2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

2020 was a good year for wargaming projects and I thought I should lay out my plans for 2021. Crazy megalomaniac plans, of course.

As usual I’ve done a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. No off the wall fantasy here. They are all active but I have to admit that some of them are on a slow burn. A very slow burn. So I’ve split the list into parts: likely in 2021, unlikely, and background activity. You get to have a say in the priority order – see the aside.

Megalomaniac surveying all those unfinished wargaming projects

You get to have a say

If you want me to up the priority of any “unlikely” projects, then get in touch. I’m usually quite responsive to other people’s enthusiasms.

Likely projects in 2021

Normally I don’t really mind if I don’t get to the bottom of the list. This year is different. If a project in the “likely” category, then I fully intend to do it. I’m pumped.

I’ve got three big aspirations for 2021. The first is to, well, do more Tilly’s Very Bad Day. The other two are for Crossfire: finish the Italian Campaign (1944-45) project and both start and complete the Burma Campaign (1943-45) project. These Crossfire make 2021 the year of the hill (2020 was the year of the rice paddy). I also want to squeeze in a couple of other things as well – both for the Eastern Front.

Project	Rules	Aspiration in 2021
1618-48 Thirty Years War ➞ and 16642-51 English Civil War ➞
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Use the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to explore eastern armies in Tilly’s Very Bad Day. Buy and paint an army for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Figure out whether Tilly’s Very Bad Day needs special rules for the Polish
Populous, Rich, and Rebellious – English Civil War Campaign	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Corral Adam, Chris and Jamie to play a four player Tilly’s Very Bad Day campaign set in the English Civil War
Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenarios	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Write more Tilly’s Very Bad Day Scenarios: More small game scenarios as smaller games are easier for other folk to play Moore scenarios featuring the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth More scenarios for the big Spanish moments of the Thirty Years War i.e. 1634 Nordlingen, 1642 Honnecourt and 1643 Rocroi
1943-45 Italian Campaign ➞
Hilly terrain	Crossfire	These are for the Italian Campaign, the Burma Campaign, and even for the Eastern Front: Cliffs Ravines Contour lines
Kiwis in Italy	Crossfire	Do Kiwis in Italy – Steven’s Wargaming Project including Buy, build Kiwis Infantry Battalion for Crossfire, then paint them Execute on my plan for New Zealand Carriers In Italy for Crossfire Buy, build, paint Kiwis Armour in mud-grey with blue-black disruptive camouflage for 1943/44 Buy, build, paint Kiwis Armour in dark green for 1944/45
Goumier in Italy	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint Goumier battalion from French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) for Crossfire; yeah, I admit it, I’ve got a fondness for Berbers given my interest in the Rif Wars and Spanish Civil War
USA in Italy	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint US battalion for Crossfire
Scenarios for the Italian Campaign	Crossfire	Write some scenarios for Crossfire set in the Italian Campaign with bonus points for featuring 2 (NZ) Division (I’m already working on a Perano scneario for Bruce Stewart)
1941-45 Burma Campaign ➞
Japanese	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint Japanese battalion – see A Case Study in Balagan Thinking – How I justify collecting Japanese
Japanese tanks and tankettes	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint Japanese tanks and tankettes for service in Burma
Gurkhas, 14th Army	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint a Gurkha battalion that can do duty in 17th Indian Division or as 2nd Battalion, 4th Prince of Wales’s Own Gurkha Rifles
Welsh, 14th Army	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint a Welsh battalion from 14th Army
Anglo-Indian Armour, 14th Army	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint Anglo-Indian Armour for the 14th Army
Scenarios for the Burma Campaign	Crossfire	Write some scenarios for Crossfire set in the Burma Campaign with bonus points for featuring Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong – Gurkhas on the Imphal Plain 1944
1941-45 Eastern Front ➞
Cool Ruins	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint more 3″ x 3″ sectors so I can play both Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station solely with cool ruins
Deep Battle	Deep Battle	This one is for Andrés Ferrari. I’ve been torturing Andrés with the promise of Deep Battle for years and I really have to live up to my commitment. I think I’ll make it easier on myself and commit to a “Beta” rather than a finished product. Publish a beta of Deep Battle – Operational Level Wargaming on the Eastern Front Write scenarios for interesting campaigns/operations e.g. 2nd Kharkov, Battle of Moscow (1941) Show Deep Battle answers What Wargaming Rules to use for the Operational Level of War?

Unlikely projects in 2021

Here are the “active” projects that I don’t think I’ll get to in 2021.

Project	Rules	Aspiration in 2021
Biblical ➞
Battle of Kadesh	Big Base DBA	Write a DBA scenario for Battle of Kadesh Get the figures on table and refight the Battle of Kadesh using Big Base DBA
264-27 BC Rise of Rome ➞
Rules for Rise of Rome	Dunno	Select a new set of rules to replace DBA; one that, amongst other things, does not cripple the Ancient Spanish and is good for the Punic Wars and Hundred Years War Decide if my replacement for DBA is actually DBA 3.0 (or perhaps DBA 2.2+)
Raise armies for Rise of Rome	Big Base DBA and its replacement	Rebase on Big Bases. Although I have enough figures to play, I haven’t rebased all of my figures. In particular there are more to do in: Macedonian Wars Punic Wars Expand my Carthaginian forces to cover the very early wars in Sicily against the Greeks i.e. get some chariots Expand my Celtiberians from being mercenaries for my Ancient Spanish to being a fully fledge army Get the figures on table, in particular my Gallic and Numidian armies that have never seen the light of day
Command Stands for Rise of Rome	Big Base DBA and its replacement	Get individual command stands for these armies because any rules to replace Big Base DBA are likely to use them
Camps for the Rise of Rome	Big Base DBA and its replacement	Buy, build, paint camps for the armies without e.g. Gallic, Numidian, Macedonian/Selucid
406-476 Fall of Rome ➞
Fall of Hispania Campaign	Any	Continue the Fall of Hispania Campaign with Chris
Reinforcements for the Fall of Rome	Big Base DBA and its replacement	Rebase on Big Bases. Although I have enough figures to play, I haven’t rebased all of my figures.
Command Stands for Fall of Rome	Big Base DBA and its replacement	Get individual command stands for these armies because any rules to replace Big Base DBA are likely to use them
476 – 1492 Medieval ➞
100 Years War	Big Base DBA	Buy, build, paint a 100 Years War English army for duty in Spain and Portugal Expand my Medieval Spanish and Portuguese armies Get the figures on table and refight one of the battles in the Peninsular during the 100 Years War – Aljubarrota or Najera
Catalan Company	Big Base DBA	Buy, build, paint figures for the Catalan Company Buy, build, paint figures for the opponents of Catalan Company in Greece and Turkey Get the figures on table
Reconquista	Big Base DBA	Recruit a new Granadine army (buy, paint, base) including those great Muslim Knights
1494-1559 Italian Wars ➞
Rules for Italian Wars	Variant on DBA or Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Write an Italian Wars variant for Tilly’s Very Bad Day Write an Italian Wars variant for DBA Write scenarios for the big battles of the Italian Wars e.g. Ravenna (1512) and Pavia (1525)
Reinforcements for the Italian Wars	Variant on DBA or Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Beef up my Big Base armies for the Italian Wars
1494-1700 New World ➞
Big Base Conquistadores	New World DBA	Top up Conquistadores to field full New World DBA army on Big Bases
Big Base Aztecs	New World DBA	Top up Aztecs to field full New World DBA army on Big Bases
Big Base Mayan	New World DBA	Top up Mayan to field full New World DBA army on Big Bases
Big Base Sinhalese	New World DBA	Get a Big Base Sinhalese army to face the Portuguese
Big Base Malay	New World DBA	Get a Big Base Malay army to face the Portuguese
Big Base Portuguese Explorers	New World DBA	Top up Portuguese Explorers army to field full New World DBA armies on Big Bases
Big Base Africans	New World DBA	Get a Big Base African army to face the Portuguese
1618-48 Thirty Years War➞
Zaporozhian Cossacks	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Buy, build, paint a Zaporozhian Cossack Host for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Transylvanian	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Buy, build, paint a Transylvanian army for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Tatars of the Crimean Khanate	Tilly’s Very Bad Day	Buy, build, paint a Tatar army, from the Crimean Khanate, for Tilly’s Very Bad Day
1808-1814 Peninsular War ➞
Peninsular Flags	Volley & Bayonet	Give my infantry standard bearers flags
Albuera (1811)	Volley & Bayonet	Adjust my Albuera – A Volley and Bayonet Scenario to counter the Conventional Wargaming and V&B Stereotypes
Albuera (1811) Houses	Volley & Bayonet	Buy, build, paint some Peninsular War houses, preferably without roofs
1810-1824 South American Wars of Liberation aka Liberators ➞
Rules for Liberators	TBD	Select/write a set of rules to use for Liberators – think battalion level Napoleonics with a twist
Liberators skirmishers	TBD	Recruit skirmishers for all my battalions
Sipe Sipe (1815)	TBD	Write a scenario for Battle for Viluma / Sipe Sipe (1815) for chosen rule set
Simón Bolívar and the Northern War	TBD	Buy, build, paint complete armies for the Northern War (Venezuela, Columbia) with Simón Bolívar as my next Liberator
1833-40 First Carlist War ➞
Carlist Wars	Whatever I use for Liberators	Figure out how to use my existing figures for Big Bases Get the figures on table Paint the rather large collection of figures of 15/18mm 1st Carlist War Range from Capitan Games that I accidentally purchased during a sale
1845-72 New Zealand Wars ➞
New Zealand Wars	TBD	Choose a set of rules to use Figure out how to use my existing figures for Big Bases – if at all Buy, build, paint a Maori Pa Get the figures on table
1893-1926 Rif Wars ➞
Riffi	Crossfire / Fuego Cruzado and something grand tactical	Finish converting Ansar figures to Riffi Paint the Riffi Get the figures on table
Middle Eastern Houses	Crossfire / Fuego Cruzado and something grand tactical	Buy, build, paint some middle eastern houses for use with Crossfire i.e. can take the roofs of
Grand Tactical Rif Wars	Something grand tactical	Select a grand tactical set of rules for the bigger actions
1936-39 Spanish Civil War ➞
Crossfire for the Spanish Civil War	Fuego Cruzado	Get the figures on table Finish some of my scenarios e.g. the draft Battle of Madrid scenario that has been lying around for years
Grand Tactical Spanish Civil War	Something grand tactical	Select a grand tactical set of rules for the bigger actions
1941-45 Eastern Front ➞
Soviet Tank Riders	Crossfire	Get the figures on table by, say, fighting Kamenets-Podosk – A Crossfire Scenario
Ponyri Station	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint a Ponyri railway station, preferably with the roof bombed in as it was in reality (for Kursk) Buy, build, paint some features for Russian villages i.e. brick buildings for head mans houses and schools Get the figures on table
3rd Battery of the 1454th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment	Crossfire	Write a Crossfire scenario for Steven’s SU-122 Battery – 3rd Battery of the 1454th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment at Ponyri in the Battle of Kursk It might even be a good basis for a mini-campaign as Vasiliy Krysov’s account is amazing.
Operational Artic Fox	Megablitz	I found a good Megablitz scenario for Operational Arctic Fox. Be good to play it.
Berlin (1945)	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint late war Soviet tanks, e.g. IS-2, SU-100, T34-85, 203 mm howitzer M1931 (B-4), Buy, build, paint late war German tanks, e.g. Hetzer Buy, build, paint Spanish SS “Unit Ezquerra” / late war Germans for Crossfire Buy, build, paint a distinctive building for Berlin (1945) Get the figures on table
1943-45 Italian Campaign ➞
French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) – French/Moroccan/Spanish	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint French/Moroccan/Spanish battalion from French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) for Crossfire
Germans in Italy	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint late war Germans for Crossfire
1948-now Arab-Israeli Wars ➞
1967 Arab-Israeli War	Crossfire	Paint my Israeli forces Buy, build, paint some middle eastern houses for use with Crossfire i.e. can take the roofs of Write a Crossfire scenario
1955-75 Vietnam War ➞
ANZACs in Vietnam	Crossfire	Do the ANZACs in Vietnam – Steven’s Wargaming Project Buy, build, paint an ANZAC battalion for Crossfire Buy, build, paint an ANZAC armour (Centurions and M113s) for Crossfire
PAVN	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint an PAVN battalion for Crossfire
PAVN Sappers	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint an PAVN Sapper/Recon battalion for Crossfire
Viet Cong Main Force	Crossfire	Buy, build, paint an Viet Cong Main Force battalion for Crossfire
1963-73 Portuguese Colonial War ➞
African Huts	Fogo Cruzado / Crossfire	Scratch build and paint some proper African huts
Portuguese Colonial War Scenarios	Fogo Cruzado / Crossfire	Work on some new scenarios Write a campaign system for a “Tour in Africa”
Portuguese Paratroopers	Fogo Cruzado / Crossfire	Buy, build, paint Portuguese Paratroopers
Reinforce Portuguese Light Infantry (Caçadores)	Fogo Cruzado / Crossfire	Buy, build, paint more Portuguese Light Infantry (Caçadores)
Modelling ➞
Storage labels	All	Get my Dymo LabelManager Wireless PnP working again Put printed labels on all my storage boxes
Rivers	All	Repaint/texture my 3D rivers compatible (Military Miniatures, Flames of War, for 4″ hexes) Buy, build, paint linking sections because all of these are slightly different widths Get the rivers on table

Background activity

The goal is Wargaming. Any but mostly Crossfire, Tilly’s Very Bad Day, Big Base DBA/HOTT, and Operational.

I have to catch up on my photography. No urgency but I’d like to do some of these this year.

Biblical / Ancients
- Hittites for Big Base DBA
- Polybian Roman for Big Base DBA
- Later Carthaginian Army for Big Base DBA
- Seleucid Army for Big Base DBA
- Later Macedonian for Big Base DBA
- Gallic
- Numidian
- Sicilian Greek
- Late Imperial Roman
- Germanic Horde
- Alan
Dark Ages / Reconquista
- Strathclyde Welsh (Northern Cymry) including gods and dragons
- Muslim wizards, paladins, sneakers etc
- Andalusian
- Murabitun
- Almohades
Medieval / Reconquista
- Later Visigothic
- Feudal Spanish and Portuguese
- Medieval Spanish and Portuguese
30 Years War / 80 Years War
- Dutch
- Saxon
Peninsular War
WW2
- my Soviet Motorised Rifle Battalion
- buildings / Ruins e.g. features on AYLAFRED, Commission Figurines, Iron Clad miniatures, Magnetic Displays, Mark IV Minis, Sarissa Precision, and Wargames Tournaments. Railway Embankment
Portuguese Colonial War
- Insurgents
1967 Arab-Israeli War
- 1967 United Arab Republic (Egyptian)

11 thoughts on “2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian”

Mark Flanagan

3 Jan 2021 at 12:57

Epic and scope and detail, in complete awe!
- Steven Thomas
  
  5 Jan 2021 at 08:33
  
  Mark, yeah, I agree. Which is kind of scary. 😉
Ian Wright

4 Jan 2021 at 08:55

More ambition needed! Good luck and thanks.
- Steven Thomas
  
  5 Jan 2021 at 08:35
  
  “More ambition needed” – Ian, I’m not sure I can be more ambitious without selling the house to fund my hobby … now there is a thought … oh, no, that won’t work, I need somewhere to game.
Maurice

7 Jan 2021 at 20:34

Looks great! If you need any thoughts on how to implement the Eastern stuff, I’d be happy to spitball!

Do you imagine another version of tilly coming soon or am I safe to print the core rules at this point?
- Steven Thomas
  
  7 Jan 2021 at 23:42
  
  Tilly has been stable for a year and is unlikely to change in 2021. I might do an update in 2022
Chris Harrod

18 Jan 2021 at 14:45

Complete Krasny Bor. 😉
- Steven Thomas
  
  18 Jan 2021 at 18:01
  
  You are right Chris. I should have Krasny Bor on the list for this year. (Covid allowing.)
Chris Helm

2 Feb 2021 at 19:51

Hi Steve,

I’ve been meaning to chip in and say how impressive your list of projects is. Of course if it was my list of projects the adjective would more likely be ‘terrifying’. Seriously, your breadth of interests coupled with your attention to detail is an inspiration, so once again, thanks.

Right, now that I’ve laid on the flannel, here’s my entry to ‘You get to have a say’. My vote for promotion to ‘Likely’ is ‘1494-1559 Italian Wars’ and especially ‘Rules for Italian Wars’ as that’s my next project for this year. (That is until the beautiful butterfly of chaos and distraction flutters its wings in the mountains of my imagination.) If I can persuade you to promote this and you’d like any help or constructive input, let me know. In the meantime all the best to you and yours and stay safe if you can.

Best regards,

Chris
- Steven Thomas
  
  2 Feb 2021 at 21:50
  
  Thanks for chipping in Chris. Italian Wars, sure, I’ll add them to this year’s list. I fancy getting my pike blocks, arquebusiers, and gendarmes out again.
Chris Helm

3 Feb 2021 at 23:19

Grand stuff! Thanks Steve, I’ll look forward to that.