Monday 25 June 2007

baby steps

Hi all,

Well it’s been a while so I thought a quick update was in order.

The work to create my Imagi-Nations has taken a few faltering steps forward, firstly they are named as Saxe-Nweilintz, a Prussian based force and Skavenburg, an Austrian based force. The second step has been the nearly completed Nation Generator which will provide the map, terrain and forces available to each of the Countries created.

Still to do are the National characteristics of the nations and then the Character generator, to provide Officers and officials for the governing and ruling of the Nation.

National characteristics – was thinking of the different ways that each nation fought in this period, but without a huge amount of period knowledge this is proving a little difficult

Prussian – had the ability to MANUEVRE better than most nations
Austrians – not sure – some sort of larger units
British – some sort of firing bonus – but not sure
Russian – usually some sort of Morale bonus

That covers most aspects of rules… Movement, Firing, Morale and unit sizes

Character Statistics – these are used in game but also to provide some role-play aspects to the army…

Leadership – this will be battlefield prowess
Political/Power – this can be used for campaign moves??
Appearance – this could influence the Political test, but also it could detract too
Intelligence – not sure here, but I am sure it has a use
Wealth – definitely caused more problems in this period
Health/Age – could influence much, also for assassination attempts

Each factor could give a modifier for different tests in the game.

Figures –
The 10mms are coming along nicely and will be ideal for CnC based hex game.
The RSM95’s have been sent and the payment taken in GBP’s, with each figure working out at 50p for foot, 1£ for cavalry and 1£ per gun….. So this hits the VFM button, so just need to see the figures in the metal to see if I am happy on style.

Rules –
Horse n Musket 10mm Command and Colours based rules, coming along fine so far
OSW – maybe WAB style rules……. With some Magic…

Saturday 9 June 2007

Birth of a Nation.... not quite

The brain works in mysterious ways, the wargamers one even more so.....

So to creat a fictional country sounds simple, i got these figures and they are this.... these figures are these.... i want this and i want that...... but then i started thinking....

Why are the armies similar but not the same?
Why do some countries ally with others?
Does topography build the army? or a countries wealth? or its politics?
and is this relavent to the period?

So I sat down and looked how countries of this time are made up. What troop types were available from the countres area's, what supplies are needed to keep an army in the field. Then i started to make up a chart with dice rolls to determine what a country could provide in men and material. Then i provided education, which led to stats for command figures.... each extra factor leading to another idea for inclusion.... it all sort of logically flowed together... then a points system unrolled for a rule set i have yet to adapt....

so i sat down with a pen and paper and rolled up a Duchy, a Grand Duchy no less... with 6 States of various sizes... lots of towns and a couple of Fortresses, followed by an education system unsurpassed in the known world, and over half covered in mountains, which when i began recruiting troops led to an army of well led Pandours, Hussars and Artillery, with mainly Mercenary Infantry units....... all seems feasable, just didnt think i would be Count Dracula

Better get those dice rolling again....

The Plan

Hi all, after much thought i have come up withg a plan...
I game primarily in 10mm and 28mm, and as such all my scenery is
geared towards these figure sizes, so while veiwing all the blogs for
inspiration i was drawn to the RSM95 figures for both style and price
(hopefully, after import duties and shipping).
I wanted to create 2 armies, as i appear to be quite some distance
from any fellow Imagi-nation players, based around Prussian and
Austrian figures, each of 12 Infantry unit, 6-8 Cavalry units and 3
Artillery units. So i placed my order via the web for 4 bags of
infantry, 4 bags of cavalry and 2 bags of artillery and sat back to
wait and work out the painting plan, at my current rate the 2 armies
would be completed by 2010, i realised this wasnt very NOW
generation...
So after a quick phone call to Andy at Old Glory 10mm on Monday and a delivery on Wednesday, i now have the figures for 10 units of
infantry and 4 cavalry and 3 artillery per side in 10mm. Following a
quick paint around I will play with these using a variantion of
BattleCry (Command and Colors rules, played on a Hex Grid), while i
paint up the 30mms to my usual standard and try to recruit someone in the area for some Old School Gaming with CHARGE! type rules.
So the decision of scale was eventually not to decide, so just need
to create 2 countries, pick a colour, a flag and a symbol, base up
the strips and get em on the field.....
also after all the blog talk i thought i would also attempt to start
one of these too, so that not only will i post up the progress of my
Imagi-nation but also the progress on the TMP PLEDGE that i started
in January.... 650 25mm figures so this year, shame they arnt mine
but it does mean i can buy in some more RSM95's.....
cheers Shaun