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What's Been Doin' in Stollen Central Lately?


Well, a number of things. To begin with, many of you know by now that Irwin-Amadeus II, the Grand Duchy of Stollen, and the Stollenian army are in a precarious position as the Zichenauer army marches northward to Pelznikkel. The Zichenauer forces, under General de Latt
é, have already been joined by troops from Pillau-Zerbst. Some preliminary skirmishing has been reported between outlying posts of the two armies, but nothing conclusive has transpired just yet. Meanwhile, we wait with baited breath.

On that note, I’ve been doodling around with about two dozen tactical chance cards, to provide for random events on the battlefield, based on Donald Featherstone’s and Stuart Asquith’s suggestions in their books on solo wargaming. I’ll have to actually write these down on some index cards in the next few days or so. And I’m leaning toward drawing a card for each side at the beginning of every third turn.


I’m also interested in any suggestion you Stollen regulars might have for additional random tactical events to include in my deck of chance cards. The single proviso is that the events must be reasonable and plausible for horse and musket era warfare and not too outlandish. So, let me know what’s on your minds!


Next, the Grand Duchess and I did a 52-mile organized bike ride yesterday. The Triangle of Opportunity Ride is put on every summer by about ten small towns in the area as part of their ongoing economic development and sustainability association. The ride is a fairly small event, I think we had about 50 other participants, but it is supported with plenty of food stops and repair support if necessary. Our weather was bright, sunny, with low humidity and temperatures in the mid-80s (Fahrenheit), so you can’t ask for much better than that in Illinois at the beginning of August!

Yesterday evening, I took the Grand Duchess to our old, refurbished movie theater (just as it appeared in 1937 when it opened), which specializes in showing old movies and art films. Last night’s showing was The Girl Can’t Help It starring the late Edmond O’Brien and Jayne Mansfield as well as featuring all kinds of great old rock and roll, including Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and Eddie Cochran. The writing wasn’t half bad either, so there were lots of laughs along the way. Interestingly, and much like her contemporary Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield really could act. We both enjoyed ourselves.


S
o, today after a lie-in during an early morning thunderstorm, followed by a late breakfast, I am in Zum Stollenkeller with two goals for the day. One, to finish that independent company of RSM musketeers I began last weekend but have sorely neglected all week. And two, to paint my river square sections as well as a few small ponds/lakes with some Glidden latex paint in mid-blue. The battlefield on which Stollen’s fortune will be decided will be based on that described and shown in Charles Grant Sr.’s The War Game, specifically in the chapter entitled “Action!” I hope to stage the solo game next weekend. Charge!

Comments

Bluebear Jeff said…
I will be looking forward to some Stollenian "Action!" with bated breath.


-- Jeff
MurdocK said…
One that comes immediately to mind is a 'reverse luck' card, where the next die thrown gets TURNED OVER to the other side of the die...thus a 5 becomes a 2 (and so on).

Alternately, the next successful anything gets re-rolled and that becomes the actual result.
tradgardmastare said…
I trust the day went well in the Stollen Keller.I look forward to seeing how the painting went. I too await the game with great enthusiasm ...
Alan
Capt Bill said…
Nothing like a long bike ride to clear the mind, before returning to the real world of miniatures!
A J said…
I'd suggest a "local guide" card. A random unit gets to move 1 1/2 times normal rate for two turns, even through difficult terrain, as a local inhabitant has shown them a short cut or smoother ground to travel over.
Raygun1966 said…
Hello,
Check out this group, there are some excellent playing aids in the files section. Enjoy

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/SoloWarGame/

See you there.
Raygun

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