Watch Read Play: Battle of the River Plate

 “My policy with three cruisers in company versus one pocket battleship — attack at once by day or night.”

— Commodore Henry Harwood

Last summer I proposed a learning rationale called “Watch Read Play” (or WRP) encouraging people to explore interests by first watching media, then reading, and finally playing a game about a topic, usually historical, that might engage them. I haven’t had much of a chance to try it myself, but over time I managed to achieve that trifecta for the Battle of the River Plate. That clash was the first major naval battle of World War II, when the German pocket battleship Graf Spee — after preying on Allied merchant shipping — encountered a British cruiser squadron hunting the commerce raider across the vast spaces of the south Atlantic. The severely damaged Graf Spee sought refuge in Montevideo, Uruguay, and, after some diplomatic controversies with the British cruisers lurking in international waters, the crew scuttled the ship. I explored the battle through a variety of media, including the 1956 film The Battle of the River Plate, two books, and the latest game on the subject, The Hunt. Each offers a different perspective to experience.

The Cycle of Estimation & Action

 “War itself has been declared to be a game, and rightly so, for it has the game characteristic of the presence of an antagonist.”

— Captain W. McCarty Little, USN

I believe games of all kinds can teach us about ourselves and the world around us. Playing them can inform our lives, adjust our perspectives, and broaden our experiences. I’m also encouraged by the increasing trend of using games for learning — notably in professional military education, government consulting institutions, and even universities — and am sometimes dismayed when they aren’t used for learning in environments where they might inspire young people (such as libraries, museums, historical sites, and secondary education). The value of “estimating the situation” (and all that entails) remains one of the most important lessons games can teach us. It’s a phrase pioneered at the U.S. Naval War College that succinctly summarizes the process a player uses — knowingly or subconsciously — when making decisions in any game. It also applies to how we might make decisions in real life, though far too often we stumble along simply reacting to the flood of challenges inflicted upon us with little time for anything but reflexive instinct. We rarely have the time or clarity to step back in our hectic lives, consider immediate events or even the big picture, and rationally reflect on our situation and what we can do to affect it in our favor. We can take time to estimate the situation and form a course of action in a game; the more we do so, the more we train ourselves to use that approach to our benefit in everyday life.

“Write What You Know”

 “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

On those rare occasions people ask me for writing advice, I tell them “Write what you know”...and it’s just as valid for game design. It’s one of those trite maxims we parrot as “advice” that, without reflection, means little beyond its superficial simplicity. Yet it’s not an axiom on which to sit complacently, to limit one to writing or designing only based on what they know at that moment. It is a challenge. Write and design what you know...and if you want to work with something you don’t know, strive to know it. Research. The concept is related to another saying worthy of reflection, from Socrates: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing” (expressed in other times and cultures by various people). And if we know nothing, we must go out and learn something, experience something, so we can draw on that knowledge in our future endeavors...especially activities we do for fun.

Thoughts on Morschauser’s Frontier Rules

“We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

My large chessboard set-up with “toy” style
terrain and stands of mounted Risk figures.

Earlier this month Bob Cordery posted the text of Joseph Morschauser’s “Frontier Wargame Rules” as published in Wargamer’s Newsletter #62 (May 1967). Cordery’s Wargaming Miscellany blog has long expanded my horizons with his views on gridded wargames and other such diversions. Although I’ve quite enjoyed exploring Cordery’s work in gridded wargames, I’ve never read Morschauser’s How To Play Wargames in Miniature, though The History of Wargaming Project edition has long been on my various wishlists. So I read and pondered the “frontier” game rules from the blog, printed a copy, and ran a few self-play games with a gridded board and some “toy” style figures readily at hand. I discovered a great deal that appealed to my appetite for concise games with basic core mechanics...and a few elements I would fine-tune if I wanted to pursue it for future games.

My Favorite RPGs

 “In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.”

— Ovid

Goodness knows I’ve played a good number of roleplaying games over the years. Sometimes I dabbled by reading rule- and sourcebooks, drafting some characters, jotting down adventure notes, even writing entire scenarios. Other times, after all the preparatory play activities, I brought a game to the table with friends or even strangers at a convention. I’ve played one-shots and lengthy campaigns. Along the way I tried numerous rules systems in various genres, with varying degrees of success and satisfaction. Although I’ve enjoyed it all — and some stand out as pleasant memories of my gaming past — I’ve come to admire a few games, both systems and settings, I’d default to if I had more chances to run roleplaying games.

Degrees of Solitaire

“Solitude is independence.”

— Hermann Hesse

I have, out of recent necessity, focused more on the solitaire game experience across all aspects of my adventure gaming hobby. I haven’t had a regular gaming group for a while, but I still indulge in games on my own, enjoying the occasional afternoon with a few like-minded friends around a few board games or the rare instance I attempt to convince them to try a roleplaying game. I find some satisfaction engaging in solitary game activities most of us enjoy: reading and comprehending rules for new games (or reviewing old favorites); developing materials for roleplaying games; painting miniatures and crafting terrain; and reading historical non-fiction to support my gaming activities. But sometimes you just want to play a game. Doing so without other players provides varying degrees of satisfaction depending on the nature of the solitaire play. Looking back on my own experiences, I classified my solo gaming into three categories: player-versus-player (PVP), cooperative, and true solitaire.

Strategic Choices in 300: Earth & Water

 “If you men think that I rely on numbers, then all Greece is not sufficient...but if on men’s valor, then this number will do.”

— Leonidas

I dabble in ancient history both in my non-fiction reading and my gaming...so I’m always on the lookout for something new and interesting. The epoch often engages me with notable military leaders, wars on land and sea, culturally distinct architecture, and the panoply of pantheons. I’d recently read some positive buzz about 300: Earth & Water from designer Yasushi Nakaguro and released by Nuts! Publishing. So I ordered a copy, read the rules, and played a few games with my son, who very quickly identified the nuances of strategy as we alternated playing the Greeks and Persians. 300: Earth & Water is a wonderfully concise game: relatively easy rules to learn (and reference in game); short play time (30-45 minutes); yet containing a satisfying number of strategic choices for players to consider every turn.