Fletcher Pratt Outdoors

Looks like Tim Gow has followed our local gamers' lead by taking Mr. Pratt outdoors.

Now of course, real men would have experienced the North Atlantic conditions that we played in

(outdoors-adventures).

Thoughts on the Outdoor Naval Game...

Now that we've thawed out, I thought I would debrief a bit and share some thoughts on both the outdoor gaming experience and the Fletcher Pratt combat system.

As a reminder, three of us set us set out on a cold blustery fall day to play with toy ships in the park.  Details can be found at my earlier post,  and Sylvain's post over at Curt's blog.  For the record I should add that Sylvain used General Quarters for damage allocation, but allocated hits by the Fletcher Pratt ranging guessing method.

Pros

1. Playing in real scale really felt nice.  Curt and I were hitting at 30 feet or 12,000 yards.  It really put things into perspective.
2. We did really appreciate the need to maneuver your ships in a way to help your gunners.  I've seen some naval games where the maneuvers are so intricate, the ships' tracks look like modern art.  Try that with FP range guessing and your messing with yourself as much as (or more than) your messing with your opponent.
3. The FP range guessing does reward skill (but not tactical skill - see below).
4. The combat results did have a "morale" impact on players.  If you opponent is hammering you and you're not able to range in, it is very easy to get panicky and flustered.
5. It got us out in the (very) fresh air, which my better half tells me is a good thing.
6. It was fun and forced us to think differently (I found myself estimating ranges in "Sylvains" at one point).
7. It amused the heck out of my family members!

Cons

1. The range guessing is (literally) hit or miss, all or nothing.  More over, once you've ranged in it's reasonably easy to keep ranging on.  I know it is skill and judgement based, but it actually felt more like luck than anything else.
2. I would rather blame the dice than blame my eyesight!  To paraphrase Homer Simpson "Weaseling out of responsibility is what separates us from the animals".  More scientifically, when you roll badly, you know that the odds favour you making it up sometime in the future with a good dice roll.  When you can't find the range, the odds are that you'll keep on missing.  
3. It rewards physical skills over mental ability - and I speak as someone with excellent long range vision and depth perception.  I thought that I endured junior high school gym class so that I wouldn't need to be judged this way an adult!!
4. It gives the wrong level of command.  I want to be a ship captain or an admiral, not a gunnery officer.  And I certainly shouldn't be acting as both.  I prefer game systems where you have mechanism to account for the actions of your subordinates and let you focus on command decisions at the appropriate level.  The technical term for these mechanisms is dice and combat tables!

I know that there are FP fans out there, but not me.  I enjoy it as a historical experience and a challenge but not as a gaming style. A I think I'd be happier using Fred Jane's striker's to shoot at ship plans.

Outdoors Adventures

So an actuary, an archivist and a French literature prof walk into an open field...

Sylvain wanted to use his 1:1200 WW2 battleships in a Fletcher Pratt style game, so he decided that we would do it grand scale and play in a park.  With winter approaching, this was best done sooner than later so Sylvain, Curt and I went out to play with toy ships in the park today (much to my family's amusement).

Today's weather was, well bloody cold and miserable...Ok my picture didn't work but the weather network has the following readings at 2pm on October +6C (-2C with windchill), and winds of 43kph from the NW.


I had two USN battleships (USS Colorado and Arizona, based on neither ship being at Pearl Harbour on the 7th) while Curt  fielded the Kongo and Ise for the IJN, with Sylvain acting as GM.  After about 35 minutes of game time (about an hour and a bit of real time) we traded some hits with my eyesight proving superior to Curt's.  He decided to cut and run, which was quite alright with me.  I did my running sprinting across King's Road park chasing down ship logs and turning circles blown away by the gale force winds.

I am sure that Curt will post much better pictures but here are the ones off of my I phone.

Colorado (to the right) leading Arizona

Same ships but from a lower angle.

My fleet in line a head.

Sylvain and Curt by the IJN force from the USN position.

Sylvain takes measurements while Curt takes photos.  Note the paint roller shell splashes - very effective!

We're ranging in on the target.

Curt's shots are short but getting closer.

Rules discussion.

A hit!