Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Game Preview and Playtest Participation.

Hello! And welcome to my temporary home for information in regards to Le Pot De Chambre: Sedan 1870.

The Main Commanders of the battle

This game covers the seminal battle of Sedan in the Franco Prussian war that ultimately decided the fate of the Second French Empire. While overlooked in most circles of military history and wargaming,the battle features the advent of "modern" artillery and a preview of the operational and tactical considerations of World War One.

The game borrows most of its core mechanics from Kevin Zucker's The Library Of Napoleonic Battles series from Operational Studies Group. Zucker's games effortlessly emulate the mechaincs of early 19th century warfare, and I tweaked them a little bit to cover the differences by late 19th century warfare. I can't go any further without thanking Kevin Zucker for permission to use his system and for invaluable advice and direction in regards to game design.

Le Pot De Chambre plays out on the 'Grand Tactical' scale, somewhere in between the operational and tactical scales. The players take the roles of the leaders of the various armies and are allowed to focus on concerns of maneuver and placement disregarding the minutia of smaller scale tactical concerns. The game engine takes into account things such as Millatreuse fire, ranged Chassepot, improved Prussian artillery, cavalry charges, and command friction.

The Playtest Map
About Me: Hi I'm Ray Weiss. I am an amateur game designer with one or two games under my belt. One of them being the Role Playing Game Everything Is Dolphins. I conducted thorough research for this game using both primary and secondary sources. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most accurate simulation at the Division/Brigade level of the Battle of Sedan. The game is ready to playtest but we are still waiting on some final components.

How you can help: I would really appreciate it if anyone can help me play test this game. Please leave your email address in the comments to this post if you are interested in receiving materials to print and play your own copy of the game in it's current state. You will need to print out your own copy of the maps, charts, counters, and other materials to play the game. I can offer some advice into making a nice home copy. Right now I am focusing on the scenario designs, would love to have help from people familiar with the period.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thanks so much! 

5 comments:

  1. Ray - would love to help out with playtesting! Not very familiar with the period, however, but am very interested in learning! chuck.reaume@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  2. I think I could help out, as well. I haven't played any of the "Library series, but I have extensively played Zucker's original Campaigns of Napoleon series. Have you given any thought to having a VASSAL module put together for playtesting purposes - saves on the arts & crafts. ;)

    -Charlie Lewis
    darthcharlie@gmail.com

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  3. Also re vassal, one is going to be made once the map is finalized. The playtest map is too lo res for vassal.

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  4. As the guy working up the VASSAL module, I want to echo the great work done on the counters. Angela, you really kicked some serious ass on these!!! As Ray says, they're functional and attractive, but they're extremely well thought out and make good use of all the colors, the divisional bands, everything. And, THANK YOU for NOT using a serif font, you were at least smart enough to avoid THAT trap!!! These have been a joy to work with!!!!

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