Firstly, a big thank you to those who have bought some 4Play scenarios. They got off to a good start and I am happy with the response. Of course, the rub will be the play feedback but on format and content, they seem to have hit the mark.
With the first releases I wanted to try and avoid the common trap of re-hashing what is already out there in some form or another. By focusing on different angles and new, fresh content, the period can be seen for the wide spectrum of appeal it should have rather than the narrow bandwidth of the same battles trawled over ad nauseum.
I realized there was a little bit of a risk in this. Aw, why didn't he do Steinkirk or Blenheim? All in good time. If these prove popular then of course the sky is the limit. Big battles can be broken down, new conflict dimensions can be explored.
I already have the 4PlayX format prepared which is a 4 x 4 table covering a wider part of specific battles, still managable but with more units and more game time if needed. I have also experimented with guide to creating a specific force and getting it on the table top in the same style as the 4Play guides.
The ideas have been rolling in from the community regarding what they'd like to see next and much of that is aligned with what I had on the stocks - Covenanting Killing Times in Scotland, Derry, Aughrim, Vienna, The Caribbean, Sedgemoor and of course Flanders.
I am hoping this post will encourage others to contribute ideas. I seem to get most pleasure in preparing the obscure stuff - West Africa, Darien, Siam, India for the very reason it is not so well known and the games feel fresh.
The naval rules will be published this year but any 17th century naval rules could be used for the scenarios written in the guides. Expect more naval scenarios when the house set finally gets released.
So for now, I'll keep 'em coming if there is a market for them.
Someone wrote to me asking how to subscribe to the 4Play magazine and that got me thinking about a suggestion I had from another member of the blog community - a subscription based periodical in the style of 4Play which could go beyond scenarios and into the realms of collateral, uniform guides, orders of battle etc. I am not sure what the appetite for subscription based, gaming-focused content is but it would be useful to get your views on that.
Enjoy your gaming!