Real life intervenes

When I got up today I had hoped that - at some point during the day - I would be able to write a blog entry about the HEXBLITZ play-test battle that I fought back in 2007 ... and then real life intervened.

What I actually did today was to spend it with my brother, trying to get my father's affairs sorted out. Firstly we visited the care home where my father had lived until he went into hospital. Then we went to see my father in hospital. He had improved somewhat since I last saw him, but he was still very weak. We also engaged in another round in our ongoing battle with the hospital's inefficient bureaucracy. We finished the day by sitting down to draw up a short-list of possible nursing homes that my father can be discharged to when he is fit enough.

My priority for tomorrow is to begin contacting the nursing homes on the short-list in the hope that one of them might have a vacancy. I will then try to visit any that might be able to take him.

It looks like it will be another day of 'real life' tomorrow.

Original Hexblitz rules added to the Free Downloadable Wargame Rules page

I have now had the opportunity to upload the HEXBLITZ rules that I wrote in 2007 to the Free Downloadable Wargame Rules page of my blog.

The rules are a combination some of the mechanisms used in Tim Gow's MEGABLITZ wargames rule system with ideas gleaned from the British Army's 1956 Tactical War Game Rules, and are designed to be used with Hexon II hexagonal gridded terrain.

Looking backward to go forward

Yesterday was a very busy day for me. I spent time during the morning waiting indoors for someone to arrive ... and the afternoon and evening was spent in London at a meeting and dinner.

It was whilst on the train home that I was suddenly struck by a thought ... and that thought was in response to a chance remark Tim Gow made in a recent comment about his MEGABLITZ rules. He made the point that had he been writing MEGABLITZ now, he would have probably used a hexed grid rather than making players measure move distances and weapon ranges. I was thinking that this made a lot of sense, and fitted in with one or two ideas I had been tossing around with David Crook ... and then I remembered that I had done something like that some years ago. A quick search through the archive of wargames rules that I have on my computer revealed that I had actually written a set of rules entitled HEXBLITZ back in 2007 (before I began blogging) ... and even play-tested them.

Reading through the rules this morning I realised that they were actually not too bad, and that the battle report of the play-test was actually quite interesting. As far as I know I have not published either on my blog before, and therefore – with a bit of luck – I hope to do so later today or at some point tomorrow.

An interesting suggestion

I exchange emails with David Crook on an almost daily basis, and in yesterday's he made a very interesting suggestion regarding basing my figures for my planned Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign. What he suggested was that I should base all my figures on MEGABLITZ-sized bases, with a small square of magnetic material fixed to the back of the base.



The reasoning behind his suggestion is that:

• The figures can be used with the MEGABLITZ rules system ... and I already have quite a collection figures and vehicles based for use with MEGABLITZ;
• The bases would be compatible with my PORTABLE WARGAME: MODERN rules (both the basic rules – where whole bases are removed – and the Big Board version – where the existing single-figure removal system would be replaced by changeable magnetic strength markers);
• The bases could be used with Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 rules (or my own MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE [MOBAT] rules) and Hexon II terrain. Changeable magnetic strength markers could again be used to replace the single-figure removal system.

David's suggestion has a lot of merit ... and would solve quite a few problems, including allowing me to avoid having duplicate collections of figures and vehicle.

At present I am giving his suggestion serious – very serious – consideration ... but I will not be making any decision in a hurry.

Return to Naverona

Having built two more coastal defence guns, I have been waiting for the opportunity to use them ... and today that opportunity finally arose!

Scenario
The recent increase in tension between Rusland and Fezia over ownership of the Island of Naverona had already led to an exchange of gunfire between the Rusland battleship Tsarina and the Fezian coastal defence fortress that overlooked the Straits of Naverona. The Fezian fortress had come off worse in the encounter, and this had spurred the Fezian government into action. The original armament of the fortress – two medium coastal defence guns of the latest design – were remounted and two larger coastal defence guns were added to the fortress's armament in order to boost its firepower, which was now equal to that of the Rusland warship.


News of the rearmament of the fortress soon reached the ears of the Rusland Navy's High Command (both sides had extensive networks of spies in the disputed border areas) and they decided that the next time warships 'visited' the island (i.e. sailed around it to reinforce Rusland's claim), it would be as part of a small flotilla. The flotilla comprised:

• The battleship Tsarina (two heavy, one medium, and four light guns) and
• The armoured cruiser Monopoly (two medium guns).

It was felt that this was a sufficiently strong force to deal with the fortress and any other Fezian coastal defences that might be in place.

Turn 1
The Monopoly led the Rusland flotilla towards the Island, and as soon as it was in range one each of the Fezian heavy and medium coastal defence guns opened fire on her ... and a heavy shell hit hit, causing serious damage!


The Monopoly replied with her forward medium gun ... but missed her target!


Turn 2
Despite her damage, the Monopoly continued on her course, followed by the Tsarina. Both ships fired at the Fezian fortress, but their gunnery left much to be desired and no damage was caused.


On the other hand the Fezians seemed to be firing with greater than normal accuracy, and hit the Monopoly yet again, causing her further damage.


At this point it looked as if the Rusland Navy might have to call off its 'visit' as its reception was proving to be rather 'hot'!


Turn 3
The Rusland warships continued on their existing course, trading fire with the Fezian fortress. By now the range was so short that it was almost impossible for the Rusland guns to miss, ...


... but the same was true for the Fezian coastal defence guns, who repeatedly hit the Monopoly.


The Monopoly was now in a bad way, having suffered numerous serious hits, and her captain signalled to his admiral (who was aboard the Tsarina) that he would have to break off from the action.


Turn 4
The Rusland admiral replied to the signal from the Monopoly and ordered that the ship should continue of her intended course, which would take her around the Island of Naverona ... and shield her from the Fezian fortress's gunfire. The captain of the Monopoly complied, but this did not prevent her from suffering even more damage.


The Tsarina now brought all her available guns to bear on the Fezian fortress and did considerable damage to its armament, knocking out its heavy coastal defence guns. The fortress's heavy coastal defence guns did, however, manage to damage the Tsarina before they were put out of action.


Turn 5
As the Rusland ships began to turn away from the Fezian fortress, the exchange of gunfire began to diminish. The Tsarina's rear-facing medium gun did some further damage to the fortress ...


... which it turn did some minor damage to the Tsarina.


The crew of the Monopoly began the process of repairing what damage they could in order to make their ship seaworthy.

Whilst they did so, her captain sat quietly in his cabin wondering whether or not the admiral had been wise to send his ship through the Straits of Naverona first. He came to the conclusion that asking such questions was not a sensible course of action for an ambitious captain ... and began writing his action report with this thought firmly in the front of his mind!


Turn 6 onwards
The Rusland warships sailed around the Island of Naverona and then made their way back towards their base.

Both sides felt that they had achieved their objectives. The Rusland Navy had shown that it could and would stand up to the Fezians, regardless of how many powerful coastal defence guns they mounted in the fortress; The Fezians felt that they had given the Rusland Navy a bloody nose, and that they could claim to control the Straits of Naverona and hence the Island as well.





Comments
In many ways the captain of the Monopoly was right. The Rusland admiral sent his weakest ship through the Straits first ... and as a result it was unable to match the firepower of the Fezian heavy coastal defence guns. The later did considerable damage to the Monopoly before the Tsarina was able to knock them out.

This was a very interesting battle to fight, and was much more evenly matched that the previous encounter between the Rusland Navy and the Fezian coastal defences. Had the Fezians had a minefield or two ... or perhaps a Brennan Torpedo launcher ... the outcome could easily have resulted in the destruction of one or both or the Rusland warships.

The Morschauser Papers

Over the past few years I have been assembling copies of any wargames articles written by Joseph Morschauser that I can find. A major source of these article has been TABLE TOP TALK, which has a specific section on its WARGAMER'S CORNER page devoted to Joseph Morschauser's published work.

I managed to spend part of today putting all the articles I have into a single file that I have entitled THE MORSCHAUSER PAPERS. This gave me the opportunity to read what he had written about a number of topics including his famous Roster System and what he called the 'between-the-wars wars'. The latter was of particular interest to me as it is one of the periods that I included as part of my medium-term priorities.

At present I don't have any plans to publish THE MORSCHAUSER PAPERS (most of which can be read on the TABLE TOP TALK website), but they might make an interesting number of appendices to the reprint of his book HOW TO PLAY WAR GAMES IN MINIATURE.

Nugget 259

I posted the latest edition of THE NUGGET (N259) today and with luck it should be delivered to members of Wargame Developments over the next few days.


I have also uploaded the PDF versions of THE NUGGET and THE NUGGET COLOUR SUPPLEMENT to the Wargame Developments website today, and they are both now available for members of Wargame Developments to read online or to download and print.

Getting your priorities right

Over the past few days I have had lots of time to think. There is usually not a lot to occupy ones mind whilst sitting at a sleeping relative's bedside ... and since last Friday I seem to have done quite a lot that. I have used the opportunity to do some serious thinking about my wargaming priorities ... and have made several short, medium, and long-term decisions.

In the short-term I want to finish play-testing my nineteenth century land/naval wargames rules. This will include another battle between the Rusland Navy and the Fezian coastal defences, and with a bit of luck I might manage that within the next week or so. I also want to re-visit my MEMOIR OF BATTLE and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE rules, if only because they will give me a break from my PORTABLE WARGAME rules.

In the medium-term I want to get some models made and figures painted for both my nineteenth century and Interwar/World War II projects. For the latter I have to decide between:

• Using 15mm-scale vehicles with 20mm-scale figures (my current plan … but one that may well be subject to change OR
• Using individually based 20mm-scale figures and vehicles OR
• Using 20mm-scale figures mounted on multi-figure bases and individually based vehicles that are compatible with my existing MEGABLITZ collection.

In the long-term I hope to:

• Re-fight the MADASAHATTA Campaign … or at least a version of it;
• Build up at least one 54mm-scale FUNNY LITTLE WARS army;
• Stage an Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign.

These are my current priorities … and all I have to do is to try to achieve them. On paper they look quite simple and easy targets to reach – given enough time – but I suspect that in reality they might be a bit more difficult to attain.

Nugget 259

The editor of THE NUGGET emailed the original of the latest issue (N259) to me on Sunday, and I took it to the printer on Monday morning. I intend to collect it from the printer on Thursday and post it out to members of Wargame Developments over the weekend.

This issue is the fourth of the new subscription year, and if any regular blog reader would like to subscribe, they can do so via the link on the Wargame Developments website (click here).

... of Mice and Men

The journey to the hospital took nearly ninety minutes ... and when I got there, it took me nearly thirty minutes to find somewhere to park. That done it then took another thirty minutes to find my father.

He had been admitted to the A&E Department by ambulance, and was initially assessed and sent to the Minor Injuries Unit ... who then passed him on to the Major Injuries Unit. They decided to send my father for an MRI scan of his head and for some chest X-rays, after which he was allocated a bed in the Medical Assessment Unit. They only problem was that when I arrived I had to follow this trail to find him.

By the time I finally found my father had had the cut on his head sutured and dressed, and was lying on a bed attached to a saline drip. A nurse was trying to take his blood pressure, but the pressure cuff was leaking air, and after several attempts she had to try to find a monitor that was actually working. Eventually she found a functioning blood pressure monitor, and his blood pressure was taken and the results were recorded.

I then sat with my father for over an hour before an assistant brought drinks round for the patients ... but she was unable to supply the tea my father wanted in a beaker (there were none available) and he had to try to drink it through a straw from a normal china mug. This proved impossible for him to manage as he could not sit up.

Nurses regularly checked on my father's condition, but it was not until after midday that he was seen by a doctor. The doctor had no idea that my father had been admitted to the same hospital for a fall only five days previously or that he had been prescribed antibiotics for his urinary infection. There was also no record of the medications that my father was taking, despite a list having been given to the hospital on the previous Friday. After examining my father and looking at the results of the scan and X-rays, the doctor decided that my father needed to be given yet another antibiotic intravenously to combat the chest infection that he seemed to be suffering from. She also told me that she expected that my father would be discharged later in the day, but that this would be subject to approval by the relevant consultant later that afternoon.

As soon as my father had fallen asleep after his examination, I took a break to contact the members of my family and my father's care home to appraise them of his condition. Whilst I was away from his bedside, some food had been left for my father to eat ... but because he was asleep it was left to go cold and uneaten. I tried to get my father to eat something, but he found it too difficult as his false teeth had been left at the care home.

Just after three o'clock in the afternoon the consultant arrived to examine my father. I had to repeat everything that I had told the junior doctor earlier in the day ... even though she was standing there with the consultant. He decided that my father might be suffering from emphysema, but the fact that my father had not smoked since the late 1940s and had never been exposed to dangerous airborne particles seemed to indicate that this was unlikely. The consultant eventually decided that my father was not going to be discharged today, and would most probably be kept in hospital for at least two days.

As my father had not been admitted with any of the things he would need for a protracted stay in hospital, I contacted his care home and agreed to collect everything that he needed from them. I also used the break to eat a somewhat belated lunch and to have a drink (my first since leaving home).

On my return to the hospital I found my father was still asleep. His intravenous drip was checked and changed, and sandwiches were brought round for the patients. I managed to get an egg sandwich for my father as it was the only one on offer that he could eat without his dentures. After over an hour of sitting with my father, trying to keep him calm, I asked the nursing staff when it was likely that my father would be taken up to a ward, but I was informed that a shortage of beds meant that it was unlikely to happen until tomorrow.

By this time I was feeling very tired (and somewhat stressed), and as visiting time was coming to a close and my father was sound asleep, I left the hospital and went home. I contacted my brother, and he offered deal with the hospital and visit my father tomorrow so that I could have some rest and recuperation. After today, I certainly need it!