In a hobby as diverse as wargaming (otherwise known as "playing with toy soldiers according to she-who-must-be-obeyed), I've long been interested in the concept of "the favorite scenario". I've written about this topic before, hoping to provoke a little series of articles from readers. It didn't seem to stir the imagination much, but maybe it will from the more active membership of PW. For those of us who became interested in the hobby at the time Don Featherstone published his first book... and for whom even the Pope seems a trifle young for the job... there is almost always a favorite scenario that has been played time and time again. Now exactly why this should be is not too easy to say, but one of the answers may be in "names". Don seemed to be well aware of this, and since I've mentioned his book, one of our favorites has always been "The Battle of the St. James Crossroads". Assuming that he gave us balanced forces for the game, the attraction may be that the map took on a reality for us since its features were named, and so, indeed, were the units involved. Since many of us wargame mainly for the fun and relaxation the hobby gives, and to explore the tactics of the period, it does seem to be worth that little bit of extra effort needed when the game scenario is planned. Maybe it doesn't matter so much in competition gaming ... I wouldn't know since this latter branch of the hobby doesn't interest me at all. A recent example, and a good one, I think, is the published rulesbook for the SWORD AND THE FLAME. To illustrate these rules, a sample game, "The Battle of Chamla Valley" is included. We've already played this game on several occasions; the valley and the participants have assumed a reality although the scenario is very simple. It begins to look as though this game will become one of our regular favorites. One further little example which may start you putting pen to paper. Below, we have what is intended to be a fairly typical map for an encounter battle during the English Civil War. Perhaps, say, 1000 points per side with the composition of the force chosen from an Army List to ensure an exactly typical force for that period. Perhaps a good game with plenty of excitement would result ... but does it lack something for you as it does for me? Compare with the following: Now we get "The Encounter At Little Muddling". A couple of named commanders and names for all the units and the game could just capture the imagination. We may remember the vicious skirmish for Long Spinney or the heroic stand at Little Muddling Church ... and isn't it better if we remember that it was Sir John Snoring's Regiment of Foot that was involved rather than 10 medium pike armed infantry and 20 light medium musketeers? For years now, I have collected names of all nationalities in which I wargame and this has proved to be very useful in scenario design. Some of the favorite ones appear all down the ages with only the first name changed ... and so develops a family tree where there is always a member serving with "The Regiment". Will the editor set a little target, I wonder? How about each member of PW contributing just one scenario ... his own particular favorite? I shouldn't think we would experience copyright problems if we credit the source, book or author if the scenario happens to have been already published. If you do all respond, then I, for one, will be pleased. I find perhaps the greatest pleasure from our magazine when I discover a well planned game that I can set up and play. So, off we go again, and this time, we really will knock the devil out of that "Holy Mountain!" Back to PW Review June 1985 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 Wally Simon 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