tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post4908641842687242273..comments2024-03-28T21:00:41.841+00:00Comments on KEITH'S WARGAMING BLOG: Books, Books, Books...and a MagazineKeith Flinthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12903769462646267048noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-65690816805238257762016-09-26T20:11:53.288+01:002016-09-26T20:11:53.288+01:00Dear Keith,
Thank you for another good read. Taki...Dear Keith,<br /><br />Thank you for another good read. Taking the long view, it's always instructive to read the latest printed dogmas from the "great and the good" in the hobby. It used to be Phil Barker and Rhomphaia, but times move on, and believers in the One True Rulebook are still attempting to create order out of our wonderfully disorganised hobby.<br /> <br />Strongly held beliefs offered up as "fact" are usually pretty quickly debunked, and having an elegant mechanism is surely in the eye of the beholder? So the chaps that think D10 are obsolete, probably just don't get out and about enough outside their own circles :-) <br /><br />Soldiers (and ex-soldiers) can have a very strong interest in wargaming at all sorts of levels, from the pretty serious (serves you right for cheating, Imperial Japanese Navy)to the very frivoulous (WH40K, Men Against Fruit, etc).<br /><br />I would also dispute the hypothesis that wargames don't teach military history: I never really understood the Wilderness Battle around Richmond in the ACW, having read "a bit" but not being an ACW gamer or widely read in the period, so when I was pitched in to a disguised scenario and decided a sneak attack around the northern flank, guess what took place? Very instructional indeed! I didn't know the history and was convincingly wallpapered and pasted by an opponent who did, in a game that I enjoyed in an eat-humble-pie sort of way. <br /><br />I remember fondly a cover on a past Miniature Wargames? of a beardy chap with pipe and Rule Bible looking sternly over a 3D hex terrain with Napoleonic troops on it. Lovely, it was. The caption read "One Day, all Wargames will be Fought Like This". Oh, how we laughed.<br /><br />Even if the tactics are up the spout, gaming a battle over historical ground can give insights that are not always obviously there in the history. I've found Sci-Fi and Fantasy (SciFan) useful in that respect for disguising scenarios where the real battle is too well-known. <br /><br />What is a fictitious historical battle set in an ImagiNation? Historical gamers love them, but it isn't history and it isn't SciFan either. Collect a bunch of mates, have a fun game; can't go wrong really!<br /><br />Regards, Chris.Chris Kemphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15784847480097649252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-11046921743132705112016-09-22T15:15:28.715+01:002016-09-22T15:15:28.715+01:00Good article Keith. As demonstrated in HOW average...Good article Keith. As demonstrated in HOW average die still have their uses. Overall my personal thoughts on die as random generators are skewed towards using D10's,or as the late Paddy Griffith called the first ones, "nuggets". I find, especially with modern games you can usually easily work out the probability of something happening, or not, as the case might be in percentages. <br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />Delta CoyDelta Coyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991890687374165828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-11047077963138249562016-09-22T15:10:51.982+01:002016-09-22T15:10:51.982+01:00Once again a thought provoking item. I was brough...Once again a thought provoking item. I was brought into wargaming by seeing a review of Tackle Model Soldiers in the Airfix magazine back in 1963 I think. I bought the book only on the basis of seeing a mention of wargames in the review and from the book's bibliography realising that DFs 'Wargames' existed. Having bought 'Wargames' I perhaps hoped that if there was a book on the subject my parents would stop doubting my sanity.<br /><br />I agree that we are really playing with toy soldiers and used to enjoy provoking my opponents with this comment - but that was back in the days when it was not easy to 'come out' and playing 'wargames' was a (slightly)more acceptable hobby.<br /><br />I have noticed that the less interest in the history that players have, the greater the likelihood that they will argue over the meanings of rules.<br /><br /> Jim Walkleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-70359997518156753302016-09-22T13:40:58.092+01:002016-09-22T13:40:58.092+01:00Cheers Chris. I know from a previous WSS column th...Cheers Chris. I know from a previous WSS column that Richard Clarke is with you regarding historical wargaming.<br /><br />John, I meant to say apologies for not recognising your name. And thanks for the understanding attitude to my silly rant - just banter, as you obviously recognised.Keith Flinthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12903769462646267048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-75140362063525933042016-09-22T12:53:24.854+01:002016-09-22T12:53:24.854+01:00Thanks for a nicely written and thought-provoking ...Thanks for a nicely written and thought-provoking column, as always, Keith!<br /><br />On Average Dice: as a fan of an elegant probability curve in game design, I really like the clever use you have made of average dice in HOW. Definitely not obsolete!<br /><br />On History and Wargames: I agree that playing with toy soldiers won't teach anyone about the sheer misery, blood-and-guts aspects of warfare. But I definitely believe playing a well-designed historical scenario can give you real insight into the problems faced by the commanders. It's 'learning by doing' and can be really powerful in helping us to understand how and why a given battle or war took the course it did.<br /><br />Chris<br />Bloody Big BATTLES!<br />https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info<br />http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk/ChrisBBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522334377353504659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-71671745211845278902016-09-22T12:22:15.943+01:002016-09-22T12:22:15.943+01:00Rich??? On Pen&Sword advances? :-)Rich??? On Pen&Sword advances? :-) John Lambsheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598696442104566164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-31382114890002306852016-09-22T11:12:46.313+01:002016-09-22T11:12:46.313+01:00SWOAB - thanks. Linking an interest in history wit...SWOAB - thanks. Linking an interest in history with the reason soldiers might enjoy wargaming is an interesting thought.<br /><br />Mr Lambshead - a pleasure to welcome the rich and famous to the blog! Great job with the book.Keith Flinthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12903769462646267048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-23124522480066211872016-09-22T11:06:41.663+01:002016-09-22T11:06:41.663+01:00Thanks very much for your interesting review, whic...Thanks very much for your interesting review, which I enjoyed reading. John Lambsheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598696442104566164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-61670014158041669562016-09-22T09:49:09.922+01:002016-09-22T09:49:09.922+01:00I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the book...I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the books and articles, I would agree that the average dice is very much alive and rolling!<br />Your point about having knowledge of a historical period being important is one that I would agree with and my explain why people who have served in the forces (myself included) enjoy modern games? <br />This was a really good read, thanks for sharing your thoughts.Solo wargaming-on a budget!https://www.blogger.com/profile/15442472155141898004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-82948298822904256872016-09-22T08:52:48.275+01:002016-09-22T08:52:48.275+01:00I'm not sure you need to know the history befo...I'm not sure you need to know the history before you play a game. I am sure that you need to know the history before you BUY into a game. Once you invest time and effort into something it is the research that you need to avoid wasting said time and effort. <br /><br />As for the magazines I'd agree that money is the driver for the changes and not the desire of their readers. I fear for the future of MW but haven't written it off completely - just yet. <br /><br />Regarding the Priestly book - not sure I'd want a book that is written by someone who has basically only written one set of rules and then made several other sets very similar but slightly different. Hail Caeser, Black Powder, Pike and Shotte are essentially the same and offer very little that is new between them. Hence the reason i'm converting everyone in the club to Honours of War for the SYW. Much better. even if they do use defunct average dice!marinergrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393687295535460527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-42082371119859225972016-09-22T08:06:37.513+01:002016-09-22T08:06:37.513+01:00As always an interesting read Keith. Rick Priestle...As always an interesting read Keith. Rick Priestley is certainly a talented and prolific author, but at times his views of certain periods (the 1866 Austro-Prussian War for example) and rules mechanisms, can be a bit confrontational for my liking. But then I do like to read his articles in WS&S as I find they make me think about our hobby. <br /><br />WS&S is my preferred magazine as I just could not get on with MW&B. The Diane Sutherland articles drove me to distraction and I found the quality somewhat variable (one could argue the same about WS&S). However compare both of these magazines to one the ones you brought over a few weeks ago (the name of which escapes me) and IMHO they pale in comparison. <br /><br />I agree with you that you do require a certain basic level knowledge of a period if you are to wargame it, so that you can understand the mechanisms and rules being used. Having read up on the Seven years War and the 1866 and 1871 conflicts, I can now appreciate how well your rules and Chris Pringle's Bloody Big Battles 'recreate' their respective periods. I have also learnt a lot of 'new' history and have greatly enjoyed researching the periods, which I think is half the fun of wargaming.<br /><br />As for the older wargaming books, I am finding them a great read, even though to some eyes they are rather dated. As a result I am slowly building up my collection, some of which hold great nostalgic value and take me back to my early wargaming days.Steve J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12143308117853983963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1430463007570237159.post-25305876176876557012016-09-22T04:52:30.611+01:002016-09-22T04:52:30.611+01:00An interesting read to start my day, thanks. I lth...An interesting read to start my day, thanks. I lthink average dice are wonderful and I share your discomfort with modern warfare, but accept the point is arguable. It is too early to say how Miniature Wargames will pan out, but it will be interesting to watch the page count and see if the new bonus 16 pages, actually starts to shrink (or get converted to more adverts to cover costs), while still keeping the 16 pages worth of sci-if / fantasy content, in effect pushing out historical content in favour of sci-fi / fantsy. Probably need to give the magazine 6 months to get a better idea of its intentions and needs.Normhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05031444717952755557noreply@blogger.com