The Deep Breath Before the Plunge

Messages have gone out to all five Kings that detail the last few bits of information needed to fire the guns that start this campaign. A couple of clarifying points for those following along at home.

You can think of today as the dead of the Winter Season.  The Kings are raising troops, positioning armies, readying messengers, and assigning Generals.  With the cold weather, everything has ground to a halt, but everybody knows that with the spring thaws, war is in the offing.  This gives the players some time to get their plans and houses in order.

Players have until December 31st to freely discuss their intentions.  After that, the game is afoot and all in-game communications should be sent via messengers through the Umpire.  For an example of the way this will shape the game, note that the Red and Blue kingdoms are on opposite sides of the map.  Their messages will have to pass through a lot of potentially hazardous territory, making coordinating moves between them difficult.

This will be a much more open-ended game than you are probably used to - a lot of unanticipated wrinkles and questions are sure to arise. The impartial Umpire, I'll make any final rulings with an eye towards maximizing fun and minimizing hassles for everyone involved. For example, Allied Contingents will be addressed as they arise.  The players will have to use messengers to work things out to the best of their abilities. ("i.e. I'm sending a messenger to a general ordering him to serve under an allied general.") This may make it possible to utilize a decimated army to some good effect against a common foe. If communications are not clear, we may wind up with some fractious battles where no clear chain of command allows a powerful army to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 

For those of you new to the blog, what you're seeing is the strategic face of miniature wargaming.  The moves and countermoves that arise from this game will generate tabletop battles fought out and shown on The Joy of Wargaming.  The two games fit hand in glove, and exactly how they interact will be part of the fun and excitement of things.

If anyone else is doing anything like this these days, it's completely off my radar. Via the blog and the Joy of Wargaming, we might just be able to inspire a new renaissance in the lost art of this style of wargaming.

Not sure what else to add except to once again offer my thanks for following along with this grand experiment.