"Grand Alliance/WSS Gaming Society?" Topic

I know there is the SYWA (Seven Years War Association) because I'm a member but is there an association for the first part of the 18th Century? If not then maybe we should form one along the lines of the SYWA. I know the League of Augsburg group has the League of Gentlemen Wargamers but I'm looking for something more focused on the Grand Alliance, League of Augsburg & WSS period, that 20 to 25 year span where peace broke out for a couple of years. Does anyone know of such an Association? If not then I'm going to start one.

I'll join. Keep us posted.

I'm in as soon as it goes live.
Let us know.
T

I would definitley join. I don't game this period…yet…but I have been reading anything I can find on it, especially the 9YW for many years now. Personally I would go beyond the League of Augsburg and make it from the Restoration of Charles the II, or maybe the ascension of Louis the XIV to the throne of France to just before the War of Austrian Succession, it'll give you more material and pretty much fill the gap of post 30YW & ECW to the WAS & SYW.

The pike and shot society covers the period up to the end of the WSS and ocassionally publishes articles on the WSS and the 9YW.

pikeandshotsociety.org

A nice response so far. I was aware of the Pike & Shot Society, that's why I was focusing on the very end of that period and the beginning of what a lot of people call the Horse & Musket period. I think there can be some overlap without any problems as the P&SS focuses more on the earlier parts. I wanted this to be more on the Grand Alliance & WSS. I'm not sure if we could/should take it to include the first third of the 18th Century much like the SYWA covers the middle third of the same. That can be decided as the group matures.

My view for a Grand Alliance Society would be based on the years 1685 – 1721. It would cover European warfare and history of that period with perhaps some offshoot colonial/new world campaigns.

It would include
1)Monmouth Rebellion 1685
2)Glourious Revolution 1688
3)Jacobite campaigns in Ireland and Scotland 1689-1691
4)War of the Grand Alliance/League of Augsburg/Nine Years War 1689-1697
5)War of Spanish Succession
6)Great Northern War

cheers
Edward

ps; I'm in

Definitely sounds interesting as it is a period I am interested in.

I am interested in the WSS period. Have no armies yet, but they are on the wish list.

Don't forget the Turkish Wars 1682-1688.

I am interested in the WSS period and I have armies. Have you checked out the Blenheim Yahoo group?

Count me in, although the P&S Society does a good job covering the period. Anyone interested in the 9YW WSS should definitely join the P&SS.

If you are going to start a new society, I would suggest that you cover the Wars of Louis XIV and the contemperaneous wars such as the Scanian and Great Northern Wars, and the Turkish Wars. Thus, the period 1672-1721.

Include GNW and the Russo-Ottoman Wars and I could be interested.

I would be interested.

WSS was my favourite period for years and we still play it occasionally. I have to say that I am tempted by Venexias Wars of Louis XIV especially now that a new set of rules is in the offing.

Add me to it as well. Wouldn't mind if it went from the end of the ECW (cover the Dutch War and war of Deevolution) to the end of the Northern War. Definitely need more information on the 9 years war.

Mike

Count me in!
When/where will the annual meeting be? PLEASE SAY SOMETHING CENTRAL TO THE MAJORITY OF GAMERS, like Pittsburgh PA or Columbus OH.
The Outlander

am interested and would be happy to help just let me know. anything for prinz eugen and streudel.

18th Century Guy,

Are you contemplating a publication along the lines of Slingshot or The Seven Years War Association Newsletter as well? Have you thought about the time and work involved? I'm just curious.

I too would be interested

I would be interested also.

Broglie,

I couldn't resist buying some of the Venexia battalion packs. What rules do you speak of?

Cyrus,

There is a lot to think about how this can and could go/grow. Right now I'm just floating the idea of a Grand Allianc Society or something like that. I don't really want to step on the P&SS but other than Iain doing work in our era they seem to focus more on the late 16th and early 17th Centuries while I see this focusing on end of the 17th and into the 18th Century. Most people so far think that the 1720's is a good stopping point which is fine by me. I'm not going to try and put a wall around this. It is now in the formative stage so I don't want to rule anything out. Yes I've thought about a newletter akin to what the SYWA has done but that will be down the road a bit. Let's put the horse in front of the cart first! :-) As far as a convention site I have no idea yet so let's see how that plays out. We've not even truly formed this up and people are already wanting a convention which sounds to me like this has been an idea waiting for someone to bring it into the light of day. I live in the south and drive to Historicon every year so distance isn't much of an issue at this point but obviously it will become one if I'm going to run a convention. But once we get to that point we'll do our best to make it as centrally located as possible, at least for those in the U.S. We could always go to some resort island. ;-) Anyway thank you all for the input, this really gives me the energy to get this started.

18th century guy, where do you live in the south? also here. and its rough finding historical gamers of the period.

Is anyone interested in the UK, or are all of you on the other side of the pond as it would be good to have a UK based chapter as well.

18th Century Guy,

I'm in western Canada . . . so I wouldn't be going to any conventions . . . but I am quite interested in your proposal. I'm just starting to begin my research into the period and I'd love a way to learn more.

How would you start? With a Yahoo Group perhaps?

Barry Hilton's "Beneath the Lily Banners" covering just this period is due to be published this Spring . . . perhaps there is something to connect to there.

In any event, please count me in . . . contact me at bluebear*at*uniserve*dot*com . . . (you know how to "correct" that of course).

-- Jeff

Me too!

owaincaesarius*at*yahoo*co*uk

With my 15mm WSS armies and potentially Monmouth and GW of the North lurking on the agenda.

Weissenwolf,

I live in the Atlanta area. What about you?

May I ask a silly question ? What exactly would you like to do ? If you'd like to exchange information, a Yahoo-group would be the answer. Mind: this is an honest question, I really do not want to be ironic !

Porthos,

That's a good question for 18th Century Guy . . . I'll second it.

Personally, I think that a Yahoo Group would make a good "collection point" as a start. And, while a convention would be nice, many of us are scattered around the globe with no hope of attending such.

TMP is great for some things . . . but it is also easy for announcements or discussions to be missed in the great sea of subjects available here.

So, 18th, what is your vision?

-- Jeff

Porthos and Jeff,

My 'vision' is to eventually grow into something akin to the SYWA but I'm not going to hold it back if wants to be smaller or larger or different in some way. A Yahoo Group would be helpful for those not in the U.S. but I'm also looking for a bit more than that. The SYWA holds a yearly convention with its focus on the middle third of the 18th Century. So they cover all of the wars in that section of the 18th Century. What I 'envision' is having an organization that promotes something closer to what I mentioned – the beginning of the 18th Century and as some have stated maybe starting at 1685 and going to 1721 (maybe 1725, it sounds like a nice round number) for this association. This would cover, loosely, the beginning of what most people think of as the Horse & Musket period. As to the overall organization – I'm working on that! I would love to have a newletter similar to what the SYWA or P&SS put out but obviously that would come with time and the involvement of more people. For people overseas (at least from the U.S. perspective) they could form chapters, hold their own conventions and exchange ideas, information, figures, whatever face-to-face. It'd be nice to have everyone world-wide meet but the practicality of that just doesn't work in my mind. I've noticed over time that the Pike & Shot era has an organization, the SYW has one, Napoleonics does of course, Ancients has many. Do I need to keep going? But what seems to be missing is this era so I'm proposing that we (me for now) form an association the promotes it, has newsletters about it, is the 'theme' for a Historicon which we could then further promote this association. I wouldn't restrict to be just the wars in Europe such as The 9 years War or the WSS. It can and should include any and all wars from 1685 to 1725 and those people who hold one of those wars dearly could submit articles or put on games at a convention.

My vision is to simply get the association/organization started. I think once that happens it will grow on its own with, some slight supervision. I realize that this could and probably does sound pie-in-the-sky but at some point I have to take the 'vision' and translate that into action. Much will change as this progresses and maybe I'll discover down the road that it isn't worth it but I hope not. All I can say is give me some time to get a foundation in place and let's see where we go from there. Does that help?

I plan on talking with people in the SYWA and other organizations to see how they run themselves, how they put on cons, what were the pitfalls that they've run into from a club/association aspect. What would they do different if they were starting over or starting a new association? That's what I'm looking for now. My guess is I'll find with many of these association is that it was or still is a very local group that started it and it grew from there. It was a club that grew into something bigger. I can do the same thing but the association will start off with more people spread out which has its own set of issues but I feel they can be overcome. It isn't impossible to do but it will require some work and effort on my part as well as others. How's that?

18th Century Guy,

Well, there is one HUGE difference between what you are proposing and the models you point to . . .

. . . the Internet.

The other organizations formed before the instant communication available to us now. By all means do ask questions of them . . . but please remain aware of the difference in communications available now.

I heartily suggest starting a Yahoo Group relatively soon. It would give you a communication location that would facilitate exchanging ideas.

As I indicated earlier, I'm "in" . . . but my knowledge of the period is extremely sketchy at best.

-- Jeff

18th Century Guy,

If you want the low down on the SYW Association and it's origins, ge2002bill posts here. You could reach Bill through his rules website:oldregimerules.com. Bill was the founder and original editor of SYW Association's Newsletter until Jim took over the duties. You can name drop my on-line persona or tell him Joe sent you.

Cyrus,

I got an image of one of those black & white crime films of the 30s through 50s as a small panel in a door slides open and someone says . . .

"Joe sent me".

LOL!

-- Jeff

Hi
As i have armies for William's campaigns in Ireland and WSS i would be very interested in joining.

Billy.

Jeff,

Yes, you are correct about the difference in the models used in comparing organizations. Technology can do wonderful things and will allow us to do a lot of the exchanging of ideas and I plan on incorporating as much of it as is necessary without diluting our focus. GAWSSGameSoc, thank you for starting the Yahoo Group I really appreciate it. This is the type of thing I'm looking for and also believe will help us form some type of association, loosely based or otherwise, for this particular period. I know many of you may think that I had the steps necessary to get this going within hours of posting it but you'd be mistaken. All I was doing was floating the idea to see if it was going to be worth the effort. That being said, I believe it will be but I also believe that to make this something more than an internet site it will need to have something physical and physical in our hobby usually means items that people can touch – a newletter, a convention, a study group – the list can go on. Right now we have to take the small (baby) steps to get it started and the Yahoo Group is one of those steps. All I ask is that everyone be patient, keep the ideas coming as I know I do not have all the answers.

I just changed the name of the new Yahoo group to be Early Horse and Musket Society. New link at:

link

Gentlemen,

While I understand the meaning of the name, I fear a great many people think that "Horse and Musket" equals Napoleonics . . . and that "Early H&M" would mean the Revolutionary period. Some, who have a wider view, would consider H&M to run from Frederick to the American Civil War.

If I had to pick a name for the period, in order to avoid confusion, I think I might go with "Grand Alliances" . . . because the time frame we're thinking about tended to have numerous allies on one side or the other.

What do others think?

-- Jeff

Main Title
'The Grand Alliance Society'

sub title
'Wargaming the Age of The Sun King and Marlborough'

cheers
Edward
aka Captain of Dragoons from the league of Augsburg

I thought about that one and I keep seeing GAS as the acronym. I know a lot of the leaders in the era were full of hot air but GAS just might carry the wrong connotation for us. :-)

Reverse it

Society of the Grand Alliance

Hello 18th Century Guy

Please see my post 'Our most important decision' on the group page.

i like the reversal idea.

Gentlemen in Charge,

So, guys, are we going to get a name change? Or not?

-- Jeff

Jeff and Louisbourg,

I'm working on it. I didn't want to make another change so quickly but I plan on changing the name, again, later this evening (EST that is). I'm going with what some, along with Dan Schorr have recommended – The Early Linear Warfare Society – Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV 1660-1721. With appropriate subtitles for the other leaders of the Age. You'll see that I've added some pictures of the leaders from the era as well. I purposely left out Marlborough as he was a military commander and this Age was about Kings. Anyway look for the new name & URL soon. Thanks!

The name has been changed – Early Linear Warfare Society. Here is the new link – link

18th Century Guy,

While not my first choice, it certainly works well for me . . . and is more descriptive of the period. A good choice.

-- Jeff