Wargame Articles
|
One of my earliest wargaming defeats was a table top ‘victory’ where I failed to apply my overwhelming firepower. I had a reinforced WWII 1/72 scale Airfix German company, with five Panthers and two Tigers. The game was played in a room with the curtains shut to simulate a night battle. A small torch could be used where ever you had troops. It was crude mechanism, but effective. I completely failed to realise that I could have swept away the American Platoon who had only a Churchill and Sherman tank in support. Although I eventually took the field but it was a relative defeat. I always remember that early game as a magic moment that helped get me interested in the recce elements of games. I set up a 1/32 scale Russian town for my brother to attack with unlimited German forces. As he advanced he found to his horror, the apparent simple FIBUA battle was a hard slog, with each building was a fortress. Inside each building was wire, barricades, sandbagged positions etc… In 1/32 scale, you really can show represent each building with every room fortified. The more he blew things up, the more defensible became the town. When I deployed the cardboard mushroom cloud in the Modern Professional Wargames was the only time I have ever heard a roomful of WDers at COW go silent (well for 30 seconds or so). The British were shocked that their grand defensive posture had suddenly switched to a fighting retreat. Contact! Was a game with 1/32 Russian tanks laid out on a lawn for the clever British recce force to find using binoculars from where ever their own 1/32 vehicles were positioned. I have run it with many interesting people over the last few years, but two moments stand out as being magic. The first was John Bassets face at finding his recce elements knocked out by a Russian company by his feet. The second was my yell at Sharon Langridge when I realised she was about to walk on a Russian tank platoon she was searching for. (They were cunningly hidden in the middle of the lawn). The Contingency Planning for an Alien Invasion was a very interesting long running series of games and articles. Based upon a whim with Michael Young, it went on and on, with games and discussions. It taught me a lot about asymmetrical warfare, much of that understanding that is as valid for the Indian Wars, for the far future or even currently in Iraq. A magic moment in wargaming may be pleasure at seeing something work, discovering something new or merely satisfaction at someone recalling some game that you had some part in devising, testing or playing.
|