Peter Perla's Tribute Video (YouTube) courtesy of Connections UK Professional Wargaming Website

I would recommend The Art of Wargaming by Peter Perla, as it stands the test of time and is a myth buster and gives good practical common sense explanations. No magic, dispelling the aura of professional omnipotence and getting to the "heart of the game" for the "benefit of the players". It is all about the communication and narrative of the event.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8LB4gr5-0

This is worth reading (or listening to in the final minute of the video) as advice to anyone interested in recreational and/or professional wargaming (see below, I can testify that Peter Perla had time for anybody, he even game me ten minutes):  

The annotated page of advice that Peter Perla wrote to Colin Marston inside the front cover of Peter's Art of Wargaming book (magnus opus) that rings so true! No finer words sum up wargaming! (If you cannot read the handwriting then it is worth listening to in the last minute of the video).

Another good free book to read on Wargaming: Dunnigan's "Complete Wargames Handbook" (2000 Edition)

The classic wargames book: 

https://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/Complete-Wargames-Handbook-Dunnigan.pdf

Courtesy of the Connections Professional Wargaming site. Still relevant today. Try looking around their other downloads, it is an interesting mix of resources: 

 ttps://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/Downloads.html

Connections UK 2023 Professional Wargames Conference (at RMAS) was Spectacular!

The Connections UK 2023 Professional Wargaming Conference has certainly bounced back post Covid in fine style. Hosted quite appropriately at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) it served up a feast of wargaming talks and more importantly practical wargaming sessions. For more details see the Connections UK web-site: 

https://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/index.html

Specifically for Connections UK 2023: 

https://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/2023.html#:~:text=Dates%3A%20Connections%202023%20will%20be,to%20Thur%2007%20Sept%2C%202023.&text=After%20two%20years%20of%20scaled,face%2Dto%2Dface%20conference.

It was a "Who's Who" of the Professional Military and Academic (with hobbyist representation), crammed full of fascinating talks and plenary sessions.  

Flash Back: Memories of Binni (2016) .. A War that Never Was [Updated with Paxsims reference]

Excerpt from the "Interview with Bollangda Corrosaw" the leader of the Binni Official Opposition Party during the Great Binni Crisis of 2016 ... played at Connections UK 2016, apologies to all those who were not there as this post may not make much sense at all.  It was my character's interpretation of game events as nominal leader of The Official (but only one of the many) Opposition Parties in Binni. The place in question of course was, the troubled land of Binni, where game designer Jim Wallman's vivid imagination was let to run free unfettered (see below, a land waiting to fulfil its true potential, but being continually thwarted by the actions of its leaders):

[Narrator's Footnote: The old gentleman was lead in by his young grandson. Physically infirmed and partially sighted he nevertheless displayed a quickness of mind unbecoming of his physical appearance. He became animated upon his recollections and we sat for several hours by the light of a kerosene light talking. He gave me a frank and candid account of his actions during September 2016, his eyes glowing with an inner fire that seemed far more than the light reflected from the smoky lantern. Still on the run and technically in hiding the interview was prematurely terminated by his nervous security guards but Bollangda still managed to shed valuable light on the hitherto unknown actions of the Official Opposition Party and their motivations. In my subsequent hurried escape from Binni the bulk of the precious interview transcript was lost, apart from this tantalising fragment.]

[Bollangda] You have to understand that for some time the situation was getting progressively worse and worse in Binni. For those of us who had managed to benefit from the enlightened times of education and prosperity this backward slide into tribalism and superstition was dismaying. The soul of the country was being sucked into a mire. Foreign powers were active in manipulating this turn of events. With my own very eyes I had seen the 'white ghosts' [Ed: Mercenaries] of the Foreign Interventionists initiate horrendous, callous actions. For that I cannot forgive, yet I had to work with their White Masters as if they were not there, ignoring the sound of gunfire in the street. Using the low technical means available to my followers, we still managed a effective campaign of civil disobedience that hurt the vital infrastructure of the country and reduced the power and reach of the man who called himself President. While the man we considered our true leader languished in jail.  

[Ed:] A prison that as it turns out had very loose bars in the summer of 2016? 

[Bollangda, chuckled to himself] Yes, they underestimated us. Although the means at our disposal was primitive we were cunning like the fox. We sprung the old lion out, grabbing the attention of the nation and spreading fear into the hearts of our enemies. [Ed: The smile soon faded] Only to find that in prison he had lost his way and had turned into a bleating goat, putting himself above the people, indignant, as if the people had not suffered greatly for him. No sooner was he safe, he distanced himself from us and started acquiring wealth by working for those who had been his jailors. This was a treachery we could not stand. We cut ties with the old fool. I would not have his blood on my hands but I no longer offered him my protection and he moved back to the capitol. He soon was a mere laughing stock and fool of a clown, wearing a feathered hat and a string of medals on his chest. At that point I talked to the devil himself.    

[Ed:] Do you specifically mean the Paris Peace Conference where you met your Arch-Enemy the President?

[Bollangda] That was one of many indignities I endured during the strife. While publicly recognising me on the one hand the godless imperialists were working behind my back with my enemies sowing disunity and corruption with all their foreign money. Wealth unimaginable was spent on weapons of destruction, if it had been used in peaceful ways it could have created a utopia that would have been the envy of the world. I shook the hand of my worst enemy in front of the world's media to cement the promise of a fair election in Binni, but little did I know how much control he had already lost and what gerrymandering he had instore for us. I managed to force his hand to an exact date while I danced briefly on that world stage, that is my second most valuable contribution and achievement in defence of the land I love, Binni.

[Ed:] Second? It is widely recognised that it was you who put in motion the wheels of the first (allegedly) free election in Binni. The first election for over thirty years, much to the chagrin of the then President whose face fell when he realised what he had inadvertently accepted. Despite the election's flaws the democratic momentum was now nevertheless unstoppable. The nation was and still is grateful to you Bollangda, you started the end of the downfall. What achievement do consider was greater than that?

[Bollangda, smiled whimsically] The election was a sham, the President proclaimed himself a clear winner by mathematics that a child at elementary school would laugh at. More people voted in his small region than could fit in the whole country. The United Nations would not even dare to contemplate verifying such a result. That was his undoing as he unleashed suppressed anger. Anger that was easily focused on him and all that was wrong with his regime, as you know his external supporters - the White Mercenaries, his very bodyguards turned on him inside his own Presidential Palace, at the news of the armed Christian faction entering the capitol. The President ran from room to room, but they gunned him down in cold blood. [Bollangda sighed] Young man, the road to the capitol had been blocked to the Christian faction, it was corked as a bottle by my forces. I met with the Christian leader and although our faith differed we were united in what we thought best for our country, our beloved Binni. I shook his hand and stepped aside, he had the might that was needed, I told him it was time to act, I would not oppose him and so the capitol fell. That my so was my greatest achievement, the one I am proud of, even as I fell front my own position of relative power. At least it enabled another to do what was right and so I stepped aside. 

[Ed: There were so many other questions I would have liked to ask the old man. As the history books will tell you Binni did not rest at ease for very long. Unexpected events, this time external to the country saw to that, but I was grateful for the opportunity of meeting with a living part of history. Bollangda, rest well in your 'long peace' in the stars, as your time has now passed, Binni thanks you as a true son for your service, faithful to the end.]

Note: Many thanks to the organisers of the Connections UK Mega Game of 2016, it was a very good educational experience and a truly fun (but in no means trivia) game which nicely set the scene for the following days fantastic Professional Wargaming conference! 

External Links: 

'Just' [seven years after the event!] rediscovered this Paxsims resource: 

https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/connections-uk-2016-civil-war-in-binni/#comment-128201

https://paxsims.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/united-nations.pdf

As the umpires saw it (or rather Rex Bryan, from McGill University, a very experience Mega Game organiser, umpire and observer). See my comments below on his PowerPoint presentation, relating to the points I can remember and participated in.

Wonderful wording [as in spin on the truth] on slide three:

Footnotes: "President of Binni addresses UNSC" [in retrospect I should of taken a trip to the UN to woo them, but it was a very long physical walk and I would have lost a lot of playing time to little perceived gain so I delegated to my second in command to speak on teh Official Opposition's behalf, and we also feared a kidnap attempt] – "proclaims an inclusive vision of the country – points to release of leader of opposition" [as opposed to the actual jail break we performed], "willingness to consider coalition government" [that's when our NPC who was part played by a person from the Umpire's Team went "rogue" and as a result lost our protection]

Footnotes: "SAS providing personal protection to opposition leader – has weakened opposition, painted as tool of foreign powers" [Argh, this in retrospect was an EPIC home goal that slipped in via a side-door. As the Official Opposition Party was sorely overlooked by "imperialists" for resources and money, despite asking for assistance and the only help came in the form of a couple of 'heavily armed SAS chaps' was better than nothing (someone else had a detachment of the French Foreign Legion bumming around in a hotel drinking wine and doing nothing) - a turn later we politely kicked them out when our Great Leader "BoB" literally became a "Beast of Burden" working with the President. From a game perspective a small military unit, too small to be on the map became a poison chalice - opportunely used by other players or decreed by the umpire team]

Footnotes: "opposition disputing GoB election laws" [yes, we certainly did]

Footnotes: "– opposition leader joins cabinet" [to be clear this is "Bad BoB" not myself or any of the other (many) opposition leaders, now without his SAS bodyguard and disowned by his previous party] and "– Christian secure political loyalties of key leaders in capital" [see transcript above and the secret meeting when I urged the Christian to - "Do it" - "Really?" he asked "Yes, you have my support. Otherwise the Secret Police player, she's too sharp, will control the streets next turn" - and then we 'shook hands' on it]

Footnotes: "President freed by unknown group, later killed" [Oh dear, how sad, never mind. Not my doing I hasten to add, we were only saddened to here that our (in the past tense) BoB had not gone down with him. I don't know the full details of teh sorry, but freed and then killed in the escape was the 'Russian line' (allegedly)]

3D Printer - Model Satellite Construction

When you are designing a game and cannot find suitable models in the shops and cardboard counters will just not do, fear not 3D printing can come to your rescue (see below, need a satellite, know a friend with a 3D printer, ask them for a favour):

Paint it red and spy on the Americans (see below, a Sweeping Satellite counter checking out what the US are doing in South America): 

Satellite production line started (see below, there is a little patience required in teh "fiddle" of small parts slipping from my chunky fingers despite my opposed thumbs): 

Global coverage of satellite scans is increasing (see below, the typical game turn will require between three and five model counters to represent geographical areas scanned): 

For every Red model there is a reciprocal Blue (see below, the black line represents the satellite track and the circles locations to scan): 

The satellites had to fight for their space on the painting tray but were righteous and victorious in the end (see below, despite teh curing of teh super glue required): 

Ready to go to the show (see below, eight Red versus eight Blue):

All I need to add now is some yellow (China), green (Commercial) and white (NASA) satellites.

A Tale of Peasant Farming: Agrigola

One of the things I got from the Connections UK Wargame Conferences is a hit list of Bucket List games to get. In 2016 Nick Drage's presentation from Aleph Insight mentioned Agrigola as one such game. Therefore I am glad to announce I bagged this from a recent visit to Blackwell's Bookshop Game section in Edinburgh (see below, Agrigola - analysis of my peasant farming skill awaits): 

So far I have got as far as the unboxing, but it just goes to show you don't have to have "tanks" in a game for it to be "good" ;)

Looking back at Connections UK 2019 Sabin - Punic War

While on the subject of things dating back to 2019, I found a couple of photos from the first day of Connections UK 2019 which as I remember was was packed full of "other" games. I took full advantage of this and joined a morning gaming session of Phil Sabin's multi-player Second Punic War game (I had read it from the book [Simulating War] but had never assembled a critical mass of interested people to actually get down to play it). Wargaming the strategic level of the Punic War board/wargame was a first for me, I only partially knew the background (Cannae to Zama), so I was not going to pass up a session with the author of the game. It was memorable. In the first run through, playing as the Leader of  Carthage I was beautifully stitched up by the Numidians and lost to Rome (even before the arrival of Scipio Africanus) .. so ho hum (see below, the state of the Cyber game board says it all, lots of Romans in North Africa - it did beautifully show the dynamic behaviour of the campaign and shows how a game can help unravel historical elements hidden by the text book - the importance of alliances and keeping  allies in check in particular - one of those Carthage "C"s in Africa [the Numidian] turns to a "R" [infamy] and the fat lady sings for Carthage):

The second run-through (where I played as Rome, but as a junior general) had a strange fratricidal "re-cock" [nothing I hasten to add to do with me] as internal Roman politics proved to be more dangerous than the Armies of Carthage - leading to a stupendous case of petulant "bad play" that let Carthage have an easy victory. After a 'group discussion' a decision to re-cock was made and the Romans got their act together so Carthage fell again (see below, "R" for Roman and "C" for Carthage - Africa has fallen to Rome, end-game for Carthage): 

Individual player scores are kept (so you can be the winner of the winning team and/or loser of the losing team), but this part of the game seems to be more of avoiding a "race to the bottom" - no good seems to come from going to war when you lose (see below, presumably the Roman winners will now celebrate in the traditional Roman way by plotting against each other in internal Senate politics, probably with as equally fatal consequences): 

The other point to note is the really effective way the game was presented by using" minimal computer power". Professor Sabin used a simple Cyberboard display (akin to a PowerPoint or Google Docs electronic document) with the Mediterranean game board & counters. He acted as control by moving the simple tokens about the board as directed by the players. All-in-all it was an obvious evolution of his "chalk and talk" KCL seminar sessions associated with his MA courses. The Cyberboard way of hosting will doubtless have saved him a fair bit of chalk by not having to continuously redraw the map of the Mediterranean. 

Connections 2019 Fire/Move Components

In hindsight perhaps I should have showed this post first as this was in preparation for the 2019 Connection UK Fire-Move games. I decided to take the same terrain as I did for Connections UK 2016 when I first did Fire-Move, but upgrade the infantry models from Skytrex Action 200 to Pendrakon 10mm figures (see below, the basic British OoB for the game [as per the book], comprising of an infantry battalion, four companies [red, yellow, green, blue] of three infantry platoons, plus a Vickers HMG support platoon [white] and a 3" mortar platoon [top right hand corner, off-table left with basic flocking]): 

The similarity to a Spearhead or Command Decision order of battle (OoB) is somewhat striking (and reassuring) - so I now can field a British infantry battalion for those rulesets too, which is a bonus. These are also the playing pieces that can appear on table top - note the Vickers HMG can support all the other companies with direct fire, but once placed on the baseline cannot move other than to retire out of the game for good. The other thing to remember about the Vickers is a -1 DRM applies when danger close, as in a friendly unit is adjacent to an enemy unit it is firing at. The distinct colour banding is also to act as a aide memoir to help supporting direct fire and close assault respect the "same" company restriction (see below, I have also colour coded fire and assault markers [painted cocktail stick and coffee stirrers] for the combat phase, so a simple "same colour" visual check can be applied): 

The Germans can in theory operate in two modes, the common static defence position, as shown below with a colour coded company (as per the British because the same fire restrictions apply to the Germans)  and a crude "barbed wire" representation to their front (X-X-X). This slip of paper could be detached or folded under the figure base if it was moved in the course of the game (see below, a simple system that worked well in practice, although it is noted that the Germans hardly ever elected to move .. note in the London Exiles game, the only German movement was to move [retreat] off table): 

With that the game components were complete ready to "meet the players". Going back to reference the Spearhead and Command Decision rulesets again, in Fire-Move there is no reference to a Battalion Command Stand, so there is no limitation to the number of orders that could be given in a turn, either in the number of or distance from the battalion. Command Decision drops a level further down to Company Command Infantry stands [Nationalities like the Americans and German can actually elect to have a separate Company Command Stand]. One last difference is the provision of the Battalion Carrier Platoon, often used in a fighting Reece function or a very valuable Admin helper moving munitions and stores around, even evacuating casualties. That element is ignored for Fire-Move and assumed to be on "other duties".

Connections 2019 - FireMove and Exiles' Party (Part 2 of 2)

Phase II: The attack is going in hard on the German right flank. "Bags of smoke and flank left" as I think the British Army expression goes, plus a huge concentration of the British PBI force, three infantry companies attacking to one defending certainly helps. 75% of the British battalion are hitting at this point here .. ouch .. (see below, top of photo, another close combat goes in against the middle German platoon): 

The advance is merciless and methodical ... although momentarily stalled. FireMove does not always produce fluid flowing play as the defenders can with the roll of the dice can produce an unexpected roadblock (see below, the heavy British pressure is held for at least one more turn and time is a factor in this game as there is an implicit fatigue and exhaustion point):  

Note how the British green company has been reduced under the withering fire of the "other" German company and logistics "firing out one platoon". Attacking entrenched infantry at 1:1 of odds, even with two HMG Platoons, does not bode well for the attacker. Meanwhile at the north/top end of the photograph an infantry assault clears another German platoon from table (see below, that is 2VPs for the British and 2VPs for the German in infantry KIA):  

The British infantry advance on towards the German baseline, pressing on, heeding the ancient axiom of "not fighting where you do not have to". One consequence of this headlong rush forwards is the awful intermingling of platoons from different British companies which hinders both suppressive supporting fire and close assault execution. Different coloured companies cannot fire in mutual support or perform mutual assaults together, although a "white" Vickers HMG could - subtle but effective rules (see below, the German baseline is a feast of additional or rather potential VP that are up for grabs):  

A line of VP markers are placed along the German baseline that are "up for grabs" - which serves to emphasise the plight of the German defenders. The German turn is rather quick as the British have done a good job in suppressing them so the only action left open to then is to rally and recover - becoming fresh again (see below, please note the third white platoon on the British baseline is the British scout stand which has chosen to retire, its job): 

For who the dice rolls! In this case a terrible "one", for the Germans. No hits are automatic so a "one" can mean a failure at the most critical of times (see below, I think the roll was probably defensive fire or a German close assault that went horribly wrong, with the action probably fat away from this safe German platoon): 

British Turn (Reinforcement Call - burning 3VPs to bring on some tanks, but risking them [minus 1 VP for any lost] on the assumption in the time remaining they can be driven off the board from 2VPs each): With an opening created and a safe zone cleared by the British Infantry Battalion asks for (as yet unallocated by Brigade) armour support to exploit this opportunity. A favourable dice roll - possibly influenced by imbibed strong beer, sees two |75mm Sherman tanks and a 17 pounder Firefly Sherman appear ominously on the British baseline. Note, also the use of black painted cocktail sticks that denote movement - so a unit cannot fire if it has a black stick on, this was a very useful aide memoire (see below, this really looks like curtains for the German right flank, time perhaps for the German to ask for armour support (?) as he sees this threat develop - see how those movement markers imply the final German platoon in the north is about to be surrounded.):  

The last German platoon in the north is becoming an awkward embarrassment to the British. With clock ticking and the British player burning VPs to bring on his armour "en masse". This turn seems to be stetting the German player up for the kill next turn (see below, the 3" mortar and Vickers HMG's do not have to "pay" the logistic tax, so the southern half of the battlefield seems to be semi-permanently supressed to the German player): 

Discretion can sometimes be the better part of valour, true the German player could possible make a brutal close assault on an adjacent British platoon, but in all probability he would be pinned and lost on following turns (see below, instead he elects to retire while he s able to and also in so doing removes a potential VP from the British coffers): 

Seen from the German perspective the final brake out with an intact British armoured formation being released to wreck havoc in the German rear area, on reflection is a rather depressing viewpoint (see below, all the British armour will have exited in two turns or be in place to try and shoot up his Stug III if he chose to bring it on - which would be on a friendly German baseline hex, not adjacent to an enemy unit. It cannot fire on the turn of its entry so would receive incoming fire. The danger is deemed too great, the gain is too little and the opportunity passed [Note: The German armour could be asked for on the turn after British armour was spotted]): 

Breakout as seen from the British side (see below, four VPs from the German Baseline hexes and six VPs for the British armour exiting off table make a swing of ten VPs which is a crushing victory - a token defending British infantry force in the newly captured farm house [which offers protection as good as entrenchments] can hold off any German counter attack as they would have to leave the protection of their entrenched positions):

Called convincingly for the British. Well played, a gentleman's ending to a fittingly good game between friends, and we are the last ones in the house to boot  (see below, it is not a good sign when your opponent has to move from his side of the table to your right flank to move his troops along your baseline): 

A good end to a great night old in Old London Town! That was a good run out for FireMove and some extended rules, once again thanks goes to teh Exiles for being such great sports.

Connections 2019 - FireMove and Exiles' Party (Part 1 of 2)

Can I set the scene correctly? It is so long ago now. Late at night, in a Gaming Café in South London, underneath Waterloo [I believe, as I did get a little disorientated as we traversed all those London back lanes] in pre-Covid times (2019), four people did meet and bring their own game to a rather special venue. The game was a miniatures table-top version of "Fire Move" by Professor Phil Sabin of Simulating War fame, or at least should I say this was "The London Exiles" variant - as I met up with two of the 'newer' members of the Exiles (my old London Wargames Club), a club who IMHO represent the finest of the Old Guard of the wargaming fraternity (see below, an epic venue, strain your eyes to see some nicely painted 10mm WWII Pendrakon Figures on the table if you can, a scenic flocked battle board, but most importantly of all - the finest of company, good strong beer and beautiful gourmet burgers to boot - had I died and gone to some form of wargaming heaven?): 

The bar, the food and waitress service were exceptional and the "the gaming crew" certainly took an avid interest in our table's game [partly as it did not come out of one of their stable "off the shelf" boxes - in fact I literally wheeled in the components in a suitcase, they were intrigued]. The game had already had two outings that day at the Connections UK 2019 Professional Wargaming Conference held at KCL, but here "Fire Move" was going to be put to its most serious test as yet in my eyes, this being the measure of the respect I have for the Exiles as arbiters of wargames taste (see below, friendly staff and a buzzing atmosphere): 

One final shot of the whole crew and the first dice of the night are ready to be rolled (see below, British attacking from the left with the Germans defending on the right, a standard probing battalion attack at a sector "believed" to be thinly held by a couple of "under strength" German infantry companies):

A first departure from the basic Fire Move game and Connections UK script was the introduction of the "Fog of War" hidden placement and spotting rule - rather than just laying the German defenders out, the British had to find them. They could do this by getting close enough to spot stationary infantry or enticing the Germans to reveal their position by firing on them (see below, the German player was given ten red poker chip tokens that represented "places where the Germans could be in clear LOS" to the British baseline - note the wood below is in a contested "no-man's land"): 

The British player deploys troops from three out of four of his companies (blue[A]-white[B]-green[C]), five platoons in total, in a left-middle-right attack formation with the fourth company (yellow[D]) held back in reserve. The British white counter in the middle of the left baseline is a "recon counter" that can flush out red hidden German "poker counters" - it cannot assault but it can spot, this is in difference to Frank Chadwick's "patrol counter" and is another experimental element (see below, note no pre-game artillery bombardment was opted for, rather and again going away from the basic book version of the game it was going to be available "on call" during the game): 

Turn 1: Nothing spotted or heard from the Germans as yet [are they really there?] so the British infantry move gingerly forwards. The phycological sight of the row upon row of hidden "possible" concealed enemy positions gives a much heavier level of caution to the British plater, a trepidation of the unknown (see below, it was getting a little bit tense at this moment, "I don't like it Sarge! It's too quiet!"): 

On the German turn [3] there is "contact" as three German platoons are revealed, two from the "purple" company [top of photograph - the white piece of card to the front has a series of crosses drawn on it to denotes it is dug-in, something that is not really captured in the photograph well] and one from the "grey" company [bottom of photograph] - as they "open up" on the advancing Tommies. We played if you come within two hexes of a "red poker" counter you can "roll for a reveal" - same odds as shooting but just determining if anything is there or not (see below, the "grey" company platoon attracting the attention of the 3" British off-table mortar for his troubles):  

Again deviating slightly from the book, as I allowed the British to call down a 25 pounder smoke barrage to conceal their advance from direct fire. This was a LOS impediment which saved the British from withering fire - one shot spans two hexes rather than a point-to-point attack. I like the diverse nature of this spread of fire as opposed to most miniature game systems. Works best with hexes for sure. Chain of Command in effect does something similar by spreading casualties across a group in LOS, albeit with a different mechanic (see below, the beer is being drunk as casualty chits mount up, from strained memory we played every eighth casualty a platoon was removed, likewise the British had an ammo restriction which removed platoons to get replenished - so they could not be over zealous in their shooting. The above two rules make it a very different game from the normal WW2 tactical game experience):

From various cheap "number and word" games you can find in the high street shops that sell budget games for kids (Sudoku, Bingo and the like) I cannibalised "number chits" (see markers to the left and right of the board). These are used as casualty as logistics counters for the British and (decreasing) mortar allocation points. Also note - the new white British counter that has appeared on the baseline is the Vickers HMG platoon that has come down from a higher echelon for the attack to complement the organic battalion 3" mortars as support weaponry, once placed it cannot move (see below, the attack has reached a critical "reveal" stage, over half the British forces are on the table and most, but not all the German forces are shown - the British player can now choose his "main point of attack):   

The British player commits his last company (yellow [D]) to attack in the North (top), therefore reinforcing the success of blue company but still continuing the pressure in the South (green company). The British player has taken losses but not had to remove a platoon to date - logistical or by enemy fire (see below, note the German player has lost one platoon from an infantry assault, the only way the Fire-Move rules allow an entrenched platoon to be removed from play - it can be hit and suppressed [so it cannot fire back] any number of times): 

The British attack progresses and the final German counter is revealed. Two infantry assaults are prepped to "go in" on the next British turn unless the German suppressive fire can register hits this turn - making the British spent and unable to go in. Just off camera, a second Vickers HMG platoon has appeared. The infantry advance in the North is complemented by intense suppressive fire in the South, it is starting to look grim for the German (see below, nothing is guaranteed until an assault or fire hits .. a one is always a miss and it is so suppressing how many times a one comes up when statistically unexpected on a d6 .. Lady Luck is a cruel mistress):

Useful playing aides: Caught on camera are the "painted long stem coffee stirrers" which I used to help the players "get the rules right". In particular direct fire and assaults can only be supported by friendly stands from the same company (or the British HMG stand). Without remembering in a semi-permanent form (as in lasting over the turn) this is easily muddled up in the heat of "game play" (see below, I also think it gives the player an aide for forming his "fire plan" rather than letting organically grow, and be wasteful of ammunition, which does play a significant part in this game): 

To be continued ... the second half as the attack is pressed home.

Twilight Struggle (Finally Acquired)

The final straw that broke my back was that it was "in a sale" (so yes, I am saving money .. OK, you may spot the logical fallacy in that one) and "it was on the hit list .. since 2016" (when it was referenced in a Connections UK 2016 presentation, as a genre defining game by Nick Hare). So I have it and hope to play it with friends over the approaching long winter nights (see below, cellophane freshly removed): 

Heads up to GMT games for producing this and Magic Madhouse for making me but it. There is after all no such thing as "free will". 

Play Secure Online - One Heck of a Conference, Wargaming with Attitude with Real-World Benefits

Hats off to the organisers of the "Play Secure Online Conference" (25th to 28th March https://playsecure.mssconference.com/) as this was one heck of a thought provoking conference. A conference that affected the 'deep ways' in which the processes the brain tick. You came away "thinking much differently" about Security and the Organisations you work in than you did before it. Spooky in many ways. It challenged, enlightened and gave stark warnings of how things could easily be if left to their own devices and not actively worked on. All teh above are marks of a good conference in my book (see below and link above, not online gambling but Internet Cyber Security with professionals engaging with the concept of "play" to harness creativity and ingenuity): 

The takeaway is that Cyber Security "does not stand alone" and is far "too serious a level of risk" for it to be under the provenance of Certified Professionals Only, it's holistic thing easily compromised. The comfort zone for many is "not to think about it". Cyber Security is holistic and inclusive .. the alternative is a passive bunker mentality that is a "minimal spend (or rather a known unchallenged under-spend)" and a "let's hope it does not happen here". It is a scary thing to think about, however put a bit of fun into things and the creativity oozes out of people and it did so in buckets. No better example of teh power of creativity in that the unique Gather conferencing tool that had been configured to work like a video game - avatar and arrow key movement and bumping into people to say hello (see below, it was very retro '90s avatar in style.. I was one of many of the white snowmen (the most popular avatar) distinguished only by the wearing of a different coloured scarf [mine was green], others were friendly Snoopy style character avatars - note the snapshot of the empty room was taken while everybody was rushing to the main lecture hall without personal avatars names showing):  

Kitsch and cool at the same time. The content of the conference was hard-core or put another way gold-dust (and very, very wargaming related). How "hacking" (in the original MIT sense of the word - of open exploration of the world) is critical to learning - people teach themselves far better than any other method known to date. Simple game concepts stimulate this such as: What's in the Box?; Escape Rooms; Capture the Flag; How do you Open a Lock without a Key?; How can you Destroy a Light Bulb in 10 Different Ways? The realisation that simple Social Engineering is the easiest (and perhaps the most deadly) but psychologically trickiest to spot Red Attack Tool. Importantly you learn (more, much more) from your failures rather your successes. Adversarial games stretch you more. It was also humbling to hear some of the back stories of some of the people and how they had overcome adversity, no more so than the programmer Peter Moore who was unfortunately taken hostage in Iraq. Throughout there was a hidden message of integrity. You have integrity if you are prepared to test yourself, test others (including 'systems') and accept the findings, the implied limitations and most importantly act. The most important message I took from the conference was "Never bend the knee" on a matter of principle that is critically important to who you are. Otherwise you become no better than a slave and regret it later as you will undoubtedly need to carry through actions with conviction. That was a very powerful message that certainly echoes back in time to the ancients in a more wargaming sense. 

Once again many thanks to the organisers for a fantastic thought provoking conference. I really enjoyed all those conversations. It was also very good to see some of my Wargamer Developer friends from Connections UK and CoW there! I honestly believe there is a strong need for wargaming design concepts to be shared and adopted.