Gaming via Zoom on Friday, so I've been setting up the table. This will be the little-known Battle of the Beutelbach, which must have been in 1703, I guess, on an unusually flat area of Bavaria. I needed some photos for the participants, so it seemed sensible to post them here as well.
This is the first-cut set-up, still a little adjustment allowed before we kick off on Friday. Here is the view from the Bavarian left flank. That stream is just a little watersplash.
And now from the Bavarian right flank. Since the micro-dice will be completely invisible on the Zoom session, there will be an issue of coloured counters, to denote unit status, before we start.
A drone shot from behind the Imperial position - no-one in the little hamlet of Staubhof yet, so the residents can shift the glass and china into the cellar.
10am start Friday - better read the rules again - there are some changes in the turn sequence, so a quick guideline note to keep me right would be a good idea.
*********** Late Edit ***********
*******************************
Looking good, now where did I put my cunning plan?
ReplyDeleteI would bet that you not only have a Cunning Plan, but also a Cunning Plan B. Your role for the day is that of Herman Otto II, Graf von Limburg-Styrum und Bronckhorst (I think), which is a lot to get on a business card. You are The Man. (Sadly Herman Otto died at Donauworth after the fight at the Schellenberg, but we all know that Mr Trump doesn't care for the guys who were taken prisoner, so this is all good).
DeleteA lovely looking set up Tony... as always.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing the AAR...
All the best. Aly
I shall be umpire for the day - my natural role as a strategist...
DeleteMarvelous looking set up, Tony! I await reports from the field. Where will your camera be positioned or will it be roving drone shots?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon - there will be two fixed cameras, high above each end of the field. One of these cameras is my Android tablet, which is the host, and the other is my iPhone, which has its own Zoom account, and attends as a separate attendee - this way, the real remote attendees can choose and switch their tabletop view without disturbing anyone else. All we need now is for the broadband to be behaving nicely - I have sacrificed a goat, so everything should be cool.
DeleteNice looking set up. As someone to whom eighteenth century wargaming feels a bit exotic (I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to do or even see some GNW gaming one day) I'll be interested to see how this one goes.
ReplyDeleteMy immediate challenge with getting the WSS rules operational is to capture enough of the tactical niceties to make the manoeuvre a challenge (since it is an important aspect of the period), but still avoid allowing the game to bog down in the drill manuals!
DeleteWonderful looking set up as always Tony. I'm afraid that the technology of hosting such a game is beyond my limited brain power!
ReplyDeleteHi Lee - the technology is definitely getting better, but our rural broadband - even since our upgrade to radio-transmission - is still to slow to allow top-quality pictures etc. Fair enough - disadvantage learning - I've got the hang of making the best of what we've got available!
DeleteJust saw the swans! Will they stay there when the cannons start going off? Or will they have become a pre-battle snack for some lucky soldiers before then?
ReplyDeleteFunny, I was just thinking earlier about all the Airfix animal sets we used to have and the likelihood that those little alligators and penguins and suchlike found their way into some of our battles!
Penguins are pretty military-looking chaps anyway. These swans should be safe enough - all the soldiers in these armies will have been instructed from childhood to understand that swans will break your arm if you go near them.
DeleteBy the way, do you know of anyone - ever - who did get their arm broken by a swan? Need some fact checking here.
I was inspired by your reply to do some fact checking and it seems to be an urban myth that swans can break your arm with their wings. I don't know whether I should be disappointed or relieved. But in any case your swans are now easy game for those imperial soldiers so should probably flee or prepare a defence.
DeleteInteresting philosophical conundrum. The boys in both armies are all good Catholic, Germanic boys who were brought up to do what they are told, without any perverse influences such as that Internet Thingy. The results of your fact-check (for which I must offer my thanks) will be unknown to them, so the swans are probably still safe, but the "probably" bit is key here.
DeleteSince these are very small swans, it seems relevant to mention that I've been reading about Quantum Physics again, and I've very nearly understood some of it this time. If we assume there is some kind of probability wave in effect here, reflecting the chances of someone catching a swan, then I am concerned about the likelihood that the results may be impacted by the fact that we are watching, since observers are, to an extent, implicated in the events they are watching. This sort of boils down to whether or not the swans (and soldiers) realise they are being watched, and I believe that "Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition" by Maximilian A Schlosshauer (of Portland University - yes, that Max Schlosshauer) might help here, though personally I am not proposing to pay out 60-odd quid to find out.
It is all very confusing - probably safer to assume that sub-atomic swans would be more at risk.
Quark, Quark!
wonderful set up and look!
ReplyDeletethank you for sharing!
BTW i am still laughing at your blog title!!!!
Thank you Chris - in fact I am deeply touched that you spotted that P in A is a joke - almost everyone else just thinks it's pretentious nonsense - I would take issue with the nonsense bit, at least.
DeleteBless you - may you thrive and prosper in these difficult days.
Looking pretty damn good, I’m far too busy to enter into all this errant nonsense of swans and titles 😜
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the after action report
That is a beaut looking set-up Tony!
ReplyDeleteRegards, James