Each club put the resources of all it's members to work building armies in 1/72nd (20mm) scale, because Airfix kits were cheap and widely available. I built so many Chieftain tanks !
There was a small team of umpires, and each country/club sent in turn-based orders in a play-by-mail fashion. As well as a set of rules that governed economic production, there was considerable leeway for narrative play; if a player wanted to try something not in the rules, the umpires would make a decision on it based on common sense and "rule of cool".
This did lead to one very interesting twist. We had a player who was ex-forces who would periodically disappear for a few weeks and come back with a sun tan and plenty of cash. In the game, he organised the invasion of the Nautilous Islands. The narrative was that a visiting rugby team would fly in, pull weapons from their kit bags and hold the airport until reinforcements landed on a nearby beach. It was a stunning success and the Islands were captured. About six month later, in the real world, Colonel Mike Hoare flew into the Seychelles with a visiting cricket team who pulled weapons and took the airport.... but the reinforcements were stopped on the beaches. We didn't see the player again.....
I only ever got to one battle in the game, but it was awesome. A school gym had been hired and covered with hessian cloth and terrain. With two complete wargames clubs, there were 300+ main battle tanks on each side, plus APC's, infantry, artillery - probably the most impressive game I've ever seen. My brigade was flattened by a 1/72nd scale B52.
Eventually the game collapsed under it's own weight, sadly, as the umpires were unable to handle the workload involved. But I copied the map and used it to run a few smaller scale games with friends.
Well, it was long before the days of computers !
Each club put the resources of all it's members to work building armies in 1/72nd (20mm) scale, because Airfix kits were cheap and widely available. I built so many Chieftain tanks !
There was a small team of umpires, and each country/club sent in turn-based orders in a play-by-mail fashion. As well as a set of rules that governed economic production, there was considerable leeway for narrative play; if a player wanted to try something not in the rules, the umpires would make a decision on it based on common sense and "rule of cool".
This did lead to one very interesting twist. We had a player who was ex-forces who would periodically disappear for a few weeks and come back with a sun tan and plenty of cash. In the game, he organised the invasion of the Nautilous Islands. The narrative was that a visiting rugby team would fly in, pull weapons from their kit bags and hold the airport until reinforcements landed on a nearby beach. It was a stunning success and the Islands were captured. About six month later, in the real world, Colonel Mike Hoare flew into the Seychelles with a visiting cricket team who pulled weapons and took the airport.... but the reinforcements were stopped on the beaches. We didn't see the player again.....
I only ever got to one battle in the game, but it was awesome. A school gym had been hired and covered with hessian cloth and terrain. With two complete wargames clubs, there were 300+ main battle tanks on each side, plus APC's, infantry, artillery - probably the most impressive game I've ever seen. My brigade was flattened by a 1/72nd scale B52.
Eventually the game collapsed under it's own weight, sadly, as the umpires were unable to handle the workload involved. But I copied the map and used it to run a few smaller scale games with friends.
😮😮😮😮 That true story is hectic!
And that game sounds amazing! I want to do the same but for 40k!
And a campaign.... sounds rad!