Friday, May 20, 2011

Down the Wargame 'Rabbit-Hole'

Good grief, but I didn't think a wargames campaign would take up so much time purely in the setup! I've surprised myself, to be honest, but wanted to at least check in to say progress is ongoing. I'm currently working with a massive hex map I've made, by printing and taping twelve A4 pages together to produce a massive folding map of a fictional area. Whether the map covers a fictional continent like Europe or some minor Baltic Enclave beneath the notice of history, I haven't yet decided (or much see the need to ever decide!)

I am currently detailing the countries as per Tony Bath's advice, which is strangely 'against the grain' as far as I'm concerned. Normally I'm all in favour of reducing detail in a campaign to make play smooth and easy, but this system of Tony Bath & Co. goes the very opposite way. Everything, down to the population of farmhouses and the national budget is detailed by following his advice! Contrary to my expectations, this actually helps with the detail, as I feel I 'own' the creation far more with this sort of detail at my fingertips. Quite a pleasant surprise, I must say. I shall post again soon, with some map info and the basics of how one of my countries works. Back to the Exchequer!