OSG Gaming Weekends

[kzucker]

Hey Compañeros,

Thanks for bringing your good energy and making this a memorable event.

It was a great pleasure to see three OSG games being played at one time.

I wanted to write up a little after action report, or at least start a new thread on the OSG discussion board for Zuckerpalooza but the first thing should be a thank you to everybody who was here and a list of the games we played...

Adam Starkweather
Lou Manios
Alan Campbell
Forrest Atterberry
Jonathan Hipp
Andy Nunez
Rich Allen
Leigh Toms
Gary Phillips
David Schubert
Charles Frascati
Kevin Zucker
Jay Olsen

Game players:
Alan and Dave played Bonaparte in Italy
Forrest and Jon played Sun of Austerlitz (coached by Lou and Adam)
Lou and Adam played Struggle of Army Group Manstein
Andy and Rich didn't play anything this time but they took Combined Fleet prototype and checked out FITS.
Gary and Leigh Toms played Seven Days of 1809.
On Sunday we all started a game of NAB. Before too long it was time for the New Yorkers to hit the road, and that was that.
Jay Olsen didn't get a chance to play because he was at work installing a new hard drive on the OSG Macintosh.

You can post more accounts on the discussion board.

[Forrest Atterberry]

Jonathan Hipp and I got in a game of 'Sun of Austerlitz' at Zuckerpalooza. Jonathan played the coalition and myself as the french. Thanks must go to Lou and Adam for taking thier time to help a couple of noobs and showing us how to game Brooklyn style. It was much appreciated.

The french start was to march north up the Florisdorf road to Lundenburg. Vedettes and some cavalry were deployed to cover the western flank while the troops started up the road. The coalition did the same by pulling back northward. Over the next couple of turns the coalition had established a line that ran from Satchan diagonally to Jetzeldorf. Adam's experianced eye pointed out if I were to run up the eastern side of the map the french would threaten the coalition's supply line at Altstadt. That was not to happen in this game. The coalition moved in mass to the south and established a line along the Thaya river. The line ran from Lundenburg to Hevlin and then along the Pulkau to Jetzeldorf.

The french were faced with a river crossing. Problem was where? The first attempt at a crossing was to be Soult at Lundenburg. Soult met a solid wall and was thrown back. The next few turns saw the coalition dressing their line along the river. The french marched Davout crossing the Thaya at Durnkrut and then on to Landshut so as threaten the coalition's position at Lundenburg. On the western portion of the line Bernadotte was in position to attack into Jetzeldorf. Napoleon along with the bridge train was located in hex 2437 to reinforce which ever flank achieved success.

The success never came. Davout did attack Ludenburg but was thrown back all the way across the March river at Landshut. The coalition bottled him up and Davout would not cross into Landshut again. On the western flank. Bernadotte did force his way into Jetzeldorf and force the coalition to fall back to Znaim. At this point we ended the game at turn 13. Jon and I had a great time and have decided we will be playing this again.

Other observations of Zuckerpalooza. We used the counter sleds that have been mentioned elswhere. Nice accessory to have for the 1x series of games. I can see myself using them on a regular basis. Met lots of great folks over the weekend. Thanks to David S. for his hospitality and for showing me an excellent Irish Pub located in Baltimore. Adam's games when they get published will be killer. Thanks to Kevin for setting up the whole sha-bang. A special treat and honor was helping Kevin get a game shipment ready for the troops over in Bahgdad.

[kzucker]

Forrest,

This weekend statistics:
Nr. of games played: 5
Average nr. of turns played per game:10
Nr. of games played to completion: (unk.)
Nr. of games won by the French: 0
Total nr. of attendees: 14

Aside from Napoleon (5), there were games opened up on WWII Eastfront (1) and on WWII Pacfic Theater (2).

Nr. of hours Adam spent on Email: (e?)
Cartons of cigarettes consumed: 1.4
Pots of coffee brewed: 12
Cups of coffee consumed: 44

The above includes espresso and regular.

Rules arguments: none
Rules questions resulting from weekend play: 15

There was a moment when I was answering questions on three games at once. That quickly killed me off.

That was smart of Dave to take you to J. Patrick's pub after gaming Saturday.

It turned out there was one casualty of this weekend: the tropical tree that Dave & I moved out onto the porch was just discovered this morning, very wilted. It didn't frost until Tuesday...

Last year I did this with a rubber tree. This was the very small plant next to Jon's chair. It came back from a 100% loss of leaves, totally ignored, behind the washing machine, in a spot which happens to get good sunlight.

[kzucker]

Next Gaming weekend tentatively scheduled for Wagner College as above, site of Origins 77. The campus has changed considerably since then. Dorms and hotels are available. We are trying to gauge interest, please let us hear from you if you are interested!

[kzucker]

It will take a lot of work to put on this event. We haven't yet commited to Wagner College. If there isn't any interest we will cancel or postpone it.

[kzucker]

Adam and I have decided to postpone the convention. We both felt that July was too soon; we probably would like to have a year to prepare everything. We both have game designs in the pipeline that will be coming through the press in that time period.

We look forward to putting on "The Fog of War" a little later, say in December or January.

[kzucker]

FROM BRANDENBURG TO SILESIA, BOHEMIA, AND BACK …
4LB Tourney 5-6 NOV 2005

Saturday-Sunday, November 5th-6th in Baltimore, MD.
Four Lost Battles Tournament

No fee, limited seating, spaces going fast …

SCHEDULE:
5 NOV Saturday Grossbeeren 10.00 - 15.00
Katzbach 15.30 - 19.30

6 NOV Sunday Kulm 10.00 - 14.00
Dennewitz 14.30 - 17.30

Prizes: Three-game Winners will get one OSG game of their choice; Tournament winners will get three games.

Tourney Admin: Everyone will complete one Campaign Game (all four battles), no elimination. You will keep your earned Bonus Cards from prior battles, but will play a different opponent each time, alternating sides. Winners of Grossbeeren will play winners. If you play the French at Grossbeeren, you'll play the Coalition at Katzbach and Dennewitz. EXCEPTION: If you win every game, you might not alternate sides, because we are matching players with the same win/loss record. All the 2-time winners will compete against each other in the 3rd Round, and all the 3-time winners will compete in the fourth round.

Reserve Your Space. Send email to: <kzucker@charm.net>

[kzucker]

Here is a chance to play all four battles against skilled competitors. Even if you don't win the Tournament you will walk away with plenty of tips on tactics, and a greater understanding of these battles themselves.

If you have to travel a great distance we will try and help with accommodations. If you live nearby we'll send you directions.

Space available but we have to close out registration on Thursday!

[kzucker]

Hi.

The tournament was decided in a final game of Dennewitz between Jonathan Hipp and Jason Roach, who had both prevailed in all earlier rounds. This one was extremely tight, but ended in a Coalition Marginal Victory. Congratulations to Jon Hipp for winning all four games (including Grossbeeren as the French, Katzbach as Coalition, Kulm as French). He took home 3 OSG games plus a bonus copy of the latest in the "Jours de Gloire" series, "Haslach and Elchingen." Jason came in second in the tourney with three wins... Many thanks to all participants. We are planning another tournament soon.

[kzucker]

We are having a gaming get-together at OSG World HQ in Baltimore, MD this weekend.
Date: Saturday March 4th through Sunday the 5th
Time: From 3 PM Saturday through 5 PM Sunday.
Actual gaming will start about 5 PM on Saturday but we will probably take a hike before that if the weather is good. There will be limited space here to crash; bring a sleeping bag. Open gaming; bring your own games. You may want to bring your own snacks, etc. Let us know if you are coming by Friday afternoon so we can reserve table space. Send email to kzucker for reservations & directions.

[sbconstant]

I unfortunately won't be able to attend this gaming weekend (but, incidentally do have plans to travel elsewhere). Are there other--tentative or otherwise--gaming weekends planned for 2006 at this point? I'd love to be able to plan on attending one.

[kzucker]

Hi! Thanks for writing. There will surely be more this year, will try to give you more notice!

[sbconstant]

Thanks, Kevin. My vedettes will be scouring the web board for further notices. Enjoy the weekend!

[kzucker]

Forrest & I played "Twilight/Struggle" while Dave and Chuck played a new block game from Worthington. Sarah joined us all later on a game of "Apples to Apples." I liked making up compliated variations... one variation we didn't formally try was awarding the round to the player with the best justification for his choice (though Dave was the best at this).

I liked the "DEFCON" mechanism in Twilight/Struggle. The idea that a coup anywhere in the world will ratchet-up the threat of a nuclear end to the game, and also will require a corresponding level of military readiness.

I would like the rule better if you could spend Ops Points to increase your Military level (as it is you need a card or a coup to move the marker on that track-yeah, I never got the right card.)

This mechanism is exactly what I have been looking for in Swords Around a Throne. There we have a Mobilization Track (similar to the Military Track in Twilight/Struggle). The Mobilization Track has five spaces (each with an associated Order of Battle): Peacetime Economy (up to 4 Corps), Grande Armée (up to 10), Bolstered by Allies (up to 14), Guerre a l'Outrance (16), and Hyper-Mobilization (17).

Diplomatic-Economic events (played cards), will cause the Mobilization Track Marker to move up, and you will have to spend the money to create the minimum number of corps for that Mobilization Level.

That's the new version; we had a more complicated version of the track with twelve spaces, that was influenced not by cards but by the Morale Track (and this was the problem). Having the Mobilization marker move depending upon card play is the right solution. I cannot think, off-hand, of too many coups or attempted coups in the Napoleonic era.

There was the Enghien plot in 1804, an assassination plot against Napoleon in 1806, and the abortive coup in Paris in October 1812. Then there was the imprisonment of the Spanish Royal family and of the Pope by Napoleon; but not a lot of that kind of thing in ten years of war.

On the other hand, you have the "Peace Party" coming to power which could take the place of the Coup Mechanism. If you played "Peace Party" on the enemy player, Mobilization Level would be reduced.

Today's session starts at 1:30 PM

[Jeffrey Arnold]

There was the Enghien plot in 1804, an assassination plot against Napoleon in 1806, and the abortive coup in Paris in October 1812. Then there was the imprisonment of the Spanish Royal family and of the Pope by Napoleon; but not a lot of that kind of thing in ten years of war.

There is also the 1801 assassination of Tsar Paul....does "Swords" go back that far?

[kzucker]

Jeffrey,

Good point. It starts in 1804 actually. But the possibility always existed within the court if the Tsar went too far in appeasing Napoleon.

[Forrest Atterberry]

I would like the rule better if you could spend Ops Points to increase your Military level...

In TS you can use the op value to execute a coup. The value becomes a +drm to the dice in your attempt. Some card's events include a free coup but, your not limited to trying a coup with just those. It is a good game and we should play another round in the near future.

I cannot think, off-hand, of too many coups or attempted coups in the Napoleonic era.

I guess it depends on what the definition of a coup is. Would the "Tennis Court Oath" of 1789 be considered one? I'm guessing they're there but, I don't think the game would start that far back in the history.

Diplomatic-Economic events (played cards), will cause the Mobilization Track Marker to move up, and you will have to spend the money to create the minimum number of corps for that Mobilization Level.

Perhaps another track that when the magic number hits allows the coalitions to be formed. So you'd have cards that would allow Napoleon to mobilize his troops and cards that would effect when a coalition might be formed. It always seems that Napoleon was racing to mobilize troops against the various coalitions before they could form to stop him.

[kzucker]

Forrest,

I am keen to play TS again soon.

Rather than Coups, the main threat to the royal houses was newly-liberated social forces, that forced their policy into war with Napoleon. Metternich was very unpopular because of his diplomatic game he was playing in the first half of 1813. Once uncorked, these nationalist movements were hard to put back into the bottle. Unrest in a population has to be accounted for; in La Guerre we called it the VP Track.

The timing of the Coalition is probably the key event. Despite the way it is portrayed in a lot of history, the Coalition only gelled in 1813. Before that Napoleon was able to fight his adversaries one at a time. The Coalition partners had their own agendas and were jealous of each other. It took a long time to see the advent of Napoleon as a unifying cause, in much the same way that players will gang-up on the leader in a multi-player game.

[kzucker]

Kevin Zucker, Forrest Atterberry and others will be playing a demo of "Napoleon at the Crossroads" at the Game Parlor Woodbridge, starting around 11 AM. Please come by to try your hand and see the game in action.

Everyone is welcome. We'll play on the big map using sleds. If you're in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area come on out and give it a try.

11 Nov 06 at the Woodbridge, VA Gameparlor. Start time 11AM.

[kzucker]

Check out the pictures from our game at the Woodbridge Game Parlor posted on Consimworld.

http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?7@769.1p90crJHudu.6@.ee6bef6/4851

We had about 3 players on a side...

[kzucker]

We're getting together in Baltimore this coming weekend, December 9-10. Starting at 11 AM on Saturday, through Sunday at 5PM. We'll be playing Napoleon at the Crossroads - bring anything else you wish to play. Email for directions.

[kzucker]

We just finished our session for today. In our game of Napoleon at the Crossroads between David Schubert and Jason Roach, Bluecher ran into Macdonald along the Bober, between Bunzlau and Lowenberg. Ney Force Marched a short distance to join the battle, forcing Bluecher into an attack at 1:3 odds. However, the Prussian advantage in artillery allowed him to give as good as he got, even with Sebastiani's 6-mile pursuit. Both sides lost 6,000 men.

In the north, Oudinot was shifting elements of his Army of Berlin to the west, to threaten an advance toward Berlin through Treuenbreitzen, which has the advantage of skirting most of the lakes and marshes south of Berlin.

To the south, the Army of Bohemia was converging on Dresden, where the Emperor awaited them with 48 SPs (almost 150,000 men) in and around the Saxon capital.

To be continued...

[Nico[PL]]

Kevin,

Please post some pictures :) ?!

[kzucker]

Hi Nico.

Thanks for asking. Peter Baysdell will post some pictures on Consimworld.

[kzucker]

There were in all three battles at Loewenberg on the Bober. With an extra corps, the VI of Marmont, helping to hold the line from Bunzlau to opposite Hirschberg, the Prussians were unable to break through. On at least one occasion the Prussian and Russian vedettes were able to reveal every French leader on this front. None of the battles were critical battles, however, as losses were evenly balanced.

Meanwhile the Army of Bohemia descended upon Dresden, delayed by the French cavalry, ultimately unable to wrest control of the city from Napoleon with 48 SPs.

In the North, Oudinot was too obvious in transferring all his strength to the Wittenberg road. He should have kept one corps and cavalry to approach Berlin from further east, just to keep the coalition defenses spread thin. Instead he ran into the whole Army of the North defending the Nuthe from Potsdam (Winzingerode and the Swedes), to Trebbin (Prussians).

[sbconstant]

Are there any plans for gaming weekends later in the year? Friedland? I plan on heading to the Baltimore/DC area to see friends and some serious Napoleonic maneuvering.

[kzucker]

Hi

We just had one on Feb 10/11. We usually schedule them roughly 30 days in advance and we post them here and in the OSG e-Newsletter.

[sbconstant]

Thanks, Kevin. I look forward to learning what transpired this past weekend.

[kzucker]

Hi,

Thanks for asking. I posted a brief after action report somewhere on this discussion board. On Saturday Russ Lockwood of magweb played a game of Kulm with Peter Baysdell. In the evening Forrest Atterberry came by and he demonstrated a game with figures that I cannot recall the name of, then we played Apples to Apples, which I love. But we played that you get to try and persuade the judge.

On Sunday, Peter and Chuck Frascati came by and they helped me go over the Katzbach battle one more time as I was preparing the pages of the Special Study on 1813 to send to the printer. We went over the narrative of events one more time trying to fill-in some missing details. The book went to the printer on Monday.

[sbconstant]

Kevin,

Thanks for the review--sorry I missed the post in the other section. Looks like a nice mix of activities; Apples to Apples was a pleasant surprise. I hope the heavens (work schedule, mostly) align to allow me to come to the next get-together.

[kzucker]

I am sure you'll be able to make it one day...

[kzucker]

Russ has posted an article on the recent gaming weekend at his website...

"Kevin Zucker, owner of the wargame and historical analysis company Operational Studies Group, hosts wargame weekends every quarter or half year or so. These are informal gatherings where devotes of his wargames come to enjoy cardboard comradery. I've always wanted to go, and when the planets finally aligned in February 2007, I took advantage of the timing and drove from NJ to OSG in Baltimore. ..."

(read on at) http://www.magweb.com/premium/warlore/histscen/wl024osg.htm

I think you will need to be a subscriber to view it, but I highly recommend you subscribe to the site if you haven't already.

[kzucker]

Near Baltimore?

We'll be assembling 490 copies of The Habit of Victory this weekend.
I hope you can be there.

Date: Saturday December 8 through Sunday December 9
Times: 11 AM through 5 PM Saturday and Sunday
Location: OSG World HQ, Baltimore, MD USA

R.S.V.P.

kzucker@charm.net

[kzucker]

Saturday 12/22/07

We'll be making up 200 more copies of HoV ... See details in post above.