Musclin' in!

parthianbow · Post by **parthianbow** » Tue June 12th, 2012, 10:01 am

Welcome, Bob, and good luck with your gangster work-in-progress. It sounds very interesting!

GangsterFiction · Post by **GangsterFiction** » Tue June 12th, 2012, 10:50 am

Thanks everyone.

[quote=""Shield-of-Dardania""]Now then, just trying my luck here. Drawing on your expertise as a games designer, you wouldn't be able to give us a sample battle scene or two, would you? You know, something that might give us a bit of inspiration for our next potential battle.

[/quote]

Oddly enough, whenever I'm stuck for inspiration I tend to first turn to my collection of the old publications of the Wargames Research Group here in the UK, covering various eras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wargames_Research_Group

Although aimed more at miniatures / tabletop wargaming enthusiasts, these books usually included brief descriptions of the campaigns and battles of the era in question as well as fine detail of the various troop types involved. Perhaps a little outdated now, but for me they still have the ability to get the creative juices flowing!

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Thu June 14th, 2012, 12:20 pm

Hi Bob. Love those gangster molls!

GangsterFiction · Post by **GangsterFiction** » Mon June 18th, 2012, 8:57 am

[quote=""wendy""]Hi Bob. Love those gangster molls![/quote]

That makes two of us!

The ones in my story tend to be fairly stereotypical so far (the aspiring dancer, the 'good-time' girl, etc.) but being a game as much as a story, I have to pander to certain expectations in the early stages!

wendy · Post by **wendy** » Tue July 3rd, 2012, 11:58 am

Bob - if you get a chance to check out The Museum of the American Gangster in NYC it's well worth a visit! Lorcan Otway is an amazing guide. I can't wait to read his forthcoming book about his family heritage at "Sheib's Place" - one of the city's infamous
speak-easy joints.

Justin Swanton · Post by **Justin Swanton** » Wed July 4th, 2012, 5:50 am

[quote=""GangsterFiction""]Thanks everyone.

Oddly enough, whenever I'm stuck for inspiration I tend to first turn to my collection of the old publications of the Wargames Research Group here in the UK, covering various eras.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wargames_Research_Group

Although aimed more at miniatures / tabletop wargaming enthusiasts, these books usually included brief descriptions of the campaigns and battles of the era in question as well as fine detail of the various troop types involved. Perhaps a little outdated now, but for me they still have the ability to get the creative juices flowing![/quote]

Hi Bob, so you are a WRG man. Do you play WRG/DBM games? As a wargames enthusiast, I find that wargaming is a very good way to imaginatively understand how a battle works, which is a great help when it comes to describing one. We play DBM 3.2 at the Durban Wargames Club, FoG having fallen out of favour (it is a rehash of WRG6 and quite good, but a bit clunky).

GangsterFiction · Post by **GangsterFiction** » Fri July 6th, 2012, 8:00 am

[quote=""wendy""]Bob - if you get a chance to check out The Museum of the American Gangster in NYC it's well worth a visit! Lorcan Otway is an amazing guide. I can't wait to read his forthcoming book about his family heritage at "Sheib's Place" - one of the city's infamous
speak-easy joints.[/quote]

Thanks, Wendy, I'll add it to my list of "must see" places to visit for when I finally get chance to make the trip. It's been one of those maybe next year things for quite a few years now! Oh well, maybe next year . . .

GangsterFiction · Post by **GangsterFiction** » Fri July 6th, 2012, 8:13 am

[quote=""Justin Swanton""]Hi Bob, so you are a WRG man. Do you play WRG/DBM games? As a wargames enthusiast, I find that wargaming is a very good way to imaginatively understand how a battle works, which is a great help when it comes to describing one. We play DBM 3.2 at the Durban Wargames Club, FoG having fallen out of favour (it is a rehash of WRG6 and quite good, but a bit clunky).[/quote]

Hi Justin,

Not for many, many years now, unfortunately, but it's always remained a topic of interest and I've often promised myself that one day I'll find another local club. My problem is, I move around too much!

Interesting to see that you're from Durban, btw--I have very fond childhood memories of the place, being a favourite holiday spot for my family when we lived in Welkom, Orange Free State (several decades ago now). We still have friends and relatives in such as Joburg and Cape Town, and one day I'd like to return for a long visit. Maybe next year . . .