As I have recently finished one project – publishing MASTERS AT WAR VOLUME 2: 1920 TO 1970 – and I am on the verge of finishing the centenary history of the Hertfordshire Masters' Lodge No.4090, my thoughts have been turning toward my next writing project ... which is likely to be THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME.
It is true to say that I have already written a set of PORTABLE WARGAME rules that can be used to fight Colonial battles, and that these – along with an explanatory battle report – are included in the first of my books. However, since they were written, my thinking has evolved somewhat, and whilst they are still more than usable, I think that they could be improved upon. In particular, some of the more developed rules in the later books (e.g. THE PORTABLE WARGAME RULES: ANCIENTS and THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME: BRIGADE RULES) contain mechanisms that I would include if I were writing a set of Colonial rules from scratch.
One area that I want to look at is creating a set of rules that can be used both with multi-figure bases and individually-based figures. I have both in my collection of Colonial wargame figures, but I know that many wargamers who have come to this type of wargaming recently (mainly as a result of Daniel Mersey's excellent THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS rules and in anticipation of Howard Whitehouse's soon-to-be-published A GENTLEMAN'S WAR) have collections of individually-based figures.
Following on from the above, I am also thinking about changing the allocation of Strength Points (SPs) as follows:
One result of this change is that games should last somewhat longer (something that quite a few players have asked for) and artillery will not be quite as dominant on the battlefield (again, something that players have asked for).
I have jotted down a basic plan for contents of the book:
It is true to say that I have already written a set of PORTABLE WARGAME rules that can be used to fight Colonial battles, and that these – along with an explanatory battle report – are included in the first of my books. However, since they were written, my thinking has evolved somewhat, and whilst they are still more than usable, I think that they could be improved upon. In particular, some of the more developed rules in the later books (e.g. THE PORTABLE WARGAME RULES: ANCIENTS and THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME: BRIGADE RULES) contain mechanisms that I would include if I were writing a set of Colonial rules from scratch.
One area that I want to look at is creating a set of rules that can be used both with multi-figure bases and individually-based figures. I have both in my collection of Colonial wargame figures, but I know that many wargamers who have come to this type of wargaming recently (mainly as a result of Daniel Mersey's excellent THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS rules and in anticipation of Howard Whitehouse's soon-to-be-published A GENTLEMAN'S WAR) have collections of individually-based figures.
Following on from the above, I am also thinking about changing the allocation of Strength Points (SPs) as follows:
- Infantry units: 6 SPs
- Cavalry units: 4 SPs
- Artillery and Machine Gun units: 2 SPs
One result of this change is that games should last somewhat longer (something that quite a few players have asked for) and artillery will not be quite as dominant on the battlefield (again, something that players have asked for).
I have jotted down a basic plan for contents of the book:
- Organising and basing units
- The rules (including aspects of coastal and riverine naval combat)
- An explanatory battle report
- Colonial campaigns
- An explanatory Colonial wargame campaign (probably set in Zubia, my Egypt/Sudan-like imagi-nation)
- Appendices that cover some of the same ground as those in my PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME book so that readers do not have to buy both books
I keep thinking about looking at Portable Wargames - at the moment solo games that are a mix of DBX and make-it-up-as-you-go-along. I've got a load of 42mm figures for 'The Great War in England 1897' - would it be possible to set the rules rules up to cover that kind of campaign?
ReplyDeleteRob Young,
DeleteThat sounds like a very interesting collection of figures ... and judging by the success some members of the Victorian Military Society have had using the rules to re-fight the Battle of Dorking, it should be ideal for your project.
All the best,
Bob
Sounds like a great book already Bob.
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend.
Maudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteExperience tells me that the structure of the book will change and develop as I write it.
All the best,
Bob
I will be watching with interest!
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteI hope that you won't have to wait too long.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I absolutely love your ideas for your colonial book, especially matching SPs to figures. In fact if you keep that idea in the final product I would start using SPs instead of the sudden death mechanism. Cheers, Anthony.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Morton (Anthony),
DeleteIt is so obvious, that I don't know why I haven't tried it before.
I'm hoping that the change will make the rules easier to use and the battles will be somewhat longer. I'm not going to give up on the 'sudden death' or 'two kills' options, but they will remain as options for players who want quicker results.
All the best,
Bob
I like: number of figures = SP. That is how I play when using single figures, just remove one when unit suffers a hit.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the final result. And since you are working on Colonial, I'll skip that for now and focus on my American Civil War version.
Cheers, Mike Taber
Mike Taber,
DeleteAs I wrote in reply to an earlier comment, I don't know whey I haven't done this before.
Please carry on working on your own Colonial version as well as your ACW one; you may well end up giving me ideas as you do so!
All the best,
Bob
Seems you might be coming round to my preference of having SPs reflected in the numbers of figures or figure stands! In that connection, I have also become reluctant to modify SP according to training, morale or quality.
ReplyDeleteArchduke Piccolo,
DeleteRelating the number of figures (or bases) to the SPs does simplify things and should make the rules even easier to pick up and use.
The quality of troops is possibly better reflected in their reaction to combat rather than by just adding extra SPs to their unit's SP value, and by going to the 1 figure base = 1 SP I could certainly remove one complication from the rules.
Its something that I must think about.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I don't see using PW rules with singly-based figures poses any problems - simply remove one figure when an SP is lost. Though I would favour having units with more figures than SPs, so that loss of strength/combat effectiveness would not reduce the unit to zero figures. One could, for example, remove easily identifiable musicians, colour/standard bearers and NCOs/officers to represent SP losses, while leaving the rank and file to portray the formation and ground area occupied by the unit, without having to resort to a roster.
ReplyDeleteOne could employ a combination of rank and file multi-figure bases with individually-based 'command' figures that could be removed to indicate SP loss.
For gun batteries, removing crew figures to reflect loss of guns seems ideal.
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteYou have suggest something similar before ... and I have experimented with mixing single-figure and multi-figure bases. It worked well, but I don't know if it would appeal to users. The feedback I've had indicates that players would want one figure per SP. That said, it's certainly an option I may well include in the book ... when I get around to writing it.
All the best,
Bob
For what it's worth, the SP per figure issues were the hardest part of getting PWG to work for me. You never actually say how many figure are in a unit. I understand why, but this makes the game much less usable than simply deciding. For me the decision that was easiest to play - and I'm not using a chess board to play 'Flames of War' - was 1 SP per figure (like Memoir '44). I chose my units accordingly. YMVV.
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
DeleteIt sounds as if you are very much in favour of the one figure = 1 SP approach ... and I hope to experiment with this as soon as I can.
All the best,
Bob
In my PW games I mark hits on units, so I'm totally unconcerned with how many figures there are in a unit :)
ReplyDeleteKaptain Kobold,
DeleteI've tended to use clear plastic Roman blind rings as 'hit' markers in my own battles, but I know that a lot of players prefer figure removal, hence my current thinking.
All the best,
Bob