do this at: 

http://zappa.brainiac.com/yankeeap/cb/manual/cbpm.htm#_Toc486231773

Of course, if you want to play *me* in a PBEM game, or are playing in Ray's AREA TitM Tournament, just let me know and I'll forward you the scenarios! I can be reached at: dlrichtm@umich.edu

PBEM SEQUENCE OF PLAY

Previous PBEM games I've played of TitM have led me to conclude that the SoP needs to be modified for use in CyberBoard. The below SoP works well and aids in both ease of location of files as well as spreading the bookkeeping workload fairly evenly amongst the players.

1. GE player moves his units, placing appropriate markers on top of all moved units. As he moves he attempts Bridge Demolition for the US player where appropriate. He then sends this file to the US player. All files will be labeled GE-Turn number-Impulse number-letter suffix (e.g., GE 16-1a). 

2. The US player rolls for artillery availability for all combat areas and for *both sides*, then places appropriate artillery markers. (This is for two reasons: 1. The US player will need to know whether the German has Combined Arms, and 2. It takes a bit of the workload off of the German player, who already has the bulk of the movement of counters to do.) The US player then conducts his own Defensive fire phases: first Defensive Artillery Fire, then Defensive Fire with his Infantry and Armored units. He flips or eliminates any GE units that get damaged/destroyed in this Defensive fire phase, placing dead units in the German Forces tray. He then saves this file, using the same name (because it is still the GE player's portion of the turn), but appending the *next* suffix letter (e.g., GE16-1b), and sends it back to the GE player. 

3. The GE player now conducts his own Offensive fire phases: Artillery first, if any, followed by regular units firing. He apportions any hits or eliminations of US units as a result of this fire, placing the dead units in the US Forces tray. This ends the Combat Phase. 

4. The GE player now moves to step 4 of the SoP, German Bridge Construction, and attempts all desired bridge repair. Finally, flip the Game Turn counter on the Game Turn Track on the map to the US side. This basically ends the German player's portion of the impulse. He saves the file, appending the next suffix to the same file name (e.g., GE 16-1c), and sends it back to the US player. 

5. The US player now repeats the above steps in the exact same order: 
a. US player moves, placing appropriate Moved/Fired markers on his stacks, and 
attempts any bridge demos for the German player as necessary. 

b. US player now sends the file back to the German player, using the Save As function 
to rename the file using the same Turn/impulse but changing the GE to US (i.e. 
US 16-1a). The German player follows the same pattern as in 2 above, doing his own
Defensive fire with Arty and Infantry/Armor. He saves his results, using the same US 
file name, but appending the next-in-line suffix letter, and sends it back to the US player. 

c. The US player now conducts his Offensive fire with Arty and Infantry/Armor, which ends his portion of the Combat Phase. He now moves on to his step 4 of the SoP, Allied Bridge Construction. This ends the current impulse; move the turn marker to the next impulse space on the Game Turn Track (flipped to the German side). If it is the last impulse of the Game Turn, move the marker to the next day. 

6. The US player now conducts some bookkeeping:

a. Enter Reinforcements for both sides. For example, the US player at the end of the US16-2 impulse would enter both the US and German reinforcements that would appear at the beginning of 16-3. I suggest that the German Special Forces marker be placed somewhere just off the bottom of the board between Perimeter Zones C-B-A as a reminder for the German player.

b. If it is the last impulse of the day: 

* Remove all Moved markers and attrite OOS units for both sides
* Move the VP marker on the VP Track

c. Finally, the US player then saves the file, and sends it back to the German player, who then begins the next impulse. In turn, he will then rename the US file (e.g., US 16-1c) to GE 16-2a, etc. 

Enjoy!

Dave Richtmyer
7 May 2001