tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post6620051480998472110..comments2024-03-28T03:10:23.679-07:00Comments on Polemarch: Weird HistoriographyThe Polemarchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-34010475598964010532017-03-28T01:21:49.872-07:002017-03-28T01:21:49.872-07:00Yes, we should aim to do better when gaming histor...Yes, we should aim to do better when gaming historical actions. Wargamers are certainly capable of this, although their willingness to try may depend upon the reasons why they game.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-55274710116751177952017-03-28T00:15:39.321-07:002017-03-28T00:15:39.321-07:00If two philosophers agreed ojn anything I think th...If two philosophers agreed ojn anything I think the purpose of the universe would have been achieved and it would end...<br /><br />Agreed on what wargamers use, but I still think we can and should do a bit better. But then, despite everything, I am an optimist about how smart humans can be.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-82072869028726270362017-03-27T10:39:39.206-07:002017-03-27T10:39:39.206-07:00My current campaign has a system where truces are ...My current campaign has a system where truces are imposed with a duration based on how badly a nation loses a war, so they can last for months or years. It has the same effect. Wars tend to be over within a year too. I had not thought about it before, but it actually works well at simulating the sort of warfare you discuss.<br /><br />I suspect many wargamers are not too bothered about whether they are dealing with mythology or not. They just take the sources they know and use them without worrying too much about the sources' biases.<br /><br />Do you think the sky would fall if two philosophers actually agreed what philosophy is?Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-67476956877102234352017-03-27T06:05:18.100-07:002017-03-27T06:05:18.100-07:00I rather like the idea of 'just carry on until...I rather like the idea of 'just carry on until one of you dies' approach. I also recall that Tony Bath used to impose rest years in Hyboria, just so the battle areas could get a bit of a breather.<br /><br />The problem is, as wargamers, we have to try to sort mythology from history, or at least be specific about which bits of the overall package we believe and are using. Too often wargames sit within the mythological bias of the players.<br /><br />Mind you, I'm reading a book at the moment which argues that the Greek philosophers were not doing what we would call philosophy. Western philosophy has thus been wrong for centuries about what it is doing and where it comes from. Not that that would disconcert the few philosophers I know....The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-64167248240919436602017-03-27T06:01:05.088-07:002017-03-27T06:01:05.088-07:00I don't think the bravery of the defenders is ...I don't think the bravery of the defenders is at question, it is just that trying to defend it struck me as being a tad optimistic. I don't recall the bookshop - I think I was too dazed by the experience, and retreated to the Spanish Village nearby, which was a lot nicer and cooler.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-69666134978766536982017-03-27T05:59:32.657-07:002017-03-27T05:59:32.657-07:00I think the thing that got me at the Alamo was the...I think the thing that got me at the Alamo was the really weird atmosphere and the people with the signs. I mean, it doesn't happen on most battlefields of the C19, let alone anywhere else. <br /><br />But I also suspect that the Crockett mythology and films play a big part. <br /><br />While castles were useful against raiders (although not that useful) as with modern checkpoints they only really work if the defenders can be bothered, and also if they are in the right place. castles actually mean much more than that as well - power, wealth and symbolism are as important, i think, as the defence function.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-42742421248644980792017-03-27T05:44:19.770-07:002017-03-27T05:44:19.770-07:00There's a lot of mythologising goes on, or dod...There's a lot of mythologising goes on, or dodgy historiography, if you prefer. I think that the only thing that really matters when setting up a game is acknowledging the assumptions, compromises and sources that have gone into its construction. I'll leave the politics of mythologising for a different venue.<br /><br />In one of the Extra Impetus magazines, there was a Wars of the Roses campaign that did precisely what you suggested. Each campaign is only likely to have two or three battles, and could potentially have just one. The campaign ends when one side is decisively defeated and chooses to flee. Players then swap roles with the usurper becoming king and the king becoming the usurper. Rinse and repeat until one or other pretender to the throne dies. It may be assumed that years pass between campaign seasons, but they are glossed over for the sake of keeping the game running.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-41861353091189913332017-03-25T07:07:36.599-07:002017-03-25T07:07:36.599-07:00Read quite a lot about the Alamo and to say anythi...Read quite a lot about the Alamo and to say anything negative about the Siege of the Alamo I Texas would risk a lynching . Brave men not the less (I'd of been the one chap that scarpered over the wall in the dead of night) , an interesting book which I think will NOT be for sale at the Alamo gift shop https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exodus-Alamo-Anatomy-Last-Stand/dp/1612000762The Good Soldier Svjekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08749564052124659180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-40165615850913127942017-03-25T04:33:34.628-07:002017-03-25T04:33:34.628-07:00Before I go any farther I wish to make it clear to...Before I go any farther I wish to make it clear to CSIS and any other security agency who is monitoring the internet that I am not a potential terrorist or fanatic advocating or capable of violence.<br /><br />Now, a few thoughts in fairly random order. <br /><br />I'm not an expert on the Alamo or the Rebellion but I don't think the Alamo was defended because it was a great fort but at the time the town had strategic value. The Mexicans had tried unsuccessfully to defend the town against the rebels and the mission was a slightly more defensible position against small government forces and as a base for patrols. I have read suggestions that the Mexucan army was not expected quite so soon or expected to be so big and the grand plan had not been to try to hold them back with a handful. The question then becomes "why they didn't skidadle at the first sight of the enemy?". The answer is probably partly that they were a group of fanatics of the sort who might have resorted to blowing things up in modern times and partly that they were amateurs who didn't understand the situation. There is some evidence that they considered themselves to be combatants covered by international conventions, unfortunately the Mexicans saw them as rebels and outside international law and subject to summary justice. But there is also that whiff of testosterone and hubris mixed with that 'Noble self sacrifice' ideal that results in things like the 300 at Thermopoli, Camerone, Gandamuck, Rorkes Drift etc etc<br /><br />As for the Mexican delay, I think they were just regrouping and recovering from a difficult march which had stretched the army out while trying to get a handle of the situation. They may have hoped to not have to take casualties storming the place but were probably just waiting until it was time to move on.<br /><br />As for wargaming there are a rather surprising number of ranges for the Texas thing in every scale and they sell well. Alamo games in particular pop up often at conventions (as do Rorkes Drift games..). They are often lean heavily towards recreating the movies and tend to be played in that spirit.<br /><br />As for other castles I think they were very serious about defence. Defence against raiders and revolting peasants like modern sandbag checkpoints or barracks surrounded by wire fences etc. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.com