Wargame

Larry uses a hex based ranging and movement system.

My troops dropped some smoke on the enemy to cover movement.  White smoke on turn one, yellow on turn two, turn three they yellow smoke goes away.

My village sent trucks to haul off loot and kept lots of troops to guard the village.

Larry sent boats to the ship.

The crew repelled the attack and in the end the ship managed to get away.

African Wargame

Played a wargame at Larry's house recently.

COL Jim and Joe and I played with Larry and Keith.

Several small African villages tried to salvage a ship stranded on some rocks.

They were opposed by another village and government forces.

Sort of a four sided wargame.

Each group had to guard their village and send forces to grab the loot.

The Wargaming Palace

Only one photo today, but it is a rare look at the wargame room. Starting at the upper left corner of this picture you can see some 12" figures from The Outer Limits; Soldiers and Scientist from Keeper of the Purple Twilight and the Ebonite prison guard from Nightmare.  There is also a Galactus figure, in about 1/72nd scale.

They are standing on my VHS / DVD collection of movies and TV shows.  These are special shelves designed for video storage, they are not very deep.  If you look at the ceiling you can see the metal grid, it's wire used to reinforce concrete floors.  The aircraft are hanging from this wire.  I use TV antennas that are adjustable in height so that the planes can fly at different altitudes.

The boxes with the blue lids are my WWII German Luftwaffe, mostly.  The troops are my Berlin embassies, my Azid Hind Legion, and some WWII German Muslim and Orthodox Cossacks.  The red and while stick near the back of the photo is a wargame measuring stick.  It is in five inch increments for my wargame rules and we use it for long range shots.  It is marked like an artillery aiming stake.

The large building is the Reichstag, not yet finished, but pretty close.  In the far distance in grey you can see the top of the Zoo Tower, nearly done.  All these projects get finished, eventually.

Why Play Miniature Wargames

I posted this on The Miniatures Page recently, I think some of you may find it interesting.

I play miniature wargames for many reasons. Mostly because it's fun to play the games, fun to collect and build and paint the models. Organizing the vehicles and troops is fun, and so is doing the research. I read a lot about the periods that I wargame.

As a secondary benefit, I learn a lot. I learn history, current affairs, geography, politics and many other things from doing my wargames research. I learn the how and why of the conduct of war, both political, military, economic and tactical.

I learn about the development and use of technology, and resources. How they shape the ability of a nation to conduct war.

So I play prehistoric, and ancients, and ACW, and WWI, pulp, WWII and the Cold War gone hot and many others. In just about every war bad things happen and some are worse than others.
I will game contemporary events because I can learn from them. Just as the military will simulate different options to defeat their enemies and obtain their objectives.

Giving a time constraint to one side is a way to pressure the players into doing things they might not otherwise do. Two prisoners are eliminated per turn until you capture the compound. It does not require macabre figures, no more than artillery fire requires body parts in a wargame.
Miniature wargames are by nature sanitized and removed from the actual horrors, terrors and evils of real warfare. I will play the cowboys or the Indians; or the cops or the robbers. Wargames are not about the morality, they are about the history and the game. They are about the figures and the terrain, not about who is right or who was wrong.

The research I do for the game will reveal who was a good guy or a bad guy, if either side can claim such title.

Chinese Wargames

http://www.chinawargames.com/

Did you know that they play miniature wargames in China? Apparently they don't just ship out all the plastic army men, but they retain some for use at home. I checked out the website the other day and one of the first things I saw was a Tiger I tank, painted to a high standard.

That is one of the best things about miniature wargames is having friends all over the world. Folks I have met on line have visited my home from the other side of North America and even one from Singapore. I met a guy from Russia, who I know from Internet wargaming, at a local convention a couple years ago.

I know there is also some miniature gaming going on in India too. Between India and China that's about two or three billion potential wargaming customers. That's good news for companies who are looking to expand their markets. It's also good news for those of us who want new wargame products. Check out their link.