James Eisert, Author at Columbia Games

HârnWorld LARP at “Guild of Uncast Die” in Finland

James Eisert — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 05:00:49 +0000

Jupe Rantalainen

Guest Writer

HârnWorld LARP at Guild of Uncast Die in Finland

The campaign followed the civil war in Rethem, ending in the triumph of Earl Tormau. The focus was on Earl’s vassal knight, sir Jourdan Lourney, his allies , adventures and so forth. Games were more intrigue and cloak & dagger, with action being provided by few duels and one surprise raid on a wedding party in Ithiko region. Around 120 unique players participated (most of them new to Hârn). Size of the events varied from 40 to 70. Youngest player was 8, oldest in late 40s, about 55-60% of the players were female. Campaign was slow paced in real time, starting 2008 and ending 2014, with smaller one-shot game coming this year.

All credit to photography by Teemu Salminen

Squire Nicholas of Lynnaeus, son of Nefin Lynnaeus and squire to sir Jourdan.

Sir Martin Olandau, knight from Techen, leader of mercenaries, political backstabber extraordinaire.

Sir Jourdan Lourney, rich landowner and vassal to Earl Lynnaeus, veteran of Ezar's War, famous swordsman and warlord.

Sir Gontier of Uldseth, Herald in service of Earl Lynnaeus, distant relative to Baron of Quste.

Lady Evana of Had and her mother Lady Evelyn of Had, hostages from Ithiko.

Leaders of ivinian allies and mercenaries of Tormau, from left to right - Haagon Daasel from Pillar of Fire, jarl Bjaal Ruindael from Orbaal, "prince" Haavor Turensyn from Rogna and recently knighted mercenary sir Harald Uthersen.

Lady Cecilia Lourney, heiress to sir Jourdan, and her husband, Sir Amathin of Klady, a turncoat from Zaza, now in service of Tormau.

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HârnQuest is a collection of Hârn articles released 4 times a year. Each issue is approximately 32 pages and includes articles about Hârnic kingdoms, cities, castles, history, creatures, and more. New Atlas Hârnica maps are also sent to HârnQuest subscribers as they are released.

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Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics

James Eisert — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 11:00:18 +0000

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics

Most of the block games involve some rudimentary economic considerations as damaged units are repaired and new units formed. Often control of territory directly affects the resources available to the player to build and repair units. This is another subtlety of the system, because players typically underestimate the snowballing effect of a small advantage.

For example, a map in Wizard Kings or Victory typically has 10 resource point producing sites. So long as both sides maintain their territorial integrity a stalemate is likely.

Many players complain about this, but it’s simply a manifestation of the failure of your plan. Craft a better strategy. There are asymmetric aspects available with hidden force construction and disparate maps that provide one with potential. If you manage to capture just one enemy City worth 2 production points you should be well on your way to victory and your opponent should be desperately trying to get it back. Because until he does, you enjoy a 12-8 production edge — that is 50% more! Assuming you spend it well, that is very hard to overcome. Given enough time it is deadly. Grab another and now you are outbuilding him 14-6, better than 2 to 1. This is almost an insurmountable edge most of the time. Many block games are, at heart, economically based.

(to be continued)

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Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny”

James Eisert — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 11:00:21 +0000

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny”

No, not South Park’s Kenny, but the Knowing-When-to-Fold-Them guy of the Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler.” The single most common tactical error I see made by players in block games is fighting too long in a losing battle. This tendency is encouraged by the occasional exceptional run of luck or fistful of hits that can dramatically turn a battle around. Hey, it’s fun. It happens sometimes . And when it does it can be a game changer. But it’s not a strategy.

While all die rolls are not created equal, the number and nature of die rolls in nearly all block games is going to hew to the mean over the course of the game. The tactical implication is clear, if you are at a significant disadvantage in fire power and/or steps, seriously consider bugging out. Replacing lost blocks is never easy and often impossible in every block game. Even a 1CV unit provides you some options for the future. A vanished unit does not. As tempting as it may be to ask the dice to save you when you are in trouble, they probably won’t.

I usually try to arrange my battles so the true advantage for my force is not obvious to my opponent at first, so as to let the opponent indulge in his hope that the dice will save him. This may be the hardest thing to learn in block games and it really has no counterpart in hex-and-counter games, which typically don’t have multi-round combat systems where each side is constantly faced with deciding whether to retreat or fight on.

(to be continued)

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Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity

James Eisert — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 11:00:42 +0000

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity

The Fog of War in block wargames inherently flusters many. It’s not uncommon for hex-and-counter Pattons to turn into block wargame Montgomerys. The key here is psychological. US Grant had an epiphany early in his career when it dawned on him that his enemy was just as afraid of him as he was of them. Understanding this unlocked Grant’s boldness.

Block heads need a similar epiphany. This doesn’t mean being heedless of the enemy. It merely means executing proper security to avoid very bad surprises and conducting your operations so the enemy commander is more worried about what you are going to do to him than vice versa. This worked well for leaders as diverse as Caesar, Rommel, Napoleon, Lee, Jackson and Grant. It’s not a coincidence that so many block wargames feature those kinds of leaders. Keep your cool.

(to be continued)

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Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience

James Eisert — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 11:00:24 +0000

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience

A common player mistake in block wargames is expecting quick results. In a hex-and-counter game you often can use high movement allowance to cleverly gather forces from far afield to launch an unexpected attack. You roll on the CRT and get a result, hopefully a decisive one, if you planned correctly. Immediate feedback results either way.

Block wargame offensives typically require considerable preparation. Movement rates are comparatively slow. You can’t be certain of the opposing force’s strength. And it may very well take several rounds of fighting, possibly spread over more than one turn (bringing the possibility of outside interventions) to get a result. Like a real general, careful planning is key. You can’t just throw something at the wall and see what sticks. You may get stuck yourself.

This need to understand the unusual pacing of operations in block wargames often throws players off and contributes to the common perception that these games favor the defender and tend to bog down into stalemates. Generally this is due to the offensive player making inadequate preparations for his offensive, so in this way the game does favor the defender. This is appropriate, as Von Clausewitz noted the defense is the stronger form of warfare. But block game attackers still have the inherent advantage of all attackers of the initiative and being able to choose the place and time of battle. Patience allows you to exploit those advantages.

(to be continued)

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Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer

James Eisert — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 11:00:59 +0000

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer

It had been my experience that people either really like block wargames, becoming ‘block heads’ and often accumulating a substantial collection of them, or they can’t stand them. Often those that hate them rationalize their dislike on historical or simulation grounds, but I think they just can’t wrap their heads around the system. After all, every wargame system can have legitimate critiques made on grounds of history or simulation. In fact, any model has its limits. In their favor, block wargames, with step reduction and hidden strengths, can address issues that often arise is real war such as fog of war and attrition. As with many things, it comes down to taste. One thing that may help foster a better appreciation of block wargames is an improved grasp of their unusual characteristics.

Most of what I have to say primarily applies to Columbia’s line of block wargames, although elements also apply to similar games by GMT, Simmons, Mercury, VentoNuovo and, especially, Worthington. For many years block games were pretty much a Columbia exclusive, but the last decade or so has seen an explosion in the genre. To be a block wargame, for purposes of this discussion, the blocks must be used to hide unit strength and implement step reduction. So the blocks used in, say Commands & Colors are better thought of as figure substitutes as mechanically they operate just as the figures do in Memoir’44 and Battle Cry, so Commands & Colors is not a “block game’ for purposes of this discussion.

It has been a flexible game system applied to battles from the Peloponnesian War to World War II. It has been applied from level of battalions to entire army groups. And it has successfully been applied to land, sea and air environments.

Despite the myriad adjustments needed to account for terrain, scale, historical circumstances and the like, there are subtle commonalities to these games that tend to trip up many players, especially the factor-counting hex-and-counter expert. This provides an ‘in’ for players not so inclined to have a little fun at their expense.

I think there are five rules of thumb that guide the successful block game player, in contrast to typical hex-and-counter Wargames. These are not hard and fast rules, of course, block games are not suited to ‘perfect plans,’ but winning typically involves exploiting several of them.

In no particular order of importance I call them Patience, Equanimity, Being Kenny, Economics, and the Principles of War.

(to be continued)

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The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 5

James Eisert — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 07:01:29 +0000

Visit to Waterloo – Day 5

June 20th 2015 – Battle of Wavre

SATURDAY, JUNE 20:

0700: Breakfast at the Funkey. For most, the Waterloo tour was now complete; some of us stayed for the second reenactment on Saturday.

The tour bus took us first to the site of the Battle of Wavre and then west to Waterloo, following the route of Prussian march to the battle.

20:00 Second Re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo

18:00: Dinner at Wellington Brewery, located in the Waterloo Visitor Center.

20:00: 2nd reenactment.

The 2nd re-enactment was essentially a repeat of Friday night’s event. Despite this, it was an enjoyable evening that we were glad to have attended. After the event our exhausted group straggled back to the bus for the ride back to the Funkey Hotel for a nightcap and some tearful good-byes. We are thankful for all of these wonderful experiences many our new friends.

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The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 4

James Eisert — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 07:27:12 +0000

Visit to Waterloo – Day 4

June 19th 2015: Visiting the Waterloo battlefield

FRIDAY, JUNE 19 2015

0700: Breakfast at the Funkey Hotel

1200: tour bus to Centre du Visiteur (Visitor Center) on the Route du Lion.

1400: Visitor Museum, Lion Mound, and Panorama. The Visitor museum was newly opened in 2015; its location underneath the battlefield is an amazing feat of engineering. The Panorama is located in the rotunda of original Waterloo museum, first opened in 1911. Opened in 1826, the mound is an artificial hill that offers a commanding view of the battlefield and surroundings. Many of our gang climbed the 226 stairs to the top of the nearby Lion’s Mound (150ft / 45m tall). A massive iron statue of a lion sits atop the hill; legend holds it was forged from the cannons left by the french on the battlefield (facts suggest otherwise).

18:00 Dinner at the “1815” (Restaurant)

Appetizer: four cheese croquette, or beef carpaccio with Parmesan chips.

Main Course: Steak Tartare (a surprise that was not very popular; lost in translation).

Dessert: Sorbet.

20:00 Re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo

A re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo was scheduled for this night; a 2nd on occurred on the next night. Though the battlefield was quite large, our vantage point offered good views of the action. The mock-battle involved more than 5,000 soldiers – the 1815 battle involved more than 150,000 men. The re-enactment seemed chaotic enough; visualizing the action on the real battlefield is nearly impossible. The black powder smoke used by the re-enactors gave us a taste of the time; but it is unsettling to consider what it must have been like that day, amidst live ammunition, thundering noise, confusion and spilling-blood.

22:00 The re-enactment at dusk

Despite the evening’s shadows settling over the battlefield, the action continued until around 22:00.

The post The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 4 appeared first on Columbia Games.

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 3

James Eisert — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 22:49:50 +0000

Visit to Waterloo – Day 3

June 18th 2015: Le Caillou and Hougomont.

THURSDAY, JUNE 18
200th Anniversary

0700 to 0800, Breakfast at the Funkey Hotel

0900: Tour bus leaves hotel.

1000: Le Caillou museum. This was the site of Napoléon’s HQ on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. The charming museum was splendid; as were the nearby soldiers’ bivouacs where we were able to see re-enactors living in the lifestyle of 1815; no electricity, running water or other modern conveniences. This Waterloo Reenactment is on target!

1200: Tour bus to Placenoit. This pleasant village was where Prussian reinforcements arrived in the late afternoon to join the Battle of Waterloo. We enjoyed our sack-lunches and drinks in a quaint local eatery. We explored the village and the church there.

1330: We visited La Belle Alliance, the site of the Grand Battery. We then continued to Hougoumont for a scheduled visit at 15:00.

1500: Hougoumont visit. This fortified farm was heavily embattled during the Battle of Waterloo.

19:00 BBQ Dinner at the Funkey Hotel

1900: After returning from Hougoumont to the Funkey Hotel, we enjoyed a lovely outdoor BBQ hosted by Funkey proprietor Philippe Thibaut.

BBQ food: Hamburgers, bratwurst sausages, chicken, potato salad, bean salad, green salad, ice cream, fruit, Belgian chocolate cookies, etc.

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The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 2

James Eisert — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 11:00:10 +0000

Visit to Waterloo – Day 2

Start of a New Day

0700 to 0730: Continental Breakfast. The Funkey hotel has a self-serve kitchen stocked with all kinds of breakfast goodies.

0800: Tour bus south to Waterloo. It is approximately 45 minutes drive from central Brussels to Waterloo. On the way we passed through the Forêt de Soignes (much reduced in size in 2015 but still there and now protected).

0900: Visit Wellington Museum. This private museum has among the best collection of historical artifacts from the era.

1100: Tour bus south to Quatre Bras. Quatre Bras (a crossroad on the Charleroi-Brussels road) was the site of the first significant battle of the Waterloo Campaign. A British force sought to hold this strategic point on the road to Brussels; the left wing of the French Army under the command of Ney sought to seize it. The battle is considered a tactical Anglo-Dutch victory but is often deemed a strategic success for Napoléon. This is because the French were able to prevent British forces from helping the Prussians in the nearly-simultaneous battle at Ligny (a telling French victory).

1200: We stopped 400m south of Quatre Bras and walked north to the crossroads examining monuments and battlefield terrain where possible. Geminourt is a working farm in 2015. Picnic lunch in a private farmer’s cow patch – among the cow patties.

A Tough March

1400 to 1800: Our bus ferried us to Ligny (17 Km) via Sombreffe along N93. We made a stop at an old Roman Road.

We then toured the villages that formed the Prussian battle line – Ligny, Saint-Amand, Brye (Blücher’s HQ) during the battle on June 16th.

Several bus stops were needed because the battlefield was 10Km wide, not easily walk-able, and not well-preserved. We located The Dyle river (today contained in a stone-channel but a significant obstacle in 1815. The battle at Ligny involved house-to-house fighting. The Ligny Church was also embattled and traded hands during the battle.

Dinner at The Troubadour

19:00 Dinner at the Troubadour

Tienstraat 32

3000 LOUVAIN

http://www.troubadour.be/

Appetizer: Glass of champagne and Tartare trio (tuna, salmon, beef)

Main Course: Parmesan Cod with mashed potatoes and hot vegetables, or

Chateaubriand Steak with béarnaise sauce, fresh vegetables and fries, or

Tofu Pasta and Tomato Ratatouille

Dessert: Tiramisu, coffee and pralines

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James Eisert, Author at Columbia Games

HârnWorld LARP at “Guild of Uncast Die” in Finland

Jupe Rantalainen

HârnWorld LARP at Guild of Uncast Die in Finland

Subscribe to HârnQuest now and get 50% all PDF’s as well!

More HârnWorld posts

Location of Bosworth Field now known…

HarnQuest: Menekai, Patrel, and the Salt Route

Hârnic Centaur

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics

Seth Owen

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics

Get Victory now at Columbia Games

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny”

Seth Owen

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny”

Get EastFront II now at Columbia Games

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity

Seth Owen

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity

Get Hammer of the Scots now at Columbia Games

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience

Seth Owen

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience

Get Gettysburg now at Columbia Games

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer

Seth Owen

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer

Get Julius Caesar now at Columbia Games

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 5

Visit to Waterloo – Day 5

June 20th 2015 – Battle of Wavre

20:00 Second Re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 4

Visit to Waterloo – Day 4

June 19th 2015: Visiting the Waterloo battlefield

18:00 Dinner at the “1815” (Restaurant)

20:00 Re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo

22:00 The re-enactment at dusk

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 3

Visit to Waterloo – Day 3

June 18th 2015: Le Caillou and Hougomont.

19:00 BBQ Dinner at the Funkey Hotel

The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo Tour – Day 2

Visit to Waterloo – Day 2

Start of a New Day

A Tough March

Dinner at The Troubadour

Grab Napoleon 4th Edition now at Columbia Games