You can find mentions of the Soviet/Russian concept of „Deep Battle“ in many places, and when I recently learned there supposedly is a whole „operational art“ behind that, I was eager to find out about it. I didn’t find any review of the seminal work on that subject, so here we go.
I can’t say that I penetrated all of the related work and history of reception for „deep battle“ and Glantz‘ work in particular, so I will judge only the book itself.

I hate it myself when people tell me about book structure in a review, but this one time, it is needed further down the road:

a) Foreword by General Carl E. Vuono
b) Preface by Christopher Donnelly
c) Author’s Preface

1) The Soviet Study of War
2) The Nature of Operational Art
3) The Framework of Operations
4) The Formative Years of Soviet Operational Art: 1917-1941
5) The Great Patriotic War and the Maturation of Operational Art: 1941-1945
6) Operational Art and the Revolution in Military Affairs
7) Refinement of the Revolution in Military Affairs
8) Perspective on the Future

This looks like a natural roadmap for tackling such a doctrinal subject, it seems. Now, what? Doctrinal subject? Hell, yes! Because different from what the term „operational art“ implies, it is a figment, an illusion, not reality or history but a doctrinal stance. Put differently: This book does not deal with real warfare, but with soviet field manual texts. The term „operational art“ is declarative term and might even be a translation „error“. This might be hard to grasp, but we will revisit this analysis result.

If we accept that the book itself is a survey of soviet doctrinal development, one must say that even for that purpose, the actual structure of the book is at odds with it’s „contents“. First, the chapters are cobbled together, and where not written specifically for this monograph. Just from the disconnects, verbatim & argumentative repetitions I’d wager that chapters 1-3 were tacked on later. A huge shame, because they have such promising names!

The greater and deeper shame lies in the articles themselves. The chapter title „The Soviet Study of War“ leads one to believe that what follows will be an academic over- and review on the Soviet practice of war studies. But no! What we have here I could only understand after reading the whole book. Because the fine Colonel does not make his technique clear. I tell you what this is: It’s a synthetic (not even synoptic, which could have been worthwhile) translation of basic declarative statements from soviet sources. This is easier to grasp if you have experience with government documents in general, and communist ones in particular.

Although a natural phenomenon, war can either accelerate or retard the march toward world socialism.

This sentence is not marked as quotation, but comes after one, as an explanation. It is a purely declarative sentence that sounds to me as if it was paraphrasing communist doctrinal documents. Those declarative sentences have their value: They give the official answer to a question. In that case, to the question: „What places does war have in socialism? Aren’t we supposed to be the most peaceful of all societies?“ But we can’t really decode most of those declarations, because the underlying questions aren’t clear most of the time. This makes it impossible for most readers to judge ~90% of Glantz‘ work. Especially as no background on the discussions behind the questions is provided. The very next sentence after the one quoted above:

Given the importance of war and its potentially damaging effects in the light of recent technological changes, the Soviets approach the study of war scientifically.

Here, we see the inherent problems of Glantz‘ haphazard work. The first half of the sentence is puzzling if interpreted as the auctorial voice, the second one is basically non-sequitur. And most importantly: it is only said that Soviets apporach it scientifically. Neither is the term „scientifically“ defined, nor is it compared to the „western“ way of doing things. And we aren’t given any details whatsoever on the methodology of that „scientific approach“. Instead we are confronted with a tedious terminological…well, it’s not even a discussion….one could say „laundry list“ in Chapter 3. This mindless translation of terms without any reflections upon their relations to Soviet operational, doctrinal or training reality is tiresome as it is confusing. The author himself closes the chapter with the revealing sentence:

This Soviet framework for operations, with it’s seemingly complex array of levels and terms , is the result of long-term study and reflection on the nature of war. It is a true distillate of vast military experience, and it is this experience which undergirds it’s validity.

Again, Glantz has so far not said anything about the „long-term study“ or „vast military experience“.
We could stop the whole review here, because everything else in the book follows that pattern of paraphrased doctrinal statements and truisms that are not reflected upon by Glantz, they are merely delivered by him, without making clear who said what and who thinks waht at any given moment.

The chapters 4-7 read as if written at a different time, as there’s all of the information of chapters 1 and 2 repeated sometimes verbatim but in a slightly less coherent way. Supposedly, the operational art is presented in it’s historical development. This is actually not the case. These chapters instead present tedious reams of organizational changes with only the thinnest veneer of historical context and no reflections upon organizational reality or training. An example as good as any other:

„By the winter of 1941-42, rifle divisions, organized in this new single echelon configuration, attacked in sectors 5-6 kilometers wide (on occasions as much as 10 km) to achieve objectives from 5 to 12 kilometers deep (in some isolated cases as much as 20 km; see table 53). After january 1942, when enemy defense became deeper, rifle divisions atacked in sectors of 3-4 km against objectives 5-7 km deep, wich, in reality, took several days to secure (see table 54). […]“

This goes on and on and on, with nearly no respite. These are doctrinal changes or rather field manual changes, mind you. Even the parenthized comments are from the Soviet field manuals, it seems, and not any analysis result or checked with real operations. Also, the copious amount of tactical numbers are never compared to each other or provided in any other way with meaning. They are not part of any argument.
So, we are informed that the depth of a rifle divisions „canned-advance“ (i. e. what the manual says what an advance is supposed to be) changed, but we are never given any information how these rather cosmetic field manual changes were implemented in training or actual leadership. Such a seemingly cosmetic change can well be part of a very intelligent argument, sadly Glantz does not present any of those. Instead it’s 150 pages of field manual changes, translated without any rhyme or reason except chronological order. On top of it, he doesn’t even fully cite the stuff he translated, so the book is also useless as a translation help or reference document. I really hope there is an unexpurgated, fully referenced and foot-noted version somewhere in the Fort Elavenworth library.

There still was something to be gained from reading this book. It’s the last chapters that really widened up my view on some of the events during the eighties, and curiously shed a differnt light on what is now called AirLandBattle. Before I highlight that unexpected revelation, we must revisit the supposed subject:

Soviet Operational Art.

You will not learn anything about it from reading that book. Period. I can’t say whether Operational Art exists at all, or if it’s a marketing ploy by Glantz. The very scant references to actual military thinkers (very different from field manual texts!) hint that the pre-purges school of „operational artists“ had the vision of a relentless pursuit of enemy forces to achieve decisive victory after a minor one. While this is shallow insight at first sight, it becomes way less so, if you’ve read your Clausewitz. And if you cared to read what Tuchachevsky et al. indeed said: The main force to bring forth such a pursuit MUST be done by infantry. Now, the pre-purge idea was to not only to seek infantry pursuit situations, but to highlight them as the cardinal way of achieving strategic success. Now, I cannot go into a full discussion of what „infantry pursuit“ means in the Clausewitzian and the Tuchachevskian ways respectively. I sadly can’t go into detail at how the Clausewitzian insight was broadened into the continous space of the modern battlefield that knew no battles that a single leader could overlook with his own eyes. You could write a whole book on it, and another one about Soviet Niederwerfungsstrategie.
A third book on the influence on dialectic thinking on Soviet strategy.

Glantz definitely didn’t do any of it.

The shortness of time and space do allow me do highlight one very important thing: the operational approach, as far as I can tell, does not consider encirclements, breakthroughs and penetrations into rear areas as the „magic silver bullett“- and „Liddell“- types love to point out. If there actually was anything „artistic“ about the operational approach, I cannot say. From what I gathered, it looks ruthless and brutal, with a big dash of inspiration from the way Napoleon won many of his battles: determination, ruthlessness and the correct timing for the frontal assault. Now, that is the pre-purge (Tuchachevsky) operational approach. Due to the lack of scholarship on Glantz’s side, I still don’t know whether

a) the growing professionalism in face of daily warfare with the Axis
b) a true intellectual revival of operational approaches
or
c) crypto „operational-approachyness“ that is hard-coded into the Soviet military’s collective subconcious

was responsible for the changes in Soviet strategy and tactics. Glantz implicitly argues for c).

Back to the unexpected insight I gained from the last chapters. The last chapters deal with changes in Soviet dogma and tactics (you guessed it, operational approaches are not talked about…) in face of the Nuclear bomb.
Glantz moved away from his standard format for the last chapters for a a short while, and sheds some light on the military debate that was waged in Soviet military journals. The answer for conventional warfare in the age of the widespread use of tactical nuclear weapons was frighteningly developed from an impressive application of dialectic thinking: Muddle up own forces and enemy forces as close as you can, and change all forces into NBC-protected forces. That’s the reason for Motor Rifle Divisions, the BTRs and the BMPs that we all know by heart.
What was new for me was the muddling-up strategy. The Soviets were so frightened about TACNUCs, that they supposedly saw with (to me) amazing clarity that only a full and ultra-quick advance by protected forces that led to the intertwinement of friend and foe in close spaces could yield victory if there was to be a victory at all.

When AirLandBattle, or more precise, the capabilities of precision guided munitions were becoming obvious to the Soviets in the 80ies, they realized that there would be no second wave that would go anywhere. Abolishing the second wave was already considered due to the dangers of TACNUC strikes IIRC. They supposedly responded by giving up even more control over the actual combat forces: In case of conventional war with NATO, they reasoned only a ultra-ultra-quick surprise attack with alll eggs in one basket, no reserve, no second or third wave could yield any hope of success. The battalions were to be supplied with pre-programmed instructions and most interestingly: cybernetic command decision systems.
Fitting that they did not consider (acc. to Glantz) to grant the battalion commanders more individual freedom.

If there is anything artful or operational about any of these things (also deep battle? still no idea what this really means for Glantz, the Soviets or the West…), I cannot say. Because the fine man from Leavenworth never wrote about it. He merely translated some texts that were somehow releated to thsoe questions.
I daresay the „book“ is cobbled together from at least three fragments, and the contents section and section titles themselves were cosmetically changed to turn some notes and internal working papers into something that at least looks like a monograph.

Quick Info: Internet-Informed Wargamer Hipster Artifact (IIWHA)

The book is rated with 1/5 T-34s

Please discuss here

It finally arrived. Surprisingly, in the most rinky-dink, unmotivated packaging I ever saw. The fine fellows from Atlas Press (the spine says @las, I kid you not) seemingly employ people who take pleasure in writing adresses in graffito-tag-style. This is nice with a magic marker, but looks terrible with a biro. Unsurprisingly this is confusing postmen, too.

Debord & Lebovici vs. Greenwood & Shilling

By the end of the year, I’ll hope I can tell which one of them is more Hollywood than the other, which one is more Delbrückian (or failing and becoming Kromayerian) and which is more Clausewitzian. I have a rough idea, but we’ll see. From reading the introductions to both games, I can tell you that both Debord and Greenwood score amazingly high marks in pretentiousness. The Ballzheimer’s cup first round must remain undecided, as both present maximal claims within their respective (nomothetic vs idiographic re: wars) approaches.

Check out the eerie inverted similarity in content and presentation! A bit like thesis and..anti-t…ank gun?

Zum O.R.K.

Neulich durfte ich bei einem ASL-Historical Szenario kibitzen. ASL ist eines der letzten Großen Geheimnisse, die das Hobby für mich noch bereithält, und da ich jemandem versprochen habe, endlich ASL zu lernen um es ihm wiederum zu zeigen, war dies ein erster Schritt & gute Gelegenheit.

Wie man sehen kann, wurde gerade ein historisches Szenario auf einer pseudo-genauen Karte gespielt. Ich sage pseudo, weil mein Verdachtsmoment bzgl. der ASL-Kartographie erneut bestätigt wurde: bei einer 60°-isierung und inhaltlicher Ausdünnung verliert eine Innenstadt den Detail-simulativen Charakter und kann nurmehr als schematisches Modell bezeichnet werden. Ebenso enttäuschend waren die dargestellten Truppenstärken. An und um die Moltkebrücke im späten April kämpfen in dem Szenario im Schatten der Flaktürme (ob Zoo-Bunker oder Humboldthain war Gegenstand der Diskussion, Tissier schreibt Humboldthain, das Szenario Zoo-Bunker) gerademal ein paar Panzer und mehrere Züge Infanterie.
Interessant war auch, die Spieler zu belauschen, eine sehr entspannt Truppe, denen die Exploration und Anwendung von historischem Wissen mehr am Herzen lag, als…“DakkaDakka-HabeGewonnen!1!“. ASL scheint ein Paradebeispiel für ein einfaches Grundgerüst mit großer Zahl an Spezialregeln (chrome) zur Abbildung eben des historischen Spezialwissens zu sein.

Besonders interessant sind die Mechanismen, die den Spielern die vollständige Kontrolle über ihre eigenen Entscheidungen nehmen: Da sonst durch die Verwendung von Hex & Counter induzierte vollständige Informationen unrealistischerweise ausgenützt würden, sind viele Dinge mit vielen Zufallstabellen geregelt (insbes. Artillerie, Heckenschützen, Moral & Panzervernichtungstrupps u. ä.). Das Problem, das Richard Borg durch radikale Abstraktion gelöst hat, löst man hier garnicht so unähnlich im Geiste; aber sozusagen von hinten, beim dicken Pferdehintern beginnend, aufgezäumt.
Da dies aber Teil der teilnehmenden Beobachtung en detail ist, hat es eben seinen besonderen Reiz, dauert dann natürlich auch. Der Knüller waren für mich Fragen wie die nach dem Belaubungszustand Berliner Laubbäume im Frühjahr 45.
Unverständlich bleibt mir aber, warum sich in der ASL-Welt niemand um den Elefanten im Raum (sic!) beschwert: Knapp drei Kompanien und vier Panzer ’45 an der Moltkebrücke? Wenn ich richtig gelesen habe, haben die Soviets da ein ganzes KORPS eingesetzt.

Und da war es wieder, mein Maßstabsproblem, verstärkt durch das Delbrücksche Rätsel um die Truppenstärken in der Sachkritik. ASL scheint ähnlich beschränkt in der Abbildungskraft zu sein wie BattleTech ohne BattleForce, nur das BT ein ganzes Universum geschaffen hat, um die Maßstabsbegrenzung in Truppenzahl und Raum zu erklären.

Bald darf ich auch selber mal anspielen, ich berichte dann.

Zum O.R.K.

Found in a House Rules collection for the GDW-d20 System:

Other Role-playing Information
Effects of Pregnancy
Pregnancy in the 21st Century should be a matter of choice rather then an accident. With the advent of readily available, inexpensive, dependable, and safe birth control methods, unintended or unwanted pregnancies should be rare, however, they are not. And, of course, some women do intentionally become pregnant and do wish to have the child. The information in this topic is general information based on actual human pregnancies and is a compilation of data found online, in maternity reference books, through interviews, and from other various sources.

Stages of Pregnancy/GM Addition
The table below lists the changes that a pregnant character may go through during the course of a „normal“ pregnancy. The table below is broken down into Stages to represent when changes are normally expected to take place during a pregnancy. Each Stage lasts for about one month. If the Stage or a die roll calls for an effect, please refer to the Effects Descriptions for more detailed information on what the character experiences.

1st Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 55% chance [1].
2. Morning Sickness, check every morning at 20% chance.
2nd Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 65% chance [1].
2. Morning Sickness, check every morning at 25% chance.
3. Increased fatigue affects CON, reduce by 1 [3].
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every 2 hours.
3rd Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 75% chance [1].
2. Morning Sickness, check every morning at 30% chance [2].
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every hour.
4th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 45% chance [1].
2. Morning Sickness, check every morning at 10% chance.
3. Increased fatigue affects CON, reduce by an additional 1 (-2 total reduction) [3].
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every hour.
5. Weight gain, noticeable weight increase.
6. Food cravings.
7. Discomfort hinders concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply a -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks.
5th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 35% chance [1].
2. Morning Sickness, check every morning at 5% chance [2].
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every hour.
5. Weight gain, weight increase continues.
6. Food cravings continue.
7. Discomfort continues to hinder concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply a -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks (-1SL total penalty).
8. Loss of balance (shifting of center of gravity) affects AGL, reduce by 1 [3].
6th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 25% chance [1].
3. Increased fatigue affects CON making CON-based skills difficult to safely perform, increase attribute and CON-based skill checks one difficulty level higher (+1DL).
4 Increase in urination output, character must stop every hour.
5. Weight gain, weight increase continues causing the need for adjustment to clothing.
6. Food cravings continue.
7. Discomfort continues to hinder concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply an additional -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks (-2SL total penalty).
8. Loss of balance (shifting of center of gravity) affects AGL, reduce by 1 (-1 total reduction) [3].
7th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 35% chance [1].
3. Increased fatigue affects CON making CON-based skills impossible to safely perform, unable to perform attribute or CON-based skills.
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every ½ hour.
5. Weight gain, weight increase continues causing the need for adjustment to clothing.
6. Food cravings continue.
7. Discomfort continues to hinder concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply an additional -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks (-2SL total penalty).
8. Loss of balance (shifting of center of gravity) affects AGL, reduce by an additional 1 („‘2 total reduction) [3].
9. Backache, check every morning [4].
10. Loss of endurance affects movement, reduce to 1 / 5 / 10 / 20 [5].
11. Loss of stamina effects STR making STR-based skills more difficult to perform, apply a -1SL penalty to STR-based skill checks.
8th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 45% chance [1].
3. Increased fatigue affects CON making CON-based skills impossible to safely perform, unable to perform attribute or CON-based skills.
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every ½ hour.
5. Weight gain, weight increase continues causing the need for adjustment to clothing.
6. Food cravings continue.
7. Discomfort continues to hinder concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply an additional -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks (-3SL total penalty).
8. Loss of balance (shifting of center of gravity) affects AGL, reduce by an additional 1 („‘2 total reduction) [3].
9. Backache, check every morning [4].
10. Loss of endurance affects movement, reduced to 1 / 4 / 7 / 15 [5].
11. Loss of stamina effects STR making STR-based skills more difficult to perform, apply an additional -1SL penalty to STR-based skill checks (-2SL total penalty).
12. Develops nesting habits.
9th Stage
1. Mood Swing, check at least every 8 hours at 55% chance [1].
3. Increased fatigue affects CON making CON-based skills impossible to safely perform, unable to perform attribute or CON-based skills.
4. Increase in urination output, character must stop every ½ hour.
5. Weight gain, weight increase continues causing the need for adjustment to clothing.
6. Food cravings continue.
7. Discomfort continues to hinder concentration, which affects INT and EDU-based skill checks, apply an additional -1SL penalty to INT and EDU-based skill checks (-3SL total penalty).
8. Loss of balance (shifting of center of gravity) affects AGL, reduce by an additional 1 („‘3 total reduction) [3].
9. Backache, check every morning [4].
10. Loss of endurance affects movement, reduced to 1 / 2 / 5 / 10 [5].
11. Loss of stamina effects STR making STR-based skills more difficult to perform, apply an additional -1SL penalty to STR-based skill checks (-3SL total penalty).
12. Develops nesting habits.
NOTES: [1] „“ see Mood Swings for other factors that may cause a mood swing check; [2] „“ checks do not continue into the later stages; [3] „“ may not be reduced below a minimum of 1; [4] „“ {[50 „“ (STR + CON)] + 5 per stage} + 5 per incident = percent chance of backache; [5] „“ must rest 3 times more often then usual.

Effect Descriptions/GM Addition
1. Mood Swings: The pregnant character must roll the mood swing check at least once every eight waking hours for a possible attitude change. If the percentage or less is rolled on a 1d%, then she must roll 1d6 on the table below for the new attitude; it is possible for the character to re-roll her current attitude. A result of obsessive behavior causes the character to become obsessed with whatever the team is doing at the moment. This obsession drives her to the point of not letting anyone, or anything, get in her way of trying to accomplish the current goal. There are circumstances that can and may „force“ the character to make a mood swing check in addition to the check once every eight hours. The character must roll a mood swing check if…
A situation has been unusually stressful (i.e. after combat, during an argument, and etc.).
Any person who comes in contact with the character (excl. other PCs) who influences or affects the character, especially emotionally (very good friend, recent or current lover, hated enemy, and etc.) thereby possibly changing her mood.
At the GM“™s discretion.
NOTE: This „rule“ may also be used to represent PMS or for any player that wishes to play a character with unstable moods or personality treats.

Roll Moods & Attitudes
1 Happy, cheerful, optimistic, helpful, friendly
2 Self“‘pity, unhelpful, brooding, pessimistic
3 Pissed off, vengeful, cruel
4 Depressed, sullen, feeling inadequate
5 Depressed. brooding, pessimistic
6 Restless, impatient, takes control, urge to get on with things [1]
NOTES: [1] „“ roll 1d6 for obsession check, a 1 indicates obsessive behavior.

2. Morning Sickness: If a check indicates that the character may suffer morning sickness, roll on the table below for the severity. If the character is continuing to have morning sickness from a previous Stage, then an additional roll on the table is not necessary. Once the character suffers from morning sickness no more checks are needed until the duration is over or until the next stage; this includes the resulting level of „none“.
Morning Sickness: A character with morning sickness is essentially incapacitated for the duration of the bout each day.
Nausea: A character with nausea feels like vomiting. The character has difficulty concentrating and therefore has a -1 penalty to all Skill Checks for the duration of the nausea. Furthermore, she suffers a „‘1 penalty to both AGL and STR for the duration of nausea.

Roll Level Duration
01″‘60 None —
61″‘80 Mild 3 stages
81-95 Moderate 5 stages
96-00 Chronic until birth

Mild
Consists of 1-2 hours of nausea each day.
Moderate
Morning sickness lasts 1d4 hours each day after which the character must make a CON attribute check with a -1 penalty for an additional 1-2 hours of nausea.
Chronic
Morning sickness lasts 2d4 hours each day after which the character must make a CON attribute check with a -2 penalty for an additional 1d4 hours of nausea.

3. Increased Fatigue: The increased fatigue brought on by pregnancy is represented by the temporary loss of CON attribute points and the decreased ability to perform CON-based skills. The loss of these CON points comes with all the penalties that any such loss would impose. The character will regain the lost points and the ability to perform CON-based skills, one per week, after the birth of the baby.
4. Increased Urination Output: This is caused less by the actual increase in urine, but more by the reduction in room for the bladder to expand.
5. Weight Gain: The character“™s weight has begun to increase noticeably. Each Stage, increase the characters weight by 10%. If the character wishes to continue working she may be faced with the need to alter her clothing.
6. Food Cravings: The character“™s friends may be sent on wild treks to find exotic foods, or outlandish food combinations, to curb her cravings.
7. Discomfort: The general discomfort of pregnancy (ranging from gas craps, mild aches and pains, to the baby“™s movement) hinders concentration enough to affect the character when using both INT-based and EDU-based skills. The roll for the amount that this affects these abilities is rolled only once per Stage for each affected skill.
8. Loss of Balance: The increase in weight and other effects of bodily changes during pregnancy are represented by the temporary loss of AGL attribute points. The loss of these points comes with all the penalties that any such loss would impose. The character will regain the lost points, one per week, after the birth of the baby.
9. Backache: The formula to find the percentage to check for a possible backache is as follows: {[50 „“ (STR + CON)] + 5 per stage} + 5 per incident. If a character has a backache, it lasts 2d4 days. She is in great pain and is functionally incapacitated. The character should get rest and not engage in strenuous activity. If she decides to engage in strenuous activities, to simulate the agony she will suffer, the character loses 1d4 HPs (sub-dual damage) for every turn of strenuous activity. It is not unusual for a backache to be constant during the last three Stages of pregnancy.
10. Loss of Endurance: Loss of, or the reduction in, endurance, affects the character“™s ability to crawl, walk, trot, or run over any distance. The character is also forced to stop and rest quite often (three time more often than normal).
11. Loss of Stamina: The loss of stamina is actually a combination of the loss of endurance and increase on fatigue; the loss of stamina affects the character“™s strength in such a way as to affect her attempts to use STR-based skills. The roll for the amount that this affects these abilities is rolled only once per Stage for each affected skill.
12. Develops Nesting Habits: The character develops the desire to make a warm, cozy home, and prefers not to go anywhere.

Charisma and Pregnancy/GM Addition
Some people believe, and rightly so, that a large majority of pregnant women find themselves fat, ugly, and undesirable. Thus, these pregnant women do not give off an aura of coolness, magnetism, leadership, and determination. Very few people will follow a leader that is either emotionally unstable or emotionally weak (woman or man). On the other hand, other people feel that pregnant women „glows with motherhood“. That being pregnant is the essence of womanhood and many men find this attractive. In fact, a pregnant woman can usually get most people to wait on her beckon call because she seems so helpless. Given these completely different views, a bonus or penalty may be applied to CHR attribute checks and/or CHR-based skill checks based on the individual view of those that encounter the pregnant character and the current mood of the pregnant character herself.

Pregnancy Duration/GM Addition
The duration of the pregnancy depends on the individual female. The average duration is 40 weeks. The GM will roll the Actual duration secretly (36+1d6 weeks).

Miscarriages/GM Addition
If a character suffers Abdomen wounds greater than a Scratch, there is a chance that she suffers a miscarriage.

Stages Percentage Formula Possible Effect
1,2, and 3 50% – CON x2 miscarriage [1,2]
4,5, and 6 25% – CON x2 miscarriage [1,2]
7,8, and 9 50% – CON x2 premature birth.
NOTES: [1] „“ the character has 3d4 hours to get medical treatment to save the child, the child must make an EZY CON check using the mother“™s CON score; [2] „“ in the case of a miscarriage, there is a 25 – CON x2 percent chance of internal hemorrhaging, causing 3d6 points of Abdominal damage plus minor internal bleeding casing an additional 1 point every 10 minutes (an unmodified roll of 96-00 represents serious internal bleeding, causing 1 point of every minute).

Labor and Birth/GM Addition
Normally, when a character has her first child, she will be in „heavy“ labor for 4 to 24 (4d6) hours. Subsequent labors will usually last for 4d6-CONx2 hours (minimum of 4 hours).
The chance for a successful birth is based on the mother making a primary EZY CON Attribute Check. If successful, „both mother and child are doing fine.“ If the mother“™s primary check fails, the mother must make a secondary CON check at an AVG DL. If she succeeds, the child makes a survival roll (on 1d%) based on the mother“™s CON score; the formula for this is: (mother“™s CON x 10%) – 5% per day the birth is premature. If both checks are successful, both are alive, but require triple the normal recovery time for a Serious Wound.
If the mother“™s second CON check fails, roll on the table below with a +20% modifier. If the child“™s survival check fails, roll on the table below with a -20% base modifier and an additional -10% for each day the child is premature. If both the mother“™s secondary CON check and the child“™s survival check fail, roll on the table below without additional modifiers.

Roll Result Roll Result
01″‘40 child dies 81.98 both die
41″‘80 mother dies 99-00 both live

Recovery/GM Addition
The mother, and child, must spend time recovering. She must rest as if healing naturally as if from a Serious Wound. If the character wishes to engage in strenuous activities rather than recover, the penalties for loss of CON, AGL, and movement remain in effect until the character has rested the required time.
The Mood Swing effect should remain for an additional 1d4 weeks after the birth.

Mögen uns die Leserväter mal sagen, wie das denn paßt…

Nach eingehender nochmaliger Prüfung bin ich mit mir übereingekommen, daß in den unten aufgeführten Werken keinerlei für mich verwendbare Informationen mehr befinden. Das liegt bestimmt aber an meiner Kriegsspielerblindheit den Segnungen des stimmungsvollen Rollenspiels gegenüber. Einzig die Spielleiterhinweise aus dem Spielleiterhandbich benötige ich noch einmal in meinem Leben, aber wie es sich schon gezeigt hat, brauche ich die digital- worum ich mich dann im Nachgang kümmern werde. Es liegt mir fern, bei anstehendem Verkauf das Buch zu malträtieren.

Letztendlich geben die zum Verkauf angebotenenen Werke ein recht solides Starterpaket für Cthulhu auf Deutsch ab.

Zum Verkauf, als Paket abzugeben:

– „Der Stein des Anstoßes“ aka Cthulhu Horror-Rollenspiel Das Spieler-Handbuch, intensiv gelesen aber gut erhalten, ganz leichte Abstoßungen an den Ecken vom normalen Regalbetrieb, Hardcover, Lesebändchen
– Spielleiter-Handbuch (Cthulhu, Pegasus) Zweite Edition, fast wie neu, HC mit Lesebändchen
– Necronomicon – Geheimnisse des Mythos, sehr guter Zustand, HC m. LB
– Aus Äonen, Cthuloide Welten Bibliothek Nr. 11, sehr geringe Lagerspuren an den Ecken, sonst wie neu, Softcover
– Auf Cthulhus Spur, Das Cthulhu Quellenbuch, Hobby Products, 1988, sehr guter Zustand
– Auf den Inseln, Kampagnenbox für Cthulhu, vollständig, wie neu.
– Cthulhu Spielleiterschirm, Pegasus, der etwas ältere mit einer Zauberübersicht als Bonus und dem Abenteuer Tod in Aylesbury

Angebote bitte hier unterbreiten.

Ein Spiel, das sich wirklich so gespielt hat, wie die Werbung versprach:

Ein Spiel, was gegenüber der Werbung vor allem langwierig war: