Like everyone else on the planet, we’ve been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic in one way or another. Nor’easter XXIV, an ASL convention held in southeastern Massachusetts that Paul and I attend to play test TOCS, given its ASL roots, was cancelled. Soldiering on, Paul and I decided to take the previously scheduled days off anyway and run our play test remotely at home. It’s not as immediate as a con, and being away from home keeps the domestic distractions at bay, but it’s better than nothing.

After beating on the Advance to the Moselle scenario quite a few times, we decided to change gears and try the Breaching the Moselle scenario. Instead of a delaying action, the Germans now have to defend a river crossing. Running away, at least a few areas, is no longer an option. And the Americans now have their full force at hand to settle the matter. It should be interesting as well as entertaining.

The good news is that we are both satisfied that the fundamental system works. There is still some tweaking to do as far as the CRTs, the effects of ZOC and how to counteract them, as well as how to properly model artillery, but it’s coming along nicely.

The Web Client

Work on the web client continues apace. Paul continues to work on XML-based metadata for information download from the server, while I continue to build WebUI elements. As of this writing, XML counter manifests can be generated from our OOB spreadsheets, counters can be drawn from within the browser (instead of having hundreds of images downloaded from the server), and counters can be visually stacked. The next big step is something called the TableauPane. The TableauPane is an element which contains a base graphic on it, such as a map or player-aid “card”, or a “dead pile”, and has both counters (and stacks thereof) and a built-in knowledge of locations to move counters to. It’s the primary UI element for game playing and it’s next on my to-do list.