Victorian SF & the Yuletide Invasion

Bastet, in the form of our cat Vader, couldn't
resist nestling down amid all the
plastic foliage.

I’ve wanted to run a Victorian science fiction miniatures game for a while now, ever since John from the 54mm or Fight! blog generously sent me a box of 15mm painted and based miniatures. In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing – and reflections on gaming and colonialism – I started developing a storyline in which I could fight battles between the various forces John sent, including French Foreign legionaries, African troops, some American Civil War zoaves, and a massive host of lizardmen. I pulled out my jungle terrain and Egyptian temple pieces, set them up on my three foot square green felt mat, carefully assembled and deployed my units, jotted stats on record sheets, prepped my dice and cards...only to realize the yuletide holidays were bearing down on me. Although I’ve done everything to set up the initial battle in a campaign, including developing an overarching storyline, playing will have to wait until after the holidays.

Considering Wargaming & Troubled History

 “Time is the king of all men, he is their parent and their grave, and gives them what he will and not what they crave.”

– Pericles

Queen Elizabeth II figure
by King & Country

Last week’s missive on Osprey books’ wargaming notes – along with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II – reminded me how the legacy of colonialism shaped the supposedly modern world in which we live. It’s not easy, in our tribal mentality, to separate individuals from nations, a monarch from an entire government, to appreciate the good in one person despite living in an imperfect world. People have written carefully considered and respectful pieces on Elizabeth’s long reign and the service she rendered to her country and, arguably, the world, especially as it emerged into a post-colonial, more globally aware era. I’ve seen other pieces reminding us of her role as head of a nation troubled, like most countries, by turmoil and transgressions past and present. Most of this discourse reminds us (or makes us aware) of colonialism’s lingering ills. Those of us who study history in various capacities keep these in mind; for sensitive historical wargamers it presents a quandary. How can we play games based on historical events that reinforced the colonizers’ power and abuse of those they conquered? Is it all simply a game we can blissfully play for sheer enjoyment while ignoring the historical context, especially what that meant for the conquered? Should we abandon our satisfying pastime lest we perpetuate the very ills of colonialism people still denounce today? I fear there’s no “right” answer here (or at least no reasonable person would claim and enforce a “right” answer), but the issue’s worth exploring as our adventure gaming hobby pursuits occasionally intersect with real-world issues.

Osprey Books Wargaming Notes

I can’t recall the first Osprey Publishing book I bought. I’m guessing it might have been something either for the Victorian period or World War II. But I certainly remember – in those days when my interest remained firmly grounded in roleplaying games with only nascent dabblings in miniature wargaming – the few pages at the back of each Campaign series book offering insights on how to wargame the campaigns featured in the book. They’re something I miss today as I explore historical miniature gaming even as Osprey itself publishes its own rules and I continue exploring sources that address playing out historical conflicts on the tabletop.

ACW Ironclads Minis

“It must be confessed that both ships were queer-looking craft, as grotesque to the eyes of the men of ’62 as they would appear to those of the present generation”

– H. Ashton Ramsay, engineer, CSS Virginia

A few years ago I discovered Bob Cordery’s excellent Gridded Naval Wargames* and began using it to explore different naval battles. The rules for American Civil War ironclad engagements worked quite well on my initial try, though I modified the critical damage system slightly for a little more depth. At first I used basic hand-crafted 1:1200 models for the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (what us Northerners commonly learn in school as the Merrimack), but as I dove deeper into ACW ironclad warfare, I sought to collect professionally cast models. What started in the “Before Times” prior to the covid pandemic has since expanded into a significant sector of my wargaming hobby. Thankfully I’ve found some good suppliers of models to fuel my habit.

Game Activity during the Pandemic

For two months the covid-19 pandemic has altered how we live our lives, including our gaming habits. Most world governments imposed limitations on their population (followed more stringently in some places than others). In less than two months more Americans have died than in all the years of fighting in Vietnam. Depending on how soon scientists can develop more effective testing and tracking, vaccines, and treatments/cures, we may never really return to a semblance of “normal” we experienced before. In the face of this deadly pandemic most everyone’s trying to adapt to the new situation: businesses, conventions, individual gamers. No doubt we’ll continue adjusting as conditions change for better or worse. We just have to sit back and see how our efforts affect the pandemic...and until then, we can distract ourselves and find some respite from this grim reality through our modified adventure gaming hobby activities.

Father-Son History-Wargaming Weekend 2020

My son and I spent an extended weekend immersing ourselves in history and wargaming in what is becoming an annual tradition. I took him out of school on Friday so we could leave early and spend the afternoon at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, then attended the Williamsburg Muster wargaming convention, and finally visited Historic Jamestowne before heading home Sunday. (Our school system doesn’t get Presidents’ Day off....) Our son’s fourth grade curriculum includes “Virginia Studies” for social studies, a subject he already enjoys and which we’ve indulged with additional trips to historic sites during the past year. He’s also interested in games, including historical wargames, so the weekend provided an opportunity to engage with both history and games.

Orc Ambush in Rohan

Almost three months ago I found an online deal through a game trade community for a host of Lord of the Rings miniatures. They were originally produced for a Play Along Toys line released shortly after the popular feature films. I was particularly keen on these for a number of reasons. I love large-scale 54mm miniatures – I’m a huge fan of Armies in Plastic’s historical lines – because they’re just the right size for introducing kids to miniature wargaming. This particular line came pre-painted, a huge bonus considering the time to get most miniatures onto the wargaming table usually includes a huge investment in painting. And, of course, I’m a fan of Lord of the Rings, and cavalry in particular: this lot included six warg riders and 17 Riders of Rohan, including Eomer. The package finally arrived and I set about basing the infantry on fender washers for stability, matching the weapons and other accessories, and crafting several rock formations similar to those seen in Rohan scenes during The Two Towers (giving the pine bark mulch technique a try). I have a copy of Daniel Mersey’s Dragon Rampant fantasy miniatures skirmish rules that seem perfect for this kind of engagement (I’ve enjoyed his other rules, The Men Who Would Be Kings for Victorian engagements and Lion Rampant for medieval fights, and am looking forward to his Battle Ravens board game currently in a Kickstarter campaign). With everything finally complete I thought I’d set everything up on the basement wargaming table and take a few photos in advance of having folks over to give the skirmish rules a try.

Adventures in Victorian Wargaming

Over the years I’ve pursued an interest in Victorian era games, first through GDW’s groundbreaking Space 1889 (well before fan interest in “steampunk”), then with R. Talsorian’s Castle Falkenstein, dabbling with The Sword and the Flame miniatures rules, and even writing for early versions of Victoriana. The games inspired my interest in the historical period itself (not just its fantasy game-world versions) to the point I’ve accumulated a small, specialized library on the subject that never seems to hold enough books by Osprey Publishing. In recent years the company started releasing wargame rules sets for various historical periods (and some not-so-historical ones). When I saw Daniel Mersey’s Victorian-era wargame rules, The Men Who Would Be Kings, I immediately saw a way to put all the various historical miniatures I’ve been collecting and painting over the years to good use in an engaging skirmish game.

Interesting Wargame Releases, Spring 2017

I don’t talk much about “news” or “new releases” here at Hobby Game Recce; it’s often fleeting and doesn’t seem to matter months or years down the road. But now and then a few gaming products release that catch my attention for one reason or another...and this just happens to be one of those times. Announcements by three different companies promise some notable wargaming products that cater to my own interests and hopefully engage the enthusiasm of other gamers: a Wings of Glory Battle of Britain starter set; a Commands & Colors game set during the American War of Independence; and some interesting terrain and tank kits from Battlefront Miniatures. One things certain with all these releases: I’d better start saving up my money if I want to buy any.

Engaging Youth in History (& Games)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

– Albert Einstein

Getting young adults interested in anything these days seems difficult. They’re distracted by a sometimes-overwhelming amount of schoolwork focused more on scoring well on standardized tests than actually developing learning skills. They’re immersed in the complex social intrigues of school and friends. They’re plugged in to smart phones and tablets (much like a rapidly growing segment of the adult population...). How do parents and teachers tempt them to explore and possibly engage with new experiences? It’s easier when parent gently share and nurture their own interests with their kids – adventure games, comic books, sports, reading, hobbies – but children reach an age where they want to head off on their own...a journey that doesn’t always result in the discovery of some engaging academic or extracurricular interest. I recently explored two resources to help inspire an interest in history (and perhaps even games with historical themes): interactive fiction and speculative fiction

Both forms of fiction inspired many gamers; they certainly informed my own youthful exploration of adventure gaming. Fantasy and science fiction inspired many players to investigate roleplaying games that in turn encouraged further exploration of these genres. The infamous “Appendix N” in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide provided a wealth of such resources to investigate...or even a validation of past works read. Since the earliest emergence of roleplaying games fantasy fiction genres have evolved (much as those games have). Where once readers had only a few flavors of science fiction and fantasy they now can indulge in numerous sub-genre like steampunk, urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and alternate history (among many others).

The Allure of Skirmish Wargaming

If I had to more specificlaly classify my dabblings with miniature wargaming I suppose I’d have to really call it “skirmish wargaming.” Although I enjoy the spectacle of massive wargames depicting the vast scope of a full battle – or even a small yet turbulent portion of one – as a gamer I don’t have the resources and time to buy, paint, and base such seemingly endless ranks of figures, let alone craft the numerous terrain features to cover such a large battlefield. Skirmish wargaming allows me to explore historical periods of interest without the greater investment in game components.

While Merriam-Webster defines “skirmish” as “a minor fight in war usually incidental to larger movements,” most gamers believe skirmish wargaming consists of small engagements on the man-to-man level, where one figure represents one soldier (or one vehicle/gun unit). This differs from many other wargames where each piece represents multiples of soldiers (at a ration of 1:5 or 1:10, for instance), even those where figures are based together to represent entire companies and regiments. Skirmish wargaming isn’t always quite the impressive spectacle of vast games with ranks of based figures recreating vast historical battles across several tabletops; but it’s the aspect of miniature wargaming that’s most accessible to me. I find several elements particularly appealing:

Assembling Terrain for Valley of the Ape

Development on my Valley of the Ape kids’ game proceeds at a slow but steady pace. I have a workable draft of the rules and a solid idea what additional bits I need to prepare (explorer cards with rules summaries and encounter tiles). But the rulebook and other materials form only half the project, although the part I can most easily share online once completed. Along with the game design work comes the hobby work assembling and crafting miniature wargaming-style terrain for the playable bits of the game.

A selection of aquarium plants
from PetSmart.

Some of this material I own already, stored in various boxes beneath or near the four-by-eight-foot wargaming table in the basement. These include a swath of dark green felt dappled with paint to vary the terrain surface, numerous 54mm plastic soldiers (Zulus, British, Dervishes) from Armies in Plastic to represent explorer parties, the giant ape from Safari Ltd. I bought at a craft store, and a resin-cast giant man-eating plant I picked up years ago from Armourcast (though it could use a better paint job).

"Betta" foliage cut for better coverage.

I have considerably more work to do with jungle foliage and terrain. I’ve already sculpted a few foam hills and prepped some palm trees out of wire, artificial plant leaves, and masking tape. But to fill out large portions of impassible jungle terrain I needed a lot of fake yet exotic-looking foliage. So I drove on down to the local big-box pet store, PetSmart, and spent some time browsing their aquarium section. I found a host of very affordable pieces from Top Fin, including some single plantsfor $0.99, a few “peacock feather” plants with a nice high profile ($2.99), and – perhaps the most versatile find – two varieties of what they call “betta” artificial aquarium plants, plastic grids with small plant bits mounted at each intersection (for $1.99). These last ones provided versatile jungle cover, particularly when split along the middle or diagonally to make two uneven halves that, when positioned unevenly, offer some natural-looking uneven terrain. For less than $20 one could buy enough jungle foliage to set up some challenging and good-looking terrain; augmented with some custom pieces it’ll make for an easy-to-set-up “board” for Valley of the Ape.

A scene hastily assembled from my terrain,
including the giant ape and some Armies
in Plastic Zulus.

I’m debating whether to craft my own temple ruins from bits prepped for old Egyptian temple projects or just pay for one of the fish tank temples available from PetSmart (some manufactured by Top Fin and others by National Geographic).

Once that’s decided and I finish up the palm-tree terrain pieces I’m ready to set everything up and start playtesting the rules.

Armies in Plastic Addendum

Folks who read Hobby Games Recce know I love the 54mm (1:32 scale) unpainted plastic figures from Armies in Plastic, including the ones from my collection I’ve drawn upon to serve in my Valley of the Ape game (Victorian-era British soldiers, Zulu warriors, Dervishes). They’re big, historically themed, and great for small hands (or my clumsy fingers). The prices have crept up over the years as the figure count has recently diminished (20 infantry figures down to 18 or 16 in some cases). But I recently happened by the Armies in Plastic website to find an interesting sale: the company put their Battlefield Combo boxes on sale, an 18- or 20-figure mix from both sides of a conflict for $12 (the regular price for 18 or 20 figures in other sets is now $17...). Of particular note for my own gaming interests are 6 British Army in Shirtsleeves and 12 Zulus, as well as combos including Dervishes. Those interested in the burgeoning French and Indian war genre might like 8 Rangers and 12 Indians for skirmishes. Other periods include the American Revolutionary War, Boxer Rebellion, World War I, Napoleonic Wars, some Civil War, and modern conflicts. They’re a fun way to provide large, plastic soldiers to fight period skirmishes – or just to play with – at an affordable price.

Armies in Plastic Rangers fend off a
Woodland Indian Ambush.

I’ve recently been bitten by an inexplicable bug to dive into reading about and wargaming skirmishes from the French and Indian War...and my collection of Armies in Plastic miniatures lacks anything from the American Colonial period (having focused more on 19th century British colonial wars). Seeing the Ranger/Indian Battlefield Combo sets at the Armies in Plastic website – plus a “buy 3 get 1 free” promotion – I decided to order some sets directly from the company.

Normally I try to give my business to local stores (none of which stock Armies in Plastic sets, although I first discovered and bought my first Armies in Plastic sets from a now out-of-business hobby shop in Fredericksburg) and, barring that, wait patiently for one of the small, local wargaming conventions where vendors occasionally have a limited selection. But I was looking for something quite specific, and knowing how the prices have crept up recently, wanted to take advantage of a really good deal. So I ordered two sets of the Rangers/Indians, plus one with Loyalists and Militia (10 each, plus a cannon), and, for my “free” set, ordered British infantry (20 figures). Three days after placing my order the box arrived at my doorstep. Along with the French and Indian War skirmish rules set I bought earlier and with some old forest terrain I can now start exploring period battles with a minimum of work. Sure, the purists might scoff that I’m using unpainted figures, but I have two ready made forces in an appealing size. Thanks to Armies in Plastic for the good deals and excellent service.

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Wargaming Revelations in 1776

I recently had a chance to play Avalon Hill’s American Revolution wargame 1776 and discovered I fulfilled several of James Dunnigan’s statements about wargamers in The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design & Find Them (revised edition). Playing the basic game revealed to me that I not only fall into what he considers the majority “favorite mode” of play – solitaire – but that I do so for one of his two major reasons (“lack of an opponent” instead of “preference to play without an opponent”) and that I particularly enjoy exploring the historical aspects of the situation in “that the player may exercise his own ideas about how either side in the game should be played without interference from another player.”

A month or two ago I acquired a small pile of well-used but mostly complete wargames for $10 (thanks to my wife’s sharp eyes perusing Craigslist). The haul included several Avalon Hill games I was keen to try given my varied historical interests, primarily Panzer Leader and 1776 (and one of Dunnigan’s own games, Empires of the Middle Ages, from the company he founded, SPI). Most needed a bit of attention: some tape to repair the boxes, a good deal of sorting punched chits from numerous plastic bags, and some online research to find and print out some missing chart inserts. But overall these activities and my rulebook reading have rekindled an enjoyment and respect for these classic games often overlooked in today’s flashy marketplace.

So I finally sorted out the pieces for 1776, read the pleasantly brief “Basic Game Rules,” (about three pages), and sat down to play the beginner scenario, covering the last seven months of 1776 in New England and the mid-Atlantic colonies of New York, New Jersey, and eastern portions of Pennsylvania. Each side began with relatively equal combat strength, the British concentrated in New York and a few outposts in Canada, with the Continental Army gathered in Morristown, NJ, and some adequate forces at West Point and Albany, and a few stray bits scattered in Philadelphia, Boston, and the Mohawk Valley. To win one side had to occupy several key locations with at least one point of combat strength to gather victory points exceeding the opponent.

Since I was playing both sides in this solitaire affair I decided beforehand to establish general strategic objectives for each side and carry them through at least the initial turns. The second and third turns would bring sizable reinforcements for the British, first in New York and then in a port of the British player’s choosing; the Patriots got about half the number of reinforcements in dribs and drabs allocated to Albany and Philadelphia. I decided the British would go for a very non-historically accurate aggressive strategy, leaving token forces in their Canadian towns and heading down Lake Champlain to take Fort Ticonderoga and then march on Albany, all while the New York forces sought to hold the Continental Army at bay and send a second force north to aid in Albany’s capture. The Patriots decided on a bold strategy to try taking New York. Both sides had aggressive agendas, but only the British had the strength to successfully undertake theirs. The British smeared the Continental Army outside New York, marched down from Canada to take Ticonderoga and West Point, then spent the rest of the game mopping up token Patriot resistance. Luckily for America the historical British were not so aggressive.

I’ve discussed Dunnigan’s book at Hobby Games Recce before; it’s helped guide me in looking at board-and-chit wargames in a new light and in examining my own gaming preferences. In reading and playing 1776 solitaire I came to a few realizations:

Basic Game Rules: These days I prefer basic rules to more complex fare. I have less time and focus to read, comprehend, and play out fully advanced games, but enjoy dabbling in ones with simplified rules that still impart some sense of the gameplay and historical context. I really like games that provide basic rules to enable newcomers to play with advanced rules to add levels of complexity later if players wish to continue (a subject I’ve covered before). I’ll admit, after trying the initial basic game scenario I’m tempted not only to try it again but to read ahead in the rulebook and incorporate more advanced rules into my gameplay.

Scenario Replay Value: 1776 comes in Avalon Hill’s famous “bookcase” game format, that sturdy two-inch-thick box that holds all the quality components...which means it’s not a cheap game to purchase new. Anytime someone pays a large price for a game – whether miniatures, board, Euro-style, or roleplaying game – they expect to get some good gameplay out of it beyond a simple game or two. 1776 provides four “scenario cards” listing the starting disposition of forces and victory conditions for several campaigns during the Revolutionary War as well as rules for the “campaign simulation game” so players can play out the entire conflict starting in January 1776. Combined with the solitaire wargamer’s urge to replay scenarios to “exercise his own ideas about how either side in the game should be played” as Dunnigan suggests, 1776 (and probably any similarly presented board-and-chit wargame) offers a solid replay value.

Combat Resolution Table: Dunnigan summarizes the concept of a table on which each side compares its fighting strength in a ratio, then rolls to determine the exact outcome of the battle within a range of outcomes based on that ratio. Although the results 1776 primarily include elimination of all or half of the attacker and/or defender strength, other games incorporate other effects, including retreat. In gameplay I realized the limited options provided by a six-sided die roll often seemed arbitrary without overwhelming differences between combat strengths, but I understand this is a wargame-design convention of the time that also allows players to quickly transition to other wargames, particularly those from the same company. In perusing the materials for Avalon Hill’s Panzer Leader I found encouragement that the game uses a similar “combat resolution table” based on ratios of unit strength values. Along with similar design in unit counter stats (such as combat value and movement allowance points) it provides a comfortable framework to wander from one game to another. Using the “rules master” system Dunnigan described in his book – in which many companies used similar rules text templates customized to historical and situational detail – as well as similar design concepts allows players to easily port their attention from one game to another.

Small Components: Playing 1776 also helped me realize the game’s components, while nice, aren’t quite suited to the older gamer. I often fumbled the half-inch-square chits of thin cardboard across a hex map and had some difficulty interpreting place names and terrain features on the board. It started me thinking about larger “showcase” game versions of board-and-chit wargames with oversized maps and counters...something akin to Steve Jackson Games’ massively impressive (and expensively Kickstarted) OGRE Designer’s Edition (I imagine...I’ve only seen the game once at a convention).

Overall I enjoyed by brief solitaire encounter with 1776’s basic game rules; with a little more time and focus I hope to revisit the beginner scenario, quite possibly incorporating some of the advanced rules options for a deeper game experience. A more realistic strategy for the Continental Army might help, too.

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