Quote from: Leman on 16 March 2017, 10:01:37 AM


AWI - not enough cavalry - SYW so much more fun to game.

Well said, that man.

My interests include any period that includes a sword or a tank 

But then I'm a collector not a gamer. But if I was, I'd probably find interest in any period, surely its the game (and scale) not the period  :-

Also its interesting to see how forum members opinions change over the years. IIRC the esteemed opening poster once dismissed Korea as being 'too hilly' 

It's interesting, while I happily play any sort of fantasy boardgame, I do not play minis games with fantasy armies (unless you could Saga, which is a bit fantasy). I do have the Crooked Dice fantasy rules (7th Seas, is it?), must try them...

Quote from: Matt J on 16 March 2017, 10:16:23 AM
My interests include any period that includes a sword or a tank 

Ooooh! A challenge! Cavemen.  Sub-Saharan African tribal conflicts. Aztecs.

Quote from: Matt J on 16 March 2017, 10:16:23 AM
Also its interesting to see how forum members opinions change over the years. IIRC the esteemed opening poster once dismissed Korea as being 'too hilly' 

Don't think I did, did I?    I may have remarked that it is very hilly, but that's a challenge to be accepted. Besides which - Centurions!

Many swords in the conquest of Mexico. Even Eric the dog has one.

Having though a small bit more about my last post I don't tend to see my wargaming in a vacuum, personally I'm as interested in the art, architecture, politics and literature of the Renaissance, Ancient Rome or Egypt as I am about the battles.  The new period I alluded to was WW1, something I'd shied away from for years as I'd been heavily influenced by the 'Heros led by Donkeys' view of the 1960s historians I grew up with.  After several years and lots of research I've changed my mind, the slaughter was vast and horrific but the factors which caused it were many, varied and very complex.

Currently I can't see me going for any new periods as I don't have the time to invest.

But I do like a bit of Steam Punk, must be the memories of Jules Verne and HG Wells.

Come to think of it, the factors leading to the existence of donkeys are far from simple.

WWI is one of the periods I go to and then shy away from. I like the thought of early 1914, before the trenches got dug. Also like the thought of the 1918 break out but bit *meh* about the middle.

For the Lions/Donkeys proponents I always ask "you have no tanks, limited artillery, raw troops, no aircraft worth the name. You have no flanks, just a long line of well dug in, well defended enemies. What do you do?"

Mespot though ...

Send a telegram or two suggesting negotiation?

Quote from: Westmarcher on 15 March 2017, 01:19:54 PM
... Some WW2 games I've seen look more like 18th Century games with tanks the way the miniatures are lined up .....

Apologies if taken adversely. No malice intended. Sometimes it's hard to find the correct way to express one's thoughts. Not so much sneering (coz there was no smile) .... more like .... genuine bewilderment* and serving to reinforce my impression that there are too many difficulties to replicate this period on the tabletop satisfactorily enough for me.

I'm no expert on the period myself but have read a good number of books on the subject over the years. As I mentioned, I've being computer gaming this period using Combat Mission and whilst not perfect (thankfully), it just seems to capture the feel of warfare in this era. Nothing happens for ages and I find it very tense probing forward to find out where the enemy is hidden to avoid walking into ambushes - then all hell breaks loose! (I get so engrossed that the little pixellated guys are almost real to me and I so hate it when I lose men!). Then when you do find out where the enemy are, there's the challenge of how to advance without being mowed down - what hidden ground is there? Will my flanking force blunder into another concealed position? How can I support the advance with suppressing fire? How long will it take to organise an artillery strike? What was that firing? Where is it? Wow! I've never seen the variant of that vehicle before. Gee! If you zoom in, you can even see the instructions for use on that panzerfaust that grenadier is wearing! ...... I just can't get this on the tabletop (perhaps Umpire supervised games are the answer?).

Each to their own.   

*why would they do that? e.g., is it a lack of background research, the table size, the rules?

Quote from: Westmarcher on 16 March 2017, 10:53:44 AM
Gee! If you zoom in, you can even see the instructions for use on that panzerfaust that grenadier is wearing! ...... I just can't get this on the tabletop

a) "Gee"? Are you channeling a 1950's American child called Tommy? 
b) I think there are some people who do actually paint to this level of detail. Mentioning no names, but have you looked at some Picts lately? 

Quote from: fsn on 16 March 2017, 11:17:13 AM
a) "Gee"? Are you channeling a 1950's American child called Tommy? 

Another less printable version first occurred ....    (btw, who is Tommy?)

Quote from: fsn on 16 March 2017, 11:17:13 AM
b) I think there are some people who do actually paint to this level of detail. Mentioning no names, but have you looked at some Picts lately? 

There are instructions on how to throw a spear? Gee! .... er ... I mean ... f       

You think my Picts are bad, Dougie wrote the launch instructions on his 10mm Falklands Milans and Charle-Gs, kit I could only aspire to paint that well (no way I could match his amazing details, the man is a painting god)!

To me at least (and this has been at alluded to by others already) it is all fantasy. Every single bit of it. Everyone here has experience in the "real" world and what we do fantasizes the real world.

This forum is my principle engagement with other wargamers, I enjoy it immensely. No matter what we do to express it we are all doing the same thing. I may not hold particular interest in many areas of the hobby but find value in all because everything stimulates my imagination. Imagination is, I think, why we are all (painter, collector, gamer, lurker) in this HOBBY in the first place.
It is imagination that keeps us young, or flexible, or whatever!

That's what I think anyway.

d_guy - stater of the trite and obvious.

This is still a great thread BTW.

Quote from: d_Guy on 16 March 2017, 01:04:36 PM
d_guy - stater of the trite and obvious.

This is still a great thread BTW.

Happy to stand alongside you in support of the trite and obvious then d_Guy!

And yes, it's a great thread and I've been fascinated by the thoughts on what floats our collective boats ... or doesn't.