A gamemaster who presents a game at a convention is like a director who is presenting a play. He must manage the four elements that underpin a successful wargame: figures; terrain; rules; scenario. The most recent HMGS Convention in Lancaster again proved that many gamemasters handle the first two elements very well. We saw thousands of beautifully painted figures marching across thrilling terrain. Co-Author, Jim Arnold (left) and Walter Simon enjoy a well presented scenario at Historicon ‘00. Photo by Pat Condray. Rules will always be a matter of personal preference. Interpretations of history and rule mechanics can be bothersome. Jim played a First Punic War game in which the Roman light troops were better than the Punic light forces and the Roman heavy cavalry (rated “armored knights”!) easily bested his Spanish and African horse. Not quite history according to Polybius or Livy, but so be it. A Franco-Prussian War game using some variant of a very popular card game saw most players sitting on their hands most of the time as they waited for suitable cards to appear. Yawn. It did give Jim a good chance to exchange news with old friend Wally Simon. Wally was, and remains, one of the original thinkers when it comes to card-based sequencing. Having witnessed many games like this Franco-Prussian game, he observed that only the person turning the cards seemed really to be having a good time. Such issues aside, the real problem with these and many similar games was that they were frontal slogs with the objective of killing as many enemy as possible. By design they left the players with no chance to display tactical finesse. Likewise, numerous other convention games featured one side huddled behind defensive works fortified camps, castles, towns, and, in one grand looking spectacle, most of Peking where again the players had little tactical latitude. Dick observes that in one of the Peking scenarios the gamemaster pitted himself against all comers in a quick and fun game. This was good stuff, exactly what one hopes for at a convention. However, overall, too many games failed to present a challenging, fun scenario. It’s as if the challenge of preparing the troops, laying out the terrain, and massaging the rules into some form of playability leaves the gamemaster exhausted and empty when it comes to scenario design. Accordingly, we offer some thoughts and guidelines for scenario design: Objective Assigning a physical objective or objectives tends to make for a better game than merely telling the rivals to kill one another. First of all, it’s more realistic. The great majority of historical battles involved a contest for terrain features of recognized value. The gamemaster can arbitrarily assign ‘point values’ to designated features, but applying more imagination improves the game. Instead of saying ‘the big hill in the center is worth 20 points’, provide a context: “This hill is within cannon shot of the important fortress of Badajoz, off board, here. The British want to occupy it to establish a siege battery. The French want to deny it to the British.” With this simple description of the battle’s context, the players understand why the armies have arrived on this field and what they are trying to accomplish. Substitute “Mount Independence”, “Ticondoroga”, and “Americans” for French and you have a Revolutionary War scenario. Substitute “The Mamayev Kurgan (Hill 102)”, “Stalingrad”, “Germans” for British and “Russians” for French and you have the epic World War Two struggle for the dominating high ground overlooking Stalingrad. Put the most important objective (s) in the middle of the table and leave room on either side for maneuver. A time-tested method is to allow the rival forces to set up along the central 60 percent of the table while leaving 20 percent of the linear space on either side free of troops and open for maneuver. Time It is particularly important for convention games that players have the chance to achieve the objective within the real amount of time allocated for the game. Jim recalls a carefully created - refight of the 1812 Battle of Maloyaroslavetz that occurred many years ago. The gamemaster had boasted about his scenario design skills. He overlooked the fact that by forcing the entire French army to move across one of three fords, each of which was one inch wide, the game would not reach conclusion within a reasonable amount of time. A useful practice is for the gamemaster to measure the physical distance a force must move from its start position to its objective and then translate this distance into its time equivalent. Let’s say it takes six moves of unobstructed march to reach the objective. Now, consider how much longer will it take to fight to the objective? If the defender is likely to use a front line, second line, and a reserve the most typical game situation the gamemaster must ask himself how many turns of battle are likely to be consumed in addition to his base calculation of six turns. Finally, consider how many turns a convention game is likely to last given inexperienced players and other predictable delays. If the conclusion is that the objective cannot be reasonably attained then the gamemaster must redesign. He can push the attacker’s startline closer to the objective or try something more imaginative. Instead of beginning the battle at its start, begin it at the point that the attacker has defeated the defender’s first line. Now we have the makings of a riveting game: the attacker has enjoyed initial success at some cost; the defender is in peril with his first line in retreat. Let the game begin. Troop Density Many of the horse and musket period games at the convention featured troops packed in multiple ranks from one side of the table to the other. While this made a splendid spectacle, it is best suited for diorama, not fun games. Too many figures condemns the game to a slogging, battle of attrition full of repeated casualty calculations and little maneuver. We conclude with some general guidelines 1. You are presenting a play where the idea is that everyone should enjoy themselves. The players have not assembled to listen to you show off your knowledge. Don’t spend an hour explaining the rules. Just give them the basics movement and fire distances and little else that allow them to begin. Give them a summary sheet that displays the essentials along with a scenario write up and map. Have plenty of rulers and dice available. 2. No gamer should be stuck with a reserve command that enters the game at some later time. If the scenario requires such a command (generally a poor idea at a convention) then allow a gamer to begin the game with the command of a small, forward detachment. Then he can transfer to the reserve when it arrives. One of Jim’s first convention games was a historical refight of Maida, 1806. The French had only one 4-pdr battery. Its first shot hit the best troops on the board, the British light infantry commanded by Keith Hubbard. The shot necessitated a morale check with a 90 percent chance of passing. Keith failed. This meant he had to roll a D6 on the Panic Table. There was only one chance of a rout, but Keith rolled it! Five minutes into the game and he had lost his command. Fortunately, he proved to be a gentleman and became a friend. Had I been more experienced, I could have “rallied” his troops and allowed him to return a slightly depleted command onto the board. But the lesson is clear. Dick says, “The bottom line is NO ONE stands around with nothing to do. 3. The gamemaster should retain a secret reserve that he can introduce to redress an imbalance if one side or the other is getting prematurely trounced. However, he should bring on this reserve while heaping praise upon the winning side: ‘your skilled maneuvers have forced the high command to relinquish its strategic reserve.’ 4. The Gamemaster should strive to match historical troops with their role in the game. Some substitution may be required. Few gamers have painted up the correct number of Dutch-Belgium troops for their Waterloo refight. So, they use Prussians or Austrians. This if fine. But Dick recalls a game in which American Indians substituted for the lack of British hussars. Shame! 5. If you use cards to select units to move, keep several in play at a time even if you have to fudge the sequence a bit. This keeps play moving along. Also, instruct the players to think ahead and have their move ready when their card appears. If a player hesitates too long, bypass him. It will only take once for him to come into line. 6. Do not allow rule lawyers more than on “But”. Give them a warning, on the second “But” dismiss them. A kind way is to say “I can see you are not enjoying this game, so...” A more satisfying was is to simply say ‘you are outta here!’ 7. If possible pick a player who has some knowledge of the rules to act as overall commander. 8. No scenario should ever come to a convention without having been playtested. Then factor in the fact that the convention goers may not know the rules. Also consider the likilihood that convention people tend to play a little more timidly in front of strangers than they do at their clubs. So add a couple of more turns to the time it takes to meet the objective. 9. On our last point Dick and Jim part company a bit. Dick recommends breaking up cliques by having gamers from the same club play on opposite sides. Jim is not so sure since for him conventions are the main time that he gets to play with his friends instead of against them. At all events, when a Gamemaster kindly offers his time and effort to host a game, it is a priceless opportunity. Acting as a judge, he can introduce the “fog of war” that typifies historical warfare. It is so hard to simulate this without a non-playing judge. So our advice to gamemasters is to avail themselves of this chance to inject realistic command decisions into table top play. Bah to frontal slogs. Design a scenario featuring maneuver and surprise. Tell an aggressive player that he “hears bugles sounding the charge from an adjacent swamp” (Bonaparte’s ploy in 1796 at Arcola when he “committed” 29 of his Guides to make a noisy demonstration on the Austrian flank). Tell a cautious tank commander that he sees a "great cloud of dust moving to his front." (Rommel's ploy in the desert when he had vehicles deliberately stir up dust to simulate the advance of en entire mechanized brigade). Jim fondly remembers an ACW game hosted by friend George Mangano. Jim's Yankee units confronted a tough Reb defense featuring a fortified battery that guarded the entire flank of the board. The frowning siege guns compelled Jim to carefully maneuver outside of range. He finally broke through on another sector and advanced against the battery;s rear. Suddenly, the great prize in view changed. George removed the battery and placed on the table a duplicate featuring a battery of Quaker (dummy) guns. It was a triumphant moment that splendidly replicated McClelland's caution in 1862. Jim was bamboozeled by a clever trick--but it was one of the most fun games he has ever played in. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #80 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The Courier Publishing Company. 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