I asked A.I. a Question about Frank Perry's World of Caspia & Mixed Era games of WW1 Tanks Vs Ancient Egyptians

 

This is an article further commemorating the wargaming of Frank Perry his pal Ken and son, Ross Perry.

BELOW: Photos from my own fantasy worlds. First photo- steam punk with walkers

Fezian forces with Mongols (the latter probably a lot more colorful than the real ones).

I find that an A.I. search often finds information not found with an ordinary Internet search.

I asked A.I. some questions about Frank Perry and his wargaming world of Caspia.

Referring to his two wargaming books: "These books captured a whimsical, 'Old School' style, deeply reminiscent of H.G. Wells' pioneering Little Wars. Instead of using smaller, highly detailed 25mm or 15mm metal miniatures that were growing popular in the late 1970s, Perry championed the use of 54mm plastic toy soldiers and simple wooden building blocks.

The Nature of Caspia

Caspia was Perry's fictional, overarching world. The setting was designed out of practical utility and joyful imagination to solve a common wargamer's dilemma: wanting to collect and play with figures from vastly different historical eras simultaneously.

The nature of Caspia is defined by several unique traits:

* ASYNCHRONOUS ERAS: because these different nations shared borders, a wargame scenario could naturally feature Cowboys and native Americans clashing with World War 1 infantry, or ancient armies meeting modern troops.

* ADAPTABLE RULESET: Perry's rules built upon basic Wellsian mechanics but introduced expanded systems to simulate everything from traditional infantry squares and artillery to sub-machineguns, tanks, planes and helicopters - allowing all of Caspia's diverse factions to interact on the tabletop.

THE WORLD OF CASPIA:

In his books, Frank Pzerry, addresses a fundamental question regarding his multi-era world of Caspia: What happens when vastly asymmetric technologies clash? Specifically, he noted that standard wargaming logic advised never including modern tanks or chemical gas in mixed era games, as tribal or ancient opponents could theoretically never stand a chance against them.

  However, perry and his gaming friend, Ken, defied this convention by matching Ancient Egyptians against World War 1 era troops and a tank proving that the results could be wildly unpredictable.

THE NATUREOF THE CLASH

The game was designed around severe technological asymmetry. Rather than the modern army effortlessly rolling over ancient forces, the scenario demonstrated how sheer numbers, layout, and environment could allow an ancient force to overwhelm mechanical innovations.

THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

While the exact turn-by-turn log varies depending on the specific tabletop terrain setup, the chaotic and defining chain of events sequence went as follows:

1. THE MECHANISED ADVANCE: The WW1 era troops pushed forward on the table, anchored by their modern armor - including a heavy WW1 tank and air support in the form of a helicopter.

2. THE LUCKY SHOT: As the helicopter flew over the battlefield, an Ancient Egyptian archer fired a high volley. In a brilliant stroke of dice rolling luck, the arrow struck the helicopter pilot, causing the aircraft to spiral and crash.

3. SWARMING THE ARMOR: Stripped of air support, the WW1 tank became isolated. Rather than panicking at the roaring engine, the Ancient Egyptian warriors charged and piled physically onto the WW1 tank.

4. THE UNCONVENTIONAL DEFEAT: Instead of trying to breach the armor with bronze weapons, the sheer mass of Egyptian soldiers swarming the hull blocked the ventilation and viewports. As a result the crew trapped inside the WW1 tank suffocated, completely neutralizing the ultimate weapon on the board.

Perry noted that this seemingly absurd sequence actually mirrored real world history. For example, when Mussolini's forces invaded Abyssinia with modern tankettes, tribal warriors armed only with swords and shields occasionally defeated them by swarming the vehicles, jamming logs into the tanks, and forcing the crews out."

There is more to the AI summary I'll be posting soon. The A.I. is not entirely right about some things. For example, Perry did not use only plastic 54mm figures but also old-fashioned hollow-cast metal ones. Also, Perry's two wargaming books did not go into that much detail about mixed era gaming and the world of Caspia. That was explored more in some articles in early Plastic Warrior magazines.

I do wonder how A.I assembles all its information but some of it it probably even got from my own articles on my blog!

  Thinking about setting up a wargame on the theme discussed will I include a helicopter? Obviously, copters were not WW1 weapons. Perry's games were shaped by what models and toys he happened to have. So, what type of copter would it have been and how well armed? The Perry nations are at different standards of technology, but why would one nation's tanks be at WW1 level but it had 1960s or later helicopters? Maybe a time warp was involved! I could replace the copter with a bi-plane but the very hovering of a helicopter would have made it potentially vulnerable to ancient, ranged weapons. A bi-plane might well be out of range. Or will I leave aircraft out of the picture?

MY OWN FANTASY WORLD

 Mat and I have been playing our fantasy campaign for over a decade and the technology had advanced to early 19th century. Tanks will come eventually. We do have some random events that can feature small groups of more modern troops being transported into the service of one of our nations. Without the infrastructure, though, a more modern vehicle is going to eventually run out of fuel and soldiers will run out of modern ammunition

  The game I set up will, however, be a stand-alone one rather than part of a campaign. The tank will have a breakdown potential which may turn things sticky for the modern troops. It will have supporting troops though but many less than the ancients.

  I may try two versions, one with ancients weighted by much greater numbers and one where they also have catapults, Greeks and Romans (Cleopatra version). If I want to go the whole hog they could also have a sorcerer and  units of mummies and skeleton warriors. But then I might have to reinforce the modern army with more men and another tank!