tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post8597762355525095872..comments2024-03-22T10:01:23.989+00:00Comments on Wargaming for Grown-ups: Battle ReportsTrebianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02221916804339000102noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-37850357159987550652010-12-12T11:57:08.032+00:002010-12-12T11:57:08.032+00:00Hi Graham, it's not just the sweep of what'...Hi Graham, it's not just the sweep of what's happening. Knowing that the Romans are winning the battle, or even that there's a flank charge which has turned the course of the battle, still isn't really enough (for me). The question is, how did the interaction of decision making (on both sides) and the gaming system (mostly, the rules) cause this to happen. To that extent, if the game is organised as a (small enough to be reported) series of turns then it makes sense to me that this be used to structure the report. But the emphasis needs to be not (just) on what happened, but why.Mark Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004382778363986648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-71456356089961824612010-12-08T21:54:37.039+00:002010-12-08T21:54:37.039+00:00Wow! A comment nearly as long as the blog. I get t...Wow! A comment nearly as long as the blog. I get the "entry level" article argument, (after all that's the point I made about My First Article) - I just wish people had a bit more imagination and, perhaps, did the things they were told at school. eg Read back what you've written. Use the odd metaphor. Try to be original.<br /><br />I think the trap is the "turn by turn" approach. You need an attempt to describe the full sweep of what is happening.Trebianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02221916804339000102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-23988099642950290662010-12-07T12:39:28.388+00:002010-12-07T12:39:28.388+00:00I tried to encourage battle reports, as editor of ...I tried to encourage battle reports, as editor of Slingshot, as they are very much an entry point to writing articles, and I reasoned it would expand the author base over time, as authors built confidence. And of course there were the Battle Day reports, which being thematic did give a point of compare and contrast.<br /><br />My view is that, when they work in their own right, they can be very readable. What authors need to realise is that the reader needs to have learned something by the end of the article, and the most likely point in Slingshot is going to be how a particular ruleset plays or possibly (this is more the case for an enclosed community like White Dwarf's audience) how a particular army plays within a ruleset. Unfortunately most reports are a run through of the action as pseudo-history, or pseudo-fantasy, or pseudo-SF - which is just useless.<br /><br />For me the ideal report has both sides talking through their thinking turn by turn (I admit this would not work with Risk). WD used to do this a fair bit (when Paul Sawyer was editing). Peter Garnett recently wrote such a report on the FoG PC game, for Slingshot. I really don't rate the game but thought the report was great. But actually it's the only one in Slingshot in the last few years I've really liked (and it wasn't in an issue I edited, btw).Mark Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004382778363986648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-88505020526191229412010-12-07T11:43:18.822+00:002010-12-07T11:43:18.822+00:00I wouldn't hold your breath.I wouldn't hold your breath. Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666947574653683678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-91613496718973677482010-12-07T07:58:08.069+00:002010-12-07T07:58:08.069+00:00Are we building momentum here? A wave of sentiment...Are we building momentum here? A wave of sentiment that will sweep the poorly written AAR from the hobby....?Trebianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02221916804339000102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-11321192050023716012010-12-06T22:40:30.628+00:002010-12-06T22:40:30.628+00:00Hear! Hear! That man.. I also try to make AARs muc...Hear! Hear! That man.. I also try to make AARs much more general, alhtough I tend to find them sufficintly tedious even then that I prefer the photographic approach, hoping that photos might act as something just vaguely inspirational, or at least of some interest.<br /><br />Kind regards<br />RobinRobin Suttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09057467066079369641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-80491472510503397692010-12-06T19:43:16.176+00:002010-12-06T19:43:16.176+00:00Ashley,
What you say is wise and toi thep oint. ...Ashley, <br /><br />What you say is wise and toi thep oint. If I'd remembered that scene from Red Dwarf I'd have quoted it myself.<br /><br />I think a lot of the problem is that people don't think about what they write. I suspect there isn't a lot of re-reading and "polishing" goes on with AARs before publication.<br /><br />Any how writing about events such as games is tough for the professionals. Read Lynne Truss' "Get Her Off The Pitch", which is her account of how she became a sports reporter having been the Times' literary editor. It's a funny book.Trebianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02221916804339000102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7615782020735321095.post-26129149236051111392010-12-06T18:43:38.821+00:002010-12-06T18:43:38.821+00:00To quote myself from my own blog; "I always f...To quote myself from my own blog; "I always find AARs problematical, because on one hand I want to here about the action, yet on the other they can be a bit dry to read. I'm reminded of that scene in Red Dwarf where Rimmer recounts his past games of Risk with a blow-by-blow account of the dice rolls."<br /><br />So while not disapproving of the things as such, I agree that writing style can range from dire to dismal. OTOH though it's nice to see the toys being played and having the context of the game explained. It inspires ideas.<br /><br />However, if Shakespeare were alive today I don't fancy the chances of him writing wargame AARs Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13666947574653683678noreply@blogger.com