Which Period Do I Choose?
So, we have discussed figure sizes and have also seen how wargames armies are scaled-down versions of the real thing. Now, what period of history are you going to portray in your wargames?
The choice of period is literally as long as history itself and indeed longer. The periods are usually placed into conventional groups and this would be an opportune moment to say a few words on each.
The "Ancient" Period
Generally regarded as 3,00013C to AD500, the Ancient period covers history from its origins and encompasses all the armies of the Ancient and Biblical worlds.
This includes Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Ancient Britains, Gauls, Ancient Indians, Picts, etc. The period is very popular amongst wargamers, but it does cover a very long timescale. Often silly situations result such as Mycenaean Greek army, c.1300BC being pitted against one of the Ancient Britons, c.A050.
In real historical terms the two could never have met, but it is interesting to explore the capabilities of the two armies in a fictitious contest. Of course, two contemporary armies -e.g. Republic Roman and Carthagian c.400BC can also be pitted against one another within a proper historical background. Either style of game is enjoyable in its own right.
The Dark Ages
Moving on, and becoming more British orientated, perhaps, we come to what is usually termed the Dark Ages AD500-1000. This period saw the end of the Roman Empire, the advent of the Vikings, the numerous invasions of the British Isles by Danes, Saxons, etc., as well as wars between kings in Great Britain. It is in this period that we find the real King Arthur and numerous powerful Earls. More and more is becoming known about the Dark Ages, rendering them not quite so dark.
The Middle Ages
Next come the Middle Ages AD1 000to perhaps AD1 400. The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest, Hereward the Wake, Magna Carta, the Crusades, the wars against the Scots and Welsh and the Hundred Years War (lasting until 1453) all feature in this period. The era saw the transition of soldiers from wearing no armour through mail armour, to full plate armour.
When creating a Medieval army, you have to make a choice -you either depict your soldiers in the correct armour of the period or ignore this and simply collect figures in differing armour style and class them all as Medievals. The style of armour worn in say 1260 was radically different to that worn in 1450. One saving grace, however; is that armour of any sort was expensive and only a very few noblemen could afford to stay with the changing fashions. Thus, a Medieval army of a given time could feature figures wearing the style of armour from an earlier period, but not from a later one.
The Renaissance Period
The Renaissance period AD 1400-1700 comes next and this is also a popular wargames period. The Wars of the Roses, the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the English Civil Wars and the Thirty Years War all feature in this period. Further afield the Swiss, the Japanese Samurai, French and Eastern European armies were in a position of some prominence. A rich choice, indeed, for the wargamer.
The Horse & Musket Period
The next period is termed the Horse and Musket and runs from AD1700 to perhaps 1900. I say "perhaps" for the American Civil War marked a watershed in military matters with its use of new weapons, the railway and the telegraph. However, for our purposes the period definition will suffice and what a crammed period it is. The Marlburian Wars, the Seven Years War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussian War and British Colonial Wars all happened in this period. Really, after the Crimean War (1854-6) the nature of warfare changed dramatically and battles after this date were radically different to those before.
The Modern Period
The Modern period AD1 900-2000. This embraces the Great War, the Second World War, the Korean War, Vietnam War and speculation on World War Three. In this last named, NATO forces are pitted against those of the Warsaw Pact in imaginary scenarios in "what if" situations.
Fantasy Wargaming
Finally, there is a style of wargaming which, by its very nature, lies outside the periods noted above. Fantasy war-gaming is very popular and has two distinct styles.
Firstly, there is the "adventurer" style of game which you may have heard of as Dungeons and Dragons wherein the players go on various quests to seek treasure or whatever. Then there is the mass battle style where mythical creatures and men lock in combat. J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings has been a great source of inspiration for this type of wargaming which equals "dungeoneering" in popularity.
The foregoing is only the briefest of surveys, but it does, I think, serve to illustrate the variety and choice available to the wargamer. Usually one period of history will, for one reason or another, have an interest for you and it might be a good idea to start with that. What should be avoided is the pitfall of working in more than one period. Select your period and, initially at least, stick to it, no matter how tempting other periods may appear.
Other armies will undoubtedly follow, but one step at a time. Model soldiers have to be bought, painted and organised before they can be used - a necessary if sometimes onerous task. If you keep to one period to start with, the task will be eased, try several at once and you will get nowhere. You will lay out a lot of money, spend many hours painting and end up with little to use.
Whether you have to raise one or two armies in the period will largely depend on your local conditions. Nearby war-gamers may already possess an army in your period, which is an advantage, or you may wish to raise two contemporary armies for your own use - I always opt for the latter so as to be "self-contained" and not necessarily dependent on other wargamers for battles
Wargame Rules
All games have rules and wargaming is no exception. However, unlike other games, there is no one standard set of rules.., indeed, you can write your own! But let's start at the beginning.
In the same way in which we scaled down the sizes of our wargames units from their historical counterparts, so we must scale down what such units can do. A wargame move is purported to represent a set amount of time, say a minute, for example, and everything a real soldier could achieve in this period of time can also be performed by our model equivalents. Let's say our soldier could fire his bow four times or his musket once, or cover 100 yards of ground or whatever - all these activities must be scaled down.
For this we use two parameters; "time scale" and the "ground scale". I have already touched on the time scale, but just to reiterate, a set amount of time is considered. It may be a minute, perhaps two, perhaps only 30 seconds, but the time scale chosen remains constant throughout the rules. Let us continue our example and say that this period of time allows our early 19th century soldier to fire his musket once or advance 100 yards. Now, we need some idea of the distances involved and here is where the ground scale comes into our calculations.
Let us assume for the moment that one inch in our wargame represents a real yard. Thus, our man, able to cover 100 yards in a minute would also be able to cover 100 inches in a wargame. Using the same scale, the ball fired from his musket with an average range of say 400 yards would cover 400 inches. You see the relationship? However, the above example creates distances which are rather too large for wargame purposes. To underline this, take the case of artillery in the same period with ranges of typically 1,000 yards giving a scale range of 1,000 inches or 83 feet.
Two popular and workable ground scales are 1 in. equals 10 yards or 1mm equals 1 yard. Thus our 100 yards will be scaled to 10in, in the former or 100mm in the latter -much more suitable! Again, there is nothing to stop you using your own ground scales, but always remember, be consistent.
The many sets of commercial rules vary in complexity, content and presentation. Which set you prefer will be very much a matter of personal choice. Whatever you may hear, no set of commercial rules enjoys universal acclaim, but some are admittedly more popular than others.
When you first start wargaming it is advisable to avoid the more complex sets such as those by Newbury Rules and the Wargames Research Group. Don't get me wrong here, this is not a condemnation of them, for both rule sets are excellent in their way and provide quite reasonable games, eventually. It is just that their sheer complexity will undoubtedly overawe the beginner and, in all probability, put him or her off wargaming for life.
A simpler set of rules will be a far better introduction to the hobby
The Conduct of a Wargame
A wargame is split into a set or unspecified number of turns or moves. Each turn can be said to be sub-divided into phases or sub-sections which follow the same sequence: Movement, Firing, Mêlée, Morale.
The movement section or phase permits the players to move those of their soldiers that they wish to in accordance with the distances specified by the rules in use. Then comes firing; all troops capable of firing and desired so to do by the players may fire - again, ranges and effect will be covered by the rules. Casualties are removed and the turn moves on to the next phase. In this section any hand-to-hand combats, termed "Mêlées", are resolved and again casualties removed. Finally comes a morale check.
To explain this last item somewhat, morale is the "imagined" mental state of your model soldiers in the wargame. A regiment of cavalry thunders across the wargames table straight at a unit of enemy infantry - will they stand and fire or will they run? Morale will decide. Various conditions are assessed; the unit's experience, efficiency, status, etc., which, with the addition of a dice roll to represent the imponderable factor, will decide the reaction of the infantry unit in question. Should the infantry break and run, the cavalry will in all probability cut them down. If, however, they stand and fire, the cavalry themselves will have to have their own morale checked to see if they still charge home on the infantry.
This completes the turn and the game moves on to the next one. As mentioned, wargames can be of a set length; e.g. one side has to capture a village in say 12 moves, or the game carries on until either one side has clearly won or the time comes to stop playing.
The use of dice in a wargame does not reduce it to the level of "Snakes and Ladders", but serves to introduce the inexactitude of battle.
War is an art, not a science
Playing Area
By far the greatest majority of wargamers play on the dining room table or a similar temporary playing surface. Only a very few are fortunate enough to have their own permanent, dedicated wargames table. Your available playing area is one of the factors to consider when selecting the size of wargames figures as well as the figure ratio. The average table measures, perhaps, 5ft. x 3ft. and, as such, offers a reasonably sized area.
For many years all my wargames were played on the dining room table and great fun they were too. Providing the consent of the presiding domestic authority is obtained, evening wargames can be quite happily played on the table. It is unwise to plan anything more ambitious, however, since the rest of the family will also lay claim to the table for such relatively unimportant things as eating!
Two wall paper pasting tables side by side make a fairly useful playing area, but they do need covering, otherwise there is inevitably quite a wide gap between them. A board laid on your bed is OK, but has two draw-backs - move on the bed and the board will tilt, reducing your fine army to an ignominious heap, and when you go to bed the playing area has to be stored somewhere. A board with folding legs which hinges against the wall is another idea, but it does take up a lot of wall space in the "up" position.
Really, the playing area you have available will to a large extent be dictated by your domestic arrangements.
One day you may well aspire to your own room, but never be despondent of this always remains an unattainable ambition. The fun in wargaming is the enjoyment it brings you, not the size of your table.
Scenery
So far, we have our model soldiers manoeuvring over a plain playing area. We know the real countryside is not like this, whatever the place and time, so-how can we recreate some sort of scenery on our wargames table?
The first requirements may be for hills, rivers and roads. To look at hills first, these can be achieved by books placed under a suitably coloured cloth laid over them, or by suitably-cut polystyrene ceiling tiles, or carpet tiles piled on top of one another until the desired height or arrangement is achieved. Some companies produce ready-made hills, but these do tend to be relatively expensive.
Remember your soldiers will, generally speaking, have to stand on these hills, so the stepped or layered method is a good one to use.
Roads and rivers are basically the same except the former are painted brown, the latter, blue. Pieces of card can be used in sections say 2in.-3in. wide and perhaps 6in.-8in. long. Bends and curves should also be made in order that your roads and rivers tend to appear more natural.
Next, perhaps, come trees and buildings. Whilst you can make your own trees, commercially available ones are so good and relatively cheap it is, quite honestly, not worth the effort. Have a good look round your local model shop and don't forget to checkout any model railway shops too -they often have good scenic items which are useful to wargamers.
Buildings, more than any other scenic item, set the time and place of the battle. You would not expect to see a whitewashed thatched cottage on an Ancients wargame table, nor perhaps a Greek temple in an English Civil War set-to.
Key your buildings to the period and scale you have chosen and they will complement your figures well. Choose a basic stock of say half a dozen buildings and they will stand you in good stead for many years. Such buildings can be scratch-built without too much difficulty, but are also commercially available in cardboard, plaster, resin and plastic.
Just as we used a "real-to-wargame-figure" ratio, so we use a "real-to-wargame-scenery" relationship. One house represents a hamlet, two a village, four a small town and so on. Likewise, one tree is a corpse, a couple a small wood, a dozen or so a virtual forest. Only experience and once again your available playing area will decide which is right for you.
As to other items, ploughed fields can be represented by variedly coloured squares of felt, inexpensively obtained from wool shops or handicraft shops. Fencing, hedges and walls are widely available commercially as are such items as bridges, castles and churches.
Do not spend too much money initially on your scenery. After all, you might not stay with your first choice of period and - dare I say it - you might not even stay with the hobby!
Many commercially available items of scenery are expensive, so only buy them if you are sure. The money spent on say a commercial model of a 25mm castle would have bought you an awful lot of wargame figures, so take care before you buy.
Good terrain will complement your wargame figures and make the battle look just that bit more meaningful and realistic. Scenery may also provide tactical objectives for the game, where even such flat items as crossroads take on an importance all of their own.
Amassing Armies
So far we have looked at figure sizes and scales, figure ratios, historical periods, wargame rules, the conduct of a wargame, playing areas and scenery.
It is now, perhaps, time to look at some other related aspects of wargaming.
Once you have settled on the period in which you are going to wargame, you are faced with the task of organising an army.
Here you have two problems; how were they organised and how do I buy? I will cover organisation in a moment under the next heading, so let's look at the buying of wargames figures.
I am assuming now that you have decided in which scale you are going to wargame. One method of buying figures is to study the advertisements in a magazine, such as Military Modelling, and send off for a manufacturer's catalogue; choose from this and send off a massive order of figures through the post. Not all figure manufacturers have retail outlets and to deal with companies entirely through the post is not unusual. I have spent a good deal of money over the years with companies whose premises I have never seen!
This system, however, entails a high outlay in cash and when the figures arrive, you are presented with an absolute mountain of silver metal miniatures to paint. OK for some, I suppose, but not the best way in my view. There are many interconnected thoughts to consider here. A manufacturer's catalogue is fine, but a better idea is to go along to one of the many wargames conventions held throughout the year, and see the figures for yourself…before you buy.
A good plan is to buy one of each, and consider them calmly at home before ordering any more. Often in the relative turmoil of a convention the wrong figures are inadvertently purchased. I am assuming metal here, what's wrong with 20mm plastic? answer - nothing, and their availability is much more widespread as I mentioned earlier. As you build your army, build a balanced force in "building blocks" say of two infantry battalions, a regiment of horse and a field gun. Then if you are also creating your own opposition, do the same for the enemy. In this way you will soon have a small force with which to wargame as you repeat the exercise. Thus, your efforts will soon be rewarded and you will be inspired to continue when you see your own figures inaction.
A word here about professionally painted armies. Many companies offer this service, but they do tend to be expensive, you really are better off painting your own, at least initially. I personally cannot "feel" for figures other people have painted. There is nothing like leading your own painted troops into action and don't worry, without exception your painting will improve . . . the more you do. Bearing this in mind, try leaving your elite units until last rather than starting with them, appealing though they may be.
It is a bit disconcerting when your Spanish guerrillas are better painted than their French Imperial Guard opponents!
Should you wish to have your figures painted for you, you will find that most companies offer a high standard of workmanship. I don't intend to cover painting in this booklet, but as mentioned later, I will always help with any queries you may have.
Build your armies up a unit or a small group of units at a time and you'll enjoy doing so and have a fairly quick return for your efforts.
Research
Once you embark on the process of amassing your chosen army, you will need to know how it was organised. Don't rush out and buy every book on the subject you can lay your hands on - use your local library first.
Birthdays and Christmas can always produce carefully selected books or book tokens, provided unsubtle hints are dropped in the right quarter.
Beware here of conflicting sources and books which are deemed "useless". No one book will give you a complete picture on your chosen army, you need at least two, preferably three or four before you can start to paint with confidence.
To spend all weekend painting up a unit only to find you have, according to another source, given them the wrong colour coat cuffs is a bit annoying. Imagine though the tension as a third or fourth reference is checked for further evidence! To re-paint or not to re-paint, that is the question to be answered.
Wargaming is, unfortunately, bedevilled much more than most hobbies with instant "experts" who tolerate no views but their own. You will undoubtedly meet them in the course of the hobby, but learn to hold your own council. Just because the club "expert" dismisses a book as "rubbish" does not mean that it is. Have a look at it, compare its facts with those of other books and you will soon see for yourself whether the "expert" is right or not. He seldom is.
Try to build a cost-effective library to back up your painting and organisational efforts - another argument for staying with just one period initially. Make notes from other books (do not photocopy them, technically this is nearly always illegal) and build your own collection of reference exercise books. These can consist of notes, articles or pictures from magazines such as Military Modelling which builds into quite a reference work in its own right, visits to actual battlefields, museums, etc. You will usually find that people are only too willing to help you in your quest for information.
I cannot really stress too often, however, to start with your local library. I think you will be pleasantly surprised as to just what the staff there can come up with.
Wargame Clubs
There are really three levels of socialising when playing wargames - a wargame club, a small group of friends or on your own.
Clubs can be both very encouraging and very off-putting for a newcomer to the hobby - or for an experienced player for 'that matter. Whilst you have access to the club's facilities - playing tables, etc., and perhaps the opportunity to use someone else's army of a period you are currently considering wargaming, you will probably have to use their rules and will inevitably be exposed to the club expert/bore. Clubs are well-worth considering, however, for a friendly club can be a very real asset to a wargamer and you won't know what your local club is like until you try, will you?
Gradually, perhaps from within the club or outside, you will meet like-minded souls who share a similar approach to the hobby. To meet at each other’s houses on a regular basis is an ideal way to wargame and to achieve a great deal of enjoyment from the hobby.
Finally, if you don't have a club and don't meet or wish to meet fellow wargamers, this in no way bars you from the hobby. Solo wargaming has an appeal all of its own, and I could go on at length discussing its advantages and disadvantages.
Just because you are on your own doesn't mean you cannot wargame quite the opposite, in fact, for you are not dependent on anyone else for enjoyment in the hobby.
Summary
I hope this booklet will have been of some use to you in clarifying certain aspects of wargaming I have based it largely on the many and often repeated questions which I receive via my "Observation Post", Military Modelling's regular wargames column.
I harbour a sneaking feeling that I had even more fun and enjoyment from the hobby then, than I do now, for all the numerous figures I now possess. One thing is for sure, war-gaming is all things to all men and is a magnificent hobby for people of all ages and positions in life.
Happy wargaming to you all!