Order Cancelled

"In wargaming, as in life, consumerism will not lead to satisfaction."

Ah, wise words indeed. Who am I quoting? Well... Alright, I apologise. I'm quoting myself, from the one and only article I ever had published in a wargames glossy (Battlegames 24). In pursuit of this philosophy, I have been making a virtue of necessity over the last couple of years by not spending a great deal on the hobby, for the simple reason that I don't have a great deal to spend - or perhaps one might say I simply can't justify spending much on wargaming when more practical items need purchasing and bills need paying. But this month I had a rare experience - a bonus in my monthly salary. So I thought I might treat myself to a bit of lead, just to raise the spirits a little, and grant myself a small reward amidst life's pressures. 

But what to choose? In the end I decided to add some 'speciality' figures to my SYW collection, which I could use to decorate my battlefields in order to add to the visual spectacle. I'm talking about some musicians, a civilian vignette or two, a senior officer in a striking pose, and some artillerymen or pioneers to scatter about the place. Such figures have an interest in themselves, being fun to collect and paint, but also have the advantage that you can use them in just about all your games, as their only function is to fill up the gaps on the field of battle and give one's set-ups a more satisfying and interesting appearance.

I settled on Eureka Miniatures, being initially attracted by a nice pair of artillerymen carrying a small powder chest between them, and a nice looking vignette of George Washington dismounted with his horse and a pair of his dogs (which could stand in for any aristocratic gentleman from the tricorne era). Browsing the site, I added in a few musicians and mounted trumpeters, some dismounted hussars, and came up with a figure which was... well, frankly much too much. Well over £70 in fact. Eureka foot figures are £2 each, mounted £4. So I scaled down the order and got it down to about £35. Then I began my checkout. And then I found that postage from Australia would be £17. That's half the cost of my order! UK stockists? I could find only one, and the stock was limited, not to mention the fact that the figures themselves were more expensive anyway to compensate for being imported. So I returned to my checkout page, and looked at it for a few minutes, pondering. Following which, I muttered the immortal words 'Ah, fuck it' and closed the page down. I had saved myself 50 quid. 

The purpose of this post is not to berate the wargames industry in general, or Eureka in particular, for their high prices. I'm sure Eureka would sell their stuff cheaper if they could, and I am willing to believe (albeit reluctantly) that the postage from Oz really is that much. It seems I have lost track of how prices for unpainted lead in the larger scales have increased. I'm used to good old RSM95 prices, where a foot figure can still be obtained for around 70p, or a bit less. Furthermore, for someone who has been known to bemoan the price of contemporary rulesets, this does rather put things into perspective. Creating a new army in 28mm must be a very expensive process indeed, in the light of which a set of rules for £25 must be small change. None of which, however, makes me feel much better about the hobby.

I guess really I'm saying that I continue to feel that the sentiments I expressed in that article hold true. I can do without those extra figures. My artillery batteries can be attended by some individually based musketeers which I already have lying around; I can paint up some spare officers to scatter about the place; and I can complete some mounted civilians that are still in my small 'lead mountain'. And that will be fine. In addition, I can see that to someone contemplating buying a new good quality golf club, or, (to choose a subject closer to home) a parent considering buying a new dressage saddle for their daughter, £40-50 isn't much. I guess wargaming still counts as a cheap hobby. But sometimes it really doesn't feel that way. It would seem a hundred unpainted foot figures can still easily cost you £200 pounds. And unfortunately I find that I have no desire at all to wargame in any scale below 15mm. In fact, I have a hankering to wargame with 40-42mm figures in the horse and musket era. Fat chance!

Ah well. So, order cancelled. To add a splash of colour to this sorry story, I conclude with a photo of some purely decorative figures purchased a while back, which I never presented in their painted form, then a photo of a recent small artillery project. TTFN!

L to R: (All Willie Figures unless mentioned) French engineer officer painted as Austrian engineer; British officer as Prussian officer of miners with RSM guard; Hovels farmer w/sheep; French engineer again as Austrian officer of pioneers with RSM guard; British sutleress; Farm girl and Farm boy; British officer as Wurtemburg artillery officer.

This is an attempt at creating one of the 1 pounder Grenz light guns that were used to support the Grenz infantry early in the SYW. The gun is from Parkfield Miniatures, RSM gunner with paint conversion, RSM grenzer with rammer instead of rifle. 

Operation Warboard: Panzers At Brodno, 1939

Well now, the theme for recent posts on this blog seems to be well established - getting inspiration and ideas from the work of wargamers of the past. I think it might be best to change that soon - it's time I tried to come up with some ideas of my own. Then rather than expecting others to inspire me, perhaps I could provide some inspiration to others; although perhaps inspiring others is rather too grand an ambition. I should probably settle for something original that might at least interest other wargamers, rather than repeatedly recycling old stuff. But before then, one more blast from the past...

Gavin Lyall's Operation Warboard dates from 1976 and concentrates on WW2 wargaming. I borrowed it from the library at the time and read it with great interest - the author seemed to be struggling with the same problems I was having in writing my own set of WW2 rules, and coming up with the same kind of answers as I was. Not only that, but here was a gamer whose terrain and figures were not some unattainable marvel but who wargamed on the same kind of unsophisticated, hastily set up terrain that I used, and didn't worry too much about how his figures were painted. 

I bought the book a couple of years ago for old times' sake, and get it out now and then for the usual nostalgia. The rules are not much use to me these days. With hindsight I reckon they turned out like mine - a bit clunky and over complicated. They were written in a period when we were waiting (although we didn't know it) for new rule concepts like DBA and Warmaster to appear, which would make things both simpler and more satisfying. Unfortunately, before that happened, many rulesets much more clunky and much more complex than Mr Lyall's would have to be suffered by wargamers. Oh, those endless f*cking modifiers...

Anyway, a recent re-read found me studying the photo below and being struck by what an interesting set-up it was. The photo was given as an illustration of what a 'bigger' game might look like, with no real indication of what the scenario was, but once again I was away. This time you will have to suffer a hand drawn map made by myself rather than one made by a talented and inspiring wargames pioneer. Below the photo is the map I developed from it: you will see I added a railway to enable me to use my armoured train. Brodno is just a name picked off a map: this encounter is entirely fictitious.

Below again is the terrain I ended up with, the photo being taken from about the same direction as the photo from the book. The original table was 8' x 5' so things were a little more cramped on my 6' x 4' effort, but then I was gaming in 15mm rather than 20mm so there was no real problem.

I decided to play the game as an attack-defence with the Poles defending.  I also decided to use the game to see how the ultra-simple Morschauser rules from How To Play Wargames In Miniature might work. I had had some fun working them up into a set which took account of such modern wargaming foibles as the advantage of cover, and the existence of things like mortars, infantry guns and trucks. I had, however, taken care not to deviate from their essential simplicity. The scenario was as follows:

Polish Forces (defending):

Main Force

9 infantry units

3 MG units

1 mortar unit

2 ATG units

1 AA unit

2 tank units

2 off-table field guns

Reinforcements

Armoured Train

3 cavalry units

1 MG unit (tazcanka)

1 on-table field gun unit with horse tow

The Polish main force could deploy anywhere south and west of the railway. The reinforcements would arrive on the road and railway from the north west subject to a die roll. The objective was to defend the bridges and town by seeing off the German attackers (who would withdraw on losing half or more of their on-table units)

German Forces:

Main Force

9 tank units

6 infantry units in trucks

2 MG units in trucks

1 mortar unit in truck

1 ATG unit in truck

1 SPAA unit

3 off-table field guns

1 dive bomber unit

Recce Force

2 armoured car units

2 motorcycle infantry units

1 MG unit in motorcycle combination

The German main force would arrive in column on the road from the east, with the objective of capturing the town and bridges and breaking the Polish defenders (who would withdraw under the same conditions as the Germans). Each bridge lost would count as 2 units lost, the town would count as 4 units lost if it fell. The recce units would arrive on the road from the north east subject to a die roll.

The Game

I'd like to tell you what a quick and exciting game the Morschauser rules gave. I'd like to tell you that, but it wouldn't be true. Simplicity is all very well, but it turned out these old rules took things rather too far for my taste. The game gave me an insight into what people mean when they talk about 'period feel', and also an insight into why some people like fairly complicated rules. Such things go a long way towards giving a game its interest.

The bottom line is that in the Morschauser rules you end up throwing 4, 5 or 6 to knock out just about anything with just about anything. There's also only one throw to make when firing - no throw to hit followed by an effect throw. And there's only one effect. It's KO or OK. The basic rules for off-table guns I actually added myself, along with those for aircraft and AA. But in my effort to be true to the original, these extras don't add much variety to the game. Movement? Well, just about everything moves 9" cross country in the original rules, with some variation on road. The melee rules introduce just a hint of sophistication, but are (correctly) written to make melee unattractive anyway unless you have an advantage of 2 or 3 to 1. Therefore things are mostly decided by firing. So you're back to 4, 5 or 6 to KO, regardless of range or situation or weapon, although there are simple rules saying (for example) that machine guns and rifles can't KO tanks.

So bland is very much the order of the day. I'm afraid enjoyment was not enhanced by a scenario that favoured the defenders and gave the Germans little chance of success. Just a few photos to give you a flavour:

The German column successfully crosses the nearest bridge but a Polish FT-17 and some infantry sally out.

This was about the high water mark of the German advance towards Brodno.

The Polish reinforcements arrive.

Polish tank, anti-tank and artillery soon took a toll of the leading German armour and a German defeat loomed. (See also the first colour photo above, below the map). A useful rule was borrowed from Blitzkrieg Commander - a knocked out tank or other vehicle is 'no longer there' and can be removed if you want. This means a KO'd tank doesn't block the bridge - hence the 2 vehicles you can see moved to either side of the bridge exit, left on the table for decorative purposes only.

I suppose I could tinker with the Morschauser rules but I doubt I will bother. I should however add that John Curry and Bob Cordery, who edited the Morschauser reprint, evidently found a good deal to enjoy in Morschauser's ideas as they developed their own version which features in the book. So don't necessarily take my word for the poor experience I judged them to provide. Anyway, I think it's time to go back to BKC, which are a great set of rules which give me all I want from a WW2 game.

Now, as I mentioned above, it's time to think up some ideas of my own for future presentations. Hmmm...

Another Great Map

Browsing the Vintage Wargaming blog, once again I came across an 'Old School' style hand-drawn map that seemed set to inspire a game. You can see the map below, which originally appeared in the Wargamer's Newsletter of January 1979. It is the work of a gamer called David Barnes, and I urge you to visit the Vintage Wargaming site and check out the 3 posts featuring his work. David was obviously a highly talented illustrator and his battle reports are a real treat to read.

.Image courtesy Vintage Wargaming
Copyright Donald Featherstone/Wargamer's Newsletter

I played through this game a couple of times solo, as a playtest for my own SYW rules. I added in a few extra units as shown in the map below to make a more testing battle. It seemed from the original battle report that the Prussians were the attacking side, so that was how I played it.

I am beginning to quite enjoy solo play. I can play at my own speed and just watch the battle unfold before me. I don't normally use any special solo gaming rules. Even when I have an opponent, my games are never particularly competitive, barring the odd bit of banter, so solo gaming seems a fairly natural development. I get some ribbing from my wife of course, who can't see the point of playing with toy soldiers in the first place, and to whom playing toy soldiers with oneself seems the definition of pointlessness. However, recently I have been fortunate enough to have some time to myself at home over the weekends and can set up and play more or less to my heart's content. This has been very relaxing. But don't get me wrong - I love it when my wife comes home as well!
Below are a few photos of the second game.

 I managed to create a reasonable representation of the map. Here we are looking west across the battlefield. Table size was 6' x 4' as in the original game.

 The Prussian centre forged ahead, using successful initiative rolls to cross the river before the Austrians could intervene.

 They began to get the upper hand in the ensuing firefight: Loudon's regiment was the first Austrian unit to break and leave the table.

 The centre again. Prussian musketeers take over the first line from the grenadiers. In the background you can see that the Prussian left flank infantry made slow progress as a result of command failures.

 The cavalry on the Prussian right flank hooked around to the south and east of Pampitz,

 to take on the light units guarding the Austrian left.

 View of the battle from behind Sullwitz.

 The Prussian Hussars easily drive off the Szluiner Grenz. The red uniformed Liccaner Grenz are reforming behind Hermsdorf after taking casualties from the Prussian right flank battery and jager. 

They are vulnerable and will be the Hussar's next victims. The light battery supporting the grenzers won't last long either: the Prussian dragoons have them in their sights!

 The intense exchange of musketry in the centre continues to favour the Prussians. Now only the Hungarian Grenadiers hold the line, supported by the Austrian artillery battery

 but opposed by 4 Prussian battalions.

 On the Prussian left the infantry are finally making progress. Artillery support from 2 batteries keeps the Austrians at bay. In the distance one Austrian battalion is starting a move to shore up the Austrian centre, but this will be too little, too late. Old Schoolers will recognise the Bellona 'River Bridge', which I recently found hiding at the back of one my drawers of wargames stuff. I was proud to use it on the table after a long absence!

 The Austrian centre collapses completely. The dragoons have moved into the left centre position to counter the Prussian flanking move but now their only job will be to cover the retreat. At bottom right reinforcements from the right flank are arriving but they have nothing to reinforce. The Austrians have lost 7 of their 11 units by the end of move 6 and have conclusively lost the battle.

 The Prussians only lost one of their 14 units, also on the last move. Before the whitecoats broke, Austrian musketry and artillery was concentrated on one of the leading Prussian battalions. 

This  was too much and here the unit flees across the Elbow.

Final positions. 6 moves and 2.5 hours gaming to complete the battle.

A very satisfying game with a conclusive end. I am quite pleased with the way my rules are shaping up. I have a poor track record when creating scenarios involving river crossings, as here . This game was helped by a rule stolen from Joseph Morschauser. If a river is deemed fordable, a unit crossing it simply ends their move in the middle of the river, then on their next move carry on as normal. Firing is at reduced effect whilst in the river. If they have to fight their way out against enemy units on the far bank, they count as charging/meleeing uphill.

Thanks to the Vintage Wargaming site for making so much old material available. Inspiring as well as nostalgic!

Joe Morschauser, Wargames Pioneer

Wargames purchases are going to be rare for me in the foreseeable future - money is tight and the hobby is on the back burner. However, I did have a book token left over from Christmas, and I decided to further my interest in the old school pioneers of wargaming by buying a copy of How To Play War Games In Miniature, by Joseph Morschauser. War games was always 2 separate words to these early authors!

Being a minor collecter of old wargames (or should that be war games) books my preference would normally have been for a copy of the original publication, which came out in the same year as Featherstone's War Games. However, the History of Wargaming Project had their own reprint available, and by ordering through a local bookshop I could use my book token. A second hand copy of the original book can be had online for around £20 including p+p; but no book tokens allowed! The attraction of the reprint was enhanced by additional articles on Morschauser's gridded wargames, taken from old wargaming magazines and newsletters.

Image courtesy John Curry

So for £11.95 you get a faithful reproduction of the original book plus about 30 extra pages of old Morschauser articles and a bit of biographical detail. This results in a fairly slim volume of just over 120 pages which nevertheless represents good value for money. There are a number of original photos which are very nostalgic, supplemented by some modern (black and white) photos of John Curry and Bob Corderey resurrecting Morschauser's ideas in recent games. Below we see some gamers having a go at a Morshauser gridded wargame at the Conference of Wargamers a few years ago.

Image courtesy John Curry

Negatives? Well, it's not the original book so the heft is missing (and the smell: ah, the smell of old books!). The photos lose a bit of quality, and there is the odd typo which I assume is a result of glitches in the text recognition software (or whatever it's called) used by Lulu. But once again John is to be congratulated on bringing this old classic to the attention of present day wargamers.

The book itself follows a familiar pattern - introductory remarks about wargaming, chapters on soldier type and scale, setting up a battlefield and the basic principals of wargaming rules. Then 3 sets of rules for ancient (called 'Shock'), horse and musket and modern periods. The rules could hardly be more simple, which is the great attraction of the book for me. Here is an object lesson in how wargames rules can be pared down to bare essentials if you want to try a basic wargame, with all the advantages of quick and easy play. In addition, Morschauser's ideas on wargaming were distinct from those of Featherstone and H.G. Wells: he pioneered the concept of multiple figure bases, and the off-table recording of casualties whilst the units on table remained intact until removed. He can therefore be seen as rather ahead of his time, and the rules will be easy to use with modern collections. One odd omission (at least to modern eyes) is that the rules give no advantage for cover of any kind, which is probably taking simplicity a bit too far. Adding in a consideration for cover can easily be done in one of the usual ways. It should be noted that the gridded wargame was a later idea of Morschauser's: the main rules in the book are not for gridded war games. I was interested to read about these wargames on squared terrain, but I found that the concept is not one that really appeals to me.

It was the modern rules which immediately caught my eye, as being a set of rules which I could easily play with my collection based for Blitzkrieg Commander. I will definitely give them a go, probably as a solo try-out, and I hope this might be the subject of a future post. Interested parties will find a bit more on Joe Morschauser on the Vintage Wargaming  site.

Action at St Johannes

So here we are then. Inspired by the Jack Scruby map from All About War Games (see post for 22nd January below), I developed and played a scenario to test out my rules and continue with my return to wargaming.

The original map came out with proportions of 6' x 5', so to fit my 6' x 6' set up I added 6" top and bottom, resulting in the map below (which is also mildly enhanced and tidied up). For the game some of the names on the map were 'Germanised'.

Scenario - Austria vs Prussia, 1757.

Austria

Feldmarschall-lieutenant Weisser is in charge of a force of a little under 4,000 infantry, 1,200 cavalry and 2 artillery batteries. His mission is to block the crossings of the Schnellfliessend south of the straggling village of St. Johannes, preventing the northward movement of any Prussian forces.

As dawn breaks on this particular day, Weisser and his senior officers are all gathered at the Johanneskirche for a discussion of plans and a brief religious service. Suddenly a small patrol of Grenzers enters the church with news of the approach of a significant force of Prussians, moving up the road from the south-west. Had his cavalry commander not been such a fool, Weisser might have heard sooner! He must alert his troops and get them positioned to counter the Prussian drive.

Forces:

Camped at X - 3 infantry battalions, 1 medium battery.

Camped at Y - 2 infantry battalions.

Camped at Z1 - regiment of dragoons.

Camped at Z2 - regiment of hussars.

At the woodcutters settlement - 1 Grenz battalion, 1 light battery.

At Greens Rock - 1 Grenz battalion.

The brigade commanders must ride out from the church to their encamped units, alert them and get them moving towards the crossing points at the ford and bridge. The Grenz units are each commanded  independently, and are already awake and ready to go. 

Prussia

Generallieutenant von Blau leads a force of 4,200 infantry, 2,500 cavalry and 3 artillery batteries. He has orders to cross the Schnellfliessend and continue north to join up with other Prussian forces in the hills. 

Von Blau is confident that his small but high quality force will be more than a match for any Austrian outposts he meets. He is marching rapidly towards the river crossings, keeping to the road to maximise progress.

Forces:

Infantry brigade of 4 infantry battalions and 2 medium batteries.

Infantry brigade of 3 grenadier battalions and 1 medium battery.

Cavalry brigade of 2 cuirassier regiments.
Cavalry brigade of 2 dragoon regiments.

All units must enter the table in column along the road from A.

Photos

I managed to set up a reasonable representation of the original terrain.

Things went fairly well for the Prussians at first, aided by their higher graded commanders. 

Here they have managed to get the dragoon brigade across the bridge with the larger of the the 2 infantry brigades strung out behind. But the Austrian cavalry was in place just in time - at extreme right you can see the Austrian hussars charging the leading Prussian dragoons.

 A few moves later things are not so rosy for the invaders. The Austrian dragoons have been seen off but the Austrian hussars excel themselves and rout one of the Prussian regiments, supported by fire from the Grenzers' light artillery.

 At the ford the Austrians manage to get their infantry into a blocking position ready to receive the Prussian grenadiers and cuirassiers, who have been stuck in a queue behind the leading brigades. A devastating volley from the first grenadier regiment pushes back one of the Austrian battalions,

 but a stalemate then ensues.

 The Prussians were unable to establish themselves north of the bridge - as each infantry battalion charged over, it was shot to pieces by the ambushing Grenzers and their artillery support, along with long range fire from another Austrian battery you can see in the middle distance. 2 infantry battalions and the 2 regiments of dragoons are done for and there is obviously no point in sacrificing more men. A victory for the Austrians, in 9 moves and about 2 hours of solo gaming.

Conclusions

I think the scenario is a bit of a tall order for the Prussians: that long and winding approach along the road from 'A' gives the Austrians too much time to get organised. Despite some initial bad luck which slowed the activation of the Austrian brigades, they were able to stem the Prussian tide fairly easily. 

If I play the scenario again, I will change the terrain south of the river so a direct road leads from the baseline to each crossing point, ensuring that the Prussians can get some forces across the river. Then with luck there will be a tense battle on the north side.

Best wishes 'til the next post!

Battle of Hochkirch

Having an interest in the Battle of Hochkirch (see this post), I was interested to find that my new copy of The Seven Years War In Europe by Franz Szabo actually had a detail from a painting of the battle as the cover picture. Thanks to the wonder of the internet I can show it in full here. 

The full name of the work is Uberfall auf das preussische Lager bei Hochkirch am 14th Oktober 1758 (Attack on the Prussian camp near Hochkirch, 14th October 1758) by Hyacinth de la Pegna. A very evocative and beautiful work, IMHO. Presumably we are looking from the starting position of the main Austrian army north towards Hochkirch, with the church of Hochkirch prominent and the Prussian tents behind.

Hope you like the painting. If anyone can find a larger image on the net I would love the link.

Cheers for now.

'All About War Games'

My interest in the hobby seems to be slowly reviving, inspired in the main by some Old School messing about. I have been tinkering once again with my own SYW rules, which started by being based on the Horse and Musket rules of Donald Featherstone. I have now added some ideas inspired by Jack Scruby and John Schuster, as explained by the Don in his book Solo Wargames, and the rules have been simplified significantly. I have tacked on my own basic command and control rules. You can download the current iteration here. It felt a bit weird at first, tinkering with rules that I thought might never actually get used, but the fascination is undeniable. I think I may be doing a bit of solo wargaming in future, where I can please myself and watch the game unfold and see how the rules work, away from some of the time pressures of gaming with friends.

Scouring the net for more Old School inspiration, I found (to my surprise and delight) a full copy of Jack Scruby's All About War Games. You can find it here. This seminal work was 'published' in 1957 - it is made up of about 25 pages of typed information and rules, photocopied and sold for $1 at the time; presumably to any of Jack's customers who were interested. The illustration at the top of this post is the only photo in the work - showing a table and armies most of us would  be proud of in 2012, let alone 1957 (the year of my birth). If only it was in colour! Shown below is a battle map from the last page of the booklet. There is no accompanying explanation, but within 30 seconds of seeing it for the first time I was planning a SYW scenario to go with it, and wondering how my own terrain pieces could be used to reconstruct it at home.

I recently cancelled my subscription to Wargames Illustrated. My thanks to the staff member who helpfully and with good grace arranged for me to get a refund. But I was quickly becoming fed up with the magazine itself. Too many adverts, too many advertorials, too much like an industry periodical. Considering all the work that goes into making WI such a glossy product, how odd that true inspiration should come from some very basic photocopied sheets from the distant wargames past.

Of course, if this is your kind of thing, you need to visit http://vintagewargaming.blogspot.com/

Best wishes 'til next time.