Auerstaedt 2006 :: Planning tools

 I realized that I have not shared much of the planning tools or other support materials of my early tabletop efforts.

In this 20th anniversary celebration I am going to share as much as I can of these items.

Auerstaedt was the first of the 200th Anniversary Napoleonic Battles that I decided to host.

I was going to use the SHAKO game system, with some extras added into the mix, things like the cards, to allow some Free Rolls and other goodies.

 These are the French cards, facings.

The backs of the French cards would look like this.


 

The Prussian card facings had this presentation.

and the Prussian backs.

All these cards were put into thicker 'card sleeves', that I still have and have used for other games.  Indeed these free roll cards have been used for other games (including the recent Leipzig game).

Each of the commands had some details to help players understand what they were going to command.

You will note the "Fate" cards, they led to a number of sealed envelopes and players would have to use these Fate cards as soon as they drew them, for the Prussians, or optionally for the French to force a Prussian Fate drawing (all the events applied to Prussian issues - ultimately the Prussians out numbered the French, so the Fate cards would cause issues to mitigate this - all based on actual events around this battle!)

 

 sadly the attached letter was garbled in my word program, though I did have the signature of Napoleon, so it must be a captured bit of intel.

signature of Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Finally there was the game effect:

YOU MUST NOW PREPARE FOR A FLANK ATTACK COMING FROM EITHER FLANK.

These flank-covering forces must contain at least two (2) Infantry, one (1) Cavalry, and one (1) Artillery unit.  There may be more, but no less than the amounts shown.

 

The Division of the Prince of Orange may now also be divided to form the flank supporting reserve.  Colonel-lieutenant Prince Henry shall command one of the flank formation columns as a ‘provisional commander’.  Prince Henry must remain within 18” of ‘Royal’ headquarters.

 

The forces assigned under Prince Henry cannot exceed 3 combat formations (Infantry and/or Cavalry) and may include no more than 1 artillery battery.  These troops may not deploy more than 8” away from Prince Henry.

 

The other fate envelopes contained only a single page:

 

as I recall, this one was used during the game

not all the fate effects were bad for
the Prussians

Even if all of the available Fate cards were used, that would mean only four of the possible six fates could affect play.

there was a set of game turn records:

morning

evening

On the day of the game I had all the troops laid out on tables with their identifying information with each of the troops. 

with the terrain laid out, a 'fog of war' curtain 
(representing the overnight fog on the day of battle)
was set out and we then had the French deploy
and the Prussians set up in their overnight
bivouacs ... it was dawn that would reveal how close
they really were
then the battle would start!

looking back :: 2006 Dak-Kon Convention KNIGHTS

 The 11th ever Dak-Kon convention was in 2006 (it was not completely annual as I think they missed one or two years before I joined into things in 2003 or 2004), and the theme was KNIGHTS and I was going to run a chess tournament opposite the Magic card tournament on the Sunday of the event.

a real mix of players

we had a few 'loaner' clocks
and a first prize very nice chess set!

I had managed to attract a few really good players
from the Island area and Lower Mainland

All I can really remember from this event is that the magic card players complained that the chess players were making too much noise at one point (it was a tense tie breaker game that everyone cheered at both players finishing!)

while the chess tournament did not catch on, there were plenty of positive comments about the whole event.

looking back :: 2006 troops now moved on

 These troops have since left my service, by becoming mercenaries and raising the cash I needed at the time.

these Prince August castings French Chasseurs
served in many battles, likely also the Eylau one,
and have since been sold off to raise needed funds

there was a period of time where I had a set of troops
on consignment at ABC Bookstore in Courtenay
at one point a grandfather bought a bunch of the British ones
then in 2011, Norman left a note
for me and I helped finish off the boy's collection that
Christmas, doing my Santa duty.

Shipping and duties

 The mercantile actions across the border from Canada into the USA continue to have friction.

In the past I have had limited challenges with sending my toys into the USA, now things have certainly changed.

In order to ship to USA you must first use an app to pay the duties, obtain a QR code to share with Canada Post (or any other shipper) to prove the duties have been paid.

screen shot from the duties system

I managed to get this all done for a BOPPERS shipment I have put out today.

I was incentivized by new information from Bob Murch Pulp Figures, that he put out this morning.

Bob Murch's information that was
put out on the morning of August 14, 2026

 
Edit at 17:34 pdt:

more from Bob Murch only 13 minutes ago

The crazy continues and will persist to mess around with our hobby activities, may you find a simple way past it all soon.

looking back 2006 tabletop preparations for 200th anniversary games

 The plan had been set, I was going to attempt a tabletop game in connection with each of the coming 200th anniversary Napoleonic battles.

I had done Austerlitz with Kelly Jones in 2005, and that had set me on the path to attempting this.

this attitude would permeate my hobby time for the next decade

there was a good 'core element' to my Napoleonic troops at this point
yet few 1806 Prussians ... yet 

the first games would have to be using my
grass paper mat, early version of base stands
and the hills 'on top'

loads of practice runs were done

all to help me teach games better and faster

I was also growing my collection at the same time

many of these early battles have little or no notes

though the future metal base stand system could be seen
coming into existence even at this stage
the magnets were becoming frustrating

I also knew that I could not do Jena, as I did not have
the Emperor (yet), nor the troops to simulate that battle
anyway I saw Auerstadt as far more interesting a battle ...

Now, the next game timing issue ... I knew I wanted to do Eylau at the next Dak-Kon convention in 2007 ... and I did not have enough minis to do it ... yet.

Convention fun from the near past Dak Kon 17 : Zombie!

 The DakKon Convention was mostly about role-playing and card games (Magic mostly)

I had often attempted to bring in all sorts of other games to liven up the mix.

This time round was no different.

pre-game setup

The organizers had hoped to do a bunch of warhammer 40K, I think it was a tournament?
Sadly there were few entrants and a lot of time the upper floor was empty - made for a challenge to get new players to take a look at anything in such an empty space.

Understandable that the format changed in a year later the event had a new name and was all about costuming and sci-fi and fantasy fan fun.

this was to be the last Dak-Kon in 2012

The convention things went really quiet after a dud of a run, then more tries at it until the 2020 unpleasantness.

There have been a couple of fan events, mostly centered around costuming?  

Since the local tabletop minis games scene has been more interested in 40K I have not been involved.
Great that the Nanaimo crew (that we did the Leipzig game a couple of months ago) has some activity that interests me - considering it is a 90 minute drive one way, there must be some actual interest or I could not convince myself to use the resources to go.

Now there are two game stores in the city, each one has mostly a 40K minis focus, and some MTG, one has permitted the tabletop minis game (last November) and the other might be convinced ... though once I get my table done I can foresee less interest in any travel unless it is for a really good game.

an Arcadian throwback :: Star Trek Role-Playing

 I have been into Role-Playing games since at least 1978.  And Star Trek fan since I can remember.

It was wonderful to combine them in the early 2000s with a keen Game Master partner (there were 2 GMs) one 'on the planet' the other 'on the ship' (or other place) where the Player Characters could interact with the two of us as part of the story line.  We settled on one of the GMs as the Captain of the ship, that way we could somewhat direct the story - though never too much as there was always the 'other GM (me)' to keep the plot moving or to switch up the issue if the Captain GM got too far of track, and likewise the Captain GM could advance the story when the other GM was occupied elsewhere.

the First Officer

the First Officer's Log
from the guild website

Eventually, that Captain GM got posted away and we moved up the First Officer to Captain, gaming along a bit more, I think it was maybe 2009 (?) that the SFB game ended (I'm not fully certain as the players might have continued after I departed).  We moved in 2005, so it made continuing the game harder over time since I had to travel further to get to any games and many of the players family situations had become more complex.  As with all games things, time to focus on them is always at a premium.