I'm pleased to announce that an updated version of the WD handbook can now be viewed on the WD website.
The handbook includes a history of WD, along with descriptions of many different types of wargames and an extensive glossary of wargaming and WD specific terms.
What is it?
When is it?
Where is it?
What will it cost me?
Following the success of similarly events in the past three
years, VCOW is now an annual fixture in Wargame Developments’ calendar.
VCOW has preciously featured participants from four
continents and welcomed many new and returning members, many of whom had in the
past been unable to share in the COW experience.
VCOW is not a replacement for COW – the latter will take place as usual in July.
Details of sessions available will be posted on the WD Blog and this will be
updated as more information becomes available.
Attendance at VCOW is open to the
following:
Members
of Wargame Developments
Guests
invited by WD members
The cost to attend is a mere £10 - the proceeds will be used
to help defray the expenses of WD's new website.
Booking details will follow soon!
COW 2022 has been and gone. All the feedback I have so far had indicate is was a great success. My heartfelt thanks again to all those who contributed to the weekend.
Our usual venue being unavailable, this year we were at the Defence Academy Of The United Kingdom in Shrivenham. I’ve visited and indeed run games at Shrivenham several times previously.
COW 2022 will not be held at Knuston Hall, which is closed until the autumn (details below).
The COW organisers are committed to holding a WD event this summer - either a VCOW over the weekend 8th - 10th July or a face to face COW at an alternative venue and possibly over a different weekend.
We hope to make an announcement at the end of this month.
The details from the Knuston Hall website and Facebook page are as follows:
"Knuston Hall is currently closed and courses are cancelled until Autumn 2022.
The Council is reviewing operations, including looking at improvements to the facilities and safety upgrades.
We understand this will be disappointing for our customers and hope to conclude the review as quickly as possible.
In the meantime we are not taking any bookings for future courses and any monies paid for courses in the cancellation period will be refunded. We will not be transferring money to future courses.
We will be working through cancellations in date order and will be in touch with you regarding your booking.
Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience and disappointment this has caused."
Today, for the first time in two and a half years, I attended a wargames show! Partizan, these days at the Newark Showground, is effectively my ‘local’ show being only a 40 or so minute drive away. It was good to meet up with friends, notably (and apologies if I’ve missed you): John, Tim, Russell, Diego, Simon, Tom, Graham, Phil, Chris K, Chris A, Mick, Mark, Kayte, Terry and Bob. And of course this was the first Partizan since the sad death of Duncan Macfarlane. He was much in my thoughts.
As always I was part of a team presenting a participation game. This year we had Tim C’s ‘1812’, which allowed a solo player to take the part of Napoleon and fight his Russian campaign in only ten minutes! The game was set on a lovely map and used some of Tim’s beautiful 1/300 H&R figures.
Here is the timetable and session list. The paper programme will be sent to attendees next week and pdf versions are in the Files section of the WD io Group.
John Bassett
CHANGING HORSES
75 minutes all
attendees
The government of a small eastern
European country is attempting to change sides during a world war.
Time for a bold realignment. But which
of your Cabinet colleagues can you actually trust? How loyal is the Army? Is the Prime Minister really up to the job? And how best to deal with all those political
prisoners?
Is this hour for you to stand firm for
principle and destiny or would it be better to head to Switzerland with those
Renaissance paintings you put to one side just in case...?
John Bassett
CHANGING HORSES – THE REALITY
1 hour any
A presentation and conversation about
the historical realities behind the plenary game: the problems, pitfalls and
ways out of being a minor power on the losing side in a global war.
Tim Gow & Nick Huband
A BATTLE OF MONSTERS
2 hours
A lawn game very loosely based on the
second battle of Villers Bretonneux (24 April 1918). Starting with a gas attack
and going rapidly downhill from there, this game is absolutely not simply a
lame excuse for the fielding of large numbers of 1/32 model tanks.
Ian Drury
The Centurions: Counter-insurgency operations in
Algeria, 1958
2 hours 4-6
The French army pioneered air mobile
warfare in its doomed attempt to defeat the 1950s insurgency in Algeria. Your
chance to assault clifftops in the Kabylie mountains from Piasecki ‘Banane’
helicopters, supported by S–58 ‘Pirate’ gunships using 20mm figures and 1/72nd aircraft.
Soundtrack by Edith Piaf.
John Armatys
CLUEDO HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM
1½ hours - 2 hours 6-8
Terrorists have taken hostages in Tudor
Mansion. The area has been secured by local security forces but, as they
approached the house, Dr. Black was murdered by the terrorists. The Hostage
Rescue Team has been deployed. A silly game cunningly developed from the
virtual version….
David Bradbury
THE BATTLE OF THE COWSHED
4-5
Do you believe in the golden
future time when tyrant man shall be o'erthrown? Or do you think four legs
good, two legs better? Come and fight for your chosen side in this climatic
struggle for the future of Animal Farm.
Russell King
WINTEX-75
3 hours 8-10
Managing a nuclear crisis related
to hostile activity by ORANGEland. You will be a key member of the War Book
Executive Government arm (GOV-EX) of HM Government, responsible for
operationalising HM-CABINET decisions. Normal Governmental scrutiny is of course
not possible at this time and you will work in a collegiate manner to arrive at
saving the maximal amount of life and suffering of the Queen's subjects. Based
on contemporary documents.
Russell King
CLUEDO: BAADER-MEINHOF WAGEN
60-90 minutes 5-6
Gunning stolen high-performance
vehicles the length of West German autobahns, the early members of the Rote
Armee Fraktion try to get the maximum suss on the chaos of their own
Revolutionary Cells. You may well know how to play Cluedo. But do you know who
is blowing-up US soldiers 'for fun'? And
who is the Black September Movement link at Munich '72? A road map, a lentil
stew, a long-term isolation cell, and an extra-judicial killing awaits.
Graham Evans
FOR WHOM THE DICE ROLLS
4 hours 4-6
Spanish Civil War Divisional Level
game with 15mm Figures
“For Whom The Dice Rolls” is the
much revised, published version of “Send Not To Know” which originally debuted
at COW in 2011. The rules were written specifically for the SCW, trying to
avoid being an add on or a set of “WW2-lite” rules. Within the rules the
battalion is the basic unit of manoeuvre within a brigade structure. Heavy
artillery and air strikes are included as part of an “Off Table Asset” system.
The game uses an integrated IGO-UGO system with players alternating activations
within a turn, the total number activations within each player phase being
driven by runs of playing cards. The game challenges the player to put together
a coherent plan within the confines of command structures that encompass armies
often made up of multiple factions. (NB this is one of Graham’s rare game
systems without squares).
John Curry
Hiding in plain sight: the
relationship between hobby and professional wargaming
1 hour any
The talk will focus on the theme
of how the hobby have influenced developments in professional gaming over the
last two centuries. The plan is for the talk to be broadcast live via Zoom to
members of WD who cannot attend the conference.
Graham Evans
It’s Getting A Bit Chile
3-4 hours 4-6
Land warfare in the 1879 Pacific
War with 15mm figures
Returning after its premiere at
COW 2016, here’s a chance to play the heavily revised and updated rules for
battles between Peru, Chile and Bolivia in the infamous “Saltpeter” or “10 Cent
War” that shaped modern South America. The game plays on a 3” gridded playing
surface, and features novel firing and close combat mechanisms that inflict
disorder on units. Disorder has to be manged through rallying and unit
formation to ensure that armies do not disintegrate through mis-management.
Commanders are represented as unique individuals whose abilities shape the way
armies fight and perform on the table top. Plus it looks really colourful and
has lots of llamas.
Graham Evans
Dicing With Death
30 minutes up
to 6
A quick play gladiatorial combat
game designed by WD founder Derek Henderson, who sadly is no longer able to
attend COW. The rules use a novel poker dice style combat system, which has
wider application. The game will be played with really old 25mm gladiator
figures from the early 70s, and will feature an arena in a biscuit tin. Ideal
for late night games in the bar.
John Curry
Invasion and Blockade
2 hour 1-8
Tactics was a board wargame published
in 1954 and is credited as being the first commercially successful printed
(i.e. board) wargame. My research has shown this not to be true. This session
is an opportunity to play two rare examples of games published prior to World
War II. Invasion (1938) and Blockade (1939) were by Dennis Wheatley and they
anticipated some of the opening games of the subsequent war.
John Bassett
BITTER MEDICINE
2 hours 6-8
A game on the future of Putin's
Russia and the struggle for the succession.
As Russia approaches the 2024 Presidential election the Kremlin has to
manage a number of crises in which many actors, including liberal reformers,
the energy sector, the intelligence services, hard line nationalists and the
military all have stakes. Your chance to
preside over the secession of the Russian Far East, roaring hyper-inflation, a
rising tide of extremism in Central Asia and NATO enlargement in the
Caucasus...
Mark Flanagan
War Plan Red: A Second Boston Tea Party
90 minutes 2-4
With the 1922 Washington Naval
Treaty in tatters the former allies entered into the feared naval arms race
against each other. The cost crippled
economies that had not yet recovered from the Great War. A fiercely isolationist American tipped Great
Britain into an ill thought out Second Naval Treaty with Japan. US Import tariffs and an aggressive US stop
and search policy on inbound merchant ships to Canada caused a trade war to
turn into a Naval War.
Based on the game mechanism of the
Atlantic Chase WWII game player plot out their naval campaign.
Miniatures (with suitably fast
play rules) will appear if the fabled War Plan Red "Battle of Sable
Island" occurs.
Stephen Aguilar-Millan,
Charlotte Aguilar-Millan, Robert Eagling
CHINA IMPLODES
4 hours 6-9
In a near term wild card scenario,
what would happen if China, as we know the current territorial entity to be,
were to fragment? Where would the fault lines of separation occur? More to the
point, how could various actors guide this fragmentation to achieve an outcome
more to their liking?
China Implodes is a game set in the near future that examines the political
turmoil that could result from a less cohesive China. Played at the grand
strategic level, the players will represent various internal and external
political actors who may be affected by a fragmenting China. The game will
progress using matrix style arguments, with the umpires adding a little spice
to ensure that a hot dish is served up.
Tom Mouat
BANDERA!
2 hours 5-6
A Matrix game about the current
situation in the Ukraine. Roles for
Russia, Ukraine, Ukrainian Separatists, The USA, The EU, and Other global
Actors, including China, COVID-19/Economic factors, and Refugees.
Tom Mouat
PANDEMIC PLANNING!
2 hours 4-6
A Staff-Planning Game based on the
author's experiences at the Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic,
including reminiscences about 39 Victoria Street... You have just arrived at 39
Victoria as a "military planning team" to assist the battalions of highly-paid
consultants in solving the pandemic crisis (Operation MOONSHOT). The head of
the team (ex-SAS) has just returned from Downing Street and wants you to come
up with a plan for mass testing in the Channel Islands! (This game is completely
fictitious. Any resemblance in the game between any persons or Government
Departments, living or dead, is entirely coincidental).
Tom Mouat
DISTRESS CALL!
2 hours 4-6
A One-Shot Role Play Session in a
1980s vision of the far future, using a streamlined 2D6 system. A lone freighter, in the depths of space,
receives a weak proximity distress signal while passing through the asteroid
belt. The signal is localised and the radar return is small. What is it? What
should we do?
Mike Elliott
Gibraltar of The North
30 minutes (will run several
times) 4
Being a (probably short) post
prandial entertainment based on an incident during the Siege of Louisbourg in
1758.
Mike Elliott
Nostalgia Rules OK
2 hours up
to 6
A game using Spencer Smith figures
and a set of rules that first saw the light of day over 50 years ago, albeit
with a few tweaks to make them easier for modern wargamers.
Sue Laflin-Barker
To Sail the Spanish Main
2 hours up
to 7
The situation is still the same.
The merchant fleet is attempting to reach harbour and the pirates are attempting
to intercept it.. This year I want to see what effect changes in the terrain
have on the game.
COW2021 2nd
to 4th July 2021
In
anticipation that Stage 3 of the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions will come
into operation on 17th May, we have begun the process of planning
for COW2021.
At
present, the situation regarding what restrictions might be in place when
Knuston Hall reopens is unclear, but rather than wait until 17th May
to begin preparations for the conference, we are starting now. With this in
mind, we would like to make the parameters we are working to as clear as
possible.
·
All
those who paid in full for COW2020 have had their bookings carried forward to
COW2021. If you fall into this category, you do not need to book a place at
COW2021 but it would be helpful if you could confirm that you still wish to
attend by emailing Bob Cordery (using the email address on the back page of
Nugget). If you wish to cancel your booking, please do so as soon as possible,
again by emailing Bob and any money you have paid will be refunded to you.
·
It
is not possible at present to take any further bookings for COW2021.
·
If
you wish to offer a session for inclusion in the COW2021 programme, please
could you contact Tim Gow (again, contact details are in Nugget) as soon as
possible? He can then begin to plan the conference programme in anticipation
that COW2021 will take place.
·
Any
arrangements that we make will need to be flexible and may be subject to change
at short notice. We have no control over the restrictions that Knuston Hall may
need to operate under when they reopen, but rest assured that we will do our
utmost to regularly update attendees.
Bob
Cordery and Tim Gow
COW
Co-ordinators
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