Conference of Wargamers 2013

The Programme and for COW 2013 is now with the printer and will be with attendees later this week.  For those of you who either can't wait or won't be there, here are the sessions which I have been offered:

Mike Young

THE PLENARY GAME – THE FIRST GENOCIDE
Homo Sapiens vs. Neanderthal. The 2013 plenary game will be a “cardboard simulator” representing the first great victorious war of mankind – that in which Homo Sapiens Sapiens eradicated the Neanderthals. The game will involve much running around the Knuston site and grunting, as the Neanderthals defend their hearth, women, children and crops from the encroachment of Homo Sapiens. You will all need to come dressed as a caveman. So bring along any fur coats or sheepskin rugs you may have to dress up in. Please also bring along an inflatable plastic club if you have one. You will also each need to bring an extra small sock for a mysterious use.  What could possibly go wrong?
ADVANCE WARNING. Which team you are on will be determined by your weight at the start of the conference. The heaviest two thirds of you will play Neanderthals and the lightest one third Homo Sapiens. So if you want to be on the favourite team now is the perfect excuse to start that diet you have always been meaning to do

WD Display Team North
TEN ROUNDS RAPID
Plucky Brits trying to bag a few Huns before going home by Christmas.  A fast-paced WW1 participation game.

Tim Gow, John Armatys & Martin Rapier (so basically WDDTN again)

FLETCHER PRATT ON GRASS
The Fletcher Pratt Naval war game with 1/1200 scale toy ships – on the lawn!

John Armatys

CURSUS HONORUM
The game of political advancement in the Roman Republic which involves much rolling of dice and instructing stone masons to carve suitable inscriptions on tombs. An entertainment for up to six players.

Sue Laflin Barker

GENTLEMEN GO BY
It's still the morning after the smugglers have landed their goods. They are still trying to deliver the contraband to those who have ordered it and the Revenue are still trying to intercept it. I have made some adjustments to the rules which I hope will make the game run more smoothly. As before there is room for up to 4 tavern keepers and up to 3 revenue.

Jim Wallman

THE FORTRESS
A committee game set in World War II about designing and constructing a scheme of fortifications.

Jim Wallman

THE WAR OF FREEDONIAN SUCCESSION
A Game for Boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books.  Basically cocking about on the
lawn with big toy soldiers and matchstick firing guns.

Graham Evans

TAIPING ERA
A brief description of the session - 15mm rules for warfare in mid 19th Century China. The mechanisms are designed to cover combat between Imperial forces (their European style supports such as Chinese Gordon's Ever Victorious Army) and the various rebels (mainly the Taiping) and also the Barbarian Invaders. The core system uses the EDNA approach to simulate unit cohesion.

Phil Barker

BATTLE 1945
A WW2 ‘Sharp End’ toy soldier game.

John Curry

RANDOM TALES FROM THE HISTORY OF WARGAMING PROJECT
The first mega-game, the worst commando raid in history, how Paddy Griffith prevented World War III, Why WD never ruled the (wargaming) world, Video interview by ??, the True story of Don Featherstone’s Skirmish Wargames, the demise of the Wargames Newsletter and future directions History of Wargaming Project

John Curry

MICHAEL KORN'S MODERN WARS IN MINIATURE.
This will be a recreation of the almost unknown skirmish game from the early days of modern wargaming. Hidden scenario, limited situational awareness each player will command small band of men. Whether these men are equally determined as the players will be seen.

Phil Steele

BOSWORTH
A talk and presentation about the Battle of Bosworth.  This will be followed by:

Phil Steele

BIG BOSWORTH
The new 54mm DBA version of Bosworth. 

Jim Roche

ALL THE NICE GIRLS LOVE A SAILOR
Another singalong session following on from last year’s triumph.  This will have a nautical theme…

John Bassett

ZONA DI CAMORRA
Liberated Naples, 1943: a small team from British Intelligence. hunts for leading Fascists in an ancient, starving city rife with racketeering, prostitution and vendettas. A rather dark role-play on post-conflict reconstruction with some adult themes.

Alan Paull

16 CARD CARRIER STRIKE
A simple game of carrier action in World War II
World War 2 aircraft carrier battles were immensely complicated affairs, with many types of aircraft, weapons, different types of carrier and multitudinous other ships. Or were they? 16 card Carrier Strike portrays the essence of carrier battles in a simple format requiring cards, dice, markers and a playing area to represent the ocean. Cries of Tora!, Tora!, Tora! are completely optional.

Alan Paull

MISSION COMMAND
A rather complicated WW2 tactical / operational miniatures game.  More on Alan’s website at: http://www.surprisedstaregames.co.uk/MissionCommand/

Wayne Thomas & David Brock

TURKISH DELIGHT!
A 15mm foray into the Balkans circa 1912 using a "Far Away Wars" variant. Greeks v Ottomans

Ian Drury

IRONBOTTOM SOUND
A second demonstration of GENERAL QUARTERS III: this time a night action off Guadalcanal in late 1942. All aboard for the Tokyo Express. . .

Bob Cordery & Tim Gow

OPERATION VIJAY
A planning session followed by a map-based wargame (with toys!)  about Operation Vijay, - the Indian ‘liberation’ of Goa in 1961.

Mike Elliott

KENTISH REVELS
Being a game set in the 18th century somewhere in Kent. It may (or may not) have something to do with smuggling ...

Ian Drury

THE BATTLE OF GUMBINNEN, 20 AUGUST 1914
The first major battle between German and Russian forces in 1914, refought using Richard Brooks's rules with the same pinboard hidden movement system recently used in our refight of Mons-Le Cateau.

Russell King

CHICAGO CHICAGO!
A session which replays in a group format the infamous SPI political game  "Chicago-Chicago!" about the 1968 Democratic Party convention and presents some of the very odd and - for their time - innovative ideas behind it.

Mike Young

HAPSBURG LIP 2013
Leave the waging of wars to others! But you, happy Austria, marry; for the realms which Mars awards to others, Venus transfers to you

Mike Young

MOVE OVER TONY BLAIR....
An attempt to see if we at COW can come up with a peace settlement that would work in Syria in 2013.  Players take the role of Assad, the Alawites, the Sunni, Iran and the USA. Using a combination of a COW committee game and a Decision Workshop we see if we can come up with some ideas of what might work in Syria.  We can then compare it with what happens over the next year, and see how well we do compared with history. One map, 1 page A4 briefings, Politics on a single screen…  Want more details? Bring a newspaper.

Jim Roche
CATHOLIC SPECS
I’m a Christian.  I’d like to suggest that you need to put on Catholic Specs to see Western military history more clearly.  For most of our recorded history, Britain was Catholic.  Yet even our military historians have a blind spot about this.

Phil Steele

NEWBURY 1644
An ECW toy soldier game with historical commands and restrictions.