Thinking, gardening, and looking back

The good weather that we have been enjoying for the past few days has meant that I have been doing some work in the garden, and that has given my some time to think. (The use of the word 'good' is relative, and means that it is not raining most of the time.)

I have now installed wooden edging around all the flower beds and along the front edge of the cleared area underneath the laurel hedge. As part of this process I have removed all the earth that had built up around the garden shed, and with luck I should be able to begin sorting out what is in the shed as the summer progresses. I vaguely remember trying to do this some years ago, and a quick look back at my earliest blog entries shows that the last time I did was in 2009 ... and that my efforts were very short-lived!

The end of the garden. Until relatively recently the laurel hedge completely covered the shed.

The shed ... in all its unencumbered glory!

Most of my thinking has been about the possibility that I will ever write a set of wargame rules that meet all my needs ... and my conclusions were that it was very likely that I would not. I have had many attempts to achieve this aim, and have got close on a couple of occasions, but then I see something that makes me change tack and go back to the drawing board.

A look back at my blog shows that I have – over a number of years – written several sets of wargame rules that work and with which I should be satisfied. They are (in alphabetical order):

• BUNDOCK AND BAYONET
• CHACO WAR
• 'ERES TO YOU FUZZY WUZZY
• HEROES OF VICTORIA'S EMPIRE (HoVE)
• HEXBLITZ
• HORDES OF DERVISHES
• MEMOIR OF BATTLE (MOB)
• MEMOIR OF BATTLE AT SEA (MOBAS)
• MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE (MOBAT)
• MINI AND TOUTOU GO FORTH
• OPERATIONAL ART
• RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES
• RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES – TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED
• REDCOATS AND DERVISHES
• RESTLESS NATIVES
• RESTLESS NATIVES – TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED
• RESTLESS REVOLUTIONARIES
• SIMPLE COLONIAL WARGAMES RULES (SCWaRes)
• THE PORTABLE NAVAL WARGAME
• THE PORTABLE WARGAME (PW)
• WHEN EMPIRES CLASHED! (WEC)

Not a bad record – even though I say it myself – but indicative of a rather butterfly mind!

I think that I need to go and look again at some of my past efforts, especially as I suspect that I may not yet have explored their full potential.

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One thing that the better weather has not made to go away is the replacement of the gas supply pipe to the houses in our street. The trenches have got longer ...

... and the holes have got bigger and deeper.

The workmen were originally supposed to have finished installing the new gas supply pipe by the end of the month ... but I am fast coming to the conclusion that they meant the end of June not the end of May!

Restless Revolutionaries revisited

Some years ago I wrote a set of rules entitled RESTLESS REVOLUTIONARIES: RULES FOR WARGAMING LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY SOUTH AMERICAN WARS AND REVOLUTIONS. Included in the rules was the outline for a mini-campaign, and fighting the two battles set during the Rusland Civil War made me realise that – with a little bit of adjustment – the mini-campaign could be used for most modern-ish civil wars where the opposing forces were very similar in terms of equipment, training, and motivation – usually poor equipment, no training, but high motivation!

The main inspirations for the rules and the mini-campaign were:

• Joseph Conrad’s NOSTROMO (both the book and the BBC’s very under-rated film adaptation)
• Hergé’s THE BROKEN EAR (which features the revolution in the fictional Republic of San Theodoros and the war with neighbouring Nuevo Rico)
• Sergio Leone’s film A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE (that starred Rod Steiger and James Coburn)
• Edwin Herbert’s book SMALL WARS AND SKIRMISHES 1902–18

These were very eclectic collection of ‘sources’, but all of them provided different and very interesting views of revolutions.

The Mini-Campaign 'Map'
The map is a linear path that the opponents move up and down. The mini-campaign starts when the 'revolution' breaks out in the Regional Capital, and if successful it ends when the 'revolutionaries' are victorious in the battle to win the Capital City. Between those two events both sides will fight – sometimes several times – for the Provincial Capital and the Railway.

Notes on the Scenario Maps
The maps that accompany each scenario are guides as to how the terrain should be set up. It is not necessary to slavishly reproduce them in detail as the terrain each battle is fought over will vary according to the models and terrain features that players have available. They are merely included as a guide.

The Armies
The original rules contained a simple points system for generating each side's army. I have modified it so that it can be used with my PORTABLE WARGAME rules, but please feel free to ignore it and use your own method.

Armies for each scenario are generated in the following way. Each side gets a fixed number of points per scenario plus extra points that are generated by D6 dice. The number of D6 dice thrown is indicated for each scenario. The total score achieved by each side is the number of points they will have to ‘buy’ troops. The defenders always roll fewer dice than the attackers, but this does not guarantee that they will have more troops!

The following rules apply to the process of ‘buying’ troops:

• ‘Elite’ Units cost 2 points.
• ‘Average’ troops cost 1.5 points.
• ‘Poor’ troops cost 1 point.
• There must be at least 3 ‘Average’ or ‘Poor’ Units for every ‘Elite’ Unit in a Revolutionary army.
• There must be at least 2 ‘Average’ or ‘Poor’ Units for every ‘Elite’ Unit in a Government army.
• There must be at least 4 Infantry or Cavalry Units for every Artillery Unit in an army.
• There must be at least 3 Infantry or Cavalry Units for every Machine Gun Unit in an army.

The Regional Capital
All revolutions need to start somewhere, and the Regional Capital is as good place as any to start.

This scenario deals with the capture of a Regional Capital from which the 'revolutionaries' can operate safely as they begin their war against the present Government.

Revolutionary troops (Attacking):

• 4 + 2D6 of points
• Enter via any of the right hand row of squares.

Government troops (Defending):

• 4 + 1D6 of points
• Set up in any of the central or left hand rows of squares.

Revolutionary troops (Defending):

• 4 + 1D6 of points
• Enter via any of the left hand row of squares.

Government troops (Attacking):

• 4 + 2D6 of points
• Set up in any of the central or right hand rows of squares.

The Provincial Capital
All revolutions need a power base, and the capture of a Provincial Capital will provide one.

This scenario deals with the capture of a Provincial Capital from which the 'revolutionaries' can begin to seriously threaten the present Government.

Revolutionary troops (Attacking):

• 6 + 2D6 of points
• Enter at A.

Government troops (Defending):

• 6 + 1D6 of points
• Set up in the middle 2 squares.

Revolutionary troops (Defending):

• 6 + 1D6 of points
• Set up in the middle 2 squares.

Government troops (Attacking):

• 6 + 2D6 of points
• Enter at B.

The Railway
Railways always play a vital role in revolutions, as they are usually the only fast and effective means of transport. If you control the railway you stand a good chance of winning the revolution.

This scenario deals with the capture of a vital railway station, in which might be a train capable of taking the 'revolutionaries' to the capital city.

Revolutionary troops (Attacking):

• 8 + 2D6 of points
• Enter at A.

Government troops (Defending):

• 8 + 1D6 of points
• Set up in the middle 2 squares.

Revolutionary troops (Defending):

• 8 + 1D6 of points
• Set up in the middle 2 squares.

Government troops (Attacking):

• 8 + 2D6 of points
• Enter at B.

The Capital City
Victory for the revolution is now in sight. All the 'revolutionaries' have to do is to capture the Presidential Palace, the Model Prison, and the Main Barracks, all of which are in the centre of the Capital City.

Revolutionary troops (Attacking):

• 10 + 2D6 of points
• Enter at A.

Government troops (Defending):

• 10 + 1D6 of points
• Set up inside any squares that contain buildings.