continued from developer notes #4
Delegation
Being in Command entails making a lot of decisions. A fundamental rule is that the higher up the Chain of Command you climb the more decisions there are to make. This applies equally to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Typically the increase in decisions required escalates in an exponential manner with each step up the hierarchy. It doesn’t take long before anyone attempting to ‘do-it-all’ is overwhelmed by sheer volume. It’s not hard to find examples of people who have reached an evolutionary dead end as a micro manager.
Delegation steps in. Commanders have staff. They have subordinates. Their job is to take care of all the lower level decisions, freeing up the Commander for the important ones.
A model of Command would be very one dimensional if it didn’t incorporate delegation. You would be, once again, elevating the Player up to a God like status where Command is a mere wave of the hand.
Delegation implies tension. You’re busy, you’ve got a lot on your plate. There isn’t time to personally take care of everything, even if your staff have ensured you are only dealing with the important decisions.
Choosing which decisions to delegate is an interesting decision in itself. Having your Chief of Staff deal with a matter is likely to result in a less optimal outcome than if you tackled it yourself. His grasp of the bigger picture, his strategic understanding is at a lower level than your own. As it should be. He’s not in charge, you are.
In order to make this model work there needs to be a currency of Command. A finite resource that is accumulated and spent. Which would be Political Points (PP). These are an abstract concept that encompass your personal time and energy, your political goodwill and your available staff resources.
Political Points allow decisions to be quantified. Yes, you can choose that option but it will require ‘x’ amount of PP’s. Certain decision options require more PP’s than others. At times you aren’t going to have enough PP’s to cover all the decisions. Delegation becomes necessary.
Do you keep a reserve of PP’s against a rainy day when a really crucial decision might turn up or do you spend, spend, spend, moving forward on a wing and a prayer?
Cheers,
Cameron
Will PPs grow with victories and shrink with losses? Meaning, if I squirrel away PPs for a rainy day, do I risk having them evaporate with poor performance reflecting Hitler’s dissatisfaction with me?
Hi Dutchman,
Political Points are gained by the capture of cities (the amount depends on Hitler’s priorities – if you take a city in a theatre he is interested in then you’ll gain a lot more than one where he isn’t) and the destruction of Soviet Army HQ’s.
Various events and decisions can intervene to provide more but there isn’t anything that takes them away apart from the standard violation penalties incurred from ordering units across theatre borders without authorisation.
Managing your PP’s is a key part of the game. A wise commander keeps a reserve on hand.
Cheers,
Cameron