tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.comments2023-02-06T16:00:49.355+01:00Wargamer's BlockMarkusBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-77011226001172805272023-02-06T16:00:49.355+01:002023-02-06T16:00:49.355+01:00I think I'll just say "WOW"... I had...I think I'll just say "WOW"... I had somehow missed your map room page! Page bookmarked, blog followed and added to the reading roll :-)MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-12891240805379821132023-02-02T14:24:58.455+01:002023-02-02T14:24:58.455+01:00Hello, Markus. I just noted your blog's URL am...Hello, Markus. I just noted your blog's URL among the referrals to my blog. I'm glad that you came across my BBB Kriegspiel Block post. I hope you've also checked out the content pages on my blog, in particular the "Map Room" might be of interest for your uses. Glad to follow along with your resources and approach here! Ed Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11486985414917229516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-88207718760082823692022-08-26T14:50:20.936+02:002022-08-26T14:50:20.936+02:00Thanks for the kind words!Thanks for the kind words!MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-65946605224258336112022-08-26T14:47:10.138+02:002022-08-26T14:47:10.138+02:00Thank to you for designing a great game!Thank to you for designing a great game!MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-22338444536261903222022-08-25T14:00:15.008+02:002022-08-25T14:00:15.008+02:00Really nice job! I hope your lovely work will help...Really nice job! I hope your lovely work will help other gamers to enjoy this scenario, which I think is a really fun little tactical puzzle.ChrisBBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522334377353504659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-77657797829522500842022-08-25T13:58:20.105+02:002022-08-25T13:58:20.105+02:00Thanks very much for this generous review of BBB! ...Thanks very much for this generous review of BBB! I'm glad you like it and I appreciate you taking the trouble to share your thoughtful comments. Thank you!ChrisBBBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522334377353504659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-69354654306958396992022-07-15T23:51:43.886+02:002022-07-15T23:51:43.886+02:00I reckon there is a market. I'd buy it.I reckon there is a market. I'd buy it.Balaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03333480235302616245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-6030311295733395412022-07-15T17:25:38.279+02:002022-07-15T17:25:38.279+02:00Hi Steven, it surely wasn't my intention to cu...Hi Steven, it surely wasn't my intention to curb your creative impulses! In fact, I'm tempted to draft an alternate history wargame in which the Hussites won the Bohemian wars and took over the Holy Roman Empire. An age of global warwagonry ensues. 500 years later, battlefields are still dominated by huge war wagons in a variety of shapes and sizes. Working title: WWWW (Wagenburg: World of War Wagons).MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-75140096958359423582022-07-15T13:08:18.940+02:002022-07-15T13:08:18.940+02:00Nice rant. I sympathise but I might be about to go...Nice rant. I sympathise but I might be about to go all Wagenburg syndrome myself. You see I've just started collecting eastern armies of the 17th Century. I've already got Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Zaporozhian Cossack. And both of them feature "Tabor" i.e. Wagenburgs by another name. The current version of my rules, Tilly's Very Bad Day, covers field fortifications as an advanced rule so static Tabor are already addressed. But the rules don't cover the mobile Tabor. Oh, no! I feel a strong temptation to rush out a new version of the rules, with Wagenburgs built into the core!!!! Yes. That is the thing to do. Everybody loves a good wagenburg. <br /><br />But your post has persuaded me to hold back. Particularly given I might be the only person in the entire world using Tilly's Very Bad Day for the Swedish Deluge. The rules are primarily for the Thirty Years War and there were no wagon fortresses to be found in Germany of the time. So perhaps just a scenario special rule will be the right way to go. <br /><br />Thanks for the timely warning. Balaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03333480235302616245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-55018435117954000382022-07-01T10:10:00.767+02:002022-07-01T10:10:00.767+02:00They are indeed... in fact they're my current ...They are indeed... in fact they're my current favourite for this type of game, ex-aequo with Pub Battles. The A3-sized game works flawlessy, thanks!MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-43755777545745271182022-06-07T23:44:46.111+02:002022-06-07T23:44:46.111+02:00They sound like an interesting set of rules, good ...They sound like an interesting set of rules, good luck with your A3 sized game.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02918057670249529750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-48363395314983479002022-06-07T14:20:04.524+02:002022-06-07T14:20:04.524+02:00Yes, that would definitely streamline everything, ...Yes, that would definitely streamline everything, but here I really wanted to model the interplay of different troop types with Marengo's peculiar battlefield, which I consider the most important factor in shaping the battle. My goal for this series of posts was to understand whether you can use a ruleset as simple as OHW and still model the overall course of an historical battle, with real time/space measurements, historical OOBs, etc etc... And surprisingly, I think that it's possible. I don't think I'll ever study games with 100+ pages of rules anymore :-DMarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-17042298707010930802022-06-07T14:06:03.622+02:002022-06-07T14:06:03.622+02:00I'm a big fan of Chris Engle's matrix game...I'm a big fan of Chris Engle's matrix games (basically a modern take on free Kriegsspiel, really). Ein Ritter Spiel and derivates are quite different - the quickest definition I can give is probably "diceless DBA". While I find them a very fun Gedankenexperiment, there is one big drawback in this approach: they completely remove the notion of time from the rules. If you hit a winning combination, you instantly destroy your opponent. There's no unit stamina, no exhaustion, no trading of time with space - not even in their abstract DBA form of 'wait till I get the 6 I need to push through'.MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-65227157551799221582022-06-07T13:49:02.440+02:002022-06-07T13:49:02.440+02:00Thanks for the comment! Yes, your 6x6 approach is ...Thanks for the comment! Yes, your 6x6 approach is very tempting - it removes a lot of the fiddliness you need in 12x12. The only reason I'm still on the fence is that one of my priorities in wargaming is to use real (or reasonable) distances/times. I know it's an heavily out-of-fashion approach, but I want to be able to play OHW with a complete novice and say 'look, massed musketry didn't basically achieve anything beyond like 125m', so your 250m-wide line regiment can only shoot 3". That's the only reason I still like the finer subdivision - at least for horse&musket!MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-69409882772887419642022-06-02T04:31:26.553+02:002022-06-02T04:31:26.553+02:00Why not just represent march columns as any unit g...Why not just represent march columns as any unit greater than X" away from an enemy unit gets to move faster. This way you can stay at the "Corps Commander" level and let the unit commanders control what "formation" the unit is in. Gets rid of a whole slew of exception rules.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-57405873863319858642022-06-02T04:25:11.872+02:002022-06-02T04:25:11.872+02:00Hmmm, this is a really interesting idea. I have se...Hmmm, this is a really interesting idea. I have seen this in another set of rules but never applied to OHW.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-6787911911886346862022-05-31T06:53:58.094+02:002022-05-31T06:53:58.094+02:00I like the Chris Engle matrix rules "Ein Ritt...I like the Chris Engle matrix rules "Ein Ritter Spiel", "Fusilier", "Ritter", etc. because they were all deterministic combat system. If I remember right, so was "The Compleat Brigadier". All interesting combat systems.<br /><br />I look at this in a similar way, but call it Average Turns to Eliminate (or ATE) as a means of determining the best course of action to take for solo gaming with OHW.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-89224980330536592712022-05-31T06:48:33.881+02:002022-05-31T06:48:33.881+02:00Shaun Travers and I worked through those times whe...Shaun Travers and I worked through those times where you need "finer" measurements of 3" and pretty much abstracted them away. It is pretty easy to do and it takes away all of the issues of pivoting and such.<br /><br />Think of the hex (or square) that fully contains a unit as that unit's "battle space". It is very much a concept that has existed for quite some time. Try it.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-2441605362047907182022-05-31T06:44:37.240+02:002022-05-31T06:44:37.240+02:00Let me understand. You use a 12 hex by 12 hex boar...Let me understand. You use a 12 hex by 12 hex board. Units span 2 hexes thus unit frontage is 1/6 board width. Is the basic infantry movement two hexes and firing range four hexes? If so, that matches the magic ratios. :) Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-63200626895589983062022-05-31T06:41:13.842+02:002022-05-31T06:41:13.842+02:00Yeah, OHW emphasizes the one true tactic: concentr...Yeah, OHW emphasizes the one true tactic: concentration of combat power.Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13667428218897971037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-56196946211851204342021-05-31T15:03:34.178+02:002021-05-31T15:03:34.178+02:00Often, the victor is not the one with the best pla...Often, the victor is not the one with the best plan but the one who makes fewer and less critical mistakes.vtsaogameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13104194914166417310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-21820858939147144772021-05-31T12:11:42.039+02:002021-05-31T12:11:42.039+02:00Thanks for your comment. I agree the 'two brid...Thanks for your comment. I agree the 'two bridges, one gate' option seems the most convincing - if anything, because it doesn't make sense, much like most of what Melas and Bonaparte did on that day. BTW, the map I'm using seems to show exactly that if you zoom on the tete-de-pont: two bridges next to each other, and just one opening in the TdP barricade.MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-65326331695274776032021-05-29T14:32:12.437+02:002021-05-29T14:32:12.437+02:00The West Point Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars mainta...The West Point Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars maintains that the pontoon bridge was floated upstream into the tete du pont. The stream was sluggish, so this was no great feat. But the tete du pont had only one gate, so troops crossing the extra bridge still had to wait until other troops cleared the single gate. <br /><br />Looking forward to seeing more of this. Marengo is one of my favorites.vtsaogameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13104194914166417310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-3785400809060903082021-03-29T09:41:17.421+02:002021-03-29T09:41:17.421+02:00I must confess I'd *gladly* be a lot less effi...I must confess I'd *gladly* be a lot less efficient if I only had enough gaming/storage space and time!<br />My preference for 5mm-thick blocks comes from the fact that I'm obessed with historical frontage/depth ratios and the fact that it's completely misrepresented in ALL miniature games... thin blocks allow me to come a lot closer to true aspect ratios (e.g. I use 50x5mm blocks for an 8-deep hoplite unit of 1000 men in 125 files). I'm the first to admit that they're a bit fiddly for free movement rules, but they're OK for gridded movement.<br />Re: labeling thin blocks... I'm afraid I don't have any useful advice! But I can assure you that it's a lot easier than painting 6mm figures.MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858831834980301942.post-32216343856186820372021-03-29T09:40:45.475+02:002021-03-29T09:40:45.475+02:00This comment has been removed by the author.MarkusBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13395396933354061422noreply@blogger.com