A EUREKA ! moment... when the lights went out....

Waking up as per usual - around 6.30 ish, pretty much the same routine ensues for the first hour.

Kettle on, waiting for my first coffee.

During this time waiting for the water to boil, I check on steemit and any activity overnight - or feed my wild cat, Felix - who now knows the sound of me moving around inside the house and upon hearing me, promptly hits the door with his paw, to remind me he's hungry.
(he's good like that).

So sitting back down with my wildcat fed, and coffee in hand, perusing steemit.

All is good with the world.

I started to write my first post (the 'zuckerberg black swan..?') and just ready to post it when....nothing.

The electric had gone off!
Now that's no big deal over here, in these parts (we had the last power cut a week or two ago).

It's something you get used to, but even so - the first 20 minutes into the cut is annoying.
I want to post!
I want to read my emails!
I want, I want, I want.........waaaaaahhhhh!

...and then you grow up, relax, and realize you can't do anything about it.

All is still good with the world. (nearly, the child whispers - if only I had pesky electric).

Twenty minutes after that, I had my Eureka moment!

My war gaming table has been lying idle for the last few weeks after I completed it.
My soldiers all lined up in a frozen action pose,, ready for battle...
(their discipline to stand in exactly the same position for the last month or so must be immense!)

So with no electricity, my focus shifted to my war game. (it hovers 4 feet away from me as I sit on the computer, over my shoulder...)

As I perused the table, I felt zero enthusiasm for the game. My mojo just wasn't rising.
Something was missing....something not igniting the fire......

THE RULES! - I realized. That's what was missing! - not the rules you understand, but the rules as they were, as I know them.
And then the eureka moment!

Just like that from nowhere - quite literally.

I had just ( I say 'I', but I can't really take any credit for it) solved an annoying glitch in the rules system!
One that has been an annoyance to me personally, since i started war gaming 35 years ago. And one never satisfactorily resolved.

Until now.

It's a glitch that plagues all war gamer's , whatever period they happen to be playing - from Roman legions, to hitting the beaches in Normandy in 1944.

Now this might not sound very Eureka-y! to non war gamers, so to put in context - I'll give you comparison...

Imagine you have been carrying water 200 meters, every day, for the last 20 years in gallon buckets.
50 buckets a day, 2 at a time.
After 20 years, you comes along with an idea to put a 200 meter long tube from the well to your house...

THAT KIND OF EUREKA MOMENT (for war gamers).

My last moment like this was in 1985 - when I came upon the idea of recycling newspapers....
( there is an old post about that annoying debacle).

Without going into details of my eureka, I must say this is potentially very rewarding - both for the hobby of war gaming itself - 'a revolution' - but potentially monetarily, also.

...a little context....

HG wells really started 'recreational' war gaming back in the late 19c (off the top of my head), with his book 'little wars'.
('serious' war gaming had been going on for centuries with generals, of course).

Charles Grant , Brigadier Young and Donald Featherstone (among other's) re energized the hobby during the 1960's, when it became established properly for the first time - and has been ever since.
('The Wargame' by Charles Grant was my first ever 'real' war gaming book I read, back in the early '80's)

Since then, the essential principals of the war game remained - and numerous rules books have been published covering all era's of the hobby, and generally adhering to the same basic philosophies.

My eureka moment changes those basic principals....(well not all, but shifts thing's monumentally)

Changes the feel of the game, from clunky and technical heavy, to a free flowing more enjoyable experience. (without comprising historical accuracies).

This could potentially make the plethora of war gaming rule sets as they stand today, obsolete.
(again, only relevant to the trainspotters of war gaming, but nevertheless...)

Obviously this requires many more detailed hours of work and application - but I KNOW I have something special here...

It's all very exciting!