When I rediscovered my 'lost' scratch-built/modified vehicles I was reminded of Chris Kemp's NQM (NOT QUITE MECHANISED) wargame rules, which were the direct progenitor of Tim Gow's MEGABLITZ. Chris has always been a prominent advocate of the use of scratch-built/modified models of vehicles that are not or were not readily available to buy 'off the shelf', and has – over the years – produced some wonderfully robust models that certainly looked the part even if they were not 100% accurate.
I first met Chris thirty five years ago (!) at the inaugural Conference of Wargamers. The conference was organised by the late Paddy Griffith and was entitled 'New Directions In Wargaming'. It was held at Moor Park College near Farnham, Surrey, over the weekend of 23rd to 25th May 1980. Even then Chris was trying to devise a wargame that allowed players to fight wargames at the sort of level that military historians wrote World War II campaign histories about, and over the years this endeavour coalesced into what became NQM (NOT QUITE MECHANISED.
Eventually Chris turned his pile of notes into a set of rules entitled PANZERBLITZ ... OR NOT QUITE MECHANISED ... and I am lucky enough to actually own a copy of them. (I actually own Copy No.1 of 20, and it occupies a special place in my collection of wargame rules.)
As stated on the cover, the rules came with their own 'Free Playsheet'.
Since then the rules have continued to evolve, and the current draft of the rules (or what Chris prefers to call the NQM Umpire Guidelines) can be found on his blog. His blog also contains the battle reports from his ongoing re-fight of the German invasion of Russia ... although the tabletop Germans were – until recently – doing better than their historical counterparts.
I first met Chris thirty five years ago (!) at the inaugural Conference of Wargamers. The conference was organised by the late Paddy Griffith and was entitled 'New Directions In Wargaming'. It was held at Moor Park College near Farnham, Surrey, over the weekend of 23rd to 25th May 1980. Even then Chris was trying to devise a wargame that allowed players to fight wargames at the sort of level that military historians wrote World War II campaign histories about, and over the years this endeavour coalesced into what became NQM (NOT QUITE MECHANISED.
Eventually Chris turned his pile of notes into a set of rules entitled PANZERBLITZ ... OR NOT QUITE MECHANISED ... and I am lucky enough to actually own a copy of them. (I actually own Copy No.1 of 20, and it occupies a special place in my collection of wargame rules.)
As stated on the cover, the rules came with their own 'Free Playsheet'.
Since then the rules have continued to evolve, and the current draft of the rules (or what Chris prefers to call the NQM Umpire Guidelines) can be found on his blog. His blog also contains the battle reports from his ongoing re-fight of the German invasion of Russia ... although the tabletop Germans were – until recently – doing better than their historical counterparts.
At risk of sounding like an extra from 'The Prisoner', I think I have number two....
ReplyDeleteNumber 17.
ReplyDeleteThank's for the link to Chris Kemp's NQM. I was vaguely thinking of writing my own BB4ST rule set for WW2, but wht reinvent the wheel? Megablitz or NQM, or even some modification to Command Decision looks like the way to go! Great!
ReplyDeleteTim Gow,
ReplyDeleteBut who is Number 6?
All the best,
Bob
Trebian,
ReplyDeleteI thought that you might have been No. 6!
All the best,
Bob
Archduke Piccolo,
ReplyDeleteChris Kemp's blog and the original NQM website are well worth 'mining' for ideas.
Good luck with whatever rules you end up using; there are plenty of good sets out there that will give you ideas that you can use or modify.
All the best,
Bob
Those illustration s are dinky.
ReplyDeleteConrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteThey are, aren't they!
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for the write up Bob,
ReplyDeleteAs time passes I'm actually rather embarassed at the "zese rules are Vunderful". Historians may not see the humour that prompted the original comment :O)
Regards, Chris
p.s. I'm happy as always for them to be mined. Hope you had a good holiday.
Chris Kemp,
ReplyDeleteI have always had a very high regard for your rules and your wargames; I have always enjoyed the latter and miss your contributions to WD and THE NUGGET. As to the comment ... well anyone who knows you will understand the humour, and those that don't understand it are the losers.
All the best,
Bob