Re: The English are odd folk....

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On 30/08/2012 11:39, Tom B wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwile_flonking
>
> That is one 1:1 scale wargame I'm fairly intimidated by.
It's one that I'm rather /surprised /by, because the version or similar 
game that I know (and have played) is Dwile /Flunking/ (or that's how it

was pronounced; spelling is debatable because this is England we're 
talking about, and rural England at that... ;-) ), and it's quite 
different -- more drinking, for a start, and we sure as blazes didn't 
waste good beer by dunking the dwile in it!

The game had some similarities to the one described in the link, but 
differences too. The non-dwile team stood in a circle about 20 feet 
across (maybe more, maybe less; I can't remember what we used to measure

it). Each member of the dwile team took his or her place at the centre 
of the circle, where there was a open keg of beer with a pint glass, and

a bucket of water in which the dwile soaked. The flunker would raise the

dwile from the bucket with the pole (which had no name that I was aware 
of) and would hurl it at a member of the other team. If it hit, an odd 
sort of race began; if not, the flunker tried again.

On scoring a hit with the dwile, the flunker had to run to the outside 
of the circle where the person hit by the dwile was and do a lap of the 
circle; while s/he was doing that, the struck player had to get to the 
keg of beer, fill the glass and drink it, signifying completion in the 
time-honoured manner of turning the empty glass upside-down on his or 
her head. If the flunker completed the lap before the drinker finished 
the pint, they scored a point for their team; if the drinker was 
quicker, they didn't. Either way, the next member of the dwile team had 
their go. The winning team was the won which scored the most points 
after both teams had had a full "innings".

For those interested (?) in the migration of the game and its subsequent

(?) mutation, this version was played at Cranfield University in 
mid-Bedfordshire.

Phil