Re: Age and Complexity

> > Anyway he had a friend over and these two 8 year olds had made up
their
> > own wargame with all their toy soldiers. You role one D6 and the
number
> > is how many guys of the enemy you get to kill. Wow hows that for
simple.
> > Of course I right away sent him a page of suggested erratta.
> >
> 
> What kind of erratta?  My freind and I started mini-gaming that
way....We
> started moving these old plastic medieval mini's around on his bedroom
> floor.  At first we just knocked over one man on the other side
(simple!)
> After a while we added a d6 roll, whoever rolled higher knocked over
the
> lower roller.  Men could move 5", and Archers could attack over
anything
> within 2 feet.  I have many fond memories of those games....

I had a variant on standard toy soldiers. Started with either Airfix 
1/32nd scale (or 1/72nd) from WW2 or other periods. We used to use 
the 1/32nds with terrain and then we'd take turns picking our force 
(didn't have points, but we knew the better figures from the worse) 
then set them up in cover and then we'd take turns salvoing the 
other with sucker tipped darts from spring loaded dart guns. If you 
knocked down a standing/kneeling figure, he was dead. If you flipped 
over a guy lying down (I specifically remember a Japanese figure with 
an LMG that was really hard to overturn) he was dead. Eventually we 
got to using a Tennis ball at intervals to simulate artillery (this 
could flip vehicles!). Good thing Airfix made its figures pretty 
tough. I still have racks of 1/72nd scale WWII and a bunch of 1/32nd 
scale buried away in an old toy box. 

My uncle used to work for Palitoy, and I had a whole medeival castle 
and a bunch of really spiffy figures (knights that had a stand, legs, 
a belt, a torso, two arms, a head, and a weapon and shield that were 
all separate and most interchangable). They were great! Wish I still 
had that castle. It would be awesome in 25mm - had Merlons, towers, 
main gates, and all in about the right scale for 25mm. The figures 
would have went well with 25mm fantasy. Alas, I fear this treasure 
trove (and the Cowboys, Indians, and western log bunkhouse) are 
gone..... sigh. 

:) Tom 
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