![]() * The tabletops available vary – none smaller than 8 feet by 4 – but the chief battlefield is 12 or 14 feet by 6 necessitating the inclusion of at least one player with very long arms – Jervis being a prime example of the breed. * The armies available are a fair size – well frankly huge in the case of Alan’s Napoleonic collection – and the game must commonly facilitate big battles as well as the occasional smaller action. * The game must allow for our existing collections of models, which are based every which way and comprise units of differing sizes – but are all 25mm or 28mm ‘scale’ – except for Rick’s 10mm which we prefer not to dwell upon. * Our game must easily accommodate two or three players a side – although it must be possible for a single player to control an entire army if need be – should Little Steve have so exhausted himself lion taming that he falls asleep on the sofa – for example. * Our game must start and finish over an evening allowing sufficient time for the consumption of curry – the table, armies and scenario would ideally be prepared beforehand – though don’t count on it – especially round at John’s. But if a brief had been written it might have looked like this: They simply evolved over time as a result of ideas and enthusiasms amongst the group. Of course, at no point did anyone ever sit down and write a ‘brief’ for our games. In presenting the rules for publication we have endeavoured to carefully explain how they work, and how players might choose to expand and develop the core ideas for themselves, but we have not otherwise compromised the central tenet of the game – a game played between friends in the spirit of comradeship and entertainment. ![]() ![]() By making these rule sets available more widely we hope for no more than to introduce others to a style and type of gaming that anyone can participate in should they wish to do so. They have both been developed amongst our own gaming circle, for our own use, and to play the kind of games we enjoy.īlack Powder and Hail Caesar share a common approach to gaming – they have both been developed amongst our own gaming circle, for our own use, and to play the kind of games we enjoy. For the benefit of those who might not be familiar with Black Powder I’ve tried to give a brief overview of the mechanisms in their basic form. Those who already own a copy of Black Powder will therefore have a fair idea of what to expect – and throughout this article I will be making comparisons between the two games. Hail Caesar is – as I’m sure you all know by now – based very firmly upon our Black Powder wargame. I’m not too sure whether ‘philosophy’ is not too grand a title for the kind of thinking that goes into a wargame – Wittgenstein I ain’t – but we can certainly take a look at some of the ideas and ambitions that have informed the development of Hail Caesar over this last year. Rick: This time round I thought I’d talk a little bit more about the Hail Caesar game itself – both in terms of the mechanics and what is sometimes called ‘games philosophy’. With a brand new German translation of the Hail Caesar rulebook just out, and the hugely detailed supplement Age of Caesar hitting the stores this weekend, we decided to revisit these designer’s notes from the author of said tome, Rick Priestley…
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |