The Three S's

Part 3 of the Lazy Gamer's Guide to Wargaming

Previously, I discussed the mission of the lazy gamer. Once I have it defined, I can consider ways to achieve it. I did not develop these concepts overnight. Instead, these are ideas that I formulated over the years. I have found that they work for me, so I have systematized them into a tripartite strategy. Let’s take a look at this strategy.

The Three S’s
Below are the three defining principles of my strategy. I think you can figure out why I call them the Three S’s.

1. Small
2. Simple
3. Short

Small refers to multiple aspects of game set-up. First, I try to focus on a small number of periods.  With fewer periods, I have much less prep work to do. Second, I keep my armies small in terms of the number of units in the army and in the size of the miniatures. Finally, I keep the battlefield itself small, which makes set-up much easier.

Simple refers to the rules and to game set-up. I have found complex rules a bit off-putting, which discourages me from playing. Simple rules generally results in more games. Simplicity in set-up likewise encourages play. If it takes a long time to build terrain or set it up for the game, the less likely I’ll play.

Short can refer to the size of the rules as well as the length of the games themselves. If the rules are long, then I probably will never finish reading them. Furthermore, short rules tend to be simple rules, with the advantage described above. Short game length is also an advantage because I will more likely have a window of time in which I can play. Because I don’t have a dedicated gaming space, I cannot leave a half-finished game up; I need to finish. If I don’t have time to come to a conclusion, I won’t play.

By applying these three principles to my gaming, I find that I have more time for what is important – playing games.

Next Time
I want to dive deeper into these principles. I will begin with the principle of keeping things Small, discussing practical ways to stay small and still have satisfying games.

Weekend Update

A few happenings this weekend that I'd like to share.

Torpedo Boats in Action
I pulled out my new boats and played out a short action using rules loosely based on the Pz8 coastal action rules.

A gunboat escorting a freighter is beset by 3 torpedo boats. Fish in the water!

A low-odds, head-on torpedo shot hits! The freighter is sunk in 2 turns.

I did not bother finishing the action. Clearly, the TBs achieved their goal, a bit too easily. I need to tweak the rules a bit to draw the game out a little longer.

Ready for RPGing
I finished up some 10mm adventurers - a sorceress/druidess, a dwarf, a crusader, an archer, and a wizard. The sorceress is from Pendraken while the rest are from Irregular Miniatures.

These figures more than cover our current adventuring party (their latest adventure has been recorded on my Tales of the Templars blog). However, I'd like to get some more, especially a human rogue and a female elf (for my solo adventuring group).

Lazy Gamer Experiment
I pulled out my block armies for another trial of my Lazy Gamer rules.

The game lasted about half an hour and was a see-saw affair. I tweaked a few things during the game, but by-and-large I like how it's turning out.

I also like the look of my block armies. I have some ideas to improve the look.

• Create new cavalry blocks akin to those in the second picture on this post from Wargaming Odyssey. They are essentially brown blocks with red or blue strips on top. I think it would be easier to recognize cavalry units.
• Also like the above post, use 2mm or 3mm figures for artillery and command. Again, it would make identification easier.
• Make light infantry using a narrow colored strip of wood.

The Lazy Gamer's Mission

Part 2 of the Lazy Gamer's Guide to Wargaming

The Mission

Last week I introduced the Lazy Gamer’s Guide with the philosophy of focusing on what’s important. Furthermore, I stated that what was important to me was playing games and flexibility. Recently, I decided to clarify my approach by creating a mission statement.

Note - At this point, some will scoff at my using and overwrought business term. Normally I would agree. Surprisingly, in this case, I found it quite instructive.

I defined my mission as:

Derive maximum enjoyment playing miniature wargames in multiple eras/settings

with minimal preparation and effort

I have underlined a few words in order to elaborate on them.

First, I underlined “playing” because I want to stress that my primary goal is to play games. As noted last time, I don’t really care about collecting figures or having impressive displays. My main desire is to play with my toys. This is crucial because it will influence the preparations I make.

Next I underlined “multiple” to indicate that I want to be flexible in my gaming. One week I may want to play Romans vs. barbarians and the next week I am into a science fiction battle. My preparations need to be able to accommodate my shifting interests.

Finally, I noted that I want minimal preparation and effort. If preparation is too burdensome or extensive, then the project will languish and I will not get to play a game.

With my mission statement in hand, I can begin to develop my plans for fulfilling it.

Why Miniatures?

At this point, someone might ask why I would deal with miniatures in the first place. Surely it would be easier to buy and play boxed wargames. This may be true, and I do play boxed wargames from time to time. Nevertheless, I keep coming back to miniatures. I have discussed this topic in a previous blog post.

Reconsidering, I think that the main reason I play miniature wargames is because I like the flexibility it provides (remember that flexibility is one of the things that I consider important). It’s possible to play out battles and even eras that are not covered by boxed wargames. It is also easier to tailor rules to your style of play. Thus, even though it may require a bit more preparation for a miniatures game, the added flexibility is worth it to me.

Of course, I could satisfy my desire for flexibility by creating my own counter-based wargames. I have considered this at times. But I do like the 3D aspect of miniatures. The armies seem to come alive when they are represented by miniatures as opposed to counters, even if they are fighting over a 2D board (something I discovered with the old Axis and Allies game). Besides, it is easier to pick up the units if they are 3D (I am a miniatures heretic in that I don’t mind picking up figures by their heads).

For the above reasons, I have chosen to go with some kind of miniature set-up for my gaming. Sometimes you will need to make compromises when different aspects of your mission statement collide. For me, miniatures may take a little longer to prep but pay off in terms of flexibility and ease of use.

Now that I have my mission defined, I can devise a strategy for achieving it. My strategy involves 3 key components, which I call the Three S’s.

Next

I will define the Three S's.

Tweenwater War - Battle of Waldstone

Battle 4 of the Tweenwater War - Western Front

After being stymied at Burkhardt, General Cumberbatch withdrew the Bluderian army deeper into Imperial Fenwick. General Riley's Redgravians pursued furiously.

At the town of Waldstone, Riley met up with a Bluderian rearguard.

Riley launched a two-pronged attack, with the objectives of seizing Waldstone and a nearby hill.

Bluderian artillery defended the town, but suffered casualties from counter-battery fire. Meanwhile, a Redgravian assault flanked the Bluderians on the hill.

With artillery support, the Redgravian Rifles destroyed the enemy artillery and seized Waldstone

After a long flank march, Redgravian cavalry caught the former defenders of Waldstone in the open. They rode over the hapless infantry.

Meanwhile, a fierce fight had been raging on the hill. One Redgravian infantry unit has broker, but  reinforcements were on their way.

After softening up the Bluderian left flank, a cavalry assault routed the flank unit.

With only one infantry unit left, the rear guard commander called for a retreat.

Now, the Bluderian army panicked and fled back to its home country. Riley realizes that his army is exhausted from the pursuit. He halts, but still strongly garrisons Fenwick.

Realizing that his plans had been shattered, King Henrik of Bluderia called off the offensive and instead strengthened his defenses in the Sylvanian pass. Redgrave chose not to press their attacks. Instead, they used diplomacy to force a settlement. Henrik agreed to pay reparations. Meanwhile, Empress Annabelle was forced to cede Fenwick. On the whole, a very propitious conflict for Redgrave.

Campaign Notes

• I created the scenario using a random generator that I am developing. I rolled a defensive scenario. Because Bluderian ended up with the smaller army, I made them the defender. The terrain was also randomly determined.
• With this defeat, the Redgravians lead the campaign 3-0-1. With one game left, they cannot be matched so I decided to call an end to the war, with a resounding Redgravian win.
• This was quite the long campaign. It started in 2015. Of course, I expanded the campaign by creating two fronts and playing 5 games for each front. Still, I really dragged my feet on this one.

Busy Birthday

Saturday was my birthday but I found myself saddled with a bunch of chores. From cleaning litter boxes to yardwork, I had a busy day planned. Fortunately, I did have a little time for some gaming enjoyment.

First, I have been working on some miniatures I ordered recently. Below are some completed planes and boats/ships.

The planes will serve as  medium bombers for my air raid games. The boats/ships will serve for Cruel Seas inspired coastal naval actions. I have 3 torpedo boats per side plus a gunboat and merchant ship that will pull double duty, switching sides as needed.

I also played a horse & musket scenario in the morning. A full battle report is forthcoming.

When I began writing my Lazy Gamer's Guide, I began to ponder the ideal rules for the lazy gamer. I started jotting down ideas for the dead simplest game possible. I decided to give them a playtest. I am not quite content and will make some more modifications. It's probably not surprising that they are looking a lot like Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame.

On another birthday note, I received a new gambeson as a gift. Can't wait to try it out.

From the Medieval Collectibles website

Introducing the Lazy Gamer's Guide to Wargaming

Introduction
I am beginning a new series of posts that I'm calling the Lazy Gamer's Guide to Wargaming. I hope to have a new post every week, but because I'm a lazy gamer you never know. I am not sure how long this series will run; I'll just keep at it until I cover all I want.

The Inspiration
My idea for the Lazy Gamer's Guide came from a post on The Miniatures Page online forum. The original poster lamented that “I am rubbish at my hobby!” He noted that he had too many figures and projects but never seemed to complete one. He wrote “I want to do so much more” but he could not find the time. I can appreciate his concern because it is something that I have struggled with during the past 30+ years of miniature wargaming.

The Problem
Part of my problem was that I aspired to emulate the amazing displays in wargames magazines. Hundreds if not thousands of miniature soldiers march to battle on large tables with lavish terrain. Inspired, I would rush into a project to replicate what I saw. I began painting and building like mad, but real life inevitably got in the way and the project began to languish. A little while later, something else drew my attention, but this time from it’s from another era in history. Fascinated, I flitted like a moth toward this new theme, dropping the previous project and embarking on a new frenzy of figure-buying, painting, and building. I ended up with a bunch of half-finished projects. Furthermore, I never seemed to have enough completed miniatures nor could I find the time to play with my toy soldiers!

For much of my early days in the hobby, I found myself in this situation. I am a slow, mediocre painter so my efforts never measured up and I could never finish enough figures to put on a game. I grew frustrated but I was still too fascinated by the hobby to give it up. It was clear that I needed a new direction.

The Solution
To solve my dilemma I realized I needed to change my direction. Rather than trying to emulate what I saw in magazines, I decided to adopt a new philosophy. The core of this philosophy is this statement:

Focus on what is important

Simply put, I wanted to focus my energies on what was important and spend less time on what wasn’t. Of course, this means that I needed to define what was important. Note that this can vary for each individual. Miniature wargaming can be a very personal hobby. There are many facets to it, and different people are drawn to different aspects. Thus, there is really no wrong answer here (despite what some people say on forums). Instead, each person needs to decide for himself / herself what is truly important.

Defining "Important"
I began to think about what was and wasn't important to me (f you game with a regular group you may need to consider what is important to them as well. I am a solo gamer so I don't have to worry about others). Now I did not do this as a systematic process; it just developed organically. Looking back, I can see and understand what I did intuitively. In short, my answer to what is important is shown below:

What is important?

• Playing games
• Flexibility

What is not important?

• Collecting miniatures
• Impressive display

As you can see above, my main interest is in the games themselves rather than the aesthetics of the game. I also want to have the flexibility to game in many different eras. I find ancients, horse & musket, modern, fantasy, and sci-fi almost equally fascinating. Thus, I want to be able to jump around easily.

My New Strategy
Once I defined what was important to me, how could I achieve my important objectives in the most efficient manner? Over time, I have been developing a strategy that I call the Lazy Gamer Approach.

My new series of posts will discuss this approach in detail.

Next Week
In my next post, I will define the mission of a lazy gamer.

Blasted Biplanes

While the air campaign focused on northern Lucrania, the south featured battles between older fighters and light bombers.
I recently picked up some Irregular generic biplanes and finished some light bombers from PicoArmor/O8. I wanted to see them in action so I decided to do a one-off air battle. I painted the biplanes an off white with dabs of red or blue to denote their side. Alas, the colors do not show up well in the photos.

A wide shot of the upcoming air battle. One Lucranian has already gone up in flames (upper center).

A damaged Lucranian makes a pass on the lead bomber formation. He manages to damage one.

Another Lucranian makes a pass, shooting down one bomber. He flies into the arc of fire the tail gunner of the lead bomber. The gunner avenges his fallen comrade.

Another bomber goes down.

As a storm front closes in, the remaining fighters break off. Four bombers make it to the target zone.

Their run is accurate, dealing significant damage to the airfield they were targeting. They only lost 2 bombers and a fighter. On the other hand, the Lucranians lost 5 of the 6 fighters engaged, with the 6th damaged. A bright day for the Empire. 

Happenings

Some notes on gaming-related stuff occurring over the past week:

Coastal Warfare

I decided to play around with the Cruel Seas ships I picked up recently. I whipped up a super-simple, not-intended-to-be historically accurate set of rules and then went at it (because I don't have a big enough water battlemat they fought it out on the Glass Sea).

One of the ships gets hit by a torpedo (black puffs indicate damage)

But it gets revenge. After repairing damage it returns to the fray and in one devastating salvo it sinks the enemy ship.

I actually enjoyed the game and am now intrigued by the topic. I'm not sure if I want to get into another period, though. Even if I did, I would not use the Cruel Seas ships; they are just too large (these German boats are 4.5") for my coffee table. This has spurred a search for appropriate minis, leading me to Irregular Miniatures. I like their generic take on the topic, and the sizes are workable (1/900 I believe so the patrol boat is listed as 22m with the largest, the destroyer, at 40mm)

In the past when I wanted to do WW2 style naval battles, I actually used spaceships instead. I would actually like to do that for this topic; I just haven't been content with my scratchbuilt minis and I'm struggling to find minis that I like.

Organizing
On New Year's Day I mentioned that I wanted to organize my boxed games. I took a few steps in that direction recently.

My completed air war box, contained in a Tiger brand wide Tuff box.

Inside are rules, dice, markers, an erasable battle-mat (10 x 16 spaces) and containers with 1/600 scale miniatures.

I also started a sea box. My two Cruel Seas ships are in it.

Onyx decided he wanted to play.

Krawling
I've done some work on Kevin's Krawl. Recently I ran a second dungeon, this time investigating the catacombs under a church. There they find that death has taken control, and all manner of ghastly abominations prowl.

Here they take out the boss, a skeleton mage

And here is the final dungeon map.

A full report will be forthcoming on Tales of the Templars.

Recruiting
I went on a small miniatures spending spree mid-week.

From Irregular Miniatures:

• Vessels for coastal naval actions - specifically some patrol boats, a gunboat, and a merchant (yes, I succumbed to temptation)
• 10mm fantasy for dungeon crawls - a crusading knight, a dwarf, a wizard, an archer, some orcs, and wolves. Planning to convert my dungeon crawl to 10mm.
• 1/900 scale aircraft - a few 2-engine bombers for my bombing raid campaigns

From Pendraken:

• 10mm fantasy - some necromancers and some monsters

I also finished painting and basing some 1/900 biplanes. Looking forward to getting them into action.