MadDrMark | 24 Jan 2014 2:33 p.m. PST |
Somehow, I persuaded the administrators in my school to let me offer a mini-course in miniature wargaming. Two students volunteered to pack game time into their crowded schedules. Today, I introduced them to the concept of wargaming. Next Tuesday, we begin with a simulation of the Battle of Iuka, which to my eyes seems to be the ideal Civil War battle to wet the feet of newcomers with. My description of the setup can be read here link . I will post updates as the kids start pushing the little soldiers about.
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ColCampbell | 24 Jan 2014 2:53 p.m. PST |
Interesting battle you chose. My great-grandfather was there as a private in the 36th Mississippi. I hope your students have a good time and learn something out of the game. Jim P.S. The Union general is Rosecrans, not Rosencrans. |
MadDrMark | 24 Jan 2014 4:14 p.m. PST |
Get out of town! I've been pronouncing wrong all these years! So who's the dude who tried to off Hamlet? |
jurgenation | 24 Jan 2014 4:52 p.m. PST |
Great choice 0f battle,ever since I read Peter Cozzens book on the Iuka and Corinth campaign I have wanted to play the game. I have always wanted to paint the pack camel of the Colonel for one of the Miss.,regt's and seewhat looks I would get,truth is stranger than fiction. |
John the OFM | 24 Jan 2014 6:24 p.m. PST |
So who's the dude who tried to off Hamlet? Guildenstern, but he's dead. |
Fat Wally | 25 Jan 2014 4:07 a.m. PST |
Iuka is a fantastic scrap. I too read Cozzens (great story) but I've played in three times with TFL's 'They Couldn't Hit an Elephant' rules. Great fun. |
donlowry | 25 Jan 2014 10:17 a.m. PST |
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114th Pennsylvania | 25 Jan 2014 11:08 a.m. PST |
My Hat is off to you MadDr. Very glad to hear you are showing your students not only Wargaming, but interaction with others rather than a computer. Hopefully it will spur them on to read more History and inspire them to try and recreate what they read. Very nice work. Can you post your notes on the OOB? I will follow your progress on Blog page and certainly pick up Cozzens book. |
MadDrMark | 25 Jan 2014 11:17 a.m. PST |
I teach at Germantown Academy, a prep school in the NW suburbs of Philadelphia. I'll post more notes after we start the game on Tuesday. You know, I remember a time when we tabletop gamers were seen as antisocial misfits. Now, unplugged games are healthy social alternatives to staring at screens. Hurrah for us! |
ACWBill | 27 Jan 2014 8:46 a.m. PST |
Well done Sir. History has become somewhat of a weak point in most class rooms today. Glad to see such a thing. My Grandaughter asked me to contribute a layout last year when her class was studying the Seminole Wars. I sent her up a few terrain tiles and some of my figures. She was not allowed to display them as the figures were carrying fire arms! Was in Suwanee, GA of all places. It was incredulous. What did they think the warriors and soldiers used as weapons, paint guns? B |
The Goon from the Moon | 27 Jan 2014 11:35 a.m. PST |
Little lead figures not allowed little lead guns but ok for real peopke to carry real guns? The mind boggles. |
donlowry | 27 Jan 2014 11:44 a.m. PST |
I'm just wondering how the Mad Dr gets away with having figures that carry (gasp!) Confederate flags. |
The Goon from the Moon | 27 Jan 2014 11:57 a.m. PST |
Maybe he has a signed statement from all the ensigns stating that they're responsible, law abiding folk with no prior convictions? |
ACWBill | 27 Jan 2014 12:21 p.m. PST |
Indeed Don, that probably wouldn't fly in my grandaugther's classroom either. Zero tolerance equates to IQs of a similar scale. |
MadDrMark | 27 Jan 2014 5:55 p.m. PST |
Bill, I agree that history is often poorly taught. Several times a year, people tell me "Oh, I hated history in high school, but I love it now." But I am lucky to be in a department that values expertise (we all hold advanced degrees in history), and an administration that trusts us to do our own thing. Even though most of us teachers are on the left politically, my colleagues get that my little games have value. I feel bad for educators working in environments where policy trumps good judgement. |
MadDrMark | 29 Jan 2014 5:49 a.m. PST |
All right! My students have had their first session, and they picked up the concepts and rules faster than I could have hoped. We got through two and a half turns in our first class period, and they are both showing signs of thinking strategically. A short account of their adventures can be found here:
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MadDrMark | 29 Jan 2014 7:16 a.m. PST |
Sorry, here's the link: link |
ACWBill | 29 Jan 2014 4:31 p.m. PST |
Outstanding accomplishment. Hopefully, they will all become more interested in studying history. Making history "come alive" in a participatory fashion is a good way to revive interest in History and perhaps even creating future History majors. |
donlowry | 30 Jan 2014 5:02 p.m. PST |
The current trend seems to be to take all the individuals out of history, so that it all impersonal forces and trends. Boring. People are always interested in people. And people are what make things happen, have ideas, etc., not impersonal forces. I'm glad to see that someone somewhere is bucking the "trend." |
uglyfatbloke | 01 Feb 2014 6:56 a.m. PST |
I've used miniatures in several lessons/presentations for schools – always goes down well and the authorities here in Scotland have no problem with it
I've even taken weapons in. Something slightly worrying about being in the supermarket and overhearing a child say 'look Mummy, that;s the the man who brought the machine gun into school.' |
MadDrMark | 01 Feb 2014 4:19 p.m. PST |
My nine-year old daughter is doing a unit on Africa. I volunteered to bring in my Zulu shield, assegai, and knobkerrie. To my surprise and delight, the teacher agreed. Perhaps she didn't know what an assegai was
:) Don, I give my students a full share of boring impersonal forces as well! But even when we're doing something like "the social impact of the industrial revolution" I try to keep good stories at the heart of each class. F'rinstance, we compared the technological change they had seen in the fourteen years of their lives with what a kid living in 1830 would have seen. They were shocked to realize that they didn't invent rapid technological change. |
donlowry | 02 Feb 2014 2:45 p.m. PST |
Yea, I once mentally cataloged all the changes my parents had seen even before I was born. The list was very impressive. |
MadDrMark | 20 Feb 2014 5:12 p.m. PST |
An update: link Due to snow days and sickness, this has to be one of the slowest-paced games in history. However, my students didn't miss a beat, and we played two more turns today. |
MadDrMark | 26 Feb 2014 11:51 a.m. PST |
The battle ended today. After three sessions, my novice gamers have a good sense of the rules (even to the point where they realized that the Black Powder rules reward those players who focus on breaking brigades). You can read the final report here: link |