The Portable Wargame Variant and Resources

The Portable Wargame, by Bob Cordery (Wargaming Miscellany)

ON THIS PAGE, SCROLL DOWN FOR:

VARIANT EXPLANATION AND NOTES 

PLAYER REFERENCE AND UNIT CHARACTERISTIC REFERENCE
MAKING THE GRIDDED GAME MAT

SCENARIOS

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VARIANT 

As an inveterate rules tinkerer and minor league game/rules writer, I have added my own twist to the most excellent The Portable Wargame (above).  I am not alone in this, I must say in my defense.  In part, I was inspired by the many examples of "Other People's Portable Wargames" found on Bob's blog.  In these rules (now a rules family), Bob has created a superb, minimalist structure, one that can be played "out of the box" or easily supplemented.  Although these rules span many periods, my starting focus has been very specific: Colonial, the 2nd Afghan War (in order to to fit my Colonial figure collection).  Over time, I hope to broaden the scope of the content of this page to post Napoleonic 19th Century Continental wars (again, based on my collections).  If you scroll down a bit, you'll see how I constructed my gridded game mat (an essential piece of kit for playing TPW). First up, though, is my variant for the 2nd Afghan War....

DOWNLOAD THE VARIANT HERE

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PLAYER REFERENCE AND UNIT CHARACTERISTICS

In order to understand the Variant, you will need to have the Player Reference, which you can preview below (and download via the link below it)...

Front

Back

Player Reference Front and Back (click to enlarge)

DOWNLOAD THE PLAYER REFERENCE HERE

You can preview the Unit Characteristics below (the below is an updated version of the list in the Variant document)...

DOWNLOAD THE UNIT CHARACTERISTIC LIST HERE

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MAKING THE GRIDDED GAME MAT

My Gridded Game Mat for the 2nd Afghan War (Offset Hex Pattern): you will need a gridded playing area for TPW (regardless of the version you play).   Here is a bit of information on how I did mine.

Materials: a foam brush, some game mat material, a bit of cardboard, and some brown paint. I cut out a  6" square cardboard template and then plunked it down and outlined it with the foam brush by dabbing along the perimeter.  I repeated to create the pattern. In this case, I wasn't concerned about having neat lines.  As a matter of fact, I think the "rustic" look of the lines contributes to the look of the mat.

The 6" squares allow me to have a good sized playing grid along with space for figures. For my colonials, I play with individually mounted 25mm figures, one figure equaling one strength point.  

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SCENARIOS

(Click the Name above the Picture to Preview/Download pdf)

CROWNING THE HILLS

Maj C. Langley Smoot and Capt Raymond Dubious lead elements of the Dismal Province Military District Force to clear and secure key high ground ahead of the passage of a convoy through the area.  Hill Chief Ali Hassan Bin Sober and his ally (for the day) Chief Omar the Black (ie, the Mad Mullah), have other ideas.