Motivation and inspiration

[Chad]

Mollinary

I do not think anything is necessarily missing from any of the sets you mention, anymore than with other sets for other periods.

We are all in the hands of the rule writers and their view of how periods should be played. This is why we are continually bombarded by new sets, all of which have something different (or so they claim).

I have tried many of the rules you mention (and others) simply to find the one that I like the most. They all lack something, somewhere, but they are all playable.

I am sure like many gamers, I try to tweak elements to adjust the feel to my ideas. The 'Holy Grail' of rules will never appear. In some ways this is why I enjoy Black Powder. It is a toolbox which can be modifed by individual wargamers to meet their individual needs.

The one thing I think is missing from all discussions on rules is who the rules are best suited to. For example, if you are a member of a club that meets once a week, does not have permanent facilities and must complete a game in a day/evening, then they need rules with different game mechanics than those where games can be left in situ from week to week. Those different mechanics must, I think, produce significant variations in the feel for the period being played. Horses for courses.

Chad

PS. 'Die Fighting' is also a very inetersting set of rules, which I am trying now.

[Luddite]

V&B = not a fan of the scale although the rules are fair enough.

Black Powder = bland, flavourless, generic and completely miss the period friction

TTLGB = ??  (If this is from the Too Fat Lardies stable i'm unlikely to be a fan...)

1870 = excellent source material but rules are fiddly

Zouave = ?

Field of Battle = ?

Principles of War = Very good set of rules but i don't like the '1 base size' mechanic

The FPW rules on this forum = Um...as Leon will no doubt attest, i think they need some work to be playable...(i sent through a critiqued copy and a 'proposed rewrite').

What do you want from a FPW set of rules that the current crop doesn't provide?

OK, so...

1.  Friction - rules that effectively model the key Prussian mobility vs. French foritifcations and 'Chassepot vs. Krupp artillery' duelling.

2.  Command and control - rules that accurately reflect the differences between the Prussian and French command structures and capacity for tactical initiative

3.  Playability (as ever)

4.  'Feel'

I've been looking at a conversion over from Fire & Fury which is the ruleset most close in time and potential battle friction; trying to tweak the factors to achieve the Prussian vs. French model...but so far i've not explored that too much as i'm into 'chicken and egg' mode.  Can't get the figures together until i know the rules i'm using (determines orders of battle) and can't find impetus to sort out rules as i don't have the figures ready!   

[lentulus]

For what it is worth, this is where I got to with my thinking on the problem.

http://mlt6x4rules.blogspot.com/

I may get back to it, too many other things going on right now.

[Chad]

Luddite

The simple way to sort the rules out, is to use any figures from periods you already have. Providing you are not overly sensitive to the basing of those figures, you can use them to test the various rule options available.  I have been doing this for a while now.

Chad

[lentulus]

For example, if you are a member of a club that meets once a week, does not have permanent facilities and must complete a game in a day/evening, then they need rules with different game mechanics than those where games can be left in situ from week to week.

I have seen few games, of any type of in any venue, that suffered from being completable in a short period of time; or that could be set up and put away quickly.

[mollinary]

Guys,

Thanks for the rapid responses. Luddite, To the Last Gaiter Button is not a toofatlardies product, although I like their approach and ideas, but it is from the Real Time Wargames stable, sold through Realistic Modelling.  They have certain idiosyncrasies, such as the square system pioneered by Peter Pig in 'Square bashing' , but their simplicity creates complex problems for the general.  I find them very clever (what ever that says about me!) and really tricky to play well. Concentrating force at the right place at the right time is taxing, and mistakes take ages to rectify. Perversely this is something I really like, you can argue that the way this happens is not realistic, but the result is.  And it plays quickly, is easy to learn, cheap (relatively), and can accommodate big games.  And it does reflect the Chassepot/Krupp dynamic.  Field of Battle is a Piquet product, not really my thing after a formative experience in an ACW game when I never got to move while my entire army was ripped to pieces (I still bear the scars).  Zouave and Die fighting are both by the originator of Piquet,  but have I think, more mileage in them - but I am still in the assesssment phase.  Age of Valor will be Ed Gray's version of Fire and Fury  for the "hyphenated" wars, but there is already  a version of F&F on the net from Wye Valley Wargamers, which I think originated with Nick Dorrell.  Might be worth a look.

Mollinary

[robert]

My wife has noticed the growing mountain of toys waiting to be painted and has come up with the ultimate in motivation - you can buy some more WHEN you have finished that lot!  They are in a corner in the den and she is quite capable of inspecting them!

So I want to do lots of things with Pendraken figures in various periods BUT the 28mm plastics I bought in abundance have to be built and painted first - oh well!

Field of Battle is from the Piquet stable but gives a 'fairer' outcome in that both sides will always get to move - sooner or later.  I love Piquet rules though as they provide genuine fog of battle and are perfect for the solo gamer.

Per a previous post the 'cards' or sequence decks can be loaded to make things more difficult for the French Command and accurately portray that part of the historical gaming.

I have never been in a battle but all that I have read makes me think it was total chaos - just like Piquet or command blunders in BKC2

[nikharwood]

My wife has noticed the growing mountain of toys waiting to be painted and has come up with the ultimate in motivation - you can buy some more WHEN you have finished that lot!  They are in a corner in the den and she is quite capable of inspecting them!

Like it...I couldn't help but laugh out loud last night when my wife suggested that I must have "at least 4 or 5 armies"...

Bless...

I've painted "4 or 5 armies" in the last two months...never mind the 16 years we've been married 

[Chad]

Blimey Nik how do you manage that quantity in that time??



Chad

[Chad]

Mollinary

You must have had a bad experience with FOB. What you mentioned was very much the issue with the original Piquet. FOB, while still card driven, has been adjusted so that each player has the same number of initiative points each turn, with initiative rolls determing the number of points (cards) and who goes first. I've played 3 games so far and never had that problem, although I have experienced it with Piquet.

Chad

[Luddite]

My wife has noticed the growing mountain of toys waiting to be painted and has come up with the ultimate in motivation - you can buy some more WHEN you have finished that lot!  They are in a corner in the den and she is quite capable of inspecting them!

Presumably you explained that a wargamer's lead mountain is a fountain of youth, and that we only actually die when we've painted our last figure and the lead mountain is gone?

Buying more unpainted lead (and plastic) is vital for our long-term health...



My wife tends to be very tolerant (bless 'er) of the teetering masses groaning off the shelves in our spare room...not to mention to tower of box files containing the finished articles...WHY is the box you want always at the bottom of the pile?

[Chad]

Luddite

So true. So true.

Chad

[Luddite]

Have you all noticed as well that when you go looking for something, you tend to uncover a bag containing a whole unpainted army that you forgot you'd bought?

[Nosher]

Have you all noticed as well that when you go looking for something, you tend to uncover a bag containing a whole unpainted army that you forgot you'd bought?

Yup

Had a weeks leave this week and decided it was hightime to do a stocktake of the wargames inventry. Found a 10mm Rolish renaissance Army which I only purchased about six months ago...

It's a nice surprise to receive though

[mollinary]

Chad,

Well spotted, my experience was actually with the original Piquet, so I am delighted if FoB has corrected this problem. I think my psychological scarring was as much caused by my excessive expectations for Piquet, as the actual massacre! Still, I am in a happier place now, secure in TTLGB heaven, at least until Age of Valor arrives.

Mollinary