Small Droppings

The littlest Gaslands project is just about ready to hit the road.  I traced the N-scale templates out onto heavy cardstock and cut out the appropriate sizes.  The thick cardstock can be bought at the local craft store cheap - the offcuts from the framing shop go for a dollar for an 8x10 piece.  They take paint like a champ, and a bit of brushed on varnish keep the edges from fraying during light use.  Probably not suitable for everyday use, but we're dilettantes here.  If Gaslands gets more than a dozen plays, that will put it in my top five games played of 2020.

Great Borodino Thread on the Twit Box

If you're on the Tweeter Machine and you want to read about a massive and intricate refight of the action at Borodino, brother have I got a thread for you!

If you're smart enough to avoid that place, then brother have I got an website that neatly compiling the thread in browser-friendly format for you!

Here's a taste, gotta click for the rest!

Some gorgeous shots of a lavish table and a lot of furious wargaming action.  You won't want to miss this, and it makes me even more hungry to start my own journey down the Napoleonic rabbit hole.

Is The Hobby Still Dying?

 This is my result when searching for "miniature wargames dying":

It's fine.

People have been crying Chicken Little over the death of the hobby for decades.

Relax.

Don't do anything stupid.

It will be fine.

More Vendeean Eye Candy

Been playing around with Osprey's En Garde! while waiting for the Big Battalions package to arrive, and it's been nice to fiddle with a new ruleset and some blackpowder scenarios.  My fantasy town works well as a backdrop if I leave off the wizard tower and skull mountain pieces.

The game doesn't work all that great as a solo game, what with a big part of the combat requiring some bluff and counterbluff.

Random draws for combat ploys often results in pointless rounds of combat where not much happens.  That happens in two player games as well, to be fair.

In the first battle fought, the press of numbers proved overwhelming with two Rank 2 figs supported by five Rank 1 figs dominating a team composed of a single Rank 3 and four Rank 2 figs.  It also included the usual first volley bloodletting followed by everybody charging straight into melee.  A completely historical result if my years of Hollywood movies are to be believed.

Red Flags All Over the Place

 This is a mistake.

Last week Little Wars TV posited that miniature wargaming MIGHT have a problem.

Now they've got five solutions to that possible problem.  For the record, I'm firmly on the side of Team Not A Problem. The hobby is doing great, and the last 60 have worked well enough that we are spoiled for choice.  Quality is up, prices down, and there isn't an era of warfare that isn't already served by one  or more manufacturers.  But don't let this golden age worry you, Little Wars TV  has the answer!

Make miniature wargaming not so...minature wargamey.

Half their solutions are 'make it dumber', half are 'make it so you don't have to actually do the things that make miniature wargaming what it is.  All that research and painting and historical accuracy and reading and shopping?  It turns out those activities that integral to the hobby are a real problem for the hobby.

To my ears that sounds like 'the problem with golf is all that hitting balls with sticks and then walking along verdant green lawns while hanging out with friends.  Oh, and the little holes aren't helping either, can we just do away with all that stuff so more people can participate?'

Wew, as they say, lad.

Note the dismissiveness toward the old guard, toward the high functioning autists to pursue perfect accuracy and meticulous attention to detail.  Quoting directly from the video, "But who cares about them?"

I do - I care about them.  They can be grating sometimes, but that push for excellence is a vital part of a healthy hobby.  Take that away and you might as well be playing Calvinball.  Or post-Gygaxian D&D.  They may not be socially adept, but they've taught me a great many things over the years.  I love those guys, and I'm always happy to share table space and roll dice with them.

We'll have wait one more week to see what Little Wars TV has in mind.  For now, let me leave you with this dangerous sign:

From the description, they've got a plan to make the hobby dumber, ditch the old guard, and make miniature wargaming less appealing to miniature wargamers so they can grow the numbers by attracting people who aren't interested in miniature wargaming.  Add to that calls for a centralized cultural structure that will allow said outsiders to decide who the cool kids are and who shouldn't get a seat at the table and the ice is perilously thin.

This has all the classic earmarks of a Stage One Grifting.

HANDLE WITH CARE!

The Wars of the Trossian Succession

Got a new blog that you might be interested in checking out: The Wars of the Trossian Succession.

As mentioned in an earlier post, my current big project involves a bit of the old toe dipping into Napoleonics.  And by toe-dipping, I mean taking a headlong plunge from the top of the cliffs into water I can only hope is at high tide!  Rather than stitch together a string of scenarios using some thin narrative connective tissue, I wanted to run a map-based, grand scale strategic game to generate battles with a lot more meaning to them.

To cut down on the research, I drew the map of a fictional black powder continent called Tros.  To cut down on the creative work I very cleverly drafted some friends into running five nations that march to war across that continent.  The death of the Trossian Emperor has left the land in turmoil and without his leadership the old enmities have sprung back into play.  Some fight for liberty, some fight for the Emperor's Throne, and some fight for love of the game.

It's a fairly big project, and deserves its own home on the internet.  The blog will stand as a sort of war journal, or complete record of the campaign at one central location.  Anything more general - figure prep and painting, rule considerations, and overall backstage maunderings will show up here.  As will irregular and brief updates to the campaign status.  Naturally, the battles fought across my kitchen table will feature heavily on The Joy of Wargaming, but for the most detailed and up-to-date action on the bloody fields of Tros, add a pointer to The Wars of the Trossian Succession.

The Future of Miniature Wargaming

It's fine.  Miniature wargaming is going to be just fine.  Check out this fantastic kid banging out videos like a boss:

If you're on the Youses and the Tubeses, and you're worried about "the graying of the hobby"* why not throw the kid a follow to encourage him to keep it up?  He's just starting out on his journey, and every little bit of support helps.

That's something new.  For something old, here's a great little clip that highlights the special effects used in (what I believe was) the first ever on-screen appearance of the Space Marines:

*I am not worried about it.