Perfect Moments in Wargaming
Taking a break from blogging the progress of my 1940 French force for Bolt Action, I'm going to pause today to reflect on one moment in a game, captured by three simple photographs.
Here's the first photograph:
Here, with the focus shifted to the target, is the second:
And here is the third, with a mid-point focus, courtesy of my simple phone camera:
You'll note that these photos present a very simple moment in the game: Sam's Flak 36, being used in the direct anti-tank role, takes a pot-shot at an advancing SOMUA S-35 as it emerges from cover and knocks it out.
The beauty of this moment for me really was in its clean simplicity.
It had been a tough game for Sam: not only were his Germans not making sufficient ground against a combined Anglo-French force, but his duo of static 88s were proving yet again to be rather expensive, points-wise, for their lack of in-game success to justify. At times like this, it's easy for players to get a little despondent, but Sam held on, and the perfect moment happened as the rather heavily armoured SOMUA nudged its way forward.
"FEUER!"
Bang.
Boom.
And everyone around the table cheered! This was one of those moments that some of us call "cinematic" - it just felt right. For me, it was hands-down the highlight of the game, even though I lost one of my best assets: it just felt right. It made me smile and laugh, and it made Sam feel a real achievement for his models. Perfect.
Everyone's a winner in moments like this.
Here's to such moments in every game we play.
Here, with the focus shifted to the target, is the second:
And here is the third, with a mid-point focus, courtesy of my simple phone camera:
You'll note that these photos present a very simple moment in the game: Sam's Flak 36, being used in the direct anti-tank role, takes a pot-shot at an advancing SOMUA S-35 as it emerges from cover and knocks it out.
The beauty of this moment for me really was in its clean simplicity.
It had been a tough game for Sam: not only were his Germans not making sufficient ground against a combined Anglo-French force, but his duo of static 88s were proving yet again to be rather expensive, points-wise, for their lack of in-game success to justify. At times like this, it's easy for players to get a little despondent, but Sam held on, and the perfect moment happened as the rather heavily armoured SOMUA nudged its way forward.
"FEUER!"
Bang.
Boom.
And everyone around the table cheered! This was one of those moments that some of us call "cinematic" - it just felt right. For me, it was hands-down the highlight of the game, even though I lost one of my best assets: it just felt right. It made me smile and laugh, and it made Sam feel a real achievement for his models. Perfect.
Everyone's a winner in moments like this.
Here's to such moments in every game we play.
