Facing

[Jim Kane]

I am going to be the odd-man-out on this topic; as I don't suspect many - if any of you - will like our method.

While it is true, that it essentially takes zero-time for a fighter to spin in place in reality; however, years ago we changed this rule to where it cost 1 MA to enter each and every new hex AND cost 1 MA for each and every hex-facing change.

If you moved forward (or back) one hex with the same facing, it cost 1 MA; if you then turned your counter one hex-side, then your total cost was 2 MA; and if you turned 2 hex-sides after your move of one, then your total cost was 3 MA.

Once your Movement Phase was completed, that was it; you were stuck with that position until your next Movement Phase (sort of like when you move a Chess piece and remove your hand from it - that's it).

This was done to heighten the tension of:

• Who moves first - being forced to go first because you lost the initiative, caused you to *feel* that loss, and move into battle cautiously.
• What your final combat position and facing ended up from a tactical perspective
• How you entered combat (in terms of being potentially engaged)
  
  Additionally,
  
• Stopped careless players from *adjusting* their facing, AFTER they found themselves out maneuvered by more tactical players.
• Increased the perceived value of each and every point of MA
• Turned combats away from people just rushing in to engage the enemy, and took on the tension of a knife-fight (where no one wants to be caught too close to the other guy unless you have the attack advantage).
• Made Elves (natural MA of 12) much more fearsome as enemy warriors; and helped to encourage Racial Diversity amongst the PCs - other than simply for added, yet meaningless, flavor.
• Encouraged Group Tactics, as PCs would cover each others side-hexes as a squad-tactic; as opposed to 4 guys in a brawl with 4 other guys.
• Made the Tactics and Strategy Talents *much* more valuable.

Yes, this is a much more *war-gamey* approach to MA, Movement, and Facing, but that's the world we came from (AH, SPI, and Chess), so that was what we liked in *our* TFT.

JK