Wargaming - what's it all about?

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The following pages edited text from a booklet issued by Military Modelling magazine over 36 years ago, back in 1987, but still very much relevant today. -ScotWars

There are probably more solo wargamers, and even more intending solo wargamers, in the World than there are wargames club members. Many also cannot, often because of their geographical location, attend a club and neither can they find anything in print - in book or magazine form - that "explains" what wargaming is all about, in plain simple terms.

Most works that are still in print assume the reader knows something about the game and remain, for a greater part of the time, partially or totally unread and thus discarded. This is simply because the reader can't understand what is written and has no one to ask, advise or explain.

Stuart Asquith constantly advises beginners who contact him via his successful monthly column "Observation Post" in Military Modelling magazine and has prepared this booklet from his experience at dealing with wargamers first-hand - from all over the World!

This handy booklet explains all the basic first principles any beginner needs to know, figure scales, rules, periods, etc., and answers some of the questions many of you ask.

Familiarise yourself with the terms and information herein which should "prime" you to sufficient standards to, at least, understand what other wargamers are talking about should you take the step of joining one of the many wargaming clubs. - Ken Jones, Military Modelling Magazine

So, you have decided to take up wargaming - or at least you are trying to find out a little more about the subject prior to doing so? If for either, or similar reasons, you will find that this booklet will be of some interest and value to you, presenting, as it does, an outline of the hobby and an explanation of some of the related terms.

A wargame can, perhaps, be loosely defined as an attempt to portray a battle in miniature, using scale figures and terrain. Using model soldiers of a suitable size - and there are many different sizes as we shall see later - on a representation of a battlefield, one, two or more players can attempt to change the course of history or perhaps study historical actions as they unfold in the course of a wargame.

Already, however, a number of technical hobby terms which may be unfamiliar to you have cropped up. We need to define and examine these and others if we are to seek both clarity and understanding on the subject.

The sizes of model soldiers tend to be universally quoted in millimetres and this has been the case for a number of years, even before the advent of metrication. One reason for this is the fact that the inch is rather a large unit for the measurement of comparatively small model soldiers. As will be seen some awkward measurements result, the smaller millimetre is more suitable for an accurate assessment of size. An approximate equivalent in inches is, however, given in the brackets in the headings of these sections Whilst I have included it here for interest, the scale size of the figure is rarely referred to in the wargame world. Just for the record 1:32 scale means that the model in question is 1/32nd the size of the original.

The 54mm figure is the size of the toy soldier that the famous author H. G. Wells used for his wargames, as can be seen in his book Little Wars published in 1913, 1931 and 1970. H. G. Wells played his wargame either on the floor indoors or out in the garden, for this size of figure does require rather a lot of room.

The figures of William Britain Ltd., which were available at that time; are now such sought after by collectors and fetch very high prices. Should 54mm be the size of model soldier with which you wish to wargame it is advisable to purchase the figures currently available, rather than to try to collect what are now expensive miniature masterpieces. Many companies produce inexpensive 54mm figures in soft plastic and these are ideal for wargames, but there is a lack of supportive material - artillery, wagons, etc., in this scale.

You will see numerous advertisements from companies who produce what are termed "Traditional" toy soldiers - again these figures are aimed at the collector rather than at the wargamer. Whilst a display of such figures looks rather splendid, they are quite expensive and the cost rises sharply with such items as field guns.

For a long time, this was the size for wargames figures. As much fine detail could be featured on this diminutive warrior as on his taller comrades and he took up far less room. Today the true 30mm size has largely disappeared, but with figure manufacturers being very free in their interpretation of scale sizes as mentioned earlier, many model soldiers quoted as being 25mm are in fact well over 30mm tall.

It is a paradox that the true scale 30mm soldier will today be dwarfed by these 25mm figures. This does mean, however, that the wargamer who wishes to use the very limited number of 30mm figures available can also generally use 25mm supportive items.

Model soldiers of this scale are very popular and have for a long time dominated the wargames' world. Nowadays, however, their predominance is being challenged by their smaller cousins as we shall see in a moment.

The ranges of 25mm figures available are vast in both period and selection of type. It is largely true to say that any model soldier you may wish to buy, whatever his period, nationality or type, will be available from at least one of the figure manufacturers and probably from several.

Please don't rush out and try to prove me wrong —you will probably succeed. The statement is a generalisation, but it is a fair one - indeed in the more popular periods such as Napoleonic there is a positive embarrassment of figures from which to choose. I suggest that you examine the ranges of 25mm figures carefully for here still are the bulk of model soldiers and, as mentioned, the variety available is staggering.

The 25mm soldier remains very popular and you will seldom be short of opponents if you field an army of these figures.

Something of a curious fellow, the 20mm warrior. In metal he was one of the predecessors of the 25mm size, but public opinion found in favour of the larger figure and the 20mm soldier has tended to disappear. A couple of metal figure manufacturers still produce ranges though and, surprisingly enough, whenever a range of plastic figures appears on the market the soldiers therein are invariably 20mm in size.

If you are intending to use plastic soldiers - and why not, they are well-defined and very inexpensive - you will find that their 25mm metal comrades tower above them. For those odd figures that the plastic ranges do not supply you will probably have to seek out the 20mm metal ranges or be very selective in your purchase of 25mm figures.

Over the last few years 15mm wargames figures have taken the market by storm. Their small size and relative cheapness make them very suitable for a goodly proportion of war-garners.

Numerous manufacturers produce ranges and generally all the ancillary equipment is available to support the figures. Such equipment, artillery, wagons, etc., is also much cheaper than those in the 25mm size.

Again, manufacturers have interpreted the size very loosely and you will find that 1 5mm actually varies between 12mm and 18mm. With a 15mm army you are fairly sure of finding plenty of opponents with like-sired forces.

This scale originally came into favour for miniature tanks. The greatly increased range of their guns and dispersion over the battlefield was not easy to re-create in the, then, more usual 1:76 and 1:72 scales. The advent of 1:300 scale tanks solved this problem, but even tank battles need support vehicles, infantry, etc., and these extremely diminutive soldiers quickly became popular.

The figures are available in blocks of men, or as individual castings and whilst still not as well accepted as 25mm or 15mm, they are rapidly becoming so. One idiosyncrasy here to counter what has already been said, the 6mm figure is usually referred to in the jargon of the hobby as 1/300th rather than 6mm - it's a strange world, wargaming.

Don't forget that you can have armies in various sizes; say two 15mm armies in one period, a couple more in 25mm in another and perhaps a 6mm set-up also in a third. There are other wargame figure sizes, but these are in the minority, by far the greater number will be one of the sizes discussed here.

So, we now have at least an understanding of figure sizes and scales along with an appreciation of their various qualities.

The next aspect to consider is how many figures to buy and how to organise them. Perhaps the best way to tackle this would be to select one period - shall we say the ever-popular Napoleonic era -- and examine the units involved.

At the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815) the organisation of the infantry of the various nations involved varied to a degree, but the main unit was the battalion which averaged a thousand men.

Now clearly, we cannot have a thousand model soldiers representing just one battalion of men. The cost involved would be high, the space taken considerable and don't forget, that's only one battalion, you'll need several on each side'

A better way is to adopt a ratio between historical organisation and a wargames formation. So, let us take our 1,000 strong battalion and subject it to, perhaps, seven ratios:

Ratio  -  Figures

1:200  -  5

1:100  -  10

1:50    - 20

1:40    - 25

1:33    - 30

1:20    - 50

1:10    - 100

Thus, to take the 1:50 ratio as an example, our 1,000 strong battalion would be represented by 20 wargames figures. Which ratio is selected - indeed you can use your own, no need to stay with the examples used - will depend on the playing area you have available, storage space and funds. Also, the figure size will affect the ratio chosen. Clearly the 6mm figure will permit a much smaller ratio than the 30mm figure. A scaled-down battalion of 20 figures in 6mm may look rather too small to be representative, whereas in 25mm it is possibly about right.

The basic organisational unit of Napoleonic cavalry was the regiment of perhaps 500 men. Here we have only half the total of the infantry battalion and this reflects in the ratios.

Ratio  -  Figures

1:200  -  3

1:100  -  5

1:50    - 10

1:40    - 13

1:33    - 15

1:20    - 26

1:10    - 30

The key factor here - perhaps I may go so far as to say the vital factor - is that the same ratio is used for the infantry and cavalry, indeed, throughout the army. It is no good opting for a 1:100 ratio for your infantry if you use 1:33 for the cavalry, consistency is essential.

The organisational unit of the artillery was the battery, usually of six guns. This is virtually impossible to scale down, so instead the number of gunners serving the battery can be considered. Let us assume that there are 140 gunners in our battery - that is a fairly typical total.

Ratio  -  Figures

1:200  -  n/a

1:100  -  1

1:50    -  3

1:40    -  4

1:33    -  4

1:20    -  7

1:10    -  14

With some rounding up and down of figures the resultant strengths can be seen. Clearly at 1:200 or 1:100 there are insufficient gunners and at 1:20 or 1:10 possibly too many.

Say a ratio is adopted - remember it must be the same one for all three arms of your army: infantry, cavalry and artillery - then four gunners would be arranged around a model field gun and be said to represent the battery for wargame purposes. OK so far?

All this has been somewhat simplified, but you have to start somewhere. Numerous complexities inevitably creep in to the most basic of plans. In the Napoleonic period, most infantry units or regiments were made up of a number of battalions, varying from one to as many as six. Also, the men in the battalions would be organised into companies and could be referred to as musketeers, fusiliers, grenadiers, carabiniers, chasseurs, voltigeurs, etc., depending on their role and nationality. The best idea is to select the nation on whose army you wish to base your wargames army and study that country's set-up.

As a general guide, the tower and higher formations could be laid out as below

Thus, regiments form brigades, brigades’ divisions and divisions corps. Whilst this mainly applies to infantry, cavalry formations are organised in the same, if smaller, manner. Artillery units are allocated at various levels, here they are at divisional level

In later periods when tanks came into being, they tended to replace the cavalry sections of the army composition.

Once you begin your own research you will see that the example table is very generalised, but it will serve to illustrate the general organisational breakdown and the relationship between infantry, cavalry and artillery.

Well that's all very well, you may say, but l don't want to do Napoleonics. Again, no problem. Establish a basic strength of the unit in question and then decide on a scaled-down ratio.

Some examples A Roman cohort, 1st century AD was 480 strong, an American Civil War (1861-65) infantry regiment was 500 strong on average, a Prussian regiment of foot during the Seven Years War (11756-63) was 1,700 strong. So it goes on, apply a ratio to these figures and your wargame unit will evolve. You will, admittedly, need some very basic information such as this before you can begin, but there again you are going to need some background anyway.

To sum up, the figure ratio you choose will depend on the size of model soldiers that you wish to use, on the playing area available, storage space and last, but not least, funds available.

One last word which cannot be stressed too often, be consistent with the chosen ratio throughout your wargame’s army.

Once you begin your own research you will see that the example table is very generalised, but it will serve to illustrate the general organisational breakdown and the relationship between infantry, cavalry and artillery.

Well that's all very well, you may say, but l don't want to do Napoleonics. Again, no problem. Establish a basic strength of the unit in question and then decide on a scaled-down ratio.

Some examples A Roman cohort, 1st century AD was 480 strong, an American Civil War (1861-65) infantry regiment was 500 strong on average, a Prussian regiment of foot during the Seven Years War (11756-63) was 1,700 strong. So it goes on, apply a ratio to these figures and your wargame unit will evolve. You will, admittedly, need some very basic information such as this before you can begin, but there again you are going to need some background anyway.

To sum up, the figure ratio you choose will depend on the size of model soldiers that you wish to use, on the playing area available, storage space and last, but not least, funds available.

One last word which cannot be stressed too often, be consistent with the chosen ratio throughout your wargame’s army.

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