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Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Vanvlak on September 17, 2018, 01:33:33 PM
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The inconceivable happened: in semester two of this academic year I'll be teaching a unit on wargaming at Uni.
I hoarded a tonne of books on the subject (no, not games rules, I already had a few tonnes of those), have practical experience, and have the models and scenery (well, if I finish painting and assembly, not in that order).
But the collective knowledge on LAF is an immensely useful resource, so I hope you don't mind if I ask for any advice, useful resources etc. which might help.
To give you an idea, the aim is to get people to understand the basic mechanisms of wargames, a few concepts of game design, and some take away ideas. I'll be including a few practical sessions (gaming, not modelling).
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The inconceivable happened: in semester two of this academic year I'll be teaching a unit on wargaming at Uni.
I hoarded a tonne of books on the subject (no, not games rules, I already had a few tonnes of those), have practical experience, and have the models and scenery (well, if I finish painting and assembly, not in that order).
But the collective knowledge on LAF is an immensely useful resource, so I hope you don't mind if I ask for any advice, useful resources etc. which might help.
To give you an idea, the aim is to get people to understand the basic mechanisms of wargames, a few concepts of game design, and some take away ideas. I'll be including a few practical sessions (gaming, not modelling).
Very cool. I'd be interrested to hear you intelectualize the topic (you are doing it at a univeristy level,m righth?).
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Very cool. I'd be interrested to hear you intelectualize the topic (you are doing it at a univeristy level,m righth?).
Yup. Bachelor's level, for a degree in Liberal Arts and Science.
[later]
Sorry for the delay, I had to go off line for some time.
I will be including an intro. to preset some concepts, and a historical background - this can already be quite detailed as it can go into the waxing and waning of interest by the military, the evolution of concepts and approaches, uses during war, interpretation or misinterpretation of wargames due to particular idiosyncrasies e.g. our aircraft carriers cannot be sunk in a simulation , H.G. Wells' pacifistic take on the subject etc.
This will be followed by a description of types of wargames, the range of settings, scales, resources required etc.
On to basic concepts - the board, hexes vs measurement, movement, shooting, combat, combat resolution, command, morale etc. This can include some examples which feature the use of simple probability to determine the effectiveness of e.g. several poor troops shooting vs few high quality troops shooting.
And then applications - military, recreation, history education and what ifs, peacekeeping and disaster response simulation etc.
I will be focusing on historicals, especially for examples, as I intend to takes modular boards along and have some practical demonstrations and sessions - the historical focus will also help intellectualise it.
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Feel free to ask away - everyone here is at LAF very accommodating.
I have qualifications and experience as a Corporate Trainer so will offer what little advice I can as you need it. I actually used “How to Play Warhammer Fantasy” as one of my training sessions to get my qualification. Had to keep it VERY simple for the limited time I had (basically a one on one combat example).
I suppose you could start with how wargaming began as an actual serious training tool for the military and then evolved into the hobby as we all know it now.
Good luck with everything. :)
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Feel free to ask away - everyone here is at LAF very accommodating.
I have qualifications and experience as a Corporate Trainer so will offer what little advice I can as you need it. I actually used “How to Play Warhammer Fantasy” as one of my training sessions to get my qualification. Had to keep it VERY simple for the limited time I had (basically a one on one combat example).
I suppose you could start with how wargaming began as an actual serious training tool for the military and then evolved into the hobby as we all know it now.
Good luck with everything. :)
Thanks - I will be including the military evolution and use - and also a spot on its relation with computer simulation.
The use of the How to Play guide reminded me of a dilemma: I will be producing notes for the students, and these will include examples of how to move units, how to effect combat etc. This actually rules out reproducing commercial products, so I have to resort either to open-source rules, or to examples which are based on wargames but not recognizably constituting a full set of commercial rules i.e. include examples without being too specific, and effectively generating my own set of rules.
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If it were me, and I needed to focus on gameplay, mechanics and aesthetics, I'd pick a subject that they can easily identify with for the games; like an old west gunfight, superheroes or something TV / Film related. That way you're not going to get bogged down with the history teaching too.
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If you have not obtained this resource I would highly recommend it Wargames Handbook, Third Edition: How to Play and Design Commercial and Professional Wargames by James F Dunnigan. It deals with the development of the classic board game simulations produced by SPI which I think is a good way to introduce a lot of the basics that will later be utilized in miniature gaming.
As far as the practical gaming experiences used in the class I would suggest the simpler the better. Check out http://www.juniorgeneral.org/ a website designed by a teacher. I was a high school history teacher and used several of his ideas in my classes.
I would be very interested in seeing your syllabus if you could share it with us and class notes you would provide for your students would also be fun.
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Remember the K.I.S.S. rule (Keep It Simple Stupid). If they want to take it further there is
a LOT of stuff out there. I'm sure you could point them in the right direction.
Trying to explain Wargames is similar to being asked to describe all the different games that
can be played with a pack of cards (Patients, Snap, Poker, Bridge to name but a very few)
I would include historical events, especially 'well known' ones, then ask them to make decisions.
A friend was once asked, by a visitor to our Wargames club, what do I need to do under your
7YW rules to win. He replied, 'Whatever would have worked in the 7YW. If my rules are any good
it will work on the table-top, if not I will re-write them.'
Feel free, especially at the start of the course, to Krieg-Spiel things. Give them a % chance
of what they chose working. It does not matter what the result is, it is important that they
start to think.
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Cool!
Something I'd be interested in hearing about is WHO are the students taking this module? Do you think they will already be wargamers, or people who are familiar with it and think it sounds like a fun module, or people who know nothing about it? And if the latter, why have they chosen this module? Will you be 'preaching to the converted'?
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You may already be covering this, but there’s also ‘committee’ style wargames or games without figures. If you need to know more, War games Development:
http://wargamedevelopments.org
Or the Megagamers
http://www.megagame-makers.org.uk/mm-about.htm
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If it were me, and I needed to focus on gameplay, mechanics and aesthetics, I'd pick a subject that they can easily identify with for the games; like an old west gunfight, superheroes or something TV / Film related. That way you're not going to get bogged down with the history teaching too.
Hmmm - that's a good point. Also means I need another set of models finished by February.I wasn't actually planning to re-fight historical battles, just use historical models - a set of ancients and one of tanks. But I see the wisdom of using something relatable
If you have not obtained this resource I would highly recommend it Wargames Handbook, Third Edition: How to Play and Design Commercial and Professional Wargames by James F Dunnigan. It deals with the development of the classic board game simulations produced by SPI which I think is a good way to introduce a lot of the basics that will later be utilized in miniature gaming.
As far as the practical gaming experiences used in the class I would suggest the simpler the better. Check out http://www.juniorgeneral.org/ a website designed by a teacher. I was a high school history teacher and used several of his ideas in my classes.
I would be very interested in seeing your syllabus if you could share it with us and class notes you would provide for your students would also be fun.
I do not have the book - I should give a list of texts I am consulting as it might be useful - but that's something for the weekend. Will check it out - and the website, so thank you.
I definitely agree with keeping it simple - a book I just received and which I am going through seems unrelated - it's 'The Advertising Concept Book'. After watching Mad Men I thought I could learn something about communication from ad creation, and I seem to have chosen the right book for it. Keeping the message simple is one important principle.
Will post a list of topics. Uni might not allow me to post the full notes; but draft notes.... ;) Will take some time to compile all the stuff though.
Remember the K.I.S.S. rule (Keep It Simple Stupid). If they want to take it further there is
a LOT of stuff out there. I'm sure you could point them in the right direction.
Trying to explain Wargames is similar to being asked to describe all the different games that
can be played with a pack of cards (Patients, Snap, Poker, Bridge to name but a very few)
I would include historical events, especially 'well known' ones, then ask them to make decisions.
A friend was once asked, by a visitor to our Wargames club, what do I need to do under your
7YW rules to win. He replied, 'Whatever would have worked in the 7YW. If my rules are any good
it will work on the table-top, if not I will re-write them.'
Feel free, especially at the start of the course, to Krieg-Spiel things. Give them a % chance
of what they chose working. It does not matter what the result is, it is important that they
start to think.
K.I.S.S. - again, definitely - do not want to lose the audience. Interesting to see history gets a vote this time. One item they would be familiar with is the great siege of 1565 - trouble is it's not a straightforward set up (except for some elements) - and I do not have the models for it. Although a close approximation might work - 15mm Venexia 16th cent. Italians and Ottomans.
As for the card game parallel - that's a good one, might quote you!
Also, good point re the start point.
Cool!
Something I'd be interested in hearing about is WHO are the students taking this module? Do you think they will already be wargamers, or people who are familiar with it and think it sounds like a fun module, or people who know nothing about it? And if the latter, why have they chosen this module? Will you be 'preaching to the converted'?
Me too! The course will actually only run if it attracts sufficient students(at least 5), so we'll see if it catches on. It's an evening course, which helps, and it's part of the Liberal Arts and Science degree course - you get a degree by following a number of units over time. So it might be people following the course who take a shine to the whole thing, but if word gets round I might have a couple of students who will thrash me to bits on the field!
You may already be covering this, but there’s also ‘committee’ style wargames or games without figures. If you need to know more, War games Development:
http://wargamedevelopments.org
Or the Megagamers
http://www.megagame-makers.org.uk/mm-about.htm
Thanks - I know about these, but the sites are helpful. I'm also looking at counter-based games, including a couple designed by Philip Sabin and described in his 'Simulating War', as well as something similar to the committee game used to roleplay crisis intervention. Cheers!
Phew - thanks for all the responses guys, very much appreciated - keep them coming! :D
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I have used the following WW II game to help my students assess the human cost of defeating the Axis. Each time a squad failed its morale check and had to start again I placed a red bingo chip on the beach. We played until they took the beach so in the end the beach was covered with spots. I used Airfix figures and handmade landing craft, beach obstacles wire and bunkers. I have run it at conventions in the area with adults so I know it holds up. Check it out. Also, note the Junior General utilizes paper soldiers which would enable a teacher to touch on a larger number of battles simply by printing out everything needed. ;)
http://www.juniorgeneral.org/dday/dday2.html
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Good luck, Vanvlak! Chances are you are in for a brilliant experience. Together with a colleague I've been running a course at my university for the past five or so years, and it has been quite popular with students.
Actually, when we started with it some years ago a number of my colleagues joked that I would end up with a bunch of socially challenged nerds (no offense, but you know the stereotype... ;)). The reality was and is rather different - usually, only a small percentage of my students has any prior experience with wargaming and the like; even though, they nearly all tend to be eager to take part in it.
Just two small suggestions: If you discuss the importance of maps, how they developed and what the relative merits of gridded and ungridded maps are, actively involving the students can be a worthwhile exercise; turning our university town into a hex map has been an extremely funny experience for everybody involved. And two - but that is something you're already planning to do - let them play. The best way to learn about the problems of wargaming is to actually do it, and you can do quite a lot during the term. While we don't do figure wargaming, we always run a huge corps-level wargame at the end of the term which is usually a great experience. Some pictures can be found in an article we had recently published:
http://analoggamestudies.org/2018/09/pluie-de-balles-complex-wargames-in-the-classroom/
As for literature, you probably already have Phil Sabin's seminal "Simulating War", but just in case.
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There are a few board games that are really suitable as intro games. Many years ago Frank Chadwick under his GDW banner released a free game called Battle for Moscow, which had the deliberate intent to introduce gamers to wargame concepts.
The game is available today as a new edition from Victory Point Games. The below link gives more info if this interests you.
https://www.victorypointgames.com/battle-for-moscow/
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Another relevant option for a game (now you've reminded me about the Siege in 1565) - how about a naval simulation demonstrating the difficulty of getting a convoy through to Malta during the Second World War?
It could be largely map based if you can't get the ship models.
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You mention about not using parts from commercially available rule sets, have you thought about asking any of the publishers for permission to do so. Some of the smaller more independent companies may be happy for you to do so?
Just a thought, good luck.
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I have used the following WW II game to help my students assess the human cost of defeating the Axis. Each time a squad failed its morale check and had to start again I placed a red bingo chip on the beach. We played until they took the beach so in the end the beach was covered with spots. I used Airfix figures and handmade landing craft, beach obstacles wire and bunkers. I have run it at conventions in the area with adults so I know it holds up. Check it out. Also, note the Junior General utilizes paper soldiers which would enable a teacher to touch on a larger number of battles simply by printing out everything needed. ;)
http://www.juniorgeneral.org/dday/dday2.html
Looks good, I might use this - thanks very much for the link, also good to hear it works well. 8)
Good luck, Vanvlak! Chances are you are in for a brilliant experience. Together with a colleague I've been running a course at my university for the past five or so years, and it has been quite popular with students.
Actually, when we started with it some years ago a number of my colleagues joked that I would end up with a bunch of socially challenged nerds (no offense, but you know the stereotype... ;)). The reality was and is rather different - usually, only a small percentage of my students has any prior experience with wargaming and the like; even though, they nearly all tend to be eager to take part in it.
Just two small suggestions: If you discuss the importance of maps, how they developed and what the relative merits of gridded and ungridded maps are, actively involving the students can be a worthwhile exercise; turning our university town into a hex map has been an extremely funny experience for everybody involved. And two - but that is something you're already planning to do - let them play. The best way to learn about the problems of wargaming is to actually do it, and you can do quite a lot during the term. While we don't do figure wargaming, we always run a huge corps-level wargame at the end of the term which is usually a great experience. Some pictures can be found in an article we had recently published:
http://analoggamestudies.org/2018/09/pluie-de-balles-complex-wargames-in-the-classroom/
As for literature, you probably already have Phil Sabin's seminal "Simulating War", but just in case.
Aha, I might be tapping you for more ideas then.
The point about maps is one I intend to make - their place in the development of games is interesting too.
The Uni map idea IS cool, and our campus, with its ring road, a valley on one side, a town and main road on the other and a hospital at one end could be an interesting location. The only pity is I don't have time to use my drones (another aspect of work :D - and I think I never mentioned I am giving a talk on technology in the Great War as depicted in comics, did I?) to generate the map myself! Google Maps will have to do, unless I get a survey map.
I do have Sabin's book, thanks. The link is useful - VERY! I hadn't trawled the internet widely enough yet, and that hits the spot. I am going to have to credit the forum members in my lecture notes!
As for getting students to play games - that is definitely my intention!
There are a few board games that are really suitable as intro games. Many years ago Frank Chadwick under his GDW banner released a free game called Battle for Moscow, which had the deliberate intent to introduce gamers to wargame concepts.
The game is available today as a new edition from Victory Point Games. The below link gives more info if this interests you.
https://www.victorypointgames.com/battle-for-moscow/
Thanks - and they are also useful as they are card and therefore less fragile and more compact - and I do have Battle for Moscow, although I am still to try it out. 8)
Another relevant option for a game (now you've reminded me about the Siege in 1565) - how about a naval simulation demonstrating the difficulty of getting a convoy through to Malta during the Second World War?
It could be largely map based if you can't get the ship models.
That would have to be map based - but it's more doable than the 1565 siege I think - thanks again! :D
You mention about not using parts from commercially available rule sets, have you thought about asking any of the publishers for permission to do so. Some of the smaller more independent companies may be happy for you to do so?
Just a thought, good luck.
That is a possibility - probably access to core rules, as opposed to full rules, would be enough, and that might even be more palatable to a company, especially if it gets students to eventually want to take a closer look. Thanks very much. 8) 8)
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Always let the Wookiee win.
Your opponent should feel on edge, but always win their first game. Who would want to play if they get crushed?
Best advice I ever had when I ran a club
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Always let the Wookiee win.
Your opponent should feel on edge, but always win their first game. Who would want to play if they get crushed?
Best advice I ever had when I ran a club
Hah - I've had two or three first game experiences. I didn't let them win, they just won on their own steam... my excuse was my exceptional dice rolling.
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Questions:
how many lectures? Which format? What are your aim? Why you are teaching it? Which level (BA1,2 or 3?) What kind of students (and their knowledge backgrounds) are you expecting?
sorry to sound picky, but I think that it is important to know the setting.
Disclaimer: I was Phil Sabin assistant ans covered Howard Fuller wargaming module in Wolves when he was on sabbatical. I use wargames also in non wargaming modules.
General thought: Dunningan book is useful, but he is also a chap who put the cart in front of the oxen. He was proven wrong on his anticipation that boardgaming would have died, and I sensed some ex post fact justifications for what could have been bad managing decision when I presided over SPI collapse.
Peter Perla's book is very useful for a perspective on broader wargaming, including professional games
Phil Sabin is a useful primer, very focused on Phil's view but also containing some nice games. It has the big advantage to be quite up to date. Yet it is not the bible... ,watching if Phil is spying on me...>
Van Creveld: I have a low opinion of Van Creveld in general and of his book on 'war games' in general. On the other hand he is useful to show the conception that the general public has about wargaming.
There are plenty of useful articles on magazine like Strategy and Tactics (several ones on the history of wargaming, and some useful ones on military use of wargaming), Moves, Against the Odds, and some in Battles. Recently former GMT's in house magazine C3I has started a series of columns from noted game designer Mark Herman. They contain some very useful bits that can be used as base for seminar discussion. Some game reviews written by academics (and some by general gamers with sound historical understanding) in these magazine could be useful. Kevin Zucker (OSG) in house magazien has useful articles on the relationship between specific elements of warfare and how they are represented on the table. There was also a very interesting articles on one of Lardies special by Richard on his own process to create an historical game.
My own experience is that practical gaming is important but not the core of a module. Make sure playing is not an end in itself. I do not think that the whole aim of the module is to train wargame players but to develop some form of knowledge on the subject. Set aside time for discussion. Avoid extremely large groups (some students will just take the literal back seat, and not get involved). Try to not get involved in the game as an active player... it avoids the whole 'let them win' issue.
My personal experience is that because space and time constraints, and numbers involved boardgames are better than miniature games in class. Sometime could be useful to have several games running in parallel (the same or different) and then having a broad discussion at the end. IF the games are simple enough, or the student have gotten experience the student themselves can run them and you just check the various table. Otherwise you need to have what Phil calls 'facilitators' to make sure the game is played correctly. Another world for them could be 'living/walking rulebooks'.
Recently I experimented with running solo games with me just checking the system and the students playing as cooperative team/s. It works quite well, less competition (competition could be a negative issue), and you make sure the rules are followed.
Now I know Phil Sabin always emphasized using his own designs, I have some caveats. If the objective of the game played is to stimulate discussion using one owns design could be detrimental because at time you get too attached to the design and do not take criticism well.
PS: feel free to pm me, probably part of the discussion will be boring/inappropriate (in the sense that there is the possibility of discussing details not appropriate for an online forum) for LAF.
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Interesting current approach to using committee wargaming in a political context at the Labour Conference (there’s a Twitter link to some material in the link below):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/30/corbyn-salmond-deep-state-very-british-fantasy-zinoviev-letter-conspiracies
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I missed this, and only saw it when the email following it came in - will reply in detail later - and thanks.
Questions:
how many lectures? Which format? What are your aim? Why you are teaching it? Which level (BA1,2 or 3?) What kind of students (and their knowledge backgrounds) are you expecting?
sorry to sound picky, but I think that it is important to know the setting.
Disclaimer: I was Phil Sabin assistant ans covered Howard Fuller wargaming module in Wolves when he was on sabbatical. I use wargames also in non wargaming modules.
General thought: Dunningan book is useful, but he is also a chap who put the cart in front of the oxen. He was proven wrong on his anticipation that boardgaming would have died, and I sensed some ex post fact justifications for what could have been bad managing decision when I presided over SPI collapse.
Peter Perla's book is very useful for a perspective on broader wargaming, including professional games
Phil Sabin is a useful primer, very focused on Phil's view but also containing some nice games. It has the big advantage to be quite up to date. Yet it is not the bible... ,watching if Phil is spying on me...>
Van Creveld: I have a low opinion of Van Creveld in general and of his book on 'war games' in general. On the other hand he is useful to show the conception that the general public has about wargaming.
There are plenty of useful articles on magazine like Strategy and Tactics (several ones on the history of wargaming, and some useful ones on military use of wargaming), Moves, Against the Odds, and some in Battles. Recently former GMT's in house magazine C3I has started a series of columns from noted game designer Mark Herman. They contain some very useful bits that can be used as base for seminar discussion. Some game reviews written by academics (and some by general gamers with sound historical understanding) in these magazine could be useful. Kevin Zucker (OSG) in house magazien has useful articles on the relationship between specific elements of warfare and how they are represented on the table. There was also a very interesting articles on one of Lardies special by Richard on his own process to create an historical game.
My own experience is that practical gaming is important but not the core of a module. Make sure playing is not an end in itself. I do not think that the whole aim of the module is to train wargame players but to develop some form of knowledge on the subject. Set aside time for discussion. Avoid extremely large groups (some students will just take the literal back seat, and not get involved). Try to not get involved in the game as an active player... it avoids the whole 'let them win' issue.
My personal experience is that because space and time constraints, and numbers involved boardgames are better than miniature games in class. Sometime could be useful to have several games running in parallel (the same or different) and then having a broad discussion at the end. IF the games are simple enough, or the student have gotten experience the student themselves can run them and you just check the various table. Otherwise you need to have what Phil calls 'facilitators' to make sure the game is played correctly. Another world for them could be 'living/walking rulebooks'.
Recently I experimented with running solo games with me just checking the system and the students playing as cooperative team/s. It works quite well, less competition (competition could be a negative issue), and you make sure the rules are followed.
Now I know Phil Sabin always emphasized using his own designs, I have some caveats. If the objective of the game played is to stimulate discussion using one owns design could be detrimental because at time you get too attached to the design and do not take criticism well.
PS: feel free to pm me, probably part of the discussion will be boring/inappropriate (in the sense that there is the possibility of discussing details not appropriate for an online forum) for LAF.
-
Interesting current approach to using committee wargaming in a political context at the Labour Conference (there’s a Twitter link to some material in the link below):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/30/corbyn-salmond-deep-state-very-british-fantasy-zinoviev-letter-conspiracies
Will take a look - thanks.
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The first month and a half of semester has flown past - but I have now gotten rid of a symposium I was involved in and a public presentation I had to give, and a project I am leading is not moving along steadily, so I can finally get back to this.
Arrigo - thanks very much for the advice, which seems sound. I will be taking up your offer and pm-ing you :D
levied troop - there's a review up now - https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/09/30/a-very-british-coup-a-game-of-political-negotiation/ (https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/09/30/a-very-british-coup-a-game-of-political-negotiation/) - thanks for that, it's a good topic for the unit.
Update: I have actually completed a gaming surface - me completing a wargaming project is something rare, I had to make it work to make it work - if you get what I mean ;D I'll be posting pics elsewhere.
Meanwhile I decided to use Tanks as the very basic starting point. Why?
1) The rules are openly available online!
2) The game requires relatively few models
3) I am choosing relatively robust models (!)
4) The rules are available online!
5) Additions to the rules can be made to introduce other more complex ideas gradually.
Besides these I'll probably stick to tabletop card counter games, as advised by Arrigo above - less breakable and cheaper too, and the logistics of transport are simple.
All this depends, of course, on whether anyone actually enrolls for the unit!
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Back in the seventies there were a few books which explained the rationale behind rules mechanisms.
I seem to recall most of the Charles Grant books had some background, but there was also a WRG based hardback (from Airfix?) that dealt with things like figure to men ratios.
The bits I can recall (from the WRG) would basically be that 1 figure equates to 20 men in four ranks of five. So the ground scale dictates the base size dependent on formation, close order troops take less space than loose units of skirmishers.
Grant took a similar stance, but on a different viewpoint. Taking the frontage of an actual unit and converting this to a tabletop measurement, if you stand your figures to occupy that frontage you get the appropriate number of figures per unit. Grant also worked with timescale to calculate movement rates, and I think he used historical data to calculate hit percentages.
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I'm a great believer in the KISS principle being applied to wargame, might miff some, buy playing with toy soldiers ain't an intellectual pursuit!
To get people interested/kept interested, hook 'em and reel 'em in with 'One Hour Wargames', 'Fistful of Lead' and 'Song of Blades and Heroes'...
that's just my 'umble opinion.
:-*
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Back in the seventies there were a few books which explained the rationale behind rules mechanisms.
I seem to recall most of the Charles Grant books had some background, but there was also a WRG based hardback (from Airfix?) that dealt with things like figure to men ratios.
The bits I can recall (from the WRG) would basically be that 1 figure equates to 20 men in four ranks of five. So the ground scale dictates the base size dependent on formation, close order troops take less space than loose units of skirmishers.
Grant took a similar stance, but on a different viewpoint. Taking the frontage of an actual unit and converting this to a tabletop measurement, if you stand your figures to occupy that frontage you get the appropriate number of figures per unit. Grant also worked with timescale to calculate movement rates, and I think he used historical data to calculate hit percentages.
Thanks, I'll take a look.
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I'm a great believer in the KISS principle being applied to wargame, might miff some, buy playing with toy soldiers ain't an intellectual pursuit!
To get people interested/kept interested, hook 'em and reel 'em in with 'One Hour Wargames', 'Fistful of Lead' and 'Song of Blades and Heroes'...
that's just my 'umble opinion.
:-*
I certainly agree with K.I.S.S. a.k.a. O.'s R.
As for the intellectuality or otherwise - if part of my job (a tiny part, unfortunately!) is playing with toy soldiers, who am I to complain? :D
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Hi V,
regards using tanks as a theme for your games, investigate 'Axis & Allies miniatures game'. They are pre painted-plastics in 15mm, using paper map boards - although I would try to avoid smaller scale playing pieces if you have a large number of participants.
A&A rules are simple, also, which avoids the bug bear of war-games rules - complication standing in for verisimilitude. Here in the UK you are allowed copying of copyrighted materials for 'educational purposes', so your problem with rules copying may not be insurmountable.
Kriegspiel might be worth investigating, as the original involved using blocks for troop formations and ordinary maps. Free rules are available:
http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/160604-KriegsspielDSNotes-Mouat-O.pdf
Alternately, send your minions away with instructions to find ways of replicating a given battle/campaign within a set time and on a set surface area. You might be amazed at their solutions to the problem.
Cheers,
M