Monthly Archives: July 2020

General

Slip jigs and rocky roads

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I think I understand why people play golf when they retire, not that it seems anymore meaningful to me but I like to think I understand, the way I think I understand why the blue head wrasse produces a super male. It is not relevant to my life but nice to know why people make these choices.

I reach retirement age shortly and, after years of avoiding staff reductions and hanging on through half a dozen, I will finally be set out to graze. Not that I can look back on a lifetime of work with considerable satisfaction.

My best moments are odd ones and few related to work. I recall an intense period of on-call overtime working through a charity event featuring Nell Carter. I went down to the abandoned service trays of food at 5 in the morning and ate what I pleased. It was not good but satisfying. Not much else stands out in my mind except a long history of working for people who wanted to make programmers superfluous. Moving IT centers to India seemed to be the next best thing.

But of course this is neither here nor there. People get what they expect to get. At one company, a programmer found a discarded printout showing all raises and ratings everyone was to receive at the end of the year. Somehow, we always lived up to their limited expectations.

Ok, so I will retire but I am not going to play golf.

Rules

Samurai wargame rules

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Written by Sid Smith and Ken Smith published in 1974 by London Wargames Section and one of those ubiquitous little spiral bound volumes that seemed to dominate back in the mid 70s. An earlier staples version of the rules exist as well.

The rules cover skirmishes in Japan from 1100- 1500AD. Figure scale is 1 to 1, ground scale 1” = 2 1/2 ‘. One turn equals one minute. The game is designed for 25mm figures.

The game sequence is order writing, fire, move, melee, and morale tests. Hidden movement is simulated using real and dummy makers. There are limits on organization. Each player is represented by a figure on the board. Figures permitted are samurai, ashigaru, chugen, some of the latter two can be designated as missile troops. There are also rules for muskets. Terrain includes roads, houses, walls, marshes, and ‘vegetation’.

Easy to guess that Japanese warfare has a fascination but in 1974 figures would have been scarce. The actions presented here fall midway between chambara films of the time and larger battles but offers limited soldier types. The rules are very much in the style of early English rules. What orders can be given is decidedly ambiguous.

Rules

Red badge of courage

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A playtest copy of a set of rules for skirmish level encounters in the American Civil War. The rules cover infantry only. There is no ground scale I can find though figure scale is 1 to 1. Rules are for 54mm figures but usable for 25mm.

Individual figures are provided action points which are used to determine the number of actions up to 4 available to a figure per turn with an asymmetrical sequence of play broken out according to actions. Number of action points is determined by morale level, which also determines actions available, and experience. Wounds impact action points and morale. There are additional rules for morale checks, fire combat, and melee.

The rules seem never to have been published. Though the author Greg Novak is listed in both Boardgamegeek and Wikipedia, these rules do not show up under his list of publications. An interesting old set.

Rules

Wargame rules for fifteenth through seventeenth century

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Wargames Rules for Fifteenth through Seventeenth Century

Wargames Research Group dips into a period for gamers with a zeal for the esoteric. Phil Barker is nowhere in evidence. The author is George Gush founder of the Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society and former head of history at West Kent College.

The rules follow the format of the old WRG Ancients Rules with of course more emphasis on the tactics peculiar to the period. Personnel range from infantry to elephants with everything from javelins to rockets with of course muskets and pikes. One figure represents 20 except for field pieces and elephants which represent 5. For 20-25mm, 1” equals 10 paces, 20 paces for 15mm, and 40 paces for 1:300.

I recall an interesting game set in Eastern Europe complete with winged hussars and other odd troop types. I do not recall the war being represented but was fascinated by the constant consultation of charts. Yes, it was a long time ago.

And of course there is a set of army lists available for use with the rules. The years do not match those of the rules and appear to cut off at the introduction of the plug bayonet.