Blog Review 12

Jan and I have been in UK for 10 days, the longest I have gone without putting anything on the blog since I started it! Sorry to anyone who might have been calling by to see what is happening.

I had my laptop with me, but for most of the time was not able to log on. When I could it was in circumstances where I could not concentrate sufficiently to get anything down. I had taken some notes with me to update the "Wargames in Spain

-->" blog, but only put one on - and that was my cat Buster helping us play a game!

On the other hand I did have the opportunity to reflect on things, which is not always a good idea. Too often it results in me going off at a wargame tangent.

I was particularly interested in reading about two new wargame rules, and their reception on TMP. The first is "Napoleon" by Foundry. The reception has been pretty poor, with some correspondents apparently happy to have a go without even reading the rules. Indeed it seemed that no one had actually played the rules. Now I am sure that some people can judge a set of rules on a quick read, but I am not amongst them. It usually takes us 5 or 6 games just to get a feel for the rules, and as many again to realise that we don't actually like them.

The second set is "Honour" by Sam Mustafa. This was better received, though nothing has actually been published yet. And I must admit that they sound very interesting. I considered using his Grand Armee at one time, but discovered LFS at the same time and would not attempt to learn two sets of rules at the same time. I particularly like the idea that you can fight different size battles with the same base stands. As I understand it they could represent a battalion in a divisional size game or a brigade in a corps sized one. I doubt that I would stick with the rules, but they might well give me some ideas to amend my own house rules.

I have really decided that "house" rules are the answer for Jan and I. Neither of us like learning new rules, and play so much that we always find fault with them sooner or later. And once you start to amend them you create more problems than you solve. I always felt that it was necessary to have a "professional set of rules" when we ran club games, as I would always feel that I had to defend a "house set". However if just Jan and I are playing we can always compromise and end up with a good game.

The thing that struck me most reading TMP is what a terrible impression it must give to newcomers to the hobby when they read the things printed there. I am sure that the vast majority are like me, just keep our heads down and let them get on with it. But if a wargamer with 40 years experience like myself is put off, how must a novice feel.

I have also been meddling with Battle Chronicler, which I also found on TMP. It is a computer assisted method of doing battle reports. The example looked easy, so I downloaded it, plus something else which you need to play, which took nearly an hour. I hate to think how much space I have taken up on my hard drive. You will appreciate that I am a computer novice and just cross my fingers when I do these things. Once downloaded I then found it was much more complicated than I had imagined, and there are no rivers or hills available. To be fair, it is at the test stage and is free, so I am not really complaining. And the whole reason for doing my own campaign on an A4 sheet of paper is to avoid having to struggle with the computer. So you might well ask why I attempted it in the first place!!

I have also been looking for a new camera. My present one is about 10 years old, and I am sure is well outdated. Looking for a new one proved a big headache. We were travelling around UK and looked in Newcastle, Salisbury and Weston super Mare. In each shop I explained what I wanted. This was a camera (like my present one) that you can point and press for when we are walking. I would like a simple (as opposed to my present complicated) way of taking close ups of wargame figures. And I would like a wide angle lens to take the whole 6x6 foot table - even if balancing on a step ladder. And I wanted all of this in a middle priced camera, say not more than £150. Each shop convinced me that their camera, and all were different makes and models, was the right one. By the end of this exercise I was completely confused. Not a single camera could do all three functions, and I could not agree which was the nearest. In despair we visited a small, family run shop in Morpeth. The owner produced a camera which met all of my list, and at a price of £139. I would have bought it on the spot, but it was to be a Christmas present to us both from my son and family. So I noted the details and gave them to him. Within minutes he had found the same camera, online, at £89 post free. Personally I would be tempted to go back to the shop and see if they would match, or at last come near, the online price. But I suspect that my son will just buy it online and the shop will lose a sale. It seems very unfair, but then again a saving of £50 is not easily ignored.

Whilst struggling with my decision I came across the word "stitching". In photograph circles it apparently refers to taking a number of photos and then joining them together. I was assured this was simple to do, and that downloads were available online. Again I downloaded one, and again it is proving much harder to do than promised. Once more I would have to confess that this is probably more my fault than the designer. However when I went on their forum (there never seems to be a human you can contact) there were pages and pages of similar requests. And the answers seemed much more complicated than the questions. Ah well, at Christmas I will have my new camera, and the nice man told me that this feature is included on the camera and even I can do it. We will see.

So much for excuses and what I have been doing for the past 10 days. You would be more interested in what I hope to do in the next 10 days.

First I plan to do another in the "Walking Napoleonic Battlefields" blog. Not sure which, but it might be Albuera. I think that was the next one we visited during our 1991 Holts Battlefield Tour.

I will definitely do one more of the "Wargames in Spain" reports. This time without support from the cat.

I will add more to "Jan and Paul in Spain 2007". When we were in UK I was really pleased to see that a lot of our friends had been visiting the Spain blogs. I had noticed that they had quite a few hits, but as no messages were left did not know who was coming by. It is the worse part of doing a blog, you never know how your work is being received. On the other hand you don't get lots of adverse comment either!

And finally we must get some wargaming in. This should not be too difficult. The summer has arrived here in Spain, and that means very hot afternoons. One of the coolest parts of the house is our wargames room, and there is a large ceiling fan to help keep us cool. The Spanish have their afternoon siesta, we have our afternoon wargame and swim. This looks like being the last battle of our "Magdeburg Campaign". I have already started work on the Spanish campaign which will follow. Maps and order of battle are already done, but I have to start the map movement. I don't like to do so before I finish "Magdeburg", as I would lose interest in that. Also before I start in Spain I want to tidy up "Magdeburg" so that it makes easier reading from start to finish.

So lots to do, and plenty of time to do it. Keep calling in to keep up with the latest.