I began blogging on 18th September 2008 ... almost seventeen years ago.
My second blog post on this blog was about the recent republication of Donald Featherstone's WAR GAMES book by John Curry's 'History of Wargaming' Project and it inspired me to incorporate ideas and mechanisms from both Donald Featherstone’s and Lionel Tarr’s rules into my existing World War II rules, RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES. The resulting rules were named RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES – TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED, and John Curry incorporated them into the 'History of Wargaming' Project reprint of Donald Featherstone's WARGAMING AIRBORNE OPERATIONS. (The rules were slighty renamed TARRED AND FEATHERED at Donald Featherstone's request.
During my recent review of the wargaming rules that have influenced my World War II wargaming, I revisited RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES and RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES – TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED ... and then the battle reports I wrote about my playtests.
On reflection, this is the sort of wargame that I envisaged fighting using my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War collection when I began this blog ... so I suppose that I might have got things right seventeen years ago ... and just 'forgotten' that I had!
On the other hand, the battles I fought using my mid-twentieth-century version of the PORTABLE WARGAME were also great fun, and perhaps the rules are better designed. I’m not sure … but I hope to have fun thinking about (and possibly experimenting with) which of these two to choose for my future Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War wargaming.
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If you enjoyed RF&IC and it felt right, it probably was! I don't know how different it is from your Mid-20th Century PW but I have played the latter and enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteThe two sets of rules are related and I suspect that I’ll end up with a hybrid of the two.
All the best,
Bob
Congratulations on 17 years of blogging, Bob! Quite an accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteIt might be fun and enlightening to pick a scenario and fight the scenario twice, once using with each ruleset and write-up a compare and contrast. I would find this exercise interesting, and it might even influence your ultimate decision.
Jonathan Freitag,
DeleteCheers! I started this blog because I had to show my IT students how to write one … and things went downhill from there!
Thanks for the idea for refighting the same scenario with both sets of rules.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteGood photos of the WW2 action- I particularly like the Tanks- I'm assuming it is all in 15mm. I do not know when I started Blogging though I think it may be about three years ago. Cheers. KEV.
Kevin Robertson (Kev),
DeleteCheers! The models are 1/76th-scale and the figures are 20mm ones.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I'm surprised that Don requested that 'Featherstoned' be changed in the title of your rules, as you were actually acknowledging his influence upon their development and paying him a complement. The revised title makes them sound like a game about American lynch mobs.
ReplyDeleteI lack any expertise in WWII to comment on the relative merits of your two sets of rules, but have had a similar experience of rereading pieces I wrote - and had largely forgotten - years ago and thinking they were actually quite good. On the other hand, the Napoleonic wargame rules I wrote and submitted as my 'history teaching aid' as part of my postgraduate teaching course in 1976 I now regard as far too complex and completely inappropriate for their supposed purpose!
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteIt was a surprise to me … but I think that Don didn’t want to share the glory with Lionel Tarr, hence the request for the change.
I think that we can always learn from re-reading one’s previous efforts. Sometimes we forget that we had already found a solution to a problem that we are trying to solve.
All the best,
Bob
Bob -
ReplyDeleteMaybe you 'got it right' both times. They are simply different rule sets - and lets not forget your Hexblitz rule set. I have had a lot of fun with the gridded WW2 game, and I really MUST revisit the Operation Uranus game Jacko and I played, 8 (EIGHT?!) years ago... I have had the modified starting map worked out years ago.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteVery true … but it never hurts to revisit our previous efforts.
I look forward to seeing your refight of OPERATION URANUS if you ever get around to it.
All the best,
Bob
I think it is inevitable we go in circles to an extent when designing rules. There are bits you like, and bits that niggle so you just have to tweak it...
ReplyDeleteYou've probably forgotten all the niggles with the older sets and just fondly recall the good bits!
Martin Rapier,
DeleteVery true! I suspect that I am going to end up with a hybrid of my previous rules.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of the WW2 action- I particularly like the Tanks- I assume that it is all in 15mm. I'm not sure about when I started Blogging - perhaps three years ago. Regards. KEV.
Kevin Robertson (Kev),
DeleteYour original comment seems to have appeared again!
All the best,
Bob