COW 2024 session list (as at 17 April)

 

John Wilkie et al

1559 PAPAL CONCLAVE:  THE PLENARY GAME

75 minutes                                                                                                       all attendees

18 Aug 1559, Pope Paul IV has died, the Council of Trent is suspended, but the Inquisition is going strong. Rival factions from France, Italy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire are poised. The longest conclave in the 16th Century is about to begin. The real conclave lasted 121 days and left three cardinals dead and several others too ill to continue, can we do it in an hour? Featuring plotting, conspiracy, manipulation and riots, conclave 1559 expands on our previous Conclave 1492 with up to 55 cardinals and numerous other roles battling for control of the fate of the Catholic Church.

 

John Bassett

START DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVES

2 hours                                                                                                                        3-6 players

A crisis management game based on a real-life hostage rescue situation in Eastern Europe.  The game system builds on elements of my "Armageddon at Waco" (COW 2022).

Participants should note that this is liable to be a black session.

 

David Burden

Rubble Town

20-30 mins                                                                                                                  1 player

Up to 2 games in parallel multiple sessions

Rubble Town is a card-based game of clearing your way through a card generated urban route. Can you clear to the end in a faster time, with fewer casualties and with less damage to the environment than anyone else? COW2024 may feature the 2024 era version of the game.

 

 

David Burden

Brick by Bloody Brick

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-4 players

Brick by Bloody Brick is a Company-level game of modern urban combat. It uses a stylised gridded map and vertical blocks and is a more tactical counterpart to last year’s Battle of Redditch. Brick by Bloody Brick features all the tropes of modern urban battles including UAVs, UGVs, cyber (just), EW, subterranean, civilians and collateral damage.

 

David Burden

Urban Insurgency – the Battle for London 2027

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-6 players

Urban Insurgency is inspired by Joseph Miranda and Ty Bomba’s War in the Mega-City, but also taking ideas from We Are Coming Nineveh, District Commander: Maracas plus some new ideas of my own. The game uses a topological map showing the key areas of a city, and for added immersion will be based on London during a fictional civil war in 2027.

 

Bob Cordery

Guns, Guns, Guns

1.5-2 hours                                                                                                                              any

A discussion about the various gunnery mechanisms used in wargames up to 1940s

The session will be introduced with a PowerPoint presentation that will look at the various gunnery mechanisms used in wargames during the period. It will compare how closely they are an analogue of the training and gun control methods in use at the time. Attendees will have the opportunity to try these various mechanisms, and this will be followed by a general discussion.

 

John Armatys

Cold War blitzspiel

2 hours                                                                                                                        6 players

A chance to shove some toys round the table and try the latest version of my low level (a tank = a tank, an infantry base = a section or squad) simple "modern" rules, which started life in the Cold War Wargames Workshop at COW 2023.

 

Pete Sizer

PETE S COIN GAME

90 minutes                                                                                                                   2-6 players

Back in an improved form this grand tactical set of rules exploring insurgency warfare is part of my research for my Wargaming PhD (under Dr. John Curry). It is a generic set of rules designed to be adaptable for any twentieth century insurgency situation.

 

Stephen Aquilar-Milan and Robert Eagling

BAFFLED BY BOARDGAMES: KINGMAKER

2 hours                                                                                                                                    any

A learn to play session.  I have owned a copy of Kingmaker for over 20 years and I've never really understood how to play the game. We would like to run a session where the participants, hopefully with a degree of knowledge about how to play the game, teach us the gameplay. It's a bit like one of those demonstration games that we see at shows, only we would like to ask the players about the game mechanics and why they made the decisions they made. Hopefully, we can achieve a degree of knowledge transfer and the players can have a fun morning with the Wars of the Roses.

 

Colin Maby

GANGSTERS.  IT’S ONLY BUSINESS REALLY

2 hours                                                                                                            up to 4 players

A board/toy soldier game.  This is the latest version of my game set during the early 1920's in America. The object of the game is for the players to make the most money, and make sure the other gangs don’t! A few people including the Mayor and the DA may get hurt on the way.

 

Martin Rapier

POLAND 1939 WITH ONE HOUR WW2

2 hours                                                                                                            up to 6 players

The latest version of the One Hour WW2 rules, covering grand tactical actions in the second world war, with battalion (or equivalent) sized elements on a small hex grid. This session will highlight the latest revisions to the rules, and is both an opportunity for players to try the system who missed out at COW last year, and for experienced players to try it again. The scenario will feature asymmetrical forces in a historical engagement during the Bzura counteroffensive, which will emphasise particular features of the rules.

 

Mike Elliott

WAR IN THE CLOUDS

Short game – will run several times

An ADG of the war in the air during the First World War. A simple set of rules with an emphasis on outthinking your opponent(s) but very fun to play.

 

Mike Eliott

CIVIL WAR SIEGE

2 hours                                                                                                            up to 4 players

An attempt to wargame a siege set in the English Civil War.

 

Jim Roche

ENEMY COAST AHEAD

90 minutes (game will run twice in this slot)                                                             4 players

Enemy Coast Ahead….the famous Lancaster bomber game which I updated for a past COW.

 

Jim Roche

ARE THERE FRITTERS STILL FOR TEA?

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

Advertising/PR Agencies pitching for the Government account to mark the events of 1944

Six to ten teams of 3 (MD, Creative Director, Account Director)

 

Stephen Aguilar-Millan

THE WHITE ARCTIC

2 hours                                                                                                                        4-8 players

Just suppose that it's technically feasible to re-freeze the Arctic. Ought we to do it? And whose permission would we need? The purpose of this game is to explore the geopolitics of refreezing the Arctic as a way of diminishing the adverse impacts of disruptive climate change. However, not everyone loses through climate change. Can those who gain be persuaded to take an active role in refreezing the Arctic? And at what price? Drawing upon our research into the politics of the future Arctic, we can now explore one scenario that, at first sight, seems ridiculous.

 

Graham Evans

DIGGERS & LEVELLERS

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

A talk about radicals, revolutionary movements and uprisings in Northamptonshire in the 17th century, including the infamous Captain Pouch.

 

Graham Evans

We ran and they ran – sheriffmuir 1715

2 hours                                                                                                                        4-6 players

The climactic battle of the ’15 rising saw the largest Jacobite Rising engagement on the British mainland. The presence of veteran troops fresh from Marlborough’s Wars on the continent should have made it a foregone conclusion but this was not the case. Fought in much confusion where half of each army couldn’t see the other half its narrative is much less well known than its counterparts of the ’45. So much so that both sides claimed to have both won and lost.  The game will use the recently published (I hope) “Tricorn and Bonnet” rules, oodles of 20mm plastic figures and a square based system to speed game play. The rules feature an Intimidation system for those facing the fearsome Highland Charge to add to the period flavour.

 

Nick Riggs

CHALLY TROOP LEADER II

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-4 players

The latest iteration of the Game Formerly Known As Coyle's Best. Each player manages their own Challenger II tank crew as part of a British tank troop, fighting as the spearhead of their battlegroup in an all-out war in Central Europe.

 

 

Nick Riggs

RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE II

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-6 players

More running! More jungle! More Creedence! A thoroughly revised version of my interpretation of the small-unit patrolling game Ranger, by Omega Games. Players control US Ranger squads stealthily moving through Central American jungles. Can you get in, perform your mission and extract safely?

 

 

Nick Riggs

BATTLEGROUP CROSSFIRE

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-4 players

A modern armoured and mechanised infantry game, based on Arty Conliffe's classic Crossfire.

 

Pete Sizer

Follow your nose- a game of sewer combat

2hrs                                                                                                                 up to 6 players.

Fresh from the Sheffield CALF, ‘Follow Your Nose' is a quick play skirmish system for combat in sewers and other enclosed spaces. Players select their kit from a historically appropriate list then enter the sewers with their small group of fighters to scrabble about in the dark. The game is based on two identical maps allowing it to be run double-blind to add to that claustrophobic feel. A couple of different scenarios will be available for players to choose from to choose from."

 

Ian Drury

Will My Soul Pass through the Southland

2 hours                                                                                                                        3-6 players

The Battle of Pleasant Hill 9 April 1864.  An old school wargame using S&T's 'Great Battles of the American Civil War' adapted for toy soldiers. I like the GBOTACW system, but no longer have the tweezer wielding skills demanded by the tall stacks of counters on 19mm hexes. This uses 15mm figures on 1.5" bases as required for several current ACW wargames rules.

 

John Curry

German and British Tactical Wargaming in WWII

2 hours                                                                                                                        1-6 players

We will recreate some German tactical wargames as they were played during WWII. Set at company level they will be multiplayer solo's with all the players on the German side. Then we will run a British tactical wargame to compare the two styles of game. Plenty of room for spectators.

 

John Curry

The Hunt for the Beast of Missenden Abbey

90 minutes                                                                                                                   any

The is a live action roleplay Dungeons & Dragons Adventure in the grounds of the Abbey. The adventurers will do 10 minutes of weapons training, followed by 20 minutes of practising formations and then they will set out on an epic adventure. The game will be run with strict safety controls (e.g. no running, padded weapons) and will include thieves, fighters, clerics and magic users. By the end of the session, the players will realise why ancient and medieval armies were so reluctant to fight at night. The session will run after dinner on Saturday.

 

Mike Young & John Curry

The Dilemmas of Gaza

2 hours                                                                                                                        4-6 players

This session will look at the up-to-the-minute situation in Gaza and the wider Middle East, and the players will take on the roles of the participants, such as Israel, Hamas, The Western Powers, Hezbollah, and Egypt (or whoever is in the news at the time).

 Michael Young and John Curry will use the latest incarnation of Confrontation Analysis to structure and define the negotiations.  We will see if we can forecast the way the negotiations will go in the future. 

 

Risto Tammela

Red Chain Game

2 hrs                                                                                                                            4-8 players

Co-operative game where cyber threat APT-711, consisting of you and your friends, plans and executes a cyber operation against real life target.  Action just on the tabletop, no legal consequences forecasted.

 

Risto Tammela

In the footsteps of our fathers

2 hrs                                                                                                                           4-6 players

Finnish local defence company has 48 hours to prepare defences until it encounters an advancing Russian mechanized battalion.  Your great grandfathers were able to stop the red menace in 1939.  Are you able to do it in 2024?

Military background and knowledge of NATO-symbols beneficial but not mandatory.

 

Tim Gow

WHERE SEAGULLS DARE

2 hours                                                                                                                        6-9 players

An extremely dodgy role-playing game in the style of an 1970s action movie, very much in the mould of Ian Drury’s ‘Guns Of Toblerone’ game from COW 2005. The game of the film of the war.  Set in the exotic Mediterranean but filmed for budgetary reasons in Yorkshire and starring a host of D-List stereotypes.  Features an original score by the man who used to empty Ron Goodwin’s dustbin.  Historical Consultant: Zoe the dog.

 

David Knight

THE BATTLE OF dupplin moor

2 hours                                                                                                                        1-4 players

Test of Resolve 100 Years War is a period specific set of miniatures wargame rules that seeks to mimic the tactical doctrine of the period, which also includes the Second Scottish Wars of Independence and the War of the Breton Succession.  Expect arrows to fly, men to crush in on each other, ransoms to be sought but be sure that at the crux of the matter will be guys with spears swords and axes hacking at their enemies.  The system is card driven and uses 1 D12 for movement, morale, melee and shooting.  Dupplin Moor was the first occasion when the English Tactical doctrine was used which was to prove successful against the French at Crecy and Agincourt.

 

John Bassett

NKVD SPECIAL SQUAD

2 hours                                                                                                                        4-6 players

A role-playing game about an NKVD special unit in Leningrad during the winter of 1942.

Participants should note that this is liable to be a black session.

 

Tom Mouat

National Guard

90 minutes                                                                                                                   6-8 players

A low-level patrol game using a two-sided double blind (Kriegsspiel) format, about a rear area patrol behind the lines in the Ukraine. Players on the Ukrainian side will form the patrol, with other players will take the part of other things in the scenario.

 

Tom Mouat

Air-Strike – Nigeria 

2 hours                                                                                                                        6-8 players

A planning and execution game for an airstrike, set in contemporary Nigeria. It will be run in a two-sided double blind (Kriegsspiel) format, with the Nigerian Air Force on one side, and the Invaders on the other side.

 

Tom Mouat

The Takagai March

2 hours                                                                                                                        up to 8

A traditional 2D6 science fiction adventure one-shot RPG about a team of ex-Shipyard workers, taking working passage on a passing merchant ship, with a routine delivery mission. What could possibly go wrong…?

2024 Sheffield CALF

 

Sheffield CALF – March 2024

 

What is it?

When is it?

Where is it?

What will it cost me?

                                    

As we all know, a calf is a small cow.  While COW (Conference Of Wargamers) is a full weekend, the CALF is a one-day event.  During the day you should have the opportunity to attend three or four different sessions.

The CALF will take place on Friday 15 March 2024 in Sheffield.  0930 for a 1000 start, finish at 1830.  There is plenty of free car parking.

Details of sessions available will be posted on the WD Blog and this will be updated as more information becomes available.  Thus far, sessions include One Hour WW2, Je Ne Regrette Rien,  Little World Wars, Not Quite Mechanised, Cold War Blitzspiel and Wolves In The Forum. 

Attendance at CALF is open to the following:

Current members of Wargame Developments

Guests invited by WD members

 

The cost to attend is a mere £25 to include a buffet lunch and tea/coffee throughout the day.

Please contact Tim Gow (details on the back on Nugget) or leave your details in a comment if you'd like to attend.

VCOW 2024 - the session list so far...updated 02/01/2024

 Last updated 2 January 2024

Russell King

2 hours                                                                                                                                    any

NATIONAL SOCIALIST DRAGON’S DEN

A game called which will explore the network - in the popular semi game-show format - of business investment in Nazi Germany aimed at funding Aryan supremacy

 

John Curry

My Aunt’s War

1 hour                                                                                                                                      any

A short game about my aunt’s war on the home front. It is a black game. 

 

John Curry

A medieval Staff College problem 

1 hour                                                                                                                                      any

Demonstration how to turn the standard staff college problem into an exercise in medieval warfare. 

 

John Bassett & Bob Cordery

Amritsar to Kargil: Wargaming South Asian Conflicts 1919 to 1999

60-90 minutes                                                                                                                         any

From the Third Afghan War to the struggle for Indian independence, the last British campaigns on the NW Frontier, the Burma campaign in WW2, Partition, Burmese independence, Operation VIJAY, the 1962 China-India war, the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars, the Golden Triangle in the 1970s, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Tamil Tigers,  mercenaries in the Maldives, India-Pakistan nuclear rivalry, the rise of the Taliban and the 1999 Kargil War there are a wide variety of South Asian conflicts that Western wargamers all too often don't understand.

Bob and John will lead a discussion on this neglected period, looking at what makes this region so interesting, what they and others have done to game some of these conflicts and what remains to be done.

 

Jim Roche

Paddy's NAZI Ideological Fervour Quiz

1 hour                                                                                                                                      any

The war is temporarily passing through a phase of difficulties.  This is because the army has betrayed the Fuhrer, some 'officers' have even attempted to kill him, others are still actively working for the forces of international Zionism and Plutocratic Bolshevism.

In order to root them out, the Reichsfuhrer SS has now empowered the state security services to submit this specially designed questionnaire to every officer holding a responsible position in the battle line.

You must attempt to answer every question

 

Martin Rapier

POLAND 1939 WITH ONE HOUR WW2

2 hours                                                                                                                        up to 6

The latest version of the One Hour WW2 rules, covering grand tactical actions in the second world war, with battalion (or equivalent) sized elements on a small hex grid. This session will highlight the latest revisions to the rules, and is both an opportunity for players to try the system who missed out at COW last year, and for experienced players to try it again. The scenario will feature asymmetrical forces in a historical engagement during the Bzura counteroffensive, which will emphasise particular features of the rules.

 

David Burden

Cityfight 2024,

2 hrs                                                                                                                                        2-4

Cityfight 2024 is an updated version of the classic Cityfight game of small-scale urban combat. The game will be played double-blind with each side having its own map and relying on umpire reports to identify locations of the enemy forces. The game has been modified for playing on a square grid. The game will probably be played on a mix of Zoom, Jitsi and Google Slides and a technical rehearsal will be held before the VCOW weekend.

 

Nick Riggs

Qu-AI Sera Sera

2 hours                                                                                                                                    3-6

A matrix-ish game.  The players represent World Powers, each of whom has only just become aware of a nascent Artificial Intelligence. The AI is growing in intelligence and power at an exponential rate, and the players have very little time in which to determine how they will individually or collectively respond.

 

Pete Sizer

Black Gold, Blue Flames and Fibreoptic Cables: A North Sea Matrix game.

2 hours                                                                                                                                    6

A matrix game for six players to explore present day hybrid warfare and grey zone activities in the North Sea.

 

Ian Robinson

People's War in Voronoi

90 minutes                                                                                                                               4

People's War in Voronoi' is a new COIN game with simple rules and combat system. It is based in the mythical country of Voronoi and looks at a Red insurgency vs a Blue defending force. The Red insurgency can spread and overwhelm Blue, or likewise Blue can stop the insurgency and reverse it. The map is based on a Voronoi diagram, and it's an alternative to standard hex or square boards. Each area represents a space that can be crossed in a move. The rural areas (green/brown) are larger, and the urban areas are smaller with more regular shape. The size differences arise since distance = speed x time (time being constant), and you'll move more slowly in an urban area compared to a rural area.  The game will run using Google Drive - Meet and links to be send out later.

 

John Armatys

ON RANKS IN THE BRITISH ARMY

90 minutes                                                                                                                   any

A talk about ranks in the British Army, including some pretty obscure ones (my favourites are the Sub-Brigadier and the Marshal). The wargaming applications are limited, it might be of use to those contemplating career games or role playing games, but I hope that the session will provide an interesting diversion into some obscure bits of military history.

 

Toby Ewin

THE LAST WORD ON OFFICIAL PRE-1914 WARGAMES…FOR NOW…

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

Including the various German games (several of which have been detailed in printed sources), the origins of the German naval games (drawing on an as-yet-unpublished article by Prof Wintjes), plus a little about French and Italian and (the lack of) Austro-Hungarian games, as these have generally not been so well covered, at least in English.  Also a mention of US games and what we now know of Russian tactical games.

Michael D’Alessandro

Death in Paradise - The Battle of Nu'uanu 1795 - A Virtual Battlefield Tour of the Final Battle for Hawaiian Unification

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

We will begin with the unique civilization and culture of 18th century Hawaii and how its first contact with the West led to a desire to unify the Hawaiian Islands to help balance them against the West. Landing with Kamehameha I on Oahu at Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head Crater, we will march up country with his army, battling at the Punch Bowl and ultimately at the Pail Cliffs. The campaign features naval, land and aerial combat while external agents the British and the Russians engage in a form of a Pacific Great Game. Spears vs. cannons - what can go wrong? We will conclude by considering the effect a unified Hawaiian kingdom had on 19th Century history and how that effect continued to resonate in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Gary Sheffield, Graham Evans and John Bassett

HISTORY, HISTORICAL FICTION, BOGUS HISTORY AND WARGAMING

90 minutes                                                                                                                   any

A discussion on the links between history, historical fiction, historical drama and wargaming, and how bogus history can undermine them all.

VCOW 2023 - the session list so far

UPDATED 13/12/22

While this is clearly still a work in progress, booked and prospective attendees may be interested in what's on offer.

David Burden

Vertical Urban Wargame

2 hrs                                                                                                                            2-4

This will be an urban wargame in 10mm, with big multi-storey buildings and limited sight lines, and all you get to see is what your (mostly) street-level webcam tells you. A bit of an experiment to see if remote wargaming is actually better in some ways for tactical urban wargaming.

 

John Bassett

Kapuziner

90 minutes                                                                                                                   up to 5

A Zeitgeist game about Viennese coffee house culture in the years before World War One, when Freud, Klimt and Wittgenstein rubbed shoulders with the likes of Stalin, Hitler and Trotsky.  An experimental game, part role play, part matrix, part balloon debate and almost certainly a complete fiasco...

 

John Bassett, Russell King & Ian Drury

Omdurman to Sarajevo: Wargaming the Period 1898 to 1914

90 minutes                                                                                                                  any

A discussion on wargaming the decade and a half that saw Kitchener in the Sudan, San Juan Hill, Mafeking, the relief of Beijing, the battles of Mukden and Tsushima, Italian aerial bombardment of the Ottomans and the chaos of the Balkan wars.  It's also the era of Sidney Reilly, the Russian revolution of 1905, the Sidney Street siege and the Curragh mutiny.  It's a fascinating period that perhaps deserves to be wargamed more than it is.

 

Michael D'Alessandro

Pearl Harbor - A Virtual Battlefield Tour

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

Covering why the Japanese considered the war inevitable, why Oahu was the optimal target, the technological leaps the Japanese had to make to ensure the success of the attack, and why the Americans considered Oahu impregnable. We will start at the tea house which the Japanese used to gather open source intelligence on the disposition and operations of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and tour the coastal artillery defenses the U.S. invested in and the air defenses they did not invest in. We will visit the the fleet anchorage and airfields at Ford Island and Bellows Field that therefore were taken by surprise. We will reflect on the cost by visiting the USS Arizona Memorial and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and end by considering the aftermath for all involved.

 

Alan Paull

KINGMAKER II – THE RESURRECTION

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

Back in 2019, Gibsons Games asked me if I would be interested in re-developing Andrew McNeil's seminal Wars of the Roses board game, Kingmaker. It seemed like a good idea at the time, though it turned out to be a longer and bumpier journey than originally conceived. Now, we've had a successful Kickstarter campaign, and Gibsons’ new edition is on track for delivery in or around March 2023. In this session I'll present some thoughts about my experience between then and now. There will be space for questions

 

Jim Roche

1943 AND ALL THAT

1 hour                                                                                                              any

Singalong session including the delights of Stalingrad.

 

Jim Roche

LA GUERRE DE DEMAIN

90 minutes                                                                                                                   7

A Paddy Griffiths game.  French Officers Mess discussion in a fort under siege in the Franco-German War of 1893.  Political future - what are we fighting for?   What tactics to employ? Participants are members of the Officers Mess in Fort de Liouville, Fort de Gironville and Fort du Camp-des-Romains.  In addition to the major issues already set-out, we must address the issues such as Le Pantalon Rouge, c'est la France and the role of the Chasseurs Alpin (a Lieutenant on secondment)  Jamais être pris vivant (Eng: Never to be Taken Alive)

 

Russell King

James F Dunnigan's Origins of World War One (1969)

2 hours                                                                                                                        5

Take part in a moderated session of Origins of World War One by JFD, one of wargaming's great designers. This is a keenly competitive political game in which the five major nations in pre-World War I Europe all figure. They will pitch with and against each other to achieve each nation's objectives using diplomatic effort and international treaties. Ranging across theatres from mainland Europe to North Africa and India via the troubled Balkans, a simple system of play shows clearly how feverish intrigue developed across the world from 1909 to 1914.

 

Pete Sizer

Hybrid Warfare: A Wargaming Workshop

1 hour                                                                                                                          any

What is hybrid Warfare? Is it a completely new phenomenon? How can we game it? This hour-long workshop will examine the issues involved and attempt to come up with some suitable techniques to wargame them

 

John Curry

BOSNIAN MERCENARY

90 minutes                                                                                                                   1-15

The aim of this game is teach something about the life and psychology of modern mercenary. Build your character, then work through a series of situations as the war develops. Each of your decisions is then compared to what the actual mercenaries did. At the end of the campaign, your performance will be evaluated.  Note: some might consider some of the content to be exploring some very black situations.

 

Graham Evans

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE’S COUNTRY HOUSES IN THE CIVIL WAR

90 minutes                                                                                                                   any

We all know about the siege of Basing House, but Northamptonshire has more stately homes per square mile than any other county in Britain. Whilst this meant the county was the playground for the rich and powerful, it was staunchly Parliamentarian during the Civil war.  However, its country houses offered an opportunity to exert power by both sides. This talk looks at what did and did not happen with them.