The Loose Association of Wargamers

We finally managed to do our postponed 'Christmas' game last weekend and it was a cracker! A tough nut for the Austrians to win, but the French didn't have it all their own way:

http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2020/03/21/ ... e-refight/

A close-fought game. Interesting to see Massena in the Napoleonic equivalent of a mobility scooter. I can understand the lower overall speed, but was the "wheeling circle" really necessary? I would have thought one vehicle on its own could easily turn around without too much faff.

BaronVonWreckedoften wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:31 pm A close-fought game. Interesting to see Massena in the Napoleonic equivalent of a mobility scooter. I can understand the lower overall speed, but was the "wheeling circle" really necessary? I would have thought one vehicle on its own could easily turn around without too much faff.

No, but it was bloody good fun...

I think the original intent of the rule was for him simply to move at half-speed, but I thought I'd make him wheel partly for a laugh, but also to weight the scenario against him just slightly.

Well, he is French and therefore deserves it.

I have never really understood the average Englishman's apparent pathological hatred for the French. Ah well, all my visits there have been nothing but pleasant, and the French entirely welcoming and hospitable.

Shahbahraz wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:01 am I have never really understood the average Englishman's apparent pathological hatred for the French.

That's probably because it isn't really a pathological hatred, but merely a "poking with a stick" thing that most Frenchmen (and women) I've met take in good part, and usually give back in equal measure. In a way, it's a compliment, in that folk don't normally waste humour on others that they don't care about.

Plus (and this is the real bonus) it's a guaranteed way to wind up Kevin Kiley over on PMT.

And I am neither average (take that however you want), nor English. My Irish ancestors were let down so often by my French ancestors that they threw in their lot with the English, on the basis that the occasional benefits, albeit accompanied by the occasional back-hander, was preferable to perennial disappointment.

Shahbahraz wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:01 am Ah well, all my visits there have been nothing but pleasant, and the French entirely welcoming and hospitable.

Ever wondered if that was because you aren't English?

It has occurred to me...

Apparently there is no loo roll panic buying in France due (a) to the pernicious influence of the bidet and (b) the fact that when God invented the Frenchman he invented the perfect arsehole

Shahbahraz wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 4:56 pm It has occurred to me...

Some years ago, England soccer fans rioted in Paris and trashed the place. Fast forward a few weeks and England were playing rugby against France at the Parc des Princes and some friends invited me to join them. Cue a French interior minister needing to distract people from a scandal in his department, so he goes all de Gaulle on us and promises to be "tough" on English hooligans, and the CRS were deployed to escort us into the ground. (This was also the time when the French were hijacking lorries full of live British sheep and setting fire to them at the roadside, whilst the French police chatted amongst themselves.) At one point we were all being channeled through a narrow gap, so a few fans at the front started going "Baaa!!! Baaa!!!" which was quickly taken up by the whole crowd. After we had entered the ground and found our seats, a couple of French fans came over to us and shook our hands. When we asked why, they revealed they were both ex-coppers and confessed it was the only time they had ever seen members of the CRS laughing uncontrollably.