From a Past Reply
I hope the "Monty Python" Viking game comes off well. Let me know how it works. I think you might find that it is the kids and non-gamers who pick up on how to play first. Us poor gamers keep on thinking in terms of old games.
I think I will take you up on the ad offer. I've put together a beginners MG now. It seems that at some point if an idea is to hit a wider audience, it must go on the market. I am not a business man, but I do know that nothing sells with out advertising.
I read in the last RANT about the game you made called "Monarch". I'd love to hear more about this. I dabble in making boardgames (with little success). So I am interesting in how someone else has gone about making a game. --CE
David Reeves
Here is the new DISPATCH, volume IV number 3. Enjoy. Thank you for sending the Swashbucklers MG. I have made some one and two person game attempts, but the birth of my son seems to have drawn heavily on my reserve of free time.... However, I should have some good battle reports and comments within two weeks. A group of friends has agreed to playtesting the MG.
I particularly noticed your frequent artwork in EGG #8. You must have been swashbuckling when making the newsletter! How would you like to write a description of the Matrix Game for the DISPATCH ?? Our readers would love to see it. Let me know.
Thanks for the DISPATCH. I understand about the amount of time newborn kids can take. I was Just at thanksgiving with my various nieces and nephews. The whole prospect scared the hell out of me! Whenever you can get around to the Swashbucklers game is fine.
Is there any particular type of MG that might appeal to DISPATCH readers more that another? I really am thinking about writing an article. --CE
Bob Cordery
Many thanks for the copies of EGG NEWSLETTER Nos. 8 and 9 and THE SWASHBUCKLERS. They were much appreciated and, as I hope you will see from the review in NUGGET62, were well received.
I am now beginning to understand how a matrix game works, and as I do I realised how useful the concept can be. The only major problems I can foresee with this style of game is how to limit players' use of hindsight and existing knowledge, and how to cope with differing cultural attitudes.
The latter is most clearly drawn out in your game SOLIDARITY. Although most Americans share a common historical heritage with Europeans, I sometimes feel that the two cultures have developed differing attitudes to World events. To Americans the dismantling of the Berlin Wall is probably seen as a physical manifestation of the collapse of Eastern Bloc Communism; to many Europeans is was seen as symbolic of German and European unification. Likewise the
Gulf Crisis has demonstrated the differing reasoning behind the responses from Europe and the USA to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and her aggressive attitude to Saudi Arabia. When European leaders talk about not repeating the mistakes of Munich in 1938, many of them do so from the perspective of people whose countries were occupied during the resulting war against Hitler's dictatorship; this is patently not true of the leadership in the USA, who seem to speak from the point of view of being the World's policeman.
How could one incorporate this difference in perspective into a matrix game? Perhaps the answer is to "disguise the scenario" so that all the players start from positions of identical ignorance. An alternative to this might be to limit the responses players can make by defining "cultural boundaries" to their thinking. Might the pages of EGG NEWSLETTER provide an answer? We shall see!
PS - The possibility of linking EGG and WD will, I hope, be discussed at COW91. In the meantime I will continue to publish articles by you, and to review EGG NEWSLETTER (and other EGG publications) in NUGGET. Unfortunately I can not give you permission to publish articles that have already appeared in NUGGET -- other than my own -- because the copyright is owned by the authors and not the magazine. I will, however, try to pass on any requests to re-publish articles to the authors of those articles.
Thanks for the review In the Nugget. I think you are right about the weakness of MGs to hindsight. The saving grace here is that just because one side uses historical knowledge does not mean that the other side has to do what they did before. For instance, in the Solidarity game, history is NOT being replayed. In fact, the game is showing the cultural attitude problem that you also mention. Vince Zahnle is a rabid American cowboy, while Dale Kemper is Stalin reincarnated. I think the game will remain fun and even educational, but It will not be a peaceful revolution.
It is interesting that you should mention disguised scenarios. The first convention MG I ran was a disguised, Russian Civil War game. I always found the anarchy that prevailed in Russia at that time to be fascinating, but experience has shown me that "historical" games often time don't go over well at cons. So, I moved it into outer space, made the Whites into a ruling class, the Reds into the underclass, the intervening powers into Captain Kirk and Romulans, and Siberia into a moon colony. I worked great. The Whites were wiped out by the Reds after the Reds had made a deal with the Federation.
You are very right about the way Americans and Europeans see the world differently. Al Macintyre's letter, shows several distinct US views. Voluteerism has been used widely in our countries development to deal with a wide variety of social ills. It might work as well outside of North America but who knows that is what the Peace Corp is all about. The problem for us Americans is to understand that people think differently elsewhere. When I was a kid, my family travelled in Europe several times. Consequently I am aware of the difference in thinking you mentioned, but despite my travelling I do not believe I "understand" European thought. I tend to operate on a maxim one of my college professor told me: "Differences are not necessarily deficits."
When you know more about how WD and EGG can be affiliated, let me know. I am interested in reprinting some older Nugget material. Could you let me know who I could contact to get started on getting permission to reprint?
Tom
If I can get Dave to come over that would be a big help. Jim Newton games regularly there. (Ron, Dave and Jim are all gamers In Louisville, KY. Fun guys one and all.) I also plan to resubscribe to Lone Warrior and PW Review, How often do you game up at Bloomington. Perhaps I might be able to come up some day. We'll see if it works out.
This Saturday I'm going to a Medieval Fair In Ohio, just south of Cincinnati. They Joust! This will be my 3rd fair in 2 years. Am I becoming a fair groupie?
I haven't been reading any military stuff for a year or So. I've been working on getting my philosophy a little more focused. Who knows, by the time I'm 60, I'll have an idea "which way is up."
Tom's letter is another one that got lost in my move. Tom was the gamer who introduced me to miniatures wargaming, Wally Simon's PW Review, the Lone Warrior, the Variable Length Bound idea, and Paddy Griffith's games.
I'm glad circumstances are allowing you to get back into gaming. It takes a lot of time to do so. It is amazing how easy it is to spend time and never get down to playing the game. I go over to the local club here in Bloomington. I make it a point to get there early so that I can play a quick solo miniatures game just so I know I will get one simple quick game in.
We meet in the Indiana Memorial Union Building every Sunday afternoon (12 to 9). Check the schedule posted by the elevator to find out where we are. Anyone who cares to come is invited. Let me know when your coming and we'll plan to do a special game. By the way, this offer is open to anyone who wants to come by.--CE
Mike McVeigh
Thanks for your most Interesting set of colonial rules. I was particularly interested in the fact that they were played solo and were part of a campaign.
I'd like to hear more. If you could be specific as you can regarding the solo mechanisms you use, particularly In the battles. it would be most helpful. I play almost exclusively solo. Currently, I have an interest in developinq an unusual campaign setting for colonials - old Kingdom Eygptian.vs Nubia. Which given the subject will most certainly be solo.
Write me when you get a chance. Any details about Campaigns and battle would be appreciated.
I'm with you, Mike.. whenever I do a "weird" period, it often ends up being a solo game. Your ancients game sounds interesting to me. I hope it works out well. As far as my procedures for playing solo games go, they are not overly sophisticated.
First battles: Regardless of what game rules I use I start battles in the same way. I consider what kind of battle the general would want to fight. I make a battle plan about what I think might happen if everything works out well. I do this for both sides. Naturally, neither plan is going to work out the way I plan it. But one side will get more of what they want and thus, win.
Generally I use a card system to tell me who moves first. I flip a card. If it is red the attacker moves one unit. That unit moves shoots and fights. Once all the units have moved and fought then the next turn begins.
I tend to follow the battle plan to decide where people move to and who they fight. But as the battle progresses I do let individual units change direction to meet local threats. This all very informal, I just allow them to do what I consider reasonable given the situation.
At some point in the battle, I decide that a side has been defeated. The men of that army will begin to try to break off contact as soon as possible. often times this Is a disaster, but that is after all "realistic." I base this judgement on the morale and placement of the army. In my colonial rules, morale and combat effectiveness are the same thing. Morale checks make it rise and fall drastically. Often times one side has been losing morale checks for some time before I decide they will run. At other times the battle results decide who runs before I've reached my subjective view of who will lose.
I keep my battle plans simple. This makes it easy on me and makes since given the way armies are in battle. Better to make an orderly frontal assault (prior to 1914) than a uncoordinated flank move.
Campaigns: I run campaigns using a matrix game. This is not an easy thing to explain if you have never hear of MGs before. Basically an MG consists of two enemies making arguments about what is going to happen next. It Is possible for a player to argue against the argument of the other side - to limit its effect, or completely change it.
I run campaign MGs by giving both sides two arguments a turn. The tend to write the aggressor's arguments first. This gives the defender the advantage of counter arguing. Once all the arguments are made, the winners are chosen by the roll of a die. An argument is either ruled in or out. For more information on this. I suggest watching "Solidarity" my PBM. Try out a turn. I find that people who play often pick it up quickly.
I hope this gives you some Idea of how I do solo games. They are fun, but I would hate to not have gamers to play face to face. --CE
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© Copyright 1990 by Chris Engle
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