@Trisdin:
WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.
Well, I can’t speak for the others, but here’s what I think.
You have obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this alternative set-up, and I wouldn’t mind trying it out. In the absence of a lot of playtesting, however, it would be hard for me to render an opinion on what works and what doesn’t work in this modified rule set. That could also be said for some of the other A&A variants being circulated, and therein lies the rub….
I have been in and out of the gaming world for decades, and I am a relative newcomer to A&A. Over the years, one of the biggest obstacles I have found to pursuing this pastime is finding both a game I enjoy and a critical mass of other gamers to play with. It is of marginal benefit to invest a lot of time, energy and occasionally money into acquiring and learning a game which only a handful of people in the world are willing to play. I currently own four “official” A&A variants, but the only one that I regularly play is AA50, in part, because of the difficulty in finding people interested in the other games.
I certainly don’t mind experimentation, and I’ve suggested a few changes myself. However, without some clearinghouse to determine what rule sets should become the defacto standard, then all these “house rules” have the tendency to further fragment a relatively small population of players. My humble suggestion (which would admittedly be difficult to implement) is to first establish a method to propose, test, and semi-formally “bless” modified rules so that there is some standard that the A&A community can rely on. The closest thing we have to that right now is either the folks at WOTC or Larry Harris’s Game Design site, and both have their limitations.
That being said, if you or someone else would like to have a go at giving your rule set a test drive, let me know. Due to the demands of my life outside of gaming, I’m generally not a fast player. However, if you don’t mind a leisurely match, I can accommodate a trial run and give you some feedback.