I intended to write an update yesterday concerning Die Marching, but decided that, if I did, no one would take it seriously and think it an April Fools gag!

So here’s the status: The rules are essentially completed, and I could publish them in a standard form, but I have decided instead to completely rewrite them and move into the future.

As many of you are aware I have been tussling over the last year or so with the coming changes in publication. The printing business is in flux, and so is the technology of the end user. In short, the advent of non-paper publication using readers such as the iPad or the Kindle is rapidly changing the landscape. I, myself, have read seven of the last ten books on my reading list on my iPad, and have come to enjoy that format so much more than a print book that I cannot imagine that the book, as we have known it, will survive as a primary format for too much longer. This isn’t a case of whether it will happen, but when, and how long the transition will take.

I was at a quandary until the iBook software appeared, which I am sure Amazon will mimic within a few months, and then it truly became possible to easily author a text, with interactive elements, and maintain control of your intellectual property with an effective DRM (Digital Rights management).

The economics of this change of course are immensely favorable to an author, particularly of limited run books of less than 10,000 copies. Printing costs, at the present time, run about 16-20% of retail, and distribution by mail is going up rapidly often representing to the buyer an additional 25% or more depending on size and weight. Color content adds to the printing costs and also forces the end costs to the consumer up, and in the limited run world of war-game rules publication results in books of 1-200 pages with a per copy costs of $50-$60 or more! The upfront cost to a publisher to get a sufficient inventory can be 10s of thousands of dollars for a high-end color book, and even for B&W interior books is still a good hunk of change.
If one uses a distributor through normal book channels the publisher surrenders an addition 45-55% of the retail.

The present system results in horrendously high costs to the consumer, and very low returns to the author/publisher with a high degree of risk. It sucks. And for what? A simple book that is hard to amend, hard to use at the table, and is rapidly being antiquated in the wider world of publication.

Now, I have been very lucky in my endeavors, with both Zouave (which sold out), ZII, and Die Fighting selling well and putting me comfortably in the black, but I simply can’t see continuing to follow an archaic, low profit, high risk publication regimen, especially when it delivers a product at a premium price that is less useful than a digital product.

Now, I’m no impractical dreamer and fully realize that war gamers are not by nature early adopters, or trendsetters. Nor am I kidding myself that the main practitioners of historical wargaming, which is the only kind of wargaming I personally enjoy and create, are young bucks that are on top of the technological changes that are occurring in the world. On the contrary, every survey I see on-line has more than a few people stating they will NEVER use a tablet or reader, that books are the only way of moving information that are sanctioned by God and the angels, and that they will never allow a digital tablet at their gaming table. Some are openly belligerent and swear they will forcibly remove any tablet and gamer using it from their gaming room!

However, That sort of attitude and loud rejection of modernity has ALWAYS been found in the world, and it is ALWAYS overcome and the world moves on-with people accepting the change over often short periods of time, to the point where no one can remember doing it otherwise.

The trick is the world is in a transition between reading technologies at the moment, with some people far ahead of others. In no niche market is this more true than Historical Wargaming. In most cases it closely correlates with age, with older gamers (who tend to be the majority of historical gamers) being the most resistant. It can also be associated with income, but I find that less the case, as anyone that can buy several hundred figures can certainly afford a digital reader or tablet. Both of these concerns will lessen as younger more tech-savvy gamers join the ranks of historical war-games, as older more resistant gamers leave the hobby, and as costs for the devices decline.

The resistance will also decline as gamers find out the benefits of the digital format with its easy portability, search utilities, interactive tables and charts, and the use of MOVING illustrations in full color with commentary by the author! The ease, and seamlessness, of updates, and unexplored game tools such as wifi and bluetooth interconnections, will also encourage people to make the leap.

But how to do the transition?

I think I have thought of a way that will provide a print and digital formatted rule set. A rule book that will serve both the person that has not yet made the full transition to tablets, as well as the person that has his iPad ready to go. The kicker is that the gamer will get to choose when he wants to make the leap, and even the non-digital user will get many of the benefits of the digital platform(though far from all). Above all, all gamers will see a reduction in price of rule sets! Yup, the rule sets will cost less than they do now! The method also promises to substantially reduce, or eliminate, the postal costs. This for foreign buyers could be a huge advantage. Postal costs for even modest publications are now running close to $9-10 for international customers, and those prices are going to go up further as time goes by.

This is what I decided to do with Die Marching. It will delay, even further, its release, but the end result will be worth a few extra weeks. When the rewrite, and the attendant video production, are complete, it will represent a fun and unusual new direction for war-game rules, and may point the direction for all future rule publication.

After completing Die Marching, my next goal will be to re-do Die Fighting in this new manner, and then do the same For ZII. The new versions will be called Die Fighting II and Zouave III for clarity’s sake.

I’m re-casting the text, and making arrangements for all the additional production work to make Die Marching the first of a type. I very much want to have it ready for this year’s Historicon. All announcements concerning this project will be made here on the Repiquerules Website’s Zouave Blog. Questions (but not all the answers) can be asked at the Repique Rules Yahoo! site.

I followed the real-time reports on today's Apple meeting, and found it fascinating! It appears that Apple is positioning itself to upend and improve the textbook market as it has done film, tablets, music, and DTP. Textbooks that revise themselves! Your enitire stack of texts in a single tablet! Costs slashed to a far more reasonable level. It has the backing of Houghton-Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, and 90% of text publishers. (It will also greatly lessen the grip of large state Textbook panels-such as Texas-on the entire industry. Evolution might actually be discussed in Biology texts!)

Quite apart from that, the new iBooks Author software, which is free, is now available. I downloaded it and it is, indeed, a very intuitive and easy way to create original texts-even non-school texts- and it has DRM protection. Apple will also provide a new distribution network via iBooks that exactly parallels iTunes. This not required, and the books may be exported to other distribution channels if desired.

This is very BIG for wargame publication and other "small" population hobbies. Its usefulness should extend to journals and magazines. This is HUGE as it may bring back the hobby press ala MWAN and The Courier. My main complaint of venues on-line such as blogs and TMP is that the longer "Think Pieces" and historical articles of merit have largely disappeared-and we only get fan-boy commentary for one set of rules or another. In addition, the atmosphere of the on-line venues is often mean-spirited,uninformed, and not conducive to well argued thought. We had lost this valuable aspect of wargaming. This new software from Apple may be the precursor of great new possibilities, both new, and those that harken back to Table Top Talk, and Wargamer's Newsletter.

There is no doubt that Die Marching will be published, at least in part, by this method. I awill also look to converting Die Fighting and Zouave II to this format for an added option. More to follow as I work with this new software.

Looking back over the last year I thought I might share some of the things I stumbled across that are really excellent:

1. Boardgame: A Few Acres of Snow by Martin Wallace-First rate game that improves with every play, and every play of the game suggests new strategyies and combinations for thenext game. Set in the French and Indian War period as France and the British Colonies fight it out in North America-the game provides great game play and is a very fast game-certainly time enough in a three or four hour session to play two games and try both sides at least once. Each side has very different possibilities and resources. This game is a masterpiece. The deck building technique has many.many fresh ideas for campaign games. Already out of stock in many places-if you can find one get it!

2. 28MM-figures: Ebor miniatures has released some new WSS foot figures with cavalry to follow that are simply superb. The price is right, and for the WSS or a Imagi-Nation gamer, these are very much to be considered. EBor has some nice 28mm WWI figures as well.

I should also mention That Wargames Factory, after all of their travails, has produced some very nice WSS figures both foot and horse-some have quibbled, but they assemble and paint up into excellent units. You can’t beat the price.

3. 10MM figures: Nothing, in my mind, can beat Pendraken’s FPW line, and the entire mid 19th century collection is unmatched. The 1866 and minor states figures are also first rate and Pendraken is covering almost all of the wars of the period-including Maximilian and the South American wars/ New ACW figures are on the way.

4. New Period: WWI and WWII naval has suddenly seemed far more interesting to me. I stumbled into it while structuring the naval rules for Die Marching. I have purchased Minden’s Battleship Captain, Curry’s re-publication of Fetcher Pratt’s Naval Wargame, Curry’s re-pub of Jane’s 1906 rules, my old, original, copy of Don Featherstone’s naval war-games, Phill Dunn’s Sea Battle Games (also from Curry)Steel Dreadnaught’s Thunder at Sea rules, General Quarters from Old Dominion, and Seekrieg from Rick Sartore’s group. I intend to play and then review all of these rules on this blog.

I am impressed with the variety and the choice in rules available-each with a different take. They are all very well written on the whole, and many offer some great ideas for campaign and scenario creation techniques. As an old navy guy I can’t explain why I hadn’t been interested more in naval gaming in the past. Re-discovered the sea during my December hiatus. More on the Zouave blog when I review the rules available.

5. In land miniature rules, I am most intrigued with Sam Mustafa’s upcoming Maurice. It seems like an imaginative idea, and he aways has very high production standards. I look forward to it.

Die Marching actually began its development process over a year ago, in a form that has morphed and changed steadily over the last year. Initially, I intended to publish Die Marching last year, but, instead, and fortunately, chose to do both Die Fighting and Zouave II first. Quite apart from both rule sets selling well, especially Die Fighting, the process of developing those games led me to several new ideas and mechanisms that have improved Die Marching, and make it a terrific game.

What is Die marching? Well, it is a campaign game, but VERY unique in its design. It allows gamers to generate several different kinds of maps for fictitious campaigns, historical campaigns, campaigns in unknown territories that combines exploration with combat, simple campaigns to be played over a few hours, or mega-campaigns that last for months. The odds of any two generated maps being the same are astronomically small-you’ll win the lottery before a map repeats!

Die Marching may be played in any horse and musket period, and will be readily adaptable to periods from ancients to WWII once the mechanisms are understood. I’m even contemplating a fantasy/sci-fi version! Various turns of the game may be played out in DIFFERENT periods! Yes, you can, if you so choose, fight the battles in several different periods, while the results could be integrated into the same larger campaign! This allows you to fight one battle in the SYW, and the next battle could be done using your ACW troops! The system makes sure the results are consistent and credible-regardless. Doing a single period will be the preferred option for most gamers, but some may find this “twist” great fun!

Die Marching includes provisions for optional naval action, as well as the creation and use of railroads in the later 19th century. It includes political, as well as military, leadership considerations, and focuses on resources, strategic decisions, and not just two armies blundering into each other for a disappointingly quick, one battle, campaign resolution. Optional, weather patterns and effects are provided, and are just as patterned but unpredictable, as the real thing!

The game occurs in campaign years, with four seasons, wherein possibilities for various actions vary. Each season has a variable number of turns within it. The two opposing forces may not have equal opportunity in any given campaign season, but the possibilities are always fluctuating for the armies as their resources and plans unfold.

The campaign may be played just on the map, as every battle may be resolved either on the map or on the table top, completely at the choice of the gamers. The table-top games will have forces, terrain, and tactical advantages stated for the gamers-simply and logically. Results from either resolution method are interchangeable to the campaign system. More importantly, ANY tactical rule set may be used for the table top game, though, of course, specific recommendations for Die Fighting, Zouave II, and, yes, (with Brent Oman’s permission) Piquet, and FOB2, will be provided within the rules. But, to repeat, any rule set may be adapted.

The system allows great flexibility in miniature army size as it is agnostic when it comes to the tabletop battle rules used. It is unaffected by army unit’s size or organization. Historical, semi-historical, or fictional OOB’s my be used.

Die marching includes systems, including notation, for long distance play via email and Skype. Campaigns may be played between gamers living on different continents! Whether played face to face, or at great distance, the fog of war is amply, and simply, provided. Exactly where is the enemy? How large are his forces? How good are his units, his military leaders, his political will?

Most of all it is very easy and simple to play, but complex in decision making and planning-you can’t do everything, nor can you answer every enemy action. Your possibilities are limited by your resources and decisions. The tools used are commonly, and cheaply available, or are provided with the rules. These tools are:

• A set of Double 12 Dominos
• D6 dice in several contrasting colors (red,yellow,green, and black)
• A Campaign Rondel*
• A set of paired colored pawns or paper markers(2 Red, 2 Yellow, 2 White, 2 Green, 2 Blue, 2 Black)
• A Set of Army OB Sheets (these are primarily for reference)*
• Each gamer has a set of 6 Army Posture cards*
• Player aid sheet*
• Optional small blue and black stickers*
• The rule booklet*

(Asterisked items are provided with the rules.)

The game is not difficult or involved to play-on the level of a very simple board game-such as House Divided, maybe simpler. It requires little or no record keeping or intricate “supply” tracking. Of all the things mentioned by gamers on the Yahoo! forum these last two were the strongest no-no’s! The supply system used is simple and Excel sheet free!

The Yahoo forum will be used to post some full color add-ons to the strategic map, that I think people will find fun. The forum will be used, as it is now, for strong support for gamers to ask questions and propose new ideas.

The physical package will be a rule booklet of comparable size and production values to Die Fighting and Zouave II. It will include the army posture cards, a full color Campaign Season rondel, and color stickers, The roster and player aid sheets will be included in text for photocopying. Tentative price remains at $29.95. Discounts will be offered to past purchasers of either Die Fighting! or Zouave II as part of a pre-publication pricing, I anticipate sending it to the printers, and offering the pre-pub sale in late October or very early November, and posting it to customers in early December. Merry Christmas!

In the last month or so I have become fascinated with an old and traditional form of the model soldier-the paper soldier. I have been aware of their history dating back into the 18th century, but had long ignored them, along with metal flats, in favor of the more common, full round, metal toy soldier. I owned over the years a number of different armies, mostly in 28mm, and in a variety of periods. However, about five years ago I sold them all-over 5,000 figures.

This had a hugely liberating effect on me. Suddenly many shelves were empty, and I was free of a lot of painted lead. It was about four years ago that I got the urge to build armies again, but being free to do whatever i liked, I essentially changed my entire collecting habits. I decided to concentrate on specific periods of interest, and not try the fruitless “all things to all men” approach. I also decided to go to different scales. This was promoted by an urge to try larger battles with the development of Zouave, and also to keep the storage demands within firmer limits. My first direction was to go to 10mm figures, and I started my Pendraken FPW and ACW armies in that scale. BY shipping off the bulk of 1200 figures to Sri Lanka, I was soon equipped to fight battles in this new scale. When coupled with a 13 foot long table-I reveled in the diorama effect of these table-top actions. I fell in love with this wonderful scale, and began adding more figures for 1866 and the Maximillian Intervention.

I did return to 28s for my WSS armies using a mix of Front rank, Old Glory, and Wargames Foundry figures. This period was also new to me. It is very rich, with a wide range of battle actions, and the uniforms are very colorful, but less fussy than either SYW or Napoleonics. I doubt if I’ll do any more 28s, whose cost and shipping expense are bordering on silly. Plastics help with both of these factors, but other than a few unpainted French Foreign Legion figures, I think I’m done with 28s.

However, I do want to do other periods, but don’t want the clutter of tons of figures, and I have never been fond of painting an unending number of line troops. What to do?

Then I was introduced to paper soldiers. When assembled they can be very attractive, and some of the artists creating these figures are producing artwork of the highest order. When placed on the wargame table they make a terrific impression. But the best part of it all is they are very inexpensive, store easily, and are often delivered by PDF! Some come painted, or you can do it yourself (digitally!)

My latest Papersoldiers are from two sources-Billy Bones Workshop (http://billybonesworkshop.co.uk )/ War-games Vault and from Paper Terrain (http://www.paperterrain.com/index.html).

For less than $20 I got a complete ECW force for both sides from Billy Bones. They were delivered by PDF and included horse, guns, infantry, plus terrain and buildings, smoke and casualties all in 25mm! Since they can be printed at will your armies are unlimited in size. These figures are done in an antique brown ink on white paper in a very antique and impressionistic style-I think they make a stunning diorama, and one move in you completely forget they are only paper and in two dimensions.

The neatest thing is that you can colorize them, if you wish to add colors of the period uniforms or make the terrain green and brown tones! I am using Pixelator on my Mac Pro which is available from the Ap store for $29.95. Using this software I can colorize the Billy Bones art in about 5 minutes a sheet. I even added an identifier number! (see Photo)

Thereafter, I can print color versions to my heart’s content. I am now ready to test Die Fighting for the Crown (1400-1700)! Go to the Billy Bones site and look at the effect of these figures in mass! Wonderful! Added advantages are they store flat on a shelf until assembled, and a shoebox holds an army of hundreds, and weighs mere ounces.

My other new acquisition is the Paper Terrain ACW troops from Scott Washburn. These are not delivered by PDF since Scott is, by his own admission, not too tech minded. I picked mine up at Historicon and got complete Confederate and Union armies plus his new sheet of the Iron Brigade in 15mm. They are also available in 25 and 6 mm. The style of these figures is much more precise and draftsman-like, but beautifully done. He delivers on quality paper by mail. One of the joys of paper soldiers is the contrast in the artist’s styles.

My goal with these figures was to mix them in with my 10mm Pendrakens (they are a good fit) using the paper soldiers for those reams of line troops and the metal figures for command, horse, and artillery pieces. Over time I can replace the paper line infantry with metal, but in the meantime, I can game big ACW battles. This would work with other periods that demand large numbers of troops as well: say, Napoleonics for instance.

Speaking of Napoleonics, be sure to check out Walkerloo Napoleonics (http://www.walkerloo.com/) for their napoleonic paper soldiers. These are very different and also physicaly delivered in a pack-not by PDF. Their style is very much in the Bob Marion style of drawing, they are full color, and really very attractive. They are also a heavier card figure, rather than paper. Pricing on the Walkerloo figures is the most expensive of any and represents the high end of paper figures at about $1+ per figure.

The paper soldier has a long and illustrious history in our hobby, be sure to add a few to your collection. They are a quick, and often inexpensive, way to enjoy new periods, and they are perfect for gamers that have space limitations.