In the last two weeks I have fought two battles against Colin's 30 year War Swedes, one was a complete and crushing defeat, the second was a losing draw, just. In both battles, we used the Black Powder rules, and in the last one we also added the new amendments from their latest offering.Its well documented on this blog and my main blog that I have a love/hate relationship with Black Powder, mainly because I usually manage to scupper a well laid plan by bollocks dice throwing.
In order to counter this, I have even gone to the extreme of buying new dice when I was at Salute. Did this make a difference? Not really. I still manage to 'blunder' very regularly. I usually manage to lose a couple of commanders along the way, and if I foolishly put together a battery of guns, I will lose them by throwing a double one.
One thing I have noticed in my dice throwing is that if I am preoccupied with problems outside of the wargame, or if I'm stressed, worried or confused I invariably end up throwing dice that reflect this state of mind. Now clearly over the last two weeks I have had a lot on my mind,[ Its to do with retirement. See my other blog] and I have felt not up to par. So effectively I suffer from real time morale syndrome.
So whats the answer to this conundrum. Do I refuse to play until I feel more upbeat and less stressed? Do I carry on regardless? Or do I buy mind changing drugs to bring my psyche up to a level where I couldnt give a rats about any problems and recklessly throw my dice about the table. Working on this theory I have always thought that Keith Richard of Rolling Stones fame would make a damn fine wargamer. It was just a thought really.
Anyway, on from this pondering. These chaps are the beginning of my Spanish troops. These arquebusiers are part of a colunella that I am painting. The figures are TAG, definitely not the cheapest, but certainly a well researched set of figures.
I can recommend the mind altering drugs ;-)
ReplyDeleteI thought you'd be able to.
DeleteAnti Depressants work wonders on my dice throwing!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking more of lysergic acid, or mushrooms, but I understand Viagra can help some.
DeleteLovely colors on these troops.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
psychodellic shades man
DeleteThanks Stokes,
DeleteI seem to be painting figures brighter for some reason.
we will both need to do better when we refight Prague next month! But at least we can only do better than in realise if we are the Austrians again!
ReplyDeleteI havent studied this battle yet,Colin, but I got the impression the Austrians threw away a lot of advantages due to poor command.
DeleteOh Dearie Dearie me- Wargamers and Dice rolling. That there should be some imponderable luck element is obvious. That it should play so big a part either in the rules or - most especially in wargamers minds is IMHO often ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteReading accounts of BP battles they seem to be dice controlled- I've only played the set twice and I was concerned about dice dominence in the wrong places.
Should EVERY engagement have several "blunders" ?- they seem to happen with alarming frequency.
Surely you should question the rules rather than the players .....
I know what your saying Andy,
DeleteThats part of my love hate relationship with Black Powder. Sometimes the rules work really well, and then suddenly a random dice throw causes all sorts of problems, but didnt Napoleon always ask first, ''are they a lucky general'', so there has to be a luck factor in the game somewhere, and morale does funny things in war, as has been well documented over the eras.
Wow, beautiful colors!
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil,
DeleteTheir sister unit seems actually to be brighter by some strange accident, mind you wont lose them on a table.