"Vimy Ridge Demo Game at Canadian War Museum April 8 and 9" Topic

Myself and Robert will be putting on a demonstration game at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa Ontario, Canada. We will be part of the Vimy and Beyond event that will kick off the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Robert and I will be setting up a display in 6mm using GWSH II. We will be taking folks thru the phases of the battle and allowing it to unfold historically for the purposes of the demonstration. There will be somewhere between 2500 and 3000 miniatures on the 12 x 6 foot table. If you are in the Ottawa area on the 8th and 9th please stop in and see us!

View of the entire Canadian Corps preparing to go over the top!

3rd Div HQ

2nd Division moving forward supported by Mk II female tanks!

Shawn

Looks great! Would love to be there, however it's a bit of a trek from the wet coast.

How did gamers from BC get to do a game in Ottawa ??

Well Roberts from England so really its only me from BC :)

Not sure if you are just hucking poop TO48 or if you are wondering how we got in the door? Happy to answer if you want to know happy to chuckle if you are just hucking poop! :)

Shawn

No Shawn I would like to know I am a member of the museum and have been told that they are not that friendly to wargamers Please send details I would like to help on the days if needed

Email kentxxed24atyahoodotca

Take out the exes and use symbols

TedK

Ok Tedk will do!

Shawn

TedK, I think that one factor in our favour was the scale of 'war-game' that we have delivered in other contexts. You can see one example here:

link

Robert

Is there a CWM or non-TMP URL? I may want to share it with non-gaming friends…

I believe CWM will be putting something up in the near future and I imagine they will post the game but I will have to confirm.

Shawn

Very impressive, as always, Shawn and Robert. I strayed away from the true path of GWSH II in 1916 …. oops 2016 … but am hoping to get back into it for this penultimate year of the centenary.

Here in England, we are planning to put on the whole Battle of Messines at the Joy of Six show in Sheffield. It will correspond almost exactly to the 100th anniversary. My Grandfather fought there in the NZ Division. I will make sure the Australian units are turned out well on table too.

Robert

Thanks, Shawn. TO48 asked me whether I might be interested in helping, too. My question is what French language materials will be made available?

Will the Museum take care of French explanatory material about the game as a sort of temporary exhibit?

Is there a GWSH II quick reference sheet in French?

Skeptic, they will have a translator standing by to help us if necessary. I have not done a French translated GWSHII QRS, but I think I saw a home made version once somewhere on the internet. I believe the Museum will have some information available in both French and English but not in direct support to the demo game but for Vimy itself.

Wouldn't be overly difficult to put together QRS if needed.

Shawn

Robert I wish I could get across the pond for that! Maybe next year for the 100 days :D
Shawn

@VR, let me know if you'd like some help with the QRS.

@VR: Just a suggestion, but have you considered adding a few stand-up markers / sign posts for important features and units? They may help spectators to understand what is where.

Have a look at Roberts link up above, I think just about anything and everything is covered. We will have name plates for the Divisions but that is as low as we will go with GWSH for name plates. I will have tags on all the stands so that if someone wants to see the approximate route and position of the 15th CEF Battalion they can see it.

Shawn

We had our first run-through in setting up the table last night. The War Museum hosted an event to open the various new exhibits and to announce the commemorative coins that have been minted. The hall was packed with guests, many of whom stopped by to see what we were doing.

It wasn't possible for me to bring the Hexon terrain that I normally use to create historically correct contours. The trenches, roads, buildings, etc already weighed in at 28kg for the flight so I arrived in Ottawa a few days ago. Using 3mm-ish thick foam core boards, we created 20m contours for the whole Vimy Ridge battlefield. This included Givenchy and Souchez in the north, down to Roclincourt in the south. The completed terrain boards covered an area 6' x 10'. We set them up on the tables provided by the museum then laid the terrain mats over. It took a little while to get the 40' of trenches laid, using the flexible TimeCast latex trench system. The rest fell into place quite quickly and the resulting battlefield, with some of Shawn's Canadian (aka Baccus) figures in place, drew lots of attention and discussion. It was a fabulous evening and we are looking forward to the two days of gaming over the weekend.

Many thanks to TO48 and Skeptic for their help last night!

Robert

Enjoyed seeing your set-up last night, great job.

Brian

Next version is ready for tomorrow. Shawn and I revisited the German and Canadian primary sources in more detail. The layout 'map' has been adjusted accordingly. The table should be even better tomorrow and Sunday.

Robert

We will get a bunch of pictures up as soon as we can. Anticipate that some should be up on Saturday evening.

Shawn

Shawn, yes please more pics and an AAR if possible.

Confirm the table looked great and I am looking forward to being there this weekend

If you are in the area drop in

Free Admission on Sunday !!!

Had a great day yesterday (8 Apr) lots of folks came and looked and asked questions (500ish I would think). trouble getting to my drop box so should have photos up soon.

Shawn

Sorry, it was not I who helped with the set-up.