Well, on the whole it was an excellent day. I don't think I had realized how much I've missed spending time in person with old friends, (not that I'm calling any of us "old" but its been 45 years since I met them...).
On the game front, well, there was a lot more talking about many things than playing (about a 2:1 ratio at least) but none of the ACW game issues that I've been struggling with have been overcome by the latest fiddling, so at the end of the day, we were only 1/2 way through the scenario that was optimistically intended to only take 3-4 hours to play.
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| At the start of the game. Les has decided to deploy his centre in Brigade mass with supported lines on either flank. The Yankee 1st Brigade is deployed with 2nd Brigade just entering. My Division is huddled in a corner of the table, dicing each turn to arrive. |
I'm pretty much convinced now that there are just too many units on the table to reach a conclusion in four hours without taking too much of the flavour out for my tastes. So, for the fourth time in 2 years, I'm going to have another go at the sensible approach and treat brigades as the basic unit. (We had some great games of Fire & Fury last century but there were many a Friday night when I was heading for home after midnight.)
Realistically, my current standard twelve stand brigades are too big for my table so I'm going to trim them down giving me more brigades to work with for bigger games.
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| Where we halted (somewhere around turn 8 of 15). |
If nothing else it'll be easier to mark the bases for recognition and easier to vary the unit strength for scenarios. But not today.
Sounds like you had a great reunion! The pics are nice but I see what you mean - that's a lot of units to move.
ReplyDeleteThe pace picked up as the guys got used to the rules but even so it was obvious that the game was taking too long for what was intended to be a quick game.
DeleteTable looks great but busy. Even better is you got together to game in person.
ReplyDeleteAnd to be honest, the game was primarily an excuse to get together. Still, would have been nice to sail through it to a conclusion. :)
DeleteQuality gaming time!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Primary objective achieved!
DeletePlaying with your lovely Airfix ACW collection and hanging out with old friends…
ReplyDeleteThe result of the game probably doesn’t matter…
All the best. Aly
Mission accomplished really.
DeleteGlad the day went well. As for marking and ID, a suggestion, and something I've done myself: Mark flag stands with a letter and a number, then record a brigade commander's name starting with that letter for when the unit is a brigade, and a regimental number for when the unit is a regiment, so A/1 CSA might be Ames' Brigade or the 1st Maryland Regiment (CS), depending on rules used. Saves redesignating them when you switch again, and let's you block out organization and preliminary orders using purely letters and numbers so you don't have to look up who everyone is until you're ready to address the troops.
ReplyDeleteRobert
Thanks for the ideas.
Delete>going to have another go at the sensible approach
ReplyDelete...???? (Isn't that like playing with fire? Is that even allowed?)
Btw, those are Cool-Lookin' Union Blue Dice! XD
Yeah, anonymous alberta addition, Santa lives! Eh?
DeleteLooks great anyway! And meeting up with friends (regardless of vintage) is good. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was the main point really and we're working on having it happen more regularly again.
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