Issued in collaboration with the War Games Research Group UK Price 45p net (impWargamingWritten by experts, this expanding series will include all the most popular sports and pas- times. Each book covers every conceivable aspect cof the skills involved in the sport concerned, so that the series will prove invaluable not only to players of all standards but also to coaches. The extensive illustrations supporting the text comprise detailed and, in many cases, sequential photographs, showing skills, tactics and techniques move by move. The books are hardback, with a full colour cover, and are 8” by 8” with approximately 120 pages Price:— £2.00 — £3.00. TITLES IN THE SERIES INCLUDE:— All About Judo, Badminton, Basketball, Conditioning for Sport, Football, Golf, Learning to Swim, Modern Riding, Netball, Orienteering, Sailing, Snooker, Squash Rackets, Table Tennis and Tennis up to Tournament Standard. eo EP Publishing Ltd. East Ardsley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.know the game Wargamin by P Barker Published in collaboration with the Wargames Research Group What is Wargaming ? The Origins of Wargaming Why Do People Wargame ? How a War Game Simulates Reality’ A Typical Game Sequence Choosing a Period Finding Opponents Equipment Number of Figures or Models Needed Size of Figures and Models Obtaining Metal Figures Obtaining Plastics Converting Figures and Models Figure Bases Painting Contents 2 The Wargames Table 4 Terrain Pieces 5 Choosing a Set of Wargames Rules 6 Dice and other Chance Devices 8 Umpires 12 Multi-Person Games 14 Campaigns 14 Board Games 15 Military Wargames 15 Educational Wargaming es Wargaming in Historical Research 19 Wargames Tactics 20 Wargames Societies 22 Reading 23What is Wargaming? A war game is a game played on a surface imitating real-life terrain with pieces representing military, naval or airforce units. War games are divided into two groups. First there are those in which the terrain is represented by model hills, rivers, woods, houses and similar features placed on a table and the troops by accurately made and realistically painted model figures, weapons or vehicles. Secondly there are those in which the terrain is represented by a map in only one dimension and the troops by purely symbolic counters. The first form is called ‘Wargaming’ in Britain and “Miniatures Gaming’ in America. The second is called “Board Gaming’ in Britain and ‘War Gaming’ or ‘Military Simulations Gaming’ across the Atlantic. This comes about because the first commercial companies to produce rules, handbooks and playing equipment for miniatures enthusiasts on a really large scale were British based. The first large companies to produce boxed board war games were American. Although the miniature type of game is now sweep- ing the States, most players are using British rules and equipment produced under licence. The native Ameri- can pioneers have largely failed to cope with the competition and those new rule writers now starting to emerge are mainly producing fairly crude derivatives of often obsolete British techniques. They are also badly handicapped by the much poorer facilities in America for historical research. 4 Cardboard playing piece for board war gameSimilarly, although board war games have now caught on in Britain, the great majority of the games available are American imports. Those few British companies involved have, however, been experimenting with game design techniques which differ from the rather standardised ones of the American companies, and a few British games have in consequence been moderately successful in America. However, the much bigger American home market should ensure the lead remaining on their side of the Atlantic. War games, incidentally, are played nearly all over the world, not just in Britain and America. Wargamers of other nations tend to follow the British lead at present in miniatures and the American lead in board games. Both types of war game in fact have a place in the hobby. The board game is best when simulating war at the strategic level where in real life decisions are taken over a map. The player can then, for example, take the role of Alexander the Great planning the conquest of Persia, a Roman emperor disposing his legions to protect his borders against barbarian hordes such as Picts, Scots, Saxons, Goths, Huns and Sassanids, Napoleon invading Russia, or Eisenhower and Mont- gomery invading France. Tactical level board games are much less successful. Miniatures games tend to be not only much more attractive visually but also more realistic. For example, removing single units from a collection of twenty or more figures can represent the casualties of a real unit better than a piece of cardboard that can only be removed, turned over to display a different value or exchanged for another. Therefore, a player wishing to play a situation such as Napoleon facing Wellington across the field of Waterloo will usually do so with miniatures. He will also use miniatures for small actions involving battalions, companies, platoons or even individual figures. Board games are supplied in a box complete with all equipment ready to use, including a map, rules and manufacturers’ instructions. As very little needs to be said about them in this booklet, | have concentrated on the British miniature game. However, the section on page 33 deals with buying board games as well as touching on designing and producing your own. esThe Origins of Wargaming The first war games were played on boards. The oldest that we know of, Wei-Hai, was being played in China some 5,000 years ago and is still very popular today under the name of ‘Go’. Another, Chaturanga, is about 1,500 years old. This represented Indian warfare of that period quite accurately, with playing pieces symbolising war elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry moving over a board marked with a stylised terrain. Over the years this developed gradually into our modern chess. The chess board is no longer marked With terrain; elephants have become castles; chariots have turned into bishops; cavalry have become knights; infantry pawns; the obsequious vizier a rampaging virago of a queen, and the chance element provided by dice has disappeared. Chess players con- sider these to have been improvements, but wargamers have reservations. Many other similar games have failed to stand the test of time and have disappeared, including military adaptations of chess using extra pieces representing cannon and similar innovations. A longer lasting and much more influential family of games appeared in the eighteenth century with the ‘Kriegspiel’ series of military training games. These fell from favour at the beginning of this century as far as the military were concerned but had previously inspired various people, including Winston Churchill, Robert Louis Stephenson and H. G. Wells, to create their own fun games for amusement. 4 Wells wrote a book on the subject in 1912, Little Wars. His game was played on the floor with standard toy soldiers and the rules were considerably more primitive than those of the military. For example, casualties were decided by shooting at the figures with a toy gun. Modern wargamers would shudder equally at the concept and at the damage to paint. While Wells's book did not have a wide audience, it reached far enough to inspire a number of other enthusiasts, and as it happened the most important of these turned out to be Tony Bath, a Southampton accountant. Wargamers need opponents and Tony roped in a physiotherapist named Don Featherstone. Don in turn wrote a best-selling book, War Games, and the’ boom was under way. Since War Games was published in 1962, war- gaming has been the fastest growing of all hobby interests. Innumerable firms have been set up to produce figures, models, terrain pieces, rules and books for wargamers. Societies such as the Society of Ancients and Pike and Shot have been set up to cater for enthusiasts in a particular era and magazines devoted to military modelling and wargaming can be found on all the large-chain bookstalls. In particular, since 1969, wargames rules have been heavily influenced by those of the Wargames Research Group. The group's rules have achieved a near monopoly position in some periods and have been heavily copied in all others. This is due to their emphasis on detailed research into what really happens on a battlefield and especially the realistic human be-haviour the rules enforce on the war games figures. Since 1966 there has been an annual British National Convention with club teams from all over the country competing against each other in all the main wargaming periods. The various societies have their own international league table competitions and there are of course many local club tournaments for players not content with friendlies. Why do People Wargame? The short answer is ‘For Fun!’ Even when mini- atures gaming is used educationally or for military training, as described on pages 35-6, you will find that the participants become hooked and start playing in their own time as well. What is the charm of wargaming? Well, it has all the colour, excitement, tension and intellectual chal- lenge of real war, without the physical discomfort, boredom, occasional intense fright and physical danger of the real thing. Only feelings get hurt in a war game> Players often become involved through an interest in military history. They read about campaigns, about generals both of genius and of disastrous incompet- ence, and if the latter, think ‘Well, at least | would have been better than him.’ They form their own pet theories as to how troops should be handled on the battlefield. When they see a war game they are irresistibly impelled to join in and try it out. Typically, such a person, being inexperienced, quite naturally loses. He then blames his borrowed troops and sets about acquiring an army of his own. Or her own—it's not unknown. A related type has a great admiration for some particular historical figure, usually one who lost. In his wargaming the player tries to prove that his hero should not have lost, that the later Romans could defeat Huns or Goths, Napoleon beat Welling- ton, or Burgoyne win at Saratoga. He often makes the best player in the long run because, disdaining to alter his army, he instead finds out how to use it properly. Others see painted figures being used in a game or on display, fall in love with them and must have some of their own. Having bought and painted them, they then want to see them on the table in their natural setting and so have to start to play. They are very useful people, because they do not mind losing too much!How a War Game Simulates Reality The obvious way in which a war game simulates reality is by using model scenery and figures made to a constant scale and painted to resemble real terrain, men and weapons as closely as possible. Less obvi- ously, but just as necessarily, the figures and weapons must have capabilities equivalent to their real-life prototypes and must be affected by the terrain in the same way. The first tool the rule writer uses to achieve this is called the ground scale. This formally relates distances measured on the table to real-life distances. If, for example, the ground scale is 1cm equals 1 pace, then a weapon with a real-life range of 30 paces should have a range of 30cm on the table. In this particular case, all the distances quoted in the rules can be given in paces. They can still be measured off easily and quickly with a metric measuring tape, as only the size of unit and not the number of measuring units changes. This adds to the general realism, because an order to advance 50 paces or metres reminds you of a real-life situation, whereas an order to advance 2 in. or 50mm does not. Another advantage of quoting all distances in real- life measurements is that the ground scale can be varied. Rules for two sizes of figures could use 1mm equals 1m and 1 in. equals 10m, without changing the main text. This is especially useful now that 15mm. figures are challenging the larger 25mm types that have previously been standard. 6 Realism is not aided by using real-life measurement units unknown at the time. A Roman soldier would not have known what a yard or metre was, any more than a Napoleonic soldier would have been able to judge distances in cubits. However, there is one unit of measure which has not varied since the dawn of history and which was the most common in military circles until the dawn of mechanisation. This is the pace, roughly 30 inches or 0.75 metres. Our modern mile is in fact 1,000 double paces of a Roman soldier. The metre has now taken over as the standard military measure, even in non-metric countries, so it has superseded the pace in twentieth-century period war games. The ground scale is rarely the same as the scale of the figures, so the two together define another re- lationship which is called the troop scale. The principle of this is that a figure represents the number of men who would be contained within its base area at the ground scale used if in their normal formation. Assume, for instance, that a figure representing a Roman legionary has a base 15mm wide by 20mm deep and that the ground scale is 1 in. equals 10 paces (equivalent to 1mm equals 1 foot). In real life, each man took up a frontage of 3 feet and a depth of 6 feet. If we ignore the empty space behind the last rank, we find that a figure represents 20 men in 4 ranks of 5. The last of the formal scales is the time scale, which gives the length of real-life time represented by an act of play. The act of play used to be called a move or turn, but these terms can be confusing and so havemainly been replaced by period and bound. If sim- ultaneous play is used, the players first both move units according to previously written orders. Then they both adjudicate any firing by their troops, followed by any hand-to-hand combat. The whole of this is called a period. If players move alternately, each player's turn is called a bound. Bounds sometimes overlap. Some rule writers use these terms loosely and some do not even quote the formal scales they have used. Such a non-rigorous approach leaves room for doubting the realism of the rules. Just as weapon ranges on the wargames table are decided by real-life performance in conjunction with the ground scale, move distances are dictated by the combination of ground scale and time scale. Take the case of a game where the ground scale is 1 in. equals 25 paces and the time scale is 1 period equals 120 seconds. If the game is using eighteenth-century in- fantry whose drill books require them to advance at 75 paces to the minute, the models will have a table- top move of 6 in. (75 paces equals 3 in. per minute; one move equals 2 minutes.) Their move will be longer if they charge or run away and shorter if they are im- peded by difficult terrain or by having to change direction or formation. Similarly, the effect of their fire will be determined on the one hand by the accuracy of their weapons at various ranges, the length of time represented by a period and the rate of fire of the weapons used. Other factors will be the formation of the target troops, the presence or absence of cover and, as nothing is certain in war, a chance device, usually dice. Just as the physical capabilities of the weapons and troops are duplicated as accurately as possible, so also is their morale. Wargames Research Group intro- duced the concept of the reaction test, under which units take into account both events affecting them and the surrounding situation. They may either fail to carry out their orders, or in some circumstances, exceed them. This has now largely replaced the earlier morale tests which depended heavily on chance, took less into account and produced a more limited range of responses. Do not worry about the complex nature of all this, because it affects only therule writer. If he does his job properly, the player will have a simple printed list of procedures, with tables giving move distances, the effects of shooting and hand-to-hand combat and reaction factors.and results, which tell him all he needs to know while playing.A Typical Game Sequence Usually a player starts off knowing only the nation- ality and period of his opponent's army in addition to the fighting strength they have agreed in advance. Almost invariably there will be some system of picking troops that allows considerable latitude in choice without affecting overall combat value as compared with the opposing force. This may take the form of allowing one side to occupy a strong defensive position while the other is in turn allowed more troops, but it is more likely to be a variant of the points value system des- cribed earlier. The players now decide the terrain to be used. Various procedures exist for this, the outcome normally being a terrain intermediate between the two that the two sides would ideally like. For example, an army strong in cavalry would try to fight in the plains, whereas one depending on light infantry would prefer mountains or woods. They are therefore likely to meet in the foot- hills or in arable farming country. A chance factor is often added to make sure that neither side gets exactly what it wants. After choosing and laying out the terrain, the players each declare their scouting strengths, which in pre- mechanised periods will largely depend on the pro- portion of light cavalry they have. If one side proves to be decisively out-scouted, it must deploy all its troops on the table, with no prior knowledge as to the opposing forces or their disposition except that they obviously have larger scouting contingents. The opponents now deploy any of their own troops who would be visible from the out-scouted army’s positions. They leave off any who are concealed by terrain features or by other troops, or who are making out-flanking movements off the edges of the table. If neitheris so out-scouted, both deploy only troops visible from the enemy's permitted deployment area, and each may attempt off-table An outscouted player must base his orders on incomplete knowledge of his opponent's dispositions 8movements on its right flank only. Both sides now write orders for all their units. This completed, they deploy the rest of their on-table troops and the game is ready to start. In simultaneous play, both players now move any or all of their troops. Some may be in range to exchange shooting, so this is adjudicated next; but none will be close enough for hand-to-hand combat. At the end of the period, certain units take initial reaction tests. These units are those within charge reach of an enemy or within an enemy’s charge reach for the first time during the game as well as those who have been shot at for the first time. Regulars under the close supervision of the general are likely to obey orders. On the other hand, irregulars, low-grade troops, those under intermediary commanders or isolated, and those finding themselves in especially encouraging or discouraging circum- stances, may instead disregard orders and obey re- action test instructions instead. The next period starts with reaction tests being taken by troops now required to charge or who are being charged. Moving then commences. All troops who have not had their orders replaced by reaction instructions will continue to obey them. Those with targets now shoot, and this will be followed by hand-to-hand combat if any. Troops getting the worst of this may be pushed back, become disordered or even break and run. Friends seeing them break must test their own reaction, whether to charge to the rescue or join the flight. Players may bitterly regret failing to keep ade- quate reserves in hand to repair such setbacks, or find CONFRONTATION ON THE EUPHRATES AD 363 The game gets under way. On the left, Sassanid Persian heavy cavalry are led forward by the King of Kings, screened by foot archers and supported by elephants. A subordinate general, the Surenas, leads an outflanking force of light and heavy cavalry and elephants. Opposing them, the late Roman Emperor Julian brings forward his legionaries, artillery and heavy cavalry in the centre, while lighter infantry and cavalry protect the flanks. In the centre, the Roman player measures the range before his skirmishers shoot, while on his left, his flanking light cavalry are about to get a nasty surprise as Persians move round their flank. 9» The Roman skirmishers have chased the Persian archers back behind their cavalry and_ the Palatine auxilia now hold the flanking village and wood securely, but the left flank cavalry are in serious trouble with enemy to front and rear. themselves longing for their out-flanking force to arrive and rescue them. Period succeeds period, the tension steadily rising. The players will be absentmindedly nibbling biscuits or sipping coffee or beer brought to the table by their supporters and indulging in verbal oneupmanship. To quote Brigadier Peter Young’s wargaming classic, Charge,—'Oh, bad luck old man,” he said, insin- cerely.’ Finally, the balance tips, and one side’s chance slides away as unit after unit disintegrates into a mass of scattered fugitives or grimly battles in good 10 The crunch. Octavo Dalmatae caught in front by an elephant and in rear by light cavalry, while the Petulantes watch helplessly from the village.On the Roman right, their archers and auxilia drive back the opposing Persian light cavalry. Meanwhile the Cataphracts charge in against the legion and the Persian player checks that his elephants are not close enough to disorder their own cavalry. The Emperor tries to bring up his own Cataphracts but is impeded by evading skirmishers. On the other flank, the Taifali gallantly fling themselves into the path of heavier Persians charging down the hill. Legionaries and Taifali have both broken and the Roman right flank has been infected by the panic and retires towards safety. 1With most of the Roman army disappearing in rout, the Persian player tries not to grin too obviously, while the Roman plans how to explain the disaster in his memoirs—as in real life Julian won his battles! order back towards its own table edge. Now is the time for putting troops back in their boxes, while con- ducting a hurried post mortem. Although the loser attributes his defeat to poor dice scores and the stup- idity of his troops during the past three hours, it is surprising how the same people seem to win all the time! Ah well, wait and read the general’s memoirs! 12 Choosing a Period As might be expected, wargames rules and equip- ment are not identical for all historical periods, and it is therefore necessary to decide at an early stage what period you are going to take up initially. Many war- gamers in fact have several periads, but one thing at a time is best. Adults who take up wargaming usually adopt the Napoleonic period, with Ancients now coming an increasingly close second. Similarly, younger beginners usually start with World War II, Ancients again being second favourites. However, while Ancients players usually stay with their first choice, others tend to migrate to Ancients or to secondary periods such as Pike & Shot, Moderns or the up and coming Seven Years’ War. Colonial, American Independence, American Civil War and Medieval have moderate bands of devotees, while Crimean and World War | have failed really to catch on. \f your favourite period seems to lack players, pub- lished rules or available figures, this is no reason to reject it out of hand. You may find you have unexpected talents as a rule writer or figure designer and end up by popularising it. This has often happened before. If you have no outstanding preferences, it is worth pointing out that Ancients, covering more than 4,000 years and the whole world and such diverse troop types as disciplined regular cavalry armoured from head to toe and half-naked wild fanatics with no protection and a weapon in each hand, offer unequalled variety andcolour. Ancients players are to be found almost everywhere, nearly all of them using the Wargames Research Group rules. The following table rates the various periods out of 5 for various factors Availability of Oppo- Good Metal Plastic Popular name Period covered nents rules figures figures Ancients 3000BC-AD1250 Early medieval AD1000-1250 Late medieval 1250-1500 Pike & Shot 1500-1700 Malburian 1700-1725 Seven Years 1725-1775 American Indep. 1775-1790 Napoleonic 1790-1815 Crimean 1815-1860 American Civil 1860-1870 Franco-Prussian 1870-1875 Late colonial 1875-1905 Ww. | 1905-1925 ‘WW. II 1925-1950 Modern 1950-1985 Futuristic 1985 on Fantasy (As Ancients but including Magic) 5 5 4 5 3 5 5 5 4 2 1 4 1 5 5 2 3 POPRANONDAGTATATAGOTFinding Opponents As the hobby has expanded, clubs have sprung up all over the world where players can meet, find opponents, play games and compare notes. If there is one of these in your area it is worth going along, if only to get advice. Military Modelling magazine produce a direct- ory of clubs, which can be obtained from them for a small fee at PO Box 35, Bridge Street, Hemel Hemp- stead, HP1 1EE, Herts. If there are no clubs listed for your area, do not despair, as they are springing up like mushrooms. One may have started since the directory was published, or there may be a less formal local group or even a solitary convert searching for an opponent. Write to the editor and ask him to publish your name and address in the magazine so that others can contact you; you could also arrange for a notice in your local library. Another possibility is to join the society covering the period you are specially interested in. Or else you could attend one of the regional wargames meetings adver- tised from time to time in Military Modelling, Airfix Magazine, Battle, Sword & Lance, Wargamers’ Newsletter or any other of the hobby magazines to be found on big bookstalls. You will be very unlucky in- deed not to be able to contact kindred spirits within easy travelling distance, but even if this is so, it need not stop you becoming a wargamer. Sooner or later one will emerge, and in the interim you can always play solo. 14 Equipment A war game requires two armies, a table to play on, terrain pieces, a set of rules, an expanding measuring tape and a set of dice. General Suppliers The following companies specialise in mail order and can supply figures, models, dice, rules, uniform information, paints, brushes, terrain and the hundred and one other things wargamers need or think they need: Skytrex Ltd., 28 Church Street, Wymeswold, Leics. Specialities include their own ranges of 1/300 World War II and Modern armour and aircratt, and very large stocks of Greenwood & Ball figures for instant des- patch. Send SAE for list. Mainly Military, 103 Walsall Road, Lichfield, Staffs. Specialities include 1/300 MBG model buildings. Send SAE for list. Navwar, 48 East View, Barnet, Herts. Everything for the naval wargamer. Many leading model shops can also supply through the post.Number of Figures or Models Needed This depends on the period and level of the game. For example, a Western gun fight or a gladiatorial com- bat could have only one figure each side though it would usually have more; a platoon-level World War Il game would by definition rarely have more than 40, and a Modern battalion level game could have 50 1/300 vehicles and 500 or more human figures. Most sets of rules now follow the Wargames Re- search Group lead in allocating a value to each type of figure or weapon and allowing a partly free choice up to an agreed total value. For instance, an unenthusiastic peasant with a short spear and no shield or armour might be worth 1 point; a noble cavalryman in full armour on a partly armoured horse, carrying a shield and armed with lance, bow and sword might be worth 20 points. Such values do not necessarily correspond with the usefulness of the figures in all circumstances. To take the example above, 10 nobles would beat 200 peasants on an open plain but would not like to meet them in thick woods or mountains. Each year British National Convention organisers issue army lists to entrants which can be used to sup- plement the information contained in rule books. There are usually a number of spare sets for sale. Send a stamped addressed envelope to the organisers asking for the price for your period. You can find out who they are from Military Modelling. Size of Figures and Models This can be expressed in two ways. For most periods the normal method is to quote the height of a figure representing a 6-foot man without headgear. The other is mainly used for World War II or later, and is expressed as a fraction of real-life size. The largest sizes are used only for games in which only a few figures are controlled by each player and usually called ‘skirmish war games. They are 1/32, 1/36 and 54mm, which is between the other two sizes. As real men vary in size, figures to these three scales can, at least in theory, be mixed, but this does not necessarily hold true for weapons and equipment. Figure scales. From left to right; 54mm western gunfightar and German machine gunner, 25mm medieval crossbowman and mounted warrior bishop, 15mm napoleonic gun team and 1/300 rifle group and tank. 15The next size down is 30mm. This used to be quite widely used but has now been almost completely re- placed for wargaming by 25mm. The same applies to 20mm. The next group of scales includes 1/72, 1/76 and 25mm, which is in between. As with the largest sizes, figures can often be mixed but this is more difficult with vehicles and weapons. We next come to two scales originating with model railways, HO and 00. These are in fact 1/87 and 1/96 respectively, so the claims of one plastic manufacturer to suit both should be treated with caution. Finally, we have 15mm, 12mm or 1/150, 9mm or 1/200, 1/285 and 1/300 which is the smallest scale used for land or air wargames. Naval game models are much smaller, 1/1200, 1/3000 and 1/4800 all being popular. The choice open to a player is in fact not quite as confusing as it seems at first sight, because many scales are restricted to certain periods. However, it should be noted that different designers often have their own idea of scale, so that, for example, 25mm figure ranges from two manufacturers may not be en- tirely compatible. Metal or Plastic Metal figures and models are made from an alloy of lead and tin. They are more expensive than plastic, but are sturdier, and many players prefer their ‘heft’. Figures of 15mm or smaller scale are only available in metal. 16 Most plastic figures are made from a soft flexible material, making thinner parts such as weapons likely to warp, and paint liable to flake off. However, it is extremely cheap and can be cut or welded with a hot implement, making conversions easy. Most plastic vehicle models are made from a hard rigid polystyrene intermediate in cost between metal and soft plastic and having most of the advantages of metal. The figures available in this material are often supplied with alternative arms which enable the pose to be varied. Flat or Round When wargaming started, there were none of the three- dimensional figures commonly used today, and players instead used two-dimensional 30mm figures called ‘Flats’. These called for great painting skill to give at least an illusion of depth. They are made only in Germany, and the difficulty of obtaining them led to their being almost entirely re- placed in Britain and America by the current round figures, to the regret of some of the old hands.Obtaining Metal Figures Most manufacturers sell through the post and through model shops. Toy shops rarely stock metal figures. Since manufacturers’ styles differ, it is best to see figures before buying, either at a model shop which stocks them or on the manufacturer's own trade stand at one of the regional wargames’ shows. Suitable model shops can be traced through adverts in Military Model- Jing magazine, which will also keep you in touch with manufacturers’ latest releases. Once you know what the figure is like, or you have come to trust the designer, buying through the post can be a very convenient method. A Bicentenary confrontation! A group of 17th light dragoons from the Minifigs War of American Independence range charge rebel militia of mixed determination ‘and prudence. The 25mm scale allows much loving detail in the painting. The main manufacturers are: Miniature Figurines Ltd, 28/32 Northam Road, South- ampton, S02 OPA. 25mm figures for all periods except World Wars | and II and Modern; also 15mm mounted in strips of 5 infantry or 3 cavalry, plus a reasonable range of accessories. Catalogue available. Minifigs tend to have a much larger 25mm range for each period than their rivals, and their 15mm strips are sturdier and easier to paint. Occasional weak points of the 25mm range include spears too long, men too fat, and horses too tall, too narrow in the chest and flat rumped. Hinchcliffe Models Ltd, Meltham, Huddersfield, HD7 3NX. 25mm figures for all periods except World War | and Modern; also 12mm infantry and cavalry, plus the best 25mm artillery available anywhere. Illus- trated catalogue available. Occasional weak points include oversized, though very attractive, cavalry. Greenwood & Ball Ltd, 61 Westbury Street, Thornaby- on-Tees, Teesside. 25mm Ancients, early and later Medieval, Pike & Shot, Seven Years’ War and Napoleonic. Catalogue available. Especially good for Seven Years’ War. Occasional weak points include very thick long spears and slow delivery. 7Lamming Miniatures, 45 Wenlock Street, Hull, North Humberside. 25mm Ancients, Medievals and Napoleonics. Es- pecially good for armour detail and varied inter- changeable hand weapons, heads.and crests, also for such medieval extras as heralds, princesses, monks, waiting ladies and serfs. Some consider them a little large in the head and shoulders and weak in the feet. Catalogue available. Warrior Metal Miniatures, 23 Grove Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 8SF. 25mm Ancients, Early Medievals, Pike & Shot and Napoleonic. Sometimes look a little crude until painted, but others superb, especially the new lan- quesnechts. Catalogue available. Tradition, 188 Piccadilly, London, W1V 9DA, P.O. Box 40A. 25mm figures for all except Medieval, World War II, Modern and Fantasy. Rather slim, aristocratic figures. Peter Laing, ‘Minden’, Sutton St Nicholas, Hereford, HR1 3BD. 15mm figures for all but American Civil War, World War II, Moderns and Fantasy. Especially good for Malburian. Horses sometimes a little strange. Cata- logue available. Leicester Micro Models Ltd, 50 Walcot Walk, Peter- borough, PE3 6QF. 1/300 World War II vehicles, guns and aircraft. 1/1200 and 1/4800 World War | and II ships. Heroics and Ros Figures, 36 Kennington Road, London, SE1. 25mm Ancient, American Civil War and Napoleonic figures. 1/300 Ancient, Napoleonic, American Civil War, World War II and Modern figures, vehicles, guns, helicopters and aircraft. Send stamped addressed envelope for list. A number of smaller manufacturers’ products can be obtained through the post from the general dealers listed earlier.The main makes of plastic figures can be easily obtained from most toyshops and model shops. The most important are: Airfix 1/32 World War II infantry of most nations. These are mainly in soft plastic but the latest sets to be released are in hard polystyrene. They are well moulded and have a suitable variety of equipment and weapons. However, only a few heavy weapons or vehicles are available to match them. 1/76 World War II and Modern tanks, guns and vehicles in hard polystyrene. HO/OO World War II infantry in soft plastic. These are too small to make a good match with the 1/76 vehicles, are often in un- suitable poses and the proportions of different types of weapon are unsuitable for duplicating real-life organisations. Other HO/0O figures. These are a little smaller than 25mm figures but can be mixed in with them without it showing too much. There are small Medieval, American Independence and Napoleonic ranges, and larger ranges for World War |, American Civil War and Ancients. Very few Ancient warrior types cannot be produced by conversion. Matchbox 1/76 World War || infantry. These are correct scale, well moulded, but have unsuitable proportions of weapons and are in soft plastic. 14/76 World War II tanks, guns and vehicles in hard polystyrene. Probably the best kits in the scale. ESCI 1/72 World War II infantry. These are in hard poly- styrene, have a good proportion of weapons, and match in quite well with 1/76 figures and models. Currently the best infantry for the period in plastic or metal. 1/72 World War II tanks, guns and vehicles. Quite good, but do not match in well with identical vehicles in the more popular 1/76 scale. Minitanks 1/87 World War Il and Modern tanks, guns, vehicles and infantry in hard polystyrene. The infantry appears to be modern German, but Airfix World War II match in quite well with the vehicles. Spencer Smith Miniatures, 66 Longmeadow, Frimley, Camberley, Surrey. 30mm hard polystyrene ‘Connoisseur’ range Ameri- can Independence and Napoleonic. Very nice figures, cheaper than metals. American Independence range are especially good and can also be used for Seven Years’ War including Quebec campaign. 30mm soft plastic standard range American In- dependence, Napoleonic, American Civil War and Modern. Moderns not recommended. Others look unpromising but clean and paint up reasonably. 19The cheapest figures on the market. Send SAE for list. There are many other sources for 1/35 and 1/76 tanks and guns, several of them Japanese. Some of these also produce rather underscale figures which may not fit in well with others. Aircraft and ships are also available. There are also many types of 54mm toy figures representing cowboys, indians, arabs, legionaries or soldiers than can be pressed into service for skirmish- type games. 20 Converting Figures and Models Even with all those innumerable manufacturers hard at it producing new items for wargamers, you are bound to find that there are some items you want but cannot have. One of the first is likely to be a standard, as 25mm figures and larger are almost always cast with bare poles. You must therefore take a suitably sized rectangle of aluminium kitchen foil, glue one side and fold it round the staff to give you your basic flag to be painted later by hand. Going a step further, you may not even have a standard bearer. You will have to cut a length of wire to serve as the pole and fasten it to the hand of a spare officer. You will find that in fact some manufacturers, such as Hinchcliffe and Lamming, do not cast such weapons as spears but instead supply separate pieces of much stronger steel wire. Lamming go even further by providing a range of hand weapons such as axes, maces, swords, crossbows, bills, halberds, spears and shields of different shapes and sizes and casting many of their figures open-handed to take them. Even where manufacturers cast spears in one piece with their figures, wargamers often reject these as too weak or unrealistically thick, replacing them with wire. Parts can be attached in this way with two-part epoxy glues or with solder, but rather surprisingly, Rawlplug Durafix, a one-part adhesive much used by archaeologists for reassembling pottery, also provides a good quick metal-to-metal bond. The catch is that it is quite hard to find shops that stock it.The tools for working soft plastic — candle, darning needle and cork One benefit of using metal figures that is not ap- preciated by many wargamers is that the positions of arms and legs can often be changed by a little bending to give variety. After all, whereas regular heavy infantry can be realistically depicted all in step, hats worn at a constant angle, weapons held rigidly in position, modern soldiers, skirmishers and such people as ancient Celts should show considerably more variety in dress and pose. Similarly, even troops who would be identical on foot usually had difficulty getting similar horses, and never succeeded in making them move in step. As most manufacturers cast horses and riders separately, there is considerable scope for ringing the changes a little, even to the extent of putting one firm’s horses under another's riders. Astandard modelling knife, as sold by most modelling shops, can be used to cut metal figures in order to remove unwanted parts or change their shape. You will almost certainly need a knife to remove the moulding flash that figures tend to appear with when a popular mould starts getting a little elderly. Adding material is a little more difficult. The most professional method is to add solder, then work it with a high-powered pointed soldering iron. Get good at this, and you are half-way to a lucrative career as a figure designer. An easier method is to add plasticene, work it into shape, then harden it by painting it over with Banana Oil. There are also proprietary materials such as Body Putty, used by aircraft modellers. Modifying hard plastic figures is even easier, and requires only a sharp knife and liquid polystyrene cement to be applied by brush. This dissolves the two mating faces of parts to be joined into each other and sets very quickly. Do not use the thicker cement that comes in a squeeze tube, because it is difficult not to get too much ata time, botching the job. Soft plastic is best worked with heat. The cheap and easy way is to bury an old darning needle for half its length in a large cork, then, holding it by the cork, heat it for a few seconds in a candle flame. Three seconds in the flame makes it a welder, five seconds a cutter. If you like, you can go further and use a fine-pointed electric soldering iron. This need not be as powerful as one used to work metal. You will now find you have enormous scope for producing new figures. Say you want a Roman cavalry- man. You take a cavalryman from the American Civil War set by Airfix and cut him in two at the waist. You 2then take a Roman legionary, cut him in half, cut the sword from his right hand and discard his rectangular shield. You now weld the legionary’s trunk to the cavalryman’s legs and drive a drawing pin into him to make a round shield. To make a javelin, heat a pin and push it through his right hand and snip the head of the pin off with pliers. If really ambitious, you can cut a fore-and-aft slit in his helmet and insert a cardboard crest, then give hima cloak of hardened plasticene or varnished paper. You could even engrave toes and sandal straps on his boots, or armour scales on his chest, but that may be going a little too far. Modifications are not just for figures. A 1/300 armoured warfare fan may for example want to change a standard armoured personnel carrier into one carrying a recoilless anti-tank gun; or a 1/76 enthusiast’ may wish to distinguish between his vehicles by adding different varieties of external stowage. The techniques are just the same. To finish off your modifications, we recommend reinforcing your new joints and any other possible! weak areas by painting them with Polyurethene hard gloss varnish which is stronger than any other varnish. Do not worry about the glossy finish, as you will be Painting over with matt colours later. Your finished modifications will now strike you as a little crude. Do riot lose heart. It is very true that one good coat of paint can hide a multitude of faults and you will be pleasantly surprised how good the result looks later. 22 Figure Bases Most sets of rules specify that figures be mounted on multiple bases of fixed sizes made of card or similar material, leaving only enough figures on single bases to allow casualties to be removed. This greatly speeds up handling them and prevents arguments as to the precise frontage of units. Realism is much enhanced if the figures are blended into the bases by plastic wood or model railway scenic flock, and if skirmishers and irregulars are mounted rather raggedly. Some players go further and decorate their bases with rocks and foliage. Plan view of mixed barbarians mounted raggedly on multi-figure cardboard base. To help blend in the figures, some corners have been clipped from the rectangular metal bases cast with them.Blending figures into base Painting The secret of good painting is good tools. It is not very important that you lack skill when you start. You will soon acquire it, and in the meantime it is easy enough to correct mistakes because the paints you will be using vary from the water colours you may have struggled with at school in one important respect— they can always be overpainted with a different colour. In contrast, if you do not use the right tools the greatest skill in the world will not help. The first thing is to get the right brushes. Never economise here. Only the best artists’ sable will do. Although initially expensive, you will not need many and they will last a long time with proper care. A num- ber five and a number two will probably be sufficient. Any art shop will stock Reeves or Rowney brushes of approximately the right type, but make sure that the ‘ones you get are pointed and have not had any bristles bent back by the protective plastic tube being put on incorrectly. The shopkeeper may try to tell you that any brush can be brought to a point and demonstrate it by damping one with a wet finger. True, but it is not good enough for this work. If you should fail to be convinced by this and in- stead have to find out the hard way, do not feel too badly about it. Brushes are always needed for less demanding and more dangerous work like varnishing and applying liquid glue. Proper care involves cleaning your brush. You should wash it in thinners and dry it with paper tissue not only after finishing a colour, but periodically during painting as well. Never stand it in a jar of thinners as this will bend the bristles, and do notuse it for mixing paint. If an odd bristle gets bent, do not waste time trying to straighten it; nip it off. The best paints for metals or hard plastic are the Humbrol matt enamels. Do not use gloss paint as it is awkward to handle and takes too long to dry. Matt adheres better, is easier to paint with and dries in about ten minutes. It can always be gloss varnished after- wards if you prefer. Do not take your paint direct from the tin, but use a palette and put the lid back. If you do not you will never get to the bottom because the quick drying paint will go solid through exposure to the air. A tin lid will do. Do not be afraid of mixing colours to get the shade you want. Paint figures in batches, one colour at a time. The best paints for soft plastics such as the Airfix figures are the Rowney water-based acrylics. When the figure flexes, these are much less likely to flake off than are enamels. They are also easier on brushes. 23After painting, most wargamers varnish their figures to protect them from handling and the accidents of travel. There are three main possibilities: use hard gloss varnish for maximum protection and leave the figures gloss; use matt varnish, offering less protection; and use gloss followed by matt, giving an almost matt finish. In favour of the last approach it should be said that very few objects in nature are completely flat and that semi-matt reproduces highlights and shadows a little more realistically. Metallic enamels such as silver, copper and brass are best left till after varnishing as they tend to run. Other colours are safe to varnish after 24 hours at the most. Your choice of colours should depend on those used in real life, and you will find that there are many books designed to help you with them. The main thing to beware of is too much uniformity. For example, the men in a unit will not all have the same coloured hair and, even if their horses are nominally the same colour, ‘they will differ widely in shade or markings. Some will be anything but uniform in their dress. For instance, a Confederate unit of the American Civil War would probably have a mixture of official grey, homespun ‘butternut’, captured Federal uniform, civilian dress and holes, while a unit of medieval knights would have no two alike. Remember that you are trying to produce a realistic unit, not pretty individuals. A certain amount of variable fading and dirt may enhance the overall appearance. Conversly, there is no point trying to paint eyes, lips 24 and buttons on figures of 25mm or smaller. Sur- prisingly, 15mm and smaller figures often produce more realistic looking units than the larger figures, although individually they may be less impressive. Equally surprisingly, they can be painted to the same standard as the larger figures in about a fifth of the time, purely because less paint has to be applied. Lastly, four bits of advice covering common mis- takes. Firstly, horses with black manes and tails always have black lower legs, even if these have smaller white markings as well, and vice versa. Most horses have some white on the face and at least one white foot. Secondly, all paint manufacturers’ flesh colours need an appreciable amount of red-brown mixed in and a larger amount can be mixed with white to make flesh. Asiatics and Africans can have further colours added. Few Negroes are black. European hair varies between light khaki and dark brown, all popul- ations being mixed rather than uniform. Asiatic and Negro hair is black. Thirdly, gold and silver are not good colours for armour. Use bronze, brass, steel and, for ring mail, gun metal. Gold and silver can be used for weapons and for inlay on steel. Lastly, all military vehicles should have their running gear thickly coated with mud and their upper works with dust.The Wargames Table The minimum practical size for a wargames table is 13 metres (5 feet) wide by 1 metre (3 feet) deep, but you may find this a little cramped. Most are larger and some indeed are larger than is really convenient. Tables more than 13 metres across make reaching to Move troops rather inconvenient. With some sets of rules this will slow the game down because it takes longer for opposing troops to advance into contact. The extra depth has no significant advantages. Increasing the width, on the other hand, does bring tactical advantages, because it increases the possibility of manoeuvring round an opposing army’s flanks. However, the better sets of wargames rules have provision for off-table flanking moves; and tables more than 2 metres (7 feet) wide need to have limitations placed on their initial deployment area lest the two armies start in diagonally opposite corners and take even longer to get into contact. Ideally, a wargames table Should be kept in a room of its own so that it can be permanently set up and a game adjourned to be returned to later. Elaborate terrain pieces can then be made and stored under the table on shelves, troops displayed in cases on the walls, aircraft models hung from the roof, hi-fi sets broadcast appropriate military music and wall posters display appropriate scenes or even propaganda. There are in fact such rooms but they are not the norm. If your existing domestic table is not big enough, its size can be increased by laying a larger piece of hard- board across it. Alternatively, two standard folding paper-hangers’ tables can be bought for as little as £5 and stood side by side. Wargames clubs are usually based in community centres, church halls, university refectories and similar places where tables are available, so if neither you nor your regular opponents have a suitable table available and space to put it, this need not deter you. We do not recommend playing on the floor. You are liable to get backache, and tread on your models. Unless you have a special table or table top, you will find realism and domestic tranquillity best preserved by covering the table with an appropriately coloured cloth. Green flanelette sheets bought in sales, green baize and shopfitters’ hessian have all been employed. 25Terrain Pieces The sort of terrain pieces you will need obviously depends on the size of figures you are going to use. If you are going in for skirmish gaming with figures of 1/32, 54mm or 1/36 scale you will find that toyshops and model shops stock some very nice trees, wills, domestic animals and buildings, the Wild West enthusiast being especially well catered for. An even better variety is available for 25mm and similar sized figures, because model railway accessories can be pressed into service. Special mention must be made of Micro-Mould, 1-2 Unifax Woods Way, Goring-by-Sea, Sussex, who produce vacuum-moulded plastic river and stream sections, walling, bridges and field defences for all periods from the Iron Age to the present day. =! yee | 25mm plastic German infantry by ESCI, supported by a Marder S.P., attacking metal British infantry by Hinchliffe Models. The buildings are obsolete Minifigs vacuum-moulded plastic. 26 Contour block or ‘bread and butter’ hill Natural shaped hillHinchliffe make a good range of 12mm scenery in metal to go with their figures, and this is largely inter- changeable with the similar Minifigs range. You can also of course use 25mm small trees as 15mm large trees! An increasing range of buildings is becoming available for 1/300 war games, notably that produced by MBG. Hinchliffe 12mm roads and trees are also useful. A 1/300 modern battle piece. Tank, armoured personnel carrier and infantry are by Heroics, buildings and aircraft by M.B.G., and road, trees and bomb bursts by Hinchliffe. A penny in the foreground gives an idea of the scale. Not all terrain can be bought. Hills in particular have to be made, the favourite material today being rigid foam plastic. This is used in thick blocks by engineering companies for pattern making, and offcuts can some- times be obtained from them. More often it is bought from handyman shops in the form of large ceiling tiles, which are then glued together bread-and-butter fashion to make thicker blocks. Two forms of hill are favoured. In the first, each succeeding sheet is a little smaller than that beneath it and is left unworked except in plan, so that a section shows a series of vertical steps. In the second, the steps are smoothed down to provide a constant slope. This is preferable, both because it is more realistic and because the first form often makes it hard to see which troops are uphill of each other and where crest lines come. However, make sure your figures will stand on the slope. The best way to work rigid foam plastic is with a specially made hot-wire cutter. It can also be carved with a saw-toothed knife such as a bread knife. If you do use this method, be warned and do so outdoors, as the fragments removed both float and cling. Although light and rigid, the foam plastic tends to suffer surface damage, especially at thin edges. Many people therefore protect the surface with paper tissue or paper towel soaked in water-soluble PVA glue. Others rely on paint. Placing the hills under the tablecloth will provide smooth contours and obviate the need for decorating them. If they are placed on top, they will need to be 27painted or otherwise decorated to fit in with the rest of the table. If model railway surfacing flock is used, it is best applied on top of a thick coat of water-soluble PVA, then damped down half or a quarter of an hour later with very dilute PVA, possibly mixed with water- based paint to modify its colour and with a drop of washing up liquid added as a wetting agent. This sets it hard and armours the surface against damage. Other methods of making hills include preparing papier mché on a wire-mesh frame, cutting them from flexible plastic foam mats sold by Woolworths, and even using any of these methods to construct a series of interchangeable terrain modules, usually square, to cover the whole table. This last provides the ultimate in flexibility as you can go down as well as up. How- ever, the modules are difficult to store and transport, and it is very difficult indeed to make them accurately enough to prevent crevices appearing in between. Hills of course are not the only items you can make for yourself. The Woolworths’ foam mats previously mentioned can be cut up to provide trees and hedges, and the 1/300 player can get an awful lot of hedges from a packet of pipe cleaners. Many a wargamer, too, who would jib at moulding his own figures, finds himself perfectly capable of making satisfactory buildings out of wood or card. Having bought or made your terrain, the next thing is to paint it where necessary. Before you mix your colours, go out and look at examples of the thing you are going to paint and make careful colour notes. We think of brick as being red, water as blue, trees as a 28 solid green with brown trunks and roads as dark grey. Go to the top of a hill and look at things a little way off, thus duplicating the view you will have of your table, and you will get some terrible shocks. Remember that at least a third of the visual effect of a game, which is its biggest advantage over other pastimes, comes from the terrain. It is therefore worth putting the same care into it as into painting the troops, especially as it does not take nearly as long to achieve a comparable effect.Choosing a Set of Wargames Rules Wargames Research Group at present produce sets of rules covering land warfare from 3000BC to AD1250, 1500 to 1700, 1700 to 1850 and 1925 up to the present day. The intention is to expand this coverage to include the whole of recorded history with a range of rule sets that have as much as possible in common. This will facilitate changes of period, cover battles all over the world and cover all aspects of battle, however infrequently these may in practice be used. To simplify play, the parts of the rules most frequently used are duplicated on a single cardboard reminder sheet so that reference need be made to the main rule book only occasionally. In all these rules, except those covering the period since 1925, the main manoeuvring units are battalions or the equivalent, representing between 250 and 1,500 men. The higher level of the later sets uses the platoon or equivalent as its basic unit, the lower using the section. WRG plan an extended range of lower-level sets to cover the whole field of history in the same way as the present higher-level rules. These will fill a gap between present high-level rules and skirmish sets. Similarly, it is hoped to expand the naval rules coverage from the present 3000BC to AD1000, and possibly expand the provision for ground attack air- craft in the post-1925 rules into a separate series covering all aerial activities. Send a stamped addressed envelope to War Games Typical wargames rule books. Each historical period needs its own set, varying between 20 and 60 pages, However, most of the play needs only a single double:sided card reminder sheet. Research Group, 75 Ardingly Drive, Goring-by-Sea, Sussex for details of the full range of rules and reference books. New items are announced in advertisements in the various wargaming magazines. There are many other publishers of rules, some original, some not. Manufacturers of figures and models often produce their own rules, and all other rules with any pretensions to merit can be obtained from the general suppliers mentioned previously. Sets of particular interest and originality include the Rudis and Paragon gladiatorial rules, Table Top Games 29rules for prehistoric animal combat, the Paragon rules for aerial combat with 1/72 scale model aircraft mounted on height stands, and the western gun fight and similar rules by Skirmish Wargames. If you succeed in making contact with a local club or group, the members will be eager to advise you as to which rules are most used locally. In case you do not have the benefit of such advice, here are a few tips on evaluating rules and the advertisements for them. First check on the historical period covered. If the rules cover only one campaign instead of an appreci- able period and the whole world, you are entitled to wonder why. The real reason is always that it is easier for the rule writer, who does not have to sort out the contradictions implicit, for example, in the fact the Brown Bess in Marlborough’s time scored 20% hits but only 3% in Wellington's. However, if he had found out the reasons why this was so and had taken them into account, his rules might have gained by the insight. There is also the point that World War II rules covering the desert campaigns are of little use if all your potential opponents have Russian armies. Far better is a set of rules\that:covers the speciality both of you and your opponents, and the bigger the period and area covered the more likely this is to be so. All wargames rules are a compromise between realism and playability. Anybody can write a simple set and many can write an accurate set, but few can com- bine the two. If you see a set advertised as ‘advanced’, you may fairly judge that the authors have doubts about its suitability for beginners. If on the other hand 30 it is advertised as ‘simple’, you should check on whether it is really simpler than its competitors or whether it is just incomplete. If for instance an Ancient set left out provision for chariots or war elephants for the sake of simplicity, players with Celtic or Hellenistic armies might be very disappointed. Similarly, a Modernist with a Russian army would be displeased to find no provision for the night fighting that would put him on even terms with otherwise superior Opponents. The best way to combine a comprehensive set of rules with relative simplicity in play is to use the slip- out reminder sheet method mentioned above. Check if these are provided. Until about 1965 there were no commercial rule sets. Each player wrote his own rules, this being considered one of the more pleasurable parts of the hobby, and away games were played with the opponent's rules. Since then, the standard has improved enormously and a much deeper level of research is now needed, but this is no reason why you should not try your hand at writing your own. There are plenty of gaps still to be filled and even in well-trodden areas no one believes that rules have yet reached perfection.