Look Back at my CoW 2024: List of Games

Long overdue, but here it is! CoW 2024 at Missenden Hall,

There were so many games in parallel sessions that you could have attended CoW 2024 (and apart from the all inclusive plenary game) you could have had at least five separate parallel strand CoW experiences. Mine was fun and informative as detailed below: 

• The Plenary: Papal Conclave of 1559, an interesting game of papal political intrigue, back stabbing, rioting, opportunism and deceit. As a Spanish Cardinal I feigned disappointment as a French Pope (with audacity to take the name of Innocent[?]) sat enthroned as God's vicar in Rome. French gold clinked in my pocket and a position of "favour" awaited me.

• The Cactus Air Force (Guadalcanal 1942) - Blood Red Skies (BRS) fighting the IJN from Henderson Field:

Naturally I find myself surrounding by enemy Zeros, but I am distracting them from the USN bombers hunting a damaged IJN heavy cruiser!

Some how they all missed me and ACE made it back home, although the bombers missed the heavy cruiser in this game (a repeat game saw the cruiser heading to the bottom)!

• The Great War in the Pacific in the 1920's (what if the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 failed to take place and the USA and Japan ended up fighting a huge naval war in the 1920's? What sort of fleet would you build as the US to fulfil "War Plan Orange" and what in fact would be your war plan? [Ticket to Manilla, Home Island Hawaii Defence, Island Hopping, Japanese Homeland Assault]):

The game's bits and pieces (AH's Victory in the Pacific used as a map, 1/3000 Navwar ships, Jenga Blocks and plenty of sticky labels):

The USN Admirals Plan - note serious faces of austere concentration .. [obviously a posed photograph]

And they keep on planning. Note, then there is this guy in a Hawaiian shirt on the end, getting very chummy with the US Marine Corp chap MacArther ! Yes he got promoted to C-in-C, obvious with hindsight!

The Admirals of the class of 1926 all successfully "pass" the Ship Identification "end of term test", all proudly spotting the expensive, six funnelled USS Ranger aircraft carrier - a very advanced ship, laid on the stocks with no chance of being finished in time to participate in the war.

The Great Pacific War of the 1920's starts with the Manilla Squadron in dire trouble as an elite IJN fast battlecruiser squadron tries to Copenhagen them, but thanks to the foresight of the American Admirals the modernisation of the Manilla Squadron pays off and the IJN are sent packing, though vowing to come back with reinforcements.

With "The Ticket to Manilla" as War Plan Orange the USN charges across the Pacific, sadly loosing the CV they managed to build (the USS Langley) and the seven funnelled USS Lexington to IJN air and torpedo attacks. Nevertheless they arrive in time to face the IJN Combined Fleet (without Kaga and Akagi superdreadnoughts due to slow production and lack of steel thanks to US sanctions). Both sides engage in a battleline fight and loose all their battlecruisers. The USN have an advantage in battleships and the IJN in light forces (cruisers and destroyers).

A stroke of USN tactical genius and bravery sees the damaged USN Manilla Squadron sortie and catch the IJN in a pincer move. The Japanese battleline is Trafalgar'ed and remnants escape back to the Home Islands. The Japanese sue for peace. Well played the USN!

• Air Strike Nigeria - Planning a Jet Air Ground Attack (simple plan, rather than attacking the heavily defended by AA assets enemy HQ, we chose the high value AA asset [radar] for a points win [some would say long game] to take out - as the Rookie ordnance man I loaded up with range zero "big bombs" and some A-2-A self defence missiles which caused some consternation with the " married family men" of the flight): 

Death before dishonour, through evasive action that really jangled the pilots nerves [lose too much cool and you are a poor flyer which is not a good thing] we survive the close AA barrage [if I had swapped that for long range ordnance we might have suppressed the AA - lesson learned, a mixed array of weapons works best]. The big bombs clobber the important Soviet Era AA radar [4pts] and almost getting a win-win with the fuel dump too [just one hit point off] and try and "leg-it" but there are bandits on our tails.

We lose a boomer to enemy A-2-A combat but thanks to the plentiful availability of A-2-A in the attack flight we down "two" fighters which make the mission an outstanding success .. I am skimping over the pilot who ejected over "No Man's Land" due to "uncool flying technique" and had to hitch a lift home in a Yellow Taxi wearing civilian clothes.  

• Poland 1939 - One Hour WW2 (watched a game of Martin Rapier's excellent WW2 Brigade Level rules play an interesting Poland 1939 scenario [Stukas, Pz I's, Armoured Cars, Pak 35s, polish Cavalry and bridges that must be held at all costs]): 

The broad landscape with a good bit of Polish strategic pointing at the key terrain feature - the bridge across the river!

Massed German armour and stout hearted Poles in defence of the strategically important bridge that had been "pointed out" earlier!

The Luftwaffe's Stukas ensure "War is Hell". The Poles fought well, but the Germans were too "combined arms" for them in the end.

• A Simple Dice COIN Game (developed as part of his PhD wargaming research at Bath Spa University Pete Sizer has come up with this interesting solitaire COIN game, using a lot of dice):

Pete guiding six players simultaneously playing his solitaire COIN Dice Game, with dice acting as handy game tokens [representing things in various states] as well as "things to roll" - the amount of dice rolling was deafening! I stood on the side lines and watched this one as I was still mentally exhausted from putting on The Great Pacific War just prior to this, but need to play it. Perhaps in a quiet moment in CoW 2025 Pete can take me aside with a pint in hand to show me it again! 

• War of the Roses: Princes in the Tower - Cluedo(ish). There is Cluedo, then there is almost Cluedo with the Princes in the Tower historical authors battling it out with their egos over-filling rooms to define teh best "pet absurd theory" that will get them a lucrative "book deal"! I don't think I got all the in jokes, but enough to make it very amusing! 

• Lynchville is Burning (Again) - Role Playing and Committee Game. Naturally no photos as decreed by the 1950's emergency laws pressed into service. In an extreme state of anti communist paranoia where security and sensible lifestyle choices are paramount for the survival of the United States of America I can now fully understand the attraction of the Fallout Vault option. Sadly we did not have a vault, but we did have several cunning plans to infiltrate the seemingly harmless Trade Union to discover Soviet sleeper agents and undesirables. Each cunning plan failing in quick succession, the team turned to ever more desperate and darker tactics to give results, any results - no matter how fanciful to the powers that be that "ran" the organisation. The result was naturally chaos; it followed in an inevitable tragic sense. The fire at the gas mask factory was teh last straw, the bewildered workers mixed with agent provocateurs bused in for the occasion and unfortunate, unwanted newspaper coverage of agents no longer with the service, retired early before their prime. Are we still safe, that all depends on Department 12. 

• Ukrainian National Guard - A small squad tactics game, with maps and counters. A team planning and execution of a simple task that can always be made harder by doing something silly. Thankfully we watched, got lucky and flushed out the Russian observers but enemy drones blew up our BMP lift home.   

• GMT's - Last Hundred Yards Play Through. Using the serendipity of two people having the same game and wanting to know if they are playing it right this was a sit down session of a basic scenario. The good news was that we seemed to be playing it correctly, the game made sense and was a nice alternative to Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).   

• Bring and Buy Sale Bonanza (loot and swag collected at the bring and buy stall): 

Plenty of helicopters, Norman Knights and Hoplites, so what is not to like? Supplementing existing collections and periods.

 Plenty of "New Rules" courtesy of the stable of senor Trebian, for periods I want to get into!

 Old rules, but still the period is interesting and ideas are great to explore.

My personal weakness - other people's lead, end of collections and odds and sods, that could fit in somewhere (possibly) to my old collections. Pennies well spent I think, as the alternative is much more expensive late night Internet purchases, that you probably regret the next day! Well that is my excuse ;)   

Finally - the things that you never thought you would see again and missed getting first time round. A personal soft spot for me 2000AD, Judge Dredd RPG. A classic despite what Enzo the dog thinks about it!

And take a deep breath, sir all the above, mixed with great food, alcoholic drinks and good company. Fantastic event, I can recommend it to one and all.

More details of Wargames Developments can be found at: https://wargamedevelopments.org/

I know bookings for CoW 2025 are now open to the General Wargaming Public, come on in the water is lovely https://wargamedevelopments.org/event/cow-2025/ if you have read this far you will probably enjoy it!

Conference of Wargamers - CoW 2023 - Missenden Abbey: Hold the Front Page a Great Success!

Respect to all those fellow Wargames Development (WD) Bloggers who have already rattled off their salutary CoW 2023 blog posts and even some YouTube video postings about CoW 2023. You've probably even popped a few (Wargames Development Newsletter) emails to the Nugget editor too. Myself, it took me about a week to simply finish unpacking and recover from all the excitement to think about writing anything down, but the "tingle" still lingers and I remember CoW2023 with a deep satisfying smile. I am obviously showing my advancing age as other distractions make me post so late. All a symptom of too much "work related screen time" I think, as my blogger posting rate is also very slow this year (as it was last year too) - so I am associating the computer more with work rather than pleasure. 

The weekend was a fantastic wargaming achievement - literally non-stop wargaming fun. Game until you drop, rinse and repeat, until you have to go home! As I have said before, it is the most fun I have ever had whilst keeping my clothes on! That may be a sad reflection on my life, but I do stand by it!

My "weekend" went thus (please note the eclectic and random photographing is purely down to me having too much fun to succeed in systematically recording CoW 2023 in any sensible way [others do it far better than I can too - see blogs at end and WD website links] - hence the chaotic expressionistic montage): 

Friday Night:

• The Weimar Republic Plenary Game [Long Game - in fact a Mega Game] Germany 1918-19: The Spartacists -
• Note: With added "all-star" cabaret act (opening and closing proceedings) and forty plus players and umpires [epic and very noisy]
• My Role: Social Democrat Military Commander of Berlin

• Action: Fighting Revolutionaries on the Streets of Berlin, success - ignoring the friendly fire incident on the Berlin Police (oops), relatively successful as no Spartacists were left on the streets
• Result: Weimar Republic was "saved" from terrible reactionaries (Germany "safe" until 1933 then) - there was also lots of politics and voting in the main room but I was in a side room with the "toy soldiers"!

• [Late Night Game] WWI: The Great War British Army Divisional Commander (1916-18), four quick 15 min games in succession [Martin Rapier's beautifully painted 20mm WWI Emhar figure collection and bespoke trench system- that I should have taken a photo of [Update: But luckily he did and has passed a few on to me]: 

• 1916: Somme - [Tactic] Hurricane Artillery Attack
• 10,000 casualties, First Trench taken, no breakthrough

• 1917: Hindenburg Line - [Tactic] Infiltration Attack
• 10,000 casualties, First and Second Trenches taken, no breakthrough
• 1918:Amiens (a) [Tactic] Surprise Tank Attack (see below): 
• 3,000 casualties, First, Second and Third Trenches taken, breakthrough achieved

• 1918 Amiens (b) [Tactic] Stormtrooper Attack
• 4,000 casualties, First and Second Trenches taken, breakthrough just failed

• Note: I seemed to "do well" in avoiding "The Big Push" option which just seemed to increase casualties even further! 

• Exhausted - retired to bed (1:00) am

Saturday:

• [Hosted] Don't Tell the Tsar - Hypothetical WWI Naval Game (August 1914) on the "Planned" (but cancelled) Russian pre-emptive attack on Swedish Fleet, "before" they combined with the German Baltic Fleet (despite the affirmed Swedish Neutrality that they were not going to do that): 
• Experimental combination of three rule systems:
• Halsey style Campaign Movement
• Nimitz style Tactical movement
• Avalanche Press' Great War at Sea Combat System 
• Using 1/3000 Navwar miniatures
• Result - near total destruction and surrender of the main Swedish Battle Fleet

• Uncle Bruce's Arab-Israeli Wars (Retro gaming, looking back at an "inspirational"(?) tool kit of rules rather than a definitive rule set - everybody was learning):
• A step back in time to play an early set of miniature wargame rules from Bruce Quarrie Volume 4: Arab Israel Wars (see below, GHQ 1:285 scale Syrian T34/85's engage Israeli M-48s in the distance - still beautiful despite their age [unlike most WD members, lady members exceptions to the rule of course]):

• A confident early advance by the right flanking Syrians [aka Me]:

• Two Israeli M48's burn [Happy (and a slightly surprised) me]:

• An Israeli reinforcement tank is subsequently sent up to help its beleaguered friends [Now a slightly worried me]:

• Good Israeli gunnery stalls the Syrian attack (one knocked out and one retreating tank) - amusing mechanical break downs then meant both sides were "spent" and a draw/truce concluded:

• We've certainly moved on and are now surrounded by a wealth of free verified facts that replaced those that were formerly just "guessed at rather crudely and badly" - but it was the starting point for many a collection of toy soldiers and follow on rules [lovely GHQ models that still past the age test and hold up again the best of the modern!]

• The Information Game: Tim Price delivers a master class!
• A "Tour de force" of the state the art in "card and dice" based, manual wargame depicting a complex cyber, [multi-faceted] information gathering and deductive reasoning environment. Oh you say .. what does that mean? 

• You build a map by problem solving a series "multiple information challenges", then piece them together to locate a target and finish off the game by revealing the targets coordinates, and the best bit (as in I hate it, but its great) you are competing against another team doing the same thing. They also always seems to be doing better than you. You can also play sneaky by poisoning the opponents data pool. As if we would do a dirty thing like that! Basically a Tim Price exemplar - I personally think this is already the game of the decade (2020-2030) in my books. All those long words I use mean nothing as its simplicity is at the heart of its beauty. Devastatingly cunning, more so even than a Professor of Cunning newly appointed to Oxford University. I was just too engrossed to take any photographs, so no better compliment need be said than that! Did I also say it was very good fun to play? And at a last gasp you can pull it out of the bag ;)  

• [Hosted] Follow the Bush Tucker Trail: SAS 1966 LRRP in Vietnam:
• My 20mm Platoon 20 miniatures and 1/72 plastic helicopter kits went for a stroll in the Vietnam jungle (a jungle made mostly from stuff found in IKEA and a confiscated pair of old curtains). A (supposedly) collaborative game where the players pit their wits against the fiendish Bot umpire (me) who controlled VC Charlie - or are they just innocent villagers? (see pictures below - I only remembered to start taking photographs at the end so the "stealthy bit" was missed - this is at the start of the kinetic end of things, when things got noisy): 

• The game was inspired and converted from reading/playing "The Ghosts of the Jungle", a solo wargame by Mike Lambo.

• A downed USAF pilot (Major Spanks) is unexpectedly found in the village [instead of an intelligence package they expected to be handed from a friendly villager] and an evac helicopter is urgently called for: 

• A grenade is used to devastating effect on the VC: 

• The pretty birds arrive (Gunship Scout and Huey) - these kits have been waiting patiently up in my loft for a long, long time:

• Evacuation and time to pop home to the Naafi bar for a well earned beer: 

• Job done (although there were moments when the players were their own worst enemy) and congratulations all round.

• Emergency Broadcasting Service Wintex-75 (and now for something completely different) It is 1975 and with heightening tensions in Europe, Warsaw Pact tanks on the point of crossing the West German border and a disintegrating political situation at home, as Director General of the BBC I (as in me) have been asked to pull together a 72 hour loop of TV programming to calm teh nation's nerves - just in case the bomb drops! Luckily the man in charge of BBC Light Entertainment is at hand, along with a few fellow BBC employees he found in the nearest wine bar. As per the leading gurus in AGILE software development now say, you learn all the vital life skills in the kindergarten - scissors, glue and coloured crayons. Highlights from the 1966 World Cup Final featured heavily in the programming, particularly for Scottish viewers or was it teh Norwegian Curling final instead?

• The Future is Past - Dirtside II Science Fiction wargaming rules used to wargame the Cold War Gone Hot (1980-1990s) period - to very good (seemingly realistic) effect. I managed to pop out of Wintex-75 to be a fly on the wall of this one (hence a photograph or two):

• Dirtside II - Free Download - Ground Zero Games (GZG):

• https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/DSII-CC.pdf
• https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/Dirtside-II-Pt1.pdf
• https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/Dirtside-II-Pt2.pdf
• https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/Dirtside-II-Pt3.pdf
• https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/DSII-CS.pdf

• The West German plain erupts with burning BMPs and dismounted Russian infantry assaulting a NATO held town (see below): 

• The Russians are sitting pretty in high ground and in cover with numbers of assaulting troops, it looks like a long (or good) night for NAT (see below):

• Something to show the Current Affairs Editor back in the Wintex-75 room!

• [Late, Late Night] Welcome to Lynchville: Cthulhu Style - Pulp Fiction - Cutting Edge RPG 
• While the good citizens of this 1950's American (quiet, safe and sleepy) southern town of Lynchville slumber, the secretive 'Daughters of America' watch from behind "peeping curtains" for evidence of Senator McCarthy's hidden Red Menace. They see it everywhere: Secret Masonic institutions, covert subversive activities disguised as normal past-times (cheer leader practise you say), mysterious murders occurring with alarming regularity, even covert scientific research establishments with Germanic sounding employees are considered normal and unexplained disappearances-reappearances are simply taken for granted. Quite possibly the original inspiration for Twin Peaks, The Queens Gambit, Stranger Things and Barbarella. Everyone has a secret in Lynchville, "Why everyone knows while she pretends to be the sweetest of the sweetest Southern Belle, she really comes from the wrong side of Chicago". Why does the Geiger counter go "off the scale" as you approach that docked Estonian Freighter, with a broken engine that has been lingering in harbour for months. Next you will be saying the nice Civil Rights man has a suitcase full of Nazi gold tucked in the trunk of his car, heavens forbid it. Thank the same strange heavens for the investigative genius of The Cake Lady (who also turned out to be a brainwashed Russian Sleeper Agent unbeknownst even to the player character herself [inspiration for the The Manchurian Candidate]), Miss Modesty Belle (who certainly wasn't), Lady Chicago (who couldn't be modest even if she tried), the able minded Daisy Duke who uncovered the hidden secret of the Lighthouse Keeper's forbidden love and then insensitively sold them on to the local newspaper's editor, Tug (the Little Hemingway of Lynchville) and last but not the least, the Popcorn "Prom Queen" herself Eleanor Gratitude .. who also happened to own and know how to use a high velocity sniper rifle [for no apparent reason other than it occasionally came in handy!]. Why I would have thought this was all just a crazy dream, had I not made copious notes for my psychotherapist (see below, did I mention the Russian H Bomb found in the hold of the Estonian freighter, docked in the shadow of the now disused Gothic church with a lead-lined crypt and that man with the strange shiny ring on his finger, who didn't run the local bakery after all but was the Director of the other sinister institution we don't talk about):

• Not sure I slept too well after that game! Brilliant fun, I was always waiting for a set of tentacles to appear from nowhere and grab me! Luckily for me, I didn't start with much sanity in the first place! So I never missed it when it went.

Sunday:

• Cold War Wargame Workshop:
• Not a game but a talk and a wide ranging discussion on how to do a Cold War Wargame and what have we learnt about the playability of modern warfare since the first set of WRG 1950-1985 Modern rules, years and years ago. Again the concept of a toolkit rather than definitive master set of rules was referred to. I listened and felt that I had learned quite a lot. Modern warfare (I suppose inevitable with the backdrop of Ukraine) seemed to be a persistent theme throughout the weekend. I look forward to the Sheffield Crew of WD birthing a playable set of "short game" (played under two hours) modern wargame rules. I hope to be involved in playtesting it.

• Whatever Happened to Not Quite Mechanised (NQM): Chris Kemp
• By way of contrast this session was a game (and a hell of a big game), but of a short demonstration duration of several turns showing the key/core rule principles to be shown in action. It also felt like I was witnessing a piece of wargaming heritage, Chris has been working at this project for some thirty years. The scale of Chris' vision is also awe inspiring (see below, this is the central portion of a Soviet Army [five divisions] attacking a German Corp [three division] on a defended river line - bold in scope):

• The Soviet Commander (C-in-C) [me] was promised a cold welcome in a gulag if he didn't come up with a sensible workable plan, so instead I gave them this (see below, the last known scratchings of a "lost to history" 1943 Soviet Army Commander): 

• So the centre mass was all just a "distraction", the arcing right wheel was going to be a war winning manoeuvre and it was working until the Germans started dropping bombs on us. What Chris did show us was possibly the best and most comprehensively beautiful WWII 15mm armies I had ever laid my eyes upon and something for me to try and emulate in my beloved 20mm scale.
• Unsurprisingly I was one of the first in line to proffer money for a set of his (signed) rules. I have plans for big NQM things in 2023/24.

Games be now all over. A small matter of the WD AGM and a warm official welcome to our new CoW home, Missenden Abbey, I cannot praise it high enough. They not only put up with us for a weekend, they fed us like kings. Looking forward to 2024 already. 

This is also not forgetting the fantastic - Bring and Buy Table. A field of other peoples dreams, at bargain prices! This year I was a "mass importer" (buyer) rather than an exporter (seller) and my only regret was that of not acquiring a little bit more (not that I really need it) .. so moving on from that Midas greed, as what I did get was ample enough! What was included was a lot of 1/300 Modern British Cold War Trucks and Land Rovers, a WWI 1/72 Tank kit, a couple of 25mm Sci-Fi Figures, 1/72 Lancaster Bomber, 1/72 Hurricane and some 1/72 NATO Ground Crew. I am regretting not picking up some board game bargains but ho hum, it is not as if I am short of a few of those!

Footnote: I also took the opportunity to pick up "It Rolls For Ivan"  [Russian Civil War] from the reputable stable of Graham Evans just to fall into another period (he did that last year with me and "For Whom The Dice Tolls" [Spanish Civil War])

Amazing Fact: My weekend was but one of many possible weekends (over fifty unique experiences by my counting, one unique for each WD member at CoW). In fact all these numerous parallel universes, looked equally as fun and enjoyable as mine, were marvellously and simultaneously going on around me. I could tell that by the copious smiles on people's faces.

Final Word: Respect to all the organisers for a fantastic job. Thanks you to all the people who put on such interesting games and talks. I for one am already looking forward to next year's event and thinking about what game to put on! My only promise to myself, is to pace myself better as I think I tried to do too much and pretty much wore myself out!

More information (and much better photos) can be found at these links: 

WD Website:

• https://wargamedevelopments.org/
• https://wargamedevelopments.org/conferences/cows/cow-2023/

Other Blogs of interest describing Cow 2023:

• http://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/2023/07/conference-of-wargamers-2023.html
• https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2023/07/cow2023.html
• https://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2023/07/cow-2023-friday-evening.html
• https://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2023/07/13/conference-of-wargamers-cow-2023/
• https://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2023/07/cow-2023-saturday-morning-all-at-sea.html
• https://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2023/07/cow-2023-saturday-afternoon-ivan-goes.html
• https://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2023/07/cow-2023-saturday-night-and-sunday.html

YouTube:

• https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jMmATTZmWfI

WD's COW 2022 at Shrivenham

To give you a better insight into the event I can do no better than direct you to some excellent bloggers (see below, fellow WD'ers who are also far quicker than me on the keyboard): 

Blog Reports: 

http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2022/07/cow2022.html

http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2022/07/cow2022-was-great-and-i-can-hardly-wait.html

http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2022/07/its-cow-time.html

http://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/2022/07/cow-2022.html

http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/2022/07/conference-of-wargamers-2022.html

http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.com/2022/07/conference-of-wargamers-2022.html

https://wargamedevelopments.blogspot.com/

As you can see there was a fabulous array of games to be had plus you could get up close to some dark armoured denizens (see below, an evil looking T72, not recommended if you are either claustrophobic or like like a sense of "Health and Safety" in your working environment): 

The whole event was scarily brilliant!

Conference of Wargamers (CoW) 2019 was Brilliant

But don't just take my word for it .. read it in these blogs!

David Crook:
http://awargamingodyssey.blogspot.com/2019/07/home-thoughts-from-cow.html
http://awargamingodyssey.blogspot.com/2019/07/home-thoughts-from-cow-2019part-second.html

Bob Cordery:
http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/search/label/COW%20%28Conference%20of%20Wargamers%29

Tim Gow:
http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.com/search/label/COW

Martin Rapier:
http://tgamesweplay.blogspot.com/search/label/COW

Trebian:
http://wargaming4grownups.blogspot.com/search/label/Conference%20of%20Wargamers

My report will follow in due course, there is so much to tell I know not wher to start, but in the meantime please enjoy the writing of others.

CoW 2018 D-Day+2 [Part 3 Sunday (Final Advance and Objective taken)]

Sunday: I woke up again very early [thank you to the morning chorus] and if ever a man was needing a Full English Breakfast it was I. My head was a tad heavy shall we say from the previous evening, the sum was shining in all its brilliance but the rabbits were keeping a respectful distance, perhaps my snoring but methinks they sensed I was very hungry. Again several hard-core wargamers were already up and chatting as I went to shower. By now my fevered eye was taking intense interest in things on the 'bring and buy' stall [I was getting wargaming toy withdrawal symptoms] I had not 'noticed' before (or perhaps the subconscious was working overtime). I acquired during the course of the day some 10mm WW2 British Pendraken Paratroopers from Wayne Thomas [who I only realised afterwards had authored the brilliant Small Wars book available from the History of Wargaming Project] and just to say resisted buying some 15mm WWI Germans and British - the urge was there but the "need" was not there (although my mind was racing to find one). Indeed a large box of 15mm Minifigs ECW was tempting, but I have started a collection of 25mm Plastic ECW and spread over two fronts I felt my (already faltering) progress would stall [However "back in blighty" I remembered a friend who did collect 15mm ECW so I should have given him a ring and emailed a photograph of the hoard. Doh! I was being too self-centered]. The chimes of breakfast called and I was now a much more "bearded" wargamer with heavy grey/black stubble (hopefully not "Stig of the Dump") I sat down with new found colleagues to heartily eat my fill.

Listening to and offering (small) opinion on: Multi-Centre Wargames (chaired by John Bassett). I was intrigues to hear about the previous WD attempts at "Connectivity" between disparate groups of wargamers in a diffuse network. They seemed to range from the ultra slick-professional [US Conference Centre] to mildly cruel (they stuck me in a dark box for three hours waiting for a call that never came but I didn't mind) scenario. The Pol-Mil side of things seemed to rank as more easily achievable than Mil-Pol with coordination of units and sequences of attack. John Bassett quite rightly pointed out (to my philosophical mind-set at least) that the emphasis should be on creating a social event [perhaps with a meal to look forward to at the end of it] with a "game connect" that always holds the potential disconnect, but "the show must go on". My only contributions were (a) to point to a Connections UK 2016 presentation [slide 9] of a KCL Student (Laura Hoffman) on Phil Sabin's MA Conflict Simulation Course where when she 'ran out of friends to play-test he game' she Skyped her "Mum" (that woman is obviously a saint); (b) Games Workshop [please note I was not a player here] through their network of shops "used to" try and link a Saturday/Sunday mega event into a Mil-Pol game. Despite having access to a corporate infrastructure the 'event' (well was reported to me by a participant - sample of one, so dangerous to draw conclusions)  was rather 'vanilla' in texture when scaled up from the local hobby store campaign. They seem to prefer to ship them to Nottingham instead for an aircraft hanger sized game instead. Listening to everybody else's experiences was very interesting though and I would say that I would probably "give it a go" if asked. With that we broke early (two hours is a long tome to talk) and wandered off to see what else was going on (I think I acquired some 10mm British Paratroopers from Wayne Thomas at this point),

Spectating on: Strike! Battlegroup Tactical Wargame (by Michael Young). I had dabbled with taking a pop at this one but it overlapped with a WW2 game session (Open Battles) I was keen to attend. Another DSTL professional offering it was packaged in a serious looking box and there were lots and lots of large chunky counters - two thirds of which seemed to be Russian. I started counting and stopped at one hundred for the Russians, sorry Red Team. Again the intensity was there and it looked like they were going to use every second of their two hours and the next two hours after the tea and cake break coming up. I used a bit of my time here getting a few autographs for my secret artefact [to be revealed later, at the bottom of this article]. I then popped off for coffee and a slice of cake.

Spectating on: Wuestenkriegkartenblockspiel (by Andrew Rolph). My journey back for the cake was circuitous as I passed an "open door" out in the grounds of Knuston I heard the fateful world tank and was drawn in .. to the "Western Desert". I was immediately intrigued and recognised another close run contender that I almost signed up for. No figures but intense looking charts and play sequences with again that intensity of play that meant they were building up to a big clash of arms. The temperature in the room certainly was setting a Western Desert. This one was another long-runner destined to go past the "cake break" into another session.

Coffee and Cake ... very nice fruit cake!

Player: Open Battles (by Alan Paul). This game has history for me. As an owner of Airfix Battles I was disappointed to see it, or rather not see it, continue with extra modules and extension. I thought this game was going to be a "homage" to the game with figures but to my delight it was more of a phoenix from the ashes, watch this space for more things to come. The battle set-up was twice the size of the normal games I had played using 15mm miniatures recycled from Alan's Mission Command game I had spied yesterday. The games is grid based and card activated (See below, a US [although we used British Troops] on the right advance against the Germans on the left, Normandy 1944):

The Germans were split into two forces of infantry supported by "Yank tank killers" (one got a PAK 40 [75mm] 88mm which is also useful in an AA role, the other a Panzer IVH and PAK 40 [75mm]) plus an additional air asset (the ubiquitous Me109) attached to the PzIVH command. I had suspicions that the German PAK were re-rifled French 75s left over from France 1940. The Yanks were a Tank Combat Team with infantry assets attached and an Armoured Infantry Company with "lots of air assets" (two Spitfires and a P47 Thunderbolt). The first session was setting up, talking generally about the period and a lesson in the Airfix Battles rules and extensions (air power, artillery bombardment and various obstacles [field fortifications, pill boxes and barbed wire]). Note: I thought I was relatively "in the know" with regards to Airfix Battles, but there was one important rule I certainly had forgotten about (it has been over a year since I last played [see these scenarios] and I am getting old, so I do forget things!).

I proposed a simple plan the Armoured Infantry would "pin" German defenders from the crossroads up [mainly with the air power] while I "pivoted" by taking the tanks [ignoring the open terrain at the top of the table - with a clear field of view and PzIVH and PAK 40 waiting plus the other PAK 40 in a bunker looking down the road] and would face off against the 88mm AT/Flak (listen, not as crazy as it seems as I planned to take it out with infantry) and turn the left flank. In addition we had two 105mm [although Alan may have said 25 pounders] artillery barrages landing on each German sector [a five by five square template which was pretty impressive - some good should come of that]. Then we would "punch" down the German baseline (that's what is said to do in the manuals). With that we all went off for our last [sniff] Knuston Hall lunch [again first class - I will certainly miss the food] to return for "an hours play".

Returning I found that the German team that had set-up had disappeared off to hear a talk about "The Battle of Edgecote 1469" and in there place the veteran gamer "Von Curry" (minus a Prussian monocle) had taken command. "Who set this defence up?" was his dismayed tactical appreciation. With typical Kampfgruppe aplomb he got stuck into his task (See below, "Von Curry" is on the receiving end of some rather spectacular Allied attack dice rolling [six hits - but he sadly saved three of them being in field fortifications]):

The plan seemed to be unfolding nicely the 88mm was down to half crew strength and the German right flank seemed to be peeling open. The Allied air power seemed to be causing much grief at the other end of the table strafing the German Ground units, until that is the German Me109 turned up and an "active" dogfight took the attention of all. Meanwhile my attack stalled as I tried to "close assault" [what I thought was a battered but not broken] 88mm with US Assault Engineers [those satchel charges should come in useful]. Sadly the one rule I had forgotten (it was a year ago remember) and jumped over in the briefing was that defenders get a defensive fire, aka only close assault "pinned enemy". Ooops the 88mm went off and spoiled my day "Lt Jaworski and a generation of New York hot dog sellers" fell into the soft Normandy soil never to get up again. (See below, my unit 12 was a crack team of snipers who "shot" to kill, they then bypassed the strong point leaving it for the US Assault Engineers to go in, with hindsight [a wonderful thing] I should have just shot again):

"Von Curry" deftly moved his reserves from the centre village but one squad was caught in the open by a Sherman interrupting his move with an opportunity fire card [a nice touch of the system], which was a rather unpleasant surprise to him. However time was passing, so we got a good feel for the game rather than being played to conclusion and as Airfix/Open Battles goes it was rather a big one to fit into one hour play - I guess we were slow to set-up and absorb the rules. I would definitely play this again and would be keen to hear from Alan Paull on his future plans for the game. We shook hands as respectful enemies and headed to the AGM wrap-up.

Listening to: The Wargames Development AGM (by Tim Gow and Bob Cordery). I could not believe it was already all coming to a 2018 end of proceedings, so soon. I felt I could have stayed for a week. The last forty eight hours had been such an intense dunking in the well of wargaming happiness [and being "well fed" to boot - puddings to die for]. The only other comparison I could make it with is Connections UK and as good as it is (and it is good), CoW beats it hands down. At CoW people bring their games (and WIP half-games for constructive deconstruction and critique) to CoW, while at Connections UK (the majority of) people passively hear about "other peoples games" and "wall-flower" the games that are there, being afraid of "showing themselves up" [I may be harsh here]. I speak purely from a hobbyist perspective and I totally appreciated and respect the needs of the "professional" audience [who have jobs I could not do, and respect to them for that], however I know where the innovation lies. Meanwhile the CoW proceedings 'proceeded' very slickly with good humour and there was a warm glow of anticipation for CoW 2019 by one and all [how many "immediate" deposits did Rob take?]. I felt that the departing wargamers were impregnated with many a "stirring thought" or "new idea" to try out. It certainly does live up to its name "Wargames Developments: Conference of Wargamers". In addition what also caught my heart was support by members of WD give for commendable initiative, the Waterloo Uncovered Project helping veterans with PTSD. Selflessness like that sets WD and CoW apart in my eyes for dare I say "competition gamers" - I never met one of the latter at CoW.

Secret Agent: Stalker in search of a Secret Artefact: The Signed Connections UK  2016 Mega-Game Map of Binni signed by the Umpires present at the event (Umpire Signatures: Tom Mouat, Jim Wallman, Bob Cordery, Jerry Elsmore, Rob Cooper). As the Opposition Leader (or should I say more correctly one of the many opposing faction "leaders" - Binni was a country suffering for many an existential crisis, who was the 'opposition' being one) I felt particularly attached to this item (A Player's Map of Binni) salvaged from Tom Mouat's "Free to anyone before I Throw this Away Box". All weekend I had been stalking respectable members of that Connections 2016 Mega-Game "umpiring team" and approaching them when their guards were down and saying "Pssst, I know what you did in 2016, London, Connections UK, Binni - you umpired it, didn't you? Don't try and deny it, I've got photographs!" Their look of fear and alarm dropped after realising that I had not been "harbouring a grudge over an umpire's decision for two years" and now wanted a satisfaction [by pistol duel or dice-off?], so at this point they would quickly sign anything just to get rid of me. Many thanks to these kind gents, golden memories are made of such things (see below, my "wargaming memento", the front):

The back (See below, signatures given under the agreement that this will not be appearing on eBay):

Yes, I claim (happily) to be the saddest wargamer, but very content with the title [a title already bestowed on me by my lovely wife - who when she found out that Tim Gow had been selling off part of his vast book collection she fixed me with a stern look and said "You can take some of your books next year seeing as you are the only wargamer with wargaming models no other wargamer wants!" (reference to my 1:100 "modern" aircraft/helicopters nobody else wanted on the bring and buy stall - but as Jerry said "There must be a game in there". Well I have a year to think on it and many other game ideas)] ;)

Many thanks to all participants at CoW, looking forwards to see you again at CoW 2019. I hope for the people of the "tented city's" sake the weather is as good as it was this year. Regrets none, well perhaps I should have bought more unpainted lead from the "bring and buy stall" ..

CoW 2018: D-Day+1 [Part 2b continued (Fighting my way Inland)]

Spectating on: Mission Command (by Alan Paull). Sauntering back through the passageways from watching the last twenty minutes of the England v Sweden game I came across a WWII (Normandy 1944 late war era) game. British Tankers and PBI advancing against a ad-hoc German defence backed up with a little armour. This had piqued my interest earlier on but I had to make the call on "A Gathering of Vultures" Matrix Game instead. I am an avid collector of WWII - lots of 20mm (Command Decision - Chain of Command), a tasty bit of early war and some late war 1/200-10mm (Skytrex:Pendraken: Spearhead), 1/300, some 15mm (inspired by CrossFire and "What a Tanker") and ahem some 28mm [a scale I said I would never do for WWII - eating my words here!] for an upcoming Chain of Command "Streets of Stalingrad" Campaign. So I hung around to see what mechanisms were at play. I saw them on sale and hung back from purchasing 'yet another' WW2 rules system (something I am kind of regretting now) but seeing the action unfold it seemed to be playing really well on table. An umpire - hidden movement and placement - a middle battle board (the tactical) that the umpire controls as the players roll across a bigger (operational) map. There seemed to be a certain intensity regarding the players which is always the sign of a good game. Hopefully I should get a chance at this one next year! It looked equally good for my 20mm or 1/200-1/300-10mm collections.

Dinner: First class yet again with a lovely pudding to follow (wow)! An d now for something completely different .. Colonials, virgin territory for me!

Playing: The Relief of Knustonpore (Peter Grizell, Ian Drury, Nigel Drury). This was certainly a "big battle" hoards (literally) of 28mm toys on the table and excellent scenery using Muskets and Tomahawks (extended and revised) rules. I turned up just in time to "acquire" my 'mutinous' (as in playing the side of the Indian Mutineers) command, a rag tag bag of no-hopers who were deemed Mercenary [2] (paid to be here), Mob [1] and Irregular [2], plus a clutch of European "woman" I could use as hostages (interesting). I was also, as per my brief, a reluctant (not monocled) mutineer and only here because my father, a village head-man, told me to do it.

My role was to protect the "stormers" (the better quality Indian troops) from the British relief column just entering the table. I duly positioned my troops with the help of a kindly bystander who I co-opted into helping me (apologies as I cannot remember the name [so many to remember and remembering names is not my best skill] but many thanks for helping me out, it was really appreciated). I manned the fixed defences I was told to and safely holes up with "the ladies" in a strong point. Three units faced towards the relief column and two faced the fort. However I did notice nobody had "joined up with me" and I had rather a "hanging left flank", but the other Mutineers seemed happy and the game started. Down the road cane the British, seeing how many there were and there seemed to be no threat of a breakout from the fort I shifted one unit (see below, red robes and white turbans) out of the inner fort watching to the cover of the corn (see below, the unit to watch out for is the Bengal Lancers, top left):

My small portion of the game. The quality and fire discipline of the British Regulars showed and my best troops were soon hunkered down in a "hiding" state (a bad morale roll). The gap to my left seemed to be all part of a cunning trap. As the first unit of British cavalry (from the second British relief column) moved into it there was a sudden counter move of the Indian Mutineers that resulted in both forces eventual mutual destruction. The first crisis point had passed and the relief expedition seemed to be stalled (for the time being). The sound of the attack on the fort seemed to betray an element of confused haphazardness (partly because of the card driven unit activation system), large booming cannon, staccato musketry and cheers as storming ladders were raised. For a closer description of the "storming" please see Trebian's blog post below:

Trebian;s Blog: The storming.

Meanwhile my wargaming nadir approached at the hands of the Bengal Lancers. My colleagues in the mutiny were forced back due to the prestigious efforts of the British Royal Artillery smashing through a column of our best mutineers. Moral failure and a push back revealed my hanging left flank again, this time the Bengal Lancers were into the gap. They swung a hard right and skewered my hunkering of hiding troops in their defences (see below, the empty redoubt is where my troops used to be) and ploughed next into my Red Robed Irregulars hiding in the corn. They had been forestalling the Regular British Infantry advance and an elite unit of Gurkha infantry (gulp). My troops were dutifully routed as the British spent two turns of [enjoyable?] combat where my only weapon left was to barter for my life, exchanging the European hostages and being called a "scandalous [but alive] rogue" (see below, the end of my command):

Having also lost my Green Robed irregulars in an ill-fated approach to the fort - the wall had appeared unmanned, but it wasn't or rather was quickly manned when I least wanted it, the road to the fort was open, but spiralling columns of smoke indicated that is might already be too late as the gates had been forced and the Mutineers were in fierce "hand-to-hand" combat. The Bengal Lancers and the Gurkha infantry but my "speed bump" had denied them relieving the garrison. Note: I did not personally see much of this as my character was literally running for the hills still clutching a governess's parasol umbrella, thinking what he was going to tell my father the headsman.

Conclusion: Having effectively lost 100% of my brave but badly lead mutineer Indians against the British Relief Force, I was left to beg and grovel for my pitiful skin. My survival depended on exchanging the European Ladies being kept hostage (and my few remaining working firearms) for a "I'll look the other way" moment from the officer commanding Bengal Lancers - It worked and I ran like the wind back to "my village" (see below, it was a wargaming "low achievement high" (nadir), that I had 'skilfully' deserved. An excellent game. What happened else where others will have to tell.

Next up: Part two of my Matrix Game education ... I have had the DSTL style now it was a 'retro' or 'pure' Matrix Game which relied less on tokens and counters on a clearly defined map, but more on player ingenuity and creativity. I could not wait!

Playing: Save Gordon (by Bob Cordery), What I thought I had learned and now knew from playing the morning's DSTL Matrix Game was nicely contrasted to the more narrative feel of Save Gordon in the evening. There was a strict historical back flavour to the "Save Gordon" (and I must confess mine historical knowledge was limited to a few faded memories of "the film" - please don't judge me) and an emphasis on more believable role play. The game mechanic premise was the same, intended action and three reasons why it could have happened, counter arguments raised by fellow players and the other side, then a judgement call by the Umpire which may or may not involve dice. All-in-all it was a lot more "free flow" which seemed to match the ebb and flow of history better. I was a British general (Sir Garnet Wolesley) trying to 'Save Gordon' by order of the Queen. Sailing from England I stopped in Gibraltar to pick up some extra Artillery and Infantry, the classic "anything but a 1" meant the local ladies of Gibraltar prolonged my embarkation schedule, but thankfully a "send two and four pence I am going to a dance, now!" from my Sudan placed co-rescuer Sir Evelyn Wood, worked a treat to "kick-start" me to the Sudan, Lower Egypt [huzzah]. Please refer to Bob's blog for extra bits and pieces, including photographs from the game.

Mean while "in historical player character" my brief said I had to acclimatise my European troops and insist on a river borne relief force which meant building specialised ships, while treating Sir Evelyn Wood (the in-situ commander I outranked) with contempt (probably something to do with a family feud or Bridge debt or something). I sent him my Lancers (so he could feed them and they were no use to me on the boats - I may have been wrong there?) and told him to get cracking and "Save Gordon", expecting him to take the desert route and not interfere with my (better?) efforts. Other characters had more challenging moments forgetting that they were not in the 'Twentieth First Century' and in the Nineteenth Century. In particular the Madhist player who was charged with spreading propaganda amongst the local inhabitants against the Foreign Infidel, she asked for the AV [Audio Visual] Team to knock something up; presumably a scribe and stonemason set to work - the distribution channel [pigeon?] was also in hot dispute. All-in-all the British seemed to get off to a faster start with Gordon building defences and local morale while two separate relief columns were dispatched: the "desert" one (to which I [Sir Garnet Wolesley] secretly referred to as the 'decoy') and the scientifically proven steam powered "paddle" mode of transport (to which Sir Evelyn Wood secretly referred to as "the Wolesley folly"). 

Sir Evelyn Wood's "Desert Column" fought its way through the desert to within sight of Khartoum but faced a huge dilemma. The Mahdist forces were far too strong for an open battle (a clever Mahdist player, the Mahdi himself incited them to have "religious fervour"  a +1 DRM in this square) so sought a quick way into the city and via Gordon' improvised ingenious boat-bridge it was achieved ..  but at the sore loss of Sir Evelyn Wood and the local Sudanese/Egyptian contingent [controversial as the soak-off was condemned by the Mahdist players as tantamount proof of European disrespect of the worth of locals] of troops (see below, Sir Evelyn Woods "relief force" as they forced an entry of sorts into Khartoum):

The good news was that Khartoum was now too well defended to be 'stormed' by the Madhist forces but it still had to be relieved. All eyes turned to my Nile bound river boat column. The Paddle Steamers having, by monumental feat of military engineering,  had forced passage to Berber over the "cataracts" so were just outside Khartoum. We could see the city walls with Gordon and a lot of British Infantry waving from the battlements (see below, note I have hostiles to the front of me and hostiles to the rear! Nothing beats Colonial wargaming does it! I definitely think I may have been bitten by the bug!)

While commanding the river-bound Khartoum relief force, having successfully forced passage of the Nile cataracts (sorry have I already mentioned that, it was pretty impressive engineering though), against a fierce Mahdist skirmishing force all along the banks [must be some medals earned here], I was positioned fortuitously in the province of Berber south of Khartoum poised to "Save Gordon" (which if you remember happened to be the name of the game). Then with almost the last fling of the dice (and in the best tradition of Matrix-Games) an outrageously bold abduction plot was hatched to kidnap me (Wolesley) from the decks my Nile gunboat by Mahdist player "Lady C". Thus it was argued, the expedition would be thrown into chaos, dooming poor General Gordon. The 'project' was delivered with so much descriptive aplomb and creative ingenuity (to the point where the Umpire, a certain Bob Cordery from Wargames Miscellany, was seen therapeutically banging an empty plastic water-bottle off the top of his head repeatedly to help him make sense of the matter - I have to admit that was a wargaming first for me) was convinced that it 'might just work'. Knowing my wargaming fate was now in the hands of Lady Luck (if I lost this I might as well chose 'crochet as a hobby' - they too have weekend events at Knuston Hall) - Lady C was asked to throw "two sixes" (Christ that seemed all to achievable to my smind at this time of night [teh bewitching hour]!). The resulting slow motion tumble of the dice remains poised crazily forever in my mind's eye, but only(!) one six was thrown (too close a call for my liking) and my 'nadir' was turned to 'triumph', but complete and total respect for the "move of the game" Lady C - just glad it didn't work. 

Another startling success of a CoW game (so much so I am thinking of what Colonial figures I should start collecting). In fact I would not object to another Matrix Game at CoW 2019 that focused more on the tactical breakthrough of "paddle force" to Khartoum as I think the game was nicely balanced at a "make or break" point IMHO, if that is Bob was up for it.

Time to retire for the night or not as I flowed into my second unexpected  Wargaming Chat#2 with a chap called Graham (I think). We had shared the Cyber Security (Red Team/Blue Team) game and played on opposite sides at Knuestonpore, but were on the same side in Save Gordon (in fact he was 'Gordon'). Bob said he got to bed after 1pm because the conversation was so interesting, myself was after 2pm as the conversation strayed in the realms of WW2 ANZAC cruisers and German Raiders. The staff at Knuston Hall are saints for putting up with us lot.

Next: Day Three (Alcohol Free Gaming - but there is still a Full English Breakfast and cake!)