Wargaming Weekends and the Game Plan 2008

Before coming up with a Project Plan for 2008 I realized I should really look toward 2009 and what I’d like to do for a Wargame Weekend. I’m kind of assuming the weekend will be at least moderately successful here, and that I’ll do another one next year. As I’ve mentioned before I’d like the weekends to be mini-campaigns of sorts of programmed scenarios or otherwise linked battles or at least have some common “theme” to them.

Over the last couple of days I’ve been making a list of conflicts/campaigns I might like to run and I’ll go through a number of them below.

Which will it be for 2009…? Well, I’ve got a few months to think about it I guess… Some of the major factors I’ll be considering are what people would be most interested in – won’t be much of a weekend if no one shows because no one is interested in playing what I’ve got set up… But just as important, if not more, there is the reality of having all the toys and terrain required for each and as I’ve had a moratorium set on spending money on toys, so I really SHOULD focus on ones that I currently OWN (or can cast for myself) all of the elements required…

If you’re someone that might be attending any future wargaming weekends please feel free to post comments below and vote on which you would most like to see run!

They will mostly follow the same format of 5 games (Friday Evening, Saturday Morning, Saturday Afternoon, Saturday Evening, and a grand finale Sunday mid-to-late-morning to mid-afternoon. My current thinking is that any larger battles will be played out with Cold War Commander/Blitzkrieg Commander/Warmaster Ancients or one of it’s many variants. Skirmish actions will be played out using Savage Worlds.

The weekends will be taking place the last weekend in February of each year – partly because it won’t conflict with any other cons – that I know of – or any long weekend travel plans. Of course this means anyone planning on traveling to this will likely have to book a day off work (the Friday)… look at it as a bonus long weekend in February… The other reason for holding it in February is to carry on the tradition of Tim’s Wargaming Birthday Bash – an event started in 2005 to celebrate my birthday with an evening of gaming with my favorite gamin’ pals (which is basically being extended into a full weekend…).

Originally I was thinking I’d let this turn into a mini-con, if enough people started showing up, with multiple games going on through out my house (a miniatures game on the war game table in the War Room, boardgames on the dining room table upstairs) and in the Bike Barn (my “garage”) where I’d build a second wargames table…. Or if it got big enough maybe move it out of my house… I’m starting to think that may be a bit chaotic and hard to organize/coordinate, so now I’m considering simply limiting it to the games I am running and 6 participants….? I don’t know – any thoughts on this? Post comments!

Here they are, in no particular order, the ideas for themes/campaigns for future wargame weekends – In some cases I don’t know a lot about the history of the period or campaign and so some of the battles might not work out for tabletop action (i.e. have enough elements for 4-6 participants to play for a couple hours)… obviously in the year preceding the Wargaming weekend I’d be doing a considerable amount of research and finding which would work, which wouldn’t and finding better actions to replace them – nothing is set in stone here, they’re just ideas off the top of my head…

Campaigns of Alexander the Great
Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes…? All played with Warmaster Ancients. This will be sometime in the far future as I have NOTHING for this period – except for my crappy old DBA Later Achemenid Persian army – not much of a start…

Montrose’s Scottish Campaigns 1644-45
Lots of options here – Tippermuir, Aberdeen, Inverlochy, Aulderan, Alford, Kilsyth, Pilipaugh… maybe I’ll make it a wargaming long weekend and do them ALL! BWA-HA-HA-HA!

Seven Years War in North America
A series of five battles from the campaigns… OR…

Quebec 1759-60
I have to admit at this exact minute I am kind of leaning towards this one as it just occurred to me that next year will be the 250th anniversary of the battle on the Plains of Abraham! I am using Habitants and Highlanders as a major source of inspiration for the scenarios here:
Friday night - Captain MacDonald’s Company Climbs the Heights of Abraham – a skirmish game using Savage Worlds – the outcome of which might somehow affect the next scenario.
Saturday morning/afternoon – Battle on the Plains of Abraham – using a WMA variant – perhaps Bob Barnettson’s Two for Tea…?
Saturday evening – The Wood Cutters – another Skirmish scenario.
Sunday mid morning to mid afternoon – Battle of St. Foy 1760.
I have some stuff that could be used for this. I was planning on working on some SYW stuff this year anyway – I’d just ramp it up a bit and model and cast a pile of my own generic tricorne figures… We shall see…

England 1066AD
Fulford Gate, Stamford Bridge, Hastings, and maybe a skirmish game or two or the winner of Hastings has to go beat down the Scotts under Malcom II. This will be high on the priority list as I have a lot of Dark Ages stuff.

English Civil War
Edge Hill, Marston Moor, Naseby, Dunbar? Some skirmish action…?
I have a lot of ECW stuff now...

Falklands 1982
A skirmish battle in the streets of Port Stanley during the initial Argentine invasion
South Georgia? Raid on Pebble Island?
Some air and/or naval action (I have no idea what rules I’d use…)?
Goose Green for sure (CWC)!
11/12 June – Mt. Longdon, Two Sisters, Mt. Harriet (CWC)
13/14 June – Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge (CWC)

The War of 1812
Queenston Heights, Chateguaney, Chrysler’s Farm, Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane… New Orleans?

Canadians in the Sicilian Campaign 1943
Grammichele, Assoro, Leonfort, Agira…?

Moro Crossings/Ortona 1943

Canadians in Normandy 1944
Capriquet, Buron, Authie, and other battles around Caen, etc…

Arnhem 1944

Closing the Falaise Gap
Operation Totalize I and II, Operation Tractable

Northwest Rebellion 1885
Duck Lake, Fish Creek, Battoche, Cutknife Hill, Frenchman’s Butte
Not sure what rules I would use for these they seem a bit big for Savage Worlds skirmish actions, a bit small for a WMA variant/Colonial War Commander… maybe a modified version of Ever Victorious Armies…? Of course if I use cold War Commander with one stand equal to an 8-10 man section and formations being companies – that might work… at least for Batoche… or maybe a scaled skirmish action using savage worlds (1 figure = 5 or 10 men – depending on the size of the historical action…?)

Battles on the Somme 1916

Battles at Paschendale 1917

The Last 100 Days 1918

Great War - East Africa

Red Dawn – Soviet invasion of North America 1986…?

Peloponnesian War?

Punic Wars?

Ia Drang 1966?

Well.. that’s 21 years worth of Wargame Weekends – assuming I just do one a year…. Maybe if it really works out I could do two a year – one in February and one in the summer or fall sometime – the secondary one would have to be one I already have stuff ready for – like the assorted WW2 ones, which I have a lot of the stuff done for already, or once I had the Canadian Corps (and a German one to oppose it) finished I could easily so any of the Great War campaigns with a minimum of effort (maybe a bit of battle specific terrain…)

The 1066 campaign is likely to happen sooner rather than later as it’s one I’ve wanted to do for a long time and HAVE a lot of the stuff I’d need. I would have to buy some Norman Cavalry and model and cast a few more generic dark ages warriors – mostly skirmishers with javelin or slings…

Looking at anniversaries - the 1885 Northwest Rebellion is another one with a big one coming up – 125th in 2010. Of course 2016, 2017, 2018 will see the various Canadians in the Great War campaigns as those will be 100th anniversaries. 2012 will be the Falklands 30th…? 2018 - Sicily or Ortona’s 75th, 2019 – D-Day, Normandy, Arnhem….