Wherein the Umpires muse briefly but generally upon what went right and what went wrong could have gone better at the Autumn Big Game 2018, ("Bridge over Trebbbled Water") now known as "The Battle of Winforton Pontoons", with special emphasis upon new rules and potential future excitements:
The Autumn Big Game 2018 was the first time in the course of the Hereford 1938 VBCW campaign that a contested river crossing was attempted, in this case by the forces of Sir Gilbert Hill (Doug) and his Anglican allies (Clive, and making a special appearance as an Anglican, Robb). The "Special Rules" for the Big Game can be found HERE and the "General Briefing" (before amendment for numbers) can be found HERE. Given that the River Wye divides the County of Herefordshire roughly in half (and the County includes other rivers, such as the Lugg and Arrow), it may not be the last time that the contending factions have to consider a contested river crossing (or even a fighting retreat) "under fire", so the following thoughts apply:
(a). Assault Boats : The "roughly 28mm" assault boats used by Sir Gilbert and his allies were a bulk purchase off Ebay sometime back in 2017, and then the subject of a "Maritime Modelling Challenge" for the group. Many congratulations to Alan and Robb for so manfully taking part in the Challenge : Alan's entire "assault fleet" has already been featured, while Robb's Large Landing Craft (with clever moveable bow) will feature in a subsequent blogpost, probably as a tutorial nearer to the time of our planned "Big Beach Assault" Game. And for those villains who cheerfully snaffled a "doggy bag" of cheap plastic boats (or even two!) and dismally failed to do any bodging with them, not even spray them grey, we mention two things : (a). we know where you live; and (b). the "Big Beach Assault" Game will give you a chance in future to redeem yourself, so don't throw them away!
(b). Pontoon Bridges : The "specially widened" Airfix Pontoon Bridges looked the part and the simple rules for building them seemed to work well. See "Artillery : Effect Of" below. The Pontoons, like the assault boats, are now in general storage awaiting any factions' request to re-use them in order to surprise their enemies......
(c). The Trebbled River : Umpire Roo, as "Terrain Czar", was set the seemingly impossible task of building a 2 foot wide and 18 foot long "River Wye" without spending a lot of (or preferably any) money. Thankfully, he came up trumps by lateral thinking : reversing and painting the underside some of our usual sub-boards. Hurrah!
(d). Smoke : ok, there was a lot of it, and it all blew in the eyes of the defending Government forces. Probably too much smoke and too steady, caused by (i). Sir Gilbert's Umpire Bonus of 3 x "Smoke Firing" tanks; (ii). pre-Big Game Umpire nerves that too many of the attacking boats might be sunk in the crossing of the Wye, leading to a wet and early end to an unbalanced game; (c). the Government's awful dice throwing in relation to "wind direction". Subject to that, however, the smoke rules seemed to work well enough. In future scenarios, we are likely to cater not so much for "smoke shells", but for "smoke" arising from more VBCW events, e.g. burning haystacks or buildings. In any such future event, there will naturally be less ability to "direct smoke", a greater degree of "smoke movement" and fewer "painted DVD bases with fluffy white kapok topping" on the table!
(e). Artillery: Effect Of : notwithstanding the pre-Big Game Umpire nerves (see above), the Government artillery had surprisingly little effect on the Pontoon Bridges/Assault Boats. So far as can now be recalled, only one Assault Boat was actually hit by artillery fire. The usual Artillery Rules were not changed for the Big Game (save for some special "long range" shell rules designed for a different purpose), so to some extent this result may again be due to the Government's awful dice throwing. On the other hand, the scenario was planned with more Government players defending the northern bank of the Wye (i.e. 4 - 6 as opposed to 2 - 3) and more Anglican allies attacking across the Wye (c. 6 - 7 as opposed to 3 - 4) and with a larger number of artillery pieces and a larger number of targets, the Government may have been more successful. The newly promoted Major Everard's (Alan's) point that, as a matter of probability, it was actually quite difficult for a specific shell to make contact with a specific small assault boat was well-made : the Umpires will have another think for next time, or similar situations.
(f). Re-Inforcement Schedule : ...and on the subject of awful Government dice throwing....Government re-inforcements were late (sometimes very late, sometimes non-existent) in actually turning up on the table. This had a particular effect on poor old Stokkies Joubert (Roo) (now in Anglican captivity as a pretty much direct result) although Major Everard also suffered (albeit he got his tanks, tank destroyers and famous "hockey stick waving schoolgirls" on the table, if later than comfortable). Although careful thought was given to probabilities when the "Re-Inforcement Schedule" was designed, the Umpires will take extra care next time that re-inforcements become an issue, balancing everyone's love of having a full force on the table vs. the requirements of the scenario. To some extent, the whole point and fun of any reinforcement schedule is that a player cannot guarantee what will turn up and when.....
(g). "Fighting "Double Fisted" : because we were down on numbers, on this occasion some players were able to fight "double fisted", e.g. with two Platoons rather than the usual one Platoon. This definitely seemed to work for those energetic enough to do so, and was a jolly useful innovation for the Umpires, trying to keep the scenario balanced as the number of intending players gyrated right up until Saturday morning, 10am...
(g). One Phase Only Rule: we tested out reverting to "one phase only" turns, as opposed to Mort's previous amendment to the "WTDW" rules to introduce "two phase" turns. While "two phases" arguably improve realism, there was general agreement that "one phase" turns was the way to go in "Big Games", where the speed of a turn is a critical factor. Hence, "one phase" it is for future "Big Games".
(h). Chance Cards Re-Introduced: we re-introduced generalised "Chance Cards" for this Big Game (thanks to Alan for providing them), which resulted in a "Sudden Thunderstorm with Associated Lightning" card being drawn about halfway through the game, with interestingly mixed results for the contending Platoons. This didn't unbalance the Big Game, so we will be using Chance Cards for some Big Games in the future, where the element of "chance" is not otherwise over-catered for by the scenario.
(i). Umpire AND Player "Surprises": usually, it is the Umpires that think up "Game Surprises", but on this occasion Sir Gilbert deployed his "Ju-Ju" witch and wanted some suitable "spells" for her, and Major Everard was able to respond in kind with some VBCW surprises of his own. Sadly, "Ju-Ju" pretty much failed Sir Gilbert due to his dice throwing (that "swarm of bees" would have been fun) whereas Major Everard's VBCW surprises - flaming oil in the Wye, caltrops in a field, and ravenous attack dogs - all "went off" (with mixed results) and added much to the fun of the Big Game (other than, perhaps to the Pontrilas WI). The Umpires will definitely be asking players to think up similar small scale "VBCW surprises" for future games...
The Umpires are always open to any ideas for rule changes or amendments in the light of previous experience or overheated imaginations, or any comments on scenarios as played or ideas for future scenarios. Thinking caps on, VBCW chaps!
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