Elizabethan Small Wars: Part 8: Irregular Wars - Playtesting

The birth of my interest in Nic Wright's Irregular Wars: Conflict at the World's End coincided with the author commencing development of IW2, for which my friend Ian and I have been privileged to act as playtesters.  Although I've been involved with the development and proof-reading of wargame rules before (mainly Peter Pig), this is the first time I have had the time to participate in playtesting and we are both finding it quite exciting.

Our twelfth playtest game featured Ian and three of our fellow wargame club members whilst I umpired/advised, i.e. four players with one Battle (force) each. These comprised two battles of Royal English versus one battle of Mere Irish and one battle of Spanish Expeditionary Force, a sort of alternative Battle of Kinsale (1601).

Elizabethan Small Wars: Part 7: Irregular Wars - Getting picky about measuring wheels

Some people have some strange ways of measuring wheels. I like the closing door analogy. When measuring (forward) wheels, one front corner remains stationery (the hinge) while the other corner swings round.

The usual and most practical way of measuring that move in the absence of a turning circle is in a straight line, but that is actually a short-cut across the turning circle rather than the long way around following the circumference. How significant is the difference?

WW2 platoon hex rules: Part 3: Three Phases of Fire Combat

My WW2 platoon-base hex rules are at the concept rather than the mechanism stage. Drafting and playtesting are even further off. It may be difficult to find the mechanisms to realise the concepts, but you have to start somewhere and the beginning seems as good a place as any. Please note that where factors are given values, these are purely to illustrate significant differentials. They are just place-holders for the final values.

Discussion of resolving firefights en masse on TMP has helped me to identify and clarify three levels of combat which I would like to represent. These are (a) ranged fire, (b) close range firefights, and (c) assaults.

WW2 platoon hex rules: Part 2: Firefights

I want to create some very concise quickplay rules that confront players with intelligent command choices, but which use simple mechanisms to resolve the consequences. My first posting on this subject provoked a very interesting and helpful discussion on TMP. In the meantime, another TMP thread has given me an idea for managing firefights. The new thread began as a question about representing pinning and suppression but has drifted into a much wider discussion on the nature of firefights and combat in general.

I'm trying to get away from the micro 'element A fires at element B' approach and I had already decided to conduct close combat along the same lines that Assaults are conducted in Square Bashing, i.e. an en masse totalling of element factors. This mechanism is also used in another game I have played recently, Martin Rapier's Rifle and Kepi (albeit at grand tactical level).

WW2 platoon hex rules: Part 1: The Givens

I have some fairly large British and German 10mm armies for the 1944 WW2 Normandy campaign. They were originally organised and based for Spearhead but have never been used. I'm now planning to develop some 1 base = 1 platoon rules for use with Kallistra Hexon II terrain.

I haven't written any rules since I was a schoolboy. It's quite an exciting challenge. I'll be presenting some ideas here and would welcome feedback.

The following givens are fundamental:

• 1 base = 1 platoon.
• Suitable for armies with infantry on 30mm x 30mm and AFVs mostly on 30mm x 60mm bases.
• 100mm/4" hexed playing area.
• Playable on a table typically no larger than 6' x 4' (so it can be played at home). 
• Playable to a conclusion in 2-3 hours (so it can be played on a club evening).

Everything else is flexible.

Thoughts on scale and basing preferences

1/72, 1/76, OO or 20mm. Call it what you will, it was a
common starting point for most people of my generation.

Why do different gamers favour particular scales? The more I think about it the more I feel that personal preference is probably outweighed by model availability, 'because the rules stipulate it', or because of pressure to conform with other players if you don't want to be left playing solo.

Historical wargamers tend to be of a certain age and they began with what was available at the time. My first schoolboy armies were 1/72 Airfix figures and vehicles and some somewhat smaller Roco Minitanks though that didn't really bother me at the time. When I came back into wargaming in the later 70s I was mad for Ancients and gave away the 1/72 AFVs I had rescued from from parental disposal. This effectively broke my own connection with 1/72 but this seems somewhat untypical. (I should point out that when I use the term '1/72', I mean the ranges variously made and described as OO, 1/72, 1/76 or 20mm. Let's not be pedantic.)