tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post9075764315305708944..comments2024-03-28T03:10:23.679-07:00Comments on Polemarch: Wide Boys and HeroesThe Polemarchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-80349014539695791262013-10-25T02:32:00.255-07:002013-10-25T02:32:00.255-07:00I guess we have a chicken and egg situation. the d...I guess we have a chicken and egg situation. the data is there for WW2 gamers to obsess over. If we had statistics for the angle of attack of a pike on a cuirass, I'm sure we would obsess over those too. But (fortunately for the sanity of the wargaming part of the human race) we don't.<br /><br />The problem is that we have a model, and the model uses and has definite data of input and output. Which the human race seems to be programmed to like.<br /><br />But real life is a lot messier than that. My guess would be that a lot of, for example, AT combat was predicated by terrain and tactical situation rather than if a shell hit at a particular angle. <br /><br />Just because we have the data, it doesn't mean that we have to use it.<br />The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-29782622840984248992013-10-24T17:14:19.531-07:002013-10-24T17:14:19.531-07:00I think WW2 gamers only have a tendancy to obsess ...I think WW2 gamers only have a tendancy to obsess over numbers simply because the rules invariably deal with range, penetration, armour thickness and angle, etc of individual combats: Quantifiable data, now readily available at the click of a mouse which is fairly easily converted into probabilities for one-on-one action.<br />Casualty results for the 'ancients' period, for example (and for want of a better label) is surely more of an art form requiring debate and obsessive research into effects by and on massed bodies?<br />Is the difference between modern and ancient/pike/shot games that the former can use (if you want that sort of game) very detailed calculations for weapon use and the latter relies on historical research to glean combat data and has more organic morale implications?Les Hammondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12024891433789158423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-43500047519660897832013-10-24T16:07:03.293-07:002013-10-24T16:07:03.293-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Les Hammondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12024891433789158423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-72486240628510452792011-11-23T05:33:03.808-08:002011-11-23T05:33:03.808-08:00Hi,
Welcome to the hobby!
I think you have a poi...Hi,<br /><br />Welcome to the hobby!<br /><br />I think you have a point, and it does depend on the gamer, the rules and the era. some game top down, from the general's view point, some bottom up, in particular from the technology point of view (WW2 gaming is particularly prone to that, in my view).<br /><br />The good thing is that you can simply game the way that interests you.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-64371342097190851072011-11-22T20:45:48.527-08:002011-11-22T20:45:48.527-08:00I'm brand new to the historical wargaming hobb...I'm brand new to the historical wargaming hobby, but on first impression I'd say that the desire to 'be there' or at least to obtain some sort of closer association to a moment/era of history than is possible by passively consuming various media is a pretty substantial driving force. I think that wish to be there is something that wargaming shares with roleplaying games.<br /><br />Another impression that I've been struck with is that historical wargaming is largely concerned with the history of the trivial. The thickness and slope of the front hull armor on a T-34 or the muzzle velocity of the MG-34 just aren't all that meaningful, in the long term.<br /><br />That sort of minutia seems to serve the notion of 'being there' more than it does any sort of historical study.<br /><br />As I said, I'm brand new to the hobby, so I may be way off base in my observations.<br /><br />Great blog, by the way!<br /><br />TimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-28330708336286941452011-10-25T03:20:12.453-07:002011-10-25T03:20:12.453-07:00Thank you for the comments; I don't think I...Thank you for the comments; I don't think I'd like to rule anything as not being germane...<br /><br />The common theme between both of these is a kind of deeper personal involvement, maybe some sort of personal stake in the 'action' whatever that might be.<br /><br />I do recall when switching from Runequest to Call of Cthulhu the horror there was among the players at the damage which was inflicted (unhealable, too). It doesn't really seem to matter if our game world are historically based or entirely fiction either. The sense of identity seems to be the thing.<br /><br />Food for even more thought...The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-41368691639879865792011-10-24T10:14:50.493-07:002011-10-24T10:14:50.493-07:00Warfare and history fascinate me, they always have...Warfare and history fascinate me, they always have. And although I enoy reading about these, and watching films and plays about them, and can admire those who dress up and act out certain aspects of history in re-enactment societies, games offer a way "in" which is second-to-none because there is a personal engagement deeper than being an observer of past events. Perhaps, it is "childish" in the best sense - a way of engaging imaginatively with what fascinates without maintaining as much adult reserve.<br /><br />Regards<br /><br />JohnJWHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01637785437909299947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-67772374189275431012011-10-22T13:41:44.274-07:002011-10-22T13:41:44.274-07:00I apologise in advance if my comments are not cons...I apologise in advance if my comments are not considered especially germane.<br /><br />In my Vanguard tactical RPG game, a player is able to control a squad (or more ) of 'Operators' (troops) in a kit-bash of shot-and-pike to repeating rifles (think BAR). Although we have run more than a few 1-Player per Squad games, we have recently been playing with each participant controlling their Character and then issuing orders to Non-Player Character troops.<br /><br />The most recent set of battles involved the first time air insertion of troops (with an entire squad effectively wiped out due to accident) and then the long slog through enemy held territory. By the time the first objective was reached, only a squad remained, made up of remnants from the paratroopers.<br /><br />From there, an infiltration of a very large stronghold continued to follow the PCs and their troops who were constantly beset by the baddies and whittled down in two's and three's until the main force arrived to initiate the true assault on the rock tower. The Player Characters' actions influenced the enemy's reactions and signalled the holders' defeat, but at a cost of roughly one-third of the main column of assaulting troops through what was essentially a dam-buster operation. Over one hundred friendlies were swept away and drowned, with likely two to three times that number of the enemy.<br /><br />The players were, more than once, surprised at the brutality of the wounds suffered, as well as the damage they doled out, and by the end of the six session mission, I think everyone was reeling a bit. I know I needed time to vegetate and watch cooking shows before I went to bed, only to talk things through with my girlfriend (one of the players).<br /><br />As to why: I think that at the scale of conflict we play (PC = Commander), it makes the other events and undertakings (maintaining a colony and exploring the virgin land) more meaningful, and perhaps poignant -- for a fictitious setting -- as well as helping everyone realise the sorts of costs that were paid by all sides in historical events, such as the colonisation of the 'new world'.<br /><br />That's why we WG.Timeshadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09952601433965644275noreply@blogger.com