When I started to play wargames, in the late 70's each new game was fun and exciting. I did not know the rules well so I had no idea what was going to happen when my brave boys met the foe. Not knowing made it pure enjoyment. I was hooked, so naturally I read the rules - that's when the trouble started. The magic that existed in gaming while I was ignorant of rules was destroyed by the light of knowledge. A few years later, when I began writing rules of my own, I always endeavored to recapture the old magic. Some tries were closer than others but none quite there. Then last year lightning struck and I figured out how to run what I now call MATRIX GAMES. The best way for me to explain this system is to describe a game. So here goes ... Nelson's Defeat, 1797 Nelson's Defeat is a simulation of Horatio Nelson's historical attempt to capture the Canary Islands from Spain. In real life he failed, and lost his arm in the doing. Stated briefly, the following events happened in my game. Nelson became sea sick. The landing party (minus Nelson) set out from the squadron in the frigates. The men were mistakenly issued straight rum rather than grog and so became drunk. The drunken sailors made a lot of noise boarding the long boats, which the Spanish over heard. The Spanish sounded the alarm which was misunderstood by most of their side. When they did understand 1000 soldiers ran for the hills. The landing party landed and made it to its objectives just as Spanish reinforcements arrived. The British hung in the fight for over an hour at 4 to 1 odds, but were eventually driven out. They returned to the ships, and at dawn a still sick Nelson decided to go home. It was an exciting 4 hour game, in which the British nearly won (despite the fact that it was a Solo game, and I was blatantly pro Spanish). Both sides faced problems, as you can see above, but in the end the Brits problems were bigger and they were pushed out. This as It turns out is what happened to Nelson's real attack, but unlike the historical battle my Nelson decided not to try again the next night (when he lost his arm). I did not know this would happen before it did. That is the beauty of Matrix Games. Now I will show an overview of how they are run. The Game, and all Matrix Games, are run by players making arguments about what they want to happen this turn. In a way it is like having all the players in the game write orders for the troops, where only one set of orders is used. For example .... Nelson becomes sea sick (an action), resulting in his not leading the landing party (a result from the action), which happens because: he is sickly, the sea is rough, and the weather is unhealthy (3 reasons why it happened). The other players then get to make counter arguments (alternate orders) about what they want to happen that turn. They can say ... YES AND YES Nelson is sea sick resulting in him not leading the landing party, AND the men are mistakenly given straight rum instead of grog and so are drunk. YES BUT YES Nelson is sea sick, BUT he leads the landing party anyway. NO ACTUALLY NO Nelson is not sea sick, ACTUALLY a friendly spy bribes the coast watchers (action), result the British landing will be a surprise (result). All arguments include 3 things: an ACTION, a RESULT from the action, and 3 REASONS why it happened. It does not really matter to me what a player wants to happen so long as they have good reasons for it. (NOTE: the REASONS for the above counter arguments were omitted). Which argument wins is settled by the roll of a die. For game purposes it doesn't matter which set of orders are followed so long as one is. I made strong arguments for the British and the Spanish, but in the end the Dagos won out (viva la Bourbons!). The reasons for why an argument happens come from MATRIX of descriptive phrases. The Matrix covers such areas as: 1) How do people do things (Institutions), 2) Why they do things (Motivations), 3) What they think about what they do (Cognitions), 4) How they feel about what they are doing ( emotions), and 5) The physical reality about what they are doing. Only 3 reasons can be used in an argument, so the player needs to choose wisely. As the Game goes on events of play are added to the Matrix so that one sides ability to fight will eventually be eroded. In time the loosing side will be unable to back up arguments (always a good time to rout). Sounds different, huh? Well it is, BUT it is easy to teach (takes 20 minutes or so), is easy and quick to play, AND though you know your troops are good (Just look at the Matrix), you do not know what will happen in the coming battle. Maybe some of the old magic comes back alive in these games. I believe it does and I will be sure to write back and let you know more about it. Back to Experimental Games Group # 1 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com