Continued: I had a 6 solid hours of sleep on a great mattress, a shower, and even a breakfast. Saying good-bye, I got back to Rochelle in about 1.5 hours, and found my event located in the spacious Eaton Room, this time. Not only is it huge (and perfect for the preferred double-distance Naval Action game scale for 1:700 models), but the carpet is mottled sea gray. (This was almost a liability, since the blue-gray-decked destroyers blended in so well.)

I forgot to put the signup sheet on the registration table, so once I did, I delayed the game's start until 1000 again. Against "Larry"'s Gneisenau and my Scharnhorst, Jim Beck commanded Hood, "Michael" commanded Exeter, Jim Minnick commanded destroyers Cossack, Zulu, and Jupiter, and Larry's son and his buddy (in their 20s and looking like football players) commanded 2 more groups of 3 H-class (actually Skywave O-class) destroyers.

In conditions of poor visibility and rough seas (limiting the destroyers to 24 knots max. speed), the 2 forces encountered each other at 20,000 yards. In my/Scharnhorst's opening salvo, I rolled the ideal white die 1 (for pinpoint accuracy) and red die 6 (for maximum penetration and explosion)! Game designer's luck!, they all catcalled. Unfortunately, all the initial-firing accuracy penalties came out to a "0" accuracy factor allowance, and I had to roll for another long-shot "1" ... which I didn't get. (Michael was half out the door, when we called him back. :-)

Worse, on the 3rd turn, Hood's 15" guns Scharnhorst into damage. (So *that*'s why the German battle and armored cruisers avoided Brit-ish battleships and battle cruisers every time!) In a following turn, even though Larry's Gneisenau damaged Hood in turn, my Poor German da-mage control couldn't prevent ... what? ... secondary explosions? ... and SCH's damage *worsened* to heavy damage ... and a 4 knot speed. Like schools of piranha, the destroyers' courses swung toward *me*. :-I

Gneisenau's secondary 5.9" guns also heavily damaged Havock, one of the pursuing destroyers, at about this time. Not to worry, Michael's Exeter came off with a long-odds penetrating 8" bow battery salvo which apparently penetrated SCH's steaming magazines, because SCH sank!

Gneisenau now began running for her life, pursued by Exeter and the lagging destroyers, while Jim kept Hood back broadside, for maximum battery firing. After a couple more turns (to a total of 6 or 7), we all assumed Gneisenau would escape ... maybe even turning on Exeter for full broadsides to dispatch her if the opportunity arose ... and called it a game and a British victory after 2.5 hours. ... and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the game ... except the destroyer commanders, of course. :-)

None of my models suffered any damage, and none of my game equipment as lost, so I was a satisfied game master in many respects, even if once again I was losing my own games! :-I My thanks to Randy Giesey (Jr.), Jeff Hammerlund, and all the other Little Wars folks, for a good convention. Some thought attendance was down, but that certainly wasn't the case for *my* games.

My thanks also to my family, for the campaigning support and sustenance. :-) Next year's Little Wars will be in the same location on 14-16 April 2000! See you all there! :-)

...by Lou Coatney, http://members.Tripod.com/~LCoat Best Ancients rules?

I am a big fan of the Archon ancients supplement for the Piquet system. It is oriented toward historical matchups rather than tournament play, and features a semi-randomized turn sequence in which all possible unit activities and "special events" are distributed among a deck of cards for each side. This creates ancient armies with a lot of individual and historical flavor, as well allowing for unusual "special circumstances" without necessitating a lot of extra rules and exceptions. The rules strongly reward historical tactics and are extremely playable. Battles are very exciting, with wild swings of impetus and fortune throughout. I highly recommend them!

For more information, check out the publisher's web site at: www.pi quet.com and the Official Piquet (PK) Gamers' Site at: www.piquet.org. If you are interested, you can also read a more detailed review I've written for Archon in Issue #200 of Slingshot, or on the Society of Ancients website at: http://www.soa.org.uk/main/rules/piquetarchon02.htm

As far as armies go, I would strongly recommend doing a little bit of research first to find our which periods and armies are most appealing to you! Find an army that will hold your interest and that you can love even if it constantly loses! Then start small (Piquet and Archon work very well with only 10-12 units per side), but do try to field armies for both sides in your chosen conflict (Egyptians/Hittites, Achaeans/Trojans, Greeks/Persians, Romans/Carthaginians, Normans/Saxons, Crusaders/Saracens, etc.). This way you (and your friends) will be able to play the games and rules that you want to, rather than those that everyone else is playing." Having said that, you can't go very far wrong with a Roman army vs. a generic "barbarian" (Gallic/Britannic/Germanic) warband.

Good luck in your search!