Wargamer's Notebook

Decoration vs. Design

2012-01-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

To use a military metaphor, the player is an unspecialized demolitions man defusing a complex bomb and receiving instructions on how to do so via radio. The game is the bomb, the game designer is on the other end of the radio, and the artwork is the radio. If the radio is faulty, the unclear signal may break the concentration of the demolitions man (with unpleasant results).

- Redmon A. Simonsen

I was notified that the Shield Wall has gone to the printer. I'm excited but I also have a small worry that the printed map will not look as good as it did on my monitor.

Compared to designing for web graphics, designing for print presents greater challenges and limitations. The printing press is less forgiving than RBG pixels on a computer monitor. With print, one must be concerned with bleeds, screens, color density, trapping, die-cutting, and more. Creating digital and analog graphics are almost as different as writing a cake recipe and actually baking the cake. Michael Kennedy at White Dog Games led me - a newb - through some pre-press changes to my designs with much patience and good humor. And now we'll see if my first printed map matches my digital intent.

Simonsen Says
The father of wargame design, Redmon A. Simonsen, has many sage words to offer an aspiring game designer. When it comes to wargames, his voice carries authority, the way two of my favorites are an authority in their respective areas of expertise: Strunk and White on composition and Edward Tufte on the visual display of quantitative information.

But in another sense, Simonsen speaks to us from the pre-pixel age. Read further into his work on graphic design and discover a lexicon that died in the early-to-mid 1990s: Typesetter Machine Operator, Camera House, Boardman. Today's game designer is not only able to operate without these footmen and carriage drivers of design, his ability to produce rich and immersing graphics is immeasurably greater.

That's the danger. That's my concern.

Where Simonson still speaks about with great relevance is the importance of balance between Decoration and Design. In the age of advanced graphics capability there is a greater temptation to focus on the decoration to the detriment of design. It's so easy. And I am, I must confess, a bit of a graphics whore and thus easily tempted.

Mark Mahaffey, an accomplished game designer, has many fans and more than a few detractors. He has been criticized for making maps that are difficult to use because his palette is murky, for choosing difficult-to-read fonts, and for failing to use sufficient contrast to distinguish between terrain types, borders, roads, and rivers.

Digital vs. print. The image to the left is a screen grab from the VASSAL module of Clash of Monarchs, the map of which was designed by Mark Mahaffey. On the right is a snag of an image on Boardgamegeek.com, showing the real-world map, under plex. Notice on the right how the blue and brown-ringed cities are difficult to distinguish. Also, the boarders between theaters and countries are hard to see on the image to the the right.

Truth is, I'm a fan of Mahaffey. I'd say he's an influence on me. I like the muted tones and decorative flourishes. But I hope that I'm mimicking what is really good about him without transgressing Simonsen's laws of good design. I think I was able to walk the line. And I'm anxious to see if I have.

SCS vs. Command Ops: A Tale of Two Bastognes

2011-12-31T15:25:00.000-08:00

This being a rainy, then snowy, and generally dreary Christmas, my thoughts as a wargamer turned to the Battle of the Bulge and I thought of MMP's Bastogne, and my friend Mike who owns a copy.

After a few short emails we set the date and he graciously accommodated our meeting in his basement game room. Mike is a Standard Combat System (SCS) veteran, having played all the incarnations and actually helping to play-test an early version of Bastogne.

SCS is a pretty simple system, and after a quick rules read the day before, and a bit of coaching by Mike, we embarked on the historical recreation of the legendary stand of the 101st Airborne.

Mike, as the Germans, dissects Team Cherry en route to the Bastogne perimeter I was busy setting up.

More on MMP's Bastogne in a bit.

Not quite satisfied with just one game featuring a battle from the Bulge, I loaded Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge onto my PC and fired up the closest scenario I could find to match MMP's version of the battle.

In Command Ops: BFTB, my lone Airborne Division and some ad hoc armored units try to keep the encircling Germans at bay.

Apart from the obvious differences between a wargame and a computer game, I was hoping to get a contrasting view that would speak to the value of one gaming mode over the other. After all, these are two very different gaming experiences built around the same historical event at very similar scales.

As any respectable blogger would do, it's best now to explain what happened at the siege of Bastogne in a few short sentences. On December 20 1944, German forces enveloped Bastogne, an important cross-roads needed in their drive to the Meuse. Defending the Belgian town was the 101st Airborne Division and the remnants of various units that had been holding out at important junctures east of the city. Once surrounded, the Germans laid siege to the perimeter that had been established by the 101st. Within the perimeter, ad hoc armor and artillery assets reacted to threats and kept the Germans at bay. Bad weather permitted little to no US air support until December 23, at which point tactical air support and much needed supply drops became available. The 101st was reached by relief forces on December 26. There you go, "NUTS!" in a nutshell.

SCS Bastogne comes at the battle in a very straightforward, old-school board wargame sort of way. No cards, no chit pulling, no intertwined activation schemes. Just simple smash-mouth, up the guts, strength-point crunching, CRT reading, attack and defense. No supply rules to worry about in this grand-tactical scale game. Players must focus on husbanding of resources and making a steely perimeter or creating a irresistible panzer spear point.

The encirclement is almost complete and I've already got some Germans needing to be expelled from the town.

In stark contrast, Command Ops (or as it was known when it first came out, "Airborne Assault") is the premium conflict simulation for the PC at this scale. It has little in common with those computer wargames that are direct ports from the boardgame world. "Fidelity" is the watchword of the Panther Games team, and their game system runs in continuous time, with orders delays, ammunition counted to the exact round, supplies dispatched to units in need, fatigue, changes in morale, elevation, unit facing and frontage, march orders, the effects of weather and time-of-day on enemy intelligence, and much much more. It's all under the hood and highly automated, as well as amazingly simple to manage and manipulate through a really well designed interface.

So what can be learned by comparing these two games?

I have to say I am most impressed by MMP's Bastogne. The rules are light and yet the game play is satisfyingly deep and enjoyable. The results felt fairly realistic. My only question is the victory points assigned to keeping routes north and south of the town under some sort of control. Was this the historical measure of success? I had always thought that holding the town center - the key road junction - was the critical measure.

With Command Ops, the game almost plays itself yet it takes a wise commander to achieve the desired outcome. As with all of the games in the series, you have to think ahead as command delays will prohibit the player from being able to change things on the fly. This is the essence of the Command Ops experience. You sit in the command bunker wondering if you should change the orders you sent out two hours ago because any advantage you hope to gain by doing so will likely be elusive as confusion and inertia take their toll among your subordinate commanders and troops.

Both are a challenge to play. Both are well designed. But both scratch a different wargaming itch. (Oh and both resulted in victories for the Germans).

Based on the fun I had with MMP's Bastogne, I am looking forward to their upcoming "It Never Snows in September" SCS game about operation Market Garden.

Happy St. Stephens Day

2011-12-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

Early one morning, Irish soldiers set out to attack a Viking camp, hoping to catch the invaders while they still slept. Or so the legend goes.

As they approached, a wren sitting upon a drum at the edge of the camp pecked at a few crumbs that lay upon the top of the drum. The rata-tatat of the wren woke the boy whose drum it was, and who had been set as a guard. Seeing the approaching enemy, the boy set to drumming furiously, awakening the Vikings who quickly gathered to thwart the Irish soldiers.

For the wren's betrayal, his kind was hunted by boys in Ireland on St. Stephen's day, December 26. The boys, dressed in masks and straw suits, would take the dead Wren door to door and perform to get food or earn money to "bury the wren."

The custom lives on in some parts of Ireland, but today the Wrenboys use fake wrens.

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,

St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,

Up with the kettle and down with the pan,

And give us a penny to bury the wren.

Happy Holidays to all. I shall be posting more this week as I have a respite and time blog.

The other Wargamer's Notebook

2011-10-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that I am not alone.

There is another "Wargamer's Notebook" out there on the internet. This one by the excellent, writer, blogger, and game designer, Mike Siggins, who writes a column over at funagain.com and is a contributor at opinionatedgamers.com

Luckily for me, he's not actively writing anything in his "Wargamer's Notebook". He seems to have stopped sometime in the year 2006. Otherwise, I'd be changing the name of this blog. Like any good commander, he got there "first with the most."

By "most," I guess I really mean the best. He writes from tremendous depth of wargame experience and he writes maddeningly well.

Reading his posts, I feel like Bernard Cornwell's Uthred of Bebbanburg looking in awe at Roman ruins, and wondering "how the hell did they do that?"

Weekend Warrior Stuff

2011-10-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

Friday night I plunged into another game of Paths of Glory. Is this the fourth or fifth in a row? I can't remember. This time, it's the historical variant. I'm the allies. It's feeling very historical, if you take my meaning.

Also over the weekend, I put the wraps on artwork for Shield Wall. The final map and some new game markers are shown here.

Finally, on Sunday, I stopped by the Buckeye Game Fest on to scan the vendor tables and say hello to a friend. While chatting near the GMT table, my eye landed on an "in-the-shrink" copy of Empire of the Sun for $60, which I scooped up. My Friday-night antagonist ColdBarca and I have plans to play this one. A couple of the other burnt-out-by-Sunday-afternoon wargamers loitering around the GMT table warned me about the complexity of ETOS, but right now I'm in the mood for something in the Pacific. Something meaty. ColdBarca and I will pick a book to go with this one. I'm thinking Retribution by Max Hastings.

The con looked like fun. I can imagine blowing a weekend at a con like that in about 12-15 years.

Deck Building. It's not just for Euros anymore.

2011-10-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

A Few Acres of Snow. Image courtesy of Newcastle Gamers.

A mechanic borrowed from Dominion, Ascension, Nightfall and other games, deck building can be added to existing wargame mechanics to produce new levels of decision making and trade-offs that parallel military challenges in the real - err historical - world.

In a basic sense, deck building works like this: players use starting cards to acquire new cards and to take actions. Players keep their discards and use them to draw their next hand, thus increasing resources throughout the game. As a player, your strategy directs your choices and actions so that you can shape your deck to achieve your goal.

The most talked-about wargame with deck building is A Few Acres of Snow by Martin Wallace. Some would argue that this isn't a wargame at all, but a number of wargamers feel that it is. It certainly *looks* like a wargame, including a map game pieces, and cards - lots of cards. 110 of them.

In A Few Acres, deck building is used to provide the player with a means of settling the new land, but also for raiding, ambushing, laying siege, and other martial actions that deny your opponent from claiming or keeping territory. The player needs to establish a goal and put a strategy in place to achieve it... one card at a time.

There are a number of strategies that can be used to win the A Few Acres of Snow, but after an intense month or two of play there is talk that the game is broken because it can be won by the British with a particular strategy that apparently has no French counter. Still, the game is well-themed and provides the period flavor that many wargamers crave. I would imagine user-made variants or revised rules from Martin Wallace will eventually address the balance issue.

Sample Cards from Rune Age. Image courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games.

Another new deck-building wargame, one where the deck is more or less the game than it is just a mechanic, is Rune Age by Fantasy Flight Games. It's fantasy themed and set in the same Terrinoth universe as RuneBound and Descent. There's no game board or unit counters, but it is 100% wargame as each player competes against the others to win military glory.

Players chose one of four races and build an army to face the threats, achieving points for destroying monsters and saving their lands (or even taking lands from other races). Critical decisions revolve around what kind of forces to choose and when to go on the offensive.

The game ships with a set number of scenarios for one to four players and so far the vibe about Rune Age is mixed. It was a welcomed addition to the deck building universe, but some have criticized the game for lacking real depth and many can't help but wonder if the game has been kept deliberately spartan to provide a ready market for the FFG expansion machine.

Nevertheless, the game breaks new ground allowing players to build a deck and score points, all while experiencing the difficulty in keeping an army in the field, as the friction of war whittles away at the ranks.

What is next for deck building wargames? I don't see a lot on the horizon, but I anticipate - or at least I certainly hope - that deck building will mature as a wargame mechanic. From an operational perspective, deck building can provide the tension that parallels military decision making in some unique ways. Further, deck building could layer in nuances that seem to escape wargaming today - things like ulterior motives, rivalries, and more. It opens the door for creative game designs.

I hope we see more of this mechanic, and soon.

Matthew Kirschenbaum on Costikyan

2011-10-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Play the Past blog writer Matthew Kirschenbaum is here riffing on the value of Wargames, seemingly taking exception to what Greg Costikyan recently wrote about wargaming. I say "seemingly" because - as Costikyan calls him out in the comments - Kirschenbaum cherry picks his arguments.

Kirschenbaum does make a couple interesting points about the validity of a wargame as a history teacher (which he asserts is a Costikyan-ian view) - positing rather that a wargame is possibly better valued for the "in-game" experience. I can't argue that. I guess I like games for their historical nature and narrative value. But there's something about the tone of the article - maybe the academic bent - that undercuts wargaming as a fun hobby. Apparently, it has to have some virtue beyond enjoying it as a wargame...

Most of all, though, we need to engage wargaming as a living tradition of game design, one has responded to changes in the games industry and the world around it, one that is no longer simply about hexes and zones of control, and one that has preserved a space for critical, independent game design addressing a broad spectrum of contemporary issues and topics.

Yeah! Let's put whatever *that game* is on a P500. Whew.

Here's hoping we simply get more good games that are focused on history, and encourage people to read books and discuss ideas.

Shield Wall Map and Might and Reason

2011-09-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

A quick update: Shield Wall Map is 85% done. Here is a screen grab with a few counters sprinkled in to see if it all holds together. I think it does.

Also, I've purchased "Might and Reason" by Sam Mustafa. This is my first table-top rules set. I can't wait to dig into it.

The Art of Siege

2011-09-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

Nice to see that Decision Games is putting the 1978 "The Art of Siege" up for reprint on their pledge program. This is a game I've been stalking on e-Bay and at the booths of used game vendors at conventions. But I haven't found a deal that I thought was a good one.

The game comes with four classic siege scenarios - each with it's own map and counters.

Acre
Tyre
Lille
Sevastapol

The scenario I've wanted most was Lille. I could have picked up a used copy of the whole set for about $140 at Origins last year, but the box was stained and the game was only in fair shape. And the vendor wouldn't haggle. Now I can get a fresh, new copy for $90. Very, very tempting.

I haven't played many siege-type games though. And I'm not sure how much fun they are. Anyone have a favorite they would recommend?

Shield Wall by White Dog Games - My first game graphics gig

2011-09-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Two weeks back, I started play testing a game called Shield Wall by White Dog Games. I received a print and play copy to test with, but decided I'd whip up a VASSAL module to make testing easier. Then I started re-designing the counters. And then the game box.

It turns out the publisher likes my design and plans to use it for the game. I'm pretty happy about it all... I enjoy graphic design, but have only ever done it for my own amusement.

The designs took the better part of last week's nights and holiday weekend when I could squeeze time in. I enjoyed creating the counters and cover because this period really interests me. In fact, this past summer I got to see the Bayeux Tapestry first hand in France. It was a very cool exhibit - and even though I was amid a throng of museum visitors and sometimes had to nudge others a little to get a view, I connected with the tapestry.

I'm particularly happy with the William and Harold counters as they are the chief figures in the battle. I made these two historical leaders look as different from one another as I possibly could (within historical bounds) to accentuate the clash of cultures which the Norman invasion represented.

The idea of being able to own a game with my artwork on it is very cool.

A Civil War Quiz Over at the Geek

2011-08-31T20:58:00.000-07:00

Geek poster Pete Belli has put up a fun quiz in which you look at a few blocks and guess the Civil War battle.

Clever use of spoilers make this instantly gratifying. I'll have to think stealing his format for my next quiz!

Match the verse to the game

2011-08-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Rather than more maps, this quiz takes poems as the reference point for conflicts and conflict simulations (again mostly by GMT). Match the verse to the game. Just for fun, this time.

Poem 1:
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

Poem 2:
I see the gaps cut by the enemy’s volleys, (quickly fill’d up, no delay;)
I breathe the suffocating smoke—then the flat clouds hover low, concealing all;

Poem 3:
Armies akin embattled, with the force
Of all the shaken earth bent on the fray;
And burst asunder, to the common guilt,
A kingdom's compact; eagle with eagle met,

Poem 4:
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Poem 5:
Five minutes were given, short moments, no more,
For him to repent, for him to repent.
He prayed for his mother -- he asked not another, --
To Heaven he went, to Heaven he went.

Poem 6:
Shock waves slam the shell-shocked land
With smoke, debris, steel dust and sand
So thick it dims away the light
And mellows day to dusky night

Poem 7:
Lives were ending, futures pending,
Fate was casting dice.
Some would live, and some will die,
Karma, carved in ice.

Poem 8:
Extermination leads the van.
Deaths spares not female, child or man.

Game A:

Game B:

Game C:

Game D:

Game E:

Game F:

Game G:

Game H:

Costykian on Wargames

2011-08-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Tabletop: Analog Game Design is a book published in affiliation with Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center. It features several interesting articles about the design and play of boardgames, card games and RPGs.

I found Greg Costykian's essay on game esthetics to be an interesting read. He captures some of my feelings about wargames:

"To a wargamer, wargames are not abstract, time-wasting pastimes,like other games, but representative of the real. They show history, orhypothetical conflicts that are nonetheless grounded in a real understandingof military affairs and the complexity of combat. You can learnsomething from wargames; indeed, in some ways, you can learn morefrom wargames than from reading history. A work of history can onlytell about the events it depicts; a wargame can show the events, and giveinsight into why the commanders did as they did, and provide the playera gut understanding of the forces at play and the factors that influencedthe outcome."

You can read Costykian's article here. You can download the entire book here. You can order a paper copy shipped to your home for a modest price here.

The Moment

2011-08-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

I wish this was something I experienced more often. The point during a wargame after several plays or turns when things magically click. The moment when the scaffolding of the the rules and latticework of the bits fall away and the narrative zooms into the foreground and you - as the player - are completely absorbed by the game. Events occur that could not have been imagined, but that are totally plausible. Victory hangs in the balance. And you are not moving counters or playing cards, but making choices that give you hope of victory.

Today it was - surprisingly - Death Angel by Fantasy Flight, the card version of Space Hulk. I am not the biggest Warhammer 40K fan by any stretch. I don't own an army. I probably won't be getting myself one at any point. But I know the mythology in broad terms and own and enjoy Space Hulk.

Today I was three location cards into my solo game and I needed to make a difficult call. One that would likely leave one or more Space Marines dead. I chose Brother Claudio who I knew would go down fighting. He died while the others survived to move to another location. The game continued; eventually I lost all members of my squad before I could reach the final location.

I didn't realize while it was happening that I was having "the moment." But as I cleaned up the cards I had a feeling of happy contentment and a desire to play the game again soon. As I reflected, the realization came that I had been transported out of the sun room of our house and into dark shell of a groaning, cold Space Hulk. And though my little boys were just a few feet away noisily playing a lego computer game, they could have been light years away.

I don't get this feeling enough. Probably because I don't play often enough. My other experience with this feeling was while playing Clash of Monarchs. Here's a topic I've read a fair amount about. I have favorite commanders and can actively loathe commanders of my opponent for what I know to be their shortcomings and petty weaknesses that need to be chastised.

Games that haven't done it for me - but that might- include Twilight Struggle, Paths of Glory, Unhappy King Charles. Also, a decent War of Spanish Succession game, if one comes out (or if No Peace Without Spain proves to be a winner).

Chaos Gaming Article by Charles Vassey, 1992

2011-08-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

As a fan of Charles Vassey's game "Unhappy King Charles" I enjoyed reading this article, which he penned way back before the first CDG was released.

"The formation matrix also has other typical Chaos trends, it is quick, has good "design for effect" elements and emphasises what you (as commander) can and cannot control. Of course many Ordered Gamers cannot accept that as commander you could not choose the best tactics (say in a card draw system) but then many Chaotics believe medieval armies to be only marginally controlled by their titular commanders. I do not espouse either argument here, but simply note that both can be accommodated by using the appropriate mechanism."

This was two years before "We the People", the first CDG. Certainly the CDG has done a lot to make Chaos Gaming more streamlined and fun, as evidenced in Unhappy King Charles.

Maybe I will pick up a copy of Custer's Luck, which is referenced in the article. I like the concept.

GMT Quiz Answers

2011-08-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Image 1: Zorndorf
Image 2: Dien Ben Phu
Image 3: Appomattox
Image 4: Samar Straights, Philippines
Image 5: Lake Trasemine
Image 6: Archangel
Image 7: Antietam
Image 8: Stalingrad
Image 9: Check Point Charlie in Berlin

The winner has been notified and if he grants permission, I'll say who he is.

Best Wargaming Advice. Ever.

2011-07-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Posted over at BGG, you'll find an interesting thread on wargaming strategy. In the thread, there's one post that captures everything you need to know about winning a wargame, but were afraid to try because you didn't want to game a consim for the love of history.

Here is a copy of the post, by Justus Pendleton, aka "Hoostus":

I haven't played any of the games on Hexwar but it looks like traditional hex wargaming so off the top of my head (none of these will ever appear in a field operation manual but are vastly more useful to actually winning boardgames than much of the nebulous advice given above):

- Count factors. Memorize the CRT. You can figure out your odds perfectly so do so.
- Abuse the IGO-UGO format to prevent your opponent from striking back, making breakthroughs, etc; especially in conjuction with the above.
- Know your opponent's MP allowance so you know with certainty the maximum amount they can advance in a given turn.
- Abuse lack of traffic management rules to funnel massive amounts of troops through narrow checkpoints.
- Take advantage of stacking limits and factor counting to perfectly optimise your defense at key locations, knowing your exact odds of a successful defense. You know exactly where the enemy is coming from, in what strength, and how many CF they need to have a chance of beating you.
- Abuse your ability to choose where units retreat to in order to block your opponent (i.e. maintain ZOCs, etc) and setup future advances on the next turn.
- You don't have to worry about scouting. You have perfect knowledge of the terrain and its effects on your combat effectiveness at all points on the map. You know exactly where the fordable streams are and where the impassable rivers are. Place your troops appropriately and without worry.
- Don't worry about near-suicidal attacks. There is no tomorrow. It doesn't matter if your army is shattered so long as you hold the VP locations. You don't have to worry about your career, your historic legacy, or the morale of your men over the course of an entire campaign as a rule of thumb.
- Take advantage of your perfect command & control to setup wide ranging complex maneuvers and make your opponent's life as hard as possible. The more places you can attack the more likely he'll make a mistake and forget to order a unit or misread the terrain modifiers or forget about a fordable stream. Warning: if your opponent is smarter than you this is likely to backfire.
- Utilize artillery in a reckless manner confident that they will never miss slightly and hit your men who are standing nearby. Units don't block LOS so feel free to just shoot right over their heads. They don't mind.

Wargames are just like Go or chess or any other boardgame. The best way to get better is to play the same game repeatedly. One of the proverbs for people starting in Go is "Lose you first 100 games as quickly as possible." Since wargames aren't as deep as Go, you won't have to lose 100 times before you get the hang of it but the general principle remains.

There it is. The way to win. For me it wouldn't be the way to enjoy a game, necessarily. Because I get something from the simulation part of historical wargames. But it's hard to argue with any of these as a strategy for victory.

Paths of Glory House Rules: I like these!

2011-07-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

My compliments to the Red Baron's gaming club in Ghent Belgium, who have posted what I think are very thoughtful house rules for Paths of Glory.

These house rules address two issues that I have with the game: units move too far in a turn, and encircled units have to sit on their thumbs and wait for rescue.

In the Red Barons' rules, units have to pay an extra MP in enemy controlled spaces except for their last move. And - encircled units get to battle their way out.

My past couple of games have gone off the deep end with blitzkrieg-style warfare resulting in major see-sawing of VPs. Which can be fun, but not very historical.

GMT Game Quiz - Identify These Wargame Related Locations

2011-07-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings and good luck!

Those able to identify the locations on these 9 Google Earth Images and a related GMT game shall be entered to win and will - if chosen - be crowned with never-ending glory, and ~~will receive from my personal collection a game with which I am not very much enamored~~ will receive a $25 gift certificate from GMT Games!!!

Again... each of these images is related to one or more game by GMT. Name the location shown and name any game (any GMT game dealing with this location in some way ... might not be a battle site) and you shall be among the finalists. A name from this honorable group of finalists shall be chosen at random to win the game!

I have provided some not very good clues to help/hamper your efforts. Sometimes the clue will lead to a word that will help you sort out what the site may be. Google is your friend for those clues in quotes. Get cracking and leave your answers here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KQJ9L5Z

Image 1: A Prussian Cavalryman saved this battle. His decedent was captured at Stalingrad.
(A SYW battle against the Russians)

Image 2: Legion legend.
(FRENCH Foreign Legion)

Image 3: One of the men at this meeting was hardly dressed for the occasion.
(Last engagement of the ACW)

Image 4: Tin Can Triumph
(Taffy 3 defeated a larger Japanese force)

Image 5: Camping by this lake was no Roman Holiday.
(One of Hannibal's big victories)

Image 6: Brrrrrr.
(A destination for lend-lease goods)

Image 7: "had all the moral grandeur of a bill of lading"
(A victory hear led to Emancipation)

Image 8: "you have the wrong map here you silly old leg-before-wicket English person"
(German high-tide on the East Front)

Image 9: "Before, he was evil and my enemy; now, he is evil and my friend"
(A Cold-War checkpoint between East and West)

On Holiday

2011-07-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

Things have been quiet because we've been away enjoying some time off. I hope to get back to some regular posting this week.

The Game I Want to Play Right Now Doesn't Exist (or does it!?)

2011-07-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for a WWI naval game that puts the player in the role of the top commanders of the German or British navies. You know, Winston Churchill, Lord Battenberg, Alfred von Tirpitz or another such commander close to the top. There also needs to be a VASSAL module for it.

Combat Commander: Europe - La Fiere Causeway

2011-07-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

"Iron Mike" stands guard at La Fiere Causeway west of St. Mere Eglise (photo by author).

Given my recent trip to Normandy, and a planned visit to St. Mere Eglise, I broke out CC: Europe to play a scenario that I thought might augment my reading about the battle and help prepare me to enjoy the trip. CC: Europe ships with a scenario of the fight for the northern end of St. Mere Eglise.

Surprisingly, I discovered I also had (compliments of a friend) a copy of the La Fiere Causeway scenario. This vital piece of geography, which is just west of St. Mere Eglise, needed to be controlled to prevent Germans counter attacking, and also as a planned avenue for US forces breaking out from the Utah beachhead.

After reading All American, All the Way, especially the chapter "No Better Place to Die", I decided that La Fiere Causeway was a must-see battlefield. As it turned out, it became the focus of an entire morning while in Normandy. Like many points along the northern coast of France on D-Day and the hours that followed, the La Fiere Causeway is hallowed ground: witness to extreme acts of bravery and selfless sacrifice.

I played the St. Mere Eglise scenario before I left for the trip. And I have now played the C3I scenario La Fiere Causeway scenario since returning home. The following is a quick AAR of the latter, which was designed by Dan Holte, who heads up DDH Games.

Here's an image of the setup for Combat Commander: Europe's La Fiere Causeway Scenario. In comparison with the image above, "Iron Mike" would be standing in or near hex "D6" on this map (photo by author).

The map used in the scenario is Map 5, which ships with the base game. The scenario recreates, to some degree, the German attack across the causeway from Caguigny to the La Fiere manor, which is a collection of buildings just east of the Meredet. The key feature is a bridge over the Meredet.

If any of this is sounding familiar, parts of this engagement served as the inspiration of the final battle in the movie Saving Private Ryan. In particular, the intense fighting around the church at Caguigny is the very picture of the final battle in the movie (uh, minus the SS, the Tiger tank, the huge cathedral tower, and the US Army Rangers... thank you very much Hollywood, California). Historically, the battle was primarily between the 82nd Airborne and the German 1057th Grenadier Regiment and the 100th Panzer Replacement Battalion. Instead of a crack SS unit driving Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E tanks, the 100th Pz. Rep. Bn. was a training unit attacking with left-over early-war French tanks including the Souma and Char B1.

No, they aren't Tigers, these tanks are French-made Soumas, captured by the Germans during the fall of France in 1941 and used by the Germans throughout the war as training vehicles. These and other early-war tanks would attack the 82nd AB troops dug in at La Fiere Manor.

Alas, this is Combat Commander we're talking about, so it is a grunts-only affair (i.e. no tanks in the game system... the best we can do is hope that a West Front version of Fighting Formations is released sometime soon). This is one limitation of the game doing justice to the historical event. As it turns out, even a second-hand Souma can be a lot for grunts to cope with.

In the scenario, German forces include six squads, 2 leaders, a medium mortar, heavy machine guns, and three light machine guns. The US forces - smaller but on the defense - include four squads, two leaders and two medium machine guns. Between these combatants is the bridge and a stream, which in this scenario is treated as an impassable river. Thus the only crossing point is the bridge which must be captured.

Forces on both sides are Elite, which makes the fight interesting, but again I think not very historical. I began the game moving the Germans up to the bridge and river hexes through the cover of the woods. Once they were within sight, the US forces, organized into two fire groups on either side of the bridge, opened up on the Germans. What followed was a "Hatfield and McCoy" type of engagement, where each side fired at the other across the river and took turns becoming suppressed and recovering. Because both forces were "Elite" they seemed to easily make their rolls and they were difficult to rout.

Both sides exchanged volleys across the river for much of the game, until the Germans were forced to assault because time for victory was running out.

As time wore on, it was apparent that the Germans would have to rush the bridge, thus exposing themselves to a deadly crossfire. Most German units were destroyed in the process, as the Americans were able to consistently play "Fire" cards at the right time. One German unit was, however, able to make it to the hex just east of the bridge, where US units wasted their strength in ineffectual assaults. Time gave out and the scenario ended with the score favoring the US, but much closer to even than I thought it would be.

Here's the view down the causeway toward Caguigny, which is just out of site behind the trees.

After a few plays, I'm of two minds about the game Combat Commander. In one sense, I feel it does a poor job of immersing me into the history of any particular scenario because of limitations including the lack of armor, but also because it thrusts a narrative onto the player (by use of cards) that doesn't track with events. Yet, in another sense, I think the created narrative is what gives the game its spark - each scenario will happen a little differently and force one to react and be that clutch player who can eek out a victory despite the many things going wrong all around him.

Nevertheless, this scenario leaves something to be desired from learning and experiencing the conceptual demands of those who fought at La Fiere causeway (not to mention the physical, mental and psychological demands that are today, and will ever be, mythic in their proportions). For a more thorough run through, I will have to keep searching tactical WWII games - even those for the PC.

Game ceded!

2011-07-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

Kudos to my opponent. He played a great game and I learned a lot. PoG is great fun and I look forward to playing it again.

It was also fun to "live blog" the game this final night. A bit of an experiment for me... and I'm not sure how it will read, but it was definitely worth a try.

Another turn to go...

2011-07-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

I will stick it out a bit longer, after discussing the board with my opponent.

One card play left...

2011-07-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

He's played the turn too well.

I can't break through the Italian front in time.

Paths of Glory Live Blogging - Death Throes of the West?

2011-07-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

My dashing opponent has just cut my gambit to shreds in France. It all depends on the Brits in Italy.

Paths of Glory West Front Crisis No. 12 - Death or Glory

2011-07-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

It comes down to the final night of VASSAL. Here is my game plan to overcome the dire straights in which my opponent has put me.

Looks simple, right?

CDGs: Seven things to do when you're down to your last two cards

2011-06-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of The Boardgaming Life

I mostly play CDGs these days. I enjoy games like Paths of Glory, Twilight Struggle, Clash of Monarchs, Unhappy King Charles and others a lot, but I'm still coming up the learning curve. From turn to turn, I'm usually just trying to avoid disaster!

I tend to learn the hard way... the following few things I share so you can benefit from my mistakes.

Supply... Is everyone on my team "in supply"? This is a big one. For most CDGs, the end of the turn is the end of a season and there's great potential for troops to be out in the open, away from decent winter quarters, which often spells their demise.
Sieges... Do any sieges need to be lifted? Has my opponent put troops on any of my forts or strongholds? Can I send a relief force to lift the siege?
Gaps... Do any significant gaps in my line need closing? If I've been on the attack, there's a good chance I've opened myself up to counter-attack. Do I need to consolidate gains? If my opponent has been softening up my line somewhere, does it need to be reinforced?
Capitals and other important spots on the map... Do any capitals need covering? Related to number three above, often times the loss of a capital can be a stunning blow yet I'm frequently tempted to move out any reserve forces to keep my offense or forward defenses strong. It's sometimes worth evaluating the need to re-align things to make sure a vital supply source or capital isn't vulnerable in an emergency.
Reserves... Do reserves need to be built up? Can I parley any of my cards into troops that will be needed next turn? Long term planning and patience are virtues that I'm learning the hard way.
Carry-over cards... Should any particular card be held onto? Is there a card in my hand I don't want my opponent to get out of a shared deck if a reshuffle is imminent? How long can I keep his good card out of circulation?
Being Strategic... Do you need to create a crisis for your opponent? Am I in trouble somewhere on the map? Can I create a problem for him that will divert troops or action points, thus staving off a big defeat?

As I progress, I think these same points can be expressed in converse fashion... can I put any of my opponents units out of supply at the end of the turn? Can I get in a quick siege somewhere? Has he left a gap or a capital uncovered?

CDGs are a blast and getting an idea of how to play them well has been a lot of fun. May these tips be helpful to you as well.

Today my boys and I slew orcs, won treasure, drank magic potions, and died heroically.

2011-06-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lego Heroica, a new dungeon crawl game for kids (and dads). I got the game for Father's Day and shortly before lunch, my 8-year old who is quite the Lego builder had the first dungeon set and ready to go.

He was the wizard who could fire magic missiles. The younger one (age five) was a Knight who could move quickly and slice orcs in two with his brave sword. I was a druid. I could heal myself, which came in handy.

It's a dice rolling game, using the clever Lego dice system. You roll to move, attack, and recover health.

The rules are very simple and soon we were confronting the baddies - orcs of varying strength including the orc boss who didn't go down without some teamwork. The boys were literally jumping up and down as they rolled the last couple of attacks and whooping with joy as the big bad guy fell.

My 8-year-old designed two more dungeons and had fun making it as challenging and rewarding as possible. He is going to be a good DM if he wants to be one some day.

On top of that, we went to an art show yesterday and there was a fantasy and ancients miniature artist there selling pewter knights, orcs, army soldiers and more. The boys got one figure each - a wizard and a knight (this must have influenced their choices today in Lego Heroica). The minis are now painted up and ready for fun.

I doubt I'm going to make it to Origins this year. But with all this fun under my roof, I'm not sure I'll miss it all that much.

Omaha Beach Near the Memorial Museum

2011-06-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

The American Cemetery at Colleville Sur Mer

2011-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

The main facility and welcome center for the American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer is very tasteful in the way it honors the fallen. This is the last thing you view before exiting to the walkway that leads you the the cemetery proper.

The path to the cemetery offers a stunningly beautiful view of Omaha Beach.

It's a bit of a hike to get there... we chose to admire it from a distance, having already set foot on another section of Omaha beach earlier in the morning.

There are a number of graves marked to the memory of soldiers who are "Known but to God."

The graves of Theodore Roosevelt Junior and Quentin Roosevelt.

Here lie the Niland brothers whose story inspired the movie "Saving Private Ryan"

Paths of Glory - Winter 1917

2011-06-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

My current game of Paths of Glory has moved into the "Total War" phase. Being pretty new to the game, I'm entering this phase for the first time.

Rather than just plunging forward and trusting my intuition to carry me through, I'm pausing to take stock. The game has grown complex and victory is uncertain. Every possible nation is in, with the exception of Greece and the U.S. The VP level is at 10. As we are playing the campaign scenario, a VP level of 10 is about dead even.

My Central Powers opponent, who is more experienced in PoG, says he's never seen a game like this one. Mostly because I dealt him a major blow in 1915 and would have won by now had I not stumbled in a hasty lunge to grasp victory. In one fell swoop he took five French armies from me. We have both soldiered on and the resulting map is below. We're about stalemated.

My strategy (following my huge flub) has been to broaden the war and to keep him reacting to threats in every theater. I haven't wrong-footed him anywhere yet, but I think I've prevented him from concentrating a killer force on any front.

Now, "Total War" brings an infusion of fresh troops and opportunities to both of us. Much depends on how the cards come and how the dice roll. But as usual, I suspect that playing well will be the decisive factor.

Here are a few charts that I put together while analyzing my prospects. I'm hoping they will help me see the path forward more clearly. My opponent, who visits this blog, is welcome to look and see as he likes. I'm not desperate to win - just hoping to play well until the end.

As the above chart illustrates, I'm over-matched as the Allies everywhere but Italy. Some victories there would open the back door to the heart of his German empire. It's an attractive opportunity, but may be a difficult one to exploit. I also anticipate he will shift forces to this theater soon - which may not be a bad thing for me on the East and West fronts.

As the chart above shows, I have some opportunities for my armies in the Balkan/Aegean theater as well as in the Near East map - at least in the northern section. His force mix provides some opportunities to hammer a couple of stacks of corps, especially in Constantinople. It would probably be smart of me to hit hard at Constantinople now before he gets his Turkish armies.

The chart above shows that I'll be getting some good troops in this phase of the game. The Brits are solid and I've got a couple of more cards of Brit reinforcements in the mid-war period to boot. Getting the Americans in involved will also be important.

My opponent will also be getting some fresh German armies, which of course make me cringe. Plus those Turkish armies. Damn. It could be a close finish. A near run thing. I've got to find a way from allowing him to play the Brest-Litovsk event and I've got to get the Yanks over here.

Normandy Trip - Commentary

2011-06-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

I have more pictures to upload, but I thought I'd pause to talk about the trip and reply to comments with thoughts regarding some of the historic sites.

First off, I was thoroughly pumped to be in Normandy. I've played a lot of war games that focus on the Normandy campaign, and I've read a lot of books about the places I visited. To actually be there for a first-hand visit was awesome. Literally awesome.

The trip started with the the British sites - Pegasus Bridge the Mereville Battery - which I discovered were more emotional than I thought they would be. Beyond the strategic and tactical story, which I found enthralling, the realization that a lot of guys died violent deaths on both sides was profoundly disquieting.

At the Mereville battery, I was a little overcome, observing the bits of gear and weapons in silence and moving from one bunker to the next. Yes, I was rewarded by all my reading - without which I wouldn't have bothered with this part of Normandy. These sites rival any of the American battlefields in Normandy in their drama and importance and being able to see and experience what our UK friends accomplished was a treat. But the emotional reaction I was having to the images of those who died, and to the way that these sites have been enshrined to the memory of the fallen was unexpected.

Visiting the beaches didn't evoke the same reaction for some reason. Maybe because their shrunken stature seems so disconnected from the images and films about the landings. Or maybe - as in the case of Omaha beach below the large American cemetery - because it was so sunny and beautiful. I do not know. It's possible that I wasn't able to connect with the faceless bodies of troops in the same way that I did with the intimate images of commandos and the sacrifices made in the sharp actions by the elite troops that parachuted in or landed in gliders behind enemy lines.

Once we got to La Fiere causeway, which is close to St. Mere Eglise, and once we visited the sites where the 82nd Airborne fought west of the Meredet, the emotions welled up again. I couldn't fathom the intense bravery of the young men and their willingness to give everything. It was inspiring, yes. But it was also sad.

Now, another disturbing element of the visit was all the mannequins in the museums, especially those at the 82nd Airborne Museum in St. Mere Eglise.

Who thinks it's a good idea to make members of the 101st AB look so frail-boned and effeminate? Look at this bizarre setup:

And while the 82nd AB museum had a trove of interesting items, they applied barcode labels everywhere, which disturbed the mind while trying to take it all in. I know it must make inventorying easy, but the barcodes betray a certain level of disregard for the viewer and made me feel like the museum was jealously guarding its hoard like Smaug, the dragon.

Is this wistful airman wearing dog tags? No need, he's got a barcode on his throat:

Ah well. I was pretty well over museums by this point in the trip. I'll be posting some images from La Fiere causeway soon. But first I want to try the Combat Commander scenario based on the fight.

St. Mere Eglise Part 2

2011-06-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

St. Mere Eglise Part 1

2011-06-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here is the church at St. Mere Eglise, where paratrooper private John Steele got hung up on the bell tower during the landing of the 82nd AB.

Reb Buttons played John Steele in the 1962 movie, "The Longest Day"

In the 1960s, this window was put in the church crossing to commemorate the role played by the 82nd AB and airborne troops that fought in Normandy.

This key provides insight to the meaning of the symbols.

Much of the church dates from the 1700s and even earlier.

This is a mile post from the Roman times.

Utah Beach

2011-06-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

Point du Hoc Part 2

2011-06-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Pointe du Hoc Part 1

2011-06-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

Port En Bessin Part 4

2011-06-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

On the western headland, there was an impressive bunker up on the heights. I decided I would climb my way up to see it better.

A beautiful sunny morning, I was beginning to feel the heat in my jeans and fleece jacket.

Sweating heavily now but almost there. People in an adjacent park were eyeballing me suspiciously.

The last few meters. I paused here to catch my breath.

Greetings, Jerry!

At the top I discovered I took the absolute toughest route up. A pleasant stroll up past some houses would have brought me to this memorial which sits atop the bunker.

The German vantage point looking east toward Gold beach.

To learn more about what 47 Commando did in Port en Bessin, I recommend this account.

The lighthouse - still works and still guides the fishing boats in and out of the harbor at night. Well at least the ones that don't have GPS.

Port En Bessin Part 3

2011-06-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

As I worked my way south along the eastern "falaise" I came upon the complete story of Terrence Cousins. An impressive bit of heroism.

That's my shadow. This German zig-zag trench stretches across the northern edge of the cliff.

The sole occupant of the trenches that morning was this snail (aka free-range escargot), who was smart enough to be wearing his helmet.

Mother nature is hard-at work re-claiming this headland.

Can you spot the German bunker? Too slow.. you're dead.

Port En Bessin Part 2

2011-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

After a good nights rest, I set out to see the "Vauban" tower up close. I had read about it in an Osprey book about the Vauban fortifications in France. The book was written by Paddy Griffith. As long as I was in France, I would keep an eye out for Vauban forts.

Here is the Vauban tower. Not very Vauban-like at all.

The Vauban tower, built in 1694 by Benjamin de Combes, a collaborator of Vauban. The tower was became a historical monument in 1948. Then it says something more, which seems to mean that it's been used throughout the years as an observation and defensive position. And it offers some purdy views of the port.

While I read the sign, I was standing in a German gun pit.

Port En Bessin Part 1

2011-06-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Port En Bessin is a fishing village at the seam of Gold and Omaha beaches in Normandy.

We stayed at the IBIS hotel there... part of a chain that we utilized a number of times during the trip.

I wish I had taken a picture of the plaque at this roudabout. It was in memory of Terrence Cousins. I wondered what his story was and why he had a small memorial here. I would find out the next morning.

Mereville Battery Part 2

2011-06-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Mereville Battery Part 1

2011-06-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a Google Earth image of the Mereville battery site. I added arrows to show where the diversionary attack was made ("A") and where the main attack came ("B")

Mereville Plage

2011-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

In searching for the Mereville Battery, we found several batteries and bunkers in this nature preserve.

This blockhouse is also featured in Paddy Griffith's book, but apparently, as he reports, Vauban had nothing to do with it.

2011-06-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

One week ago, after stunning success along the Rhine, my French armies in Paths of Glory stood ready to march to victory across Germany, virtually unopposed. Last night, through my faulty generalship, they vanished into the mists as the crafty Hun cut the supply lines of my advance. C'est la Guerre!

Pegasus Bridge Museum Part 2

2011-06-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

After viewing a bit more of the hardware, we walked over the new Pegasus Bridge to Bénouville for lunch.

We lunched at this house, which claims to be the first house liberated in Normandy.

Pegasus Bridge Museum Exterior Shots

2011-06-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is the "back yard" of the Pegasus Bridge museum. It's collection of interesting pieces from the battle. Including Pegasus bridge (the original one).

Inside the museum there are plenty of historical items, uniforms, and photos. And a lot of mannequins.

This is a bailey bridge, which was used in a number of places in Normandy and Europe throughout the war.

It's impressively well put together and pretty wide, too.

The British Horsa glider (a replica).

Horsa was one of the German Saxon brothers who lead the invasion of England and conquered much of the land held by the Britons.

I never understood why they would name their glider after a German who invaded their homeland. Where they being ironic?

Hello, mannequin.

The remnants of an actual Horsa glider. Wood construction - pretty impressive.

Frederick the Great

2011-03-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Almost there. This is the 1757 scenario. I hope to have a build up on VASSAL for download this week.

New BGG Badge Submitals

2010-12-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Central Park

Cohen Brothers

NYC Subway System

Twilight Struggle on VASSAL Is No Struggle

2010-09-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

A few months back I picked up Twilight Struggle Deluxe Edition at a local game store. I knew it was popular and having never played the game, I definitely wanted to give it a try. Once I got it home, however, it ended up just sitting my game shelf.

Last month, I finally got to play it (well, part of it) on VASSAL using the new module for the deluxe edition, and I have to report that it's the most refined module I've ever played.

Programming in the module is comprehensive. Choose a card from your hand activate it for an event by using the right-click menu, and - most often - the your turn is over in an instant and you simply read what happened.

Coups and Space Race event happen similarly - you select the action and the game handles the rest. You read that you made or missed your roll, that you advanced on the track, and that you gained so many VPs.

It made play fast and enjoyable, but I'm afraid it mucked up the final scoring, which me and my opponent had to do the old-fashioned way. No problem really. But hopefully this will get fixed soon as this is probably the best module I've ever used.

Developing Young Gamers... and Playing VASSAL While I Wait

2010-08-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a great summer, so far. I have enjoyed a variety of activities - especially gaming. I'm happy to report that my seven-year-old boy is enthusiastic about RISK... albiet of the Clone Wars variety. Today he was teaching his four-year-old brother to play ... sort of. All I could really see was that there was a lot of dice rolling and that the young one was getting owned.

The idea that I'll get to play wargames with my boys is a pleasant thought. However, at this point, a most of my gaming is via VASSAL with somewhat more mature opponents, and I there are two module features that I discovered recently which I want to add to my blog list of module design excellence.

The first is a feature in the module for 1805: Sea of Glory, a game of operational naval warfare during the Napoleonic era. The module is a nice design overall, with lots of nice extras added in, such as sending a chit to the appropriate location on the map using a simple right click command. My favorite though, is illustrated below (see the green circles).

When you move your ship counters to the battle board, the game counts up your Firepower. Same with your opponent. This, to me, is an excellent use of computer automation for a board game as it simply lifts the burden of administration. I still need to know the rules and have to use strategy and tactics to win the game. It's just nice to have things counted correctly for me and my opponent.

Another favorite is a feature in the module for A Victory Denied. This is a chit pull game, where you activate divisional units by pulling their command chit from a cup (or a virtual cup in the case of this module). Each chit activates an HQ, which in turn activates its fighting unit chits if they are within command range. Additionally, the primary HQ can activate another HQ and its subordinate units if they are in range. It's not tough to count all these hexes, really, but I can miss the obvious occasionally.

In the module, as pictured below, all units that can possibly be activated after a chit-pull are immediately and automatically highlighted in yellow. It's killer.

These are two really great features that allow VASSAL to outshine the physical box, map and counters experience. And while I cannot argue with those that say there is nothing that comes close to playing face to face, it's not really much of an option for me so I may as well appreciate the blessings I get in VASSAL's virtual environment.

Vicksburg 1863 by Winston Groom

2010-07-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is seems to be my summer for reading about the American Civil War. I've read Andersonville, Vicksburg 1863, several short stories by Ambrose Bierce, and now I'm reading This Republic of Suffering.

Before leaving on a family vacation, I picked up Vicksburg 1863. I was interested in the Vicksburg campaign because, when I was young, my father had in the top drawer of his dresser a number of letters from a long-dead relative who was writing home as a Union soldier. Included with the letters was a copy of the last issue of the Vicksburg Daily Citizen, published on the back of wall paper due to the severe shortages of everything during the siege. The Confederate editor defiantly said in the paper that for Grant "the way to cook the rabbit is to first catch the rabbit." After the Union capture of the city, Northern soldiers overprinted on the bottom of the paper that "Grant has caught the rabbit." The Yankee version of the paper is a nice souvenir from the war - but not difficult or overly expensive to come by as many copies were produced and then reproduced and distributed broadly in the North to celebrate the Union victory. Copies of the "real" early edition, which escaped the Union overprinting, are rare as testified by an auction at Christies.

As a result of the souvenir in my father's dresser drawer (kept along side the Czech-made side arm he took from a German officer in WWII, and a 1948 baseball autographed by every member of the champion Cleveland Indians) I had an awareness of the siege and wanted to learn more.

And so, finally, here is my abbreviated review of Vicksburg 1863 by Winston Groom.

Groom is an good writer and excellent storyteller. In the beginning of the book, he weaves the fully tapestry of events that lead to the development of the cotton-economy of the South, the dependence upon slavery to keep the economic engine of the South humming, and the inexorable march to war as the two factions found little common ground to produce a dialog that might avert war.

He delivers powerful vignettes of important personalities. It was particularly moving to learn about the apprehension of Jefferson Davis, at home on his plantation pruning his roses, when a messenger rode up to him with the news that he had been offered the presidency of the confederate cause. Groom paints a poignant picture of Davis being rowed across the river by a faithful family slave so he can go to Richmond and take up the burden of leading the Confederacy.

Groom also portrays the humanity of Grant. He shows a brilliant general devoid of the political calculations that plagued the careers of those above him and beneath him in rank, but also how Grant was also tragically flawed by his drinking and how his reputation was marred the stigma of his corrupt White House administration after the war.

He is not very charitable with Sherman, McLernand, Hallek, and many other Union Generals who figure into the history of the campaign. They are dismissed as incompetents or - in the case of Sherman - animals bent on destruction.

As for Confederate Generals he provides sympathetic views of Pemberton - the man charged with the defense of the city, but provided with insufficient means to prevent the siege or to hold out long enough to see an army march to the city's relief. Groom is hard on Joe Johnston, whose dilatory army of relief sealed the fate of Vicksburg.

In addition to the cast of commanders, Groom provides a detailed portrayal of lesser known officers, soldiers, and civilians and their lot during the campaign. He uses passages from civilian diaries, he depicts the gallantry displayed in battle, the folly of frontal attacks, and the courage and sacrifice made on all sides. He is attracted to a good yarn and selects some good ones. But his selectivity in telling the story of the campaign make the book less than satisfying. Not only are some bigger battles glossed over while small engagements told in detail, but Groom's attraction to the lost cause portrayal of events comes through... he dwells continuously on atrocities of Sherman against the property of Southerners, but barely the dishonorable actions of the Confederate army, especially in relation to the fighting against black Union troops and their officers.

The book does a wonderful job of describing the riverine warfare and the battles of the iron-clads that occurred up and down the river. But for me he doesn't provide enough detail about the actual siege operations that lead to the fall of the city. I wanted more - and will be looking for books to dig more deeply into this topic.

The book ends with several pages of Groom telling how things ended up for many of the key people involved on both sides of the campaign, and contemplating the meaning of the war and the process of reconciliation.

There is no doubt that it was a complicated war and Groom does a good job of walking the reader through this major campaign - as an introduction to it all. He communicates how vital Vicksburg was to the outcome of the war and he culminates the final chapter with an optimistic note about the entirety of the war served the purpose of creating a "better, stronger nation." While this is a nice sentiment, I think he fails to let the complications of the war and its aftermath be complicated for the many living in the South - both black and white - following the peace.

Hegemony: Philip of Macedon for the PC

2010-07-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

I picked up Hegemony at Origins 2010, where I was able to get the boxed version with printed manual for $20 (currently, you can only get the download for $30).

The developer of Hegemony is Longbow Games, a Canadian outfit releasing it's first game. This is a light RTS with historical flair -- not an historical PC wargame. And while RTS games are not usually not my cup of tea, I've bent my own rules because I do love ancients and I think Philip himself is worthy of a game.

Overall I have mixed feelings about the game, which I'll get into a bit further down. But I find myself getting in deeper each time I play. It is fairly simple and straightforward and is a nice filler that I have been returning to for an enjoyable hour or two of play. Each session reveals another bit of the game that I find I like to incorporate into my plan of dominating the classical world.

Players and Replayability
This is truly a single player game. There is no network or PBEM option, though the developer I spoke to at Origins said "Not Yet." I wouldn't take his claim to mean that they have any real plans to open this up for multiplayer. However, as a single player game, it seems to offer a lot of play time with significant territory to conquer and objectives to reach. But that's just it, the game gives you objectives and you go out to fulfill each mission. And as you fulfill each mission, you gain experience with the game.

Graphics and User Interface
The game is slick and attractive. The feature I like best is being able to zoom all the way from the strategic map to the operational level down to the unit level with three flicks of the mouse wheel. The strat map is bland but shows you how big your area of control is and which areas neighbor yours. The rest of the map is dark until you discover it, similar to many other RTS games. Tonight I discovered the "Vale of Tempe." Really? I wouldn't have known about this until I sent a company of peltists down the Aegean coast?

Command and Control
You give orders to your units with a unique menu wheel. Right click on the units and the wheel pops up with a commands you can issue, such as capture surrendered enemies, pick up food, or destroy city walls. Sending units where you want and in what formation you want is easy too, whether you are viewing close in or zoomed out. You can command your forces to adopt different formations during battle, align them, etc. There are some advantages to doing this well on the battlefield.

Combat
A big part of the game is fighting. In fact, the entire diplomatic aspect of the game boils down to "if we are not fighting we are friends, if we are fighting we are not friends." While I like the diplomacy aspect of the Total War series, I really don't miss it here. The chosen format works - certain tribes are warlike. Other tribes are content to let the Macedonians live in peace (even if the Macedonians have no intention of reciprocating).

Once combat is joined, it never gets too tactical beyond the idea that combined arms and flanking are important. Using fresh, well-fed and well-led troops is important. Bringing enough units to the fight is important. Sieging with more troops is better than sieging with fewer troops.

Sieges are simple affairs. It often helps to have troops in blocking positions to prevent relieving forces from disrupting the siege. Certain units are better at sieging. It is helpful to cut off food to the city under siege for a while before you attack it. Once a siege is completed you'll need to do certain things, depending on the objective in the game: put Philip in there to "Macedonia-ize" it, build walls, or destroy walls. The game pretty much tells you what to do.

When your units rout, they run to their "home" fort. There they can heal. Shrines nearby can help your units heal faster and therefore get back into the fight sooner. It is advisable to destroy your enemy's healing shrines before you battle them so that you don't have to face them again too soon.

Units and Leaders
Philip is your lead general in the game, though the game allows you to bring other generals into play. Historically these are the generals who would go on to fight for Philip's son Alexander the Great. You can have more than one general in your armies. Indeed it is advantageous to do so as they often compliment each other in their strengths and weaknesses. Generals don't seem to die. They just regenerate at their home base.

Supply and Resources
The economic engine boils down to production of gold, food, and your population. Produce enough of these consistently, and the kingdom will be yours. I haven't been able to game this engine because you need to physically conquer the enemy lands to grow your population.

Tech Tree
The tech tree is quite simple. Find a scholar and the game instructs you to send him to your main fort where he will "advise" your Macedonians in the ways of catapult and ship production. Then you can start creating ships and catapults.

Summary
Despite the dramatic oversimplification of warfare in this period, I find the game compelling in some key ways. It has a RPG-esque flavor in developing your army and leaders and conquering your neighbors until you are the ultimate Hegemon. It is educational as the geography and nation-states are historic. And it allows you to be the bad-boy of the Greek age. Additionally, the map is really a big part of the game. You can use passes to invade kingdoms or block enemies. With ships your strategic options are much greater. The overall feel is one of being a conqueror who is intent on bringing the world to its knees. What's not to like?

Manoeuvre Tournament at Wargame Room

2010-07-03T06:57:00.000-07:00

Wargame Room now has a Manoeuvre module and they are starting up a tournament.

I had once tried to set up a tournament using VASSAL but there wasn't enough interest to pull it off. Wargame Room, however, has a built-in following and could have success where I failed.

If you haven't tried Wargame Room, it's an online real-time game engine like VASSAL. Except that Wargame room enforces the game rules. People seem to agree that this has its advantages - simplifying game play and making games move along more quickly. Some, however, see it as a disadvantage because it makes it difficult to learn the rules very well for face-to-face gaming (easy to get lazy I guess).

I've played Commands and Colors: Ancients on Wargame Room and found it to be pretty manageable in terms of the game interface. And I have the Manoeuvre rules down (they are easy) so I'm not at all concerned about the system making me a weaker player. So I am definitely ready to give this tourney a try.

I encourage anyone who likes the game to also give it a go. It could be a lot of fun! Email Bruce Wigdor, keeper of the Wargame Room, at brucewig@hotmail.com to sign up.

And visit my old blog for tips.

Origins 2010

2010-06-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

I zipped down to Origins Game Fair for a few hours today, hoping to enjoy some wargaming and to visit the vendor hall to see what is new.

This being Sunday, the last day of the con, there was virtually no wargames being played. This was surprising to me as I expected there to be some activity, but alas I was wrong. So, I spent my time in the vendor hall and enjoyed looking over some new releases. I also got to see tons and tons of fantasy and sci-fi stuff which is interesting to look at.

As a bonus, I got to meet Uwe Eickert from Academy Games (makers of the "Conflict of Heroes" line of games), as well as Dean Essig from MMP. I enjoyed talking to Dean about MMPs upcoming Antietam game called "None but Heroes."

Uwe Eickert (standing) and some dude (not me).

I also stumbled across the Longbow Games group at the very back of the hall. These boys from Toronto have just released their PC wargame "Hegemony - Philip of Macedon" and were selling it at the booth at half-price. I snatched up a copy and so far, I think this might be my favorite PC game of the year.

I guess I'm glad I visited the con, but I doubt I'll go next year as the "war room" was said to have been smaller than in years past and may well continue shrinking.

Japanese VASSAL Modules Abound

2010-06-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

This Games Journal webpage is a cool - but for me relatively useless - find. I stumbled across it when I discovered a friend had posted a picture of the game A Victory Denied published in Japanese. It's cool for a couple of reasons. First, AVD is based on the game engine developed in Japan for A Victory Lost. I like that the MMP's International Game Series is contributing something back to the culture that has given it everyone of its games so far. Second, I just think it's cool that there are wargamers in Japan.

Question: When will the IGS ever publish a non-Japanese wargame? OR should they change it to JGS? :)

Battles Over the Bulging Price of a Wargame

2010-05-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Panther Games released Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge (BftB), a PC wargame focused on operational warfare during the Ardennes Offensive in WWII.

The release of the game wasn't a surprise to anyone, except maybe those who believed the release would NEVER come. The title has been in development since 2005.

What has surprised the PC wargaming market is the price through the game publisher: $80 to download the game. $90 to order a disk. Games in this niche genre usually go for $30 - $40.

Making PC wargamers pay double the price in these tough times has drawn waves of protest on forums and has the PC wargame pundits (both paid and amateur) offering stern rebuttals to Panther games for a massively grave miscalculation and a snowball's chance of commercial success. "Good luck!" they say, but said in a way that sounds more like "Get stuffed!"

Based on a message from the developer, it appears that he is ready to face the odds. As Dave O'Conner sees it, he can either earn what he thinks is a fair value for his blood sweat and tears (i.e. a profit) or it is time to shutter his tiny dev shop.

Of course, he is doing his best to justify the price based on the value the game offers and the inelasticity of the ever shrinking PC wargaming market. All of which has lead to a lot of arm waving, debating, and name calling. Thank goodness, too. The only other PC Wargame debate you can get these days is about DRM and that's more of a wargamer bitch-fest than a debate. It's refreshing to see people once again go out of there way to make themselves look idiotic. Get your popcorn ready and read more here.

But it all comes down to how Dave wants to succeed or fail. And there's really nothing to debate about it. He is the president of Panther games. He is the board of directors. He owns all the shares.

In this respsect he is more of an artist than a business man. The game engine is his view of what a PC wargame should be and it is truly unique from all others. It has its fans and plenty of others who say "meh." His own words say that he's ready to call it quits if can't succeed on his terms. You gotta like the passion. He's not chasing a buck by cranking out the next console FPS, or the next Facebook Farm game or whatever. He's made a serious sim for a niche audience. If sufficient numbers of his fans see the value and buy the game, everyone has a bright future.

Confession: I'm a big fan of Dave O'Connor and a devotee of this game series. I was an early member of the scenario team for this release, but got sidetracked by my short attention span. However, my paid-for copy of the game is being shipped and should arrive in a few days (hint: order it here to get it for less than at Matrix Games).

I'll write more when the game arrives and I get to play a few scenarios.

iTouch/iPad Gaming Support

2010-05-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

A few months back I posted about using my iTouch to read game manuals. It is an ongoing experiment. What is really wanted is an iPad for this sort of thing. And you can read a using an iPad as a gaming support tool at Doug Cooley's blog. Makes me wish I had the money for an iPad!

Anyway, when I first attempted to put game manuals on my iTouch I used Airtron's Airsharing App. After trying it for a couple of months I have to say the app is crap. There is too much lag and it crashes frequently.

Lately I've had better luck with PDF Reader Pro. It is smooth and solid. And has enhanced the experience significantly.

By Force of Arms by Christopher Duffy

2010-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

By Force of Arms by Christopher Duffy is the third volume in his history of armies of the Seven Years War (SYW), and the second volume about the Austrian Army during that conflict. The other Austrian book is Instrument of War. They are both large, detailed volumes, but By Force of Arms surpasses Instrument of War in the narrative that it provides about campaigns and battles, both large and small. In this, it is similar to The Army of Frederick the Great by Duffy, a smaller but no less well written volume that covers the Prussians.

Anyone interested in this period would do well to pick up The Army of Frederick the Great and By Force of Arms. Taken together, I think they provide the best view of the armies and their fighting from both sides of the hill, so to speak.

Of the two, By Force of Arms provides a far more richer narrative. For example, when reading about the 1758 siege of Olmutz by the Prussians, The Army of Frederick the Great covers the attack upon an important supply column and the impact it had on the siege in a line or two. By Force of Arms, however, goes into great detail about the planning and execution of the Austrian attack on the all-important supply train. In so doing, Duffy is able to reveal something about the character of the two Austrian commanders who lead independent wings into the surprise attack, and he puts you on the edge of your seat as missed opportunities and Prussian resilience almost overcome the ambush and prolong the siege to a successful completion (even though you are fully aware while reading what the outcome will be).

Additionally, reading By Force of Arms simultaneously raises my esteem of the Austrian army in the SYW and diminishes my respect for Ferderick the Great. In the pages about the siege of Olmutz Duffy examines one of Frederick's weaknesses through colorful quotes and anecdotes. In these lines, we see how King Frederick mistrusted and even despised his engineer corp and how this subsequently underdeveloped wing of his military machine was destined to fulfill Frederick's low opinion of it.

Finally, I think By Force of Arms is a testament to the game Clash of Monarchs by GMT Games, which covers the SYW in Europe. In reading, I really see much more clearly how the developer of the game, Bob Kalinowski, got so many things right, from the combat and defense values of Daun and Frederick, the role of light warfare, the necessity of supply, how sieges can be used to draw an opponent into battle, and much more.

By Force of Arms is a little pricey. I got my brand new copy for $75 from the book seller Articles of War through AbeBooks, but it isn't uncommon to see copies sell for more than $100. My advice to anyone looking to buy this book is to keep an eye out and be patient.

The River Gate to Moscow

2010-04-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Dvina and Dnieper rivers run the length of the western border of Russia - except for one spot where both turn east to Moscow. Historically, this gap - sometimes referred to as the River Gate, other times as the Land Bridge - has been a natural avenue for armies attacking from the west. Over the ages, invading armies seeking to exploit this opening have included the Poles, the Swedes, the Army of Napoleon, and of course the German Wehrmacht.

The game A Victory Denied (AVD) is about WWII Germany's Army Group Center making a bid to force this "land bridge" and take Moscow in 1941. The game is part of the International Game Series from Multi-Man Publishing and uses the same system developed by Japanese designer Tetsuya Nakamura for A Victory Lost. MMP game producer Adam Starkweather has adapted the system to produce AVD.

I picked AVD up Saturday night at the local game store after finishing up a game of Unhappy King Charles. So far, I am coming up the curve and enjoying the system. I'll post a more complete report later, but right now I'm totally intrigued by the "river gate."

In 1709, Charles XII of Sweden was the first to attempt to march a Western European army through this gap against retreating Russian forces that employed a scorched earth strategy. As the pre-eminent fighting force of it's day, the Swedes pressed on, but they ultimately failed to break through. The resulting counter-marches culminated in the battle of Poltava where the Russian army of Peter the Great defeated Charles XII who had - until then - had been one of the most victorious commanders of his day.

2010 Centennials - 2500 Years of Conflict

2010-04-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Already in 2010, a battle know as the The Asssault on Marja is going into the books as a victory of U.S., NATO, and Afghan forces over the Taliban. Tentatively, anyway.

But how do you think the Afghan war will be judged 2500 years from today? There's no telling at this point if it will be viewed as a success or just one more in a list of ill-advised Afghan adventures that include wars fought by Alexander the Great, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

Regardless, the Assualt on Marja is joining a long list of battles that have a centennial this year. The earliest - Marathon - reaches back 2500 years, is well known, and is viewed as enormously important in world history.

Others with a centennial are more obscure- possibly to even those who have a fair knowledge of history (except probably the sack of Rome by Alaric). Certainly these battles all cost lives and are marked by tragedy. But they kinda fall short of the massive losses incurred in other, more recent conflicts.

A number of these more recent and more deadly battles will have their centennials soon. In a year, we'll embark on a series of 150-year remembrances of American Civil War Battles which, in their time, set the high watermark in the history of bloodshed. And then, in another 3 years, we'll be entering into the 100-year remembrances of WWI battles in which manufactured death on a massive scale virtually erased a generation of young men from European countries.

By those standards, some of the battles below could be viewed as colorful and even quaint. But they are forever part of the fabric of our history and even today their threads can be found in world events.

Here they are (with boardgame or PC game recommendations that might help illuminate each conflict) :

2500 years Ago...

490 BC

Battle of Marathon - Athens defeats the Persian expedition of Darius I. This battle marks the beginning the golden age of Athens and the development western civilization. (Battles of the Ancient World: Marathon and Granicus)

2400 Years Ago...

390 BC

Battle of the Allia - Gauls defeat the Romans, and Rome is sacked (an event that will not happen again for another 800 years). Parts of the wall built around Rome in response to this event are visible today. To adapt Churchill's words, this is not the end of the Roman Empire. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning. Or something like that... (Field of Glory miniatures rules or PC game)

2200 Years Ago...

190 BC

Battle of the Eurymedon - Roman forces under Lucius Aemilius Regillus defeat a Seleucid fleet commanded by Hannibal, as he fights his last battle. Hannibal's game was up well before this battle, but it is significant that he makes an exit here. (Trireme)

1600 Years Ago...

410 AD

Sack of Rome - Alaric and his Visigoth horde sack Rome. Okay... THIS actually is the end of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths were the Hell's Angels of ancient Europe - one of many barbarian tribes that would surge forth and conquer Romanized lands and bring about the "dark ages." According to many history books, Visigoths were actually quite well-behaved during this pillaging of Rome - burning no significant parts of the city and sparing all churches and those seeking refuge inside. (Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion Pack #2: Rome and the Barbarians)

1100 Years Ago...

910 AD

Battle of Tettenhall - Edward the Elder defeats the Yorkshire Danes. Finally establishing a lasting, invasion-free stability in Britain. Until the Normans came in 1066. (Britannia)

800 Years Ago...

1210 AD

Battle of Ümera - Estonian forces defeat the Livonian Order, during the Livonian crusade. This crusade made sure the last Pagans in Europe were "converted." The Danish flag is reported to have fallen from the sky during a later battle in this crusade. (None known)

600 Years Ago...

1410 AD

Battle of Grunwald (also known as Battle of Tannenberg) - Polish and Lithuanian army under Władysław II Jagiełło defeat the Teutonic Knights under Ulrich von Jungingen. The Tuetonic Knights were bent on "converting" the Poles, even though the Poles had already become Christian. It did not go well for the Teutonic Knights... and their Prussian descendants would have to wait for the second battle of Tannenberg to get their revenge. This is considered by some to be the largest battle of medieval Europe. (Grunwald 1410)

400 Years Ago...

1610 AD

Battle of Kluszyn - A Polish army defeated Russians and Swedes. The Poles end up occupying Moscow two years later - something that neither Napoleon nor Hitler would be able to do. (None known)

300 Years Ago...

1710 AD - These are mostly battles fought during the War of Spanish Succession. (Marlborough: War of the Spanish Succession)

Battle of Almenar - Austrian-British-Dutch allies defeat the Spanish.
Battle of Saragossa - Important British-Austrian-Dutch victory.
Battle of Brihuega - The duke of Vendome surprises and defeats a British force.
Battle of Villaviciosa - Indecisive battle between retreating Austrian-Dutch forces and a Franco-Spanish army .

250 Years Ago...

1760 AD - Battles of the Seven Years War in North America and Europe. The capitulation of Montreal was indeed a key event, but it was inevitable after the fall of Quebec and French loss of Montcalm. (Wilderness War, Clash of Monarchs, Rise of Prussia, Birth of America)

Battle of Sainte-Foy - French effort to retake Quebec in which they sorely miss their navy which had been devastated at Quiberon Bay earlier in the war.
Battle of Landeshut - Austrians victorious over a smaller Prussian army. Frederick not present.

Battle of Liegnitz - Frederick present. Prussian victory.
Battle of Torgau - Another Prussian victory - but a costly one.
Battle of the Thousand Islands and the Battle of Montreal - British take Montreal forcing sealing the fate of New France.

200 Years Ago...

1810 AD - Napoleonic warfare in Spain and Portugal. Wellington takes the stage in these battles and demonstrates his ability to win against the French.

Battle of Busaco - Wellington thwarts a French assault and buys time to effect his withdrawal behind the lines of Torres Vedras.
Battle of Fuengirola - An oddity of war not dissimilar to the British experience at Rorke's Drift. Here the Polish fend off the British and Spanish during Peninsular War.

150 Years Ago...

1860 AD - The following are battles from the Wars of Italian Unification (il Risorgimento). (Risorgimento 1859)

Battle of Calatafimi - Garibaldi's Mille defeat the Piedmontese.
Battle of Milazzo - Garibaldi's Mille defeat Neapolitan troops.
Battle of Castelfidardo - Italians defeat the French that are aligned with the Papal States.
Battle of the Volturnus - Sicilians beat by the Piedmontese.
Siege of Gaeta - Sicilians seiged by the Piedmontese.

There you have it. I think there may be a couple I've missed.

As I state above, I think many of these battles are important in the development of world history and they are reflected in current events. Most interesting to me is the precarious position that the Poles find themselves in again and again. Continually beset in history by the Germans or the Russians, they fight well. But ultimately their story is one of seemingly inescapable tragedy. In last week's catastrophic events one hears the echo of enmity that goes back far beyond Katyn to the Battle of Kluszyn and the Polish occupation of Moscow.

Ultimately, it will be a good thing if we run out of new wargame topics because nations, creeds and people embrace peace. In the meantime, I hope studying these events through wargames provides an opportunity to learn how that might be achieved.

1805 Sea of Glory VASSAL Module Has A Nice Rules Message Feature

2010-04-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've just started a VASSAL game of 1805: Sea of Glory and the VASSAL module is one of the better modules I've played.

The feature I am most impressed with is the rules messages that pop up on a chit draw. If you pull a weather chit or a bonus chit, it gives you the basic mechanics that go with the chit. For example, when you pull a weather chit, it tells you what to do to determine the weather zone (roll one die) and the storm severity (roll 2 die). Once I get into the game a couple more turns I won't need this kind of help. But as we are just getting under way, this feature is very helpful.

I would support this feature becoming a common part of game modules. It is a big help to users just learning a game.

Maria VASSAL Module Available

2010-04-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

I own a sadly unplayed Histogame version of Friedrich - unplayed largely because there is no VASSAL module for it. I wrote Maria off for the same reason - I don't need more unplayed games. But now that I see this... well. Let's just say I think this shot up to the top of my must have list.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about whether or not this is a wargame. But I am fairly certain it is... the combat mechanism, while novel (at least when Friedrich came out) is nonetheless a combat system and the game will punish anyone who neglects supply and strategy.

Frederick the Great - SPI

2010-03-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Map and Counters is a site run by Joseph Beard, a long-time wargamer who reviews the many games developed and published during the "golden age" of board wargaming, roughly the period from 1970 - 1980.

Last week he reviewed Frederick the Great, the game for which I have long labored to develop a VASSAL module.

Joseph Beard's review is really excellent. He covers - in depth - the key mechanics that set the game apart from many games of its time. He also explains very well why the game is so successful at elegantly re-creating the key tensions and dynamics of the Seven Years War without a lot of fussy rules and exceptions.

Pandemic Card Idea

2010-03-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is "The Colonel." He has three functions - when with another player in a city, he enhances the abilities of that player by granting additional moves or increased power to treat/remove diseases. He also can use his turn to have a "private" conversation with another player (a conversation that the bio-terrorist cannot hear). When The Colonel spots th bio-terrorist, the bio-terrorist loses a turn.

SYW Tour of the Austrian Military Museum

2010-03-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

Above is the entrance to the Austrian Military Museum. It was about a 10-minute taxi ride from downtown Vienna and is located in the city's arsenal, which appears to be a working military installation. Across from this is is a large building called "Objekt 1" which probably contains administrative offices, but also has - open to the public - a restaurant that serves Puntigamer beer and Wiener Schnitzel.

According to the literature, this was the first purpose-built museum in Vienna, a city rich with fine museums. The military museum has many many excellent displays beginning with the wars of religion and going up to WWII. Below are some snapshots of interesting points from the Seven Year's War.

The entrance opens up to hall of Austrian military heroes. Above is FM Daun.

FM Lacy.

FM Browne (a later member of Irish military diaspora known as the Wild Geese). Some wargames take Browne out of the Austrian player's hand early in the game because he's too good and would upset game balance. Browne died leading a bayonette charge at the Battle of Prague. But he had active TB too, which marked him for a short-timer.

Nadasdy, the Hungarian Cavalry General.

FM Loudon. At the battle of Kolin, Loudon was 71 years old. During the battle he encountered a few squadrons of Prussian cav and engaged them with his own, receiving "two cuts in the head, one of which slashed through the crown of my hat and cut my wig in two, occasioning a deep and painful wound."

Cuirassier gear.

Captured Prussian Regimental Standards.

FM Loudon's portrait and some personal effects.

A bust of Lacy. Able and rapidly promoted, the Prussians tried to turn him to their service.

This a snapshot from my taxi cab. This building must have a military purpose as it was festooned with carvings like this head from all periods of Austrian military history.

Captured Prussian head gear and other items.

FM Lacy.

Hadik. In my opinion, an under appreciated Austrian cavalry commander. He successfully raided Berlin - an act that forever angered Frederick II.

Maria Theresa herself. I liked Frederick II's line about her: "Austria has finally produced a great military man, and it turns out to be a woman."

Captured Prussian spontoon, carried by NCOs. If the rank and file had any thoughts of fleeing, they also had counter balancing thoughts about getting one of these driven into their spine.

Rise of Prussia PC Game: First Impressions

2010-03-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Ageod's game Birth of America, which I played for months and months both against the AI and against live opponents PBEM. The game blended depth and simplicity in a way no other game has done before or since.

Ageod released two other games in the series, ACW and Napoleon's triumphs. They got too big for me - too unwieldy - and the game artwork lacked the campy 1950s gradeschool history textbook charm of their predecessor. Mostly, it seemed game engine being stretched too far to cover these much larger conflicts.

Because I'm a fan of the Seven Years War, I always dreamed of a mod being created for BoA that would encompass the battles fought in Austria, Bohemia, Silesia, Poland, and East Prussia in roughly the same era. With Rise of Prussia, I've gotten my wish and them some. The only question is, would it return me to my happy days of playing BoA or would the experience get mired in added game complexity that adds little enjoyment to the experience?

This isn't a full review - just my first impressions.

A Lesson in Geography
I'd like to think I know a little about the placenames of this conflict through a number of books, boardgames, maps which I have digested over the past decade. But the messages in this game have me guessing. Bundlewitz? Ohlau? Hofgeismar? Okay, I actually had the same experience with BoA (Kinderhook? Chenango?).

In any event, as the player, you simply need to click on the message and your screen centers on the location in the message. But the overall effect - even for someone as "up on the topic" as me - is somewhat confusing as you read message after message of things happening in God-knows-where.

National Morale
Want to win a major victory? Victory points won't likely be enough, so you'll need to accumulate enough National Morale (NM) points to autovictory - or reduce your opponents national morale to the point were they drop out. Things that impact NM are battle victories or losses, capture or loss of cities and fortresses, loss of leaders, promotion of leaders ahead of other more senior officers, etc. A drop or increase in NM also lowers or raises production of supplies, affects unit cohesion and other factors. I personally don't feel that some of these fit well during the lace war years since these were - at this date - autocracies. Would production drop in Prussian cities if a general was promoted out of turn? Doubtful. The NM concept fits ACW like a glove, but for this period it's more of a mitten.

Combat System
The combat system in this game is similar - very similar - to BoA. It's a simple contest between forces with a number of rounds of combat and umpteen commander-conferred modifiers that make the engine so much fun: organization, cohesion, firepower, discipline, initiative as well as a number of other combat factors including combat posture, terrain bonus, range, and so on. The after action reports have enough detail in them to help you imagine the battle's narrative, which makes the system rewarding. An additional level of detail is now available in RoP as you can also see the individual impact/performance of each unit in your force. This further enhances the role-playing feel of the game. You can watch your units gain experience... and then you get to watch them be bled white over the months of war.

During the opening rounds of the 1762-64 scenario, I - as the Prussians - had the chance to nail the Austrian FM Daun to the wall. (He and Frederick are the great antagonists of this period of the war: Frederick the offensive-minded genius and Daun the circumspect master of defense.) I had Daun sandwiched between my superior forces near Breslau with rivers on either flank. It was time to lower the boom.

I ordered both forces to converge on Daun - and before they could, Daun marched north to defeat Frederick before Frederick could link up with his junior general. Nice! The "Athena" engine AI has develped a vicious streak (even if the AI move for Daun was uncharacteristic - such a move would be more natural to Fredrick's style).

Despite this setback, I knew that the gig was finally up for Daun the next turn. I again ordered both forces (still superior in size to Daun when combined) to converge on him, which they did and together they dismantled Daun, effectively capturing or killing 40%-50% of his forces.

Normally in an Ageod game - and historically for this period - such a punishing defeat would have sent the losing army moving in retreat to the nearest friendly fortress, away from the enemy. Well, as it turned out, RoP - when first released - had a glitch wherein the defeated force often stayed put. If it was your army, this was awful as your defeated forces were continually savaged by a now-far-superior foe. If you were the victorious army it was an obvious blessing - or it should have been. For me, however, the remnants of the now crushed Daun army dealt my superior forces a stunning blow, robbing me of many well-earned National Morale points.

This non-retreat bug was identified in the first week of the game's release and has now been fixed in the public Beta patch 1.01.

The deft handling of this fix is a further testament to Ageod and demonstrates that this game - already very solid - is backed by the usual excellent support and high standards the company holds for the Athena engine-based product line.

Leadership and Organization
As with previous incarnations, the game confers benefits on well-organized and well-lead armies. The instructions for creating such armies and corps in RoP are quite clear and simple, but nevertheless they leave you with some choices - some of them difficult - as you may need to promote a leader ahead of a more senior officer, causing a drop in NM.

Army Outliner
This is the best new feature of the game. Along the right hand side of the screen will be the images of the leaders of your armies. It's a shortcut to the army you want to work with. The benefit is quick access to the command structure and the ability to zip around to the major theaters of operation.

The game has four basic theaters - The first is East Prussia (the Stettin to Koenigsberg axis) where the major battles against the Russians take place. Silesia (Frankfurt am Oder to Olmutz axis) where Austria will be fighting to regain these lands. Third is Saxony (basically Magdeburg to Prague) where Frederick will often preemptively attack to knock out this foe and to more importantly gain possession of the riches of Saxony fund his war effort. Lastly there is the western front, where the French and British/Hanovarians duke (or duc) it out.

The army outliner lets easily you set up commands for these theaters and then jump around to manage the forces for each as you engage in combat and maneuver.

Rivers and Roads
Armies in this game depend on supplies and movement of supplies a great deal. In this, rivers and roads are a major part of the game strategy. Keeping them open and keeping armies in supply is paramount. Roads and rivers are also important for getting reinforcements into theater. The game can really punish a corp that is not on the roads - especially when winter comes. Off-roading is a risk, but one that might be worth it from time to time. Rivers continue to be the best way to move troops. But players will find the number of bateux is limited.

Events and Choices
Another new feature introduced in RoP represents the history of the period by prompting the player to choose what happens in certain events. A good example is Danzig. Historically, this city, a well endowed port, was neutral. Both Austria and Russia attempted to woo Danzig. In RoP, Prussia is offered the option of spending money to keep the city neutral, thus depriving Russia a key stepping stone across the Baltic coast toward Berlin. Another choice, offered to the Austrians if they take Berlin, is to spare the city and extort 150,000 thalers instead.

Overall
So far - the game is really quite good and I would recommend it to any fans of the engine as it provides enough new features to make things quite interesting. It is bigger - but not bloated. And of course it offers a new strategic situation in what Winston Churchill called the real "first world war." To those who are not fans of this series, this is still the same animal, and they may want to take a pass. However, this game system continues to offer one of the best AIs in PC wargaming and the overall production values and refinement are hard to beat. Anywhere.

New Microbadge Submission at BGG

2010-03-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a microbadge I created for me to use over at BGG... "I teach VASSAL"

Hope it gets approved!

VASSAL Factory - Working Overtime to Support Game Developers and Module Creation

2010-02-25T18:24:00.000-08:00

A cool little wargame game called “Postcards from the Revolution” has been released this week on VASSAL. It's a complete game, including instructions for play. It's actually a digital remake of a print-and-play “postcard” wargame developed a couple of years ago by Opposing Force Games.

The VASSAL module was developed and released by VASSAL Factory, a France-based VASSAL development collective. To learn more about VASSAL Factory, Wargamer Notebook got in touch with its founder Grégory (a.k.a SoftBug).

WGNB: What is VASSAL Factory?

Grégory: Well, Vassal Factory is a project to promote creation and distribution of games using the VASSAL Engine. I'm the founder, the VASSAL Game Designer, the PR Department, the forum administrator ... one man for a very big project and having a job and a family can make it a challenge sometimes. Of course, sometimes friends give me help, for which I am very grateful.

WGNB: What is is the focus of VASSAL Factory?

Grégory: VASSAL Factory is mostly dedicated to young game designers. If you take a look at the Prototype section of our website, you'll see it is filled with finished games that are looking for a publisher. VASSAL is an excellent way to develop a low-cost game prototype.

Vassal Factory is also here to help and support new game module makers starting out with VASSAL by providing French language documentation and Support forums for user help. VASSAL Factory is based in Paris (where I live). I am currently working on a sort of “Trilogy” of VASSAL Module Creation (two volumes are already available) to promote this simple and wonderful tool in my country.

VASSAL Factory is also a VASSAL news outlet with lots of information about new modules including many made by designers that are not involved with VASSAL Factory.

VASSAL Factory has published 40 modules.

WGNB: Why did you start VASSAL Factory?

Grégory: A VASSAL module is a work of Art to me. Creating a module is a way to create something artistic based on a game. Every new game and new module poses a challenge to make something elegant and enjoyable to use.

Prior to starting VASSAL Factory, I was a member of Vassal France and I co-founded Vassal Forge. As the sole proprietor of VASSAL Factory, I can now build on my prior work and freely choose the projects that I want to be involved with.

WGNB: How did you discover VASSAL?

Grégory: I was looking for a internet play platform in my capacity as an official Scout from the now defunct Sabertooth Games.VASSAL seemed perfect for making it possible to play with friends accross the pond… to reduce distances with players.

My first Big VASSAL Project was Warrior Knights (FFG approval), the new release of the game that I've spent tons of hours in 1985 when i was a young boy. I also developed a internet-based version of LOTR TMG (Lord of the Ring Tradeable Miniatures Game). Unfortunately, the Vassal Module that I designed for LOTR TMG is no longer available, due to Games Workshop intellectual property rights.

When I first got involved with VASSAL it seemed mainly devoted to Wargames. Now the focus is changing to a broader variety of games – which I think is good. Personally, I've been awakened to many types of games and so I've started to make Vassal Modules for Games that I want to play and games that I respect as a piece of art.

Is that all?

2010-02-13T19:59:00.000-08:00

When you've been playing a game for a half a year, and it finally ends... you would hope it would wrap up with a big, exciting battle and a close finish.

Well my Clash Monarchs game ended not with a bang, but a whimper. And the finish was close, however, I lost.

Much praise to my opponent. He put the hurt on my coalition forces. Above is a screen grab of his prison stockade on the top, and mine below. Look at all the units he captured! And these were the few units that LIVED through a battle with Frederick. Kudos to the Prussian player.

It was a learning game - and after six months, I learned I really liked Clash of Monarchs and hope to play it more.

But for now, we are moving on to 1805: Sea of Glory.

Game Manuals on My iPod Touch

2010-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

*** READ UPDATE TO THIS REVIEW HERE ***

My new favorite game accessory is my iPod Touch loaded with the Air Sharing app from Avatron. I've got my current game manuals loaded on it in PDF form. I'm also loading up some screen grabs from my current VASSAL games so I can plot and plan my moves.

The Air Sharing app is quite cool. The iPod Touch screen is just large enough to make one column of a GMT game manual readable. It is a handy way to have the manual ready to read when I have five minutes of free time during the day, away from home.

My only beef is that the files for the manuals can overpower the processing capability of the iPod. And, there are times when the app crashes - usually when it is having trouble processing.

Set up of the app with my WiFi network took an evening because I am just not as tech savvy as I would like to be - so I have to try things one, two or three times before they work due to mis-keys and such.

However, it works well and is a good addition to my game habit. I mean hobby.

Charmingly remote and casual battlefields

2010-01-31T10:53:00.000-08:00

I read these words from George Macaulay Trevelyan's Clio, A Muse and Other Essays Literary and Pedestrian, and though they are about touring battlefields, I think they do a very good job of putting my interest in wargaming into words.

The charm of an historic battlefield is its fortuitous character. Chance selected this field out of so many, that low wall, this gentle slope of grass, a windmill, a farm or straggling hedge, to turn the tide of war and decide the fate of nations and of creeds. Look on this scene, restored to its rustic sleep that was so rudely interrupted on that one day in all the ages; and looking, laugh at the “science of history.” But for some honest soldier's pluck or luck in the decisive onslaught round yonder village spire, the lost cause would now be hailed as “the tide of inevitable tendency” that nothing could have turned aside!

How charmingly remote and casual are such places as Rosbach and Valmy, Senlac and Marston Moor. Or take the case of Morat. There, over that green hill beneath the lowland firwood, the mountaineers from alp and glacier-foot swept on with thundering feet and bellowing war horns, and at sight of their leveled pikes, the Burgundian chivalry, arrayed in all the gorgeous trappings of the Renaissance armourers, fled headlong into Morat lake down there. From that day forward, Swiss democracy, thrusting asside the Duke of Savoy, planted itself on the Genevan shore, and Europe, therefore, in the fulness of time, got Calvin and Rouseau. A fine change of cause and effect, which I lay humbly at the feet of “science”!

Austrian Military Museum

2010-01-30T11:52:00.000-08:00

I visited the Austrian Military Museum last week. It's an excellent facility. So much history - so much of it heartbreaking. It was amazing to stand before the car in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assasinated. There was tons of gear from WWI and II. There is also a good collection of items from the SYW. Interestingly, however, this was the most antiseptic and boring section of the museum. There were a number of portraits. Lots of swords, flags, and personal effects. But all of it was disembodied - especially compared to the displays of the Thirty Years War, Napoleonic era, WWI and WW2. I enjoyed it anyway. I loved the ceiling paintings in the second floor halls - like the one shown above.

Frederick the Great (of Hollywood)

2010-01-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

Being the business man that I am, I have "monetized" this site. See the Amazon banner lower left? Montization, baby! Below that is another vertical banner that runs "contextual" ads. And, contextually speaking, the ads are funny.

I mention Frederick the Great a lot because he's the key figure in my current game of Clash of Monarchs.

The context engine that runs these ads interprets this as my readers having a keen interest in "Ferderick's of Hollywood." LOL. Maybe wargamers do have an interest in scantily clad women. But it's a little ironic as Frederick the great appeared to have no interest in women at all.

The Seven Year's War (in Four Years?)

2010-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Clash of Monarchs Update...
Whatever may have happened for Pitt in 1759 - his Annus Mirabilis - my Coalition forces have topped it. My Russian horde took Stettin and now occupies Berlin. The Austrians - under a field-promoted cavalry commander named Hadik - took back Prague and then took back Dresden too. Best of all, King Frederick II is dead and gone.

That said, as 1759 winds down I have to face some tough choices about 1760. First of all, I have a major army under my CIC Nadasdy not quartered properly for winter and they will likley face attrition because I have no more cards to activate them and move them to a safe spot.

Secondly, the Russian army in Berlin is exposed as their supply line to Stettin is not defended. A winter activation by Keith could cause some harm.

And how to win this game? Killing Frederick and occupying Berlin is apparently not good enough. The victory points are structured that either Magdeburg or Breslau must be taken. But which one? And how best to do it? If the Russians drive on Magdeburg, they will do so with Keith's Prussian army threatening their supply lines. I could move Hadik north to occupy and defend Berlin in Fermor's absence, but then Hadik will be out of supply. And the Russians cannot supply the Austrians.

Or Nadasdy could head up to Breslau, lay siege, and then fight an out-of-supply battle against Schwerin. Maybe I need to do both and hope that one effort succeeds.

Or, possibly, if I successfully siege 3 low-point cities, I might also achieve victory because when I take a Prussian-held city, I gain VPs and Prussia loses them.

Finally, with the right cities in my hands, I must trigger a Prussian collapse of Monarchial Will. Which can be achieved with my light units savaging Prussian holdings.

New Name for 2010

2010-01-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm changing up my web presence in 2010 to allow the content of this website to range further across the wargaming landscape. I'm still heavy into VASSAL. And I haven't given up on my FtG mod. I'm just ready to blab about other stuff too. Happy New Year!

VASSAL 40K Shut Down by Games Workshop

2009-12-31T02:22:00.000-08:00

Recently, there was much ado over Games Workshop's decision to make BGG pull all 40K and Warhammer content (mostly in the form of fan photos) off of their website.

Earlier this year - and more saddening - was their decision to force the developer/administrator of the VASSAL40K website to close down and pull all links to the game module.

It's understandable that GW wants to protect its IP, but there really no decent alternatives for playing opponents online - an apparently popular thing to do.

Given that size of the VASSAL40K community had grown to probably twice the size of the ASL community, VASSAL (which stands for Virtual Advanced Squad Leader) could have been renamed VortyK or Warhassel or something similar.

Play continues of the current 40K module on the VASSAL server. One wonders what next steps GW may be plotting to rid the universe of this VASSAL scourge.

Old School

2009-12-29T12:25:00.001-08:00

It's hard to imagine that wargaming was once far mor popular than it is today. It looks super nerdy even then.

2009-12-20T19:22:00.000-08:00

The year 1759 is going swimmingly for the Coalition. Frederick was killed in an enormous battle near Dresden and Prague was subsequently retaken! Frederick's death has caused the PR monarchical will to plummet below exhaustion, close to collapse.

If I am not careful, the game will end before I can translate my recent successes into substantial victory points, which can only be secured by taking two of the three following cities: Magdeburg, Berlin, and Breslau. To clear the path for the Russian invasion into Brandenberg, I thrust Nadasdy's army north to Siege Breslau. Indeed, this brought Henry's army away from Stettin to Silesia, where I defeated him with a lucky tactics chit draw.

Now reinforced, Henry pursues an out of supply Nadasdy army south into the hills. Here Henry's army (now commanded by Schwerin) will have a difficult decision to make. Stay and fight an unrewarding battle, or tramp back northward in time to face the large Russian army massed on the border.

These recent events - and my extremely hot dice - are reason to rethink the remainder of 1759.

2009-12-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

Luckily, nobody reads this blog. Including my current Clash of Monarchs opponent.

So, here is my plan to make 1759 a good year for the coalition:

1) Attack Frederick immediately. Though the approaching force will be larger, he will not be frightened and withdraw. The only danger will be if he intercepts so that he can use the advantage of his wicked +4 offensive DRM. The goal will be to render him ineffective before he can join up with Ferdinand or Henry and become the three-headed monster Zero.

2) Raise hell in Silesia with Nadasy, but be ready to fall on Prague soon. It must be retaken this year. If things go well for Hadik, Prague will be a choice plum for the picking.

3) Posture with the French and strike if an opportunity presents itself. Tie down Ferdinand and Kieth.

4) Posture with the Russians, but secretly pave the way for a 2nd-half blitz on Stettin.

5) Sacrifice the Swedes at the right time.

With any luck, I will have taken Prague back and gained Stettin. With good luck, I will be holding Berlin at the end of the year - not to win, but to really put the screws to Frederick.

Wilderness Seven Years War

2009-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Given my interest in the Seven Years War, I am envious of those who live close enough to the battlefields of that war to tour the great ones: Rossbach, Zorndof, and Luethen to name a few.

From where I live in Northeast Ohio, a trip to walk the fields of those great battles is beyond my means, both in dollars and in time. I'm content, however, to visit them in books and games.

But recently, I've discovered that I live close - very close - to locations that played a central role in sparking the conflict that became the Seven Years War. Namely Pittsburgh, and the Indian villages that once existed along the rivers near that city. Fort Duquesne (as Pittsburgh was known then) and Fort Niagra, were links in the chain that bound North America to France - and not to Britain - in the mid-to-late 1700s. These were key points in a trade route that extended from the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada to mouth of the Mississippi River and New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico.

As Britain and her coastal colonies sought to expand into the Ohio Valley, the French fought to hold the Ohio Forks, as the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongehela rivers were then called. The French and Indian War ensued. Two years later, it would engulf Europe as the Seven Years War, which Winston Churchill called the first truly World War.

To feed my interests in the French and Indian war, I've started reading Francis Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" and just the other day, I purchased Wilderness War by GMT games on Ebay.

Last night, I started fighting as the French in a VASSAL campaign of Wilderness Wars. This is going to be a nice compliment to my current game of Clash of Monarchs.

Clash of Monarchs

2009-10-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

Over the past three months, I have been deeply embroiled in a game of Clash of Monarchs on VASSAL. It's a GMT game about the Seven Years War in Europe, which was a monumental conflict pitting Prussia and Britain against France, Austria, Russia, and Imperil Germany. It was the war that delivered King Frederick II of Prussia to the status of "Frederick the Great."

In my game, I am facing Frederick and he is doing great. Me? Not so much.

We just capped 1757 and started 1758. The above map reveals the current situation after the first turn of the new year. France was crushed by Frederick in 57. He destroyed a number of units and took many of them prisoner. He also took Saxony and successfully parried my thrusts into his key holdings: Silesia, Brandenburg Prussia as well as my attempts to retake Saxony.

In 57, The Austrians mostly tried to keep Frederick off-balance and not get crushed - they accomplished the later. The Russians made an abortive attempt to march across Poland into Silesia. But because they must winter in their far eastern holdings of Grodno and Vilna they had to turn around and head home before they ever made it into the intended theatre of war.

Frederick is a monster. He is easy to activate, moves quickly, and packs an offensive and defensive wallop. His brother prince Ferdinand is also a fearsome foe. There is a steep decline in quality when you survey the other Prussian commanders, but that only means they are on par with the commanders in the Austrian coalition.

So now, the French have pulled way back to the fortresses at Metz and Strasburg, while Austrian and Russian armies go once more into the breach. This time, I hope to bring Frederick to a conclusive battle (and one that is favorable for the Austrians) at Dresden. My rock star general is Daun, who is Frederick's equal in many respects and is perhaps his superior when defending.

I also intend to make better use of my Russians this year after a somewhat misdirected campaign last year.

The game is an excellent way to understand the Seven Years War in Europe. There is sufficient depth of play to make you think through the many strategic options and it seems to recreate the themes of the war: the secutor and retiarius style duel between Frederick and Daun, the supply woes of the Russians, the importance of an ample war chest. The manual is complex and could be organized better. Some topics are neglected. But with message boards and rules updates being what they are, these deficits can be overcome.

Overall it is a game worthy of the war it depicts in scope and depth. And it satisfies my itch in a way that the lighter games of the period, such as Prussia's Defiant Stand cannot.

Unhappy King Charles - Not so unhappy

2009-07-09T19:50:00.001-07:00

I just finished a months-long match of Unhappy King Charles (UKC) against my usual VASSAL antagonist. This was my first game of UKC. It also started out as Daren's first game, but over the course of our match he fit in a couple of games on the side. He ultimately won, but whether his extra curricular matches gave him an advantage, I cannot say. We played very different games and for quite a while, it looked as if I was going to win. Alas, it was literally not in the cards.

UKC allows the players to recreate the English Civil War. My opponent played the Royalists under the command of King Charles (historically unhappy because he was beheaded). I played the Parliamentarians.

It is a card-drive game (CDG) which allows for some interesting opportunities. Cards can give you the power to move units, recruit, convert territory and some other very useful things called "events."

Events are the historical aspects of the conflict and when the right event card falls into your hand at the right time, the effect can be quite powerful. You can find yourself with a bunch of Irish forces (a mixed blessing) or you might be able to sneakily convert an enemy fort. My opponent had the luck of having a couple key event cards late in the game, which managed to tip the scales in his favor.

Up to then, I had a commanding lead. My focus had been simply grab/conquer more territory than my opponent. If you can force your opponent to lose enough territory they must capitulate. I can't truly blame the cards for my loss though. I took my strategy too far and neglected my armies. When my final bid to win the territorial game failed, my army was almost in shambles. Luckily for me, the Parliamentarians receive the "New Model Army" late in the game and this gave me a strong force once again. But my timing wasn't quite good enough.

The final turn, pictured above, was a neck and neck race down the final stretch. Alas, it turns out his military strengths came to play: namely more generals and better strategic ratings for those generals. Damn that Prince Rupert. Damn him, I say!

It was a thrilling first match and I hope to play the game again sometime. I think I will play better next time around, though I would expect my opponent to be better too. However, that will all have to wait as we are ready to launch into a few months of Clash of Monarchs.

2009-07-02T20:08:00.001-07:00

Things continue to move forward, though at a slower pace than I would like. The map has come a long way in the past two weeks. I was super pleased to find out that when I save an illustrator file as a Photoshop file, GIMP can open it. GIMP is a photo-shop like open source image editor that can do most everything I want it to do.

Also, I'm almost through playing Unhappy King Charles via VASSAL with a friend. It's going to be a close finish. I am playing Parliament and had a handsome lead mid-game. In the last turn however, I gambled to many operations aimed at an early political victory, which eluded me. Now, though I am finally commanding the New Model Army, my foe is strong and active in many regions.

Unhappy King Charles is an excellent game. I look forward to playing it again as I think there is quite a bit of depth there and I'm only scratching the surface in this first game.

2009-06-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

I just came across this brilliant strategy guide for Frederick the Great: http://grognard.com/info1/ftg.txt. It is posted over at the venerable Grognard.com website and though it is probably a bit dated (2001), it is still fresh compared to the game (1986).

It was written by Bob Kalinowski, who is the premier publisher of SYW boardgames right now. I have his game Clash of Monarchs and hope to play it soon (via VASSAL of course).

I'll be following this advice:

...you need to have at least one junior leader as a kaka shield for the good leaders; it sometimes happen in mid-late game that a junior guy gets hit, and you don't have any others available; this makes battle with your big leader a little more inviting for the enemy, and if your luck is like mine, you will regret not replacing the shield.

FtG: Ready for Beta Launch

2009-06-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

I have completed everything needed to give this module a thorough testing. I like it. I like working on it. But I must say, it has been a long, tough road - I started from scratch about 3-4 months ago.

In the above image, you can see what your forces look like when they are in a fort - they have the grey star-shaped border. You can also see what your forces look like when they are hidden from your enemy's site. They have dots in the four corners and an "M" above the unit nationality or leader flag.

I hope to have this posted this week. More details to follow.

Module Update: Making Progress on FtG

2009-04-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

It's coming along, my little module. The map has been completed (whew!) and I'm working through the counters. Above you see a counter in the game. Is that counter too big? I think it maybe a shade large at 58 pixels. I will size it down to 53 pixels and see how it looks. Stay tuned!

Conflict of Heroes VASSAL Review

2009-04-04T19:13:00.001-07:00

When you launch the Conflict of Heroes VASSAL module on your computer, you may as well hear a box-fart . The module re-creates the real-live version that completely.

Hell, I’ll go ahead and say it: CoH actually better in VASSAL than in real life…for a few very good reasons. Here they are:

5 Reasons the CoH VASSAL module is better than the boxed version

Canned Scenarios – The VASSAL module offers all 10 original scenarios pre-set up for near-immediate playing. I say near-immediate because most of the original scenarios give the user options for setting up the units. This is true in VASSAL too. But you don’t have to root around in the box to find the right counters, just click open the Russian and German HQ and there are the additional counters for the scenario, with an explanation of where they can be set up and when they should appear. (Note: More scenarios are reportedly on their way.)

LOS/ Range Indicator – As virtual pieces of string go, the LOS/ range indicator in VASSAL is damn handy. It is precise because it automatically shows dead-center to dead-center reckoning. And it shouts out a range so that there is little confusion or doubt as to whether your unit has the shot.

Hidden Units – Best. Feature. Ever. At my last visit to the local Saturday con, I talked someone into playing my boxed version of CoH. Only to realize that I hadn’t downloaded and printed the b&w map art for people to mark the location of their hidden units. We improvised by scratching down hex numbers on a piece of paper and we struggled through. In VASSAL, this is never a concern. Because? Because you can hide your unit with a click of the mouse. You see it “ghosted” back and your opponent sees it not at all. Until, of course, he stumbles into your trap. Then with a simple mouse driven command, you unhide your unit and unleash hell.

Reset Used Button – My unit activation. Your unit activation. My opportunity action. Your command action. My unit activation... And so it goes until we both pass. And then we flip every counter back over to its original side one by one, one after the other. Not a big deal. But not nearly as sweet as clicking the “Reset Used” button, which magically gets you back and ready to keep the battle raging.

Unit Highlighting – Maybe it’s just a VASSAL thing, but I’ll tell you that I love being able to highlight the attacking unit and highlight the target unit. I fell for this feature during my CC:A tournament experience. The whole thing lends a decorum to the affair and you definitely get the “oh-sh**” factor when your opponent highlights your unit for attack. Also, the group highlighting for group fire and other group actions is cool too.

These are but five reasons to love the new CoH VASSAL module. Add the usual reasons to love a VASSAL module ( such as saving the unfinished game later, find an opponent who can accomodate your gaming schedule, PBEM, etc. etc) and you’ll find that the new CoH VASSAL module is the best thing since, well… CoH.

Ready to launch!

2009-04-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

CoH VASSAL Module v. 1.10 should be posted at the VASSAL website as early as tomorrow.

Conflict of Heroes Vassal Module

2009-03-29T07:08:00.001-07:00

Below are some screenies from the upcoming Conflict of Heroes VASSAL module. I've had the privilege of playtesting the module, which is still in development with no announced/ forecasted release date.

Word is that the module is going through some significant revisions at the moment, but these screens give you a taste of how the game will look in VASSAL.

First up is the card deck screen, which allows you to draw cards and chits, as well as build the deck per the scenario instructions.

The following screen shows one of the coolest features of the VASSAL module. When a scenario calls for hidden units, you use a "Hide" command on the unit before you place it on the map, which means your opponent can't see it. VASSAL presents the counter to your eyes in semi transparent fashion, so you know where it is at all times. When the moment comes to spring the ambush, you select "Unhide" and voila, you are ready to attack.

Other great features that VASSAL brings to Conflict of Heroes are illustrated below. You can highlight the active unit and target unit, which can be really helpful when you are not sitting face to face across the table with another gamer. In F2F you can point with your finger when you say what units are attacking/ being attacked. In VASSAL, it can get confusing - especially with stacked units. The highlight feature can clarify things a lot.

Also, the LOS/ Range finder is sweet.

Hopefully, this module will be on the street soon. It brings a much desired game to the online world (although - there is a Sun Tzu module for this game currently available). And the module offers features that truly exploit the digital nature of VASSAL and enhance gameplay.

Changes in Lattitude

2009-03-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

Changes in attitude. I had wanted to keep with the beige map of the early 80s, but it was just too ugly.

Map Nearing Completion

2009-03-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

I made some good progress using the grid maker cited below. More work to be done before it's completed, but this is a major step forward.

So far, a bloody mess...

2009-03-19T18:47:00.001-07:00

Actually, it looks worse than it is. The grid is on this map to test the creation of the grid. It isn't the right size, and it clearly isn't aligned. But it IS there and that is no small feat.

To create the grid, I am using mxhexgrid, a nifty application created by Joel Uckelman, who also happens to be one of the key developers of VASSAL.

Running mxhexgrid is, for me, learning a somewhat arcane art. It's a command line program, so I had to launch a DOS shell and figure out how to make it go. This I did with help from Joel himself. And the test results are now pasted into my map file in Adobe Illustrator, though the grid and the mountain texture I am using are bringing my 7-year-old rig to its knees.

I think I need some more memory! And maybe a new graphics card, too! And maybe a new mainboard with a better chipset! And a new CPU! (I'll probably just start with some more memory).

So even while learning some new computer tricks and possibly upgrading some computer components creating a module is going to be a slow, but process. But it is enjoyable and I am looking forward to playing this module when it is complete.

Good Grid

2009-03-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Finalment! Alignament! Thanks to the coaching from Brent I got things working on the FtG VASSAL mod map grid. I could not make it work, however, on my stitched map scans. Even though I spent a good 3 hours trying align and space the damn scans, they were just too crappy to work. Instead, I am leaning on the Cyberbox map as I re-create the game map in the theme of the 1982 original. Cue the Flock of Seagulls music....

I think the difficulty in scanning the map board is that it folds into six pieces and the folds are difficult to match for some reason. That's my excuse anyway. Looking ahead, I will probably avoid scanning my own maps when possible.

Once I got the basic idea in my head it was easy. Like tuning a guitar, you push the grid size too far in the direction you want to go, and then pull it back in a tiny bit. Bada-boom.

Onward plods my mod.

Ongoing Grid Lock

2009-03-07T19:56:00.001-08:00

More trials and more errors... above using the grid resize tool on the png saved out of the Cyberbox module for FtG. Notice how it progressively goes out of wack from the well-aligned upper left hand corner.

Counter Productivity

2009-03-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

So far, designing game counters has been the most fun. Here's a snapshot of the work being done:

Grid Grief

2009-03-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

This part isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

The stumbling block for the moment is getting the FtG map to line up with any of the VASSAL grids I come up with.

Whether I work from a stitched-together scan of the map board or use the already-recreated map graphic from the Cyberbox edition, the VASSAL hex grid refuses to line up with the hex grid of the game. Notice how things look fine in Cologne, but just 8 hexes southeast to Frankfurt, things are f'd up. This isn't even a poorly stitched part of the map!!!

For the map, I plan to recreate the graphics of the 1982 version of the FtG game. It's a simple, sort of campy design that looks like it was printed on a 2-color offset press and then crashed with a third red color for the VP forts and cities. It's classic AH and I would like to preserve it, making some augmentations if and when it makes good sense.

They key is getting a VASSAL hex grid line up over the original art and and then painting the new map art over the old one. I'm trying to follow the advice in this tutorial. But, as mentioned above, I'm stymied by the inability to make the grid line up.

If worse comes to worse, I will be able to re-draw the map just by looking at the hexes and doing my best. But that seems like a lot more work than having and underlay that is a direct representation of what I am trying to draw.

More noodling needs to be done to get me out of this grid lock.