My new game is developing very nicely and I am feeling like it has largely arrived at a place where it is 'stable.' Small things will change and I am constantly looking for ways to further simplify the game, but the core rules and special rules for period specific doctrines and units have been well tested and work really well. I am also really aware of the need to not only inject tension into the game, but also fun. Since this is definitely NOT a tournament set of rules, I can add rules that reflect history and can turn the game in new directions dramatically. This would not fly in a tournament set and might annoy those that prefer a controlled competitive set, but reflect history quite well.
A big issue for any game designer is how prescriptive one can be regarding unit organization and basing. Initially the game was actually driven by a particular approach to unit organization. Since those early days the game has changed to make unit representation completely up to the player. That said, game play is facilitated by having units organized to reflect the 3 basic unit sizes -- however you want to do that.
Here are a couple of pictures of the same units in three different forms of representations. We have played games using both of these approaches and one half way in between (I have three different gridded cloths to accommodate the different unit sizes. Of course, I always prefer the 'grand manner' approach and so most of the games are played with the big battalions! Note that in grid games unit size (which measures its ability to absorb hits) varies by depth since all units are assumed to have the same width (the grid box width).
