In the last but one post in this series I talked briefly about which battles to choose to represent on the tabletop as it looks like there will be too many to do. In the comments Steve J suggested a method that I think I will adopt: pick a leader and play out his battles as figure games and run the rest using the board game's battle rules.
Next step then would be how to select the terrain for these battles. One option is to use Peter's method of picking terrain cards from a deck. Here's how it works:
https://gridbasedwargaming.blogspot.com/2018/12/ecw-campaign-cards-and-terrain-cards.html
Another option that occurred to me today was to pick an historical battle, preferably one in the same area as the battle on the board, and lay the terrain out using that. So if I chose to follow Sir Ralph Hopton around I could use the terrain from Braddock Down, Stratton, Lansdowne, Roundway Down etc. Force composition would be as described in my last post on the subject, with each Horse Strength Point converting to one unit (4 bases/troops) and 3 Foot SPs converting to a battalia (1 pike and 2 shot bases). If there wasn't a historic Hopton battle available I would find the next nearest one.
The slight down side of this second option would be that my table is narrow and long (3 feet by 5 to 8 feet) so some fudging will have to be done. If I used the card method, I would just use the requisite number of cards say, 1 card to every 1' or 1.5' square. No firm decision needs to be made. I always have the option of changing my mind mid-campaign.
Next issue is working out an efficient method of packing the board away when I need to get the toys out, and setting everything up properly again after the battle.
Would photographing the board as a record prior to putting away work? Then consult the photo and put the game up again.
ReplyDeletePhotographing it seems the obvious way at the moment. But I’ll probably need a few photos each time. Then there are all the cards that are in play too. Needs a trial run.
DeleteI like the idea of using historical battles, or the nearest others ones, to give you your table set up. Peter's method would work well too, as you could certainly have most of the cards generally open terrain, with some hedgerows, woods etc as required, which seemed to be the norm for many ECW battles. Of course you could alter the deck to suit different parts of the country, adding more or less terrain.
ReplyDeleteAs for packing the game away, would it be possible to mount the map on a magnetic board, with the pieces fixed to magnetic tape, so that they should hopefully stay in position? A pinboard would achieve the same effect but would naturally damage your pieces, which is not ideal!
The map is on a board so I’m not sure if I can magnets strong enough.
DeleteOh God yeah, the setting out and packing away again can be a ruddy nightmare can’t it?!
ReplyDeleteI have to confess it’s put me off staging a game more than once. Getting lazy in my old age, lol.
I’m heading that way! I’m looking for more convenient ways of doing things. If I hadn’t already bought the game, knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t bother.
DeleteIt appears there is a VASSAL module for this game. Use VASSAL to play the game on your pc then your gaming table is freed up for the miniatures’ battles.
ReplyDeleteOoh that could be useful! Thanks. I don’t know about that. This could literally be a game-changer.
DeleteIf the module is good, this will become a game-changer, for sure.
DeleteI can’t find it on the Vassal site (vassal engine.org) if I’ve got the right place.
DeleteLook on the publishers site under "Resources" here:
Deletehttp://www.nutspublishing.com/eshop/this-war-without-an-enemy-en#:~:text=This%20War%20Without%20an%20Enemy%20is%20a%202%2Dplayer%20strategic,economic%20and%20religious%20control%20of
Great, thanks Jon. I never thought to look there. I downloaded the Vassal module but it needs an app and the App Store tells me it isn't available in this country. (I'm on a Mac).
DeleteI use VASSAL on Windows but for MAC OS X, go to VASSAL.org and this page:
Deletehttp://www.vassalengine.org/download.php
and download for your OS.
Many thanks Jon. That's really helpful.
DeleteSounds like Jonathan has come up with a solution!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
🤞
DeleteAs to terrain, both ideas are good - I suppose one might run out of real battlefields in the end but could always 'tweak' some. Charles Wesencraft's 'With Pike and Musket' has loads of simple scenario maps for real ECW battles.. The card-based system is good, too - and I have remembered that Bob Cordery put up a random terrain generator system on his blog (sometime last year, maybe?)
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty to go at. Charlie's book is a great source for scenarios. A lovely read too.
DeleteThanks for the reminder of Bob's system. I'll take a stroll over there to remind myself.
I have made up a set of those cards and they work great.
ReplyDeletefor your 3x5 (or 8) table just do two rows of cards, either 3 or 4 cards (3 for the 5; 4 for 8) and 'fudge' them together.
the 5 foot width makes for a great 'left - center - right' setup.
Looking forward to seeing more ECW matches here.
Wow there is a lot of thought and effort going into this - I look forward to the final decision and seeing you get some figures on the table!
ReplyDeleteThere is. I hope it’s going to be worth it. I’m thinking of doing something radical at the moment, I.e. not using the board game as published.
Delete