Notes on the (ir?)rationale behind this project. Why I did things a certain way and how. And v.v..
WHY 40MM?
WHY GNW ?
WHY IMAGINATIONS ?
WHAT KIND OF MAP?
RULES FOR CAMPAIGNING ?
WHY 40mm ?
Prince August moulds are tempting things and eyesight does not improve with age. Casting the figures is a nice activity in of itself. The net cost of the figures after purchasing the moulds is not high relative to 25/28mm figures because one can use old tin mugs etc. bought cheaply at flea markets.
WHY GNW?
Prince August moulds provide these figures. Holger Ericsson's original figures have a lot of style and the newer ones are clean and well-posed too.
Also, the locus is in my back yard - for 'Cold Sea' read 'Baltic'.
The pike and musket plus GåPå tactics along with the chance for wild Turks and Cossacks is a wierd mix. Formal eighteenth century uniforms and almost a Renaissance mix of weapons and tactics.
WHY IMAGINATIONS?
Laurence Stern and Robert Nye together made a big influence when I read Tristram Shandy and Falstaff as a teenager. The very techniques and stratagems used to concoct these books can be used to concoct a wargaming world. Pace Tony Bath but despite loving Hyboria I could not tackle a bottom-up approach. Using a Sternian approach one can write the story from what is directly in one's head and then see where it goes. If one has two ideas which do not fit, then a third is necessary to affect the junction, or a fourth, etc. It is possible to have a pool of subjects and details to be included but it is not necessary to decide how they fit together before getting down to business. The business is deciding how they get put together and the author does not necessarily know where the whole coach and horses is heading!
e.g.
Country A and Country B must be at loggerheads or I cannot have a war and thus no tabletop battles.
I will call A The Grand Duchy of Montaine because it might be mountainous and B - I should avoid using another topographical-sounding name or it will get quickly boring - and not another Duchy ! - B will be the Kingdom of Armizano. Neither name is anachronistic or too post-modern ironic.
(A failure in many attempts - too much satire or irony spoils the atmosphere I think).
Mountains often have ore deposits. (or timber etc). This could be what the Armizanians are after ?!
So the first battle will be an attempt by the Armizanians to annexe an area of land including silver /iron/lead/ etc. deposits. It cannot be a simple attack on a convoy or a mine because Imaginations are states and states would do not do that. It is the attempt by one monarch to make a public and open claim to a resource so it should be an attempted occupation of land. Maybe, a dusty charter is found in the junk-room of the Armizanian Royal Palace which shows they do have a tenuous ancient claim?
Until now I have not left my armchair. Less than 9 minutes have gone by, so I have been uninterrupted by thoughts of sex, even. Now I have, without doing anything, created a task list to complete. Before the start of this first battle I must do a range of things which will begin to flesh-out
WHY 40MM?
WHY GNW ?
WHY IMAGINATIONS ?
WHAT KIND OF MAP?
RULES FOR CAMPAIGNING ?
WHY 40mm ?
Prince August moulds are tempting things and eyesight does not improve with age. Casting the figures is a nice activity in of itself. The net cost of the figures after purchasing the moulds is not high relative to 25/28mm figures because one can use old tin mugs etc. bought cheaply at flea markets.
WHY GNW?
Prince August moulds provide these figures. Holger Ericsson's original figures have a lot of style and the newer ones are clean and well-posed too.
Also, the locus is in my back yard - for 'Cold Sea' read 'Baltic'.
The pike and musket plus GåPå tactics along with the chance for wild Turks and Cossacks is a wierd mix. Formal eighteenth century uniforms and almost a Renaissance mix of weapons and tactics.
WHY IMAGINATIONS?
Laurence Stern and Robert Nye together made a big influence when I read Tristram Shandy and Falstaff as a teenager. The very techniques and stratagems used to concoct these books can be used to concoct a wargaming world. Pace Tony Bath but despite loving Hyboria I could not tackle a bottom-up approach. Using a Sternian approach one can write the story from what is directly in one's head and then see where it goes. If one has two ideas which do not fit, then a third is necessary to affect the junction, or a fourth, etc. It is possible to have a pool of subjects and details to be included but it is not necessary to decide how they fit together before getting down to business. The business is deciding how they get put together and the author does not necessarily know where the whole coach and horses is heading!
e.g.
Country A and Country B must be at loggerheads or I cannot have a war and thus no tabletop battles.
I will call A The Grand Duchy of Montaine because it might be mountainous and B - I should avoid using another topographical-sounding name or it will get quickly boring - and not another Duchy ! - B will be the Kingdom of Armizano. Neither name is anachronistic or too post-modern ironic.
(A failure in many attempts - too much satire or irony spoils the atmosphere I think).
Mountains often have ore deposits. (or timber etc). This could be what the Armizanians are after ?!
So the first battle will be an attempt by the Armizanians to annexe an area of land including silver /iron/lead/ etc. deposits. It cannot be a simple attack on a convoy or a mine because Imaginations are states and states would do not do that. It is the attempt by one monarch to make a public and open claim to a resource so it should be an attempted occupation of land. Maybe, a dusty charter is found in the junk-room of the Armizanian Royal Palace which shows they do have a tenuous ancient claim?
Until now I have not left my armchair. Less than 9 minutes have gone by, so I have been uninterrupted by thoughts of sex, even. Now I have, without doing anything, created a task list to complete. Before the start of this first battle I must do a range of things which will begin to flesh-out
'The Campaign of the Nether Lodes'
I must now....
- Decide what each state sends as an expeditionary force
- Draw a map of the disputed area (NOT whole kingdoms yet)
- Name and characterise some leaders involved
What time of year does the expedition set out ?
Do the Armizanians send a massive army or a flying column ? Why?
Do the Montainians know they are coming ? If so, how ? What defence can they mount?
If the Nether Lodes are far from the Montainian capital then probably defences are weak here ?
But remember.. only ask NECESSARY questions. You do not need to determine the colour of Armizanian battle trousers before you are painting new figures but you DO need to sketch a map out.
Characters can help you, because if Veldt Mareschal Friederich Addlekopf is a famous bungler or dotard then the speed of his progress and the routes or dispositions he makes are certain to give the opponents some chances for exploitation. i.e. Fireworks. The nature of two opposing commanders could give you the story of the whole campaign! Think Alexander vs Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, (Cunctator).
BOREDOM is a fatal disease in a campaign. With Imaginations one can tackle any aspect as and when one decides. The map, the figures, the campaign newspaper, specific scenery items, specific character figures. A diary. If I feel inclined I can begin to make up stories to form the backdrop for future disputes or campaigns or even new neighbouring countries which could play a role. All these activities serve to elaborate and distract one from the matter in hand. And if very little actual tabletop battling gets done, then all is probably as it usually is.
NOTE ! I have created a flash-point to give me a battle as the FIRST item !
It is NOT necessary to have two fully-designed kingdoms with painted armies waiting on shelves before I begin to work out why in the (Imagi-) world they should fight each other or where !!!!!!
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