Cold War's 1997

Let me apologize for taking so long to complete another column, but I've been very busy as I'll discuss later. I suppose I should start with Cold Wars '97, which proved to be another successful convention. There was the usual confusion about any number of things, including a rather big blow up concerning the flea market tables. It seems that a new policy was proposed that would have limited the flea market area to ten or so table and raised the per day price to $20.00 or $25.00. If there is anything that can send wargamers into orbit fiddling with the flea market area will do it. After a wave of protests the convention staff produced more flea market tables. It seems that the issue of the flea market area has been a source of controversy for some time at both Cold Wars and Historicon. It is no secret that some of the dealers hate the flea market, believing that it cuts into their sales. I don't think I can remember ever buying anything at the flea market that I could have gotten from the dealers area.

Over the past few years the flea market has been moved around the Lancaster Host Resort, from the main building finally into the Tennis Center, which is not cormected to the main building, but requires a short, but pleasant walk. Conventional wisdom has been that the Tennis Center is too far away from the main gaming area to be used for anything. Maybe that's why they put the flea market out their. Unlike the main ballroom which has low ceilings and terrible lighting, the Terrnis Center is a huge, well lighted area with high ceiling that absorb sound. I took one look at the Tennis Center and suggested that the dealer area be transferred out there. It had everything the current dealer area lacked. Room, light and ventilation. Who could ask for more? Apparently the dealers, because I understand that many of them rejected the idea of moving out of hand. Maybe they realized that the limited space in the current area limited their competition... whatever the case over the past year the flea market area in the Tennis Center witnessed the appearance of several quasi-dealers who were able to rent 5-10 tables and do business. I agree that this certainly strained the definition of flea market and probably made the dealers even madder than before, but you can't fault the quasi-dealers for recognizing an opportunity, especially when they probably couldn't get space in the main dealer area.

So, suddenly at Cold Wars there appeared the draconian "new" flea market policy, designed to...well I don't exactly know what they thought it would do, but they should have realized that it would make lots of people plenty mad, and it did. I believe the flea market serves a useful purpose and is in itself an attraction. Where else can you either sell things you don't need anymore, or buy things you may not be able to get anywhere else? It encourages some wargamers to try their hand at a variety of projects such as making terrain pieces like fences or painted buildings and selling them to others who may not be able or willing to spend the time to create their own.

If there were abuses of the flea market area by dealers misusing the area, then it was up to the HMGS board and the convention staff to monitor the flea market area and use their judgment. If someone is clearly a dealer, renting a host of tables and selling retail merchandise, they should be asked to leave, particularly if there is a shortage of tables. Of course if there is no room in the main dealer area, then simply charge them the same rate as the dealers for those tables.

It is interesting to trace the evolution of the Terinis Center area, first starting with the banishment of the flea market area from the main building, followed by pick up games. Once the garners got into the Center and realized how much better it was than the ballroom, the ancients tournaments moved into the area. It is my understanding that for Historicon more dealers will be placed in the Tennis Center and probably more games scheduled in this area. So my question is, where are they going to put the flea market next, on the 18th hole of the golf course?

The only other event of mention from Cold Wars '97 was the release of the Old Glory 25mm Napoleonic line. The sheer volume of the release was overwhelming and the quality and variety of the figures is very impressive. Chris Hughes of our local gaming group sculpted many of the cavalry figures and so I was fortunate enough to see several of the figures in production. I was also lucky enough to paint a cavalry unit for the Old Glory display at Cold War. The best part of all was that Chris and I each painted a cavalry unit to be used in the 25mm Napoleonic games I presented at the convention. I think I am safe in saying that my Russian Dragoons and Chris' Austrian Uhlans were the first Old Glory 25mm Napoleonics to be used in a wargame anywhere in the world.

Battle of Guilford Court House Diorama

So, what may you ask have I been spending my time doing instead of writing my column? For the last several years I have been painting and selling painted American Revolution and Civil War miniatures at the Guilford Court House National Battlefield, North Carolina Museum of History and the Tannenbaum Park Colonial Park. Tannenbaum Park is a facility run by the City of Greensboro, located adjacent to the Guilford Court House National Battlefield. It was originally developed by a private organization, the Guilford Battleground Company, which is made up of interested citizens from the local area. They have raised substantial amounts of money to build a visitors center and improve the facilities. The boundaries of Tannenbaum Park encompass the area from which the British launched their assault on the American first line and includes the Hoskins House. Every March, in observance of the anniversary of the 1781 battle, they sponsor a Revolutionary reenactment which attracts units from around the east coast and thousands of visitors.

About two years ago I offered to stage a wargame in the visitors center, simulating the British assault on the third line, using 25mm figures. Chris Hughes generously offered his masterfully painted units, which I supplemented with several of my own more pedestrian interpretations of personal narratives. These models are now available commercially and are generic enough to be used by wargamers for the North American theater through the American Civil War.

We are now scheduled to complete the project in September in conjunction with an annual Colonial Fair at Tannenbaurn Park. I'll reporting on the project more in my next column and I'll try and get some pictures to Hal that he might be able to use in MWAN.

1777 Philadelphia Campaign

After about 30 days of active campaigning General Washington and his American Army has been declared the winner. When I last reported on the campaign the British under General Howe was creeping slowly up the Delaware River towards Philadelphia. The British and Americans had fought a series of battles as the British attempted to concentrate their forces after landing at Head of Elk. To make a long story short, Howe finally concentrated his forces south of Philadelphia, pushing General Pulaski with a mixed force of cavalry and militia towards the city. At that point the bulk of Washington's forces were to the west of the British. Only a small force under General Sullivan held Philadelphia. It would have been difficult for Washington to reinforce Sullivan, although it did not appear that Washington was that interested in holding Philadelphia. Instead of driving into Philadelphia and setting up a base, the British made two mistakes. First, Howe, recognized that he could not establish a naval link between the British fleet and Philadelphia unless he captured Fort's Mifflin and Mercer. Towards that end he dispatched a rather small force across the river to attack the forts. At the same time Washington dispatched a sizeable force under Lafayette, which marched through Philadelphia and then down to relieve the forts. Howe's initial task force proved too small to capture the forts and he was forced to send them another brigade. By the time he reinforced his troops from his main force, Lafayette had joined a large force of militia, fought a pitched battle and drove the British back towards the river. Howe was forced to withdraw his troops.

At the same time, the player who was Knyphausen, on his own initiative, dispatched 2,500 men to march west with no real objective. This force marched west 20 miles crossed a river and then sat in place for several days. Washington saw his chance and put his main force between this Hessian task force and Howe's main body. A series of battles were fought, with the Hessian task force being driven west and south away from Howe. At one point this reduced force threatened Washington's supplies at Valley Forge, but the Hessian cormnander was much more concerned with his survival. After three days of running battles the Hessian task force returned to Howe after losing about 60% of its strength. Combined with Howe's inability to capture the forts and growing American militia strength things looked pretty bleak for the British. At this point General Washington was taken ill and retired.

Although things the British had suffered some reverses, they were expecting the imminent arrival of the British fleet with reinforcements. Howe's problem was that without reducing the forts the fleet could only sail part of the way to Philadelphia, so Howe would have to dispatch a portion of his army to secure the landing site or retire his entire army away from Philadelphia. In either case, Washington's army was beginning to encircle the British and unless something dramatic happened the British were in trouble.

All in all it was a worthwhile exercise, generating some very interesting scenarios, some of which we fought with miniatures at Cold Wars and our local convention. The campaign also tested the mettle of several of the players and I think, accurately recreated the same challenges for them that Washington and Howe faced. It seemed that, like Howe in 1777, the British commander could never decide if his objective was to destroy Washington's army or capture Philadelphia.

I may wait awhile and then get some other players to take over the campaign at the point we stopped and see if the fortunes of war for the British can be changed.

Piquet

I continue to read about Piquet with some amusement. It seems that the "unique" aspect of these rules is the use of random events using a card system. If I understand this correctly, this does not seem too terribly new and innovative, I have played in any number of games over the past 10 years that used some kind of card system to randomize movement and interject random events. It also seems that any rules system could benefit from the introduction of random events and not be any more sophisticated than someone sitting down and developing the cards themselves. I read the descriptions of Piquet in the recent issues of MWAN and was surprised that the cards were being used to determine whether units could reload or fire. It seems to me that basic actions like those should not be completely governed by any randomness since those activities seem to occur quite regularly. It is only in extraordinary circumstances that a unit would not reload or fire if so ordered. In any case I think, once again, this is a situation in which a computer program could handle the introduction of random events in a more efficient manner.