When Empires Clash!: Deal of the Day on Wargame Vault

From 10.00am US Central time today, WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! will be the Deal of the Day on WarGameVault.com for the remarkably low price of $1.24.

These rules were a forerunner of my PORTABLE WARGAME rules and contain some useful Army Lists that can be used with the PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME rules.

An example of one of my existing Portable Wargame armies ... plus a warship!

Before my order of MDF bases arrives from Warbases, I wanted to review one of my existing PORTABLE WARGAME armies. I chose the British Colonial one that I have been using for some years.

These figures were purchased ready-painted many years ago from Miliart, and were originally based to be used with SCWaRes (Simple Colonial Wargames Rules) and then WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! Since then, they’ve been used to develop my PORTABLE WARGAME rules, and are featured in my PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME books.

The are enough figures for two small PORTABLE WARGAME armies (or even one large one) ... although the addition of some cavalry would make the collection slightly more rounded. Luckily, during my recent review of my collections, I found some unbased cavalry figures which will fill that gap very nicely.

In the background is one of the ship models I built to provide fire support for my nineteenth century armies. She has had several names and featured in numerous wargames, including one one in GRIDDED NAVAL WARGAMES that was also featured on the book's cover.

'The history of a wargame design ...'

'... is not unlike the history of a ball. Some designers may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the rules that are written, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.'

I do hope that the Duke of Wellington will excuse me mangling his quote* about the Battle of Waterloo, but it is rather appropriate at the moment.

This quote came to mind when I began work on the PowerPoint presentation that I am preparing for the forthcoming VCOW2021. I wanted to start with a short explanation about how the whole PORTABLE WARGAME concept came about ... and then realised that it was not as straightforward as I had thought that its was.

Looking back through my past blog posts, I began to realise that the rules evolved as a result of the coming together of several separate strands. The first of these was my desire to emulate the gridded wargames illustrated in both Donald Featherstone's and Joseph Morschauser's books.

In the latter's case, he was strongly influenced by Professor Gerard de Gre, who ran the wargame club at the college that Joseph attended as a student.

The second was Ian Drury's RETURN TO NEW STANHALL game at COW1998(!). This led directly to the development of SCWaRes (Simple Colonial Wargame Rules), which in turn was developed into WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!

At about the same time, I 'rediscovered' Joseph Morschauser's book and bought a copy of Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 ...

... which eventually led me to buy both the first ...

... and second edition version of his American Civil War game, BATTLE CRY.

I did develop my own take on MEMOIR '44, which I entitled MEMOIR OF BATTLE, which in turn led to MEMOIR OF BATTLE AT SEA and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE.

All the strands were now in place, and all it needed was a catalyst to start the process that led to the final development of the PORTABLE WARGAME.

The catalyst was an old, boxed chess set that was then stored in our conservatory. The heat and sun in the conservatory had not treated it kindly, and the wooden chessmen were warped and cracked. The edge of the board had become detached as the glue had dried out, and my wife gave me an ultimatum to either find a use for the chessboard or to throw it away.

I was loath to throw it away, and decided that it might make the basis of a simple, portable wargame. I began experimenting with ideas that I had garnered from my previous wargame designs ... and this eventually led to the creation of the PORTABLE WARGAME.

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* The original quote is:

'The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.'

It was written by the Duke of Wellington in a letter to John Croker, dated 8th August 1815. Croker was an Irish Member of Parliament and a longtime friend of the Duke.

When Empires Clash! ... is now available in hardback and eBook formats!

Some time ago I had a request for an electronic version of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! ... but as I was working on DEVELOPING THE PORTABLE WARGAME I didn't have enough time to do the necessary work to turn the paperback into a suitable electronic format.

That said, on the back of the work I have done to publish DEVELOPING THE PORTABLE WARGAME, I decided to give it a go ... and in the process I reformatted the original text so that it was in the same house style that I had used in both my Portable Wargame books. As a result a Second Edition of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! is now available in hardback, paperback, and eBook formats from Lulu.com and – in the near future – will also be on sale from the major online book retailers.

30% off the price of When Empires Clash! when bought direct from Lulu.com

I understand that Lulu is currently holding a 30% off sale on all printed books. This means that anyone wishing to buy a copy of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! via Lulu can buy my book for only £4.19 (plus postage and packing), thus saving £1.80.

To buy a copy, just click on the link shown above. When the webpage opens, in the section where it asks for the Coupon Code ...

... just type in APRIL30 (WITH NO GAPS) and then press the 'Apply' button to activate the 30% sale price discount.

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I do have another non-wargaming book on sale with Lulu. It is entitled BROTHERS IN ARMS AND BROTHERS IN THE LODGE: THE STORY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GROVE PARK LODGE (No. 2732) WHO SERVED DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR (ISBN 978 1 291 98955 7).

It is normally on sale for £5.00, but the discounted price is £3.50 (plus postage and packing), thus saving £1.50.

Adding a link to my publications

I understand from feedback that I have received that some of my regular blog readers have been unable to find my latest publication (WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!) when they have searched the Lulu website.

I have therefore added a tab called 'Publications' just below the title of my blog, and this will take readers to a page with links to the relevant sections of the Lulu and Amazon websites.

When Empires Clash! ... the book

If blogging is self-indulgent, then publishing your own book is super-self-indulgent ... and I must admit to being just that!

Back in 2009 I wrote a set of wargame rules entitled WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! and made them available free online. I know that a few people have used them, and as part of an experiment I decided to turn my previously free rules into a proper book. I wanted to see just how difficult it would be ... and discovered that it was in fact quite easy.

I am not expecting that anyone will buy the rules in their new book form ... but if you are interested in buying a copy it is currently on sale via Lulu for £5.99 plus postage and packing.

Back home again

Yesterday Sue and I returned from a cruise to the Adriatic and back, and have spent most of today dealing with the aftermath (e.g. unpacking, washing, storing the luggage away).

I have drafted a long blog entry about our cruise, and hope to finish it and upload it at some point over the weekend. I have also drafted an entry about the Alcazar in Jerez, which we visited whilst the ship was in Cadiz, and that will follow in due course.

Whilst I was on the cruise I read quite a few books and began work on a project that will hopefully result in a revamped and updated version of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! I wrote these rules back in 2009, and since then I have rather ignored them ... but after re-reading them I decided that they were actually quite good, and could be made even better if I made a few revision.

The latest draft of my Interbellum rules is now available

After a few struggles and diversions along the way, I have finally managed to complete the latest draft of my INTERBELLUM rules, and they are available in PDF format as a download from my Interbellum website.

Please note that the rules are password protected; the password is 'interbellum'.

The rules do incorporate some ideas from my previous rules, WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!. In particular there are now rules for the use of Transport Units as well as a whole new section at the end that sets out rules for the use of aircraft over the battlefield. The rules have yet to be play-tested (or even properly proof read!), but I set myself the goal of finishing the draft today ... and managed it!

The melding of When Empires Clash! and my Interbellum Rules - Some progress has been made ... at last!

I actually managed to spend over an hour this evening working on redrafting my INTERBELLUM rules so that they incorporate some of the elements of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! The main body of the rules has now been finished, and I am working on an appendix that will contain the rules that relate to the use of aircraft.

When Empires Clash! - Some progress has been made!

Despite all the recent 'alarums and excursions', I finally managed to spend an hour this evening working on the latest redraft of my Morschauser-inspired INTERBELLUM rules.

They still have some way to go as yet, but at least some further progress has been made. I had hoped to get the redraft completed by now but there is a distinct possibility that I will manage to complete it by Saturday evening. As soon as the redraft is ready I will make it available in PDF format via my Interbellum website.

When Empires Clash! - A set of rules revisited ... again

I have begun the process of melding together what I consider to be the best bits of the current INTERBELLUM version of Joseph Morschauser's 'Modern' rules and WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! The intention is to develop a set of rules that includes more types of unit without losing the essential simplicity of Morschauser's rules.

The first thing that I have done is to define what a 'Unit' is in the new rules; it is going to be a company or equivalent-sized military unit.

Secondly I have included Transport Units, including Motor Transport Units. This will enable commanders to move their Infantry and Artillery Units along any roads that at a greater speed than in the previous version of the rules. There will be a 'cost' to anyone who does this, but the interwar period was one where the use of motor vehicles to move units up to the front line was growing, and I think that the rules need to allow commanders the option to use motorised transport.

I am also looking at the possibility of including Fighter, Light Bomber, and Reconnaissance aircraft in the new rules. Aircraft played an increasingly important role during the interwar period, and I think that the new rules should include them if possible.

When Empires Clash! - A set of rules revisited

I am not the tidiest of people, and over time I tend to 'acquire' quite a lot of 'clutter' in and around my work area in our home office. As a result, several times each year I have to have a bit of a sort out, and last night was one of those occasions.

Amongst all the odd bits of paper, magazines, books etc., I found a display folder that contained a complete manuscript of the last version of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! Having many better things to do ... and a desire to avoid doing them ... I re-read these rules ... and I was surprised to see how much about them I had forgotten.

What also surprised me was the fact that some of the things that I have been thinking about including in my latest version of Joseph Morschauser's rules were already in WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! ... and worked. Now I cannot lift whole sections from one set of rules into the other but ... there is certainly room for some melding of the two sets of rules.

All this will give me something to think about on my drive to and from work, so you never know what might happen as a result of this serendipitous find.

Thinking about COW

The Wargame Developments annual Conference of Wargamers (COW) will be taking place in early July and I have volunteered to run a session. I had originally decided to cover the development of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!, and then to follow that with a couple of short games that would give the attendees a flavour of the rules. The problem is that I have actually done no development of the rules since before Christmas.

I could take the easy way out and to do what I originally planned ... but my thinking has moved on since then as a result of the work I have been doing to develop my own versions of Joseph Morschauser's rules.

I have therefore asked myself the question 'What should I do?'

At the moment I think that I will:

• Start with a short presentation about Joseph Morschauser and his rules (including some references to the earlier work done by his mentor, Gerard de Gre).
• Have a series of small games set up that use some of Morschauser's rules so that attendees can try them out or
• Have several small games set up that would enable attendees to try out my variants/developments of Morschauser's rules.

I am not quite sure which of the latter options I will choose, although I could do both. The decision that I make will depend upon how much time, effort, and money I will need to expend to prepare for the session.

Watch this space for further developments!

Modified Morschauser ‘19th Century’ Wargames Rules

The latest draft of these rules is now available in PDF format from the RED HEX WARGAMES website.

This draft includes rules that allow Commanders to be represented on the battlefield, and are a development of ideas that were included in WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! and Joseph Morschauser's HOW TO PLAY WAR GAMES IN MINIATURE.

Synchronicity

‘Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner.’

Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe what he called the ‘acausal connecting principle’ that links mind and matter. He stated that synchronicity manifests itself through significant coincidences that cannot in themselves be explained by cause and effect, and when a strong need arises in the psyche of an individual.

So what on Earth am I going on about? Well … it happened to me … like this …

I used to be a member of THE SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORIANS SOCIETY, and I recently received an email from the society’s president – Terry D. Hooker – in which he very kindly offered to send me some electronic copies of recent issues of the society’s journal, EL DORADO. I accepted this offer with alacrity because the military history of South America has always been of great interest to me. The very first article I ever had published in THE NUGGET was about the Chaco War, and I followed this with a more detailed article on the same subject that appeared in an early issue of WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED.

One of the issues of EL DORADO that Terry sent me included a article about PARAGUAYAN UNITS OF THE CHACO WAR complied by Gustavo Adolfo Riart, and as my work of the redraft of Morschauser’s rules was stalled, I decided to get some of my Paraguayan and Bolivian army units out of their storage boxes to remind myself of all the fun and enjoyment I had had producing them. The armies were created using Peter Laing 15mm figures, and are mounted on multi-figure bases that will fit nicely into 3-inch grid squares.

Having got some figures out of their boxes, it seemed like a waste not to fight a battle with them. At first I thought of using one of the earlier, multi-figure base versions of Morschauser’s rules, but instead I dug out the most recent draft of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! as it seemed more appropriate. As I reacquainted myself with the rules I suddenly realised that an answer to the problems I was having with Commanders in the redraft of Morschauser’s rules was staring me in the face. I had got too close to the problem to remember that I already had a workable solution to a similar problem. All I have to do now is to sit down for an hour or two at my word processor tomorrow morning, and with a bit of luck I should have the redraft written by midday.

And what has all this to do with synchronicity?

Well if Terry Hooker had not sent me the email, I would not have read the article about the Chaco War in EL DORADO, as a result of which I would not have got my Paraguayan and Bolivian armies out of their storage boxes. I would not have thought of fighting a battle with them, which would have meant that I would not have re-read WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! and I would not have realised that I already had a partial solution to my problem with representing Commanders on the tabletop.

I had a strong need to find an answer to a problem, the coincidences – which I cannot explain – occurred, et voila, I have a possible solution! If that isn’t synchronicity, I don’t know what else to call it.

When Empires Clash! – Colonial Wars: Latest draft uploaded to Red Hex Wargames website

I have now had the opportunity to check through all the feedback I have received about the previous draft of these rules, and I have made some small amendments and corrected several typographical errors in both the WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS Rules and the Army Lists. I have also used the opportunity to change all the diagrams over to the newer, clearer style featured in yesterday’s blog entry.

The latest drafts of the WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS Rules and Army Lists are – therefore – now available for download via the Red Hex Wargames website.

The password to open both files remains the same as before: wec-cw

When Empires Clash! – Colonial Wars: Redrawn diagrams

I have managed to spend part of this afternoon redrawing the various diagrams that I used in the last draft of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS.

The original diagrams were produced using Microsoft’s Visio Drawing Program, and then transferred to Microsoft Paint to be tidied up and converted into bitmap images. The latter was done to reduce the size of file required to store the finished publication.

I was very aware that the lines on the diagrams were a bit too thick, and the new ones have much thinner lines. This makes them much more ‘user friendly’ and they don’t seem to dominate the page as much.

For example, here is one of the original diagrams …

… and here is the newer version of the same diagram.

I think that most of you will agree that the latter is much better than the former.

Having a break from When Empires Clash! – Colonial Wars

I am having few days break from WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS. I have already received more feedback from readers that will require my attention, and I have also had some thoughts about improving the look of the diagrams by reducing the thickness of the lines.

In the interim I have been re-reading Joseph Morschauser’s book as well as the articles he wrote about wargaming … again! I still cannot seem to a firm grip on how the ‘missing’ one-inch gridded version of his ‘Musket’ period rules should work … so I am thinking about having a go at using his ‘Modern’ period rules to see if fighting a battle with them will help me gain a better understanding.

I will report back on my progress as soon as I make some!

When Empires Clash! – Colonial Wars: Latest draft of the Rules and Army Lists now available

After a few trials and tribulations with my Internet connection, I finally managed to upload the latest drafts of the newly separated WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS – RULES and WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! – COLONIAL WARS – ARMY LISTS to the Red Hex Wargames website.

To download either or both of these just visit the website and click on the appropriate link. The password to open both documents is the same as before: wec-cw.

Read and enjoy!