"Meanderings & Musings" Topic

Gentlemen,

Here's hoping that you might find something of interest in the following "essay" – please visit:

link

Thanks in advance for your time.

Chris

I'll wait for the tl;dr version

Hi Chris

Phil Halewood is definitely still with us and still wargaming. Most of the crew that he games with have played together for many, many years and still play on a fairly regular basis. Playing today I think but I couldn't make it this week.

I don't think his ideas have changed much since the letter.

I took over the layout of Slingshot not long after the letter was published so your notes are a blast from the past for me.

Tony of TTT

Chris, I'm glad you put those quotes around "essay." You really need a thesis statement fairly early on, and brief summaries of those other three essays as well as links. But to the extent I follow your thinking--well, I'm suspicious of "progress" as a concept when it comes to wargaming. Lots of people with very different ideas of what an ideal game would be, and the fellow writing about progress usually means by it moving toward where he wants to go. If I have a different end point, I'm standing in the way of progress.

Let each of us go toward where we individually want to go: there's usually enough overlap that we can learn from one another. (OK, perhaps not between me and the people who want to "advance gaming" by phasing out historical miniatures wargaming.) But we should each have some idea what a good game would be. Otherwise, the old naval adage applies: "For a captain with no destination, no wind is favorable."

Always enjoy your thought provoking articles/writing, Chris. I thought your article in MWAN on the invasion of England qas one of the best. It accounted for my huge Essex 15mm ECW effort . Good to hear from you, my old MWAN friend. Hope you Are well. Are you on Facebook? Hal

Was this the "Changing Face of War gaming"? To me it was totally irrelevant. War gaming is about how you simulate the real world. All I saw was drivel about card game mechanisms without a single reference as to how these improved simulation.

That is not the "changing face of war games" it's about folk who just want to play fantasy "something". I never saw card games as relevant to war gaming. I don't recall any Military text referring to the need for cards in war gaming.

Rather appropriate that I sign in this morning to check on things . . . "Scary" to see the number of "hits" and number of comments. But a good scary.

Taking the comments/remarks in the order they were made:

Mr. Elmo – I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "tl;dr" version.

GildasF – Please to read that Phil is still alive and wargaming. Please relate my regards or show him the relevant points of the post. Belated thanks for your work with Slingshot. The journal has had a rocky couple of years, IMO, but hope springs eternal.

RobertP – Fair enough. I believe I stated early on, or at least at a couple of points that the post was a collection of thoughts and maybe some ideas. In other words, it was me putting words to thoughts, though not in an academic format. As for links, I thought I provided or included these in the body. Summaries can be tricky if not subjective, which is why I try to provide links so that interested readers can draw their own conclusions. Appreciated your second paragraph . . . quite liked the naval adage. I may borrow it.

HalT – Very good to "hear" from you sir! How's retirement? How are the kids (the ones who stuck on the labels way back when)? I hope all is well. Thanks for your kind words on my counterfactual re the Armada landing in merry ole England. I am not on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Missing out? Perhaps. But, when I am at the gym and I see people sitting at equipment "glued" to their phones, well . . . Very good to "hear" from you as well. What are you up to now with your gaming?

UshCha – Sorry that you found the post "totally irrelevant" and thought that the "drivel" about card games was a waste of your time, if I understand your point/points correctly. Guessing that by "military text" you are referring to current US army field manuals or perhaps the narratives of Polybius, Diodorus, et al. Maybe Clausewitz? At the risk of "poking the bear," I gather that Simon Miller's To The Strongest! rules (card driven and no rulers required) do not count as relevant or "true" or "pure" wargaming?

Thanks to all for taking the time to read and think and write a comment or two.

Chris

Mr. Elmo – I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "tl;dr" version.

I clicked on the link and kept scrolling to get to the point.

TL;DR or tl;dr, short for "too long; didn't read", is internet slang to say that some text being replied to has been ignored because of its length.

TP,DR

my slang for 'too pathetic, didn't read'

Thanks for the education in TMP acronyms, gents.

At the risk of engaging, I might add this one:

IMNBTRWYHW, BIWDTTDMRTCI

Translation:
"I may not bother to read what you have written, but I will defend to the death my right to criticize it."

Reference: link

Thanks again to all who took the time to read and comment. Appreciated.

I wish you good gaming as 2022 winds down.

Chris

Tough audience!

irrelevant

simulation

drivel

I assume the one that wrote these words is a good friend who can get away with being totally rude. Nevertheless – struck off my Xmas card list forthwith.

On a more positive note I recommend this board game – and others by Martin Wallace:

Boardgamegeek – Waterloo

PS. I sometimes prefix a summary "TL;DR" to spare having to read a long text.

eg:

TL;DR:
Irrelevant drivel about simulations

The Long Text:

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Stoppage We English now don't do Latin and to be honest it's a dogs dinner in an auto translation. However it may be a case of rubbish in rubbish out ;-).