Cold Wars took place on March 9th through March 11th, at the Penn-Harris Inn in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Another success, another two or three thousand dollars into the HMGS kitty. For reasons unknown, the Flea Market tables were no longer banished from the convention center itself ... last year the Flea Marketeers had to make do in another building, in another wing, in another universe. This time, they were back in style and business thrived. Modern armor games proliferated... CHALLENGER, COMMAND DECISION, BREW UP... there even appeared in the program a scenario using ANGRIFF rules, dating from the early seventies. I noted in most of the armor games that the "massed battery syndrome" prevailed. Regardless of the scale of the game, each side's basic tactic seemed to be to line all its tanks up, and proceed to blast away at the opposition. None of the rule sets seems to have any mandatory provisions for dispersion... if not for the tanks within a given unit then the units themselves. An interesting contrast thus appears in the way gamers approach ancient and Napoleonic games and the way they look at moderns. In both ancient and Napoleonic set-ups, the participants tend to spread their forces out. This brigade goes this way and this battalion goes that way ... most rules for the era, therefore, have command\control rules to prevent the scattering of units. In modern gaming, however, the tendency is not to spread out, but to cluster, something the rules do not address. Tom Elsworth states that the problem lies not in the rules, nor with the gamers, but with the scenarios, which do not have enough blocking terrain and which leave huge, open, flat areas of fire. While registering, I bumped into Arty,Conliffe, author of TACTICA, whose initial greeting was not a simple "Hello!", but "Why don't you read the rules before you write about them?" Arty was miffed because of two errors I made in my article on the TACTICA rules: a.I stated that all missile weaponry fired at a 9 inch range. Not true, said Arty. Javelins are 5 inches, arrows are 15 inches, and slings are 12 inches. b.I had stated that, once deployed, Roman cohorts and maniples could wheel only if they penetrated the enemy's front line. Not true, says Arty. Cohorts, after their deployment, are permitted a two inch wheel at any time, making them one of the most maneuverable units on the field. At several past conventions, in wandering through the gaming area. I had noted that one of the most visually appealing presentations was a Franco-Prussian War engagement set up by Dick Bryant and Leo Cronin of THE COURIER. They use CHASSEPOT & NEEDLEGUN - or a variation thereof as the guiding set of rules. The Bryant/Cronin team ran two games at COLD WARS and again, in my opinion. it was worth watching. Figure mounting for their units is unique and, together with the vivid colors of the period, gives a good impression of 'mass'. Instead of basing three figures per stand so that the longer dimension of the stand is the front, the three face the shorter dimension. I sat in on - tried to sit in on - two games, both of which proved interminably long, and this, coupled with my 15 second attention span, caused me to steal away after awhile. The first was a 25mm battle, based on a fantasy rulesbook, somewhat similar to WARHAMMER. For historical authenticity, thnking that he'd be thrown out of the convention if he did otherwise, the host pitted a Japanese Samurai-type force against a Viking barbarian warband. The gamers didn't seem to mind. The sequence was puzzling; each bound, each side diced for the initiative ... low number won and could choose to go first, or have the opposition go first. On the initiative roll, each charging unit counted as a "-2", hence the side with the most charging units usually won. Why anyone would choose NOT to go first, I couldn't fathom, for he who went first would: Fire first. scoring casualties on the opposition before he could fire back. Move first, surprising the opposition before he could move. Attack first in melee, scoring casualties on the opposition before he could strike back. Usually, if there's a choice, it's to move first OR to fire first ... here, there seemed to no mix of plusses or minuses ... only plusses. Evidently, the barriers against fantasy and science fiction are down. Lots of dragon-lizard-things were on sale at the flea market and at dealer's tables. WARHAMMER 40,000 was in, and so was a very, noisy presentation-of Princess Ryan's Space Marines, which kept around 10 or 12 kiddies busy for a couple of hours. The other game in which I partially participated was a Jacobite Rebellion affair with some truly good-looking 25mm figures. Slow moving. Slow moving. Slow moving. I didn't even have the patience to last out the first full turn. These two games were on different days, yet from the rate at which they and others proceeded, it appeared that a good ploy would be to register for about four simultaneous games and participate in each in very timely fashion..you'd never be missed as you flitted from table to table. Jim Birdseye was working his you-know-what off ... having purchased SOLDIER WORLD from Mike Caum a couple of months ago, Jim was manning his kiosk in brave fashion, sweating profusely, trying to be in three places at once, trying to cater to the hordes of gamers rummaging through and ransacking his stock. I decided after watching the carnage for a moment or two, that I didn't want to emulate Jim in his lust for life. Rather would I copy the style of HMGS President Dick Sossi, who, for three days, stood immobile by his SHIP AND SOLDIER setup with arms akimbo, and with an expression on his face that said, in effect: "Ya wanna buy? ... then buy! Ya don't wanna buy? ... then don't buy!" Dick also presided over the HMGS meeting, set in the main lobby of the convention center, where, at the same time, three WRG Ancients games were in progress. It seemed to me that the rudeness of the WRG players - who refused to lower their voices - was equalled by the silliness of the HMGS organizer who had set up the lobby meeting in the first place. Regardless, I couldn't quite hear what anyone was saying either the WRG people or the HMGS Directors and after five minutes, I left. HMGS and its affiliates, for one reason or another of late, have been flying in guests of honor, and it had been planned to do so to honor Lynn Bodin. Due to Lynn's untimely death earlier in the year, HMGS donated funds toward Lynn's family. Back to PW Review April 1990 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 Wally Simon This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com