I'm pleased to have made good progress with my new rules for the WSS project. This is closely related with having coerced a little external help. The excellent nundanket kindly did some reading of them for me, a few weeks ago, and made some useful (and probably tactful!) suggestions, which I've incorporated.
The huge advantage of getting someone else involved in the production of wargames rules is very similar to the advantage of getting someone else to proof-read your writings - maybe getting someone else to check a description of your computer system is a better parallel; if you check your own stuff, you'll do it armed with the background knowledge that you didn't write down, and you'll find that what you've written is pretty much what you meant. An independent checker will find the holes and the nonsense that you didn't even consider.
Yesterday's positive step was that Stryker very kindly volunteered to help out with some Zoom-based playtesting. Despite my broadband supplier's attempt to scupper the whole idea, we did get running, about 30 minutes late, and played through a very simple game situation. It was very good - time well spent.
I learned two principal things:
(1) there are a lot of things to look at, and sort out - I took a lot of notes!
(2) the game is actually a lot more entertaining than I had feared it might be.
Not much to say about the rules yet, except that they are provisionally titled Prinz Eugen - entirely because Eugen is such an alternative hero, given his rather bizarre lifestyle, that it amuses me to feature him in this role. Sincere thanks to Stryker for his time and willingness to have a go - very useful, and much appreciated.
I include some pictures, partly to commemorate the fact that the event took place, and partly to let Ian see what the 20mm troops look like on the table, in rather better resolution than is possible via my Zoom set-up!
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| Typical testing session - random tiddlywinks and sticking-plasters (and cotton-wool puffs of smoke!) |
The troops look great Tony - if only we could get that resolution on Zoom!
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your efforts yesterday, Ian. Picture resolution is a bit of an issue, particular for this period, where a lot of the troops look indistinguishable! I did consider investing in a good streaming webcam, until it was explained to me that my broadband speed here would result in Zoom degrading the pictures back to what we get already!
DeleteThe figures look lovely. For remote gaming I've resorted to sticking big coloured labels on the back of the units, and just telling the players what is where. It isn't ideal but it seems to work. I also put big grid markers and terrain labels on the table to help with orientation.
DeleteMartin - I haven't decided yet, but it might speed the game up a bit (and save a few bayonets) if I use sabots to move the units. If I do this, I probably won't magnetise the sabots, and I'm thinking of painting the sabots different shades to distinguish the nations. I probably won't go ahead with this, but that's one possibility.
DeleteExcellent Sir.
ReplyDeleteI will get around to doing a playtest at my end - promise.
Hang about, M le Duc - there's going to be a bit of a rewrite coming up after yesterday - I'll send an update once I've translated it into joined-up English.
DeleteSet u looks good with several units on the table Tony. It has the desired linear look. Now where’s that link to Irregular’s 20mm range?
ReplyDeleteThese chaps are almost all Les Higgins 20mm - there are about a dozen Irregulars (thus far - there will be more) and I included a couple of Lancer figures before I decided they are too obese to fit in. Just to make everything really awkward, I put Irregular cavalry figures on Higgins horses. If I ever take up knitting, I'll probably do it blindfolded, for the extra challenge.
DeleteGreat to see your new project on the table! I await further developments since WSS is a period and project that has tempted me many times before.
ReplyDeleteI think I've attempted to express this before, but there's something about this period - it's almost as though the warfare was specifically designed to make a very convenient wargame - it's like the ECW without the pikes, and like the SYW without the hard bits - slower, less flexible. The real starter for me was being able to buy in ready-painted troops in good numbers, but putting together a playable game is a very thought-provoking challenge. These new rules (which are about to get a hefty revision after the test session!) involve march columns and lines, not to mention Reaction (Morale!) Checks, none of which is like me at all, but these all seem to be central to the problems which generals of the day had getting their armies into position to do some damage. Some way to go yet, but all good, and keeps me thinking. The Lockdown Era.
DeleteLooks good Tony, and a new rules project is always both exciting and a pain in the a$@! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Peter - enjoying myself very much - it seems the wrong way around, but trying to construct a game, including all the supporting reading, is really helping me to get a grip on what is a complicated and (for me) very unfamilar period.
Deleteboys looking great, my favourite rules for WSS are "Rank & File" with a few house adjustments and "Age Of Honor" a Fire & Fury variant, both handle big games well
ReplyDeletestay safe, cheers Old John
Hi John - thanks! I don't think I know Rank & File rules - maybe I do - maybe they're sitting here in my bookshelf; I had a look at Age of Honor, and am currently swotting up on Field of Battle Ver.3 - I've also got Beneath the Lily Banners, which I found disappointing, but that's certainly just down to me. 100 billion flies can't all be wrong. At the moment I'm keen to get my own game working nicely.
DeleteThey look great. I know a whole lot less about the tactics of that period than I do about the Napoleonic Wars - I read Chandler's Marlborough as Military Commander but that was some years ago - so I would be curious to see what the rules look like.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave - it might be a week or more, but there is another revision to the "Living Draft" of Prinz Eugen coming up - I'll send you a copy, if you're interested. One new change is I've dropped the Rallying rule, since (1) it is probable that no-one will use it, and (2) I can't quite remember why I included it, apart from force of habit. I know you are a Rallying enthusiast for the Napoleonic games.
DeleteI sacked my last Rallying guy so the post is vacant. Yes I would like to see a copy if that's ok, thank you.
DeleteLooks very interesting. Do you have a copy of the rules anywhere to have a gander at? i am looking to play slightly more to the east, in the GNW, so no direct competition :D
ReplyDeleteYes, I can send you a copy, if you promise to remember it's a work in progress! If you drop me an email to the address in my Blogger profile. If that doesn't work, send me a comment here with your own email address (I won't publish it!).
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