Friday, 6 May 2011

Better Red than Dead - preview

I mentioned in a previous post (http://megablitzandmore.blogspot.com/2011/04/coming-soon.html) that I would post a preview of the new Wargame Developments (North) participation game which will be launched at Sheffield Triples on 21 & 22 May. 
I had the idea (and came up with the name) early in 2010, and John Armatys finally managed to turn it into a 20-30 minute game early this year.  Players begin the game as junior unit commanders in the Red Army of 1918 and must strive to be promoted - and survive!  No conflict there then....
On Wednesday evening we ran a final 'dress rehearsal' of the game at the Sheffield club, dragging in a couple of 'volunteers' to help make up numbers.  This gave us four players and a umpire (the game will accommodate from 1 to 6 players) to give the final version of the game a decent workout.
I remembered to take a few photos during the game and offer them here for your edification.
The layout of the game - ready for play!
An individual player control panel.
The game in play - clockwise from left - Martin, Tommo, John, Gunter and your humble correspondent.  Silly hats are optional but highly desirable.
Some of the figures in play.  28mm toys painted by John.
The figure representing Gunter - it looked very like him!
Half of the players ended up here at some point.
In the game we played, several of us made it to Colonel, two ended up in the Gulag, one was purged and one killed during the German invasion of 1941.  Pretty historical then.
As mentioned earlier, we will be running the game at Triples later this month - do come and see us if you are at the show - and bring your own silly hat!
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10 comments:

  1. Arquinsiel6 May 2011 at 15:17

    This reminds me of the boardgame Junta for some reason. It looks fun.

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  2. Don M6 May 2011 at 16:04

    I can just hear the National Anthem of the Soviet Union, or was it the
    Internationale ? Both are toe tappers! Looks like a fun game!
    Congratulations!

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  3. Tim Gow6 May 2011 at 16:34

    Arquinsiel
    I think Junta has a rather better survival rate...

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  4. Tim Gow6 May 2011 at 16:36

    Don M
    Oddly enough we used a tape of the Soviet national anthem when presenting medals after another of our games - Cliches of the Great Patriotic War, which we ran at shows a few years back.

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  5. Trebian6 May 2011 at 19:51

    Bit concenred that silly hats are only optional.

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  6. Tim Gow6 May 2011 at 22:39

    Trebian
    Optional in the same way that serving the motherland is optional...

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  7. Paul7 May 2011 at 01:31

    Looks a fun game, the red army would have benefitted from a man with your expectional talents.

    More silly hats please!

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  8. Tim Gow7 May 2011 at 09:30

    Paul
    'Exceptional talents?' Oh, you mean "send 'em forward, and shoot 'em if they come back."

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  9. Arquinsiel19 May 2011 at 14:34

    Upon discussion with my regular group we have decided that we must play this. I have been nominated to formally request that you make this game available to the public in some form.

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  10. Tim Gow19 May 2011 at 16:17

    Arquinsiel
    You're in luck! Full details of the game (and many other fib=ne games) will appear in 'Nugget', the journal of Wargame Developments during the course of the coming year. Membership details can be found at http://www.wargamedevelopments.org/join.htm
    Go on - you know it makes sense!

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