 20thmaine  | 02 Aug 2012 4:50 a.m. PST |
Do you represent the use of communications pigeons in your World War One games ? Yes – in an abstract form Yes – have model pigeons on the battlefield Yes – have model pigeons on battlefield and represent the logistics chain (bird seed, London buses converted to mobile pigeon lofts etc) No Obviously the question is only applicable if you game World War One. |
| Historicalgamer | 02 Aug 2012 5:24 a.m. PST |
I find the mess they make is not worth it. :) |
| 20thmaine | 02 Aug 2012 5:45 a.m. PST |
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| Old Slow Trot | 02 Aug 2012 7:21 a.m. PST |
Insert "Dastardly & Muttley" joke here. ;^) |
| 20thmaine | 02 Aug 2012 7:48 a.m. PST |
Lol. But seriously folks…..they were an important part of the communications chain…so, represent or wrap up in a general comm's rule ? |
| bogdanwaz | 02 Aug 2012 8:41 a.m. PST |
I just used a pigeon truck in a game I ran at Historicon. Of course, it was a pulp WWI game and the whole pigeon thing was played mostly as a joke, involving Speckled Jim of Blackadder Goes Forth fame. The hero of the story was very loosely based on Ernest Hemmingway and was the driver of said pigeon truck. A picture of the truck can be found here: link In terms of rules, I allowed the Allied player to use the Speckled Jim figure as a spotter for artillery line of sight. |
| richarDISNEY | 02 Aug 2012 8:46 a.m. PST |
NO.
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 The Virtual Armchair General  | 02 Aug 2012 10:56 a.m. PST |
"Funny Little Wars," the rules for 54mm yard/table top games, has detailed rules on the use of Pigeons, as well as Semaphore and Heliograph. A Signals Staff is part of each Brigade and Division HQ, and the transmission/receipt of orders must go through one or more of these communications systems before actually being given to the recipient. The Pigeons' rules include rolling on a table of risks to determine if a message is delayed, never delivered, or even the small chance of falling into enemy hands. Yes, Good On You for remembering the importance--and added fun to the game--of all those "Speckled Jim's" out there! TVAG |
 etotheipi | 02 Aug 2012 2:39 p.m. PST |
Kind of all three yesses. Pigeon ops for comms are abstract, however, the sigs terrain pieces have some static pigeon figures in the coops and they are covered in … er … um … pigeon logistics? |
| 20thmaine | 02 Aug 2012 4:10 p.m. PST |
bogdanwaz – nice pigeon loft ! |
| Don1962 | 04 Aug 2012 8:06 a.m. PST |
Telephones connected via wire were used on all fronts extensively. You can string light copper wire across your table to 'wire operators' (each Battle Honors 25mm command pack contains a phone operator) and mimic this form of communication. If a shell lands on the wire, of course it gets cut, just like in WW1. |
| SECURITY MINISTER CRITTER | 04 Aug 2012 12:47 p.m. PST |
"I find the mess they make is not worth it. " that and they peck at the minis. |
has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
