The Great Wargaming Survey 2023 Edition

It’s that time again. The good people at Karwansaray Publishers are at it again with their The Great Wargaming Survey 2023 EDITION. The official blurb …

Welcome to the 10th edition of the
Great Wargaming Survey!
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles” – Sun Tzu

Apart from rolling dice, there seem to be few things wargamers like to do more than discussing the state of their hobby. This survey aims to answer some of those questions and publish the answers for all to see.

Thanks to our sponsors, we’ve got a stack of generous prizes to give to some lucky winners. On top of that, everyone gets a €5 discount voucher for the Karwansaray Publishers website, and thanks to Wargames Atlantic, all respondents get an exclusive STL of a unique British Airborne figure to 3D print, or have printed.

Filling out the survey shouldn’t take more than about 10 minutes, and we’re taking responses until August 31st, 2023. Please tell all your wargaming friends to come take it too!

As always, this survey is aimed at tabletop miniature wargamers in order to keep things short and sweet.

Thank you very much for participating!

Guy Bowers & Jasper Oorthuys
Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine

wargames survey 2023

And for a little more colour this may very well be the cover of the upcoming General d’Armee 2 rules …

GdA2-Cover1

If so then there is an obvious lineage to the cover of the original General d’Armee rules …

GdA Cover

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Some Napoleon to go with your popcorn and ice cream

At the risk of becoming some sort of YouTube feeder site there are two more videos of interest to be found over there. Both relate to the impending film Napoleon.

Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by David Scarpa, “Napoleon” stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and military leader. The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. The film captures Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary. An Apple Studios production in conjunction with Scott Free Productions, “Napoleon” is produced by Scott, Kevin Walsh, Mark Huffam and Phoenix, with Michael Pruss and Aidan Elliott serving as executive producers.

The first presented here is the official trailer for the movie …

The second is of an earlier trailer …

One can but hope that there will not be too much of the Hollywood about the movie!  😇

Apparently it is scheduled for release in theatres 22 November 2023. Hopefully world wide!

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Why was I not told! 🤬

There are a select few YouTube channels that von Peter himself checks too often. The dear reader might be smuggly thinking that those channels would be of a wargaming variety but those same dear readers would be quite wrong! They are technology focused. But when one watches a YouTube video a list of other YouTube hosted videos is displayed – so as to keep one hooked into the YouTubes – and occasionally one of those other YouTube videos is of interest. The following is presented as an example of one such.

But first why was von Peter himself totally in the dark regarding this video?! Why did no one think to alert von Peter himself to its existence? It’s high treason you know.  😲  Probably the rest of the world already knew of it and thought nothing of it.

Irrespective von Peter himself hopes you garner some enjoyment.

Just in case the imbedded YouTubes thingy doesn’t work for you here’s a link in the old fashioned way … click here.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #30

An update: To give credit where it may be due the good folks at wordpress.com seem to have walked back much of their increased advertising. So thank you very much to them. If you are wondering what the blistering blue blazes von Peter himself is on about then take a look at the beginnings of Snippets #29.

With Partizan 2023 almost upon for those lucky enough to attend here’s a couple more clips from Salute 2023 to stir the juices …

Seven Years War Hanoverians

The Seven Years War Hanoverian Army was good enough to supply von Peter himself with a small contingent to support the Allied cause should the need arise.

Three infantry regiments/battalions – apart from the Foot Guards the Hanoverian foot regiments comprised a single battalion in the SYW, a cavalry regiment, a dragoon regiment and a battery of medium guns were provisioned along with two command stands to keep the men under control and well directed. And here are the infantry …

SYW Hanover Graf Kielmannsegge Regt

Above: the men of the Graf Kielmannsegge Infantry Regiment give covering fire to their compatriots

SYW Hanover De Chausses & von Ledebour regts

Above: the De Chausses Infantry Regiment – yellow facings – and the Von Ledebour Regiment – blue facings – perform an implacable advance

Perhaps the De Chausses and Von Ledebour regiments were assigned the task of advancing on the enemy given the state of their muskets which do not seem to be particularly straight and therefore not particularly suited to providing fire?!  🤣

The figures from Front Rank Figurines are pigmented by Nigel Fun-nell. The splendid flags from the dashedly talented Alan Hollows.

“Click” the photos for a larger and clearer image.

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Salute 2023 … errr 50, and plastic

If you’re keen 3D printer advocate there is yet another Kickstarter project that may be of interest to the Napoleonic gamer. Troops of Napoleonic Wars – Cavalry of the Austrian Empire sources files for Austrian Cuirassiers, Dragoons/Chevaulegers, Hussars and Uhlans. Scrolling further down the Kickstarter reveals prior offers of Austrian infantry & artillery and Duchy of Warsaw cavalry & infantry.

Troops of Nap Wars - Cav of the Austrians

Should they so desire The dear reader can view a video review a prior Kickstarter in the series “Troops of the Napoleonic Wars: Grand Duchy of Warsaw Kickstarter” …

But wait … perhaps those Perry Miniatures fans thinking of recruiting some Poles might want to hold out for the Perrys who have announced at – or around the time of – Salute 2023 50 that they are working on plastic Duchy of Warsaw Infantry as announced in on their Facebook page …

For those who couldn’t make it to the show, the next plastic set will be……
Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw Infantry!
Alan painted up five ‘3up’ resins for the show to give people a hint of what will be in the set, or should I say sets. This will follow our trend of making two boxes set one of a whole battalion and the other of set more skewered to skirmish games. Alan has tried to cover the many variations in the DOW Infantry some of which you can see here. Apart from czapkas and various fur caps, shown here, there will be covered shakos included in the set, as some regiments used French and Polish variants. Three regiment’s fusiliers had white fringed epaulettes too, so these will be covered. The resins shown here were cast from early greens, but they will all have water canteen/gourds when in plastic. Quite a few faces on the figures are based on Jan’s Polish friends who happen to be gamers/reenactors of Polish Infantry and cavalry units.

But for himself von Peter himself is content with his slowly recruiting 27th (Polish) Division of General de division Dombrowski as sourced from Front Rank Miniatures …

Nap Polish 1-4th Infantry

Above: 1/4th Polish line infantry

Nap Polish 18th Lt Cav Brigade 2023-01

Above: the 18th Light Cavalry Brigade with a cavalry regiment still en route to the front. A couple of ADCs  are buzzing around and an infantrymen is disturbing the scene.

Polish painted by Nigel Fun-nell. Horses canon & basing by von Peter himself. Click the images for a larger and clearer version.

Coloured 3D printing

To get back to 3D printing this colour 3D printed critter was shown at Salute 2023 50. Although apparently it’s not the first. Click here for a little more detail.

Coloured 3d printing 2023-04

Salute 2023 50

A random selection of reports from and on Salute 2023 50 held last weekend. There’s a fair few minutes of viewing. Perhaps best viewed at work!  😇

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #29

An apology of sorts

This world of ours is not quite perfect. Sometimes the world – or more accurately the actions of the people inhabiting this world – irritate von Peter himself resulting in fits of cursing and muttering. One of the recent causes of cursing and muttering has been occasioned by the good folks over at wordpress.com who have decided to up the level – and obtrusiveness! – of advertising in the FREE version of their blogging product. And wouldn’t you know it being of a rather parsimonious nature von Peter himself presents this blog on the FREE version of wordpress .com.

All of a sudden this blog was being plagued with an annoying level of advertising that in some cases ruined the flow of the contents. Mutter mutter. A quick search revealed that von Peter himself was not the only person muttering – for example see More ads than normal. Happily WordPress seem to have listened and responded to a degree and the increase in advertising has been pared back though it is still at an elevated level.

So … to all The dear readers apologies for the increased advertising. It was not a choice that von Peter himself made. And rest assured it is not the result of von Peter himself monetising this blog!  💰🚫 That is never going to fly.

If the advertising gets to be too much von Peter himself – whilst not an expert – suggests using some form of ad blocker. There are also privacy focussed browsers such as Brave. von Peter himself has trialed Brave and can report that not an advertisement was to be seen. On the down side WordPress then fails to register your visit so that any egocentric blog creator who may be jealously observing their visitor statistics may become dispirited. Not thinking of anyone in particular!  😇

Finally. von Peter himself acknowledges that he is using a FREE facility to present this blog. The hope is that the level of advertising does not detract from the information presented. Time will tell. The future of this blog may turn on it.  😳

SYW Prus Grenadiers 9-10 and 19-25 back

Above: Two battalions of Seven Years War Prussian Grenadiers prepare to see off the incoming Austrian cavalry. Who needs cowardly squares anyway? Front Rank Figurines. Click for a larger and clearer view

More GdA 2nd Edition Rules!

The author David C R Brown has released yet another teaser for the upcoming second edition of his General d’Armee rules in GdA 2nd Edition Rules! Update 2. Once again von Peter himself has gone that extra mile for The dear readers and replicated his post below. To see any feedback generated head on over to the link in the prior sentence you’ll be able to see any feedback generated.

Here’s a new Defending Units Reaction to a Charge rule. I’m looking at point C in particular to test your wargame mettle!

The Lead Defending Units Reaction: The lead defending unit may only choose one of the following reactions: Fire, Align, form Square or Evade. Cavalry may potentially Counter-Charge.
A. Fire. The defending unit fires when the attackers reach the 5cm [3″] point. An unformed infantry line versus a cavalry charge cannot fire.
OR
B. Align. If a defending unit is charged from outside its fire arc, but doesn’t qualify for a flank/rear charge, it must wheel to meet the charge and loses the opportunity to defensive fire. Units cannot align so as to avoid the charge.
OR
C. Attempt to Form Square. If charged by cavalry, formed infantry in line must attempt to form square. Formed infantry in column may elect to receive the charge in column or form square.
• To successfully form square a unit must pass a Discipline Test. If it fails the test result stands.
• Unformed infantry cannot form square.
OR
• Evade. Skirmishers, Cossacks and Horse Artillery may or must evade a charge.

Note:
There is no modifier to form square based on how close the cavalry are, this is because a wargame turn stops and starts but in reality movement is continuous. The Discipline Test determines if your battalion spotted the cavalry in advance, perhaps in the previous turn, and reacted in time or if it was caught by surprise.
Nor can infantry choose to stand in line against cavalry. Why is this? First, actual historical instances of this were rare indeed. Secondly in a wargame the player knows the exact tactical situation and may claim such things as secure flanks. However the battalion commander on the ground, shrouded in smoke and battlefield confusion does not have this perfect knowledge, may not know or believe he has secure flanks and hence highly likely to err on the side of caution and form square. Intentionally staying in line was not the standard drill reaction to a cavalry attack and this is why even elite units formed square when threatened by cavalry.

Nap Aust 3-Reuss-Plauen Infantry Regiment version 1

Above: Are you looking at me?! Napoleonic Austrian infantry from the third battalion of the Reuss-Plauen Infantry Regiment. Front Rank Figurines pigmented by Nigel Fun-nell. Click for a larger and clearer image

Salute 2023 … errr 50 … this coming weekend

Saturday 22 April 2023 sees what von Peter himself would’ve called Salute 2023. But of course von Peter himself would be wrong. It seems to be called Salute 50 because it is the 50th anniversary show. Yet again the commute from New Zealand is a bit much so good luck to all those who will be exhibiting and attending. And please please PLEASE take lots of notes, pictures and videos for publishing in one form or another on the ‘net so that us non attendees can live vicariously care of your attendance.

Salute 2023

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #28

Thirty Years War reinforcements coming

Spotted on the 1898 Miniaturas Twitter feed here

What’s next at 1898 Miniaturas? We are now working to expand our current Thirty Years War series with new cavalry codes, new nations and of course, guns! Here a glimpse of the first model (still a wip), a 3D design just printed to check size, details, etc. Do you like it?😍

1898 Miniaturas TYW big gun 23:04

New cavalry, new nations and artillery. What’s not to like? And a work in progress print of a 3D design. Hmmm. von Peter himself wonders how far 1898 Miniaturas have taken 3D design/sculpting. Just the straight line models, or the miniature men and horses as well.

GdA 2nd Edition Rules!

The author David C R Brown has released another teaser for the upcoming second edition of his General d’Armee rules here. For The dear readers convenience I have replicated his post below but if you head on over to the link in the prior sentence you’ll be able to see any feedback generated.

GdA 2nd Edition Rules!

As we progress towards our summer release date I’ll drop various teasers detailing new rules including occasional design thoughts, historical background and impact upon play.

Here’s the first!

C-in-C COMMANDS
These Commands represents the C-in-C personally intervening in the battle to lead his troops or steady his men, and as such is limited to either two or just one opportunity per game, depending on the C-in-Cs ability.

The player chooses when to use these vital interventions in the Command phase of each turn. However once used the Command marker is discarded and when a player has used all his commands no more are available. Therefore the player should in the words of one film general, “take careful timing” as to when he chooses to ride out and personally intervene, as these actions can have a significant impact upon the outcome of the battle.

C-in-C Commands are:
• Post of Honour! Lead a Major Charge.
• Now’s Your Time! Permits Volley & Charge. Improved Volley Fire potential.
• Stand With Me! Recovers a Faltering brigade.
• Tactical Reserve! Rapid deployment of reserve brigades.
• Chief of Staff! Significantly improve ADC availability for the turn.

DB

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #27

Lets get rid of the not so nice stuff first …

Ian Heath

Sadly another obituary with a link to von Peter’s formative years in the hobby. Shamelessly backed up(!) from the Perry’s Facebook page

28 February at 23:50

Ian Heath 1952-2023
It is with sad hearts that we have to report the death of Ian Heath earlier this month at the age of 71. His wife, Janina, emailed Michael, a couple of days ago, as he and Ian had worked on a few books for Osprey in the past together. He was an excellent writer, researcher and illustrator, whether it was for Foundry Books, Osprey, or War Games Research Group and thoroughly enjoying the research part. He was obsessed by Tolkien’s work (although not keen of the film versions), so much so that over many years he’d built up armies of 6-7,000+ figures. Ian was also very proud of his viking ancestry, joking that he would prefer a viking funeral if the local re-enactors would be willing to donate a long boat. As it is, his ashes will be scattered in the Orkneys, which was an annual holiday destination for him and Janina. Our sympathies are with Janina and the rest of his family.
Rest in peace

Ian and Janina Heath

A younger von Peter himself spent many happy hours scanning a selection of Ian’s books. Especially some of his Wargames Research Group Publications titles.

WRG Armies & Enemies of the Crusades 1096 1291

Thirty Years War

Spotted on the 1898 Miniaturas Twitter page a couple of stirring images of Spanish troops in Thirty Years War mode …

Some 1898 Miniatures TYW 2023-03

Some 1898 Miniatures TYW cav 2023-03

Simply inspiring. To be yet more inspired click the images for a larger and clearer view.

And if you are inspired then you’ll be happy to hear that 1898 Miniaturas have a Spring Sale with 10% off until the 2nd April 2023. Use the discount code … $pring

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

GdA 2 part 3

And just like waiting for a bus The dear reader is left bereft for a month with no new post in sight and then two come along on consecutive days. Oh well. von Peter himself is proud to present another public service announcement …

A third teaser on the upcoming General d’Armee Second Edition rules has been released by the author David C R Brown. You can either see it here along with any comments or for The dear readers convenience you could read it below …

The 2nd Edition Update 3

WHAT…. NO +1 FOR COLUMN?!? PASS THE RULE BOOK!

A significant change from GdA1 to the 2nd Edition is the removal of modifiers that require the gamer to add or subtract several factors, hence the title “What…No +1 for column?”
Well in GdA2 there is no maths, no pluses or minuses and so no need to up or subtract in the game at all!

First why? Surely wargamers have used modifiers such as +1 for better morale or -1 for disorder since the olden days?
Well this tight mathematical approach to wargaming brings with it more than just a degree of certainty and knowledge surrounding the potential outcome of a situation that no Napoleonic general ever experienced.
I’ve yet to come across an account of Davout saying to Friant, “Don’t worry monsieur your squares have a +3 modifier against that Prussian cavalry!” Similarly Wellington saying to Picton, “Give them a volley Pic, there’re already on 4 casualties, so he’ll be on a -1 for his morale check!!”
By removing this certainty we bring the player just little closer to history. Now players will be saying “Adopt square Fraint, it’s the best formation to resist cavalry!” or “Receive those columns in Line Picton!”

So how have we done this?

Let’s look at Charges first.

In GdA1 there were fifteen modifiers in the Charge Table, varying from +2 to -4. Well, we’ve gone through the charge chart and removed most all these modifiers, replacing the core modifiers with D6 rerolls instead. Now there are just five rerolls. So if you are Elite you gain a reroll, if you are a higher morale grade you gain a reroll and so on.

These means that players concentrate on gaining tactical advantage by ensuring that an attack or defence is in the right formation and correctly supported, rather than going through numerous factors looking for a tactical advantage in the form of a +1 or -1 for the opponent. The player is now thinking more like a Napoleonic commander, about being in the correct formation, should he withdraw battered units to the second line where they are better off as supports, or can he bring up more battalions to ensure he is well supported?

Finally rerolls also bring more tension to the game. For instance you know that with two rerolls versus one enemy reroll the tactical advantage should be yours and that your troops should prevail in the combat. However it’s not guaranteed, you no longer have that reassurance of, for example, being +4 up in the modifiers! The player is now much more akin to the Napoleonic commander watching from afar, desperately hoping that this attack will triumph!

Firing has also had similar treatment. Let’s look at Infantry Volleys.
Under GdA1 there where ten infantry modifiers, now there are only three modifiers. Yes, that’s right just three!
These are Standard Volley, Inferior Volley and Weak Volley. That’s it. So a fresh battalion in line will fire using the standard volley line. A worn battalion or battalion firing at a target in cover or perhaps firing at a skirmish line receives a negative modifier for this situation so will fire an Inferior Volley.
Finally if the unit has two or more such modifiers, so perhaps is Worn and is also firing at Skirmishers then it drops to the weak volley.
There is no addition, no subtraction, no five minutes looking at the factors, doing the maths, then as so often happens one player demands to go through it again because he is sure a vital factor has been missed out!
Now it’s simple, if your battalion is in good order and in good shape then your battalion will probably deliver a good volley. If the battalion is in poor shape then it’s likely to be a poor volley. Straightforward.
Positives remain much the same, so better troops gains addition Casualty Dice to supplement their volley fire, and so on.

This approach combined with a simple casualty chart means that the firing mechanisms are intuitive. The player immediately knows what type of fire he will have and will soon have memorised the straightforward volley chart after a few turns.

GdA2 does retain the casualty chart as opposed to introducing a “handful of dice” fire mechanism, as the chart conveys four pieces of vital information to the player. These are: casualties, fire discipline, discipline tests and Destiny results. Also add a fifth, Low on Ammunition for artillery. Presenting all this information in a logical and consistent manner could not be done when rolling handfuls of dice, despite numerous attempts. The various attempts we did use seemed to lose all the tactical finesse and nuances that helps make the game “feel” Napoleonic.

This simple, no maths approach means players stay “in the game” thinking as a wargame general for far greater periods of time. We are no longer “coming out” of the game to look at the play sheet every other minute, needing to add up and subtract numerous modifiers before rolling the dice. Continual reference to the rule book is drastically reduced, with far more time in spent “in game” analysing the tactical situation, and actually playing the game.

Morale has had similar treatment to firing. Gone are the ten modifiers accompanying the Discipline Test table, now a unit is simply promoted a troop grade or demoted a troop grade according to its situation. So if a unit has a General attached under a Glory tasking its promoted to the next higher troop grade. While if it is Worn due to casualties its demoted to the next lower troop grade and so on. This produces the same effect as in firing, virtually no time is spent working anything out, and players instinctively know for instance that being on six or more casualties is a demotion, therefore their Line unit now rolls as per a Reservist unit and so on. And as before the Discipline Test pass scores are very easy to memorise and recall.

The overall result of removing factors and the requirement for mathematical calculations, (however simplistic on the surface), from the gaming experience enables players to spend their valuable time actually playing the game, whilst the “factors” we have included still maintain the tactical nuances of Napoleonic warfare that most GDA players require and enjoy. This means games have sped up markedly, and even large games have been brought to a full conclusion. The last game we played at the Wargames Holiday Centre was the southern front at Leipzig 1813, which was brought to a very successful and obvious conclusion by the end of play, something we had not very often encountered using the original version of the rules.

In conclusion far more time is now spent actually playing an enjoyable Napoleonic wargame. The majority of time is now spent on command decisions, the best use of their ADCs, positioning units to ensure brigades are supported properly with skirmishers and artillery. Players simply spend far more time thinking about Napoleonic command decisions to gain battlefield tactical advantages through manoeuvre, formations and mass, rather than pouring over charts and factors.

DB

GdA2 partial cover 2023-01

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself

Snippets #26

Another quick fire potpourri of “things” spotted while spending far too long cruising the interwebs.

But first an image of the croats / pandours of the Prussian Kleist Freicorps of Seven Years War vintage advancing out of a village. Kleist Freicorps was a cut or two – or even three! – above the usual Prussian Freicorps standard. Front Rank Figurines painted, based etc many moons ago by von Peter himself. Click for a larger image.

SYW Prus Kleist Freicorps Croats cropped

Piano Wargames

Another Kickstarter from Piano Wargames. This time the subject is …

The Alps Aflame – The Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809 is now live on Kickstarter!

Link to Kickstarter

Bavarians, Austrians and lots of angry Tyroleans…

Head over to see all my new miniatures and also for a big discount on previous STL files!

Take a looksie for a selection of Bavarians, Austrians and “freedom-loving peasants with scythes“.

The Austrian line infantry come in the helmet which is quite right for 1809 but would be less right if von Peter himself were to obtain them for his 1813 Austrians. But Piano Wargames have this covered as one of their Stretch Goals is “Austrian Shako Set” which has already been unlocked.

The Alps Aflame

Has the English/UK international postage glitch finally been/in the process of being cleared?

Despite having intentions – and importantly sanctions from Fraulien von Peter herself for those intentions – von Peter himself has not yet ordered the figures to support his Skirmish doctrine review. There seemed little point as a plethora of UK suppliers have been posting (ha ha) messages explaining their difficulties sending their wares internationally. Has this situation finally been cleared up? A Tweet from Richard Clarke of Too Fat Lardies  on the 17th February …

Some good news. Where we have been enduring an on-going nightmare with international post, I am pleased to say that we are now posting to the entire civilised world as normal. All of our backlog was cleared as of this morning. Apologies to those who have endured a long wait.

And on their website The Perry’s have …

Postal Update

We are now able to send out overseas parcels, tracked.

These will still incur some delay once in the system as The Royal Mail work through their backlog.

Here’s hoping. The necessities of life should never ever be restricted.

Economics of rules production

An interesting … at least to von Peter himself … article on the economics of rule production. Potential rules publishers, especially printed rules publishers take note.

Victrix Sale

You’ll need to move quickly if this is of interest to any of The dear readers. Victrix have a 20% off their miniatures sale … but it ends on Monday 20th February. Use the code NEXT20 at checkout.

Victrix Ltd

Enough.

Until we meet again …

Salute
von Peter himself