Colonel and Co. Rule Musings #1 C&C

Tas and Maksim have made some interesting comments on the rules that the Colonel and I have been working on. I though I would do a few short posts on what our design decisions were and why.

Command and Control:
Ok, command and control is a bit strong when discussing VSF / Colonial rules featuring steam powered walkers. But, as we are playing a miniature wargame, who gets to move their figures when and in what order is important.

Our design objective was to be able to run a large, convention game with 4 - 8 players who would not know the rules. (Yes, I know this smacks of meglo-mania) Bill, Tony, and I have all run convention games in the past, and are keenly aware that you have to keep people doing things so that they are engaged and do not wander off to the trade tables, etc.

We started playing GASLIGHT, but for the size games we were playing, one card per unit was way to slow. Next game out, we did one card per force, still to slow.

Over several phone calls and a hearty breakfast a couple of weeks ago, we settled on a order placing system. Here's how it works:

1. Players place a covered order chip behind each unit. There are only 2 orders, move or stationary. Move chips have an arrow on them.
   
2. Everyone reveals orders at the same time (uncovers)
3. Units with move orders move, and MUST move in the direction the arrow is pointing. Units that wish to charge also add a charge bonus to their move distance.
4. Random events occur (for us, this is the random appearance of Martians)
5. Simultaneous shooting. Charging units may not fire, moving unit have a significant negative modifier.
6. Melee (resolve charge and receive charge morale tests)
   
7. Everyone takes all morale tests that are results of shooting and melee.

So far (one game) this seems to work well, everyone is constantly engaged in the game and it moves quickly.

We are still fiddling around with some of the rules, let me know what you guys think. next time I will expound on what we went with d10's, unit formations, and the shooting system.

A Feasibility Study of Tripodal Fighting Machines

Yes I know Ive been on a bit of a WOTW frenzy of late, but this is an interesting article:

A Feasibility Study of Tripodal Fighting Machines

by Professor Ian Stewart

'...and of their appliances, perhaps nothing is more wonderful to a man than thecurious fact that what is the dominant feature of almost all human devices inmechanism is absent - the wheel is absent.' [H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, Book Two Chapter 2]

Why do Wells' Martians use legged Fighting Machines, and why three legs? The main reason must surely be that this choice would make them seem very alien indeed, especially to a Victorian audience. But Wells has a reputation as a hard science fiction writer, meaning that he did his best to get the science right - with the exception of whatever exotic gizmo gave the story its zing, such as the little matter of a time machine. So we must assume that he gave the Martian machines legs for a reason that would stand up to a moderate degree of scrutiny.

In this feasibility study I'm going to look at legged Fighting Machines from several different points of view: engineering, stability, control. The area of science into which such questions fall, is called Gait Analysis. The gait of a legged creature or machine is the pattern with which it moves its legs in order to be locomotive. So I will be taking a look at the Fighting Machines' three-legged gait in light of what we currently know about legged locomotion in both animals and robots.

Legs Good, Wheels Bad
Remember, these machines are for invasion. The terrain of the target planet Earth, is diverse. Much of it is unsuited to most of the obvious methods of legless locomotion. Sledges and skis work on snow and ice, but not on rocky ground. The method of mechanical locomotion that we terrestrials currently favour is entirely unsatisfactory for Martian use. It comprises, for the most part, a network of narrow flattened strips, along which improbable vehicles move by means of a cumbersome system of rotating discs. This technology requires the periphery of the disc to remain in contact with the ground, propelling the vehicle forwards by means of inter-surface friction. Such a method of locomotion is clumsy and unresponsive, subject to unexpected slippage, and entirely unsuited to the sudden changes of direction that are so vital in military campaigns. Moreover, such a network can be too easily sabotaged by the terrestrial inhabitants. Martian terrain is mostly rocky deserts, craters, and mountains, so there is little reason why the Martians would have evolved the wheel. Naturally, they would base their designs on the technology that had evolved, over thousands of years, to suit their own planet's conditions - just as we put wheels on the Lunar Rover and on Sojourner, our own Martian invader.

Caterpillar tracks present themselves as a plausible alternative - after all, we use them on our own 'Fighting Machines' for all kinds of terrain. However, there is a further consideration which leads to legs as being by far the most attractive option. That is the fact that Fighting Machines have to maintain adequate surveillance in all directions. This dictates a vertical architecture, whose base, for stability, must be broad - too broad to be constrained within the narrow width of the indigenes' strips (roads). This is yet another argument against wheels. But, very large caterpillar tracks are heavy, which is a major minus, given that initially the machines have to be shipped in from Mars via interplanetary cylinders. They are also clumsy, inflexible, and unreliable because of their mechanical complexity. And aluminium, the Martian's favoured construction material [Author's Note: Wells refers to aluminium three separate times in the text], wears too rapidly and is too brittle to make good caterpillar tracks. The Martians can therefore be expected to reason that Fighting Machines should take the form of a protected Life Enhancement Module (LEM) supported on legs.

What Wells Tells Us

When Wells first describes the motion of the Fighting Machines he presents an image that makes very little engineering sense: 'A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses... Can you imagine a milking-stool tilted and bowled violently along the ground?'

The immediate impression of this description is that the Fighting Machine rotates as it moves ('bowled'). But such a motion is very hard to control - it is rather like trying to balance a car on two wheels like James Bond does in the movies. Moreover, such a gait makes little sense for a military machine which, among other things, is used to carry a Heat Ray projector. I think it is more likely that Wells was having difficulty in finding a metaphor that would convey three-legged locomotion to his readers, which is not surprising given that we hardly ever witness it in real life. (A student of mine observed a three-legged dog, which had lost one hind leg in an accident, which is why I never say 'never'. More of the dog later). Wells' description at this stage of the book is exaggerated, no doubt, for dramatic effect: 'A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer.'

Since we are told elsewhere in the text that the Fighting Machines are about 100 feet high, their stride must be of the order of 30 feet, so they take 10 or so strides (of each leg, 30 altogether) to cover 100 yards. To be fair, Wells is reporting what he sees at successive flashes of lighting in a thunderstorm, but even so 'almost instantly' is an exaggeration. However, 'heeling over one way with two feet in the air' does give what I suspect is an accurate account of the machine's most rapid gait.

Many terrestrial animals use more than one gait: the basic reason is that different patterns of locomotion are efficient at different speeds or under different conditions. It is clear that the Martian Fighting Machines employ the same trick, for they definitely have gaits that differ from the one just described (whatever it actually is!): '...the first party of Martians were crawling slowly towards their second cylinder under cover of a metal shield. Later this shield staggered up on tripod legs and became the first of the Fighting Machines I had seen.'

One cannot 'crawl' or 'stagger' while being 'bowled violently along'. There is other evidence for a versatile repertoire of gaits, too: 'In another moment it was on the bank, and in a stride wading half-way across.'

Water or mud would cause drag on the legs, which again would make 'bowling along' impossible. Less dramatic gaits, however, would be entirely feasible, as we shall see.

Enjoying this article? You'll find the rest online here - goto page 2 of the features: http://www.thewaroftheworlds.com/features/default.aspx

Martin's Tripods

I found this site the other day, which shows the fantastically detailed Martian fighting machines made by Martin Bower for a photo novel of WOTW. Sadly, the project got scrapped but his models are simply fantastic.


Martin says" Martian Fighting Machine 48" high. This is one of 3 scales of model built for a “WAR OF THE WORLDS” photo novel. Sadly the project was scuppered when Jeff Wayne brought out his record album. I also collaborated with artist Roger Dean on another project based on H.G.Wells’ wonderful novel. The 22inch (middle sized) model of the Martian Fighting Machine was also designed and built for the photonovel. It is made of Perspex, brass rod and etched brass. "
http://www.martinbowersmodelworld.com/html/war_of_the_world_s.html

I also found this very interesting page through TMP that shows a couple of avi models of how a tripod could actually walk
http://drzeus.best.vwh.net/wotw/other/gait/

Tripod Diorama

To go with the forthcoming Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds tour, Sculptoria Studio is planning to release a very nice Martian fighting machine diorama. Take a look!

http://sculptoriastudio.com/

If you want more info on the tour, which is UK only, see here:

http://www.thewaroftheworlds.com/default.aspx

UUUULLLLLLAAAAAA!

USS Meade painted

Following up on yesterday's article at TMP by Tony on building the USS Meade, comes another today on painting and finishing her up.

She looks beautiful with decals on and ensign flying. There is also a great section on how he made his own flying stand to hold up this model

Great job Tony!

You can see all the pics and details here:
http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/941847/

USS Meade scratchbuild

Tony Harwood has posted an article at TMP on his scratchbuilding project of the USS Meade in 1/300 scale

http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/640530/

You'll see we even get a mention here with this bit:

"The first batch of pictures show the initial stages of construction, plus some rough drawings that I made from pictures that I found on the web – Paul James' blog Yours in White Wine Sauce – and in particular, a set of photos entitled Fleets of the Red Sky (which can be found in the Aeronef section)."

Huzzah! Glad to be of service Tony and the Meade came out beautifully!

THE IMPERIAL TIMES 5th February 1907

At an emergency session of parliament this afternoon it was announced that a delegation from the government of the Ottoman Empire would be carrying out a full state visit to the island of Malta for a series of summit meetings and official entertainments aimed at reducing the levels of tension and promoting closer levels of understanding and cooperation between the two states. A spokesman for the council of the Knights of St John of Malta - His Eminence Brother John Betts - has welcomed this initiative as a way to foster stronger ties between the two nations. The Ottoman delegation - headed by Pasha Daud Kirouk, the minister for Scientific Development - has already announced that the Turkish party will travel using an Air Malta Transport and is confident that this meeting will do much to repair the distrust and antipathy resulting from the second siege of the island in 1904.This initiative has been applauded by the international community and is scheduled to take place in July of this year.As well as a formal tour of the island their will be a symbolic ceremony of mourning at the large military cemetery to commemorate the fallen of both sides in the recent conflict. It is understood that the Turkish party will also return some historical artifacts taken from the island in 1565 as a further gesture of goodwill.

This journal will report on the full itinerary as soon as it is made available.

The Colonel & Co. Experimental VSF Rules

Patrick of "Patrick's Hobby Shed" acclaim has posted a draft version on the VSF rules he has been working on Colonel Harry Haggis .

A d10 GASLIGHT conversion with bits from TSATF thrown in, you can read more about it here:

Patrick's Hobby Shed: The Colonel and Co. Experimental VSF Rules

Balloonatics!

Le Grand Courses Des Aérostats!

The page may be a few years old, but its darn impressive !
http://www.novag.org/images/cw03/Balloonatics/


Walt, of 'Le Grand Cirque' fame, is responsible, saying:

"This page contains a few images (courtesy of and thanks to Bill Rutherford) of the Balloon Racing game event put on by Walt O'Hara at COLD WARS 2003. This was a NOVAG event, held in our NOVAG club room (New Holland?). LGCd'A is a game of chaos, for the most part. Players take the part of balloon pilots in the first running of the Coup Gordon Bennett, a prestigious international balloon race that has been held annually since 1901. The mechanics are pretty simple-- cards tell you what the wind (or other players) are doing to your balloon, cards tell you when you activate, and cards tell you what terrain is coming up next. The course was held on a "rotating conveyor belt" of terrain boards that gradually moved down the course. The race was two 'legs' of six boards. Terrain features were all in two dimensions (mostly these were obstructions, like a mountain, hills or a volcano, but some terrain can change altitude as well).

SUMMARY: The game was a hoot to run and I think people enjoyed themselves. I am working on ways to speed up and streamline a few design points that were clumsy. I will run this at HISTORICON 2003."

The Flashman Papers

If you are on a spot of well earned leave from the Regiment and need something to read, you certainly must check out the adventures of Harry Flashman VC: Infamous British Officer, womaniser, cad and scoundrel!

http://www.harryflashman.org/home.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman

Now if only Flashman would visit the Red Planet...

Steam Monster Sighted

Steam Monster Sighted

A new horror has been sent out into the world to wage war and cause issues among the nations of mankind.

Yes, that beast of a company Reviresco has unleashed a new kit for those so inclined.

As you can see it is large and powerful. Prepare your forces because who knows who has bought one.

A link to Reviresco here:

http://www.tin-soldier.com/

dafrca

ERB Map Room

If you are visiting this Blog, you are probably an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and already have a few of his works in your library or parlour.

So, being an erudite gentlemen smoking a thin pantella, its time to don your smoking jacket, pour out a snifter of cognac and visit this site with some great maps of Barsoom and Pellucidar.

http://erbatlas.virtualave.net/atlas1.shtml

HMVS CERBERUS

Adding to yesterday's post on Cerberus, I thought I would add more about this ship and why she is my favourite pre-Dreadnought warship:

1- Launched in 1868, Cerberus is the only remaining Monitor (the first generation of modern battleships) left in the world.

2- Preceding HMS Devastation by almost three years, Cerberus was the first British warship to dispense completely with sail power and to incorporate the shallow draft.

3- Cerberus was the first, and is the only remaining example, of a Monitor having a central superstructure.

4- The design for Cerberus was the first in the world to incorporate the combination of a central superstructure with fore and aft gun turrets.

5- Cerberus is the only substantially intact surviving warship of any of Australia's pre-Federation colonial navies.

6- Cerberus was the flagship and most powerful warship of the Victorian Navy. In addition she was the most powerful warship of any of the Australian Colonial Navies and was the first armoured warship built for Australia.

The CERBERUS wreck off Melbourne

You can read more about HMVS CERBERUS at these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMVS_Cerberus
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~maav/hmvscerberus.htm
http://www.cerberus.com.au/myths.html
http://www.gunplot.net/colonialnavy/savecerberus.html

Brigade to make Nef scale Surface ships!

"A completely new range of historical pre-dreadnought era monitors and coastal battleships in 1/1200th scale. Ideal for use in Aeronef games."

There are four very nice looking models in the design studio, but my favourite is most definately this one:
VDN-101 Australian Cerberus class Monitor Possibly the world's first real battleship, the rusting hulk of the Cerberus lies off the coast of Victoria today.

She was a vessel of the Victorian Colonial Fleet and her wreck isnt far from where I used to live as a kid. I remember sailing past her several times and some of her superstructure is still visible.

More great releases to look forward to!

CANCON - a splendid day out!

On this weekend was CANCON, a large gaming expo in Canberra and the largest in Oz I do believe (http://www.cgs.asn.au/cgs_framework.asp?type=cancon).
Sadly my mate Owen, who had planned to come up for the weekend and the Con, had to cancel at the last minute. There is always next year though right?


I caught up with my mate Nic from Eureka miniatures, whom I had not seen for about two years and who furnished me with a nice box of lead goodies (including more 2mm infantry for Land Ironclads and some 15mm Dino and Mammoth Hunters!). Good to see you again mate.

Nic also introduced me to a nice fellow named Karsten, who had seen White Wine Sauce and had some very nice things to say about this place and the things we post here - most kind of you that was too Sir! (Interestingly, he found this place through your "Hobby Shed" blog Patrick). Karsten has a Germanic bent for his VSF forces and is starting his own VSF campaign soon using GASLIGHT. I look forward to seeing his campaign diary and the hi-jinks that will inevitably occur.

It was a pleasure you meet you Karsten, I only regret we didn't have more time to chat. I hope you will drop in often and leave us some messages.

I also caught up with Jerry of Castaway Arts (http://www.castawayarts.com.au/) who had travelled all the way down from Cairns. I hadn't met Jerry before but had ordered some of his very nice Gladiators many years ago when his company was new. Luckily for me, he was selling the Anniversary edition of The Sword and the Flame, which I have always been a fan of but haven't played for about 15 years. Armed with that and the French Foreign Legion supplement ("The Sword in North Africa"), I think the sands of Mars are that little bit closer!

Apart from that my son loved playing a demo game of Pirates! (and then spent his pocket money on some packets of cards) and we had a good old shoofty around tables, the great scenery and of course the bizarres to pick up a few other trinkets along the way.

Overall, a great day out, good to see an old friend, make new ones and pick up some goodies as well. Huzzah!