What is happening with BKC?

[Dave]

Recce support covers the role the 234/4 should be in - it's not for the infantry, it's heavy AT support for the armoured car squadrons which were supposed to be recce'ing but in German practise were by now a fighting unit due to lack of enough proper kit and troops to use it, so consistently got up gunned (from MG to 20mm A/C to 50mm ATG onwards etc).  There's a decent argument that given the German lack of tactical recce in favour of them being a fire brigade you could just strip the recce ability off the lot of them and use them as fighting troops!

Discussed this with Ian after posting, thanks for the extra info

Dave

[petercooman]

Thanks for that, I've been in too many games were they have been miss used as part of the attack!!!!!

Dave

Yes, it's one of those things that can get overlooked, as it's at the back of the rulebook!

[toxicpixie]

It's awkward - there's the "theoretical role" that the users wanted them for and the actual role they played, and then there's the fitting them into a game framework and the role the player wants them to be in

Rules writing is not simple, especially as there's the theory, the historical practice an even worse the PERCEIVED historical practice which can make things very odd when people insist on case X which is not true but ingrained in our popular consciousness

[Luddite]

Rules writing is not simple, especially as there's the theory, the historical practice an even worse the PERCEIVED historical practice which can make things very odd when people insist on case X which is not true but ingrained in our popular consciousness

Which would you say was more important to get right?

[toxicpixie]

Something that gives the right overall effect without bogging down in "accurate" subsystems that produce a tedious and long winded and ultimately spurious overall effect I'd go for aim for accuracy on the historical front but with enough wriggle room that people can tweak if they feel a need to. But simplicity and ease of play are right up there too...

There's always going to be those who don't accept tank X could beat tank Y no matter the on the ground stats, and others who have the opposite viewpoint or that unit A would never do B - it's the happy medium that lets it feel plausible that's hard. Thick skins needed for rules writers...

To me, BKC pretty much works and doesn't need any fiddling with lists or units, any massive rewriting. Just a tidy up on the margins, really. I'm much more interested in seeing a revamped CWC with a proper set of BKC 2 style lists and stats.

[DougM]

To me, BKC pretty much works and doesn't need any fiddling with lists or units, any massive rewriting. Just a tidy up on the margins, really. I'm much more interested in seeing a revamped CWC with a proper set of BKC 2 style lists and stats.

This ^ seconded. BKCII doesn't need a major rewrite.

[Lord Raffles]

This ^ seconded. BKCII doesn't need a major rewrite.

What BKCII needs is a more accessible, "modern" presentation to attract a new following: emulate the FOW/GW approach to presentation, but maintain and advance upon what is otherwise a fantastic set of rules.

Currently BKCII looks like something that appeals to dedicated, old-fashioned wargamers and already has it's established number of "fans" - the trick is to present these rules in vibrant way to a younger audience - I think the most appealing thing about BKCII is how cheap it is to set up a game, and that's the strong point.

I don't know if anyone here is familiar with 4chan, but www.4chan.org/tg/ is the place to go: so many gamers from around the world go here, and there is already a strong FOW presence in the past two years, so there is an interest in WW2 gaming.

[cmnash]

Any update? in post 1 it was said "reprint in January hopefully" ...

I guess now it's March at the earliest?

[Fenton]

Hi Leon/Dave

Any update on what's happening with BKC?

Cheers

[Nosher]

Must dig out BKC again. Haven't played it in years. Still nostalgic for the 1st edition which IMO was better.

Oddly enough CWC worked for me for infantry engagements with a few bits of armour.

FWC never really worked for me and Ive got loads of sci-fi armies that never see the light of day.

[Leon]

We'll hopefully have news on BKC soon, the draft text will be with us within a fortnight hopefully and then I can get started on the formatting and layout.  We had hoped to have it ready for sale at Salute, but with a 3 week turnaround with the printer, it's going to be cutting it very fine.  At the least, I'd like to have a draft copy there for people to look at.

[Fenton]

Thanks Leon

[Nick B]

Leon,

Can you give any insight into the changes we can expect to see, please?

Many thanks

Nick

[Leon]

Can you give any insight into the changes we can expect to see, please?

The main changes are to the close combat and off-table support, where the author has simplified things.  Elsewhere the rules are similar to the previous version, but hopefully a lot easier and simpler to read.

[vonlacy]

Any news on when the new edition of BKC will be available?