Magazine Index now contains 3600 article entries

Almost 2 years ago I started the Wargames Magazine Index.

So far, each magazine had its own tab in the overall data sheet, but a few week ago, I added a compiled list (all entries in one big sheet), which greatly facilitates searching. This single sheet is updated automatically once every week.

Currently, this are the number of articles entries, counted by magazine. Multi-part articles usually have a single entry.

wargamesillustrated	1711
miniaturewargames	422
practicalwargamer	372
miniaturewargames w battlegames	272
wss	236
battlegames	232
wargannual	163
wargamesworld	56
vae victis thématiques	40
classicwj	38
secrets of wargame design	25
wargamersnotes	12
wargamesjournal	8

Visualized in a pie chart:

Narrative Wargaming

A couple of years ago, we ran a number of games that involved narrative gaming mechanics to conduct a miniatures wargame. These were published in Battlegames magazine, issue 33 (January 2013).

I have made the text - as submitted - available on this page. For the article as it was edited and published, you should try to find a backcopy.

Below is an example sequence illustrating the gaming mechanics.

This situation shows the Ingermanlandski regiment (the guys in the yellow jackets), ready to attack a farm defended by the Swedish Dal regiment. We have 4 players around the table. It is Player A’s turn, and he has Russian objective 5 (R5), explicitly stating the Ingermanlandski regiment should attack one of the farms. Player A formulates an order stipulating exactly that, and now the voting phase begins. Player B holds objective R2, favouring a slow and steady Russian advance. Player C has objective S6, with which he has to hold the farm with the Dal regiment at all costs. Objective S4, held by player D favours a concentrated Swedish defense further back.

So, players B and C probably will not support the order of Ingermanlandski attacking, while player D might go either way. Player D therefore proposes an alternative. He wants the Dal regiment withdrawing immediately from the farm, before a melee takes place. Player A is not against this idea, since it means he might occupy the farm with Ingermanlandski unopposed, Player B is also not against any Swedish withdrawing, but player C wants to hold the farm. So, this order will probably receive more votes than the earlier one. If the 2^nd proposal wins, the situation is now that the Dal regiment withdraws from the farm.

Embryonal brainstorm for Crisis 2017

Crisis 2017 is only 6 months away, so we better start brainstorming about game the game we are going to run.

An initial effort of putting the brainjuices to work came up with the following 2 ideas:

1. Run a Shambattle game, using the 1929 rules and vintage flat metal soldiers.

2. Surf the Oldhammer wave, and run the Ziggurat of Doom scenario from WFB1, using vintage figures from the 80s.

We still have 5 months to think about it, then scramble everything together in the remaining 4 weeks.

A new donation for the Wargames Index project

Yesterday I received a batch of issues of Practical Wargamer. These will be added to the indexing project in due time.

Thanks to Robert from the Wargamorium for generously donating them! These are roughly 35 issues in total, and provide a nice glimpse into the wargaming world of the 80s and 90s.

Cards for Dragon Rampant

I've always liked the somewhat erratic nature of fantasy games: random abilities for units, random spells for wizards, weird and unexpected effects, strange monster abilities, etc. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Warhammer 1st edition was my entry into miniature wargaming, and that I still consider Warhammer 3rd a very fine book. Some players hate it, exactly because you had to determine a number of things randomly (spells, chaos attributes, ...), but I always loved it for that.

Anyway, I want to instill the same flavour into our Dragon Rampant games, hence I came up with some cards that allow us randomize the game accordingly. The cards are shown below, and contain abilities for leader figures (more or less taken from the DR rulebook), spells (we draw 3 spells per wizard at random), and a random ability for a magic sword (instead of the vanilla enchanted weapon that is described in the rules).

We'll test them out during our next DR game.

We made the cover!

We made the cover of Wargamer's Notes!

There's an article (written by yours truly) in the latest issue of how we approach our scifi skirmish campaign - nicknamed Antares 2401.

Wargamer's Notes is a free online magazine. Here's the index for the latest issue (along with contact details if you're interested):

This issue has also been added to the Magazine Index.