|
Home
Dice
Towers
Game Table
Tool Collection
ASL
New!
ASL Tactics Discussion
"Perry Sez" Collection
for ASL
Other Games
Links
| |
The following
was lifted from the ASL Mailing list during a discussion of the statement "Concentrate on what the rules allow"
("COWTRA") in the intro to the ASL rules.
Perry made the post, and I thought it was important. (Sam)
Perry Wrote:
SamB sez:
Bear in mind, however, that the phrase is IN the rule book because playtesters
kept asking Don Greenwood questions like: "The rules say a squad can place
smoke, can a HS? If not, please make this statement in the rule book." Take a
moment and think about how many situations this would apply to.
... Think about
how long the rules would be if they had to spell out everything that COULD and
COULD NOT be done. Hence, the "COWTRA" phrase came into being. Don't abuse it.
Abuse, IMO is any statement such as "If you can't prove I can't do it, then I
can." or "The rule book doesn't say I can't do it, so I can." The rules describe
what CAN and (sometimes) what CANNOT be done. Don't read too much into them.
Sam makes a very cogent case for how to apply COWTRA. This
is a very
important rules concept, certainly one that rules arbiters have relied
heavily on.
Yet is has never been, IMO, a shield behind which rules arbiters hid, and it
cannot be an _absolute_ rule.
Like Tuomo said, the rules have never been completely crystal clear nor
absolutely consistent. In light of that, COWTRA cannot be an _absolute_
rule. But it still must be a guiding principle.
Tom (perhaps in a pissy mood) says that the rules ought to specifically
state that HS cannot place smoke. I respectfully suggest that Tom does not
really want to live with the rulebook that would result from this, but rather
that he does not want to accept COWTRA and so takes the logic for avoiding
COWTRA to its unenviable end.
Someone else
wrote:
You can't ask the players to stop taking advantage of every rules loophole
they can find. That whole process is what has spawned many of the standard
tactics we use today. So if that's what COWTRA means, I STILL think it sucks.
Better to write a 100% ironclad rulebook right from the bat.
COWTRA does not ask players to ignore loopholes. COWTRA
insists that merely not mentioning something does not create a loophole.
We cannot write a perfect rulebook even utilizing COWTRA. Imagine how many holes
there would be if we did away with COWTRA and tried to "write a 100% ironclad
rulebook right from the bat." Maybe by admitting that COWTRA cannot be an
absolute rule we can let Tom off the hook here.
While admittedly not perfect, I think the 2nd Edition has eliminated most of the
inconsistencies and many of the confusions that had been identified over the
years.
Now we are left with stuff that people understand but do not agree with. ;)
....Perry "I call that a big step forward"
|