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2024 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

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2023 went pretty well although there were a few bumps and I still didn’t complete nearly enough of my plans. So what is on the megalomaniac agenda for 2024? Well, you’ll see below. As usual I present this as a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. The list is then split into three parts: likely in 2024, unlikely, and background activity.

Megalomaniac surveying all those unfinished wargaming projects
Megalomaniac surveying all those unfinished wargaming projects

Likely projects in 2024

The big themes remain Crossfire, Tilly’s Very Bad Day and Deep Battle.

For Crossfire I’ve got three big aspirations for 2023 and a small aspiration. The first is to play more games. I don’t care if they are Eastern Front (1941-45), Burma Campaign (1942-45) or Italian Campaign (1943-45). I wanna get some kit on table. Next I want to publish the second official Crossfire freebie. I need to revisit Arty’s feedback and do something about it. Third is to finish the revised anti-tank rules. The small aspiration is to make some more feature buildings for Crossfire.

For Tilly’s Very Bad Day we will continue Populous, Rich and Rebellious. I’d like to finish 1643 (one game) and all of 1644 (four games). In the east, my Zaporozhian Cossacks are nearly ready and I hope to pitch them against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. And some more small Thirty Years War scenarios would be good.

Lastly I want to play test Deep Battle, my Operational level rules for the Eastern Front. Hopefully publish a beta.

Returning to Tilly’s Very Bad Day, I also want to write a variant for a different period. Today the most likely candidate is something covering the Fall of Rome, Dark Ages and Arthurian. But who knows where my muse will take me. If I have to sacrifice something in my 2024 plans, I’ll probably sacrifice this.

It might not look it, but I have seriously tried to tone my annual aspirations back. I’d like to get even closer to finishing the listed projects. 2023 saw too many project finish the year “in progress”. I wanna get to “done”.

Project Rules Aspiration in 2024
Crossfire ➞
in WW2 ➞
Play some Crossfire Crossfire
Crossfire freebie booklet Crossfire
  • Address Arty’s feedback on Crossfire Freebie #2 and publish it
Revised anti-tank rules for Crossfire Crossfire
  • Finish the revised anti-tank rules for Crossfire.
Feature buildings Crossfire
Tilly’s Very Bad Day ➞
in 1618-48 Thirty Years War ➞
and 1642-51 English Civil War ➞
and 1600-1679 Northern Wars ➞
Populous, Rich, and Rebellious – English Civil War Campaign Tilly’s Very Bad Day Play the end of 1643 and all of 1644. So five games of the Tilly’s Very Bad Day for our campaign set in the English Civil War.
Eastern Armies Tilly’s Very Bad Day Heading to the Northern Wars, I want to continue to explore eastern armies in Tilly’s Very Bad Day by pitching Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against Zaporozhian Cossacks. In particular I want to see how the fortified wagons (Tabor) play.
Gabions Tilly’s Very Bad Day Related to my desire to experiment with Tabor, there are a few battles from the Thirty Years War which featured field fortifications (often using gabions). I’d like to try out one of them. I’m thinking Nördlingen (1634) or Tornavento (1636) but there were others.
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
  • More scenarios featuring the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Zaporozhian Cossacks, and/or Tatars
  • More scenarios for the big Spanish moments of the Thirty Years War i.e. 1634 Nordlingen, 1642 Honnecourt and 1643 Rocroi
Deep Battle ➞
on the Eastern Front ➞
in WW2 ➞
Deep Battle Deep Battle Last year I shared with Andrés Ferrari a draft of Deep Battle my Operational Level Wargame rules on the Eastern Front. This year I want to take it even further:

Tilly’s Very Bad Day Variants ➞
Tilly’s Very Bad Day variant Tilly’s Very Bad Day

Unlikely projects in 2024

Here are the “active” projects that I don’t think I’ll get to in 2024. Actually some of them are now looking so unlikely that, if I’m honest with myself, I should start categorising them as “will never get to” e.g. Catalan Company. But the figures are so cool. And I have the source material. Oh, it is such a lovely project, and I have the unpainted figures, so I just must leave it on the list. I’m doomed.

Project Rules Aspiration in 2024
Official Crossfire material ➞
Crossfire Scenario book Crossfire
  • Write and play test 20 scenarios for a new official scenario book for Crossfire
  • Write and play advanced rules for a new official scenario book for Crossfire
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
Rise of Rome on Big Bases 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
  • 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:
  • 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
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
Fall of Rome on Big Bases 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.
  • 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
Reinforcements for the Italian Wars Variant on DBA or Tilly’s Very Bad Day
1494-1700 New World ➞
Big Base Conquistadores New World DBA
Big Base Aztecs New World DBA
Big Base Mayan New World DBA
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
Big Base Africans New World DBA
  • Get a Big Base African army to face the Portuguese
1618-48 Thirty Years War ➞
and 1642-51 English Civil War ➞
and 1600-1679 Northern Wars ➞
Tatar Tilly’s Very Bad Day
Transylvanian Tilly’s Very Bad Day
1808-1814 Peninsular War ➞
Peninsular Flags Volley & Bayonet
  • Give my infantry standard bearers flags
Albuera (1811) Volley & Bayonet
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
Sipe Sipe (1815) TBD
  • Write and fight a scenario for Battle for Viluma / Sipe Sipe (1815) for Bolivar’s Very Bad Day
Liberators skirmishers TBD
  • Decide how to use skirmishes in Liberators
  • Recruit skirmishers for all my battalions
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
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
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
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
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
Deep Battle Deep Battle
  • Write scenarios for interesting campaigns/operations e.g. 2nd Kharkov
1943-45 Italian Campaign ➞
Scenarios for the Italian Campaign Crossfire Now that I have all the armies I need to:
French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) – French/Moroccan/Spanish Crossfire
1942-45 Burma Campaign ➞
Scenarios for the Burma Campaign Crossfire
Welsh, 14th Army Crossfire
  • Buy, build, paint a Welsh battalion from 14th Army
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 armour (Centurions and M113s) for Crossfire
ANZACs in Vietnam Crossfire Do the ANZACs in Vietnam – Steven’s Wargaming Project

  • Buy, build, paint an ANZAC battalion 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
Modelling ➞
Rivers All
  • Repaint/texture my existing rivers from various supplier to make them 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

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

4 thoughts on “2024 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian”

  2. Wishing you all the best and if Arty would like to upgrade the layout of the Crossfire rulebook I am available to help, I am skilled in Indesign and I think it can do better.

    Reply

  3. That’s a nice short list 🙂 I like the idea of your big base stuff (especially Kadesh) and East Front Crossfire, especially with a Ponyri scenario.

    Reply

  4. I’m exhausted looking though your lists!! (Or it could be the back surgery I just had 😉 I’d be most interested in the Bolivar section of you enormous list.

    Reply

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