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An A to Z of Strackenz

June 7, 2013, 11:14 am
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I recently wrote a blog entry that was entitled ‘An A to Z of Ruritania’, and since then I have read George MacDonald Fraser’s book, ROYAL FLASH … and as there are so many similarities, I thought that I would produce ‘An A to Z of Strackenz’.

(According to George MacDonald Fraser’s ‘hero’, Harry Flashman, the author of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA – Antony Hope – plagiarised his story after hearing Flashman tell it to him ‘in confidence’.)

Places
  • Jotun Gipfel: A range of rugged hills running through the centre of the Duchy of Strackenz
  • Jotunberg, Castle of: Remote and partially ruined castle used as a prison for the kidnapped Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark
  • Jotunschlucht: A gorge in the Jotun Gipfel
  • Jotunsee: A lake situated next to Jotunberg Castle
  • Schönhausen: Otto von Bismarck’s country estate
  • Strackenz, City of: Capital of the Duchy of Strackenz
  • Strackenz, Duchy of: Small Duchy sandwiched between Holstein and Mecklenburg. The majority of the Duchy’s population is made up of people who are Danish or German in origin.
  • Strelhow: A hunting lodge
People
  • Bersonin: One of Rudi von Starnberg’s assistants
  • Bismarck, Otto von: Leader of the conspirators behind the plot to instigate a war that will result in the absorption of the Duchy of Strackenz into the German (i.e. Prussian) sphere of influence
  • Carl Gustaf of Denmark, Prince: Nephew of King Christian of Denmark. Betrothed to Duchess Irma of Strackenz.
  • De Gautet: One of Rudi von Starnberg’s assistants
  • Detchard: Personal assistant to Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark, and one of the conspirators
  • Einar: Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark former valet
  • Flashman, Harry: Doppelganger of Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark. Ex-bully of Harrow School and an officer in the British Army. Noted coward and rascal. Often mistaken for a hero.
  • Grundvig, Doctor Per: One of the leaders of the pro-Danish Sons of the Volsungs
  • Hansen, Eric: Danish Ambassador to Berlin and boyhood friend of Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark. Also a member of the Sons of the Volsungs.
  • Helga: Duchess Irma’s lady-in-waiting
  • Irma, Duchess: Ruler of the Duchy of Strackenz
  • Josef: Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark new valet
  • Karjuss, Doctor: Munich magistrate
  • Kraftstein: One of Rudi von Starnberg’s assistants
  • Landsfeld, Gräfin: Mistress of King Ludwig of Bavaria. Formerly and variously known as Lola Montez, Mrs Rosanna James, and Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert
  • Lauengram: Gräfin Landsfeld’s Chamberlain
  • Ostred, Doctor: Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark’s personal doctor
  • Pechman, Baron: Former Commissioner of Police for Munich
  • Pechman, Baroness: Wife of the former Commissioner of Police for Munich and the honey trap used to ensnare Harry Flashman into the plot
  • Saldern, Marshal von: Constable of Strackenz
  • Sapten, Major: One of the leaders of the pro-Danish Sons of the Volsungs
  • Schwerin, Adolf: Chief Minister of Strackenz
  • Starnberg, Freiherr Rudi von: Bismarck’s Austrian-born lieutenant and co-conspirator.
  • Steubel: Strackenzian aide to the fake Prince Carl Gustaf of Denmark
  • Wessel, Fähnrich (Lieutenant): Commander of Duchess Irma’s immediate bodyguard at the time of the plot
Army Units
  • Strackenz Grenadiers: A unit of the Strackenzian Army
  • Duchess’s Guard: A unit of the Strackenzian Army. They wear a distinctive uniform that includes a yellow tunic.
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More Morschauser

June 8, 2013, 1:35 am
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Tim Gow recently sent me some copies of articles written by Joseph Morschauser for the good old WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER. I am in the process of adding them to my growing file of stuff written by Joseph Morschauser, but I found them so interesting that I thought that I should share them with other wargamers ... so here is the first article. It was published in WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER: No.66 (September 1967).

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A HECTIC VISIT
At the moment I am preparing for a visit by herb Roig on the February 6th week-end. I’m taking Monday off and we plan a couple of battles on the old (1885 British) frontier. In one action, the beginning of a new Hauserstan campaign, the thin red line will face a howling horde of savages in white burnooses and other with not much more than shields. Some years back Herb and I fought the first Hauserian campaign. The British contending with both the local natives and the French and Italian took over the country and have since built a Cape to Cairo RR line right through the Sultanate (of Hauser). Now the Eyeties and Frogs want to have another go, have roused up the natives (under Sultan Joseph III, Mad Mahdi of Morobad). French Central Sahara borders the Sultanate (now called Hauserstan under the British) on the west, Italian East Somali borders on the east. Anglo-Sudan is north and British East/Central Somali on the S.E. Directly south of course is the Kingdom of Zulu inhabited by (naturally) Zulu types who have always been friendly to the Hauserians. It’s all imaginary but fun.

Sir Horatio H. Roig, VC (Lord Spoor of Lasher – Herb’s company is Spoor-Lasher Sand and gravel Corp) will command the Anglo-Hauserian Field Force. This is composed of a territorial foot regiment, a Naval/Scot regiment and an Empire regiment, a mixed cavalry regiment and a regiment of guns. When I started I was calling 4 trays a “regiment” but the 54’s have grown so I now have enough so I can call same a “company”. Thus the Empire foot regiment is composed of Anglo-Egyptians and Anglo-Sudanese companies, two Ghurka companies and one Sikh company. All in all the British will pit about 90 trays against 135 native trays but of course the Hauserians have less power per tray and lack artillery or Maxims. This battle will be fought February 6th for the city of Morobad where the Anglo-Hauserian field force is now quartered. The city is on a low plateau overlooking Corbe’ River which the native must cross to reach it.

Regardless of outcome the next day there will be an evenly-balanced battle between the British army and the Franco-Italian army. By the way Caliph Kirk, Mad Mulla of Morobad (John Kirk) will second the Sultan and Pukka Parker, Brig. Gen., (Parker is Larry Parker). Should be an interesting operation and I shall try for some photos at the time. If I get any I shall send some prints on.

The battlefield is gridded of course. Rules used will not make use of rifle fire, this instead being combined within a battle Power number for each tray. Thus action on this level will not take place until troops actually come in contact (trays in adjacent grid squares). This has the effect of enlarging the battlefield. You have to be out on a flank in a physical sense with troops to stop a flanking attack. You can’t do it at 3 foot range just with rifle fire as in the past. Only actual firing is done by cannon (dice rolling of course). Thus troops out of move distance from you are for practical purposes miles away.

I have built a lot of new terrain to conform to this 3 inch grid square idea. The city of Morobad for instance consists of streets (bases) of plyboard with buildings in “flat” form astride lines between grid squares. Erected in a zig-zag arrangement they are startlingly three dimensional but take up absolutely no space. Hills are uniform stepped jobs all built to conform to the same height step pattern. Even these don’t look bad at all. And of course there are the usual trees (plastic ferns from 5 and 10) plus roads etc. Not up to your realistic type of terrain but very practical from a game standpoint for me.
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I found this description most intriguing, and it put me in mind of the photographs of some of Joseph Morschauser's wargames that were featured in Donald Featherstone's books.


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Books, books ... and even more books!

June 8, 2013, 7:49 am
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I may be a devotee of the Kindle when it comes to most things, but I still like books ... and today has been a bit of bonanza on the printed paper front.

The post brought me two newly published books from Osprey. The first was TANKS OF HITLER'S EASTER ALLIES 1941-45 (New Vanguard 199 by Steven J Zaloga and Henry Morshead [ISBN 978 1 78096 020 3]) ...


... and the second was KHARKOV 1942: THE WEHRMACHT STRIKES BACK (Campaign 254 by Robert Forczy and Howard Gerrad [ISBN 978 1 78096 157 6]).


I hope that both of these books will prove useful as and when I begin work on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign project.

This afternoon I visited Falconwood Transport & Military Bookshop, 5 Falconwood Parade, The Green, Welling, Kent, DA16 2PL. I try to go there every couple of months, and I rarely make a visit without buying something. Today I excelled myself and came away with two book, WARSHIP IDENTIFICATION (written by Lieutenant Commander E C Talbot-Booth and illustrated by David G Greenman; it was published in 1971 by Ian Allan [SBN 7110 0166 9]) ...


... and JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS 1969-70 (edited by Raymond V B Blackman and published by Sampson Low, Marston & Company).


The latter cost me just £10.00(!) and has a very useful page that illustrates the ships of the Indian Navy.


I think that I will find this very useful ... especially in my preparations for my COW2013 session about Operation Vijay.
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Even more Morschauser

June 9, 2013, 3:02 am
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The second article written by Joseph Morschauser that Tim Gow recently found in an old copy of WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER and then sent me, came at a very interesting point in time. (The article was originally published in WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER: No.69 (December 1967).) I have been having a number of email discussions with David Crook about his planned Chaco War project and my thoughts on developing a small campaign set in the 1920s or 1930s based around my imagi-nation of Cordeguay. In many ways what Joseph Morschauser outlines below is very close to my own thoughts on the matter ... and it has given me some pause for thought.

One very interesting point that Joseph Morschauser makes in his article is the choice of figure stance he has made ... and why he has made that choice. I suspect that most 'modern' wargamers tend not to use kneeling figures except where they want them to represent gun crews, mortar crews, artillery spotters, snipers or something similar; for most infantry the 'advancing' figure seems to be the most commonly used pose. But Morschauser makes the point that a kneeling figure is more stable than a standing figure and that photographs of soldiers tend to show them crouched down or kneeling, and not standing upright.

It is an interesting point ... and one that deserves further consideration.

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I have planned a departure from my usual grid type game which may surprise you. I have contracted with Jack Scruby to make me several special figures of Germans and British in W.W.I dress, not colonials but regulars. These are kneeling figures with rifle at the ready or with no weapon in hand (to serve as gunner types). These 30mm figures I plan to use loose, not on trays, something which may shock you. On top of this I plan to use a model RR type of terrain modified to the degree only making it useable for wargaming. My object is to set up some very small unit battles, not particularly of W.W.I but of the 1920s and 1930s. The figures will just be basic, all the same and I selected kneeling types because I felt that this was the best compromise between the stability of a prone loose figure and the looks of a standing loose figure. It’s a good position for modern war and one in which troops are often pictured. Anyway, my plan is to first set up a mythical Central American campaign between two tine banana republics, one with leanings towards German, the other with ties to the U.S. Thus, of course, the uniforms would fit. Some S. American countries still wear German pot helmets and use Mauser rifles by the way. In any event this will allow me to introduce variety though small quantity of equipment into the game, anything from W.W.I tanks and ACs to more “modern” types, W.W.I aircraft and later types including s9ome Ford or Junker tri-motor high wing monoplane transports for crude paradrops on the table. As anything from anywhere was used in the area in wars of the period this should be good fun.

My plan is to set up a mostly jungle type of terrain cut with many roads crossing each other and a very few hills, an occasional stream etc. Since jungle in that area is quite bad only the infantry will have any mobility off the roads and even then their weapons’ ranges will be cut. (A .30/60 or a .303 bullet doesn’t go far in dense brush and jungle). The numbers of ACs or tanks or guns used will be small and these will be confined to roads and an occasional small clearing. Thus most of the campaign will revolve around control of roads and cross roads with some attempted flanking movements through the brush. Airdrops by paratroops will be accomplished by dropping one inch square slips of paper from the drop point a foot or two above the table with individual men landing where paper lands. This should really add to confusion and fun. The whole thing will be on a company basis, not a regimental or divisional one. Its evident one cannot use a mass of trees and still operate a wargame thus I will simulate forest areas with some trees and a green overlay of shelf paper though I shall make trees numerous enough to look effective. This should allow troops to be easily moved and still look good. Rest of the terrain will be pretty near as it should be.
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I have been to ... Broadside, Sittingbourne

June 10, 2013, 12:50 am
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'Broadside' is a small regional wargames show that is held annually in the Kent town of Sittingbourne. The location is the local leisure centre ...


... and the driving force behind the show is Alan Abbey.


(I have known Alan since he was eleven, when he was a pupil in the show where I then worked. He was interested in wargaming, and after a bit of pressure from him and one or two others I set up a club in the school. It ran for a couple of years ... and now Alan is the chairman of the Milton Hundred Wargames Club. He is also the author of the recently published BLOOD, BILGE AND IRON BALLS.)

I visited this show two years ago, and I must admit that I was surprised and pleased to see that it has grown, both in terms of the number of traders and games that were on show. The lighting inside the two main halls is not good, and I apologise in advance for the colour quality of some of my photographs. Likewise some of my captioning may be a little awry as I was not always able to get exact details of each of the games that were on show and which clubs were putting them on.

The Battle of the Boyne (Posties Rejects)
This was the first thing that I saw as I entered the Wyvern Hall (the smaller of the two halls used for the show) ... and I was very impressed.









I see a lot of the Rejects around the wargames shows in the south of England and they epitomise the ideal sort of wargames club. They are a small group of friends who obviously love their wargaming and are not afraid to have fun. I wish them more power to their collective elbows!

The Battle of Salado Creek, 1842 (Skirmish Wargames)
This was something a bit different, and was a recreation of the battle between the invading Mexican army (led by a Frenchman!) and a small force of Texas Rangers and Texan militia.








I was interested to see that they were using a playing card unit activation system, and I was able to have a short chat with one of the chaps running the game about how and why they had chosen the particular game mechanism they were using. It was very informative ... as was the handout they gave me about both the battle and the rules. They get a resounding 10 out of 10 for being visitor friendly!

Flintloque (Medway Wargames Club)



Dogfights in Northern France (SEEMS)
The South east Essex Military Society was running a series of dogfights set in 1940 that pitched Allied aircraft against some rather heavyweight German opponents.




The rules and aircraft were all drawn from the Axis and Allies Miniatures: Angels 20 game ... and they look very impressive.

Various Fantasy Battles (Gamers Hub?)
Poor signage did not make it clear whether one, both, or neither of these games was being run by Gamers Hub. The plan stated that these games were located at tables allocated to Gamers Hub ... but who knows? (Not me!)




Ancient Battles: Issus 333 BC (Society of Ancients)
As usual Professor Phil Sabin was representing the SOA and running one of his excellent ancient battles.





Slaughterloo (Friday Night Firefight Club)









SAGA demonstration game (Wargames Emporium)



Denmark 1940 (Deal Wargames Society)
Yet another outing for this club's wonderful terrain. I could spend hours just looking at it.







Those Magnificent Men In Their Floating Machines (Maidstone Wargames Society)
A novel game that featured a number of very nicely modelled balloons.




On Her Majesty's Crooked Service (Crooked Dice)
A TV/film-inspired game using the company's 7TV rules.




Operation Husky: Sicily 1943 (Eastbourne Wargames Club)




Gunboats on the Nile (Southend Wargames Club)
This was a large wargame in terms of the terrain ... and the standard of modelling exhibited was superb.










Miracle of the Marne (Crush the Kaiser)




Aeronef/Dystopian Wars? (?)


The Town With No Name (Shepway Wargames Club)
You could almost feel the heat and smell the horse manure! A very atmospheric terrain that looked and felt just right.




World War II Skirmish (Hornchurch Heroes)
These two terrain boards showed just how much detail it is possible to get into a relatively small area ... and for the results to look very realistic.




English Civil War (Realistic Modelling Services)
As usual the standard of terrain produced by Realistic Modelling Services was excellent, and Bernard Ganley was on hand to guide players through the company's English Civil War rules.






American War of Independence Battle (Gravesend Wargames Club)




Star Wars X-Wing (Hornchurch Heroes)


World War II battle using 'I Ain't Been Shot Mum!' rules (?)


During my time at the show I did manage to meet David Crook, and we were able to swap a number of items. He got a couple of books, and in return I got a book and some unmade kits of gun-armed FT-17 tanks. I also managed some interesting purchases of ROCO Minitanks from Harefields Figures that will go towards my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign project.

All-in-all I had a great time at 'Broadside', and hope to go again next year.
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Swops and purchases

June 10, 2013, 9:05 am
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At 'Broadside' yesterday David Crook and I managed to swop some items. I gave him a copy of Adrian J. English's THE GREEN HELL – A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE CHACO WAR BETWEEN BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY 1932-35 (published in 2007 by Spellmount Ltd.[ISBN 978 1 86227 445 7]) ...



... and my spare copy of ARMIES OF THE ADOWA CAMPAIGN 1896: THE ITALIAN DISASTER IN ETHIOPIA (MAA 471 by Sean McLachlan and Raffaele Ruggeri [ISBN 978 1 84908 457 4]).


In exchange he gave me BITTER VICTORY: THE CAMPAIGN IN VENEZIA AND THE SOUTH TYROL AND THE BATTLE OF CUSTOZA JUNE-JULY 1866 by John Pocock and illustrated by Ralph Weaver (published in 2002 by Barbarossa Books [ISBN 0 9538777 3 6]) and ...


... two boxes of unmade HäT Renault FT-17s with 37mm cannons.


I also managed to make some purchases from the stand run by Harefields Figures. They had a number of ROCO and Roskopf vehicles on sale for £2.00 each (or six for £10.00) ... so I bought some!


It is rather a mixed bag of stuff as it contains a mixture of World War II and post-war vehicles, and the Roskopf vehicles are closer to 1:100th-scale than the ROCO 1:87th-scale ones ... but I am sure that I will find a use for them somewhere in my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War campaign project.
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Morschauser and me

June 11, 2013, 2:04 am
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One of the articles from an old copy of the WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER (No.62, published in May 1967) that Tim Gow recently sent to me was entitled GRIDDED WARGAMES. This described Joseph Morschauser's gridded FRONTIER wargames rules in detail, and I although already had a copy of the article, I did read it again. (I incorporated the text of the article in the reprint of Joseph Morschauser's book that I edited for John Curry's HISTORY OF WARGAMING PROJECT.)

What struck me when I re-read the article was how much my own wargame designs of recent years have been strongly influenced by Joseph Morschauser's work. This is particularly true of my PORTABLE WARGAME rules and – to a slightly lesser extent – my MEMOIR OF BATTLE rules. (The latter owe almost as much to the work of Richard Borg as they do to Joseph Morschauser.)

All this has come at a time when I have been planning to do a lot of wargaming ... but have not actually done any! I have therefore decided to 're-visit' Joseph Morschauser's gridded FRONTIER wargames rules for while in the hope that it will rekindle my interest in doing rather than thinking about doing some wargaming.
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Returning to Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules

June 11, 2013, 10:23 am
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As I stated in my earlier blog entry of today, I had decided that I needed to 're-visit' Joseph Morschauser's gridded FRONTIER wargames rules in the hope that it would 'rekindle my interest in doing rather than thinking about doing some wargaming'.

After going shopping with my wife this morning and doing some gardening this afternoon, I finally got some time to do exactly what I had decided to do ... and I have spent the last hour or so re-drafting Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules so that they fit onto two sides of A4 paper.




I chose to use the same basic layout as I have used for all my most recent rules ... and I must admit that the results look quite reasonable. I have therefore made a PDF version of the rules available as a download here for anyone who would like to read them.
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A Ferret on the A2

June 12, 2013, 8:11 am
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Yesterday, whilst my wife and I were driving down the A2 from London towards Chatham in Kent, we passed a low-loader lorry with an unusual cargo ... a Ferret armoured car. My wife managed to take a photograph on her iPhone as were drove past.


I have no idea where the low-loader was taking the armoured car, but the Ferret looked in reasonable condition and was probably being delivered to a new owner or to be put on show somewhere.
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Getting to grips with Feedly

June 13, 2013, 1:46 am
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Now that the demise of Google Reader is only a matter of weeks away, I have been getting to grips with Feedly. This will be the 'new' means by which I will be able to keep tabs on the numerous blogs that I follow. (I still don't understand why Google have decided to scrap Google Reader ... but it will be gone on 1st July so I had to find an alternative.)

I chose Feedly because it seems to work on all the devices that I am likely to use (PC, iPad, and Kindle) and because they promise that it will migrate everything from Google Reader without me having to do anything ... and from what I can see so far, it has worked.

At present my Google Reader 'page' looks like this when I open it:


The equivalent Feedly 'page' looks like this:


There is not a lot of difference between the two, although the Feedly page is currently optimised so that it gives me a 'Magazine View' and not a 'Full Article' view like Google Reader does.
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Smiley's People ... and some sorting out

June 13, 2013, 10:20 am
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When I was child my mother always had the radio on during the day, and I grew up listening to the BBC Home Service (now Radio 4). It was and is what the BBC call a speech-based service (i.e. most of its content is the spoken word) and even now I prefer to work with a background of people's voices rather than music.

Today I decided to spend some time taking the figures that came with my recently acquired Eagle Games (WAR! AGE OF IMPERIALISM and THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR) off the sprues they came on and then to sort them into small storage boxes. (The storage boxes were called 'embellishment boxes' by Hobbycraft but are actually clear plastic business card boxes that are made by Weston Boxes.)


It so happens that a couple of days ago I bought a number of CD recordings of radio dramas. The plays had originally been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and the first I chose to listen to today – whilst I was working – was the dramatisation of John le Carré's SMILEY'S PEOPLE.


The cast includes Simon Russell Beale (George Smiley), Anna Chancellor (Lady Ann Smiley), Lindsay Duncan (Maria Ostrakova), Maggie Steed (Connie Sachs), Alex Jennings (Sir Oliver Lacon), and Kenneth Cranham (Inspector Mendel).

Cutting the figures off their sprues and sorting them into boxes took some time, but because I had the recording of the radio drama playing in the background it seemed to pass very quickly. As a result I now have all my figures stored very neatly and tidily in small boxes that fit nicely into the original boxes the games came in.



A good afternoon's work ... even if I say so myself!
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Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules: some suggestions and a request

June 14, 2013, 6:26 am
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I have yet to stage the play-test of the newly-formatted version of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules (although I do have a scenario in mind) and I have already had some interesting suggestions as to how the rules could be developed as well as a request to write a version for a hexed grid.

The suggestions I have received so far include:
  • Allowing Native infantry and cavalry to make diagonal moves;
  • Allowing all mounted cavalry to make straight line diagonal moves as long as they end their move in contact with an enemy unit (i.e. a 'charge' move).
Both suggestions have a degree of merit, and are definitely in keeping with Morschauser's design philosophy. That said, I don't intend to incorporate either of them into the rules until after I have staged my planned play-test ... which will hopefully be sometime very soon.
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A scenario idea for my forthcoming play-test

June 14, 2013, 9:09 am
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I have been thinking about a suitable scenario for my forthcoming play-test of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules ... and taken the plot outlined in George MacDonald Fraser's ROYAL FLASH as my starting point.

I am going to assume that Flashman's efforts to thwart Otto von Bismarck's plan to destabilise the Duchy of Strackenz have come to nothing, and that Prussian troops have invaded the Duchy 'to restore order'. Troops loyal to Duchess Irma have mobilised and are preparing to defend the bridge where main road to the east of Strackenz City crosses the river. This appears to be the best defensive position they can occupy if they are to stand any chance of preventing the Prussians from entering the capital of Strackenz and forcibly putting the Duchy and its ruler under their 'protection'.


I decided upon this scenario because it will allow me the opportunity to use some of the figures from my 15mm-scale Austro-Prussian War collection. They have not been on the tabletop for some time, and it seemed like an ideal occasion to use them.
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The Queen's Birthday Parade

June 15, 2013, 3:45 am
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I had forgotten that today was the Saturday in June when the Queen's Birthday Parade (AKA Trooping the Colour), so I am sitting in front of my TV watching the Parade unfold.

I have attended rehearsals for the Parade on two occasions ... and it is a spectacle that is well worth seeing close up. At one of the rehearsals I watched it poured with rain just before the whole thing started, and parts of the parade ground at Horse Guards were under water. I remember one particular officer, who was much shorter than everyone else on parade, having to mark time in the middle of a very large puddle. As his feet stamped up and down he managed to soak himself and the Guardsmen who were directly behind him. When he eventually had to march forward his legs were so much shorter than everyone else's that he had to almost goose step to keep up with them. In addition he seemed to be wearing a particularly tall bearskin cap (no doubt to make him look less out of place alongside the other soldiers who were on parade) and the rain had made it a lot heavier than normal. As a result, every time he had to turn his head as he passed the saluting stand, the bearskin cap twisted on his head and began to lean over. To this day I do not know how it stayed on ... but it did.

Today's Parade was led by the youngest of the Guards regiments, the Welsh Guards, and it was their colour that was trooped.
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Bespoke Terrain ... sort of

June 15, 2013, 5:45 am
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I intended to set out the terrain for my play-test of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules this morning ... and then discovered that I could not find the gridded green cloth that I had planned to use. After a fruitless search of my wargames/toy room I gave up and watched the Queen's Birthday Parade on the TV.

Whilst I was doing so I saw a copy of last month's issue of MINIATURE WARGAMES (May 2013 No.361) on the coffee table ... and then remembered Arthur Harman's article about his PORTABLE LITTLE WARGAME. Henry Hyde had set up a photograph to illustrate the article, and seeing it made me think. I did not have a piece of grass mat available ... but I did have green card, a PC, a drawing program (MS Publisher), and a colour printer ... so I drew and printed off a bespoke terrain for my play-test battle!


I laid out a 40mm x 40mm grid on each sheet and then I drew the grid lines on in grey. I then added the road (in grey), the river (in blue), and the edge of the woods that the invaders will appear from (in dark green). The fact that I printed it out onto green card meant that I did not waste ink printing the main body of the terrain.

All I have to do now is to trim the sheets of card down to size and stick them together using masking tape ... et voila!
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The invasion of Strackenz

June 15, 2013, 10:34 am
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Otto von Bismarck's plan to destabilise the Duchy of Strackenz so that it can be 'incorporated' into the German (actually Prussian) sphere-of-influence has come to fruition. A number of disturbances – including some anti-Danish street demonstrations, the looting of a few shops and houses belonging to Danish merchants, and the burning down of the offices of a Danish-language newspaper – have broken out in Strackenz City. The Strackenzian Army has attempted to restore order, and leading members of the German community have accused them of only arresting German-speaking members of the population. Outside Strackenz there have been calls for some form of 'intervention' to protect Germans living in the Duchy ... and this has been backed by the Prussian Government.

The Prussians have put pressure on the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg to send troops into Strackenz 'to restore order' ... and he has rather reluctantly agreed to do as he has been asked. (This ensures, of course, that von Bismarck can claim that it is a German rather than a Prussian 'intervention'. The old boy was no fool!) To this end three infantry battalions and an artillery battery of the Mecklenburg Army have marched across the border and are making their way towards Strackenz City.

In response an infantry battalion (1st Battalion, Strackenz Grenadiers) and an artillery battery of the Strackenzian Army – under the leadership of Marshal von Saldern, the Constable of Strackenz – have taken up positions astride the road leading from Mecklenburg to Strackenz City. They have occupied the western side of the only bridge across the river ... a bridge that the invaders must cross if they are to reach Strackenz City.

The opening positions
The Strackenzians have occupied positions astride the road on the western side of the river.


The Mecklenburgers will emerge from the forest covering the Jotun Gipfel along the road from the Strackenz-Mecklenburg border.


Turn 1
The leading infantry company of the Mecklenburgers advanced down the road towards the bridge, followed by the rest of the battalion.


Turn 2
The Strackenzian artillery battery opened fire ... and hit and destroyed the foremost Mecklenburg infantry company!


The remainder of the leading Mecklenburg infantry battalion began to deploy. They were followed out into the plain by their commander and three companies of the second Mecklenburg infantry battalion.


Turn 3
The Strackenzian artillery fired for a second time ... and destroyed yet another Mecklenburg infantry company!


The Mecklenburgers were determined to get to grips with the Strackenzians as quickly as possible, and whilst two of their infantry companies advanced as quickly as they could towards the river, the rest of the Mecklenburg troops began to deploy behind them.


Turn 4
The Strackenzian artillery battery fired for a third time ... and missed! This gave the Mecklenburgers the opportunity to continue their deployment and to bring their artillery battery closer to the river.


Turn 5
The Strackenzian artillery battery opened fire on the Mecklenburg infantry company that was directly in front of it ...


... and destroyed it. The Mecklenburg artillery battery returned fire, but its shot landed behind the Strakenzian artillery battery.


Having gained the initiative this turn, the Mecklenburg infantry advanced, and several infantry companies began to wade across the river ... a course of action that the Strackenzians had expected.


The resultant fighting was intense, and both sides lost heavily.


The turn ended with the Mecklenburgers weakened but still numerous enough to continue their advance, whilst the Strackenzians had barely enough troops to mount even a token defence.


Turn 6
A further exchange of artillery fire resulted in the destruction of the Strackenzian artillery battery, but before the Mecklenburgers could push home their advantage a group of Strackenzian militia (made up entirely of members of the Sons of the Volsungs) burst out of the forest behind the Mecklenburgers!


This cause the Mecklenburg commander considerable consternation, and he hurriedly sent two of his infantry companies back to deal with the threat.


Unfortunately for the Mecklenburgers, the Sons of the Volsungs were all excellent shots (many of them were foresters and huntsmen) and they shot the first of the Mecklenburg infantry companies to pieces.


Turn 7
Whilst the Mecklenburg artillery battery moved away from the threat as quickly as possible, the second Mecklenburg infantry company closed with the Strackenzian militia ... and suffered the same fate as its sister unit!


It was now apparent that the Mecklenburgers had let the possibility of victory slip from their grasp.


Turn 8
Neither the Strackenzians nor the Mecklenburgers were now in a position to win the battle, but both sides realised that they could still lose it if they made the wrong decision what to do next. The Mecklenburg commander pulled his remaining units together around the bridge, and the Strackenzian commander – Marshal von Saldern – ordered his units to stay out of range of infantry combat.


Both sides remained in these positions until nightfall, at which point the Mecklenburgers retreated unhindered back down the road to the Strackenz-Mecklenburg border.

The Duchy of Strackenz was safe again – for the moment – and von Bismarck's plans had come to nought ... this time!

Conclusions
Joseph Morschauser’s FRONTIER rules produce very bloody battles that – once each side gets into combat with the other – can be over in a matter of minutes. What is important is the use of artillery to break up enemy attacks before they get too close and ensuring that you manoeuvre your units into the best possible position before you get into combat.

The extemporised printed card terrain worked very well and took only a matter of minutes to produce and piece together. The green card did not appear very green in the photographs (it is actually described as being emerald green on the packet), but the grey rather than black grid lines were visible but did not detract from the overall look of the battle.

I thoroughly enjoyed setting up this play-test, especially as it was the first wargame I have fought in months! I do like the simplicity of Morschauser’s basic rules, although the results of infantry combat are a bit too black-and-white for my personal taste (I remember now why I introduced a retreat option when I first began to modify the rules!).

I have plenty to think about and I have several ideas as to how the rules could be developed … and I might easily be tempted to run another play-test battle in the near future to try some of these ideas out.
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Nugget 263

June 16, 2013, 12:36 am
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The editor of THE NUGGET emailed the original of the latest issue (N263) to me last night, and I hope to be able to take it to the printer tomorrow morning. With luck I should then be able to collect it from the printer by Thursday so that I can post it out to members of Wargame Developments by Friday at the very latest.

This issue is the last before COW2013, and contains a brief outline of the sessions that are on offer. A full programme will be published in due course, and will be sent to attendees.

If any of my regular blog readers would like to subscribe to THE NUGGET, they can do so via the link on the Wargame Developments website (click here).

IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the penultimate issue of THE NUGGET before the next year's subscription begins.
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Making Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules less bloody

June 16, 2013, 3:59 am
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Yesterday's play-test of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules was very enjoyable but it did demonstrate that the artillery fire and combat systems are rather 'bloody'. Units either survive or are destroyed; there are no other results.

Whilst this means that the battles can be fought very quickly, it also means that both sides seem to lose units at a very fast pace once the fighting starts. Although this can be rationalised away as representing the 'loss' of units that still exist but that are no longer capable of further combat, it does rather leave the tabletop battlefield somewhat denuded of toy soldiers ... and this can detract from the aesthetic appeal of the game. It also does not feel right.

So what can be done?

Firstly it should be possible to amend the artillery rules so that units can be hit but not destroyed. As written a unit that is hit is destroyed by a 2, 4, or 6 by direct fire and by a 4 or 6 by indirect fire. My current thinking is that this could be changed so that a unit will be pinned (i.e. unable to move, fire or engage in combat until the end of the next turn) by a 2 or 4 by direct fire and a 4 by indirect fire. This would reduce the number of units that are totally destroyed by artillery fire and also disrupt the movement of units on the battlefield.

Secondly the combat mechanism needs to be altered so that there are three possible results rather than the present two. Something simple could easily be devised along the lines of the combat system used in the DBA/HOTT rules. My current thinking is that each side could throw a D6 die and add the score to their unit's Battle Power. The side with the highest total score wins the combat. If the winner's total score is twice or more that of the loser, then the loser is destroyed; if the total score is less than twice that of the loser, then the loser must retreat two grid squares at once. If it cannot do so, it is destroyed.

I would also like to incorporate the use of playing card tiles in my own solo version of the rules as I think that this would make the game a bit more interesting and a little less predictable. Likewise I am giving serious consideration to allowing Native infantry and all mounted cavalry the ability to move diagonally if such a move would bring them into combat with an enemy unit.

These are my initial thoughts about how the rules could be improved, and no doubt I – and some of my regular blog readers – will come up with others as the day progresses.
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Gideon's Angel

June 17, 2013, 11:49 am
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I need to make something clear. As a general rule I don't read books about the supernatural and I don't read historical fiction set before the Napoleonic Wars. So why have I just read GIDEON'S ANGEL by Clifford Beal (published in 2013 by Solaris Books [ISBN 978 1 78108 083 2])?


The simple answer is that I know the author ... but I don't want to give the impression that the following review of this book is favourable just because it was written by someone I know ... it is favourable because it is a very good novel.

The main character is Richard Treadwell, a professional soldier who supported the defeated – and subsequently executed – King Charles I, and who now serves in Cardinal Mazarin's Guard. The Cardinal gets wind of a plot by the exiled Royalists to overthrow Cromwell's regime, and that it might involve the use of some form of necromancy. Treadwell is given the task of investigating what is happening, but uses the opportunity it provides to go back to England – for which he has been exiled for life – to see his wife and family. In the process he becomes involved in a plot to kill Cromwell ... and then to save him from being killed by members of the Fifth Monarchy movement who think that they are doing God's work, but who have been duped into using supernatural forces to ensure that England falls under Satan's control. He is aided in his battle against the Forces of Darkness by a French lieutenant (none other than D'Artagnan), the daughter of a fellow exile who is also Treadwell's mistress, a former Parliamentarian soldier (who is also a member of the Ranters), Elias Ashmole (the famous English antiquary, astrologer, and student of alchemy), a Jewish wine merchant (who is also a rabbi), the wine merchant's daughter, and a gypsy-like wise woman.

All the characters are believable, well-rounded, and reflect the numerous contemporary beliefs and scientific/philosophical understanding of the period, so much so that I found it easy to believe the supernatural elements of the book as seen through their eyes. The fight scenes are all exceptionally well described and sound technically correct ... which is hardly surprising as the author is a renowned swordsman. The depictions of seventeenth century Plymouth, Exeter, and London are obviously based on high-quality research, and one could almost smell the sweat and the stench of rubbish and manure that permeated the atmosphere of those places. The story also clips along at a vigorous pace, and I did find it difficult to put down once I started to read this book.

I will certainly read any other books about Richard Treadwell's adventures in seventeenth century Europe. I understand that at least one more book is almost complete and that there may be plans for a third.

PS. My copy of the book came from Amazon UK ... but had the cover intended for the US/Canada edition (ISBN 978 1 78108 084 9).

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A 'new' combat system for Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules

June 18, 2013, 5:34 am
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I have been doing some serious thinking about a 'new' combat system for my latest version of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules. My initial thoughts were that each side in a combat would throw a D6 die and then add that score to their unit's Battle Power. The side with the highest total score would then win the combat. In addition, if the winner's total score was twice (or more than twice) that of the loser, then the loser would be destroyed; otherwise the loser would have to retreat two grid squares at once. If the loser could not do so, their unit would be destroyed.

I very quickly realised that the probability of a unit ever destroying another equivalent unit were very, very low, and so I had to have a re-think ... and came up with the following:
  • Both sides in a combat throw a D6 die and add their die scores to their unit's Battle Power.
  • If the resulting scores are the same, the combat is a draw and both units survive until the next turn.
  • If the resulting scores are not the same, the side with highest score wins and if the winner's D6 die score was a 6, the loser's unit is destroyed, otherwise it must retreat immediately. If it is unable to retreat, the loser's unit is destroyed.
To see the effects of this 'new' combat system I set up a spreadsheet to test the results:
  • A machine gun unit (Battle Power = 6) in combat with a European infantry unit (Battle Power = 5) has a 58.33% overall probability of winning the combat (and a 16.67% overall probability of destroying the enemy unit), a 27.78% overall probability of losing the combat (and a 11.11% overall probability of being destroyed in the process), and a 13.89% overall probability of drawing the combat.
  • A European infantry unit (Battle Power = 5) in combat with another European infantry unit (Battle Power = 5) has a 41.67% overall probability of winning the combat (and a 13.89% overall probability of destroying the enemy unit), a 41.67% overall probability of losing the combat (and a 13.89% overall probability of being destroyed in the process), and a 16.67% overall probability of drawing the combat.
  • A Native infantry unit (Battle Power = 4) in combat with a European infantry unit (Battle Power = 5) has a 27.87% overall probability of winning the combat (and a 11.11% overall probability of destroying the enemy unit), a 58.33% overall probability of losing the combat (and a 16.67% overall probability of being destroyed in the process), and a 13.89% overall probability of drawing the combat.
  • An artillery unit (Battle Power = 1) in combat with a European infantry unit (Battle Power = 5) has a 2.78% overall probability of winning the combat (and a 2.78% overall probability of destroying the enemy unit [i.e. if it manages to win the combat it will automatically destroy the enemy unit]), a 91.67% overall probability of losing the combat (and a 16.67% overall probability of being destroyed in the process), and a 5.56% overall probability of drawing the combat.
This 'new' combat system appears to be a lot less 'bloody' than the existing combat system as well as being simple to use. It is not difficult to remember that if you throw a 6 and win (rather than draw) a combat, the enemy unit is destroyed. The 'new' system also allows less powerful units to have a chance of destroying stronger enemy units in the right circumstances.

I hope to play-test this 'new' combat system in the very near future.
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