kzucker
12-02-2004, 06:50 PM
PART ONE
OSG REPORT / DECEMBER
HOLIDAY GIFT OFFER
Take this Opportunity to Share OSG with Friends and SAVE 30%!
Get any THREE games in print for THIRTY percent off. Get any TWO games for TWENTY percent off. Please see our announcement at www.Napoleongames.com We will drop-ship games directly to your friends' address.
(List recipient's address along with game title in the "Notes" area.) Offer Expires 12/31/04.
Attend OSG's Open Gaming Weekend Dec. 11-12th at OSG World Headquarters: Email us for directions.
Look for John Kranz's major feature on "SEVEN DAYS OF 1809" on Consimworld this weekend. He has described it as a multimedia presentation that involves stitching slides/images together with text overlays and voiceover. John will be using some 30 jpegs of map sectors showing close-ups of the various battles that occurred in the historical campaign (courtesy of Jim Anderson: many thanks to Jim for creating the cyberboard gamebox for 7D09).
Please visit our discussion board for Regular Updates from OSG. http://www.Napoleongames.com/forums/
On 3-5 December visit the Palais des Congres de Paris (Porte Maillot Metro) for the Salon du Ier Empire, a conference with seminars and exhibits in observance of the bicentenary of Napoleon's Coronation. Entry fee: 8 Euros.
SEVEN DAYS OF 1809 DELIVERY UPDATE
Overseas Surface Mail copies of "Seven Days of 1809," shipped in late September, are now arriving in Europe.
Contents: Page 1) Seven Days of 1809 Review (Vae Victis)
Page 2) OSG's P-250 Program
Page 3) Letters
Page 4) Last Days of the Grande Armée Questions and Answers
Page 5) Special Offers Order Form
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page One
THE SEVEN DAYS OF 1809
First Impression Review by Frédéric Bey, Vae Victis N°60
In tandem with its leading series on the Napoleonic campaigns at the scale of the corps d’armée, OSG continues to develop its « other » series, done in close-up at the scale of the division covering periods of one week or two of operations. The Seven Days of 1809 is the fourth OSG game of this type after Six Days of Glory (see VV n°17), 1806 (see VV n°21) and Last Days of the Grande Armée (see VV n°27). It concerns the manœuvres of Abensberg and Eckmühl, to the south of Ratisbon in Bavaria, between 16 and 23 April 1809. The big principles dear to Kevin Zucker are continued and developed in the new version of the rules: the game is designed for Hidden Movement (inverted units), cavalry detachments being provided to scout and screen enemy forces. Every turn (6 hours of real time) the two players dispose of a budget of Movement orders to activate their principal formations. The characteristics linked to every army organization are faithfully reflected—at the beginning of this campaign, it is Berthier who directs the army, apprehensively, in anticipation of Napoléon’s arrival. Other controlling factors were integrated by Kevin Zucker into this simulation, with special rules on the fighting in the particularly dense and numerous forests in this region; or again, Austrian mixed-type units combining light infantry and cavalry. The Seven Days of 1809 proposes moreover that results of combat will proove less bloody that in the preceding games. The variety of outcomes is guaranteed by four scenarios: Austrian advance (16 turns), the battle of Abensberg (7 turns), the battle of Eckmühl (7 turns) and at last the complete campaign that can be launched on any date back to 16 April.
The map, created by Mark Simonitch, is actually splendid. This, we know, has been the strong point of OSG games for a decade. The counters succeed better than those of the preceding games, without overlooking the beauty of those in Six Days of Glory from the epoch of Clash of Arms. The tracks and historic march tables for each day are frankly impressive in their details and erudition. The researches carried out, notably on the battle order of the Austrians and the mapping of the daily situations, confer to this simulation an admirable exactness. The quality of the equipment is this manner generally irreproachable. We will set ourselves in our next issue to evaluate the strategic interest of this week of April 1809, that was without any doubt one of the fiercest weeks of fighting without a real decision in all of the Napoleonic campaigns. No doubt, The Seven Days of 1809 is a game equal to the height of its subject. Note, for those fascinated with the games of Kevin Zucker, the indispensable complement to this new game constitutes the magazine Wargame Design (Volume. II., n° 8), that is included in the package.
Frédéric Bey
The Seven Days of 1809 a game in English edited by Operational Studies Group, that includes a map (4xA3), 280 units in colors, a booklet of rules and 8 player aid cards.
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page Two
DO YOU THINK OSG'S PRODUCTION CYCLE IS SLOW?
One of the most important parts of the design process at OSG is to allow games to sit and mature.
A typical production cycle for a game would be 6 or 8 years. The reason is the same reason that it helps to step away from a game you are playing: you come back refreshed—you come back with clearer vision of what you are looking at. In some cases it's almost as though your mind has continued working on the problem while you've been away. So it's good to take out the design projects and work on them intensively and then put them away and let ideas simmer.
If you'd like to help speed up the pace of the P-250 projects there are many things you can do:
o You can write about the project on Consimworld, or on OSG's discussion board.
o You can publish a replay or clip OSG art on your homepage and/or provide a link to Napoleongames.com
o You can volunteer to work on your favorite project, or
o You could send us ideas that you have about this game or the period.
(You might well be sitting on the solution to a design problem without knowing it.)
o You can help via our Contributors Page: http://www.napoleongames.com/contrib.html (So far we have received contributions to our general program and a pledge of $1,000 toward production of Highway to Leipzig.)
Don't feel that by clicking the box on the pre-order form that you've done your part in bringing that game out. OSG is a small community and it needs the participation of everybody. We can't be here without your support. Most importantly, your purchase (and playing!) of each of the new games as they come out—whether you had pre-ordered or not—provides us with the cash we need to continue working on games. So if you haven't bought Seven Days of 1809 yet, please give it a chance…
If you have bought it, please play it, and then write something about it on the web.
You probably don't know how much your comments on Consimworld can help, but if you did, you would take a few minutes to write something about any of the games that you like.
Our print runs are 1,500 units per title. We figure there are 1,500 people who will eventually buy each of our games. That's been fairly constant since 1997. But it has occurred to me that our proper print runs should be only 1,200 units. That would drive unit costs higher, though, and might not be viable.
A pre-order is a commitment to buy sight unseen. But that is harder to do than to buy a finished product like Seven Days of 1809, once you have seen it.
We're not saying our games are perfect; we're saying they have a basic structure that is historical, playtested and makes sense; they have a basic physical system that is clear and attractive and well-produced. We back that with a full guarantee.
So give Seven Days of 1809 a chance, and help keep OSG going strong. Many Thanks.
-Kevin Zucker
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page Three
LETTERS
From: "phil\.elgee" <phil.elgee@laposte.net>
I saw you asked on consimworld : Who have received SD of 1809 by surface-mail.
Some of miy friends (Fred. Bey, Michel lepetit), have received their package, me, I'm always
waiting for it. But I don't know if you sent me the package by air or surface mail...
So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting.... grunt, grunt...
I saw your game at Michel Lepetit's home, it's seems splendid.
Actually, I'm playing Arcola mini-game, Bonaparte in Italy (face to face) and Napoleon's Last
Battles -campaign- (solo) : I really appreciate your work, and I would thank you for all this
good time spent with you and Napoleonic stuff.
Philippe
from Montmartre, Paris, France
OSG REPORT / DECEMBER
HOLIDAY GIFT OFFER
Take this Opportunity to Share OSG with Friends and SAVE 30%!
Get any THREE games in print for THIRTY percent off. Get any TWO games for TWENTY percent off. Please see our announcement at www.Napoleongames.com We will drop-ship games directly to your friends' address.
(List recipient's address along with game title in the "Notes" area.) Offer Expires 12/31/04.
Attend OSG's Open Gaming Weekend Dec. 11-12th at OSG World Headquarters: Email us for directions.
Look for John Kranz's major feature on "SEVEN DAYS OF 1809" on Consimworld this weekend. He has described it as a multimedia presentation that involves stitching slides/images together with text overlays and voiceover. John will be using some 30 jpegs of map sectors showing close-ups of the various battles that occurred in the historical campaign (courtesy of Jim Anderson: many thanks to Jim for creating the cyberboard gamebox for 7D09).
Please visit our discussion board for Regular Updates from OSG. http://www.Napoleongames.com/forums/
On 3-5 December visit the Palais des Congres de Paris (Porte Maillot Metro) for the Salon du Ier Empire, a conference with seminars and exhibits in observance of the bicentenary of Napoleon's Coronation. Entry fee: 8 Euros.
SEVEN DAYS OF 1809 DELIVERY UPDATE
Overseas Surface Mail copies of "Seven Days of 1809," shipped in late September, are now arriving in Europe.
Contents: Page 1) Seven Days of 1809 Review (Vae Victis)
Page 2) OSG's P-250 Program
Page 3) Letters
Page 4) Last Days of the Grande Armée Questions and Answers
Page 5) Special Offers Order Form
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page One
THE SEVEN DAYS OF 1809
First Impression Review by Frédéric Bey, Vae Victis N°60
In tandem with its leading series on the Napoleonic campaigns at the scale of the corps d’armée, OSG continues to develop its « other » series, done in close-up at the scale of the division covering periods of one week or two of operations. The Seven Days of 1809 is the fourth OSG game of this type after Six Days of Glory (see VV n°17), 1806 (see VV n°21) and Last Days of the Grande Armée (see VV n°27). It concerns the manœuvres of Abensberg and Eckmühl, to the south of Ratisbon in Bavaria, between 16 and 23 April 1809. The big principles dear to Kevin Zucker are continued and developed in the new version of the rules: the game is designed for Hidden Movement (inverted units), cavalry detachments being provided to scout and screen enemy forces. Every turn (6 hours of real time) the two players dispose of a budget of Movement orders to activate their principal formations. The characteristics linked to every army organization are faithfully reflected—at the beginning of this campaign, it is Berthier who directs the army, apprehensively, in anticipation of Napoléon’s arrival. Other controlling factors were integrated by Kevin Zucker into this simulation, with special rules on the fighting in the particularly dense and numerous forests in this region; or again, Austrian mixed-type units combining light infantry and cavalry. The Seven Days of 1809 proposes moreover that results of combat will proove less bloody that in the preceding games. The variety of outcomes is guaranteed by four scenarios: Austrian advance (16 turns), the battle of Abensberg (7 turns), the battle of Eckmühl (7 turns) and at last the complete campaign that can be launched on any date back to 16 April.
The map, created by Mark Simonitch, is actually splendid. This, we know, has been the strong point of OSG games for a decade. The counters succeed better than those of the preceding games, without overlooking the beauty of those in Six Days of Glory from the epoch of Clash of Arms. The tracks and historic march tables for each day are frankly impressive in their details and erudition. The researches carried out, notably on the battle order of the Austrians and the mapping of the daily situations, confer to this simulation an admirable exactness. The quality of the equipment is this manner generally irreproachable. We will set ourselves in our next issue to evaluate the strategic interest of this week of April 1809, that was without any doubt one of the fiercest weeks of fighting without a real decision in all of the Napoleonic campaigns. No doubt, The Seven Days of 1809 is a game equal to the height of its subject. Note, for those fascinated with the games of Kevin Zucker, the indispensable complement to this new game constitutes the magazine Wargame Design (Volume. II., n° 8), that is included in the package.
Frédéric Bey
The Seven Days of 1809 a game in English edited by Operational Studies Group, that includes a map (4xA3), 280 units in colors, a booklet of rules and 8 player aid cards.
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page Two
DO YOU THINK OSG'S PRODUCTION CYCLE IS SLOW?
One of the most important parts of the design process at OSG is to allow games to sit and mature.
A typical production cycle for a game would be 6 or 8 years. The reason is the same reason that it helps to step away from a game you are playing: you come back refreshed—you come back with clearer vision of what you are looking at. In some cases it's almost as though your mind has continued working on the problem while you've been away. So it's good to take out the design projects and work on them intensively and then put them away and let ideas simmer.
If you'd like to help speed up the pace of the P-250 projects there are many things you can do:
o You can write about the project on Consimworld, or on OSG's discussion board.
o You can publish a replay or clip OSG art on your homepage and/or provide a link to Napoleongames.com
o You can volunteer to work on your favorite project, or
o You could send us ideas that you have about this game or the period.
(You might well be sitting on the solution to a design problem without knowing it.)
o You can help via our Contributors Page: http://www.napoleongames.com/contrib.html (So far we have received contributions to our general program and a pledge of $1,000 toward production of Highway to Leipzig.)
Don't feel that by clicking the box on the pre-order form that you've done your part in bringing that game out. OSG is a small community and it needs the participation of everybody. We can't be here without your support. Most importantly, your purchase (and playing!) of each of the new games as they come out—whether you had pre-ordered or not—provides us with the cash we need to continue working on games. So if you haven't bought Seven Days of 1809 yet, please give it a chance…
If you have bought it, please play it, and then write something about it on the web.
You probably don't know how much your comments on Consimworld can help, but if you did, you would take a few minutes to write something about any of the games that you like.
Our print runs are 1,500 units per title. We figure there are 1,500 people who will eventually buy each of our games. That's been fairly constant since 1997. But it has occurred to me that our proper print runs should be only 1,200 units. That would drive unit costs higher, though, and might not be viable.
A pre-order is a commitment to buy sight unseen. But that is harder to do than to buy a finished product like Seven Days of 1809, once you have seen it.
We're not saying our games are perfect; we're saying they have a basic structure that is historical, playtested and makes sense; they have a basic physical system that is clear and attractive and well-produced. We back that with a full guarantee.
So give Seven Days of 1809 a chance, and help keep OSG going strong. Many Thanks.
-Kevin Zucker
_ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ ... _ . _ _ _ _ ... _ .
Operational Studies Group Report December 2nd, 2004 Page Three
LETTERS
From: "phil\.elgee" <phil.elgee@laposte.net>
I saw you asked on consimworld : Who have received SD of 1809 by surface-mail.
Some of miy friends (Fred. Bey, Michel lepetit), have received their package, me, I'm always
waiting for it. But I don't know if you sent me the package by air or surface mail...
So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting.... grunt, grunt...
I saw your game at Michel Lepetit's home, it's seems splendid.
Actually, I'm playing Arcola mini-game, Bonaparte in Italy (face to face) and Napoleon's Last
Battles -campaign- (solo) : I really appreciate your work, and I would thank you for all this
good time spent with you and Napoleonic stuff.
Philippe
from Montmartre, Paris, France