Because somebody has to . . .

Years ago, I traveled to a convention in Pennsylvania sponsored by HMGS East.  One of the participation games was the Battle of Agincourt and it looked beautiful.  The game was subtitled: Was the long bow that good?  So I approached the game master with two friends to play on the side of the French.

Me: Those are great figures. We'll sign up to play the French and see if we can beat the English this time.

Game master: Great!

Me: We've got some ideas on the French attack and how they should be organized.

Game master: We are going to use the historical organization.

Me: Not a problem.  Here is a sketch on how we are going to deploy and when we will launch our attacks.

Game master: You have to deploy just like the actual battle and attack with their units when they did.

Me: (Long Pause).  Ummm . . . what are the objectives in this game for the French?

Game master:  To beat the English.

Me: So we have to  . . .

Game master: Charge the English.

Me: We can't use some of the alternative plans that were discussed at the council of war the night before?

Game master: Nope.

Me: Can we use some of the other historical tactics of the period?

Game master: Nope.

Me: Do we get points if we capture someone or not die as much?

Game master: Nope.

Me: (Paused as I looked at the cool figures ) So why play the French in this game?

Game master: Well . . . the purpose of the game is to show the superiority of the long bow.

Me:  Didn't the dead French knights in the actual battle prove that?

Game master: That never really settled the argument.

Me: Uh . . .it didn't?

Game master:  Some historians believed that if the French deployed differently they could have won.

Me:  Exactly!  Here is a sketch on how we are going to deploy and when we will launch our attacks.

Game master:  Then the English might lose . . .

Anyway we played the game as designed.  I charged with the flower of chivalry right up the middle and got massacred.  Quickest participation game ever.  I'm going to think about ideas about some ideas on designing historical scenarios to be "games" which gives each player a chance to "win."