Category: History
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Megagame Don’t Panic offside report
Last Saturday I was political control for the megagame Don’t Panic. As mentioned previously this is a what if megagame about the German Invasion of Britain in 1940. The scenario necessarily changes history to remove some of the most obvious reasons why the Germans didn’t ever try this during WW2. Anyway my role was to…
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Could there have been a German Invasion of Britain in 1940?
Next week’s megagame Don’t Panic is an alternative history megagame about the German Invasion of Britain in 1940. It’s a popular what if and makes an interesting game for us British because the playing area is familiar to us from our everyday lives. At least it is familiar if you live in the South East.…
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Operation Sealion: A Military Appreciation
The next megagame I’m going to is Don’t Panic a what if scenario on Operation Sealion, the planned German invasion of Britain in the autumn of 1940. I’m going to be the British Control. So no playing for me. However that doesn’t mean that I can’t look at how I would plan the Operation Sealion…
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1689 Reading List
So far this half a shelf is my 1689 reading list for the proposed megagame about the Glorious Revolution. I’ve read some of this already, and marked up the interesting bits. Notably Bonnie Dundee and the Bruce Lenman books as well as Glencoe by John Sadler which sets the scene for the 1692 massacre very well…
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1689 Megagame Idea
A 1689 Megagame of the Glorious Revolution In November 1688 William of Orange landed at Torbay with a combined force of Dutch and British troops. Early in 1689 the English Parliament declared for William. In Scotland and Ireland things were less clear cut, Scotland was finely balanced and Ireland was more Jacobite than Williamite. The…
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L/Cpl William Kemp – Killed in Action
Lance Corporal William Kemp of the 2nd Scottish Rifles was killed in action one hundred years ago. I grew up seeing his name on the local war memorial, as did my father who was also named William Kemp. My dad was keen on family history, he could tell me all the living relatives and knew…
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Book Review – Fatal Choices by Seth Owen
Fatal Choices: Wargames, Decisions and Destiny in the 1914 Battles of Coronel and Falklands by Seth Owen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I backed the Kickstarter campaign and got both the ebook and the paperback version of this as well as some pre-cut counters for playing the scenarios. The book is a fascinating tour…
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World Building – Towns and Villages
One of the things that I often do when I am writing a story is to sketch a map of the area where the story takes place. This helps me to visualise what the characters will be able to see. The thing is though, you can’t just bang down stuff randomly (well you can, but…
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Book Review – Lion Rampant by Robert Woollcombe
 Lion Rampant by Woollcombe Robert My rating: 5 of 5 stars The author was a platoon commander in Normandy (going ashore on D+8) and then a Company 2ic from the breakout until the end of the war (although with six Company Commanders in six months he spent almost as much time in command as any of…
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Megagame Funeral Games II pt.2
This is the second part of my offside report on the Megagame Makers megagame ‘Funeral Games II’ which I played in on Saturday. It covered the period following Alexander the Great’s death and the struggle by his successors to attain power. In the first half of the game I played Antipater, until he died of…
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Megagame Funeral Games II pt.1
Today I played in the Megagame Makers ”Funeral Games II” which was the second outing of a classic Megagame of what happens after Alexander the Great dies. As such it involves a mix of military operations, politics and personal relationships to cement power and block others from achieving it. My starting role in the megagame…
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 10
Third week of October 1914 BEF Report to the War Office The Belgians on our left were attacked and driven out of their trench line, and retreated towards Calais. The BEF left flank is, although entrenched, hanging in the air again. BEF reserve troops are at St. Omer. A request to the navy is made…