Team generalship test

[Mal Wright]

AUSTRALIAN GENERAL STAFF WARGAMES CHAMPIONSHIP

The Australian Historical Wargames Convention (OZCON) to be held next Easter will introduce a new kind of competitive wargames championship. Clubs and groups are invited to register a team of between 3 and 5 players as a General Staff team. They will not need to provide an army or scenery to compete.

The teams will be set a variety of generalship tasks to perform across four periods. These will be Ancients, Seven Years War, Colonial and WW2. In each game there will always been a team fighting at a disadvantage and one team fighting with an advantage. Situations the teams may face could be to hold off an enemy force long enough for their supply train to exit. Retire through a difficult area, defend a river crossing and so forth. The opposite team in each game will be tasked with stopping them from carrying out these objectives.

Each game will be two hours long and moves will be timed. One player in each team will be the General in command, and the others subordinate. But each team member must be the General in command for at least one battle.

There will be four games in the initial series and the totaled results of each will determine which teams move on to the next. Once the finalists are determined the team may nominate one member to be the commander of the finalist battle. However all members must take part in the game.

There will be no time outs. If someone has to leave the playing area for a toilet break etc then the other players must keep playing. There will be no rules debates or arguments permitted during any game and the clock will keep ticking both for length of game and move times.

The winners of each game will be determined upon a series of points awarded for objectives achieved. Therefore it is possible for the disadvantaged side to lose a battle in the tabletop sense, yet still win the game if they carried out the objectives. This particularly applies to games in which one side is presumed to have been fighting a losing battle, and is called on to make a skilful tactical withdrawal from the battle area.

The games will commence on the first morning of the two day event and all teams must be ready and available when called. They will not know which game they will be taking part in until shortly before play time. They will then be able to see what they are commanding, the terrain they are commanding on, and what their objectives are. The team will then have a short time in which to plan what they will do to achieve the task they have been set.

Teams that register to play will receive advice pre-event, on which rules will be used for each game. But they will not be advised of the forces, situations or terrain involved. It is a test of Generalship and the skill of players to adapt to problems they are faced with on the battlefield.

CHAMPIONSHIP AND RUNNER UP PRIZES

Entry fee $10 per player.

All troops and scenery provided.

OZCON will take place over the Saturday and Sunday of the Easter long weekend.

AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL WARGAMES CONVENTION

The Bocce Hall McLaren Vale

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Saturday 3rd and Sunday the 4th of April 2010


Mal Wright
Salus populi suprema lex
(safety of people the highest law)