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Saturday 22 February 2020

The Portable Colonial Wargame book: A progress report

Whilst on my recent cruise, I used some of the free time during the sea days to do some work on my PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME book.

At present, the Contents page looks like this:


As things stand at present, the following chapters are pretty well finished, although some photographs and diagrams have yet to be added:
  • 'The Gatling's jammed ...' Colonial Wargame Rules
  • 'The Widow at Windsor' Colonial Wargame Rules
  • Railways and Ships
  • A playing card-driven turn sequence
  • Heroic Leadership
  • A simple tabletop terrain generator
  • Appendix 1: Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (1842-85)
  • Appendix 2: Heroic Leadership cards
Of the other chapters, the following are in half-complete draft form:
  • Organising and basing units
  • A simple Colonial campaign system
With luck (and some spare time over the next couple of weeks), I hope to make a lot more progress. My aim is to try to have the book ready to publish by April, but as I have written in the past, I'd rather be slightly later than rush to finish the book by a self-imposed deadline.

15 comments:

  1. Great project, looking forward to seeing it when completed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare,

      I hope to do some more work on the book over the weekend, and to publish regular progress reports.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Bob,
    Obviously there must be a difference between 'The Gatling's jammed' and 'The Widow at Windsor' rules, but it's not clear from the Contents whether it is the level of action, as per your Napoleonic rules, or something else? Perhaps it should be made clear?
    Good luck with your latest book!
    Best wishes, Arthur

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arthur,

      The difference between the two sets of rules is made clear in the Introduction. The first are a simple set of rules and the second are somewhat more complex.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Will you be including the ... lyrics? (it is an example of lyric verse) ... of 'The Widow at Windsor' in your volume, Bob?

      Delete
    3. Archduke Piccolo,

      It’s one of my favourite pieces of verse, and I often quote it as part of a talk I give about Masonic references in a Kipling’s work.

      If there is space, I might include the text as an appendix.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      It’s still very much a ‘work in progress’, but everything is gradually coming together.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. StuRat,

    Thanks for your very helpful suggestions.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  5. Any plans to add a section for exploring Mars and Venus?

    I think these fit better under colonial rule sets than WW I sets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andyroo,

      I am afraid to say that I’ve no such plans.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Take your time, Bob. This one's on my 'to buy' list, and will go with a growing project 'Jacko' and I are cooking up...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo,

      I managed to do some work on the campaign chapter today, but not quite as much as I had hoped. I’ll get there eventually ... and hopefully it will be worth it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Eagerly awaiting this installment of the Portable Wargame. So far this is sounding like a very good [rules] book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Taber,

      I am making slow but steady progress, and hope to get the book finished in time for SALUTE 2020 in April.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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