Lifes little Disappointments

Its been a weekend of satisfaction and disappointment.

Disappointment first.

You will recall that a local 16 year old lad rang me last week to ask about the Jalon Wargames Club, and that I invited him to come and visit us. During the conversation I explained that the club no longer existed, but he asked if he could come and see our games room and find out about Napoleonic wargaming. I also mentioned the PBEM campaign, which I thought might be a good way of finding out what our gaming is all about, and he was interested in joining.

We live on the outskirts of a small village, and finding us on a first visit is always a problem. So we always ask new visitors to meet us at the Farmacia in the village, and they can then follow us to the house. I arranged to meet this lad and his dad at the Farmacia at 3pm on Sunday. I was surprised that there was no one waiting when I got there at 2.55, and by 3.15 I was also pretty angry.

I can understand that he might have had second thoughts and decided it was not something he wanted to do. I can not understand why he did not have the good manners to give me a ring and cancel his visit. It does make you realise that there are some very selfish and thoughtless people around.

I had set up a demonstration game for them to see. Jan had bought some nice cakes for afternoon tea. We had set aside an afternoon to entertain two strangers. I had only invited the young man to come because I did not want to disappoint him. He, and his father, could not be bothered to pick up the telephone and tell us they had changed their mind.

This is the first time that something like this has happened, and I would not let it influence how I react to any future enquiries. But it does make you realise that it can be a mistake to assume that everyone else has the same consideration and values as yourself.

Satisfaction second

On the other hand the new PBEM campaign is up and running. I have received all of the first day's orders, and am looking forward to plotting the first days movement. This is the exciting stage, when there is all to play for. Its interesting to see how the two CinC players have planned their campaign strategy, and to anticipate how the corps commanders will comprehend their plan.

There have been a few problems - of course.

I have rewritten the campaign rules, and there has been a few teething problems. The new campaign is similar to the test campaign, even the maps are similar. But there are important differences. One player has mixed up the old rules with the new. Another had written his orders based on the old map rather than the new. His corps is marching to a town that does not exist on the new map! Two players have had email problems. One has sorted it, the other has not. So I have already lost one of the team. I was expecting casualties, but not this early in the campaign.

This loss is due to email problems, not to lack of interest. Its disappointing, but completely understandable. Fortunately the CinC player has taken on the role at very short notice, and sent me the missing orders. I have told the player that if he can sort out his email problems he is welcome back into the campaign. No hard feelings on either side.

So there is a vacant post in the campaign. If anyone would like to take part, and has reliable email facilities, they would be very welcome!

Lets see what the rest of the week has to offer.