What next?

Apologies in advance. This is going to be a bit of a rambling post. I have no idea where this will go, or even exactly what questions I am going to ask let alone attempt any answers. It will have even less structure than normal. So look away now if you want any sense.

I’ve played a bit with Twilight of the Soldier Kings since being introduced to the Twilight series of Wargames rules. And very impressed I have been. It’s revived my Frederician mojo somewhat. Earlier this year (thinks: it was this year wasn’t it?) I played a few solo games of Loose Files and American Scramble, and those rules proved every bit as fun as I hoped they’d be. And they seemed to capture something of the nature of that conflict too (AWI). I also snuck in a game set in the Continuation War with my own ‘back of a fag packet’ rules. That too was fun. Ditto an ECW game with my own rules. What next?

Napoleonics is the only one of my five periods that I haven’t touched so far this year. But for no apparent reason, that doesn’t appeal.

I did begin the year with the intention of running an ECW campaign off the back of the This War Without an Enemy board game that I bought for my other half to give me for Christmas. For reasons explained previously this wasn’t terribly practicable. I’ve been tempted to run a campaign using other, or no, rules but I can’t quite get the motivation yet. Alternative campaign models are those produced by Peter of Gridded Wargames, Almost but not Quite, or latterly by The Jolly Broom Man on his latest blog. Both of those would fit the bill of being relatively admin light. Something, I know not what, is holding me back. At this juncture I could really delve into an introspective self-examination (and I think that would bear fruit, trust me) but right now I can’t be arsed.

It is after all a hobby. It shouldn’t be work. And introspection right now feels like hard work. I want a quick fix. But what?

The ECW is calling me. I’ve been reading David Cooke’s ‘Yorkshire Sieges of the Civil Wars’. I currently have limited ‘apparatus’ to do a siege game. I know I should use this to spur me on to make some. But, well. I want something now. Cooke’s ‘Civil War in Yorkshire’ book has some interesting small scale scenarios I could look at. The battle of Seacroft Moor 1643 appeals. But then so does Domstadl from the SYW in 1758. Neither are stand up battles, so they give  Both took place over a large area with relatively small forces. That poses a challenge in both cases too. I’d have to find a way of dealing with the operational aspects in order to make on table actions meaningful.

Another option swirling around my head is an action based on a relief of a besieged place. If it’s not to just be another stand-up fight (albeit with a backstory) it needs a bit of thought around the scenario and how the game is set-up.

‘No biggie’ you might think. There are always ways to do this. But it needs a bit of thought. And that is in short supply at the moment. Or is it the motivation that is lacking? I sort of know what I want but lack the mental or psychological resources at the moment to achieve it.

Hmmm.