tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post8606524840828696471..comments2024-03-27T15:59:11.066+00:00Comments on Prometheus in Aspic: Compromise in Wargames - (1) Space, and Very Small HousesMSFoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-76353319952248023652011-05-08T09:47:00.342+01:002011-05-08T09:47:00.342+01:00Agreed - a game that "works" is more imp...Agreed - a game that "works" is more important than the molecular detail of why it works, every time. I'll get into stuff like the Ludic Fallacy and the shortcomings of mathematical modelling in the 3rd bit of this series - the things we don't understand and the things we can't measure frequently are much more significant than the things we can, and our attempts at scientific accuracy become meaningless, if well-intentioned. Footling, to use another of my grandmother's words.<br /><br />CCN is an excellent example of a game package that hangs together well - I am, as you know, a big fan, and it's the simplicity as much as anything which sells it to me. It would be easy for a game designer to get it wrong, though. Someone who read his BP Hughes but got hold of the wrong end of the stick might (say) give artillery an effective range of twice what it should have, which would change the game a lot.<br /><br />The package is the thing.<br /><br />TonyMSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-69266181281598549112011-05-08T03:20:19.862+01:002011-05-08T03:20:19.862+01:00I remember having an argument with a chap who decr...I remember having an argument with a chap who decried my version of Little Wars because it didn't include a bonus for troops charging in column. After I shot the fellow with a nerf gun for his impudence, one of my cooler headed friends pointed out that troops in column were more effective in melee in Wells rules as written because of the sheer fact that the lads are -closer together-, which by coincidence makes them more vulnerable artillery. <br /><br />I enjoy CCN because the abstraction seems to me to throw more emphasis on the player and the plan, but this could be idle rationalising. However, I have been exposed to one or two high pressure situations over the last few years and my very limited experience of that would lead me to believe that any serious attempt to model such behaviour with toy soldiers will be a very dicey proposition. <br /><br />Which is not to say that it isn't enjoyable or worth doing, just that the approach has sufficient limitations that a critic is always going to find ammunition.Conrad Kinchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15683395740934527502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-49342890259234497742011-05-06T23:47:01.842+01:002011-05-06T23:47:01.842+01:00That's brilliant - made me laugh out loud!That's brilliant - made me laugh out loud!MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-72704798320026744552011-05-06T23:34:50.807+01:002011-05-06T23:34:50.807+01:00I once had 1 block of 5mm, I ordered a sample at t...I once had 1 block of 5mm, I ordered a sample at the same time as I ordered a 25mm Gatling gun. For months I thought it was a bundle of bullets for the Gatling.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-71484625031902910472011-05-06T22:49:25.573+01:002011-05-06T22:49:25.573+01:00Ross - I believe you are exactly correct - I think...Ross - I believe you are exactly correct - I think the main priority is to have a game that works nicely and gives sensible results. If the numbers and the Organisation & Methods stuff adds up too then that's a bonus, but the game is the main thing.<br /><br />My set up with bases and scales is a legacy of what I have finished up with over the years, as discussed elsewhere - at present I am happy with the fact that it gives me battalions which are based in four subunits, which works very well with CCN, which I am spending some time with.<br /><br />I'm intrigued by your spreadsheet. That really is nerdy enough for me to want to see it!<br /><br />In passing, I was a bit shocked by the fact that, though Minifigs 5mm blocks were the business in the mid 1970s, I was unable to find a picture, or even mention, of them online. Maybe I imagined it all, or maybe it was longer ago than I think.<br /><br />TonyMSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-53743044736822316982011-05-06T17:00:42.128+01:002011-05-06T17:00:42.128+01:00Odd you should mention Grant and that Jeffreys sho...Odd you should mention Grant and that Jeffreys should have come up not too long ago. Both these gentlemen's Napleonic wargaming books were read before I had ever played a Napoleonic game and both dismissed figure ratios for discussions on unit frontages. Grant of course dismissing the depth issue as lass important than esthetics. <br /><br />I've never had the pleasure of dabbling in the 1:33 stuff, my own limited amount of Napoleonic gaming was done in 15mm with the WRG 1685 to 1840something rules with their 1:50, single rank battalions and painfully slow march rates. <br /><br />In theory I now try to adopt a Charge! like disdain for building from scales up as opposed to a practical approach, starting with the desired look and effect and writing rules to achieve that without looking too close at what is driving the effect but in truth, the time and ground scale debates haunt me, leading to rebasing and reorganizing. I keep a little spread sheet where I can plug in musket range and base width & number of figures per base and it'll tell me what the maximum and minimum number of men each size of base will represent, how many men per figure and how far they can march by road in an hour depending based on which interpretation of effective musket range you wish to espouse today. Damn that Grant! I'm just trying to play toy soldiers!Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.com