I’ve been making slow progress compiling and editing the next book I hope to publish.
The PORTABLE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WARGAME book (P17CW for short) is currently over thirty pages long, and I still have a lot more to add. I am including rules written by several other players/game designers, and besides editing their content so that they reflect the PW ‘house style’, I have been writing chapters about the European wars that took place during the seventeenth century and the military innovations that occurred.
I am not rushing to complete this book as Lulu.com still do not seem to have sorted out the problems that arose when they migrated over to a new website and introduced new publishing software. I hope to get the text ready for checking by the middle of August (and earlier, if possible), and once that is done, publication will follow in due course.
The PORTABLE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WARGAME book (P17CW for short) is currently over thirty pages long, and I still have a lot more to add. I am including rules written by several other players/game designers, and besides editing their content so that they reflect the PW ‘house style’, I have been writing chapters about the European wars that took place during the seventeenth century and the military innovations that occurred.
I am not rushing to complete this book as Lulu.com still do not seem to have sorted out the problems that arose when they migrated over to a new website and introduced new publishing software. I hope to get the text ready for checking by the middle of August (and earlier, if possible), and once that is done, publication will follow in due course.
Intrigued. How early/late are you going, or is this mainly ECW/30YW?
ReplyDeleteTrebian,
DeleteIt’s mainly going to cover the Thirty Years War and the English Civil Wars, although I’d like to include stuff from both ends of the century as well.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you have a writing and editing project for this Summer. We're in the grip of Winter - cold days and even colder nights- some rain about which is good...I'm already looking forward to Spring though it is a long way away. Hope your staying safe and well there in London. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteAfter a very brief spell of hot weather (less than a week), we are back to mild, wet, and windy weather.
At least it means that it isn’t too hot to work in my office ... which is in our loft conversion.
All the best,
Bob
I'm a little bit perplexed by this idea of rewriting the rules to fit a house style. But I await the end results with interest.
ReplyDeleteKaptain Kobold,
DeleteThe rewriting is more to make things consistent across the book, and does not change the mechanisms or turn sequence used. For example, ‘a D6 die is rolled‘ rather than ‘a D6 is thrown‘. Nothing drastic, just a few minor tweaks ... and the text will be submitted to the contributors before I go to publication.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteFully agree that authors should try to be consistent in their use of language and in their style, punctuation (Oxford comma or not?) and layout. It makes transition from one set of rules to another more straight forward, and also imposes a discipline on the writer that should improve the overall quality. I really felt that with the last set I published, which were written by someone else.
Trebian.
OK. That sounds reasonable :)
DeleteTrebian,
DeleteI learned about consistency from Arthur Harman, who has edited almost all my PW books to date. It was him who pointed out the need for consistency in order to ensure that readers did not get confused.
I’m told that my books have got better as I’ve gained more experience as a writer, and I must admit that even a casual look at my first PW book made me realise that I ought to rewrite it at some point.
All the best,
Bob
Kaptain Kobold,
DeleteI’m not rewriting people’s contributions, but editing them ... which is subtly different.
All the best,
Bob
Splendid news: I will be able to use my "Baroque Battles" collection to play this PW variant. I'm looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteEd M,
DeleteI hope. That you won’t have to wait too long!
All the best,
Bob
Please feel free to consider me for helping with your projects. I like to think I have been useful in making the rules ‘idiot proof’.
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteThanks for the offer. I may well send you a copy of the finished draft to cast your eye over it.
All the best,
Bob
All good
DeleteSteve*,
DeleteCheers!
All the best,
Bob
This is looking like another addition to my expanding 'Portable Wargames' library! I might be forced (at LOOOOOONG last) to paint up my Swedish Horse.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Swedish battalion guns can be made from the Airfix French Napoleonic artillery, with the gun barrel removed and replaced with the smaller gun barrel from the ESCI British Napoleonic artillery. They make superb battalion guns.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (ion),
DeleteI'll keep writing them if you'll keep buying them!
Thanks for the modelling tip. It is the sort of thing that people used to do a lot back in the days when there were far fewer figure ranges being manufactured and we had to 'make do and mend' if we want to have something that wasn't freely available.
All the best,
Bob
Any chance you can include the Ottomans for Siege of Vienna etc? Will add even more excitement and variety!
ReplyDeleteSimon
Simon,
DeleteIt’s certainly something that I’d like to include.
All the best,
Bob