My early games with my ECW miniatures rules
based on Commands and Colors have
shown a common theme – a tendency for the cavalry to race around the place,
wiping each other out, while the foot are pretty static in the centre – slow to
get into action and ponderous once they get there.
This may well be an authentic representation
of what 17th Century warfare was like, but I have been giving some
thought to making the foot a little more mobile – nothing outrageous, but a
little more – how do you say? – oomph
when deploying. For my next couple of games I propose to allow foot to fire
only if they stand still, to move 1 hex and still have the capability to
initiate a melee combat, or to move 2 hexes with no option to carry out any
combat. This double move is not allowed to bring them nearer than 2 hexes
(musket range) of any enemy, and must not compromise any terrain rules, so they
may not make a 2-hex move if they are within 2 hexes of the enemy, and must
stop when they get to 2 hexes from the enemy. I am doing some consistency checking to see how this sits with the terrain rules and the Command Cards.
This change may, of course, distort the entire
game, but in principle it seems reasonable, so I propose to give it a trial.
Subject 2 – on my September trip to Bavaria
and Austria, I saw the remarkable Glockenturmautomat
in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna. This astonishing clockwork device was
made in Augsburg in 1580. We did not get to see it working when we were there
(it’s much too precious for that), but I have subsequently found a little film
about it on YouTube (of course). It is an odd piece of whimsy – a tower with
bell-ringers working away while some merrymakers are boozing on the
balcony. The film shows that, in close up, the weathering of the drinkers makes
them look a bit sinister, but it is a terrific piece of workmanship.
If you like a touch of Rabelais in your
humour, watch to the end…
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