Chestnut Lodge Wargames Group
Akiyoshi Monogatari I enjoyed the meeting but a bit tricky with the WiFi in the hall. So our dear comrades from the continent were cut off. I was looking forward to having this hybrid type session to see how it works. My conclusion. it reinforces my perception of being a fuddy duddy who cannot work […]
Washington Conference, 6th November 2021 – The Centenary Edition Offside report by Andy Grainger A major topic of the 1921 / 2021 Washington Conference was China. In 1911 the Imperial Chinese Government had been overthrown and replaced by a Parliamentary regime but the country is still very unstable. It is in everyone’s interest to restore […]
This is Nick Luft’s game of 4 Panzer Division’s attack on Warsaw on 7 September 1939. At VCOW Seize Warsaw occupied the same time slot as my GRAPPLE X, so I was glad to be able to take part in another run of the game that Nick put on for the Holborn group a few […]
I have always believed that the success of sessions can often be judged by how quickly time passes and in this game it was noticeable how nearly all the players’ first comments post game were along the lines of ‘where did the time go’. This was an online version of a traditional map based WW2 […]
This was Deborah’s game about the surreal sounding but actual historical happening – the Emu Wars of 1932 in Australia. Just to set the scene, this was: “a nuisance wildlife management military operation undertaken in Australia over the later part of 1932 to address public concern over the number of emus said to be running […]
My role in this online game by Nick Luft, was as Chief of Staff to Deborah at 5th Panzer Brigade HQ. Communications. This game worked fine using Discord. The different channels worked fine or maybe fine. It took me a little while to get idea of the game, and it moved very fast, so I […]
Many thanks to Nick Luft for putting on his game about a battlegroup of the 4th Panzer Div attacking Warsaw on 7 Sept 1939. I found it rather spooky in a couple of ways and they affect my initial impressions of the game as well as reflecting my status as an old person. Back in […]
In the beginning, there was Watch the Skies 1898. This was a new variant of Jim Wallman’s tried-and-true Watch the Skies series of games, but set at the dawn of the 20th century and featuring aliens. By design, it was very high-level and strategic – counters representing entire fleets and armies, abstract economic abstractions and […]
I enjoyed Jon Casey’s game about the Battle of Elouges in 1914, not least because I was able to visit the battlefield in March 2019. It took place the day after the Battle of Mons, one of those rearguard actions that would punctuate the retreat leading occasionally to the loss of almost a complete Battalion […]
Recently I went to the British Museum to see a small free exhibition – “Playing with Money.” It is about how money, coins and bank notes are used in boardgames and also how boardgames have broadly changed over the last two centuries. In the 19th Century boardgames were for children and their moral admonishment and […]