Map and Counters

MOVEMENT & COMBAT TURN RECORD TEMPLATE FOR SPI’S ‘JENA-AUERSTADT’ (1975)

For those players who are unfamiliar with this title, JENA-AUERSTADT offers the Prussian commander the choice of dividing his army and fighting two simultaneous battles: one engagement at Jena against the bulk of the French army under Napoleon, and the other against Marshal Davout’s out-numbered III^rd Corps at Auerstadt (the historical scenario); alternatively, the Prussian player can choose to mass all of his forces at Jena in an effort to defeat the advancing Grande Armée before it can complete its concentration. The Prussians and their allies are outnumbered and less mobile than the more nimble French, but an all-or-nothing fight at Jena — because the bulk of Napoleon’s forces begin the game off-map and enter play a few units at a time — gives the Prussian player an excellent opportunity to defeat the French army in detail. In view of this unusual design feature, I believe that JENA-AUERSTADT offers players a fascinating set of operational problems and although it is a relatively simple “beer and pretzels” sort of game, it nonetheless is still one of my personal favorites.

The Excel ‘spreadsheet’ file offered here is for the original SPI version of JENA-AUERSTADT (1975). This file has been set up to permit competing players to exchange new game moves via email attachments and, at the same time, to keep an accurate and detailed, ongoing record of all of the various game operations that can potentially occur in the course of a complete twelve turn match of this simple, but elegant game of Napoleonic warfare.

JENA-AUERSTADT Excel spreadsheet link

Additional useful game-related Internet links

MOVEMENT & COMBAT TURN RECORD TEMPLATE FOR THE TAHGC GAME, ‘STALINGRAD’ (1963/1974)

When everything is said and done, there is really nothing like face-to-face competition when it comes to playing wargames. Unfortunately, most players will find — particularly, as time goes on — that local face-to-face opponents can sometimes be hard to find. Happily, the ‘internet revolution’, besides its many other contributions to modern life, has also led to the development of a number of easy-to-use gaming software applications such as VASSAL, Cyberboard, and Zun Tzu, all of which have made ‘electronic’ wargaming both much faster and much more convenient than its play-by-mail (PBM) predecessor. In most cases, these gaming support sites will offer players all of the software tools they need to play online. However, there may still be times when reliance on one of these internet software applications is neither practical nor even preferable. In some cases, players will find that platforms for their favorite older games are not yet available on line. Or, if their favorite title is available on line, players may still occasionally find that existing internet gaming software — programmers being human — will have map or ‘Order of Battle’ mistakes that could detract from the playability of the game.

In addition, there also seem to be a few modern Luddites remaining in the hobby who, for one reason or another, just don’t care for the ‘point and drag’ method of moving counters on a screen; gamers (like me) who, given their ‘druthers’, still prefer to have the game’s real map and counters spread out in front of them when they sit down to make their moves. Experience has shown me that, for this type of tradition-minded player, switching to a ‘spreadsheet’ format for internet gaming can be a handy, easy-to-use alternative to online, downloadable ‘game boxes’. That being said, the attached play aid is for them.

The specific Excel ‘spreadsheet’ attachment offered with this post is for the 2^nd Edition version (1974) of the Avalon Hill classic game, STALINGRAD (1963). This multi-page file has been set up to permit competing players to exchange game moves via email attachments and, at the same time, to keep an accurate and detailed, ongoing record of all of the various game operations that could potentially occur in the course of a complete twenty-four turn match.


Excel spreadsheet: Stalingrad PBem Play Aid Template





Finally, for those players who are relatively new to wargaming, or for those experienced gamers who have only recently decided to become more actively involved with the large and growing ‘internet’ gaming community, I recommend the following (small) sampling of sites highly:

A Few Online Gaming Sites

• Cyberboard created by Dale Larson
• Hexwars
• The Play by Email Emporium Walt O’Hara  
• Vassal  
• Zun Tzu

Some of my Favorite Online Support Sites

• Boardgamegeek.com
• Boardgame Players Association World Board Gaming Championships® 
• Consimworld.com  
• Webgrognards.com

Related Stalingrad Map and Counters Blog Posts:

1. TAHGC STALINGRAD (1963, 1974)
2. Tricks of the Trade: Some Suggestions for Balancing STALINGRAD
3. Tricks of the Trade: A Recommended Russian Set-up for STALINGRAD
4. Tricks of the Trade: The General Looks at STALINGRAD

MOVEMENT & COMBAT TURN RECORD TEMPLATES FOR THE SPI GAMES, ‘MARENGO’ & ‘WAGRAM’ (1975)

There is really nothing like face-to-face competition when it comes to playing wargames. Unfortunately, most players will find — particularly, once they leave college and get on with their lives — that local opponents who share the same gaming interests can often be hard to find, and once found, hard to stay in touch with over the long haul. Circumstances change: gaming clubs break up, opponents move or even, heaven forbid, drop out of the hobby completely. Thus, one of the great benefits to traditional board wargaming conferred by the internet age — speaking as a long-time competitive player — has been the now almost universal ability of present-day players to substitute ‘Play by Electronic Mail’ (PBeM) for its tiresome precursor, traditional ‘Play by Mail’ (PBM). This has meant that most games between geographically separated opponents can now — if both players are conscientious in their move-making — be completed in a matter of months or even weeks, instead of the year or more that postal play used to require.

Happily, the ‘internet revolution’ has also led to the appearance of subscription (pay-as-you-go) wargame sites such as Hexwars, and also to the development of easy-to-use gaming software applications such as Vassal, ZunTzu, or Cyberboard which have made ‘electronic’ wargaming even faster (no set-up time) and more convenient. In fact, in the case of Vassal, players who are familiar with a game system no longer even have to have physical access to a copy of a favorite title in order to play it. Of course, reliance on software applications like Vassal or ZunTzu is not always either practical or even preferable. In many cases, players will find that platforms for their preferred games are not yet available online. Moreover, even when one of their favorite titles is available at one of these sites, players will occasionally find that existing internet gaming software — programmers being human — will have map or ‘order of battle’ mistakes that seriously detract from the actual playability of the game.

Finally, there are still a few modern ‘Luddites’ like me who just don’t much care for the ‘point and drag’ method of moving counters on a computer screen; gamers who, instead, would actually rather have the real map and counters in front of them when they play. For this type of player, using a ‘spreadsheet’ format for internet gaming is a convenient alternative. And it is also, not surprisingly, the online gaming format that I still tend to prefer.

The Excel spreadsheet files offered with this post are for the original versions of the SPI classic games, MARENGO and WAGRAM (1975). These files have been set up to permit competing players to exchange new game moves via email attachments and, at the same time, to keep an accurate and detailed, ongoing record of all of the various game operations that can potentially occur in the course of a complete fourteen turn match of either of these two games.

MARENGO Excel spreadsheet link
WAGRAM Excel spreadsheet link

Additional useful game-related Internet links:

Hexwars

Vassal

ZunTzu

Cyberboard created by Dale Larson

The Play by Email Emporium, Walt O’Hara

Boardgame Players Association World Board Gaming Championships®

Consimworld