Short Supply: A less gamy house rule

I love all of the C&C games, but there's just one card I've always had a gripe with: Short Supply.

While yes, it is very true that supply is crucial to army management, I always thought that this card was too gamy. After all, you can play it on troops that haven't even seen action yet. *poof!* Like magic, they have retired to the rear.

I have thought up a (yet un-playtested) way to make this card a little less gamy. What if, when a player plays Short Supply, they can pick an enemy unit and move it up to it's max regular movement in any direction. Call it "confusion in the ranks" or something like that. Just keep the Short Supply cards in the deck, and play them differently.

The idea hit me when I was thinking about ways to simulate blunders like the Light Brigade's charge at Balaclava using the C&C system(s).

Perhaps instead of moving the enemy unit their normal movement, you can move any enemy unit 2 hexes (regardless of unit type).


I'm curious what people's thoughts on this are.

I like this! It reminds me that at Waterloo, with the two best generals of the age assisted by very experienced commanders over veteran troops, lots of things happened that were not supposed to happen, and failed to happen that were supposed to happen.
From the weak attack on Hougomont to the over-reaching British cavalry, there were lots of surprises.

I forsee it being used to march the enemy into the guns of your just ordered troops. So not just annoying, but now expensive as well.

Waterloo is a great case in point, La Haye Sainte fell because the KGL ran out of ammunition and withdrew.

I have thought up another potential replacement for Short Supply, but this one may be too complex (although, not any more complex than some other cards in the deck):


I call it the "Someone Blundered" House Rule:

The player who draws the short supply card must instantly reveal it to his/her opponent.

The opposing player now rolls a die with the following results:

Unit Symbol: The opposing player may re-position any unit or a unit with an attached leader of that type any two hexes in any direction.
(terrain restrictions apply)
Flag: The opposing player may re-position any unit, any unit with an attached leader, or any lone leader any two hexes in any direction.
(terrain restrictions apply)
Swords: Friendly Fire! The opposing player may choose any enemy unit that is within ranged combat distance of another enemy unit, and may
roll 2 ranged combat die against it (terrain dice reductions apply)


This could probably be re-worded a bit better, but I want it to be totally clear what I am suggesting.

This turns a Tactics card into a random event card.

To be honest, I think if the card bothers you that much, take it out of the deck. I think that would be a better solution than this.

I think a Random Events Card may just be what the game needs. At least, an element of random movement that is both believable (IE, not Short Supply) and also beyond the player(s) control.

Also, getting rid of the gaminess of Short Supply is just an added bonus. Killing two birds with one stone.

Will playtest and report my findings.

I don't per se have any objections to random event cards, but bear in mind you are transforming the draw of the Tactician card to a random event.

So instead of getting a Tactician card added to their hand, the player suffers a random event instead. That seems a bit unfair to me.

As the game IS very much a game of Napoleonic Wars rather than something that considers itself a simulation, I don't really have worries around the Short Supply card. Its just another game card. In a more serious game I would raise an eyebrow, but at this level its not a big deal when I play.

Not trying to change a mind, just chipping into the discussion

Just wanted to say: I've been against this card for years, even removing it from the deck and I've started two topics on BGG about how this card felt "gamey".

The people here (and some of them are here too ^^) had very good points about how C&C:N is an "abstract" game, in the sense that you can't always know what's going on on the battlefield and what you think you know may actually not correspond to the truth, just like La Haye Sainte's defenders being forced to leave their position because they were out of ammo.

So for me, Short Supply represents the fact that you've assigned a certain spot to a unit and you think it's there but they've actually retreated or are not where you think they are, forcing you to adapt to the situation.

I really don't have time to develop (I'm supposed to be working!) but I find it makes a lot of sense and as such I've put Short Supply back in the deck (that was a couple of years ago).

TheMP and LNAGary both make good points about the inherent abstractness of CCN. Of course, it's a game that has to be taken with a big grain of salt.

But perhaps to explain my point better, my problem with Short Supply is less about content, and more about form. As a card, it doesn't seem to fit with the general flow of the game. A unit of any type or quality, which may or may not have battled, and which may or may not have inflicted casualties on the enemy, *poofs* an unlimited number of hexes to the rear. Even within the abstracted context of CCN, that seems like an outlier. It just doesn't seem to fit.

EDIT: Thus, the goal of my suggested house rule would be to maintain the spirit of Short Supply, while making the experience a bit more believable and flow better with the rest of the game.

Even cards like La Grande Manoeuvre have a set number of hexes, and can be readily explained in Napoleonic terms (the troops are in movement columns, at the double quick, etc).

Mark also makes a good point about penalizing the player who drew Short Supply. Perhaps the above suggested house rule should also allow for the drawing player to, after the effects of the short supply card are carried out, draw a replacement tactician card.

A fellow I game with a lot prefers to play with the original card deck. In that case especially, it would be crucial that the player who draws Short Supply is able to replenish their hand at the end of their turn.