So on a note that has been getting kicked around on the commentary thread but may belong here I do have an idea:
Once upon a time (back when it was ASVS and we all had planet detroying superweapons in backpacks) we all just wrote about the devestating effectiveness of our attacks...at which point our opponents wrote abotu their devestating counter-attack and things proceeded apace until a third party tried to land grab at which point apocalypse ensued and we all left happy having destroyed million ship fleets in the blink of an eye...
I don't think that idea really is going to work anymore, the reason those games had such wild swings that made attack and counter-attack equally devestating was that they took place in such a tech advanced era that you COULD basically will your forces in to place as needed. This game (and the ones that have preceded it) are different. The suspesion of disbelief is harder because we connect more with the actions taken because we live in a world where we KNOW the limitations of the technology to ovecome.
So having said that I think we need to rethink HOW we post combat.
So I have a proposal with an increasing order of Mod work required:
Before any major campaign or offensive the attacking party should submit to one of the Mods a Battle Plan (it can be as simple as "attack with 30 divisions here" or as complex as a
Five paragraph order )
The battle plan, however, should include at a minimum the forces committed, the reserve forces available, and the initial, secondary, and principal objectives.
After the attack is announced (or is otherwise pending) the defender should submit a battle plan as above (though objectives might be better called "counter-attack plan")
The Mods would then (dice-roll/rock-paper-scissors/consult the oracles) in order to determine success at which point they woudl inform the players of the top-level overview of how the campaign shakes out
The players then post whatever they want as illustrative text which still has the effect of showing out the mod decision.
Rinse and repeat every couple weeks of the war.
My idea is that, in a more simplified idea, combatants shoudl send their plans to the mods who decide who wins and by how much then inform the players who can post the story and then submit their new plans based on the revised status of forces.
Example with no real world relevance: Mexico and the US get in a shooting war:
Mexico is the aggressor and send the mods plans to rush troops up to the Rio Grande, strip the Caribbean for troops to assault Cuba and deploy the fleet to attempt a blockade of New Orleans
The US sends plans for a counter attack where forces from Florida and Cuba are stripped to mount an amphibious attak on Veracruz a la 1846 along with most of the Fleet elements, defensive only alignment on the Rio
The mods then can pretty easily set up a series of rolls for all of the major points of conflict. Since nobody is contesting the Rio border everyone just entrenches and counter-entrenches, in the Gulf and Caribbean at some point the US and Mexican fleets clash, if the US wins they attack Veracruz, if Mexico wins they attack Cuba.
Results are forward to the players who then write the fluff needed and send their plans for phase 2 of the war to the mods, rinse and repeat.
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Please note this is a PROPOSAL and I'm sure that there is plenty of room for improvement so please let me know if its worth developing further or if its something folks would rather not do.
In short the expensive option means that the industrial game-map will be fairly constant over a decade, which makes more sense IMHO.
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