Live Free or Die AWI rules

[Norm]

I have just bought a hard copy of these rules by Little Wars TV and they are very attractive. Just 4 pages of rules and 13 scenarios. On their website they have some great support material, including a full playing of Brandywine in 10mm.

I have put some content material up on my blog that lists the scenarios etc.

LINK
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2022/02/live-free-or-die-rules-and-scenarios.html

[FlyXwire]

Norm,

I've been very encouraged by the focus Army Group York (LW-TV) has undertaking with their hobby outreach, but more so by their emphasis on promoting historical battle gaming.

If we've been in the hobby for our years, we all have our collections, and our aspirations of getting those collections onto the table to fight real-size battles.  It's becoming quite the work to do this anymore - big figures perhaps with little space - expected or self-imposed levels of terrain fidelity wanted - limited venues now - pandemic fog.......

So many of us have got into compartmentalizing our gaming - smaller bits, smaller boards, smaller groups, or easier-play games that have less footprint and overhead.

The Little Wars guys are promoting (encouraging) us all, that there's still ways to get into battle-size gaming, or for perhaps a lot of us, to get back to this battle-level of gaming.

They're giving "licencse" (IMO), by featuring battles again.  The license comes from giving sanction to playing rulesets that let go of the minutiae, and embraces the overall game (level) achieved as the most important result.

Thanks for the review!  Sorry that my comments aren't focused on your blog posting so much, but as what I see as positive movement in the hobby today.   

[Norm]

Agree with all of that. I particularly appreciate that they have looked at 'big battle', but give us the format for a 6' x 4' table, which is closer to what is standard in the UK for gaming at home (probably nearer to 5' x 3' these days).

[FlyXwire]

Aha.

It's always informative to hear how gaming works on the other side of the pond too (or elsewhere).

Not all gaming styles seem to the best fit.  I'm struggling with keeping a multiplayer, multi-games day going here in the Midwest USA.  I need games and gamers who can do presentations that offer appeal, attract repeat interest, and have player capacity, but all the while my pool of committed GMs has decreased or become discouraged (or gone back to their basements for 1 vs. 1 gaming).

Most of the players and playing relationships generated over the years in my local area have come from the public gaming scene too (from at the shops - like thru these game days - or at the cons).

However, so many of the game rules that have come out have focused on 1 vs. 1 gaming.  If organizing tournaments that's great, but if wanting multiplayer capacity and scenario-based battles - the hobby industry hasn't been so helpful in promoting public venue activity. 

I see LW-TV as flying the flag for us battle gamers over here.  (I'm glad this resonates 'over there' too) 

 
 

[BillK]

"Not all gaming styles seem to the best fit.  I'm struggling with keeping a multiplayer, multi-games day going here in the Midwest USA.  I need games and gamers who can do presentations that offer appeal, attract repeat interest, and have player capacity, but all the while my pool of committed GMs has decreased or become discouraged (or gone back to their basements for 1 vs. 1 gaming).
........
However, so many of the game rules that have come out have focused on 1 vs. 1 gaming.  If organizing tournaments that's great, but if wanting multiplayer capacity and scenario-based battles - the hobby industry hasn't been so helpful in promoting public venue activity.  "


Amen!

[FlyXwire]

Well, we might as well hijack Norms thread all the way then, eh!

About a year ago I was meeting with the new events director at the local shop where we have gamed at for the last years here,.  He wanted to know why we thought our gaming was different from all the other games he was familiar with, and scheduled slots for at the shop.  I tried to relate why our prepared game scenarios presented missions, but that even the known objectives might change during the game based on the evolving battlefield situation, and even if so briefed, that a mission task might in fact become obsolete once the player's battle plans "hit the table".  For many of these scenarios we put on, and for their dynamics to function like hidden movement, or secret/unknown forces to arrive, for variable orders to be issued (to have multiple player commands with different objectives), etc., that our games often did require lots of preparation, and an adjudicating host to orchestrate the event.

I had a host of other points where I thought our style of gaming differed from the tournament gaming the shop usually featured.  Lastly, I told him we did understand there's a natural barrier that us older gamers knew we had to contend with (and just look at us was my inference), and as I made this statement, I pulled on my grey hair to demonstrate the point......

He looked at me for a moment, and then said - well maybe you should be putting on your games at an old folks home.

Hmmmmm.....

Not much has changed though since - still trying to organize these game days, and getting the word out, and the shop has been very supportive, but I guess the hobby doesn't recognize us much anymore (here) - and as a friend likes to say, we're just a niche within a niche now.

Really not looking forward that much to putting on my games at the old folks home, but sometimes preparation is everything (and as long as the food is good)......... 

[Redshank]

Having recently got back into the hobby and joined a (UK) club, I've been surprised to see most games getting played on a club night are on smaller boards (typically 4x4 foot), with a lot of skirmish games. Space is not an issue as the hall is decent sized and attendance is still on the low side because of the pandemic. I suppose I was expecting most people would be doing "battle gaming" on 8x4 tables or similar.

That said I have greatly enjoyed being able to participate in some types of game outside my usual interests.

I wonder if the key issue is time rather than space. As raised in another thread recently, some folks really seem to want to get the game finished in the available time, which in practice means 2.5 hours on our weekday club night. Not saying you can't resolve a battle game in that time, but it might be challenging especially if the rules are not familiar to some.

[FlyXwire]

Having recently got back into the hobby and joined a (UK) club, I've been surprised to see most games getting played on a club night are on smaller boards (typically 4x4 foot), with a lot of skirmish games. Space is not an issue as the hall is decent sized and attendance is still on the low side because of the pandemic. I suppose I was expecting most people would be doing "battle gaming" on 8x4 tables or similar.

I've observed this downsizing here also.

There's nothing wrong about downsizing to smaller boards, smaller encounters, or because of shorter gaming hours (we all have our choices or game conditions to consider).

Certainly seems there's far less "battle gaming" being promoted .  I don't see this scale of gaming being taken up in my area now. 

[SJWi]

I have gamed “Loose Files and American Scamble” so am interested in these. Any idea If anyone is selling them in the UK?

 Thanks

[Norm]

I have gamed “Loose Files and American Scamble” so am interested in these. Any idea If anyone is selling them in the UK?

 Thanks

I got mine from Caliver Books.