January is usually a bit of a slow month to get going so with time on my hands I thought I’d reflect on what the group could tackle going forward.
Historical re-fights. Once the life blood of the hobby but not so much so these days. This year we have made a bit of an effort to stage some of these but it has to be admitted they take more organisation than a pick up game or even a narrative game and the reward v effort has to be weighed carefully.
Some of the periods of history in the collections lend themselves fairly well to a re-fight. Our Successors have achieved some good results as have the GNW, Sikh Wars, Wars of Religion and Carlist Wars and there is still more we can probably do with these – fight them through chronologically for example? Other periods suffer from the shear size compared to the scale we happen to have chosen to collect in, others from the dearth of information available, but maybe we just aren’t trying hard enough?
Going forward it would be nice to fight some Thirty Years War battles using Gerard’s 15mm collection under Tilly’s Very Bad Day. The re-vamped War of Austrian Succession in Italy might also be a possible choice, although this may need some additions. On a tricorne theme my French have been waiting patiently for Dave to complete his British for about 5 years now 😂and there are plenty of battles in Savory’s seminal work, maybe 2025 will be their year?
The Victory at Sea collection is most definitely big but the real thing is massive! No way can we fight any of these. Maybe this would lend itself to a mini campaign? Worth think about 🤔
Having conveniently mentioned campaigns above this is one of those things we haven’t tried at all. Certainly they can be a curse for any group/club no matter how big the group or how tight the players – certainly the experience of two of us in a medieval campaign away from home in 2023 was not positive despite the tremendous efforts of the umpire.
Despite the risks I’d like the group to to consider it but choosing the period/campaign will be tricky and the density of the campaign rules would need to be considered carefully. A limited theatre game using our modern collections might work – 10mm Iran/Iraq or 6mm 80’s Cold War or a more formal C18th game.
Weekend game. Or just a longer game. Currently we meet at 10.30am, chat a bit, play until lunch time, break for about 40 minutes for lunch and then crack on until tea time – anywhere between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. Usually perfectly adequate and luxury compared to those who have 3 hours max at a local school/community centre etc and we are well aware of how lucky we are. But occasionally we are left thinking, ‘if only’, a common wargamers complaint and usually when you have bitten off more than you can chew in the choice of the game or you have chatted on too much prior to the game starting – definitely guilty on both counts 😁.
The weekend game is definitely a wargamers holy grail and hiring a hall for a weekend wouldn’t be beyond us financially but would require some organisation by someone. What might be a consideration would be to play in the knowledge that the game is staying up until the next time – next day, next week, whatever. This might allow us to do a narrative where the first day (or part of it) was the initial probe – reinforced recce elements in a modern game, advance guards from C18th & C19th forces, etc.
As I’m typing away I’m thinking maybe this would be a way to ease us into a mini campaign, limited theatre, say the Shenandoah Valley campaign, some map movement, forces collide, games ensue, lasts two or three meet ups. Maybe it would work for the Victory at Sea idea of re-creating an historical engagement?
Skirmish games. In a previous incarnation skirmish games were a staple of the group mainly because we were constrained by the 3 hours and you’re done format. Over the last couple of years however the vibe has changed, we are no longer constrained by the 3 hour set up and around half of the group nowadays is pretty anti the whole skirmish thing.
This does present a bit of a problem. As the original creators of the group Dave and I have a ton of skirmish stuff which represents an obvious investment issue and because skirmish gaming is terrain heavy also gives a storage conundrum. The other week we had the hard conversation about what we could get rid of (along with the stuff we just aren’t using anyway) but each period has a level of emotional attachment which is difficult to break.
The alternative is of course to effectively recreate the 3 hour game by playing separately one afternoon or morning with those who fancy a bit of a gunfight or Viking raiding. Discussion to be had.
Joint projects. We have never discussed this in the group as it now stands but I think it could be worth the trip. There is always the risk that someone can’t/won’t commit but a couple of units in a wider project shouldn’t be too much of a stretch especially if we go for the mini campaign idea or if someone says “I’m thinking of doing……” and everyone else says, “I’ll do a couple of units”. The lead would have the task of basing other peoples troops to ensure a level of conformity but no big deal I reckon.
Sharing the burden. The simple fact of life is that 75% of games are played in my games room and therefor I organise the bulk of the games which can lead to creative staleness on my part. Some steps were made last year to remedy this and maybe if we do some of the things discussed above the staleness might go. Alternatively I just need to say, “guys, somebody else needs to organise”
I think I’ve waffled on long enough now and I’ve got NFL highlights to watch. Certainly given myself things to think about and ideas to float with the group, but not all at once 😀. So until the January round up, farewell and have a good new year.
Westbury Wargamers 