News from the Front! – COW2009: Odds and Ends 3

At COW (the Conference of Wargamers) there is so much going on at the same time that it is not always possible to take part – or even visit – every session. Luckily, Tim Price – an avid photographer – went to a lot of sessions that I was not able to attend, and he has kindly given me permission to add some of his images to my blog so that readers can get an even more detailed understanding of what was going on.

All the following images are © Tim Price

Napoleonic Army level 1813 Map Game

Jim Wallman ran this very interesting multi-map game where each player acted as an Army commander. The only problem that arose was the fire alarm, which interrupted the game for nearly 30 minutes.

Phil Steele and Rob Cooper contemplate what to do next.

Chris James plans his next move.

The Campaign Game

Besides acting as the conference’s semi-official photographer, Tim Price also managed to run several sessions, including this experimental large-scale campaign game.

David Brock and Jerry Elsmore discuss an aspect of the campaign whilst Mike Young and Tim Gow look on.

The main campaign map.

Feet to the Fire

John Bassett’s game about the 1958 Colonel’s Rebellion in Indonesia featured Polish and Filipino mercenaries, Chinese Nationalist Generals, and all sorts of clapped out and unusual military equipment.

John Bassett briefs the players whilst John Salt observes proceedings.

Graham Evans, Mike Young, Ian Drury, and Rob Cooper begin plotting the overthrow of President Sukarno.

Washington’s Army

Martin Goddard and Rob Roriston usually arrive at COW with their latest Peter Pig/RFCM project, and this year was no exception. Although still at the developmental stage, you can expect to see these figures and rules appearing soon.

An American Infantry regiment advances under the ever-watchful eye of their commander.

Rob Roriston, Peter Knowlden, Tony Hawkins, Phil Steele, and Chris Ager listen to Martin Goddard explaining how the rules operate.

Moltke’s only defeat – Nebiz and the Second Syrian War

This session used 15mm figures and a set of one-brain-cell rules, and was led by Nick Huband.

Nick Huband briefs the players about the game mechanisms they will be using.

Imperial Airways

Martin Wallace of Warfrog always brings something interesting to COW. This year he demonstrated Imperial Airways …

Keira Bentley, Martin Wallace, Jerry Elsmore, Peter Grizzell, and Jim Wallman taking part in Martin's impromptu game of IMPERIAL AIRWAYS.

… and

Waterloo

Richard Brooks faces Nigel Drury across the battlefield at Waterloo. This game used similar mechanisms to those used in Warfrog's GETTYSBURG game.

And finally … When Empires Clash! … again!

I was running an impromptu session for Tony Hawkins and forgot to take any photographs. Luckily Tim did, so it gives me another chance to show off some of my ‘toys’.

The centre of the British line.

News from the Front! – COW2009: Odds and Ends 2

I spent some time over the past few days sorting out the stuff I brought back from COW2009. Besides the money and cheques given to me by people who have already booked for COW2010 (18 to date!), I bought some bits and pieces from Nick Huband and was given a couple of books.

Solferino 1859

Richard Brooks very kindly gave me a copy of his latest book for helping him produce both the game SOLFERINO IN THIRTY MINUTES and the PowerPoint presentation for his talk A TRANSITIONAL WAR – ITALY 1859.

This was an unexpected gift, and I look forward to reading it sometime during the next few weeks.

Donald Featherstone’s Wargaming Airborne Operations

This is one of the latest additions to John Curry’s HISTORY OF WARGAMING PROJECT reprints. John gave me a copy because he had very kindly included my wargames rules RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES – TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED as an appendix to the text of Don’s original work.

Don read my rules and I understand that he was quite complimentary about them, which is why, when he suggested that they be re-titled for the book TARRED AND FEATHERED, I had no objection … well I couldn’t be churlish and refuse him of all people, could I?

20mm – It may be passé but I love it!

Knowing that I love 20mm/1:87th scale figures and models, Nick Huband contacted me before COW2009 with the offer of a large boxful of ROCO Minitanks and 20mm AIRFIX figures. He duly turned up with a large cardboard box brimming with models and figures that Tim Gow and I split between us.

A column of ROCO Minitank Tigers, following an armoured half-track and Kubelwagen, are about to pass between some ordinary German Infantry.

Tim had all the US tanks and vehicles whilst I had all the German tanks and vehicles as well as a large number of old 20mm AIRFIX German and British infantry. All had been painted to a very reasonable standard and will be appearing on my tabletop in due course. Nick also gave me several boxes of painted 15mm World War I figures – all of them Americans – which I hope to rebase in the near future for WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! He charged me a very reasonable price for the stuff he sold me, and I intend to put it all to good use as soon as possible.

Computers: love 'em or loath 'em?

Last night I finally managed to fix the problem with my wife's computer by reinstalling the operating system. I don't understand what caused part of the MS Windows XP operating system to become 'corrupt', but I suspect that it was a combination of an automatic 'update' taking place at the same time as there was a lightning strike in the local area.

Reinstalling the operating system has worked ... but most of my wife's data files (including photographs) were 'wiped' as a result. Luckily I had done a backup for her a couple of weeks ago, which means that she has actually lost very little data. Had I not done the backup, a lot of work – and images of the places we have visited since we took up Cruising – would have been 'lost'.

The moral of this story is that computer users should backup their files every couple of days if they want to minimise data loss. My wife never saw the point of doing this before; now she does!

Computers … I love ‘em when they work and loath ‘em when they go wrong!

COW2009 is over! Can't wait for COW2010!

COW2009 is now over ... and already I have begun planning for COW2010.

Next year's COW (Conference of Wargamers) will be the thirtieth, which is a major milestone for Wargame Developments to pass. I suspect that there will be a bit of time for reflection – for example, has the organisation achieved any of its original objectives – but that most of the attendees will be looking forward to what they will do next and not backward to what has happened (or not) in the past.

Wargame Developments has always been forward looking group of people, and hopefully this will continue.

PS. I already have over fifteen bookings for COW2010, so things are looking good already!

News from the Front! – COW2009: Odds and Ends 1

Because there is so much going on at COW, I cannot always get round to see or photograph everything. The following report is illustrated with images sent to me by Graham Evans, who put on one of the sessions I 'missed'.

The East is … Er … Sort of a Sandy Colour (Images © Graham Evans)

This session gave Graham Evans the opportunity to run one of his ongoing series of games about President-for-Life Joga-Joga, and the numerous attempts to end his tenure in office.

The figures and models are 15mm scale, and come from Graham’s extensive collection. The rules are his own development of Chris Engle’s POLITICS BY OTHER MEANS.

The Wha-li's elite camel fanatics charge the President as he emerges from the wreck of his command carrier.

A close-up of the President. He is just about to be attacked by the Wha-li's elite camel fanatics.

The President-for-Life goes prone, showing his penny base to the massed ranks of Condimenti's Parachute Brigade.

News from the Front! – COW2009: Report 3

Sunday Morning

A Transitional War – Italy 1859

Richard Brooks gave a fascinating and well-illustrated talk about the about the war of 1859 in Italy. He presented compelling evidence that the war was the first ‘modern’ war between nations.

A Potted History of Wargaming

John Curry is working on a long-term project to make early out-of-print books about wargaming more freely available, and this lecture was based on his recent talks to early pioneers of modern wargaming including Donald Featherstone and Charles Wesencraft.

Fire So Close You Are Splashed By His Blood

This was a play-test of the current version of David Bradbury’s rules for fighting battles between 16th century Mediterranean galleys.

The game used textured, rigid plastic for the sea, and some lovely scale model buildings – including one bought as a tourist souvenir – to represent a Mediterranean fortified port.

When Empires Clash!

Tony Hawkins finally managed to take part in a play-test of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!. His British force destroyed the attacking Mahdists without loss.

Sunday Afternoon

John Bassett’s America

Originally intended to take place outside in the grounds, the weather forced John Bassett to deliver his talk about his time in the USA – particularly that part of it that he has spent visiting the numerous battlefields of the Texan War of Independence and the Civil War.

And finally ...

As I was writing this I noticed that is the 200th blog entry I have made.

Thank you for reading my random thoughts, and I hope that all my blog readers will continue to do so in future.

News from the Front! – COW2009: Report 2

Saturday Morning (Part 2)

Naseby

Phil Steele ran a session about the Battle of Naseby. It was well attended, and participants included Will Whyler, Tony Hawkins, Jonathan Crowe and Alex Kleanthous.

When Empires Clash!

Wayne Thomas and David Brock help play-test the latest draft of WHEN EMPIRES CLASH! Nigel Drury also attended this impromptu session and made valuable contributions to the after-game discussions.

Alarm! Alarm!

The morning session was interrupted by the fire alarm, which allowed the staff and conference attendees to practice the evacuation procedures. As expected, this went without a hitch. Although there was no evidence of an actual fire – it was probably a false alarm triggered by an insect entering one of the sensors – the fire-fighters insisted on searching the building before anyone was allowed back in.

The local Fire Brigade arrive on scene.

The opportunity of having everyone present was too good to miss, and several ‘team photos’ were taken … thanks to the chef!

Middle Age Spread

MIDDLE AGE SPREAD is the latest game to be developed by Richard Brooks and Ian Drury using the RED SQUARES game architecture. Two battles – including Flodden – were re-fought during the session.

Sharp End

John Salt makes his point during Phil Barker’s SHARP END game.

Phil Barker moves some troops forward as Jonathan Crowe, John Armatys, Steven Bowns, and Nick Huband look on.

Saturday Afternoon

I took part in the Airsoft session, as a result of which I came away with several nasty bruises – two of them due to the accuracy of THE NUGGET editor’s firing – and the need to take a shower (it was very warm and humid, and you do not Airsoft is thin clothes!).

After Dinner Games – Saturday Evening

Falklands Task Force Commander

This game – designed by John Curry – recreated the problems faced in 1982 by the men who led the Falklands Task Force. Those taking part included Jerry Elsmore, Alan Paull, and Rob Cooper.

The General

As usual Tim Price managed to combine figures and well produced graphics with innovative game design to produce an excellent recreation of the famous incident during the American Civil War.

HMS Belfast WW2 Damage Control Game

Jim Wallman ran this game on HMS Belfast earlier in 2009. The players – Rob Doe, Will Whyler, and Rob Roriston – managed to contain the growing number of damage control problems that arose during the game.

Gettysburg

Martin Wallace of Warfrog put on an additional session of his newly-published game, GETTYSBURG for Tony Hawkins and Graham Evans.

Rubicon

This is John Bassett’s game of plot and counter-plot in Republican Rome. The conspirators included Rob Cooper, Tim Price, Will Whyler, David Bradbury, Chris Ager, Alex Kleanthous, Ian Drury, and Wayne Thomas.

Churchill Troop Commander

John Salt laid on an interesting session that put the players into the roles of Churchill tank commanders.

Each player had a control board on which they marked their actions and decisions for each turn of the game.

News from the Front! – COW2009: Report 1

After a rather bad journey due to three ‘incidents’ (i.e. road traffic accidents) on the motorways that I should have used to get to Knuston Hall, I finally made it there just in time for dinner.

The Plenary Session and Game

After dinner, it was straight into the plenary session. By tradition, the plenary session starts with a short introduction by the organisers, followed by an equally short plenary game.

A general view of the introductory part of the plenary session.

This was a very short icebreaker devised by Chris Ager. Teams of ‘planners’ had to devise a plan to assassinate a famous historical figure. Using charades, cut-out pieces of paper and Play Dough – but no talking or writing – they had to communicate their ‘plan’ to a team of ‘assassins’ whilst ‘bodyguards’ watched. The ‘assassins’ who got the details of the ‘plan’ right before the ‘bodyguards’ could work it out won.

This was just the right sort of game to play at the start of COW – it was short, funny, and introduced everyone to each other.

The results of the plenary game are announced.

After Dinner Games – Friday Evening

Then it was on to the After Dinner Games (ADGs). Richard Brooks and I ran SOLFERINO IN THIRTY MINUTES. It took longer than that to play because the players were interested in how the game worked as much as they were in playing it, and it went well.

Wayne Thomas, Nigel Drury, David Brock, Tony Hawkins, and Matthew Hartley discussing aspects of SOLFERINO IN THIRTY MINUTES with Richard Brooks, its designer.

Saturday Morning

This morning started with a pre-breakfast chat in front of the Hall.

A group of attendees enjoy a short break in the fresh air before breakfast.

Then the main sessions of the morning began.

Trial by Battle

Graham Evans's TRIAL BY BATTLE game attracted a variety of players including Jim Wallman and Tim Price.

Tipperary Mbali Sana Sana

As always, Wayne Thomas and David Brock came up will an excellent game. TIPPERARY MBALI SANA SANA used 10mm figures and models to recreate a battle during the 1916 East Africa campaign.

The Future Generations Experience

Rob Cooper experiences the problems of running a country during the 21st century in Michael Young's THE FUTURE GENERATION EXPERIENCE.

AK-47

Martin Goddard (AKA Peter Pig) and Rob Roriston explaining how to play the newest version of RFCM's AK-47 rules to David Bradbury and John Curry.

Gettysburg

Martin Wallace of Warfrog laid on an impromptu game session using the newly-published GETTYSBURG game. It attracted numerous players including Bob Bowman, Matthew Hartley, Nigel Drury, Alan Paull, and Phil Steele.

COW starts tomorrow!

I have spent most of my spare time today getting my stuff ready for COW (the annual Conference of Wargamers that is organised by Wargame Developments) that starts tomorrow.

Usually I have the Friday of COW off, but I have to work tomorrow until the late afternoon, which means that I have to get everything ready today. I have packed:

• SOLFERINO IN THIRTY MINUTES for the session Richard Brooks and I will be running on Friday evening
• The Anglo-Egyptian and Mahdist armies, gridded battlefield, and terrain for WHEN EMPIRES CLASH so that I can run a play-test with my old friend Tony Hawkins if time permits
• My laptop computer and digital camera (in the hope that I will be able to make some blog entries whilst at COW)
• My Airsoft kit (including all the necessary safety gear) for the session on Saturday afternoon

I am really looking forward to a stimulating weekend of wargaming, and hope that the weather stays fine but not too warm.

When Empires Clash! – New draft of the rules now available

As I had hoped, I managed to finish redrafting the rules today, and they are now available to download as a PDF from the RED HEX WARGAMES website. The password you will need to download this latest version is wec02.

The rules are substantially more detailed than previously but the basic game mechanisms are the same. The impact of the recent play-test can be seen in some areas of the new rules, particularly with regard to:

• Stands that initiate and then lose Close Combats
• Protecting stands that form part of a Square from being flanked

The next draft will hopefully introduce rules for aircraft and ships, but that will have to wait until after COW (the Conference of Wargamers) which begins on Friday 3rd July.