A Brief Encounter - A Portable Wargame AAR

[Steve J]

A sort of an AAR of a game played last night using Bob Cordery's 'The Portable Wargame' rules. Lots of post-game thoughts on the rules and the game in general:

https://wwiiwargaming.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-brief-encounter-portable-wargame-aar.html

[Shedman]

Good one

A query - I couldn't work out which ones where the skirmishers

[Steve J]

I add little plaques the have 'skirmisher, elite' etc on them to denote what units are different from standard. At some point I might repaint some green or add a more clear indication for skirmishers; ditto light cavalry.

[Leman]

Avery attractive and interesting looking game.

[Techno]

What Andy said.

Cheers - Phil

[Norm]

The Neil Thomas book seem a good companion for both force selection and interesting scenario situations. Though in his system, if elites get into a building feature, trying to winkle them out is very difficult.

I saw the MDF Commision Figures at a wargame show last year and was very impressed at their look and versatility.

He had a variety of bases, amongst them were large square bases with several ranks that looked to be done in the style of Volley and Bayonet bases. If I remember rightly, he suggested cutting the artillery wheels in half (in section) to make the wheels thinner, something that I think would need some care to get an even cut (while keeping fingers out of the way!).

Anyway a very creative and effective solution.

[Steve J]

His displays at shows are very impressive and really show what can be done with a little patience.

[steve_holmes_11]

Excellent write-up:

I'm a fan of the gridded surface's ability to eliminate fiddly measurement and keep things moving swiftly and lined up sensibly.

I really liked the look of your table too.
The Kriegspiel style blocks and representative terrain make for a nice midway point between a battlefield map and a fully detailed tabletop game.

I love miniatures as much as the next fellow here, but when play is "zoomed out" the visual effect often seems a little odd to me.
For example I found something "not quite right" with the traffic jam appearance of Megablitz games.
I've similar problems with the look of the Perry's "Travel battle" - If I wanted units the size of a boy Scout patrol, I'd game in 28mm.

So a big thanks for the report, and a like for your blocks and terrain.

[Steve J]

Thanks for the nice comments chaps .

[d_Guy]

Steve, here is the comment to your blog I was trying to make,
"Enjoyed going through the report, Steve. More to the point caused me, again, to go back and look through the evolution of your block sets (particularly liked the M&P set). I need to consider something similar, sometimes spend more time assembly units with figures than playing actual games.
d_guy"

WordPress/gravitar sometimes doesn't work for me on Blogspot.

[Steve J]

Hi Bill,
sorry you couldn't post on my Blog, but thanks for your comments here. I know what you mean re: assembling and painting versus gaming, which was the main reason for making the blocks in the first place.
Steve J.

[jambo1]

A very interesting read, really enjoyed it.

[pierre the shy]

Very interesting concept that I've not really considered before......but would be suitable for my situation with limited time etc.....

the "unit block" concept works for me and looks great in Steve J's write up. 

As a "for King and Parliament" convert grids are fine with me too

Be looking into this concept a bit further over time.