I posted a query on the Bag the Hun FB group yesterday, to see if anyone is actually actively playing the rules, given the low profile of the system in most if not all Toofatlardies Lard Days, the Lard Mag and the the Lard Forum. The response was interesting and mostly revolved around people having the occasional game but failing to drum up interest at club or event level, which was what I expected. It seems the general consensus is that Lard Days are dominated by Chain of Command or Sharp Practise, as you'd expect. Nothing wrong with that but it is a shame to see good rules go unloved.
One 'tounge in cheek' suggestion that caught my attention was to have an alternative Lard Day dedicated to older or 'vintage' rules including Bag the Hun, Algernon Pulls It Off!, Kiss Me Hardy, Through the Mud and Blood, Triumph of the Will and many more. The premise would be to just focus on these classic rules rather than the more recent Chain of Command et al, so that equally vintage wargaming 'grognards' could enjoy playing older systems and also to encourage new, younger players to have a go. The tentative if less than serious event title might be 'Hipster Lard' which made me chuckle...
...but it's worth some thought?
We play Bag the Hun occasionally, I really like the rules but unless you play a lot it is hard to figure out the appropriate moves to make to get a shot off, mostly we (very realistically I suspect) fly around like novices rarely getting to fire. If we played regularly the moves would become ingrained and wouldn't need so much thought to figure out how to get where you want to go! It gets even harder if you start including AA fire and bombing missions, there is a lot to remember.
ReplyDeleteIt does take some time to get used to the turn mechanisms and the various options for manoeuvres but it's fairly straightforward once you get the hang of it. I find players are put off by the fact it's quite unpredictable and you can't 'game' the system to make it do what you want, at least some of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe issue is finding people to enthusiastically run them Jim. You e been a great supporter of our local Latd day running Bag the Hun in the past, and we’ve got a Kiss me Hardy game running this year too, however if you don’t get the volunteers you don’t get the games l. It’s that simple. This year we’ve two CoC, 2 Sharp Practice and 2 Strength and Honour (probably punching well above its weight as I’m running one and they are my rules!) all the other 7 games are different rule sets with one game each. The players want to play a surprisingly wide spread of games in their choices with no one set dominating.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very valid point. I think there is definitely a place for older games at Lard Days and it's incumbent on enthusiasts of the vintage rules to step and push them forward as offers. If there's an obstacle it's at club level, where you find plenty of people willing to play the latest thing or established, well supported favourites, but less inclined to get excited about some of the rules that are seen as old hat. Having said that, I can usually scrape together a few new players and a couple of grognards to play BTH or even give Algy a try.
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