Back when the world – and I – were a lot younger, I devised a Balkan Wars Matrix game. It was published in MINIATURE WARGAMES (actually, as Phil Dutre has pointed out in his comment, it was WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED!) and in retrospect – and in the light of reading E R Hooton's PRELUDE TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE BALKAN WARS 1912-1913 – I don't think that I did too bad a job.
As the issue of the magazine is long out-of-print, I have included scans of the pages of the article in this blog post so that my regular blog readers can cast their eyes over them. They might also like to remind themselves about Archduke Piccolo's excellent Blacklands War campaign, that used the first of the two maps in the article as the campaign map.
These scans can be enlarged by clicking on them.
Bob, are you sure it was published in Miniature Wargames. According to my index of wargaming articles (https://snv-ttm.blogspot.com/p/wargames-magazine-database.html) this articles was published in Wargames Illustrated #66.
ReplyDeleteI've included a link to this blogpost in the index as well.
Phil Dutre,
DeleteYou are right! It was WI and not MW!
I plead age and infirmity as my excuse for making this mistake. I know that I gave it to Duncan Macfarlane to publish, and confused which of the two magazines he included it in.
All the best,
Bob
I remember it well, (I'm at the age when I can remember a magazine article from 30 years ago, but not what I had for lunch). As I recall you also published a set of rules and army lists for the period too. I wouldn't mind seeing them again.
DeleteI hope this finds you well,
Take Care,
Tony.
Unknown (Tony),
DeleteI’ll see if I can find scans of the rules I wrote. That said, I am tempted to turn this all into another book …
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteA combination of a Matrix game campaign system for determining strategy and army manoeuvres, with Portable Wargame battle resolution could be a very appealing combination, IMHO.
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteIt is a very tempting project … and I’ve added it to my mental list of future books to write!
All the best,
Bob
All of WI's back issues can be downloaded from their website archives. Signing up cost me only $2/month. I'll have to give this one a read as well.
ReplyDeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteI didn’t know that WI did this. It’s something that I need to look into.
All the best,
Bob
My subscription is how I (re)discovered your Dardenilles game. Seems like you wrote a few articles for WI. It's on the website under The Vault.
DeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteOver the years, I’ve written quite a lot of stuff that has been published in various magazines and books.
All the best,
Bob
So I read the rules for your game before going to bed and I have a question. The list of cards notes that one batch says "Love" on it. Given the way you describe how a player proposes an action (by stringing together 3 cards and making a narrative) I suppose this means the player would say something like "Stirred by a speech inspired by LOVE of country, I make a FORCED MARCH across the mountains..." and so on.
DeleteAm I right in my understanding?
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteYou have certainly grasped the concept of the use of the Matrix Game cards. We tend not to use them nowadays but they are very useful with newbies as it gives them prompts around which they can build their arguments.
All the best,
Bob
I remember you talking about matrix games in your podcast interview. That sounds like a lot of fun. I cod use it with my boys to create a tactical firefight game that uses matrix cards. They could create action packed story using that system.
DeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteIf you follow the following link, it will take you to various blog posts that might be of help to you = https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/search/label/PBOM%20%28Politics%20by%20Other%20Means%29 .
Chris Engle, the man who came up with the Matrix Game concept devised a simple figure combat game called POLITICS BY OTHER. MEANS that used similar mechanisms.
Good luck,
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob -
ReplyDeleteThat, and a subsequent article with the army lists for the belligerents, I found inspirational upon reading them, even though it took 30 years to do something with them! Thanks for your kind comments on that First blacklands War. I have to admit I have done nothing with the file for well over a month.
I have in my head - I really should write it down - a generating narrative for the Second Blacklands War, though it will of course begin with the situation that remained at the end of the first - practically unchanged. But it will bring in a sixth belligerent - Rhumbaba (Romania) - and a rather complicated set of alliances and antagonisms.
But that project is still well down the track. There's the 'Darkest Aithiops' to continue (after a bit of leisurely movement here and there some action is imminent).
Stuff is happening in this neck of the woods, but I think the cold weather is gluing up the works, enthusiasm is in abeyance, and my blog spot is being inexcusably neglected.
Sooner or later things will pick up, I dare say -
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI hope to make the rules any army lists available on my blog later this week. It’s part of my none to subtle campaign to get you to fight the Second Blacklands War! Mind you, you have several other projects that I’d like to see more about, including ‘Darkest Aithiops’ … so I know that there are plenty more goodies coming in due course!
How are you coping with the virus and it’s impact on daily life? Yesterday we saw the removal of lots of restrictions in England … and I got a message that someone who I met at a Masonic meeting last Wednesday has been ‘pinged’ by the Track and Trace system and that they had to self-isolate. My wife and I now have to have three days of linear flow tests to make sure that we aren’t infected. In the meantime, we are doing our best to avoid contact with as many people as possible … and wearing a mask when we do.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Hi Bob -
DeleteTried to organise my first vaccine shot yesterday. Didn't make much of it. Bit of a snafu going on apparently. Will try again shortly. Karen got hers sorted weeks ago. In good health myself, but I don't function well in the cold. Right now your sauna of a den sounds wonderful!
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI’m surprised that you haven’t had your jabs yet. Everyone I know seems to have had at least one, and most have had two. The vaccine doesn’t stop you catching the virus, but it helps to mitigate its effects if you do.
We have just had a sudden and short thunderstorm. We had torrential rain for about five minutes, a few flashes of lightening … and now the humidity seems to have gone through the roof! We have gone from hot and sweaty to hot, sticky, and sweaty!
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Found this in WI's online "Vault" under WI066. Looking for the second article. A lot of good older articles there!
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
DeleteI think that the second article was about a year later.
All the best,
Bob