"Of Dice and (Tin) Men " Topic

This being the title of a series I've started on my blog concerning my personal wargames history. Self indulgent and narcicistic? Of course! :-)

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Still, I usually find similar accounts of the experiences of other wargamers to be quite fascinating so hopefully it will be of interest to some of you as well. The first post, "Origins", covers roughly 1966 – 1971. It is written with a view towards the rules I have read and played over the yerars, and the varying organizations of my wargames units.

Peter

Peter,

I can't understand how you never played a game of Charge!, I've let you down, old friend.

If anything, it is Morschauser's rules I am most eager to play some day, as his book is what really started it all for me!

Dear Gonsalvo

I started with Moreschauser as well, and it never really left me. Played other rules, other systems, but there's soemthing about the elegance and simplicity of the system that is highly alluring. CHARGE! of Course, is CHARGE! and an excellent game. Fire and Charge! by Scruby is middle/middle so/so, very much a product of its time. i have played it several times a long time ago.

Frappe I've played- it's an absolute horror! In fact it was the rules used by the group which caused me to drop out of wargames for a year. It really was the group's fault. It was a group of absoutely toxic gamers who used it, and one day we had a game at this highschool were the club met. The gme was a Napoleonic one, and it was a huge game. I had a collection of about 800 Scruby figures at that time, and was an avid Nappy fan. Well to give the whole story I had a cold and a fever, and the game started at 8:30 one Saturday morning. By 1:45 we had gotten to turn 1.45, and the arguments, name calling, back biting, and continuous quibbling and squabbling had driven me to the edge. I had sat there fairly comatose through the whole game. Finally I got up and said "That's it. I'm done. I'm out of war games." "But what about your stuff and terrain?" One of the guys said. "Keep it all.It's yours." The next few days I gave away every miniature and set of rules and piece of terrain I had (Ancients, what Nappy troops I hadn't taken, modern. Of course the resolution didn't last, but I changed my method of engagement. I never play Napoleonic games any more. Anyway, Frappe I suppose is just a set of rules and it depends on the people you play, but I had to resurrect it and copy it for a gamer who asked for it (I suggested several competent therapists) and so I reread part of it and I realized how much the game seemed almost calculated to cause arguments. There is nothing simple or elegant or easy about the rules, and it comes form a time period when,under the aegis of SPI and others, complication and complexity was the absolute desire.

Otto,

Yes, I'd agree that Frappe! was a product of its times, and we very heavily modified it over time. It *always* matters who you play with, perhaps more than any other factor; we had very few rules arguments.

It has been quite some time since I played those rules,o even rules derived from them well over 20 years, and back when we played them, I could easily spend 6 hours or more playing a game. Still because of my very different experience, I remember them fondly!

I enjoy Bob Cordery's wargaming blog. He is very much a fan of the old school way of wargaming.
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Lots of great stuff related to Morschauser's rules there, Coopman; thanks!

Like your style Gonsalvo, a nice read indeed.

Come over to the Odd Fellows and share a tale or two if you feel inclined, we're pretty easy going and ego's are left at the door
Chaps with a panache for playing and talking about classic rules are always held in high regard.

regards
dave