An Introduction Of Sorts

From Wikipedia:

The word Rococo is seen as a combination of the French rocaille, or shell, and the Italian barocco, or Baroque style. Due to Rococo love of shell-like curves and focus on decorative arts, some critics used the term to derogatively imply that the style was frivolous or merely fashion; interestingly, when the term was first used in English in about 1836, it was a colloquialism meaning "old-fashioned".


The above might be a descriptive of a blog such as mine which not only lacks any clear substance, but is certainly old-fashioned.

Soubise explains to Frederick that Herr Seydlitz was clearly offside.

My photos are still a little fuzzy. I'll blame that on my camera, although I have noted already that my camera fails me less often, and less grossly, when I read its manual.

Life is strange. An example of this is the contrast between the grim realities of warfare in the 18th Century, and its light-hearted recreation by wargamers. If we read Christopher Duffy's 'Frederick The Great' we can come across passages such as:

Nine battalions stood under the immediate command of Prince Moritz, but the Austrians had sixteen heavy cannon waiting for him and soon the Prussians were climbing over heaps of their own dead and wounded. Moritz had a horse shot under him, 'whereupon the soldiers, who were infuriated against him, yelled that it was a pity that the animal on top had not been killed rather than the animal beneath'.

Young and Lawford's book, 'Charge or How To Play Wargames' has a delightful, playful style that somehow evokes the Rococo period even as it glosses over the grim realities of warfare in that period. The authors, although real life soldiers, are describing a game, not seeking to teach anyone about the horrors of war. I am in full agreement with this attitude, even if I cannot aspire to anything more than imitation. So nothing I say need be taken seriously: even you disagree with me on such fraught topics as the merits of human-like figure proportions I doubt this calls for pistols at dawn.

This blog describes my efforts to create an 18th Century wargame. There are two books that represent a starting point - the previously mentioned 'Charge', and Charles Grant's 'The Wargame'. I have no illusion that my blog will interest any but a few people who are pursuing the same activity. But I hope to exchange with those that are interested a few ideas that will enrich both our experiences.

Although, as moderator, I will throw out any comments from anyone who forgets his manners.