This is, consciously, a shortish post - partly to demonstrate that I am still around!
Last week, I had planned a Zoom game with the JBM, plus an actual face-to-face game with Stryker. "Planned" is maybe not quite the right word; in the event there was something of a domestic emergency, which fortunately turned out to be more alarming than dangerous, but everything was up in the air for a while.
Happily, things calmed down quite a bit, and I was able to proceed with the face-to-face battle on Thursday. Stryker was his usual cheerful self, and mucked in nicely, for which I am grateful. The game was fine, though I confess I did manage to forget about the "Retire and Rally" rule for cavalry attacked in close combat. All told, however, I'm delighted, and am now thinking seriously about a 4-handed game later this summer.
Here are a few photos of the initial set-up:
On the Thursday, my camera was playing up a bit, and I only rescued a few pictures from the height of the battle:
All good. Many thanks to Stryker for making the trip, and braving the tourist traffic around Edinburgh. On a previous game report, Ian noted that these games look a bit like the pictures in the old Charles Grant books. This particular game, with the units deployed in line and the gridded terrain, to me has more than a whiff of Joe Morschauser about it. Old School of a sort?
Apart from other Real World issues here, we seem to have a situation at Chateau Foy (presumably temporary) where our broadband speed has dropped to a level which would not reliably support Zoom. Once that is straightened out, I shall rearrange the remote game with JBM. Apologies to Ian and Mark for the "yes we will, no we won't, yes we might" nature of the arrangements for last week.
We live to fight on.
***** Late Edit *****
As mentioned in Comments, I had a shot at editing one of the spare photos to give a vintage monochrome look. It's quite nice, but not awfully convincing - perhaps it would be more like the 1960s if we had 60-watt bulbs over the table and everyone smoked. All suggestions welcome...
*********************
Wow, a much bigger affair than our trial games, and the size of the game was definitely an aspect that needed more exploration. Bravo. It looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark - yes, a biggish game (around the 2 dozen units a side - that sort of thing) - it was the first time Ian had played the rules, and we had a fair amount of discussion, checking what the cards actually say, re-reading the rules etc - I reckon total time elapsed (to a result - the French won (just!)) was about 3 and a half hours, which isn't bad at all. We'll get quicker at this with greater familiarity, but it's OK already.
DeleteI'll be in touch. You been to see the Tour yet?
Nah I missed it at St Leonard de Noblat yesterday, but I’m hoping to nip over to the stage near Vulcania (Clermont-Ferrand) on the morrow.
Delete"On a previous game report, Ian noted that these games look a bit like the pictures in the old Charles Grant books."
ReplyDeletePlain green bases and Merit trees will do that.....
It wasn't just Morschauser; grids were quite popular back in the day....
http://vintagewargaming.blogspot.com/2009/07/charles-sweet-early-years.html
Just proving there's nothing new under the sun.....
Neil
Hi Neil - absolutely. I also have, filed away, old gridded rules for Le Kriegspiel (French, pre-war?) and (confusingly) the hex-based game published by the makers of the (American) Der Kriegsspielers miniatures in the 1970s. These date back to before the strange Orthodoxy Wars period (1975 to 2000? - discuss) when people would rather die than have any association, even accidental, with the Accursed Board Games).
DeleteI should have borrowed a trick from Stryker, and included a photo in vintage monochrome. I'll have a think about that.
I'm glad the health emergency wasn't too serious and hope you remain free of such unwanted events.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the rules are still holding up really well to all the games you're putting them through. All that's needed now is nice simple campaign system to link them up so the consequences of one's awful dice linger like an unwanted guest...
We're not quite back to normal yet, but signs are promising. Thank you.
DeleteCampaign systems - very interesting topic. I have a copy of Arthur Harman's "Cockpit of Europe" rules from way back, and I bought RealTime Games rather clever "Marlbrough s'en va en guerre" online - these will definitely handle a campaign in this period, though both have a rather abstract design [in particular, the RealTime product, which is most ingenious, uses an array of playing cards to represent a campaign map and fortresses, which obviously must work but doesn't look like an actual map at all - I guess there is no reason why the randomly generated towns and fortresses cannot be given names]. I'm still working on this!
sorry to read of your gaming challenges. Hopefully, Zoom is restored to full-working order soon. Your game presentation looks simply elegant as ever. The B&W photo evokes an older age, for sure.
ReplyDeleteHi Jon - our broadband comes by radio transmission from a mast on a hill some 8 or 9 miles away. This is strictly line-of-sight, so can be affected by growth of trees etc. I have to confess I am astounded it works at all, but we've had some upgrades, and I am now paying for a faster service, which is great when it works. There's the rub. The service arrangement we have was set up as a local community venture, with support from the Scottish Government. Since it was installed, the broadband supplier has become relatively big time, have shifted their Head Office into Edinburgh, and customer support is now carried out by various ladies answering the phone in their own homes. These ladies know nothing about internet technology, and merely ask questions written on a script.
DeleteYou may recognise the general profile of what is becoming a standard-issue British business model. Anyway, I am paying for something like 40Mb/s (which is good for the countryside in the UK), but at times at present we are getting between 2 and 4, which would probably support my being involved in someone else's Zoom session, but I would struggle to host a multi-attendee session myself.
A meeting of minds is to take place soon. The supplier is far too busy to send someone out here to take a look.
I think I am going to replace my faithful little digital camera, so I'm going to be motivated to take the photography more seriously!
That looks fabulous. I think it is amusing how we still aspire to make our games look like the old Charles Grant ones. One day I will get there with my WW2 games... Hence my obsession with 15mm, much closer in size to the old Roco and Airfix stuff he used than modern bloated 20mm. Many years ago at Partisan I got to physically handle some of Charles Grants buildings as featured in the books, and I still have my signed copy of his Napoleonic rules.
ReplyDeleteThank you Martin. For a while I had a decent collection of buildings (made of balsa wood - the days before MDF trees!) which I copied from Charles Grant's books. I also had semi-flat buildings I copied from Morschauser - they worked nicely. But Creeping Elegance has gradually enforced their replacement, and I honestly can't remember what happened to them!
DeleteI am driving off up north to a wargame tomorrow, and am giving serious consideration to wearing tweed sports jacket and a tie, for tradition's sake. Old School - I'm excused the pipe, though.
A lovely looking game Tony…
ReplyDeleteOne should avoid emergencies at all costs…
I’m a big fan of old school so I like the idea of dressing correctly for a game… I think our modern black and white pictures aren’t grainy enough to look authentic… there is probably a photoshop effect that can be used…
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly - one has to be grateful. My inability to react calmly to emergencies is largely because I am lucky enough to have very few!
DeleteI think you are right about the photographs. Maybe flash would give a more traditional look - I'll read up about digital fakery.
I have to say that I did turn up at Wednesday's away game in tweed jacket and tie (plus shirt and trousers and so on, of course). I fear I probably looked like a tw*t, so no change there. My colleagues were suitably diplomatic about it - nobody felt an urge to rush home and change...