What I didn't do on my holidays!

Things have started to return to normal at Chez Elenderil after the festive break.   I still haven't put the table out for the ECW game (Christmas dinner seating arrangements got in the way) but as soon as I reorganise the conservatory that will go ahead.  

I have had some feed back on the rules though.  The general feel is that they are for serious ECW tacticians rather than casual gamers.  One play tester suggested single based battalia, which has some merit and was a thought which had crossed my mind.  The only downside is that I would have to create specific units accounting for different deployment depths rather than stacking smaller bases one behind the other as required.  However, sabot style bases might be an option.  The number of reaction test triggers was also mentioned with a suggestion that the current number is to high at 14.  This I have looked at again and by changing definitions I can have less listed triggers but cover the same events.  I don't really want to reduce the need for reaction tests as this is sort of the AI for units because the need to take reaction tests stops a commander having units do exactly as they want all the time.

The unexpected comment was that the turns seem too short for the current number of action points (AP) in each one.  Currently there are three AP available in each of a players two action phases which cover six minutes of game time.  This would allow an infantry unit to cover a maximum of 150 yards across the two phases or 25 yards a minutes which (using a 30 inch pace length) equates to a rate of 30 paces a minute on flat level ground.  Comparing this to Napoleonic battlefield pace, which in turn reflects mid 18th Century march cadences shows this to be a bit slow if anything.  British Army ordinary pace was 75 paces a minute and the Austrians managed 90 paces a minute (although I don't know how long an Austrian pace was).  By comparison modern British Army slow march pace is 65 paces per minute and quick march is 120 paces per minute.  I reduced the theoretical rate to account for uneven ground and poorer drill standards.  So I won't be changing move allowance per AP.  

I based the firing rates on hit rates per volley and worked back.  This was based on some Hanovarian musketry experiments in the latter part of the 18th century, using smooth bore flint locks, and then pretty much halved them.  I then set the 'to hit' figure to achieve the required number of 'hits' per 3 minutes of shooting.  It's a fudge because I'm not just calculating casualties but it gives a result which feels right.  So again those are staying as shown in the rules.

There are a number of sets of rules which I have sent out abut haven't yet had feedback on but I am getting a feel for what people think.  I may have to develop a 'lite' version of the rules!

So that was 2021 was it?

I can summarise 2021 really simply, it sucked.  I hoped that it would be a better year than 2020 but it really wasn't.  The first clue was Vapnartak (the York Wargames show) being cancelled.   After that my personal wargaming year just got worse.  This wasn't helped by my having surgery in late May which took me out of circulation for a couple of months or more.  As a result I didn't get half of what I had planned for the year done although what I did manage to do I was please with.  

I had opted to make Altar of Freedom my focus rule set for the year but they are a set that really requires a live opponent and lock down and social contact restrictions put pay to that option.  On the plus side I did create two 2mm ACW armies and a bid generator for AoF but face to face gaming just didn't happen.  I also got my 2mm ACW rules to play test standard and with the exception of linking section reference headings to text I'm happy that these are done.  The intended El Cid period armies of Spain and Wars of the Roses 6mm projects were still born.  These stay on the board for 2022 though.  Painting also suffered as I really lost my drive after I came out of hospital and at this point it hasn't resurfaced.  That is partly down to having retired at the end of June.  Now instead of a bit of painting time being a reward to myself for working hard all day (or possibly hardly working) it seems like a luxury as I should really be lifting some of the house hold chores and delayed jobs from Mrs E's shoulders.

Re-enactment wise the year wasn't quite a complete bust there was a major event held at August Bank Holiday which I attended for one day.  The downside was that I couldn't take the field as I hadn't been cleared by the surgeon for strenuous activities at that point!  I did take the chance to take pictures from the crowd lines and although I say it myself I was happy with most of the results.

The thing which was really hard was the toll taken on friends by 2021.  As you will have probably guessed I'm no longer in the first flush of youth!  So what that means is that most of my friends are of a similar vintage, and it's a vintage where grapes start to fall off the vine.  I lost two friends from my circle of re-enacting friends in the first half of the year and in the run up to Christmas my friend the Northampton based historian  Mike Ingham died suddenly and unexpectedly while another friend from the Naseby Battlefield Trust and wargaming had a stroke and was hospitalised.  Then on New Year's day came the last kick in the teeth from 2021 when I got the news that an old friend from the Sealed Knot had died just before Christmas.  Yes 2021 really, really sucked.

So it is with some passion that I end this post by saying here is a hope for a better 2022.  Here is a wish that you all have a happy, prosperous and above all helathy New Year 2022.