[Consim-l] what I bought and what I played in 2007

[John Best]

Dear members of the consim-l reading list:
Once again, we find ourselves on the last day of the year, and so it's time 
to review purchases and playings for 2007.  To start things off, here's what 
I bought:

A Victory Lost, MMP

That's it.  I bought a grand total of one game in 2007.  This was my lowest 
total in the last 32 years.  But the reality is I'm blessed with bunches of 
games and things that are coming out just are not beckoning to me.  Ok, 
here's what I played or "worked on":

Jan 1--Jan 20: L'Armee Du Nord
Jan 20--Feb 18: Musket and Pike
Feb 18--Feb 28: Seelowe
March 1--July 1: Der Osten, Episode 1
July 1--July 25: A Victory Lost
July 25--Oct 4: Drive on Stalingrad
Oct 4--Dec 24: Der Osten, Episode 1
Dec 24--Dec 26: Arnhem

I've written my own version of the rules for the Clash of Arms' game, 
L'Armee Du Nord.  They are basically finished; but I have some touches that 
I want to add.  When they are done, you guys will be the first ones, maybe 
the only ones to have access to them (for free).  Musket and Pike is the old 
SPI game that is just outside the time era covered by the Prestags games, 
but it feels just like one.  I always wanted to see if a player could make 
the counters and rules work to more accurately simulate the very different 
tactics of the forces involved in the 30 Years War.  I developed a 
Breitenfeld scenario that "kind of" worked.  Really, in my opinion, it's 
hard to make the formations look right (correct frontage and depth) and move 
right with the countermix in M&P.  But in 1973 or so when the game came out, 
who knew how it was "supposed to" look?   I remember playing and loving the 
old SPI Seelowe game back in the day, and when I had a chance to get a copy 
for a reasonable amount, I took it.  There are some quirky things about it, 
and I don't think I ever quite understood the "wave" loading boxes, but I 
still had a lot of fun with it.  And compared with some Sealion games that 
seem to me hopelessly overwrought (eg, Britain Stands Alone), I would play 
Seelowe any day.  Der Osten is hard to describe in a few words, but it is an 
attempt to create what I'm calling right now a "hybrid" product, part 
wargame, part "narrative" of the East Front in WWII.  Right now, it consists 
of a couple of map prototypes, an analysis of the forces deployed over the 
course of the 1941-1945 conflict, a math model that "fights" the whole 
conflict, with certain parameters that can be altered, and an idea of how I 
want the whole thing to feel.  A Victory Lost is one of the products in the 
International Game Series (IGS) that MMP publishes, and it was the only 
"new" game that I bought in 2007.  I played it; it was ok for me.  But I 
definitely think that MMP is on the right track in terms of presentation, 
and "level" with this game.  It's the closest thing I've seen to a 
"crossover" vehicle in wargaming (I don't think we need a crossover vehicle 
really, I'm very content with the audience of "real" wargamers.  But if one 
wanted to make a crossover, this I think is what it would look like).  I 
also had fun with Drive on Stalingrad; I know there are people who think the 
game is fundamentally broken, and, to my taste, the Hitler rules are 
overdone (I ditched them anyway).  Finally, I concluded with the old folio 
game Arnhem, which was my "playing one for Redmond" game this year.  I sent 
that posting out a couple of days ago, and haven't seen it yet, which is 
usually a sign for me that it didn't make it out to the list.  If I get some 
feedback indicating that nobody has seen it, I'll resend it.  I also 
playtested a couple of products over at the company formerly known as The 
Gamers.  One was an SCS game on Bastogne, that I really enjoyed.  A second 
one was the pilot game for a new "system" that will have some OCS features 
at the almost-tactical level.  It's interesting.  I'm not a big fan of 
tactical wargames, but this one has held my interest so far.  Well, that 
does it for me this year, another good year in wargaming, in my judgment. 
Take care guys; and Happy New Year!  Let's have a great 2008.  Thanks for 
reading.
John Best
jlbest at advancenet.net