"Future Wargaming Center" Topic

Oberst Radl,

All the existing centers offer open weekends. Some also rent their space and terrain and let the customers supply their own figures. This is a popular option for game clubs. I would support both options.

Ed

Ed,

Then I'd definitely be interested. As to battles, I'd enjoy any of the following (plus Usuegi Kenshin's list)

Marathon
Carrhae
Hattin
Arsuf
Hypothetical batles from Operation Sea Lion
Midway
Seelow Heights

A weekend running a campaign using Bag the Hun and Squadron Forward.

Interesting idea – I'd be willing to give it a try for a weekend.

Battles I'd like to see include

Alesia
Trafalgar
Wag-ram
Lundy's Lane
Shiloh
Gettysburg
Jutland
Guadalcanal (nice sea / land combo
D-Day / Normandy
Market-Garden

Well leaving aside the business plan and the reality of making it work, mainly because I don't know the US numbers so I can't comment. I would say that you want to do those things clubs can't do well. I would focus on games with the ability to have command chain and decisions at all levels. That way a brigade commander can aspire to being a division commander or CinC next time out. That also allows for inter play between the players. You would have to have some kind of handle on the personalities involved though to avoid folks being on the same team who can't get along. I also think that people would want to have spectacle with playability, if that makes sense. In other words keep the rules as straightforward as possible so the game keeps moving, but with lots of good terrain and figures. If you have big tables then use them, don't have the two walls of lead stretching from table edge to table edge thing going on, make players worry about open flanks, give them room to manouver.

I'd also suggest some experimental games perhaps in the evenings, the kind of things that Wargames Developments try out at here in the UK. Small skirmish games run as double table blind games as an evening event, anything that is a bit "off the wall" becomes an evening fast game. The serious stuff is the 9-5 game.

If the numbers support trying this then you have to have a USP, then you have to market it. For the right proposition you could get gamers from farther afield than the NE USA attending.

You would have to have some kind of handle on the personalities involved though to avoid folks being on the same team who can't get along.

Wouldn't having that add to the realism?