Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

Well, by now most of you who visit these forums have read the post by Matt Wencz letting everyone know that he was leaving the NWC and resigning his commission. I saw the post shortly after it was written and immediately began to ask questions of his opponents, partners, and commanding officers in an attempt to discern what actually happened. No one seems to know, and Matt is not responding to anyone's emails. In fact, we may never know what happened to evoke such a response from Matt, but it did start me wondering again about what we can do to improve this club for the enjoyment of all of its various members. To that end, I am posing the following questions to you, the minority of officers that actually participate in our forums on any kind of regular basis:

1.) Name one thing, above all else, that you like best about the NWC.

2.)What is the first thing you would like to see changed or improved upon?

This is an public discussion. I would ask that you keep it friendly, open, and honest. I want to hear what you have to say. If you think your comments are too controversial for public viewing, I would also welcome you to send me an email or a private message if you feel that is a better approach for you. I want to improve our club, guys. As always, I am listening. Talk to me.

I originally joined to find others who like these games and to have another person to battle. But when I first joined I was busy with things in the real world, but after some time I began to make new friends and took and interest in the forum. And here once again it was all about learning more about the games and the best way to play them.

Now I find the forums fun and stretching my imagination but more importantly I have been surprised how many friends I have made that I have never met.

I would like to see more interest from more people in the Taverns, at the same time I realize there is a real world out there and some do not have the time to spend here. So we need to keep it first of all Fun then interesting and positive.

Lastly I will do all I can to keep it that way and in the future my intention is to be positive and keep things upbeat and leave the day to day issues out somewhere elst.

Battle On.............. But, lets have Fun doing it!!!

I would post something but it would cause some to take it the wrong way I just want the change done so that any who are in the same situation as am in would understand it better.

Speaking as a retired individual...

Good things

History discussions
Friendships ( I have me a few of you at the last Tillercon )
Games and the exaggeration of various deeds in the forums.

Bad things

The French army is entierly to quiet in this ( Rhin ) tavern. Yes some officers do post and generate lively discussions but what is missing is

Promotion announcements
Medal awards
Announcing new officers.

This club really depends on a lively French army.

I tried, but it cannot only be done by one person.

Just my 2 cents

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Yes, John, you certainly did try, and I personally commend you for your efforts, sir! {Salute}

I agree with your assessment, but would add that I think this club depends on a lively French Army and lively Coalition Armies. Active and engaged members is the key, and it is critically important that they occupy both sides of this club.

Just my extra penny added to the kitty.

I know he had a forced change of location due to his job, hopefully that was the cause of it and not something internal to the club.

I must admit I do find some of the banter on the website a bit boastful and annoying at times. If my Club record were something to boast about I might feel differently.

Salute, Mon ami I feel that there are different ways of looking at battle records . Some records might look better in the win lost but at the end of the day it's still points. Maybe a good record reflexes how many games you play not how many games you won. I feel that your record is great you might not be the best but you play and joining in on this forum specks for it's self. This should be an open forum not a place were I say am the best there's ever was an the best there ever will be. Now if you so good were is your Brig and how well are they doing behind your leadership like Bill Peters black bone heads are. The Prussi Brig is taken names and winning as a team.

I don't think it matters whether you win or lose whether you wear a red uniform or a blue one.

Some people like role playing, some people don't. Some love teams some don't. Some like historical play some love a good blitz (Andy you there?)
What really matters is that you have fun.

In the end the club is big enough for everyone to find what they like and regular opponents that meet there preference. Sir Muddy once said this to me and it stuck.

Now returning to the question.....as for the good for me the thing I love about this club is it's international nature. I love how people from all walks of life from all over the world are united by common interest. I have e-friends in the Ukraine, France, US, Russia, Scotland, England, Australia and even close to home in NZ as a result of this club. Wow that is amazing really.

Now to the bad....

I think we should all tolerate each others differences better. In essence that's what I would like to see. I think more people would post in the Rhine tavern if people were more polite. If everyone tried hard to tolerate difference and each of us (me included) spent more time thinking before we type.

In Napoleonic times people held honour as dear and often thought carefully before they spoke. I would hope one day we could replicate this.
I am an old school romantic I guess. Perhaps even a dinosaur, but that is my wish.

There are real people on the ends of this board with real life challenges and they come here for fun. If we could all try to bear that in mind I would love this club that much more.

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Marechal Knox

Prince d'Austerlitz et Comte d'Argentan
Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur

"What is history but a fable agreed upon"

General Knox,

Hear, Hear!

Have fun and Battle On!!!

Colin

I suspect part of the trouble with forum boards is that it is sometimes difficult to tell when someone is posting in jest or not. This is especially true when there are people involved who's first language is not English.

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Like:

1. What Colin well described telling about diverse contacts and lots of friends made.

2. The other side of Johns point. For those nonnative speakers it may be a wonderful way to greatly improve their language. In fact if NWC didn't quite change my life it's done something not far from that. I left university with very fine but essentially dead language. For 7,5 years the Club is a place I can practice in live real language with native speakers. Now it's one of the most important instruments in my professional life. Much more important then most of the things I learned in the university.

Dislike:

I do dislike "it's made for fun" things. Fun is not the only thing that brings satisfaction. If opportunity presents I'd be the first to write a good joke. But once you start trying to convert any piece of talk into a joke, you become a clown. In this sense I find Mark's and formerly Bill's and Scott's repeated posts with jokes and giggles deeply annoying. In fact I know Mark and Bill as very deep and clever men. And I'm sure the same is true about Scott. It's a pity these "serious" sides of them are not revealed here in the Tavern. It's a pity when a new members of the Club asks a question about some serious matter and instead of an adequate reply receives a dozen of vodkas, frog legs, hannoverians etc., etc. It's a pity when a serious post with an interesting discussion is highjacked and swarmed with pieces of, at best, mediocre humor.

I perfectly understand and fully support the point made almost 200 years ago by Denis Davydoff in his "Jomini and Jomini, while not a half-word about vodka". That will not do, of course. But please, speaking of vodka, let those who want to have a chance to say their half-word about Jomini.

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I have found this to be very true and the use of the smiley faces helps people understand a little bit better....

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Generalfeldmarschall Scott Kronprinz "Vorwärts" Ludwig von Preußen
Kommandeur des Königlich-Preußischen Armee-Korps
Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Allied Coalition
Allied Coalition Webmaster & Club Website Support

I think it's sometimes hard to remember that everyone is coming from different walks of life and everyone has their own quirks and personalities. It's important to note as well, that everyone, even though we are bound by a similar interest, come here for different reasons. Some are purely gamers, others are more involved in the forums and the conversations sparked from that, while others are here for a little bit of both.
My favorite aspect of the club has been the ability to gain the knowledge of the time period from fellow grognards and the relationships I've created with fellow members from around the world and even though we don't actually see each other, these relationships are unique in itself. I truly would like to meet some, if not all of you, that I speak with on a daily basis within the forums and by email in 'real life'. Maybe I should start trying to plan something out for all of us!!! I think we have an excellent President leading us who is fair and just.
I would enjoy seeing more involvement, in terms of speaking on forums and making themselves present, of the other Cabinet Members besides Mark and Andy. I understand real life takes precedence, but most of the Cabinet members have not been to the forums, in some cases, for months. I know their not getting paid per se, but a little more presence, in the public forums, would be nice. Let's boost morale. I would also like to see more acquirement of people to the club. We need better ad activity throughout the internet. There are also particular cases where I feel some members act very cavalier and arrogant on the posts, which I detest. I also can see why many members within the club tend to shy away from posting for fear of retaliation from other members. The forum should be more of a welcoming environment. Lastly, I would have to agree with Kosyanenko when he says "...repeated posts with jokes and giggles (is) deeply annoying." Granted, we are all living in a fantasy world when we are here, but all the fantasy stories of the Rhine Tavern tend to me a bit extreme and in my opinion, unnecessary. Again, though, I understand and accept everyone is here for different reasons.

I enjoy all of you both here and on the battlefield!!!

Regards.

I agree Cliff....I think everyone judges records differently. I do....lord knows I will be the first to boast, with John Corbin's retirement, that I probably have the worst record out of anyone in the Club and I am proud of it. I know I can't fight out of a paper bag half the time, so I get involved in the websites and administration, that is where I get proud of what I and others have done.

I am proud to see the work the French have accomplished this past two years with their sites. I nagged and complained, because I knew it was a good thing to do. Now I wish they would finish the medal sets.....Chuck...

I am also proud of the Russians site, every go there? It is a nifty little page packed full of some really cool data, especially under their "Tops" section, that is a really great section.

I like the historical data that Marco added to the Anglo-Allied pages and the "retirement" castle idea. That was pretty nice.

As for serious discussion, maybe we need to do what the ACWGC did and make a "Book & Historical Discussion" section of the forum. A place for more serious discussions that don't get lost in the day to day topics of the Club.

I do have a serious side, people get that in emails about Club business and matters, it'll come out on the forums too when need be. To be honest I sat on the Cabinet for six years, in that time there were things we discussed of a serious nature. I with the support of the others explored new ideas, discussed new games, got things added in, expanded the armies offered, realigned forces, encouraged each other to do our best and also tore each other to pieces from time to time. I did my service and don't want to get too involved in it again.

But I do understand what you're saying Anton, about serious historical discussion and that is where I think it draws the best and worst of us out. But I think maybe a different section would be good for it. I'd also like to see a section devoted to peoples Mods and work that they do to improve the games. I very much hate to see Philippe Divine's great posts disappear into the ages of time. H&R would be great to highlight there too.

Just some thoughts...

By the way, I do hope the French get more involved in making announcements and I hope we can see more Russian members on the forums and hear more about their exploits....they always seem to be slightly removed from the Club.

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Generalfeldmarschall Scott Kronprinz "Vorwärts" Ludwig von Preußen
Kommandeur des Königlich-Preußischen Armee-Korps
Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Allied Coalition
Allied Coalition Webmaster & Club Website Support

Gary is correct that we all come from different walks of life and naturally I think it is safe to say we all have our own quirks and unique personalities, gaming in general draws a certain type of person and our type of world, a very niche subset certainly draws a certain type of person. A lot of us are probably closet perfectionists if not open ones, very motivated, creative but also stubborn and not so willing to give in. Both good and not so good things in every way.

I came to appreciate the people from around the world here and especially at the iNWC, it was always a lot of fun talking to people and I do hope to meet some of you all one day. I have learned so much about other countries, cultures and places just by dealing with people from them and not some travel guide.

I can speak for the advertisements as I do them, that we are all in pretty much every corner possible for our type of games. Developer blogs, game makers websites, opponent finders, historical pages and Google. I am hoping to target it a bit better when I work with Marco to get a new stats counter on the main page. The problem I see is, we have a great subset of other non-HPS games and people are just not adopting them and catering to that crowd. The iNWC had a great Crown of Glory and HistWar Les Gorgnards following, but when I tried to bring that crowd here, some stuck around but most have since left. We need better inclusion of other games, especially since they are few and far between.

The arrogant attitudes can be an issue, something that I try to get people to understand and work on myself. It is hard when people are hot and cold and provoked. It is easy to lash out from behind a screen and for a post to get wildly out of hand.

What does the humor and stories do? Well there is an amazing tradition in the Club of stories and humor. Just look at the old Newsletters. It is there, it is in our roots. It also allows people to identify others and kind of build up the concept of the Club. We should not be confused with a ladder Club or a historical discussion board, we are neither of those, but a mixture of them. It also allows for people to bond in a way and feel like they can be a part of something. Finally it adds activity and makes the forums look used. Since Mark became President, this is the first time I can think of in years where there was a solid year without a major dry spell in the forum. There have been years where you could hear a pin drop for months on end. Nothing will kill your Club faster, trust me, I know first hand.

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Generalfeldmarschall Scott Kronprinz "Vorwärts" Ludwig von Preußen
Kommandeur des Königlich-Preußischen Armee-Korps
Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Allied Coalition
Allied Coalition Webmaster & Club Website Support