Wargaming --AWI –what rules do you use? Part One -Philosophical Musings

AWI –what rules do you use? Part One

Philosophy of Choosing Wargame Rules

          Previous posts have shown photos American War of Independence, sometimes referred to as "AWI," tabletop games where miniature figures and model scenery were used to recreate real or imaginary battles from this historical conflict. Since posting I’ve received a couple queries asking about what rules I use. Here I’ll prevent a survey on theory and practice on rules for the period, followed by a communication from Marvin Vedder, historian, wargamer, and author of “Crucible of War,”  a not-quite-as-yet-but-coming-soon set of rules for the period.

Pete’s Personal Theories and Philosophies on Wargaming Rules

          First some personal opinions on wargaming rules.  

•  If you’re going to build up a pair of armies (minimum) to fight battles and play games in a given historical period, it’s a good to have at least one set of rules for that period that will work with the figures you own. This sounds like common sense, but a surprising number of people I know do not follow this and have beautiful figures for gaming but no rules that work with them.

A section of my British forces proudly ready for tabletop battle.

•  It usually takes some time, effort, and money to find a good set of wargaming rules. And I say “good” intentionally because there is no perfect set of wargaming rules. Expect to read a few, look them over, and try more than one before finding one that you can settle on. And if you are able to play with a few set of rules, remember, flexibility is a virtue.

OK, a Jacobite force that a friend painted up. Not really an AWI force
(Er . . . Moore's Creek anyone? Only this time the bridge could be intact?)
But still a wonderful looking 18th C army. 

• But sometimes you don’t really need to know the rules to play a good game. A good set of rules, simulates historical reality (or at least approximates it in a recognizable fashion). If one player knows the rules well, and all present understand the way the troops fought and moved, when they tended to break and run, and the different weapons and their approximate effects and ranges, then the player who knows the rules should be able to guide the others who don’t through the game, assuming that a degree of trust exists between the player who knows the rules and those who don’t. Personally, I think it’s fine for the player who knows the rules to participate, but others would disagree and think they should be neutral and merely referee. I can understand this. However, I also think that if you don’t trust someone not to cheat at a wargame, it’s best not to invite them. (Yeah, sometimes it’s just not that easy. Why, why, why do some people cheat that these games? I mean, who, exactly, is it that they impress with their ill-gotten victories? Historical miniature gaming groupies?)

Iroquois at a game based on Oriskany

• Different rules are good for different things. With that said, I think ideally one would have a few different sets of rules for a few different styles of games. I think that a perfect combination would be one set of rules that provide a smooth, quick battle game that was fun to play, a second set of rules that would provide a more detailed simulation with greater historical detail as opposed to a game, and a third set of rules that would provide a fun skirmish game where instead of a large battle each figure represents a single individual and the scale of the table top conflict is much, much smaller.

Tryon County Militia at Oriskany

• Finally, it is my belief that once a set of rules for a wargaming period achieves a certain, unspecified level of popularity, if you are interested in the period and wish to game it, then it's worth familiarizing yourself with that particular set of rules just so that you can participate if the opportunity to join in a game using those rules occurs. 

SO, my two cents. Personal opinions only. What do you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section. 

More Tryon County Mililtia at the Oriskany Game

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GENERAL MILITARY ASPECTS OF THE WAR

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A project in progress. An imaginary 18th C Regiment and artillery crew composed of beautiful women.
Figures from Eureka miniatures.

Biker Films --The Wild One ( 1953)

Biker Films --The Wild One (1953) 

and the Real Life Hollister Riot

                In 1966, Roger Corman, often known as king of the B-movies, released “Wild Angels,” a low budget, exploitation film starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra that offered a sensationalized image of life among the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang. For the next ten years, more or less, “Biker Films” were a staple of the drive-in or urban “grindhouse” theaters where audiences would gather seeking cheap thrills and a break from the tension of ordinary life.

                But some would argue that “Wild Angels” was not the first outlaw biker film, but instead the 1953 film, The Wild One started the genre. Loosely based and highly fictionalized, the film is based on an event called “The Hollister Riot,” an incident where a large group of motorcycle enthusiasts, many recently returned World War Two combat veterans, gathered in the town of Hollister, California and the group became out of control. For those interested in learning more about the actual history of the event, I’ve included some links below.

“The Wild One” is a 1953 film starring Marlon Brando. Should it be considered as the first real biker film? Some say yes, others say no. They argue that the genre began in the 1960s and this is merely an outlier, a curiosity that is not really part of the genre.

                As for me, I don’t really consider it part of the genre, but I do think any good discussion of biker films must, nevertheless, discuss this film or be painfully incomplete. And therefore, WITH SOME SPOILERS, I offer my thoughts on The Wild One and why I think it does not really belong as part of the genre.

                First, The Wild One was intended as a drama, not an action film. The main character, Johnny Strabler, portrayed by the talented actor Marlon Brando is arguable portrayed as an unhappy outsider. While in many ways, handsome and radiating a certain “bad boy charisma,” as the film goes on, he begins to appear increasingly broken. What he clearly wants is a real relationship with Kathie Bleeker, the town police officer’s daughter who works at the restaurant, a character portrayed by the very beautiful but not nearly as well known actress Mary Murphy. At several points in the film, he clearly wishes to say things to her, express emotions, but he just doesn’t seem to know how. As this goes on during the film, as he tries to connect with Bleeker, the gang of rowdies that follow him, became less of an asset and more of an embarrassment and hindrance that increase the gulf between him and Kathie Bleeker, the woman he wishes to connect with. Meanwhile, he rejects the offer of a relationship from “Britches,” (played by Yvonne Doughty) an old flame from the old biker gang, clearly showing that this is not the kind of woman he wants despite it clearly being the kind of woman he could easily have, and as the dialogue indicates, did have a relationship with in the past. What he wants, a relationship with Kathie Bleeker, is something that becomes increasingly obvious that he just does not know how to pursue and obtain despite some initial interest from Kathie Bleeker when the handsome, outlaw leader first enters town and enters her restaurant and her life. Near the end, he finds himself mobbed and captured by angry townspeople who hold him in a chair and begin punching him. His response to being punched, “My old man hit me harder than that.” He is a character who doesn’t know how to get what he wants, not just rejected by the woman he wants but not even sure how he should go about establishing a link with her.

                By contrast, if one watches the later film, “Wild Angels,” Peter Fonda’s character, a character named “Heavenly Blues,” itself a stark contrast to the name “Johnny Strabler” (who, if given the choice, would prefer to be known as “Johnny Strabler” when you could be called “Heavenly Blues”?) knows exactly what he wants. He wants to be free, to ride, to get loaded, as the famous quote goes, and throughout the film, he does that. And who does he want to be with, romantically speaking? Why Nancy Sinatra’s character, “Mike.” Does he get to spend time with her? Definitely, and when the relationship starts to get complicated, well, he just tells her, “You talk too much,” and kisses her and she’s quite happy with that behavior. Perhaps a bit confused as to what he really wants at the end of the film, but, basically a happy guy who appears to be living the weird life he has chosen for himself.

                Meanwhile, back in The Wild One, we see the members of the BRMC (or “Black Rebel Motorcycle Club” ) entering town, causing trouble, being out of control, but in the end being chased out of town by a mob of angry townspeople and the police who show up from nowhere to restore law and order. Not exactly the most threatening image of outlaws ever portrayed. The gang is almost peripheral to the story and, as stated above, by the time the true drama develops, what is going to happen between the male and female lead in the story, the gang is a hindrance, not an asset in the protagonist getting what he wants in life and in the story.

                Ultimately The Wild One is a very good film, well worth watching. However, it did not start the later “biker film” fad that came about ten years later and, in my opinion, should not be seen as part of that genre.

 Additional Reading on the 1947 Hollister Riot

Capulli, Sarah. 2002. Hollister California: Birthplace of the American Biker.

Senior Project, California State University Monterey Bay.

https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1237&context=caps_thes

McBee, Randy. “Here’s Hoping the ‘Hound’ and His Friends had a Good Time”: The Hollister Gypsy Tour of 1947 and the rise of the “Outlaw” Motorcyclist. International Journal of Motorcycle Studies. Volume 11, Issue 1: Spring 2015

https://motorcyclestudies.org/volume-11-issue-1-spring-2015/heres-hoping-the-hound-and-his-friends-had-a-good-time-the-hollister-gypsy-tour-of-1947-and-the-rise-of-the-outlaw-motorcyclist/

Holland, Sarah L. ““Impromptu Fiesta” or “Havoc in Hollister”: A Seventy-Year Retrospective.” International Journal of Motorcycle Studies. Volume 14 | 2018

https://motorcyclestudies.org/volume-14-2018/impromptu-fiesta-or-havoc-in-hollister-a-seventy-year-retrospective-sarah-l-hoiland/

               

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25/28mm American Revolutionary War British Army

Greetings. I admit I have been neglecting this blog the past month. Why? I've been living in a historical time, coping with the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Hopefully by the time you read this, you will be sitting comfortably someplace among a group of friendly people, chatting about perhaps starting a Covid-19 re-enactors group where you can all put homemade masks over your faces and dress up with bad haircuts and such and march around with large packages of toilet paper and such under your arms, telling eager tourists about life during the pandemic, way back when. But as for me, I am doing fine, working from home at a thankless job, and, like all around me, coping.

But I'm back for the moment and hope you will take a moment to not just look at this page, but browse a bit, follow the search links, and see what else is here too. The more people who view more pages, the more motivated I will feel to blog in the future. And I have more wargaming and non-wargaming posts I hope to write and share.

An overview of my British army. Five single battalion line regiments, four artillery pieces, a half dozen figures representing dismounted soldiers of the 16th regiment of light dragoons, a half dozen more representing mounted soldiers of the 17th regiment of light dragoons (both regiments were a mix of mounted and dismounted soldiers), a separate composite unit of six grenadier figures, a separate composite unit of five pioneer figures, one from each regiment, and three mounted officers. 

In the meantime, I finished the core of my British army for wargaming. Auxiliaries, such as loyalists, Germans, and Indian allies will be covered on other pages and some already are, as will be the Americans and perhaps some day other forces too. While I hope to add other units to my British army, this is what I have painted and based so far. I hope you enjoy them. 

A second photo of the army taken from the side.

The units often look a bit odd as the figures are a mix of miniatures produced by different companies and purchased at different times. In the 1980s, this was my first wargame period and I built up British and American forces for the period. These were purchased largely from minifigs (miniature figures ltd) and Custom Cast / Iron Brigade figures. The former have a nice variety of figures and used to be produced in the USA in Pine Plains NY. The latter, honestly, were chosen because my friendly, local game store of the time (Armadillo Games, now much missed) was able to obtain them from their distributor. Units were built as full strength at a scale of 1:50 -one figure represents 50 men- meaning that a full strength British company was usually one man. 

A few years ago I decided to rebuild and refurbish the army, and do so at a 1:20 scale. I made a decision to mostly supplement the old forces with the newer, slightly larger but more detailed, and, honestly, much nicer figures of today unless I somehow was able to offer or find the older ones unpainted easily. (which happened for the Germans, but those aren't painted yet.) Many of these were purchased second hand and came from a variety of manufacturers but Perry Brothers, Old Glory, Front Rank, and old Heritage figures are all mixed in along with some others of unknown origin. The result, admittedly, is a bit odd looking at times but my experience has been that if people are really bothered by this, they most likely are a bit too sensitive and prickly to enjoy gaming with me anyway. 

On the left, one can see a couple of figures from the 17th light dragoons (old minifigs figures) and to the front are the dismounted dragoons of the 16th light dragoons (modern Perry Brothers figures) Behind them are two line regiments, of one battalion each.

My thought at the time was that if the units looked truly odd, I could some day paint a few more British regiments composed of figures from a single manufacturer with a more uniform (no pun intended) look.    

A composite unit of Grenadiers (old Heritage figures) in front of a fortification. Behind the fortification are five pioneers. Each British regiment included a pioneer, a man who was skilled in building things. Old Glory includes a pioneer figure in each British regimental pack they sell and I got these cheap from someone who did not wish them.

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Yeah, I've written books. Please check them out and see if they interest you.

  

Chop Sockey! Kung Fu Movie Wargame Rules update

Greetings, I'm a bit behind on the weekly blog post so here's an update on my new project, Chop Sockey!! a set of wargame rules intended to recreated kung fu movie style battles. I've been working on it fairly steadily and while the pandemic and social distancing has put a kibosh on play testing the rules continue to be written.

I am at the moment writing the rules for vehicles and riding beasts and the concepts seem to be coming along well.

For a sneak peek, (no release date set yet) here's the current version of the table of contents with current page numbers:


 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2
But I don’t watch kung fu movies!! What the heck is a kung fu movie wargame??!! --- Notes for historical and other miniature gamers who have find these rules thrust in their hands. 2
2. Force Creation and Troop Types 3
Minions 3
Fighters 3
Warrior 3
Heroes (or Villains) 3
Specialists 3
Monsters, Creatures, and Animals 4
Forming Units 4
Chi and other special considerations 4
3.  Terrain 6
Rough Terrain 6
Dangerous Terrain 6
Elevated Terrain 7
Moving uphill 7
Moving downhill 7
Increased elevation 7
Impassible Terrain 7
Cover 8
Climbing fences and walls 8
4.  Battle Rules 9
Objectives 9
Sequence of Play 9
Turn Phases Table 10
Activation 10
Activating Units Table 12
Special Actions 13
5.   Movement 14
VEHICLES AND MOUNTED ANIMALS 14
Chi aided movement 15
6.   Combat and Close Combat 15
Basic Concept 15
Melee 16
Combat Sequence 16
Melee Weapons Table 17
Hits 17
Effects of Hits Table 18
Saving Throws 18
Wounds and the Effects of Hits 18
Wound Effects Table 19
Spectacular Hits and Morale Throws 19
Charge effects 20
Use of Chi in Combat 20
Breaking Free of Combat 21
ANIMALS IN MELEE 22
7.  Ranged Combat 23
Ranged Fire Hit Roll Chart 24
Ranged Weapons Chart 24
Firing Modifiers Chart 24
Running out of ammo 25
Chi in ranged Combat 25
Firing at Mixed Units 25
----Method One 25
----Method Two 26
Ammo –Running out of Ammunition 27
Catching thrown weapons, arrows, or bullets 28
8.    Morale 30
Morale Effect and Ending Moral Effect Check Table 30
Effects of Chi on Morale 31
Shaming 32
9.    Special Actions and Rules for non-combat challenges 32
10. Optional And Scenario Specific Rules 33
1. Multiplayer games (more than two sides) 33
2. Artillery and Crewed Weapons 33
3. Vehicles 33
4. Sorcerors, Technicians, Snipers, etc. 33
5. Creatures 33
10.   Duels and Tournaments 35
Single combat between heroes 37
Fighting Strategies. 37
Combat Results 38
REFERENCE CHARTS                                                                                                                     40

Gangs of New York #4 - Dead Rabbits --work in progress

Work in Progress!

The Dead Rabbits Gang.

Are they finished? Absolutely not. But you can take a peak at what they look like so far.  Stay tuned and for the moment, read on and how cast metal got to this point and then come back and see where it goes to. 

Greetings! While new at blogging, I do know that the key to successful blogging is consistency and reliability. Alas, neither comes easily to me, and I realize that I am a few days behind in offering content. Yet, while busy, busy, busy, and disrupted by a now occurring historic event called the Covid-19 Pandemic, I have still spent time on wargaming and modelling projects. And with that in mind, I offer an update on my current miniature wargaming project, a sort of semi-historical, "Steampunkish," "Victorian SF." Weird West kind-of representation of the Dead Rabbits gang described in mid-nineteenth century American newspapers and the book and film Gangs of New York. Little by little, evening by evening, I've done some work on this project and here it is. 

The figures have been primed and based and a little bit of color (is gray a color?) have been added. 

The gray is finished for the moment.

And then came the dark brown.

Followed by a black, the end result of a relaxing evening spent on a silly hobby project.

Next came a dark, almost maroon red.

A few different colors including a dark skin tone are now added.

Getting closer to the detail work. I enjoy the detail work. If I didn't, well, it wouldn't be worth doing, would it?

And now, the detail work begins . . . 

(Is it finished? Absolutely not. To see the finished project and the completed figures, you will have to come back to a later installment in this blog. Hopefully, if fate wills it, coming soon. Remember. These are not done yet. Works in progress.) 

A look at some of the gang. Again, about two thirds finished. Those eyes need some touching up as do the weapons. 

Some random gang members.

A close up of the two command figures. The calculating, cunning, always planning gang leader and the Irish Roman Catholic Priest. I figure these figures are about two thirds finished. I also think those eyes are way too big and need some touching up. It will happen. Come back and see. 

Works in progress. Dead Rabbits Gang members. And, yes, my photography skills could stand a bit of improvement.

Another view of the partially finished command figures.

Another close up of the half finished command figures.

Stay tuned for the final project.

Books and Media for the period. 

There is a variety of media one can get if you wish to explore this period of American history in more depth. Please remember, if you order through these links you are supporting this website.

First, once again, we have this wonderful set of rules. 

  

Second, we have Herbert Asbury's classic yet sensationalized work, "Gangs of New York." Asbury was writing in the 1920s about life in the mid-nineteenth century and historians who look it over pretty much universally feel he was more interested in entertaining the reader than sticking to the facts and presenting a historically accurate document. It's an entertaining read that has been through several editions, but should not be taken as gospel. This is probably why when you look for more details and other sources on some of the things he describes you simply don't find them, as it is likely that they never existed.

Tyler Anbinder's "Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum," is a more serious history of the time and place written by a contemporary author. The two books at times contradict each other. 

The Great Riots of New York is a late nineteenth century work that describes historical events as the author understood them to have happened. It is probably one of the sources Asbury used to write his book and parts of it are well worth reading to understand this period.

Yes, there was a big Hollywood movie based on these things and the events in Asbury's book. Perhaps unexpectedly, I was not a particularly big fan of the film, neither are the people at TVAG either by the way, they make that clear in the introduction to their wonderful rules, and it is also not particularly accurate in its depiction of history. Dates are mixed and some of the details not quite right. Nevertheless, if you are going to game this period, it's gotta be a "must-see" film so,  if you wish, consider buying it through this link.

I was a bigger fan of a much lesser known BBC-America show called "Copper," which portrayed the adventures of a New York City police detective during the American Civil War. The show ran for two short seasons only and the actual number of episodes is a bit limited but it was a very interesting series and gives an interesting depiction of the underside of the City of New York at the time, even if it does not mention any of Asbury's gangs. Be forewarned that is a very dark and at times difficult to watch series but very well done. For instance, several episodes of the first season deal with the main character's attempts to get a 12 year old prostitute off of the streets and into a better life. She is portrayed disturbingly realistically. The situation is complicated when it turns out she is fleeing an abusive, yet completely legal, marriage to a man three or four times her age, and the legal options under the laws of the time are quite limited when he announces he wants her back. (The age of marriage at that time was much, much lower than now.) Worth watching if the period interests you and you can stomach dark materials.

Please be aware-

while there are only two seasons of the show available, they are being sold in several different packages so there are six items listed below.

And one more time, the awesome rules . . . 

Finally, my books . . . 

Yeah, I've written books. Please check them out and see if they interest you.