Time for another Wargames Developments Virtual Gathering. These aren't gaming sessions as such but various presentations, workshop discussions etc. The next gaming event is Virtual COW early next year.
The assembled multitudes, there were a few dozen people attending. With fairly large numbers Zoom comms discipline was essential, so everyone on mute, hands raised to indicate questions etc.
David Bradbury gave a very interesting presentation on the role of Oxford in the English Civil War.
I was particularly taken with the maps.
I like maps! This is a rather fanciful representation of the defences after the King took it over.
I was particularly interested in the geography of the region and the maps of the contemporary road layout of Britain (many of them based on Roman roads) - every road really does lead to London....
A very interesting session.
A rather better map of Oxford surveyed one by the commander who actually laid out a lot of the defences.
Tim Gow, Ian Dury and David Isby ran a very interesting session on gaming positional warfare in WW1. Avid readers will know this is a particular interest of mine, that is me in the bottom left photo in my Stalhelm, mantel and gas mask for Tims outstanding Isonzo game.
I've played a lot of the games mentioned in this context, so there weren't any huge surprises, but it is interesting to hear other peoples thoughts on things.
I guess this is something I could have contributed to (various of my games were namechecked), but while I'm happy addressing a dozen people or presenting to several hundred, this sort of size thing I'm not massively comfortable with.
I didn't get any photos relevant to the other sessions (they were just a sea of faces), the two main ones were one on the future of Wargames Developments and the other on Predictive Wargames.
The WD Futures featured small workshop sessions to discuss where the organisation might be in 2040. There were some interesting discussions and points of view, mainly around the role and scope of the organisation, composition of the membership etc. tbh, I'm not that bothered, I've done Enterprise Architecture, Strategic Development Plans etc professionally but this is my hobby, not a job. I value the social aspects of WD, the gaming get togethers and having a broader group of people to kick ideas around with, and in a world of a million micro markets, that is fine for me. In the feedback session there was a fair degree of interest in continuing to look at options hough from the various participants, so it is a conversation which will continue.
The Predictive Games session was actually very good. We were asked (in small groups) to look at old 'near future' games and what had actually worked as opposed to what hadn't (were is my jetpack?). Our group all immediately declared we were historical gamers and didn't have anything to do with Sci Fi, before launching into lengthy reminiscences about Traveller, Striker, Laserburn, Stargunt and... Seastrike.
If there were any broad conclusions, it was that some aspects of Sci Fi tactical games worked well for current (or future as it was then) tactical warfare up to company/battalion level. After that, there were technologies which were simply unimaginable in the 1980s which have transformed the operational battlespace. Seastrike was the unexpected surprise, it modelled then then unfought Falklands conflict really rather well, based on rather sparse data from occasional naval conflicts in the Arab Israeli wars and a lot of supposition. I still have a copy in the loft. Hats off to WRG and Phl Barker.
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