Read more
There will be a lot of shooting and sword play going on next weekend in Lawrence.
It will be imaginary, however.
Lawrence Wargame Club is organizing the Spring Maneuvers 2009 miniature wargaming convention, which will be Friday and Saturday at Econo Lodge, 2222 W. Sixth St.
“I’m really excited about bringing this to Lawrence,” club member Michael Machell said. “We’ll have a lot of people from out of town. Hopefully they’ll spend the night and spend some money here.”
Machell estimated that more than 100 people could attend and participate in the convention.
Miniature wargaming uses scale models or figures on a tabletop covered with three-dimensional terrain to recreate a historical or fantasy battle.
Players command forces in the battle with the help of rules. In addition, a variety of board and card games will be offered, including demonstration games hosted by representatives from Avalanche Press, Steve Jackson Games and Dan Verssen Games.
A feature at this year’s convention will be the simulation support team from Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff College.
Contractors from Northrop Grumman’s Technical Services division will run a “Kriegsspiel” game, a forerunner of modern wargaming, adopted by the Prussian general staff in the 19th century.
The contractors also will demonstrate the practical use of wargaming in military planning by offering games used in the 1980s and 1990s to simulate a possible Cold War conflict.
“Another thing I like about this is a lot of parents show up with their kids, and this gets them excited about history and military history,” Machell said.
Lawrence Wargaming Club has just a few members and many of them “come and go,” Machell said. The club put on a few demonstrations last year at Lawrence Public Library.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
OnAir (anonymous) says…
For anyone who does not know, this is way more than your old Stratego. The models are enough to merit an exhibition, but the games are a ton of fun too!
lylliaah (anonymous) says…
For more people to game with, check out Pulp Fiction in downtown Lee's Summit. They have a huge game room, and host lots of miniature gaming events. I hope this con has great turnout!
www.pfcomics.com
Shardwurm (anonymous) says…
Miniatures gaming is a lot of fun though I haven't done any in many, many years. Anyone interested in the military should check it out.
And to those of you playing - take Culp's Hill on Day 1 for crying out loud!
Thinking_Out_Loud (anonymous) says…
Pink_Sock, this is very different from LARP. These are simulations of historical battles or potential battles, whether historical or contemporary. The rules are established to approximate the historical results; in other words, if the individual controlling one set of forces makes similar decisions to the historical generals, the results should be similar. People often say "How would Gettysburg have been different if..." fill-in-the-blank happened? This gives them a chance to explore that.