arz man
United States
Somerset
New Jersey
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I've never played UP, but from reading the rules up to the first scenario, the most confusing concept I found is the Relative Range. It is SO counter-intuitive.
It only became clear to me when I started to think of it as Proximity. There are 6 levels of proximity in the game (0 to 5). Maximum proximity (the closest you can be to another group) is 5 and minimum proximity (the farthest away you can be from them) is 0.
Proximity is calculated according to your Range chits, which are nothing more than Position markers. They provide your current position relative to your starting position at any time. You start at Position 0 and can move forwards or backwards as much as you like, but whenever you are at Position 2, you'll be 2 steps away from where you started.
It also helped me to visualise the battlefield as a grid with 5 steps: you start on one end and your rival starts at the other.
You calculate Proximity between two groups by adding their position markers. If the total is higher than 5, you subtract from 10 (because 5 is the maximum proximity in the game), and it means that you passed by your rival: you are actually moving forward AWAY from him.
So if you're at position 2 and your rival is at position 3, you're at Proximity 2+3=5, that's the closest you can be on a grid of 5 steps. If you then move one step backwards, you're at 1, so you're a little less close to your rival (1+3 = Proximity 4). But if instead of moving backwards, you move one step forwards* (from 2 to 3), you'll pass him by, but you will of course end at the same Proximity level as if you'd moved backwards (3+3=6; 10-6= Proximity 4).
* This is actually not allowed if Blue and Red are oposing groups (both A, for instance) because thay are both in a blocking position to each other. But it could happen if Blue is A and Red is B, for instance.
Makes sense?
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Gregory Smith
United States
Newark
California
IGNITION - bringing enlightenment where once all was dark
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Quote: It also helped me to visualize the battlefield as a grid with 5 steps: you start on one end and your rival starts at the other.
The grid with 5 steps idea is initially helpful as a crutch for understanding the proximity concept, but it is not an accurate conception of playing area. You need more than 5 steps because it is possible for a group to retreat. For example, if you and your opponent each have a group A and B across from each other, and if your group A advances while the opponent group A retreats in response, you end up with a situation where your group B is more than 5 steps away from your opponent’s Group A.
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Mike Veit
United States
Loveland
Colorado
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Try this link to a most excellent PowerPoint chart for range.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/info/19083
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Richard Irving
United States
Salinas
California
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arzman wrote: I've never played UP, but from reading the rules up to the first scenario, the most confusing concept I found is the Relative Range. It is SO counter-intuitive.
Think of the opposite:
- I start at range 0 and when I advance I add to my chit number,
- You start at range 5 and when you advance yous subtract from your chit number.
- Also you must subtract the range chits to find actual distance from your opponent.
Subtraction more error prone than addition. And the players advance by different rules. And one subtracts to go "forward". That's far more confusing than the current rules which put both players in the same boat: Increasing numbers mean towards the enemy.
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