Having thought long and hard about what to do next, I decided to sit down and write some simple wargames rules for me to play about with! Using the same planning structure I outlined when I designed my operational-level wargames rules, I jotted down what I want to achieve, and then set about designing a solution. Basically what I want is:
My day was not spent just thinking about wargames design and pounding the keys of my word processor; it was interrupted by a visit to the local shopping mall so that I could buy my wife lunch and undertake some retail therapy.
A visit to the bookshop gave the opportunity to glance along the shelves in the military history section, and my eyes came upon a title in Osprey’s Men-at-Arms series that I had not seen before. The book was US ARMED FORCES IN CHINA 1856 – 1941, and I bought it.
- A set of rules suitable for small battles during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries (i.e. the combatants could be using anything from spears to magazine rifles, be armed with mechanical and automatic machine guns, and field ancient smooth-bore cannons through to modern breech-loading artillery with recoil buffers)
- The tabletop to be up to 4 feet x 3 feet in size (and likely to be 3 feet x 2 feet to allow for space around the playing surface on my wargames table)
- The tabletop to be divided into a 50mm squared grid
- A simple combat resolution system that uses a minimum number of dice throws
- No record keeping
My day was not spent just thinking about wargames design and pounding the keys of my word processor; it was interrupted by a visit to the local shopping mall so that I could buy my wife lunch and undertake some retail therapy.
A visit to the bookshop gave the opportunity to glance along the shelves in the military history section, and my eyes came upon a title in Osprey’s Men-at-Arms series that I had not seen before. The book was US ARMED FORCES IN CHINA 1856 – 1941, and I bought it.
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I would be very interested to see what you come up with up on this Bob. I have been reaching a similar conclusion to an extent - smaller, mini campaign driven type games requiring a modest outlay and not a great deal of space etc to run. I guess that is why the Balkan Wars at sea was so attractive - small numbers and easily manageable - together with the ability to write up the whole affair (e.g. something akin to the Madasahatta aproach with the Bungler!)as a record for posterity. I enjoy that as much as everything else!
ReplyDeleteOgrefencer,
ReplyDeleteI think that mini-campaigns that generate a series of interlinked battles – with appropriate write-ups for posterity – is both rewarding and affordable, and at a time when people do not have a lot of money or time to spend on their hobbies, it is very appropriate to the needs of many wargamers.
I have fond memories of writing THE BUNGLER, and make a point of re-reading them at least once a year to remind me of the fun we had with Madasahatta.
Assuming that my bosses don’t want me to work too late tomorrow, I hope to get the draft finished and proofread. I will them make it available on my blog and in PDF format.
All the best,
Bob
I must confess that my recent look at the Balkan Wars and to a lesser extent the Italo - Turkish War has given me much food for thought in terms of mini campaigns - even to include the land aspect as a addition to the naval activity. As you rightly point out when cost is a consideration these lower level ideas are every bit as rewarding as a much larger campaign. I will be checking out 20mm plastics as an option for this. I will lok forward to the rules as and when available.
ReplyDeleteOgre and out