Donald Featherstone’s

Solo-Wargaming

Edited by John Curry

Copyright © 2013 John Curry and Donald Featherstone.
The rights of John Curry and Donald Featherstone to be identified as
Authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published by Kayle and Ward, London, 1973.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author in writing.
Other books by John Curry as part of the History of Wargaming Project
include:
Donald Featherstone’s War Games
The Fred Jane Naval Wargame (1906) including the Royal Navy War Game
(1921)
Donald Featherstone’s Skirmish Wargaming
Verdy’s ‘Free Kriegspiel’ including the Victorian Army’s 1896 War Game
Donald Featherstone’s Naval Wargames
Paddy Griffith’s Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun
Donald Featherstone’s Advanced Wargames
Donald Featherstone’s Wargaming Campaigns
Donald Featherstone’s Wargaming Commando Operations
The Fletcher Pratt Naval Wargame
Innovations in Wargaming
See the History of Wargaming Project website for a full list of books
Cover photo taken by Tom Mouat of Martin Rapier’s World War II
Operational Rules during a game at the Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker
Table of Contents
1 WHY SOLO-WARGAMING?

2 'INSTANT' SOLO-WARGAMING

3 DOMESTIC WARGAMING

4 THE PRESS-GANG

5 REALISM THROUGH CONTINUOUS COMBAT

6 CONCEALMENT IN SOLO-WARGAMING

7 PERSONALIZED WARGAMING

8 SOLO-WARGAMING IN THE NEW WORLD

9 SOLO MUSKET WARGAME

10 SOLO-WARGAMES CAMPAIGNS

11 THE MATCHBOX SYSTEM IN SOLO-WARGAMING

12 THE IMPORTANCE OF WAR DIARIES

13 CHANCE CARDS

14 TACTICAL CARDS

15 REGIMENTAL CARDS

16 A SMALL SPARK OF COURAGE

17 MORE BOOKS FOR SOLO-WAR GAMES

18 BATTLES BY MAIL
19 WEATHER IN WARGAMES

20 WARGAMING IN BED

21 A PRINCE OF SOLO-WARGAMERS

22 RETASOL

23 SETTING UP A REALISTIC BATTLEFIELD

APPENDIX 1 SOURCES OF TOY SOLDIERS

APPENDIX 2 RULES FOR USE IN SOLO-WARGAMES

APPENDIX 3 SOURCES OF INSPIRATION AND INSTRUCTION

FOR THE SOLO-WARGAMER
1 WHY SOLO-WARGAMING?
When one first considers solo-wargaming it might appear to be the
inadequate last resort of the enthusiastic wargamer who desires to battle
with model soldiers but cannot find a local opponent to face him across the
table-top battlefield. This leads to a distasteful vision of one man with full
consciousness of what both armies are going to do rather pointlessly
manoeuvring them across an uninspiring terrain. To view solo-wargaming
thus is to forfeit the pleasure derived from an aspect of the hobby that has
much to recommend it. Planned in a thoughtful and methodical manner and
recognizing that it requires deeper thought and interest than regular
scheduled battles with an opponent, solo-wargaming possesses many
exclusive merits. Sometimes it may be necessary to fight solo, but it can
become a fascinating addition to the wargamer's normal activities against a
live opponent.
The solo-wargamer can obtain great satisfaction from his individual
efforts by realizing that a table-top battle is the culmination of his
efforts, the flowering of seeds planted over a most satisfying initial period.
First he decides upon a period of military history and then plans the
composition of the opposing armies. He reads all available literature on the
period before making up his mind whether he is going to reconstruct an
actual historical battle, fight a completely imaginary conflict or whether it is
to be an engagement designed as an exercise to test some military theory or
tactics.
Because solo-wargaming ideally lends itself to the long-drawn-out
campaign (often difficult to fight with an opponent whose attendances may
be irregular), he will need a narrative and a set of scaled maps for the
overall area of the campaign and for the local terrains where the map has to
show a small battlefront of perhaps a mile across. The maps are protected
by transparent plastic coverings upon which mystic? Coloured symbols
denote the complex manoeuvrings of both forces. All these preliminaries
play an essential part in achieving the 'mood of the period' until finally the
markings on the map approach each other and hills, valleys, rivers, roads,
villages and bridges are brought to life on a miniature table-top battlefield.
 Throughout, the solo-wargamer has had a completely free hand in
these activities, unfettered by the possible whims and lack of understanding
of another person who may not share his visions or enthusiasms. For it is
unlikely that your opponent will ever feel the same about the regiments that
you have painstakingly painted and brigaded together under a commander
you greatly admire; so that, while the Peninsular War leader on his rearing
horse may be the famous Craufurd leading his Light Division, to your
opponent he is merely a general in front of a lot of riflemen!
No two wargamers have the same interpretation of the manner in
which troops fought in any particular period. They base their ideas and
formulate rules on their own conception of the events described in books
and their differing interpretations lead to controversy and argument - a
situation mercifully withheld from the wargamer who fights solo battles. He
can reach a reasoned solution to controversial situations and solves them
with timeless harmony.
The old proverb 'He travels fastest who travels alone', applied to
wargaming, means that the solo-wargamer does not have to rush home from
the office hastily to lay out a battlefield in time for the scheduled 7 pm
arrival of his opponent before they relentlessly get on with the battle in an
effort to obtain a result before the opponent has to catch the last bus. The
solo-wargamer can leave his battle in situ, taking it up and putting it down
exactly where and when he wishes. He can spend odd minutes cogitating on
some aspect of the battle and ruminate on the intended manoeuvres of Red
army's left flank if he has an hour to spare that night. Truly, solo-wargaming
becomes a way of life and a most engrossing one at that!
But solo-wargamers are not all those people unable to find a local
opponent or who have withdrawn into monastic seclusion following a bitter
argument with him. Many men fight battles without human opponents as a
relaxation from the competitive tension of their regular weekly dual-
wargame. They may devote a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon to
setting up a small engagement involving perhaps only fifty figures or so
(their normal war-games table is still full of the campaign battle in which
they are engaged). Or they can work out some minor action of that
campaign - a cavalry patrol might come across a bridge defended by a
bunch of local militia, thus originating an action too small to justify setting
up a terrain and occupying an entire evening. So the wargamer who is
controlling the campaign fights it out as a solo affair on a smaller terrain
and informs his fellows of the result when next they meet. It is a good idea
to obtain their consent before doing this and to make sure that they respect
your sense of impartiality!
The man who uses solo-games as a diversion from his regular
engagements will obtain the greatest satisfaction from this aspect of
wargaming and will derive most benefit from what is written in this book.
In spite of the pleasures and even advantages of solo-wargames, Man is a
gregarious animal and there is little doubt that the majority of wargamers
would prefer to fight against a live opponent.

1. The ‘Lonely’ Wargamer.

2 'INSTANT' SOLO-WARGAMING
Two of the most valuable assets that a man can possess are enthusiasm and
spontaneity - if the solo-wargamer possesses one or both of these qualities,
then he can count himself as being truly blessed! His enthusiasm will
enable him to obtain the maximum pleasure from a pursuit that is, from
beginning to end, his 'own thing' to which he will bring energy,
inventiveness and originality. The quality of spontaneity will stimulate him
to set up a solo-wargame at the drop of a hat, perhaps to fill in an odd
couple of hours when football match has been postponed through bad
weather, or when he is baby-sitting or, tragedy upon tragedy, the television
set is broken!
But even the most volatile spontaneity can be dampened in the case of
the solo-wargamer if he has to waste a large part of his precious few hours
in so organizing the battle as to give him the enjoyable interplay of tactics
that comes from dividing himself down the middle and being two generals
at once. Briefly, this means that he requires some ready-made method of
'instant' solo-wargaming that enables him to set up the armies and get on
with the battle in a manner that allows for a realistic demonstration of both
tactics and the fluctuations of the fortunes of war. He need not despair
because, if his inventive mind has not already thought up a system of his
own, then there are a number of other methods that he can utilize or adapt
to suit his own requirements.
Much of the way in which the battle progresses depends upon the
initial disposition of the opposing forces. Obviously, this can be 'worked' by
the solo-wargamer so as to give him an interesting game. For example, he
could overload Red force's right wing and attempt a massive flanking
operation while their centre holds against Blue force's tactics of
endeavouring to hold off the superior numbers advancing on their left with
a crack guard regiment and a battery of guns in a strong position, while
their own centre and right flank move down upon the numerically weaker
forces opposing them. But for 'instant' laying-out, about the simplest
method is to split each baseline into five numbered sections –
 number 1 represents the right flank,
number 2 the right centre,
number 3 the centre,
number 4 the left centre,
number 5 the left flank and
number 6 the reserve.
At the commencement of the battle, throw a dice for each unit and,
according to the score that comes up on the dice, that unit is placed in that
numbered sector of its baseline. Thus it might work out that four out of ten
of Red army's units throw a 1, which means that they have a strong right
flank; two of them throw a 3, which puts two units in the centre, with
another two throwing a 5 out on the left flank and yet another two scoring 6
each, putting them in reserve. Facing them, the enemy force are disposed
thus: five units in their centre; two on their left flank and one on their right
centre with two in reserve. This gives a line-up of uneven forces facing
each other and presents a situation demanding a certain degree of tactical
thought. The reserve units must remain off the table behind the baseline
(ideally where a road comes on to the table or there is some sort of position
in which a reserve force might be sheltered) - they cannot be brought on to
the table until the first actual contact is made between the two armies. This
contact can be either by musketry or artillery fire actually causing a
casualty, or by hand-to-hand conflict; then they may move forward from the
baseline in any desired direction.
A similar method is to have a pack of disposition cards marked 'right
flank', 'left flank', 'centre', 'right centre', 'left centre' and 'reserve'. At the start
of the battle a card is drawn for each unit - this is placed in the position
specified on that card.
There is yet another method which has much to commend it because
the 'cards', being the exact size of a formed-up unit, can actually be moved
in place of that unit until such time as contact is made. Cut sets of cards to
the following sizes:
 4" x 1½" (equals a unit of twenty infantry plus two officers in 20 mm
scale).
7½" x 2½" (represents a squadron of thirteen cavalry plus two officers
in 20 mm scale).
2" x 1½" (represents a gun and crew in 20 mm scale).
5½" x 1¼" (represents a gun limbered up complete with horses in 20
mm scale).
Turn out proportionate numbers so that there is a predominance of
infantry, less cavalry and even fewer guns. Mark these cards so that it is
evident that they are 'live'; then make another set of cards (fewer in number)
that are blank. When laying out a battle, each general takes the number of
cards that represents the units at his disposal - say five infantry units, two
cavalry units and two guns. Then he takes the same number of 'blank'
infantry, cavalry and gun cards and, gathering them all together, shuffles
them. Without knowing whether a card is a blank or represents a unit, he
lays them in position on the battlefield in dispositions of his own choice. He
does the same thing for the opposing army and then carries out the opening
moves of the battle until contact is made. When those cards in contact are
turned up (or he may turn up all cards on the table at this point) the true
situation is immediately seen: real units face non-existent units, whose
cards are moved from the table, while the actual figures are placed in
position and their cards removed.
There is another even 'blinder' method of using this card system by
making all cards the same size so that when they are turned up no one (not
even the general who owns them) knows whether he has got an infantry or
cavalry unit or a gun in any specific position. All this leads to even more
ploys that bring variety to the game because, with this system, it is possible
to represent an army of veteran soldiers of high morale represented by a
numerically stronger army of less-experienced or lower-morale troops. This
is accomplished by giving the low-quality army its quota of cards per unit
plus an equal number of blanks, while the high-quality force have their unit
cards in the normal way but only half that number of blanks. This ensures
that their commander has a greater sense of assurance that his troops are
actually where he intends them to be.
Still using cards of either 'unit-size' or else a uniform shape, allocate
points for the standard of the troops so that veterans or guard are worth 3
points, line troops 2 points and militia 1 point. Allow a total number of
points for a force and give each commander the right to make up that total
at his own discretion or else put the cards in a pack and shuffle them,
dealing out sufficient cards until the total is reached. The marked cards are
then turned face-downwards and shuffled and laid out along the baseline so
that neither their own commander nor the enemy knows, at the beginning,
where a force is strong or weak.
Such battles are minor 'set-piece' affairs and are probably ideal for the
spontaneous, short-term solo-wargame. However, the more involved
pleasures of an 'encounter' battle can also be enjoyed under the same
circumstances by means of a very simple system. First, decide upon the
strengths of the forward patrols or advanced parties that actually encounter
each other and then dispose them on the table-top, perhaps using one of the
elementary methods mentioned already. At once you have a situation where
two advance forces (one may well be stronger than the other to add spice)
are fighting grimly to secure the best tactical positions for their main body,
or even to prevent that force from coming up and being surprised. This
main body may well be a considerable distance behind their advance guard
but, on hearing the sound of gunfire, they will hasten forward to support
their comrades who have encountered the enemy. Yet more intriguing
situations present themselves at this stage - a courier can be sent back from
the advance guard to the main body to tell its commander exactly what is
happening, the strength of the forces against them, etc. That courier is
subject to all the exigencies of war as detailed in the section dealing with
courier cards (p. 107). Similarly, the commander may be an outstanding one
or a dimwit who has got to his position only because his father is a
prominent member of the Government. The action of the main body, the
speed with which they react to the sound of gunfire or the courier's
message, will be affected by the status of the commander.
 However, let us return to the method of working out the time of arrival
of reinforcements to the stoutly fighting advance guard. Obtain six
matchboxes for each side and, on the front of each, write a series of
numbers from 1 to 6. Now turn them face-downwards so that the numbers
cannot be seen and shuffle them around until you have no idea of the
whereabouts of any particular number. Lay them out in a line, calling them
1 to 6 from the left-hand side. On slips of paper write the name of each
infantry unit, cavalry squadron or artillery battery that forms the main body
and then throw a dice for each slip of paper, placing that slip of paper in the
matchbox corresponding to the score on the dice (but without looking at the
actual permanent number of the matchbox which is concealed on its face-
downwards side). When all the slips have been placed in matchboxes, turn
them up. Remove any slip from the matchbox actually numbered 1 and
place the units represented on the baseline (using one of the simple methods
mentioned above if desired). At the start of the second game-move, open
matchbox number 2 and bring those units on; on game-move three, dispose
the units represented by the slips of paper in matchbox number 3 and
so on. In this way, some units may arrive early, some may not arrive until
the action is over while a whole bunch may arrive at one and the same time
- but the fighting advance guard has no idea who is arriving and when they
are likely to come to their aid.
This method allows a truly realistic situation to be built up because
few forces in real-life warfare ever blundered blindly across country
without putting out screens of cavalry (unless they were commanded by a
Raglan or a Gough!). Anyway, assuming that, with hindsight, our
wargaming general has learned such military facts of life, the solo-
wargamer can begin his battle realistically through a small cavalry skirmish
as the scouts of two forces meet accidentally. Perhaps a road runs from one
side of the table to the other; from the south and the north come two
opposing squadrons of cavalry who, on seeing each other, immediately send
back a courier to their main body while manoeuvring for the position best
suited to destroy or put their opposing counterparts to flight. Then the main
bodies would come up in the manner already described and, at the end of
the afternoon or evening, the war-gamer can sit back with a contented sigh,
justified by the knowledge that he has gone about his business in a
reasonably realistic fashion.
Of course, the well-organized war-gamer might easily be
demonstrating 'controlled spontaneity' in that he would be unlikely to be
caught short by the need initially to sort out how many units he is going to
involve, where they are going to be disposed, etc. All this would be given a
flying start by the basic method of his already-compiled regimental or unit
cards as described in Chapter 15 and also in John Schuster's 'guest' chapter,
Chapter 9.
At the conclusion of the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington is
reputed to have remarked that he doubted if it would have been won
without him being there. This may well have been the case, and there is no
doubt that a great many battles in history have been won because their
commanders were superior leaders, with greater tactical sense, courage,
quickness of thought and confidence. Conversely, many battles have
undoubtedly been lost because the commander of the defeated side was
indecisive, timid, unpopular and generally incapable of being an inspiring
leader. In the extremely unlikely event of two armies being exactly equal in
such important respects as strength, morale, equipment, position,
dispositions and so on, then it is quite likely that victory will go to the best-
led side. And often a force will defeat an enemy far stronger than
themselves because the commander of the smaller force is an outstanding
leader capable of inspiring his men to exceptional heights.
If this is so in real life then it is equally the case in wargaming, and the
use of a system that gives armies commanders of varying ability is of the
greatest value to the solo-player. In dual wargaming, it is usually accepted
that the ability of the commander of a table-top army is that of the
wargamer manipulating him. But this assumption is not very helpful in
solo-wargaming where it will be found advantageous to give the
commander of each army a different classification, making him rate as an
exceptional, an average or a below-average commander.
As mentioned elsewhere in this book, the rating of commanders can be
decided before the battle starts by drawing lots, throwing a dice or by a
systematic arrangement where varying classifications of commander
balance any qualities of types, arms or numbers of the opposing forces. If it
is a wargames campaign that is being planned, then a useful variation is to
allocate a specified number of commanders of each grade who may be
disposed throughout the army and the theatre of war as desired. In this way
an exceptional commander can be given the important task of holding a
position while the main advance takes place elsewhere or, on the other
hand, that advance can have its success made even more certain by having
at its head a leader of exceptional quality.
The effect of the commander's rating upon the actual battle is reflected
by various means. For example, an exceptional commander can be given
more flexibility of movement so that, when both sides have completed their
table-top moves, the exceptional commander has a right to amend or alter
the moves of, say, 20 per cent of his total force. Conversely, the below-
average commander might need to throw a dice for each unit before
moving, and any units whose dice comes up 1 do not obey orders and
remain stationary. Obviously, the troops led by a superior commander will
have a better standard of morale than those led by an average or below-
average leader. This can be reflected by adding 1 to their morale score for
an exceptional commander; leave the morale rating alone for the troops for
an average commander, but deduct 1 from the morale score of those led by
a below-average commander. Taking it further, an exceptional commander
can inspire his men to greater feats; this can be represented during the game
by adding 25 per cent to their movement distances and firing scores or by
allowing those troops to use only a special dice which eliminates scores of 1
or 2, replacing them with another 4 and 5. A below-average commander
will have a stultifying effect upon these men's ability so that their lethargy
will cause them to deduct 25 per cent from their movement distances, firing
and mêlée scores.
There is an excellent example of the selection and effect of varying
standards of commanders in Chapter 14, 'Games for more than two players',
of the book Advanced Wargames. When carrying out an extensive
wargames campaign, situations often arise where small forces (such as a
patrol in a narrow defile) can hold up or otherwise delay a much larger
force with consequent important effects upon the campaign. A method of
applying this system involving the employment of commanders of varying
standards of competence is described in Chapter 6, 'Small forces holding up
larger forces', in Wargame Campaigns.
3 DOMESTIC WARGAMING
Situation
1. Living in a remote part of Scotland (or England, Ireland, Wales or any
other part of the world that has remote spots), a wargamer is forced to
depend upon his own ingenuity and resources if he wishes to pursue the
hobby. To ensure complete immersion in what is being attempted, the
wargamer requires a project that so completely absorbs him that it becomes
almost obsessional. He wants to be able to work at it in his spare time and
to be able to ponder and cogitate over its varying facets at odd free
moments of the day.
2. Another wargamer, an independent man with definite views, has so
weighed up the pros and cons from his military reading that he is
disinclined to temporize with less well-informed acquaintances within the
hobby. For these reasons, his dual wargames are few and far between
because of the difficulty of finding an opponent prepared to devote the same
amount of time and intelligent reasoning to the practical aspects of the
hobby as demonstrated on the wargames table. This man requires, initially
as a sideline but possibly progressing to become his major interest, a type of
solo-wargaming that will permit him to work out, in practical fashion on the
wargames table, his tactical reasoning while including important but less-
considered factors such as logistics, lines of communication and even
politics. Finally, the project must be a personalized one that enables the
wargamer to 'place himself in the other man's shoes' so that almost complete
involvement is attained.
Recipe
An adequate and encompassing title, although perhaps not a particularly
inspiring one, for this form of single-handed wargaming activity is
'Domestic wargaming'. It is so called because it does not deal with the
movements of armies, corps or even divisions whose manoeuvres, to a
certain extent, dictate their own grand strategy. Here we are involved with
no formation larger than a brigade, whose strategy is dictated by 'higher-
ups' plotting from thousands of miles away, but with the immediate local
tactics so firmly in the hands of the one man who happens to be in charge
on the spot at the time that his power is almost Godlike. He may be the
brigade commander, but he is far more likely to be a company commander
or even a platoon leader whose minor strategy will be dictated by his
battalion commander who, in his turn, suffers similarly from the
ministrations of his brigade commander.
In many ways, the role of these men and the forces they command
can be compared to a fire brigade, living on the gun-powder barrel of an
alarm bell that may send them out at any time to any part of their domain
where their attentions are required. Continuing this theme of resemblance to
civil powers, they may also be likened to a police station, from which either
a single policeman may be able to cope with an emergency or its gravity
may demand the attentions of high-ranking officers aided by the full
resources of the detachment.
It may well have become apparent by now that we are talking of the
British way of ruling the turbulent North-West Frontier of India, that
'constantly running sore' that provided the ideal tactical training ground for
the majority of British soldiers of all arms over a hundred years' period that
ended in 1946 with the withdrawal of British troops from India. And what a
pageant of British Colonial history it was! It began in 1847, when Major
Lawrence, with the almost legendary Lumsden and his newly-formed Corps
of Guides, took a punitive expedition into the Swat Valley on the North-
West Frontier of India; in 1850 Sir Colin Campbell (then a brigadier and
with the glories of the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny still to come) went out
into the Kohat Valley with a force that included the Commander-in-Chief in
India, General Sir Charles Napier. Lumsden and Coke were also involved in
this expedition. Campbell was prominent in more expeditions immediately
in the years that followed, when we encounter such well known names as
Hodson, Cotton, Sir Hugh Rose, Sir Neville Chamberlain, the Battyes (who
invariably got themselves killed), Cavagnari, Ellis, Sir George White, Sir
William Lockhart, Robert Lowe, Colonel Kelly and Sir Bindon Blood.
In red coats or dusty khaki, men from every British county marched in
slow-moving columns with elephants jostling camels, bullocks plodding
with donkeys and yaks, while the mules carrying the little mountain guns
clattered and jingled. Invariably the foe, militant tribesmen who flitted like
ghosts across rocky and mountainous terrain they had known from birth,
were crack shots with their stolen British rifles. The names of their tribes
now seem to have a romantic ring, although it is doubtful whether the
British soldier thought so at the time - the Kohat Pass Afridis, the Swatis,
the Utman Khels, the Jawaki Afridis, the Michni Mohmands, the Khudu
Khel tribesmen, the Black Mountain tribesmen, the Khyber Pass Afridis,
the Zakha Khel Afridis, the Zaimukhts, the Mahsud Wazirs, the Isazai
tribesmen, the Ovkzais and the Chamkannis tribesmen. Without exception,
the titles of the expeditions would grace any wargames campaign - the
Lushai Expedition, the Thal-Chotiali Field Force, the Zhob Valley
Expedition, the Hazara Field Force, the Zhoh Field Force, the Miranzai
Field Force, the Waziristan Field Force, the Tochi Field Force, the
Malakand Field Force, the Tirah Expeditionary Force and the Buner Field
Force.
Although it may well cause some hands to be held high in horror, the
majority of wargamers will be very happy to know that most of these
tribesmen can be simulated by painting up the box of Airfix Bedouin Arabs
(less the camel of course!), while other tribesmen can be made by
judiciously selecting various figures from other Airfix boxes, such as the
Japanese set, and then giving them turbans made of plasticine hardened by
clear nail varnish (it is amazing what successful conversions can be made
by altering headgear and then giving them a good paint job). The Indian
native troops (Gurkhas, Guides, Sikhs, etc.) can be similarly converted,
while the British infantry themselves, depending upon the period, can range
from an almost Napoleonic style of dress to Airfix 8th Army figures with
steel helmet converted to sun hat. Of course, it is much easier to buy the
right sort of troops cast in metal from the numerous dealers who can supply
them, but it makes the project a bit more expensive.
The beginning of this period of North-West Frontier activity coincided
roughly with the First and Second Sikh Wars, when the troops wore red
coats, white trousers and low shakos with white covers and neck flaps,
while their cavalry and artillery were positively Napoleonic in appearance.
Gradually, from the time of the Indian Mutiny onwards, the red coats were
replaced by dusty khaki, although Highlanders continued to wear kilts right
up to the turn of the century (as at Dargai in 1897). The main artillery was
always the little mountain gun carried in pieces on the backs of mules and
assembled with fantastic rapidity when operations commenced - that at least
remained almost constant throughout the entire hundred years' period. Of
course, if the wargamer wants to have a little bit of everything then he can
carry on operations rather like those against the Fakir of Ipi when, in the
1930s, British County Regiments had a very hard struggle on the North-
West Frontier against the fanatical tribesmen aroused by this Holy Man.
Now can be brought in armoured cars and even light tanks, to say nothing
of a few aircraft - biplanes revolutionized the style of warfare and, in the
opinions of some of the diehards, rather tended to spoil the sport with their
observation and bombing.

The Relieving Column sets out from Kohat

Above and below General views of the Relieving Column
forming up at
Kohat to march out and relieve the beleaguered fort.
Above An aerial view showing the formation of the column
inside and outside the fort.
Below The Indian Mountain Battery leaving Kohat.
The Hampshires march through the main gate of Kohat Fort.
Above To the left of the Hampshires is a squadron of Indian
Cavalry.
Below. The supply wagons move out.
The Indian Cavalry riding through the town to form part of the Relieving
Column
All that has been written here so far paints a colourful picture of what
is obviously a fascinating field for the wargamer, both solo and dual. But it
is the former with whom we are concerned, and it is in those aspects of this
style of wargaming that are peculiarly adaptable to his lone pursuit that we
are most interested. It has been stressed elsewhere that solo-wargaming is
not just a question of one man setting up two armies on a table-top and then
commanding them both in a probably vain effort to attain the joys of war-
gaming with other players. That is a case of fruitlessly striving to imitate
dual wargaming which will never work if only because two into one won't
go. With the solo-wargamer, table-top battling is only a part of the hobby
(probably about a third of the whole) and it must be acknowledged and
accepted that the actual table-top battle is merely the culmination of a great
deal of absorbing, interest-retaining, preliminary activity.
In the case of Colonial warfare on the North-West Frontier of India,
the wargamer can utilize systems of actual table-top battling from the many
choices suggested to him in the pages of this book. What we are mainly
concerned with here is the organisation of this type of table-top battling -
hence the title 'Domestic wargaming'. To amplify, here we have a vast
stretch of wild and rough countryside, sparsely inhabited by various tribes
of militant natives, all resentful of British rule and liable, either singly or
collectively, to explode into rebellion at any moment. At the same time, it is
a known fact that once a tribe pledged its allegiance to British Rule, then
only the most drastic circumstances caused it to break that pledge. It is
therefore possible for operations to take place in the territory of one tribe
without the need to consider the security of flanks and rear bordered by
other tribes who had made their peace with the British. Although the
tribesmen fought on the hillsides from the cover of every conceivable piece
of natural protection or from behind sangars (stone breastworks built up to
give shelter to a prone man), they lived in settlements or villages, often
highly fortified and with a stone fort or tower as a sort of citadel. The object
of the majority of the expeditions that went out to fight the tribesmen was to
punish them for some infringement of the law (cattle raiding, murder,
ambushes and the like) and the punitive measures exacted usually consisted
of driving off their herds of sheep or cattle, burning their crops and
destroying their villages, complete with tower or fort. This gives each
expedition a built-in objective - a factor often sadly lacking as a purpose for
some table-top operations.
Opposing the tribesmen, and forcing them to toe the line, were forces
of British troops and native infantry, vastly inferior in numbers but better
armed and equipped, particularly with, the 'devil-gun' (the native name for
the mountain guns) and, later, the machine-gun, armoured car or light tank
and aircraft. When they raided or massed together to attack the British, the
tribesmen had one great advantage in that they could pick their time and
place, unless spies or political officers had gathered enough information to
warn the British commander in advance. And it is certain that, no sooner
had the first soldier of a punitive expedition set foot out of the fort or
encampment en route to chastise the unruly tribesmen, these hill-men were
completely aware of the fact and able to begin preparations to repel that
expedition, either by force or by melting away before it into the hills. Thus,
two avenues of wargaming are open. The first consists of the attack on a
solitary fort or outpost, usually followed by the dispatch of a relieving force
which seeks to arrive before the tribesmen overwhelm the small garrison
(see the Chitral Campaign of 1895 as an ideal example of this). Secondly,
the operations can take the form of a punitive expedition going out to exact
revenge or fines from badly-behaved tribesmen. Both of these enterprises
hold immense interest, both require a lot of planning and both have a
tangible objective.
Now we come to the truly 'domestic' part of our activities. First the
wargamer requires a large area map on which is shown the main British
encampment (such as Razmak, Peshawar or Quetta) and with all the
strategically placed forts and outposts clearly marked. Additionally, the map
must be divided into the areas of influence of each of the tribes that inhabit
this rocky and inhospitable country. The main British force of European
infantry, cavalry and artillery, together with battalions of native infantry
(often brigaded one British battalion to two native battalions), will be
stationed at the base encampment. Each of the small forts or outposts will
be garrisoned, usually by native infantry under British officers, although it
would not be unusual for British troops to fulfil this role if desired. The
forts themselves are quite small, relying upon their stout walls and the great
fire power that can be brought to bear by the superior weapons of their
garrison. They could not be other than small because of the difficulty of
building larger forts and, more than that, of supplying the larger numbers
required to garrison them. Each of the forts has to be kept supplied with
food and ammunition; presumably its water supply will be inside or very
close to the fort itself, because the history of sieges from ancient times
onwards indicates that more often than not it was a shortage of water that
caused capitulation. In later years, these forts were obviously in touch with
headquarters by means of radio, while in earlier times heliograph, beacons
or couriers enabled contact to be maintained. When a fort was suddenly
attacked, an appeal for help would be made and then a relief expedition
would be hastily organized and dispatched from the base encampment.
Often this relieving force would encounter strong opposition as it wended
its way through the defiles and passes of the hostile mountainous country
that separated them from their comrades in distress.
 It has been suggested that a reasonable numerical scale for solo-
wargaming is 1 figure to equal 10 men. The fort or outpost under attack can
be very suitably made up from an Airfix 'Foreign Legion' fort, its walls
roughened with plaster-of-Paris or sand thrown against wet paint (mud-
coloured) and then positioned on the base board so as to be placed on the
wargames table, forming the focal point of the battle. These forts would
hold perhaps only a company or two, so that if the scale of 1 figure equals
10 men is being used, then a fort could be amply garrisoned by between 30
and 60 figures - a total that could reasonably fit the dimensions of the Airfix
fort. The relief column might be 2,000 strong, formed of a brigade of
infantry (one British battalion and two native infantry battalions), a battery
of mountain-guns and perhaps a squadron of cavalry. This figure means that
it need be composed of only about 200 men. The natives, because they are
in defensive positions when opposing the relief column, could be perhaps
1,000 strong, requiring only 100 figures. The force of tribesmen attacking
the fort could be formed of perhaps another 1,000 men, again forming a
total of 100 figures. None of this is beyond the resources of the average
wargamer and yet it represents a very reasonable simulation of what would
actually have occurred; for these were not the massed pitched battles of
Europe or the American Civil War, but small skirmishes and affrays in
which victory or defeat for the British often meant the difference between
annihilation or survival.
And now for the paper work:
18. Map of the North West frontier area, showing the base at Kphat,
outlying forts and native villages
Narrative
This essential preamble to the entire project paints in the broad canvas
serving as a background for all that is to follow. It should consist of a
history of the area (either factual or fictional) from the moment the British
first became involved there, laying out their policy, aims and objects.
Within it should be detailed the various tribes and their spheres of influence,
with thumb-nail sketches of their leaders and an idea of their general
attitude towards the British. Inter-tribal politics can be touched upon and
details given of the various treaties and 'arrangements' made between the
British and the tribes, explaining how they affect the peace of the area.
Finally, a declaration of intention is given, showing the dispositions of the
troops in the various bases and outlying forts, etc, together with a military
and political forecast of future events that might necessitate an alteration in
these dispositions.
The narrative can form the opening to your journal. This is the book in
which the project is written up and its compilation can be one of the most
absorbing and interesting features of the whole affair. Forming a day-by-
day record of the manner in which an area (probably as large as Great
Britain) is run provides not only that perpetual link so necessary for the
solo-wargamer but also a permanent record nostalgically referred to in
later years. The late Bill Holmes of Deltorama had a series of such
journals in which he recorded the activities of his troops, embellishing these
accounts
with drawings and photographs of their operations. Using as a
background the wonderful buildings for which he was
professionally

renowned, Bill posed his figures most realistically as they

attacked forts, burned mosques or fought against ambushes in the
rocky defiles of the North-West Frontier. There is no limit to the
ingenuity that the wargamer can display in compiling a journal - Bill
Holmes even went so far as to make his own army forms and letter-
headings complete with rubber-stamped markings and so on, and
inserted them into the journal to record when an order was received from
a higher formation, for example. A journal is a very much a personalized
affair but the sample pages given on the opposite page can serve as a guide.
Order of battle
This is a roll of the formations in the area, beginning with brigade
headquarters and continuing down to a single company that might be
garrisoning an outlying post. The names of the various commanders should
be inserted; when a company or even a platoon is sent out on a particular
mission then the officer in command should also be named. It is a good idea
to make a large chart on a sheet of cardboard (see example on p. 27) with
the names of the units or sections pencilled in so that they can be altered or
amended when necessary.
Supply system
This is a large area kept under control by widely-spaced groups of troops,
greatly outnumbered by the tribesmen of the areas in which they are
stationed. In this poor and arid country, it is not possible for them to 'live off
the land'; thus they must be regularly supplied with food and ammunition if
they are to survive. At first glance this 'quartermaster' aspect of solo-
wargaming might not hold much appeal, but consider its importance and
realize that herein lies one of the biggest reasons for any form of military
activity in the area. Outposts must be supplied by convoys of mules or carts
bearing their precious loads - precious to both the troops and the tribesmen,
making it quite likely that frequent ambushes and raids will be made upon
these convoys. Then consider the position of an outlying garrison whose
convoy has not reached them - do they hang on and starve or make their
way back to civilization? Throughout history, sieges both great and small
have more frequently terminated because of shortage of food and water than
by the successful storming of the defences - so a siege can last for only a
certain length of time until a relief column of both men and supplies reaches
the beleaguered garrison. Tactical manoeuvres have limitations imposed'
upon them by their supply-lines; ' adequately to reproduce this factor the
solo-wargamer must employ a routine system involving a certain amount of
paperwork.
In the books Advanced Wargames (Chapter 25, 'Logistics in
wargaming') and in Wargame Campaigns, wargamer Roger Moores has
explained the most comprehensive of supply systems, including specimen
forms and charts. Briefly, both methods outline the consumption of the
carrying capacities of troops and transport so that it is possible to work out
when a force has reached a point from which they can no longer carry on
without being replenished. This enables the wargamer to utilize attrition,
that most elusive of wargaming factors affecting the outcome of a
campaign.
Methods of affecting conditions and situations
Chance cards are dealt with at some length in Chapter 13 - together with
courier, weather and commanders ratings systems, they play an important
part in this project. In the first place, the brigade or divisional commander
controlling this area has, to a certain extent, to adjust his thinking to fit in
with the advice given by his political officer. Over and above that, his
personal judgment as the man-on-the-spot will come to nought if he
receives other orders from the High Commissioner in Delhi (or Calcutta if
you like). The High Commissioner may also receive directives from the
India Office in London, but it may be considered that this is getting a little
too 'political' for our needs. Political officers were not popular with the
army; their 'cloak-and-dagger' activities and the advice they gave (often
based on furtive native spies) were not always to the liking of those in
command of the troops who had to do the dirty work. A set of 'political
officer' cards can be made out to include information about possible
uprisings and raids, inter-tribal disputes, alteration in the power
structure of tribes, etc. Each of these, when built into the wider context, can
give a reason for some military activity on the wargames table. On the other
hand, many of them will be only rumours so that it might be a good idea to
have a system of dice scoring to accompany each card, thus: when the card
is drawn, a dice is thrown and the score 1, 2 or 3 means that the rumour is
discounted, while 4, 5 or 6 means that it is true. The political officer, as was
his habit, might well seek greater power or want to have more effect upon
situations than he is given by the army - some sort of system by way of
chance cards could be evolved to allow the political officer to manipulate
situations and people in a manner outside the general policy for the area or
situation.
All the tribes in the area are controlled by some sort of treaty with a
probable payment of a regular financial grant to them. Cards can be made
out to cover the breaking of such treaties by, for example, saying that 'the
High Commissioner orders that the monthly financial grant made to the
tribe be reduced by 50 per cent.' Treaties made with the British by older and
wiser chieftains might well be repudiated on their death by their younger,
militant and headstrong sons - cards can be made out to cover this point. On
this question of succession, it was a well-known fact of life in the East that,
although the elder son was the logical heir to the title on the death of his
father, other sons might well dispute his claim so that civil war within a
tribe or the assassination of a ruler could also have an effect upon treaties.
These facts can also be covered by a card system.
Some of the soldiers in the native regiments might well be kin to the
people whom they are ordered to fight. Or a situation may arise where some
completely unsuspecting cause will give rise to thoughts of mutiny in the
minds of the native soldiers -as in the case of the greased cartridges that are
said to have precipitated the Indian Mutiny. There may even be a 'nervous'
factor as was the case during the First Sikh War of 1845-6 when the Sepoys
of the native infantry regiments hung back in the earlier battles because
they were nervous of the renowned fighting powers of the Sikhs. All these
angles can be covered by judiciously-worded chance cards, drawn either at
regular intervals or at the wish and discretion of the wargamer.
Now we come to the tactical aspects of the project. With the
background painted in, the mundane day-to-day movement and supply of
troops covered by routine systems and with eventualities and fluctuations of
fortune being affected by chance cards, the tabletop wargaming is nearly
upon us. Perhaps it would best be demonstrated in the form of a brief
[1]
description of a typical Frontier action .
The headman of the Malik Shah Ghazis has died, being succeeded by
his only son, a young man well known to the British for his antagonistic and
militant attitude. The political officer advises that the new headman may
well break the treaty and cause trouble in that particular area (all these
factors have been decided by the dictates of chance cards). Forewarned, the
brigade commander at Hadara (rated as an 'above-average' commander so
that his reaction is swift) sends a courier to the garrison of Fort Shabkadar
in that tribal area, with a message informing Major Ellis, commanding the
Company of Napier's Rifles, that trouble is expected and that
reinforcements are on the way. Then he organizes a reinforcing column
which leaves Hadara on Day 1. From this point on everything has to be
meticulously recorded in a War Diary. In this way it is possible to work out,
for example, that the reinforcing column that left Hadara on Day 1 has got
fifteen days' marching ahead of it before reaching the fort, but that, if
summoned by a courier from the fort (chance cards again), it may well
force-march and reach the fort in less time. While this is going on, the
activities in and around the fort will need to be recorded, together with the
movements of the tribesmen who may well besiege the fort and attempt to
hinder the reinforcing column. Without a War Diary, things will soon
become hopelessly mixed up as at least three different groups, working at
the same time, have their activities tied in with each other.
As expected, the tribesmen duly attack the fort which puts up a gallant
resistance. Here it may well be possible, if the wargamer chooses, to
incorporate 'individualized wargaming' by giving names not only to Major
Ellis in command but also to his subordinates. For example, on the fourth
day of the siege it is discovered that the attacking tribesmen have positioned
an antique but still effective muzzle-loading cannon in the ruins of an old
temple some 150 yards away from the eastern wall of the fort. If this gun is
allowed unhindered fire upon the wall of dried mud, then a breach will soon
be made and the tribesmen will be able to swarm in. Subsequently, Major
Ellis details Lieutenant Cameron and 50 men from his small garrison of 300
to sally out at night and disable this gun. This they do and their action forms
a very interesting little side-issue (with the tribesmen dicing or drawing
cards to see whether they detect the force leaving the fort, etc.). In the
resulting action, the gun was duly destroyed at a cost of twenty-five
casualties to the attacking party and Lieutenant Cameron so distinguished
himself that Major Ellis immediately sat down and wrote out a citation for a
decoration.
Thus a colourful page for the journal is formed, with a written citation
that outlines Lieutenant Cameron's bravery, duly signed by Major Ellis and
eventually countersigned by the regimental commander and the brigade
commander before being sent up to higher authority and then, at a later
date, the award of a Military Cross comes through and, for posterity, is
appended to Lieutenant Cameron's name whenever he is mentioned in any
activities in the journal.
Either 'off the table', 'on the map' or as a separate table-top wargame,
the relieving column make their way over the rough and mountainous
territory to reach the fort - either in time or too late, who knows? However,
their progress is marked by a number of sharp engagements when numerous
people distinguish themselves. All in all, the little affair of the Siege of Fort
Shabkadar provided one solo-wargamer with many hours of pleasure and
made up many colourful pages of a journal that could be read with warmth
and nostalgia in the sere and yellow years of that wargamer's life!
The battles can be fought under any set of rules to the choice of the
solo-wargamer. As explained elsewhere, solo-wargaming allows for rules of
a relatively complex nature because time is not so important and
disagreement or acrimony between wargamers is non-existent.
Nevertheless, wargaming between disciplined troops and tribesmen is not
the easiest thing to simulate and the wargamer may choose to be guided by
the rules given in Chapter 24 of Advanced Wargames or Chapter 27 of
Wargame Campaigns.
4 THE PRESS-GANG
A press-gang is a body of men specially detailed to force civilians to serve
in the Navy or Army (usually the former). When it was rumoured that they
were in the vicinity all the able-bodied males of fishing villages or towns
bordering the sea took to the hills or otherwise made themselves scarce
until the gang had departed, dragging with them those unfortunates who had
been caught.
It is not a bad idea for a solo-wargamer occasionally to set himself up
as a one-man press-gang with the almost certain results of securing a
reasonable number of victims if only because they were unaware of his
intentions or because of the sheer unfamiliarity of his approach. The
majority of mature wargamers who follow this course have such ready prey
to hand in the form of a wife and one or more children. Admittedly, some or
all of them might put up a spirited resistance after the initial shock has worn
off, but it is more usual for them reluctantly to play a part in the wargamer's
plans, if only to humour the 'old man'!
There are at least half a dozen wargamers of the author's acquaintance
who have fought wargames with their wives and some of them have
[2]
actually lost to the 'little woman'! But even if she shows no tactical
aptitude and has a distressing habit of spoiling a battle that has got well
under way by refusing to miss a favourite television programme, she can
sometimes be reasonably trusted to stand on the other side of the table and
move the enemy to your strict instructions. After all, even if she does move
them a little incorrectly - a bit too far to the right for that unit, or not quite
far enough forward for that battery - then they are the enemy and it is no
skin off your nose if they don't obey orders, is it?
Mrs Joy Featherstone, in a state of complete bewilderment, played a
vital part in one of the most enjoyable campaigns recalled by the author
when Stonewall Jackson moved into the Shenandoah Valley during the
American Civil War (fought in Southampton). This campaign is described
in full in Chapter 21 of Wargame Campaigns. It is related how Jackson's
'foot cavalry' marched steadily northwards through the Shenandoah Valley
while a 'fake' Confederate army likewise marched steadily northwards so
that the Federal commander was realistically beset by rumours and false
information. It occurred through 'one man doing all the map-moving and
declaring positions and contacts to his enemy general only on the night of
the wargame. This is done by having the fake army declared on a piece of
paper and sealed in an envelope, the genuine army likewise being marked
and sealed - both by an outsider, a third party' (there you are Mrs J. F.!)
'When the fake force is unmasked, then the third party' (Mrs J. F. again)
'obliges and seals the two forces in envelopes and off they go again!'
If you are a very patient man, so patient that you have managed, for
example, to teach your wife to drive the family car, then it may even be
possible to co-opt her and, under the strictest supervision, even the children,
in a fascinating exercise that bears some vague relation to ‘Kim's game’.
It all revolves around the well-known story concerning the famous
British General Slim who was convinced that the British army fought all its
battles in the pouring rain on the side of a hill and at a point where two
maps joined each other. In other words, maps used in military campaigns
are not always accurate; nor do they convey the same information to two
otherwise seemingly intelligent people.
Anyway, to get back to your impatiently waiting wife and children:
Give each one of them a sheet of paper scaled to the size of your wargames
tables (i.e. if your table is 8' x 5', then give them a sheet of paper 8" x 5").
Prior to this, you will have carefully drawn out a map of the terrain over
which the battle is to be fought, making sure that neither your map nor the
sheets given to your aides bears any gridding or marks that enable pin-point
locations to be made. Set up the master-map on the far side of the table so
that it can be seen by all and do not allow anyone to handle or scrutinize it
from nearer than their position on the far side of the table. Supply each of
your mystified assistants with coloured pencils and then tell them to copy
the map in front of them as exactly as they can. Allow plenty of time and
encouragement and when everyone is certain that they have drawn in the
hills, trees, bridges, rivers, roads, etc., then collect up the maps without
studying them too closely yourself.
 Now you have a set of three or four maps (including your own master-
map) which vaguely coincide - how vaguely depends on the artistic ability
of your wife and children. Next, without looking at the drawings of the
maps themselves, select two of them and allocate one to each of the armies
taking part in the battle. Then mark in the dispositions of each force on their
map. It may be that one side has been fortunate enough to draw your
original master-map, whereas the enemy have a map which makes a vital
wood about twice as large as it should be, or a road to pass much further
away from a commanding hill, than it does on the master-map. However,
that is one of the fortunes of war and is reflected in the fact that your terrain
must be laid out exactly and meticulously to conform to the original master-
map. Inevitably, one or perhaps both of the armies will initially be laid out
in positions that will be affected (perhaps detrimentally, perhaps
beneficially) by the difference in the map they are using, and if both armies
should have drawn 'phoney' maps then there is going to be a lot of
regrouping done in the second move of the game!
The 'father-figure syndrome', when applied to solo-wargaming, has
benefits that are two-fold. If you, as a wargaming father, have been gazing
fondly upon your male offspring, first as a dribbling baby, then through the
years until now when he is a grubby, militant urchin of some eight or nine
summers, and have been picturing him as your ideal wargames opponent of
the future, then this system is going to bring tears of gratitude to your eyes.
Most fathers in this position hold off from introducing their son to
wargaming too early in case he is ‘put off’ by its intricacies - somehow the
right and propitious moment never seems to arrive. Perhaps this is because
in our heart-of-hearts we fear that his inept idea of tactics and his seemingly
complete inability to comprehend even the vaguest idea of what it is all
about, might well so disappoint us as to arouse that parental scorn or anger,
causing the proud lad to storm out of the room in a fury, crying 'Never again
... you can keep your old soldiers!' By use of the 'father-figure' system, this
can all be avoided and the lad can be weaned into an elementary knowledge
of basic table-top tactics while playing a part that gives him a sense of
importance as well as a lot of fun.
 Casually ask him one day if he would like to take part in a wargame
with you, and then take him to the wargames room where you have already
set up a terrain and have the armies laid out in their positions according to
plan. You allocate an army to your son and tell him that, to start with, he is
going to move them himself, but in accordance with your instructions. So,
at each move you write down the orders for every unit of infantry, squadron
of cavalry and battery of guns as one does in a dual wargame (in the manner
described on pages 19 to 21 of Advanced Wargames). Having written out
the moves, you then tell your son clearly exactly what they are, unit by unit,
so that he moves each of them in turn, to the right or left or forward as the
case may be, measuring with the tape measure you have given him for the
purpose. This sounds very simple, but when he is moving perhaps eight or
ten units over perhaps five or six game-moves, then there is a great
likelihood that he will move a unit incorrectly and, if he does, then he must
not be corrected, nor must a mistake be pointed out. This is because what
has transpired is a table-top simulation of a misinterpretation of an order - it
must be imagined that the commander of the unit in question has been told
to move 9 inches half-right and, instead of that, has moved 9 inches directly
forward (with perhaps dire results during the forthcoming move).
There are some well-known instances of orders being misunderstood
or misinterpreted in actual warfare, and if trained professional soldiers can
do it then your nine-year-old son is certain to drop a clanger now and then!
Of course, the classic example was the order sent by Lord Raglan via
Captain Nolan to Lords Lucan and Cardigan which sent the Light Brigade
charging down the Valley of Death at Balaclava on 25 October 1854.
Admittedly Lucan and Cardigan were not particularly bright, and Raglan
did not exactly cover himself with glory in this campaign, but all of them
were mature professional soldiers - yet a grave error was made; so be
patient with your son!
There are a number of variations that can be made to this system,
making it more difficult and complicated as your son becomes more
experienced. For example, he can be handed the actual order sheet once you
have written it and allowed to move from that. Rather than pointing to a
unit and saying 'That lot on the end with the hats with spikes on', you can
refer to them as the 10th Potsdam Fusiliers, giving the unfortunate lad an
even greater chance of confusion as he mixes up the Potsdam Fusiliers on
the right flank with the Hanover Rifles way out on the left flank.
Of course, it may well turn out that your wife and daughter, viewing
with jealous eyes the undoubted enjoyment that your son is getting from
this responsibility that is being thrust upon him, will also wish to get into
the act. Do not spurn them, saying 'This is man's stuff!' Accept their offer -
after all, isn't one volunteer worth two pressed men? And did not the
famous H. G. Wells himself say on the title page of the wargamer's bible
Little Wars, 'A game for boys from 12 years of age to 150 and for that more
intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books'?
Anyway, they will either devote themselves assiduously to it and
become valued assistants or else mess around for a few minutes and then
pack up in disgust - so you cannot lose!
5 REALISM THROUGH CONTINUOUS
COMBAT
Time and time again in the pages of this book the fact is stressed that the
solo-wargamer must diversify to retain interest, a situation encouraged by
his comparative freedom so far as time is concerned. Because of this, he can
experiment with patience and tolerance, often being rewarded by some
relatively fresh attitude towards his method of conducting table-top battles.
One suggested innovation revolves around the question of initiative, which
sometimes tends to be neglected because of the prevalent stop-go system of
ordering and moving wargames forces. In real life the attacker, carried
along on a wave of momentum that can ebb or flow with success or failure,
has a degree of initiative that is invaluable, but, as already suggested, this
facet may be glossed over when wargaming. Here is a suggested system
worthy of an extended trial by the patient solo-wargamer.
In this system, as might logically be expected, the attacker moved first.
He detailed on an order sheet the reasonable groups and supports that
formed his force (i.e. right flank, centre and left flank, etc.). Each of these
groups moved as one and while one group was moving and in action, the
other groups remained frozen.
At any stage of the attacker's move, the defender can announce that he
is counter-attacking with his own units within reach of the attacker's
moving group. The defender cannot pick one unit out of a group while it is
moving but he must consider the group (including its supports) as a whole.
When an attacking force is counter-attacked, other units of that army
that have been frozen up to now may move in support.
Both attacker and defender must consider all situations according to
the proximity in their respective move-distances of their other units.
Light troops (jagers, chasseurs, tirailleurs and riflemen, etc.) who wish
to split-move (that is, move-fire-move) will do so at the start of the move.
The relieving column fight their way past the native village 21-35

21. General view of the British force deploying for attack.

22. The native village and the British attack along the track.
23. Tribesmen surge out from the village to attack the advancing British
Infantry.

24. The tribesmen’s view from their village of the attacking British force.
25 and 26. Views of the attacking British force from the tribemen’s position
on the ridge.
27. View of the tribesmen’s positions from behind the British attackers..

28. The Gatling gun battery in action.

29. The Mountain Battery in action, with the Gatling guns in the
background.

30. 1st Bn The Hampshire Regiment in position to repel the tribemen’s

attack.
31 and 32. The Hampshires prepare to repel the tribesmen charging out
from their village
33. The tribemen defend their village.

34. The Gurkhas, supported by the Sikhs, in action on the lower slopes of
the ridge.
35. Tribesmen on the ridge and in their village
When the defender counterattacks, having challenged the attacker's
moving group, then the system is carried on as already described but with
the original attackers now classed as defenders. If there is any doubt as to
who attacks or who counter-attacks, and it cannot be reasonably settled by
amicable agreement, then as a last resort a dice can be thrown for order of
movement in that sector.
Firing of artillery and small arms takes place at will by both attacker
and defender. The firer announces his intention of firing and then carries it
out. It may be before, during or at the end of troop movement.
If the target unit also wants to fire, then both sides dice for priority of
firing or use the four-card system described in Chapter 1 of the book
Advanced Wargames.
Only one round of firing per unit or gun will take place during each
game-move.
Firing on attackers coming in from a flank: if a unit has flank guards
out, then they take half the attacker's move-distance to turn and face the
direction from which the threat is coming.
If they have no flank guards out and are (a) pinned frontally at the
same time, then this is an unopposed (no firing) flank attack; (b) if they are
not pinned frontally, then dice throw for a 4, 5 or 6 to turn and fire as in the
opening sentence of this section.
It takes half an attacker’s move for a gun to wheel 90 degrees. It takes
one complete attacker's move for a gun completely to change position to a
flank.
Not necessarily to be used in conjunction with this suggested method
of continuous combat is an idea of wargamer Ron Sargent (late R.S.M.
Hampshire Regiment) which would seem to have a great deal of merit
besides being particularly adaptable to solo-wargaming.
The crux of Mr Sargent’s argument lies in his belief that wargames
figures, erect or splendidly horsed, lack a tactical appearance on the
wargames tables. One is frustrated when fire is brought to bear on a line of
infantry standing in a ploughed field only to hear the opposing general
triumphantly scream 'Ah! But they are lying down in the furrows!'
Of course, one could duplicate figures, having men in various
positions for various situations (with the inexpensive availability of Airfix
figures this could be more than a dream) but, as Mr Sargent says, 'this can
be costly even if models in the poses you require exist, to say nothing of the
time consumed in painting them.' Instead, he suggests that a better tactical
picture can be painted by using vari-coloured plastic tiddly-winks counters
and giving each counter a tactical code. For example:
RED means the unit is firing (used for all arms).
GREY means the unit is lying down.
BLUE means the unit is running.
BUFF means the unit is crawling.
LIGHT BLUE means the unit is kneeling.
YELLOW (for cavalry) means they are dismounted, mounting or
fighting on foot. For artillery it means unlimbering or limbering-up.
 WHITE means the unit is loading (really for artillery but could be used
for all arms).
When the forces are deployed, a counter is placed behind each unit,
enabling both generals immediately to see the tactical pose of the figure or
unit concerned. These coloured counters will work for any period and, as
Mr. Sargent says, 'next time you engage those infantry in a ploughed field,
unless your opponent has put a grey and possibly a buff counter behind
them - he's had it!'
An earlier (and far more complex although realistic) method of
obviating the frustrating pauses of war-gaming was 'Continuous combat',
first described by American war-gamer Jack Scruby in his magazine War
Games Digest. I am indebted to him for permission to reproduce the
system.
1. A 'move-counter-move' system must be used. In this method both
players throw a dice and the highest scorer has the choice of moving or
asking his opponent to move first.
2. All volleys of rifle fire, except those from flanks, must be
simultaneous.
3. Units must always ascertain the state of their morale after volleys
and mêlées.
4. Rifle fire is carried on between front ranks only.
5. Mêlées take place between the opposing front ranks - the second
ranks to be within 2 inches of the front rank.
Order of movement
Move;
Mêlée;
Artillery fire;
Infantry fire.
Volley combat
1. Front lines fire, casualties removed.
2. Morale dice throw - loser retreats remnants of his frontline infantry.
3. The winner may choose from the following courses of action:
(a) His second rank (plus the half remaining front rank) may fire. The
loser may return fire with only his second rank. Both sides now ascertain
their state of morale and the loser retires an infantry move. The winner can
repeat this action again or:
(b) The winner may retire all or part of his original combat force all or part
of an infantry move. He may reorganize.
(c) If no opposing force remains, the winner may advance his men to the
original position held by the enemy front line. If this brings him within
volley range of another enemy force, a combat goes on as before. In such an
advance the winner can add the survivors of his front line to his second line
- but no men from the second line can reinforce the front line.
(d) The winner may call a halt to this combat.
Single-line-volley combat
If a force has only one volley line and the opposing force two lines, the
former may continue to fight if he wins the original combat. His remaining
volley line after casualties then fights it out with the loser's second line.
Should he again be the winner, he may advance to the loser's original
volley line and continue combat if desired.
All men who were within rifle range of the opposing force may be
moved forward whether they have done any fighting or not. They must
maintain their original positions unless the winner decides to add the
survivors of his front line to his second line.
In an advance forward, troops may face a new front which must be
within the limits of their forward move.
 After the winner of the original combat has moved his troops forward
to the original volley line of the loser, then the loser's rally rules come into
force.
1. Loser's rally
The loser's men directly ahead of the winner's new volley line may be
reformed as follows:
(a) All men within a cavalry move may be rallied.
(b) The loser's firing line is set up one infantry move from the winner's
firing line, and the loser's troops within the combat area (one cavalry-move
deep by the width of the winner's advancing line) may be formed up at this
position.
2. Loser's flanking fire
(a) All the loser's men who are within one infantry move on either
flank may return to face the winner's force. No other move is allowed.
(b) Any men in front concerned in the above move may be added to
the loser's volley.
(c) If the loser is defeated in the subsequent volley, these flanking men
who fired must be retired an infantry move to the rear.
Flanking movements
When the winner's force advances to the flank of the loser's forces, the latter
may use the loser's rally rules to reorganize his men, plus flanking-fire rule,
in this manner:
(a) Loser's force originally facing forward may be turned to face the
new threat.
(b) Normal continuous-combat procedure follows.
Mêlée combat
Once a mêlée is made, no volleys may be fired by either side in this sector.
The two front lines of each force mêlée in the usual manner and the loser
retreats an infantry move. The winner may then:
1. Advance his line an infantry move forward to occupy the ground he
has just won.
2. Retreat his force up to a cavalry move.
3. Hold his ground and reorganize his men.
4. Face his men in another direction within an infantry move.
(If 1, men placed in another mêlée will carry on as before. No volleys
are fired by or against these men.)
Mêlées
The loser retires his defeated troops as in volley combat. The winner moves
his infantry forward an infantry move or cavalry forward a cavalry move.
The loser may now rally his men in the following manner:
1. Troops and infantry a move ahead of the winner's force can move
into the mêlée.
2. Men within a cavalry move of the winner's force may form up an
infantry move behind this mêlée, but may not join it.
3. The loser's cavalry who are a cavalry move away may join the
mêlée.
4. The loser's flanking forces within their respective infantry or
cavalry moves may join in the mêlée. All other troops remain in position.
Cavalry rules - volley combat
Follow the same rules as for infantry, but move forward a full cavalry
move further to engage the enemy.
Whether the cavalry were in the original fight or not, they may be
advanced by the winner if they were within rifle range of the original
opposing force. In this way cavalry can often be advanced beyond the
original firing point of the loser.
 The measurement of the cavalry move advance must be from the
original position of these cavalry. From this new position cavalry may
mêlée in continuous combat with opposing forces in their range.
Mêlée combat
The same rules apply as for infantry, except that the winning cavalry may
advance a full cavalry move forwards or flank wards further to engage the
enemy.
Once cavalry have been in a mêlée, all continuous combat that follows
must be a mêlée. No rifle fire from either side until the next game-move.
Having broken through, cavalry may move their regulation move in
any direction in a group or in groups. If the breakthrough is made by volley
fire, cavalry can move in any direction so long as they have opposition
within rifle range at the end of their move.
If the breakthrough is by a mêlée, advance can be made only if it can
end in another mêlée.
Infantry in a breakthrough can move forward only in their original
positions.
'Brush aside' rule
If an opposing force of organized troops, such as artillery or reserves, can
be mêléed at the end of cavalry move, all disorganized troops in the way
can be brushed aside out of the path of the charging cavalry. This is done by
moving men one infantry move to either flank - if artillery, they cannot fire
their guns.
If this rule is not used, individual mêlées with disorganized troops
must take place, infantry counting 1 point and cavalry 2 points. This rule is
applicable only to cavalry and is at the discretion of the winner.
'Orderly retreat' move
This rule is used only after volley combat; it is used after the original
combat has been decided and the winner's force has moved forward.
1. Disengaged loser's forces
(a) Loser must declare his intention.
(b) Men then retire a cavalry move back from their original position.
(c) These men cannot be regrouped or reformed.
(d) Guns and crews may be pulled back a regulation move.
(e) All men within range must fight if the winner decides to continue
the combat after withdrawal.
(f) This move can be used only twice in any set of continuous combat.
(g) All flanking men who could fire upon winner's troops may be
withdrawn; others remain in position and may be attacked.
Defeated men who are beaten twice in morale throws within a single
continuous combat move must be removed from the game.
When two mêlées or two volley lines or one of each are taking place
simultaneously, the biggest situation is taken first. The winner must
determine at once if he intends continuing the fight. If he does not, then
move to the next situation. If the winner does continue and is volley
fighting, he may move flank wise and fight with opponent's forces in a
second situation, but he may not enter into continuous-combat fight that is
already going on. This applies only if the second situation is volley combat.
If the first winner's forces reach a second mêlée, they cannot enter it but
must call off their continuous-combat fight.
6 CONCEALMENT IN SOLO-WARGAMING
Harold Gerry is an English solo-wargamer who specializes in campaigns in
the Napoleonic period. During the course of much battling he has evolved a
relatively simple system for allowing enemy movements to remain
concealed while almost eliminating the possibility of favouring your own
army.
A pair of identical maps of the campaign area is required. From stiff
cardboard cut about a dozen small squares for each side taking part, each
about 7mm square, numbering them in series, one series 1-12, another A-L,
etc. Each counter represents one picket or one large unit, which will be
moving independently.
To commence, using a common strategic situation, one side will be in
possession of most of the map area, with its forces billeted in various areas,
say one division in the local city, one in a frontier district and one in a good
forage area half a day’s march from the city. The invaders will be coming in
two corps, one by the obvious route, one by a minor road through the
backwoods, with possibly a flying column somewhere else to add to the
confusion or to seize a ford far ahead.
Allot one counter to each force which will be acting on its own (at
first, at any rate); also one counter to each independent picket. Each side
can be given an agreed number of pickets depending on the map
complexity, e.g. six groups of half a squadron each and three of one
squadron for more important sites. The total number should be well short of
the number required to cover every road.
Next, each side writes out brief orders for every unit acting by itself,
indicating to where each picket is to proceed. These orders are to be
followed for the first day of the campaign or until the C.-in-C. has a chance
to issue fresh orders. Even if he does, there is no guarantee that the orders
will get through; in all periods of warfare, the best-laid plans went awry
owing to indecision, wrong information or lack of co-ordination.
 In the meantime, the units have to go on as planned, as will be
discovered later.
After the basic orders have been issued for the new day, the player
dices for the commander of each unit, which will be moving or acting
independently:
1, 2- below average;
3, 4 - average competence;
5, 6 -exceptional leader:
(respectively ‘C’, ‘B’ and ‘A’-type leaders). These ratings affect all
movement and decisions.
At the beginning of each hour of daylight a dice is thrown for every
unit. A throw of 4, 5 or 6 means it can move. A 'below-average' commander
deducts 1 point from his throw, and an 'exceptional' one adds 1 point. From
now on the well laid plans soon begin to go astray in the most realistic
manner. The solo player, going from one map across the room to the other,
will lose track of the enemy's positions as soon as he begins to work out the
next set of moves for the opposing forces on their map.
Moving: Provided a major unit or picket can move, it will move 3
miles an hour, or half-speed over open country.
Contact: When opposing units have moved to about 2 to 3 miles
apart, check at the beginning of each move to see if they are in sight of one
another. In the case of pickets, both can remain observing each other, or if
the larger force has orders taking them further on, the smaller picket
must fall back next move.
Information: Pickets automatically send off a messenger to the
headquarters to which they are attached, messengers moving automatically
each game-move. Larger units dice to see which other units they are going
to inform: 4, 5 and 6 - a messenger is sent off to that unit, proceeding
automatically thenceforth (see p. 107, which deals with couriers).
 Change of plan: Units in contact with the enemy may change their
plans, subject to a dice throw of 4, 5 and 6 with usual adjustments for
commander's ability. This also applies to units within earshot of heavy gun-
fire or to units passed on the road by messengers bearing new information.
The simplest method of handling the messengers is to work out their
time of arrival at their destination and note it in advance. Orders cannot be
changed on the basis of their news until that time.
Working on this basis, other details can be worked in, such as the
influence of weather on visibility, convoy times, etc. But even by
themselves these rules take the course of the campaign out of your hands to
a fascinating extent. Information is passed at uniform speed (if it is sent out
at all) and some units plunge blindly on an old course of action in blissful
ignorance. This avoids such unlikely procedures as simply altering the
courses of units automatically when you sec the other side building up a
threat. Paper work is only a matter of a sheet of paper for each side with
the basic orders, then rough sections for each hour of the day, to note
messenger details and so forth.
7 PERSONALIZED WARGAMING
Particularly suited to solo-wargaming are table-top battles using small
groups of men, each with a listed rank and name, to bring a new realism to
the hobby. More than that, with the passing of time the wargamer will
realize that he has achieved a stimulating sense of self-identification with
his little plastic or metal men so that he views their activities with
compassion and commits them with a real-life reluctance for fear they will
be killed.
To retain both its whole and individual personality, the formation must
be small and, the wargamer should have a fairly deep knowledge of the
arms and equipment of these men and their manner of fighting. For that
reason, and because it is easy to discover the correct establishment, the
platoon of a British rifle battalion in the Second World War period is ideal.
It consisted of:
Platoon H.Q.
1 Officer
1 Sergeant
1 Lance-Corporal
4 Riflemen (with 2 inch mortar)
Three Sections each—
1 Corporal
1 Lance-Corporal
1 Bren-gunner, 1 loader
6 Riflemen
Total Strength 37
1 Officer
 1 Sergeant
3 Corporals
3 Lance-Corporals
28 Riflemen
All these can be made up from one box of Airfix figures (British
Infantry Combat Group; British 8th Army Group and/or British Paratroops).
Make out a nominal roll for the platoon, giving each man a number and a
name, thus: number 1 - Lieutenant Rogers; number 2 - Sergeant Baker;
number 3 - Corporal Bloggs, etc. On the base of each figure, paint the man's
number.
This self-contained group can be used in a minor operation on a
relatively small terrain, split up into sections each under the command of
one of the N.C.O.s. Their opponents can be a similar German group, which
will require information about the establishment of a German platoon or
similar formation and with names to match - how about Lieutenant
Bismarck, Sergeant Goethe, Corporal Beethoven; and the rank and file can
be filled in with Mullers, Schmidts and their like. It does not sound the
same really, does it? It seems to arouse typically insular feelings that make
us, in spite of our better intentions, feel a bit sorry for everyone south of the
Channel because they are not British!
Such eventualities can be avoided by matching our platoon against an
enemy not actually on the wargames table but represented by an off-the-
table force, supported by chance cards and the like.
8 SOLO-WARGAMING IN THE NEW WORLD
In the early days of wargaming's revival, an American home-produced
magazine called War Games Digest provided an immense inspiration on
both sides of the Atlantic. Out of production for some years, its stimulating
pages bring the game alive in the following adapted extracts - first, 'Solo-
Wargames Can Be Fun' by Jack Scruby, founder and editor of War Games
Digest, then an article by Jerry Eberling, and finally an article about the
wargaming activities of an American and a couple of Canadians. Jack
Scruby's adapted extract is as follows:
‘I have always been among the fortunate war game players in that I
have always managed to drum up an opponent to play against. A couple of
years ago, however, I was left in the lurch for an entire summer without an
opponent, and in 'desperation' I turned to solo-wargames. This was before I
knew John Schuster, who has come up with such terrific ideas for solo-war-
games as to change the complexion of worrying whether one plays against
someone, or goes it alone.
I have played games for many years before I was finally forced to
solo-games, but once having delved into it, I was more than surprised at the
sheer enjoyment one can have from a lone-hand game. Let's put it this way,
until you try it, you won't believe that it is thoroughly enjoyable - and in
some instances is really better and more realistic than any game against a
live opponent can be.
As we have seen from John Schuster's writings (who I should add has
spent years and years playing solo-games) the element of chance is the
most important consideration. However, let's not carry this too far - we
should limit the chance to the combat part of the game, not the entire
project. For the movement of the troops, the battle plans before the game
etc., one should think as a general would think, and chance, as such, cannot
enter into it. What happens after the troops meet on the table-top is left to
chance, but movement of the troops is still in your hands more or less
 .

36. Jack Scruby, perhaps the foremost American wargamer. He says the
photo shows '. . . the Monster of Mitteland in action . . . sending chills down
the spines of his opponents'.
The solo player, in all fairness, must first mentally place himself
above the game emotionally, and be determined he will show no
'favouritism' to cither side. Let the chips fall where they may. When
planning, or moving the troops, he must go at it as though he were in
command of those troops against an opponent, and act accordingly.
Having mentally prepared yourself to be fair and honest through the
action, the problem is then how to set up the troops so that neither side has
too much advantage. Aside from the Schuster Master Battle Plan methods,
here is another way to do it.
 The first step is to draw up a map of the terrain the battle will occur on.
Consider all the points of this terrain as though you were leading each side
yourself. Then (and I consider this important) write up orders for each army
for the battle, and attempt to follow these battle plans throughout the game
as closely as possible.
For instance, if one army has a natural defensive position, this army
should be on the defensive, utilizing the ground for this purpose - and your
written battle orders should reflect this. You can even go into detail enough
in these plans to order 'the left flank is to hold Hill 10 at all costs', or 'the
centre is to retreat before an attack', etc. Coupled with these battle plans,
one must consider that one is after all the commanding general on the Held,
and perhaps (as I'll explain later) these battle plans will have to tie in with a
campaign or with orders written by the 'Prime Minister' or 'King' of the
country an army represents in the overall picture.
Thus, the solo general is allowed leeway to take into consideration the
course of action as it occurs on the table-top, but - like any good field
general - he must attempt to follow the strategic concept in his battle orders.
The next step is the actual lining-up of the troops for the battle. Here,
unlike games against live opponents, the solo player has a free hand. A lot
of course depends on the terrain and/or the strategy of the 'campaign'. For
example, a small force might be holding an outpost fort in the centre of the
table, with reinforcements moving in from behind the baseline of the table;
or perhaps a salient is being held deep inside a flank of the 'enemy' troops.
Anything - and everything - is possible in solo-games.
Apart from something special like this, the best bet is to divide both
armies into five units, which I call 'left flank, left centre, centre, right centre
and right flank' forces. Each formation, or unit, should be complete,
including infantry, cavalry, guns, grenadiers, light infantry etc., but
naturally they are formed as you wish.
Next, cut up five cards to the same size and, under the proper heading
(left flank, left centre etc.), write down the organization of these units or
formations. On the reverse side number them 1 to 5. Place them face-
downwards on the table (after shuffling them). Roll a dice, picking up the
first card from the pile. For each dice count, this formation is set that many
infantry moves out from the baseline of the table. (Example: a roll of 3
means that that unit is 3 moves out from the baseline.) At the same time, the
troop formation is placed in its position in the army. Thus, the left flank unit
goes on the left flank, the right flank on the right flank, and so on. Thus, the
dice determines where the troops start the battle, while the general has
determined (by his battle orders) where the position of these troops in the
line will be.
If the player wishes, he may also use a peg-board in conjunction with
his table-top. The peg-board would be drilled with holes to match the table,
i.e. for each infantry move in depth and width, drill a hole. Make the
baseline of the table the 'centre' of six infantry moves (to concur with the
dice). Thus, if you rolled a 3, a formation of troops would be on the
baseline. If a 1 was thrown, the formation would be 3 moves 'deep' on the
table-top; if a 6, the formation would be 3 moves to the 'rear' on the peg-
board. Line position of the troops would of course remain as before - left
flank on left flank, etc.
Once the troops are thus set up ready for battle, the game is set to start.
We suggest a move-counter-move game for the solo player. Throw two
dice, red for one side, green (or white) for the other. High dice must always
take the move, after which the other side is counter-moved. Combat
occurs only after the counter-move is made. The high-dice side always
gets first artillery shot and the initiative to make any charges into mêlée.
By using the fire tables that John Schuster has devised, and which
appear elsewhere in this book, the ensuing combat is determined solely by
chance and neither side has any particular advantage.
To make the game more interesting, one can set up a batch of chance
cards, which must be drawn before each move to see what occurs. This has
also been outlined by Schuster. Another idea is to roll the dice before each
unit (or formation) can be moved. A roll of 1 would force this unit to stand
still and not move. With such chance items thrown around here and there in
the game, your plans are often upset and the complexion of the battle
changes.
The big picture
The greatest fun one can have with solo-games is with the campaign, or
war, rather than just individual battles. One summer I was stranded for an
opponent, so I drew maps of two neighbouring countries (which naturally
enough were always at war with one another). I formed complete military
establishments for both countries, even naming generals, field,
commanders, military area commanders etc., and organized everything to
perfection. A dice roll settled which country was to invade the other. Then
the fun began!
At least two very pleasant evenings were spent poring over the map
determining where the attack was to take place along the border and what
were to be the objectives. A complete striking force was organized, based
upon each 'division' being represented by the number of model soldiers I
had available for the table-top. Special 'light' divisions, composed mainly of
cavalry, were formed and had their proper place in the overall picture -
heavy infantry units were specified for certain areas and so on. All in all I
spent a lot of time on the 'invasion' effort, even going so far as to write out
orders for each particular corps (composed of the various 'divisions' I had
made available for the invasion). Border fortresses were to be bypassed and
even divisions were named for the purpose of holding the garrisons at bay
during the early stages of the invasion (many of these battles were fought
later if the garrison 'attempted' to break out). The key attack was to be made
by a special division on a border fortress (which fortunately fell to the
invaders, or the whole campaign might have ended there I), and the
campaign opened and was begun that evening.
From then on, the invaders' strategy determined how and where the
battles were fought, with the defending country being on the defensive in
most cases. I found that because of the overall 'big picture' aspect, it was no
trouble writing up battle orders as I went along, for each battle was
important and objectives were something that automatically came with the
battle.
At first the invaders were highly successful, but gradually the
defenders gained the upper hand as new troops were moved into the
threatened areas, and after a dozen or more solo battles (all very exciting,
believe me) the invaders were driven back into their homeland.
Unfortunately the summer had ended, and my honoured opponent once
again returned home, and I was 'forced' to go back to fighting a live
opponent!
But I found out to my satisfaction that a solo-game - especially one
based on a campaign - could be just as exciting as any live opposition game
could be: in fact more so, because you are 'fighting' for both sides! Another
feature I enjoyed about the game was the fact that I did not have to play a
game out in one night - it often took me three nights to play a game.
Records, too, could be kept up, since I could sit down at the typewriter
between actions and write it up 'on the spot'.
As a result of all this, I have one of the best accounts of a miniature
war that I have ever had, complete with full records, battle plans, strategy,
results, casualties, etc. And, what's more, I still have my maps of the two
enemy countries in case my opponent deserts me again, and I'll be ready for
another series of solo-games. Believe me, solo-games can be tremendous
fun.
Readers of the old War Games Digest were familiar with the
Regimental Napoleonic wargames that were originally adapted from ideas
presented by John Schuster of Richmond, California, and Ted Haskell of
Lansing, Michigan. The basis of these rules is that groups of men (called
'regiments' or 'companies' for lack of a better name) are mounted upon
balsa-wood moving trays, and all fire power and combat power is counted
by these units, rather than by individual soldiers.
In this type of game, which incidentally can be used in most musket-
[3]
period wargames, Napoleonic or not, John Schuster has come up with a
fast-moving wargame based on 'chance' and the roll of the dice, which is
ideal for solo-games.
Schuster, then a teacher at Portelo Junior High in Richmond, designed
the rules for this game for his Wargame Club which he has organized with
the kids at his school. Working with boys in their early teens, 'Schu' knew
he must keep their interest up at all times, as his rules for this game reflect.
Jack Scruby says: 'From my own experience in playing these rules (both
with Schu and Vern Longlee) I can personally testify that this is the fastest,
most exciting game I have known. '
These rules are particularly suited for the solo-wargame player, for
until the last regiment has fired, the outcome of the game is in doubt. It is
also great when you are lucky enough to have an opponent. When playing
an opponent, if these rules are used in a 'written order' game (i.e. where
each player writes his orders down on paper before any movement is made),
tactics assume their natural place of importance, despite the fact that
'chance' rules the results of combat.
Following are outlined the rules for combat, with explanations with
them.
Volley combat
All volleys are considered simultaneous. Each player is entitled to one roll
of the dice for each regiment within firing range. Casualties are removed
after each player has 'fired' (thus if a regiment is destroyed by enemy fire, it
still gets return fire).
The fire tables below also are used when cannons fire. The player is
entitled to one roll of the dice for each gun. Gunfire is not simultaneous,
and the cannons are always fired first, before volleys or mêlées. The effect
of cannon-fire is immediate, i.e. casualties areremoved immediately and
they cannot be used in the ensuing volley. (Thus if a regiment is destroyed
by cannon-fire, it is removed immediately and is not entitled to 'fire' back.)
INFANTRY or GUN versus INFANTRY
Roll Results
1 A miss
2 A miss
3 2 men dead
4 3 men dead
5 4 men dead
6 5 men dead; a loss of morale; must retreat 3 infantry moves
INFANTRY or GUN versus CAVALRY
Roll Results
1 A miss
2 A miss
3 A miss
4 1 trooper dead
5 2 troopers dead
6 3 troopers dead; a loss of morale; must retreat 3 cavalry moves
INFANTRY FIRE versus GUN CREW
Roll Results
1 A miss
2 A miss
3 1 crewman dead
4 2 crewmen dead
5 3 crewmen dead
6 4 crewmen dead; a loss of morale; must retreat 3 infantry moves
and leave gun unmanned
GUN versus GUN
Roll Results
1 A miss
2 A miss
3 A miss
4 2 crewmen dead
5 3 crewmen dead
6 A HIT - gun and crew destroyed
The reader, of course, may make up his own 'results' above. Depending
on the numbers of miniatures he has available for his forces, the number of
cannons, etc., he can cut down casualties, or raise them, as he desires.
Jack Scruby:
‘In our own fire tables that we have designed, we like to 'mix up' our
dice rolls. Instead of having a 6-throw the big one, we might make a 3 or 4
the morale breaker. Sometimes we make a roll of 1 a hit, rather than a miss
(as above).
We have set up a 'defence' chart against enemy volleys. The way this
works is that after the opponent has rolled the dice for his fire power (in
volleys only), the other player rolls a dice. For example, the opponent rolls
a 6 - your troops should retreat. However, if you roll a 6 against him, this
cancels out his throw. A roll of 2 might cancel out 2 kills; a roll of 3 might
add 2 kills to the enemy fire, etc. The war-game player is sure to come up
with various ideas on this subject.’
The mêlée
In fighting mêlées, the attacker (i.e. the player who makes the charge) is the
only one who rolls the dice. The dice is rolled continually until one side or
the other 'breaks' or is destroyed. After each dice roll, the casualties are
removed immediately.
INFANTRY versus INFANTRY
Roll Results
1 For defence - 2 attackers dead
2 For attack - 2 defenders dead
3 For defence - 3 attackers dead
4 For attack - 3 defenders dead
5 For defence - 4 attackers dead; a loss of morale for the attack which now
retreats 3 infantry moves
6 For attack - 4 defenders dead; a loss of morale for the defenders which
now retreat 3 infantry moves
CAVALRY versus CAVALRY
Roll Results
1 For defence - 1 attacker dead
2 For attack - 1 defender dead
3 For defence - 2 attackers dead
4 For attack - 2 defenders dead
5 For defence - 3 attackers dead; a loss of morale for the attack, which
retreats 3 cavalry moves
6 For attack - 3 defenders dead; a loss of morale for the defence, which
retreats 3 cavalry moves
CAVALRY versus INFANTRY (or vice-versa)
Roll Results
1 For cavalry - 2 infantry dead
2 For infantry - 1 cavalry dead
3 For cavalry - 4 infantry dead
4 For infantry - 2 cavalry dead
5 For cavalry - 6 infantry dead; a loss of morale;
infantry retreats 3 infantry moves
6 For infantry - 4 cavalry dead; a loss of morale;
cavalry retreats 3 cavalry moves
A player who uses 'squares' of infantry for defence against cavalry can set
up a table for cavalry versus infantry in square.
CAVALRY versus GUN AND CREW
(The attacking player rolls the dice one time only)
Roll Results
1-2-3 3 cavalry dead; a loss of morale; retreat 3 cavalry moves
4-5-6 4 gun-crew dead; a loss of morale; crew retreats from gun to the
nearest friendly regiment. This leaves the gun unmanned and, if the cavalry
have 2 troopers left, they can remove the gun 1 cavalry move
Jack Scruby again:
‘This is a pretty drastic combat action, and in our own case we have set
up a table which is a little less direct. We based our table on the fact that the
gun-crew might get off one shot into the charging cavalry, but once they
were reached, they did not have too much of a chance for defending their
gun. However, with a little luck' there are times when the gun-crew can
hold off a cavalry charge.
No tables were set up for infantry mêléeing gun-crew, which happens
once in a while on the war-game table. We suggest you use the infantry-
versus-infantry tables, unless you wish to allow the gun a chance (by a roll
of dice) to fire upon the charging infantry.’
If the solo-player combines these fire tables with Schuster Battle Plans,
as outlined elsewhere in this book, he will have a very satisfactory game.
Again quoting Jack Scruby, 'From experience, I can say that using the
fire tables above as a basis, a very fast moving, exciting game can be played
against an opponent.'
 Now, Jerry Eberling:
‘For those of us not fortunate enough in having any wargamc
opponents within gunshot distance, I would like to offer another variation of
solo-wargames that I have found quite satisfactory. The play is conducted in
two phases, the planning and the application phase, and is a combination of
fictional events occurring at historical places.
Let's begin with the planning phase. First it will be necessary to decide
on the period of history you wish to participate in. Of course this will
depend upon the types of troops you have at your command. I have selected
the Napoleonic wars. Next, pick your campaign. Let's take the Peninsular
War. Now the paperwork begins.
Draft an outline map of Spain and Portugal. After becoming familiar
with the area, proceed to your library and secure a few books on your
selected campaign. In these references you will no doubt find many
diagrams of battles fought including the features of the surrounding terrain,
so from the diagrams make up individual maps of selected representative
areas and note the location of them on your master-map. Depending on
your preference, you will have about ten to fifteen particular sites in the
selected country.
Next, plan your campaign on the master-map and set up the disposi
tion of opposing forces behind their borders. (This can be accomplished by
selection or dice roll.) Let us assume the French intend to invade Spain and
plan to attack San Sebastian as their first objective.
We will next make several dice rolls to complete the final steps of the
planning phase. Assuming the Spanish have troops at San Sebastian, we
will roll one dice to determine what action they will take against the
attacking French force. The following table signifies the action to be taken,
according to the dice roll:
[4]
1 - attack 4 - reinforce
2 - defend 5 - delay
 3 - withdraw 6 - choice any above
The next step is to decide on the battle formation to be employed by
the opposing forces. Here I decided to use the twelve orders of battle
described by Jomini in his book Art of War. They are cited in the two groups
shown below with corresponding dice roll numbers.
Each side will roll one dice to determine the group - 1-2-3 signifies A
group, 4-5-6 signifies B group selection. After the group has been
determined roll for the actual formation.
Then, number each unit location consecutively from left to right, and
roll for placement of artillery, cavalry and infantry regiments. After the
formation and placement of both forces have been decided, place troops on
your terrain and start the second phase.
The conduct of the application phase will depend upon the various
rules selected by the player. Space prevents a detailed account of the rules I
use, but here is a short resume for explanation's sake.
Point value and moves
Infantry 1 point 4-inch move
Cavalry 2 points 8-inch move
Artillery 10 points escorting troops move

Firing Methods
Musketry 12-inch range. Roll one dice for each six men firing and remove
casualties according to the following table:
Roll 5 or 6 6 men firing kill 3; less than 6 kill 2
Roll 3 or 4 6 men firing kill 2; less than 6 kill 1
Roll 1 or 2 6 men firing kill 1; less than 6 kill 0
Artillery Range is 24 inches. Place 3-inch 'burst circle' over target -roll a
dice for casualties. Bridges, guns, houses, etc. destroyed with roll of 6.
Mêlée
Upon contact, all troops within 4 inches of melee point are considered in
mêlée. Each side then make one dice roll and multiply it by the number of
points it has involved. Lowest total loses half its points in casualties, highest
total loses half of his opponent's loss. Lowest total troops must retreat a
cavalry move.
Miscellaneous
The Alternate Move game is used. Each side alternately accomplishes two
of the following actions - move, face, fire.
A certain amount of integrity will be necessary in conducting your
solo game. Your favourite regiment will have to fight on its own. Each side
should be given equal chances as much as possible.
After the victor of a battle has been determined, the campaign can
progress by making a second battle area selection and proceed as cited
above. In this way an entire campaign can be fought. Points for each battle
can also be given in order to evaluate the entire campaign.
Jack Goltry of Wisconsin, U.S.A. and Arthur Mikcl of Ottawa in
Canada began a system of playing out the campaigns and battles involved
in the large solo-games run by each other. Jack's part in the Planet Emanon
game will illustrate the procedure. Arthur Mikel says:
‘Planet Emanon is the imaginary planet on which I operate my solo-
game. It has been in operation for many years running back through various
stages of historic growth providing the background for wars great and small
in many eras, including Roman-style legions; medieval-type armoured
knights; gun and musket troops; tanks, aircraft and submarines; and it is
hoped that the future will bring the battle group, guided missile and perhaps
space warfare. Whenever I get tired of working up rules in one period I
merely switch to another time in the planet's history.
As a solo-player I do as most others. I operate the 'political' destiny of
the countries on the planet, deciding which shall be at war, on what fronts
and with what forces and general reserves. In the past I have played out the
campaigns and the battles that evolved from these situations.
However, as I am emotionally involved in the existence of Montania,
one of the principal countries of the planet, a legacy of the days in which
the planet was the basis for a game containing many players, I am in no
position to assure an impartial decision in all campaigns and battles. For
this reason Jack Goltry has recently worked out the campaigns and battles
resulting from Montania's latest wars.
To put the system into effect I sent Jack a copy of a map of the area in
which the campaign took place together with lists of the forces involved
and their locations at the start of the campaign. Using these he works the
forces into battle positions and tries to come to a reasonable decision on the
results of the campaign.
Because he is at liberty to use any battle rules or other method he may
choose to light out the battles, the casualties that he reports may be out of
line with my conception of what they should be in relation to my overall
Emanon-style games. Thus, if he plays a game with 200 against 300 men
representing 20,000 to 30,000 and reports casualties of perhaps 60 to 80 per
cent, I will probably reduce the number thus killed sharply - perhaps
dividing by two or three. This gives me a figure that I can use in relation to
the big solo-game in Emanon.
By such means Jack and I hope to devise a workable system whereby
solo players can have fun dealing with problems set up by others many
miles away. We hope that it will be more fun than devising our own
campaigns and battle problems.’
 George A. Lord of Ontario, Canada, has written that he does not for
one moment suggest that solo-gaming is better than face-to-face combat
because the whole idea of a game is to pit your wits against those of an
opponent. However, solo-wargaming has its uses on occasions such as those
listed below:
1. When you live where opponents are few and far between. Play-by-
mail is all very well, but it can take a long time, and, if you are not in this
category, then you don't know what it is like to wait for moves to arrive by
post!
2. To test out a set of new rules or variants, because some opponents
can get cheesed-off going through this process as they want to play a
straightforward, well thought-out game.
3. To play out long campaign-type games or to re-enact some battle in
history where it is not convenient to have an opponent come over every
time you have a few spare minutes.
For various reasons, George Lord has been forced to play a lot of solo-
wargames and when first he started the hobby and asked around for help in
this direction, most of the suggestions were vague and indicated the use of
chance cards, etc. He is now experimenting with many ideas of his own and
has invented, built and tested several devices for playing solo games.
His main complaint about solo rules devised by other people is that
you sit as a referee in God-like fashion between the two armies and merely
follow a set of stiff rules while remaining strictly neutral. This is harder
than you think and, human nature being what it is, is not always possible.
All this is a poor substitute for the unfortunate chap who has no opponent
and who wishes to command one of the armies; but how can he manoeuvre
the other side without cheating and making a mockery of the whole
business? Recently George Lord developed a method which requires no
fancy gadgets and works well in that it keeps the outcome in suspense as in
a game between live opponents.
1. Decide by chance whether the battle will be fought across the table-
top or down its length.
 2. Place three horsemen along each starting edge, one for the centre
and one on each wing. Then dice to decide on which turn they start off -one
dice for each of the six scouts. If it comes up 1, they start first turn; 2 - start
on second turn, etc. Move the scouts towards the opposite side of the board
at a normal light-cavalry movement rate.
3. At the end of each move, dice to see what happens to every one of
the horsemen:
1 - killed by the enemy
2 - captured by the enemy
3, 4, 5 - nothing notable to record
6 - observes the enemy
4. A scout who is captured, or returning after spotting, continues to
move at normal pace towards the enemy or his own headquarters. Once
there, he either reports or is interrogated. One dice is thrown to decide how
many facts will be revealed and then again to see which facts are learned;
for example:
Dice score of:
1 - details of the terrain
2 - number of infantry on that wing or centre
3 - number of cavalry
4 - number of horse artillery
5 - number of field artillery
6 - number of reserves
All of these reactions can be revised to suit a personal situation.
As terrain details are learned or observed, they are added to the bare
table-top. George Lord starts with the first 30 inches of terrain from his end,
as this is what he can see. He uses the back centre as the HQ point where
scouts must report unless the commanding officer has moved elsewhere.
George says: 'Now, you may be wondering what good does it do to have
scouts for the enemy? Well, if you learn something I am not supposed to
know, my troops must continue to carry out orders even if they walk into
ambush (give enemy a bonus such as a free round of fire).'
Plans are based on what a general knows; he then writes out several
sets of orders, first including a sensible possibility for the enemy and a few
outlandish ones as blunders have been known to occur in warfare.
Probabilities are assigned for each. He then moves his own men and dices
to decide which choice of action he will take, strictly following whatever
transpires.
This procedure is repeated for the next move until the outcome is
settled. In conclusion, George Lord writes:
'I realize that no definite numbers or ratios are provided but this is a
general method and not a set of rules. You can use your own set of rules and
it will still work out.'
9 SOLO MUSKET WARGAME
by John Schuster (USA)
(American wargamer John Schuster has given permission for publication in
this book of an adaptation of his well-tried system of solo-wargaming. In
the opinion of the author, this method is one of the simplest yet most
comprehensive methods of battling against oneself yet devised and its study
will pay big dividends.)
I have tried to create a solo-wargame to give me the type of game that
would have speed, simplicity and chance. Together with honesty they are
the key words of a solo-wargame.
SPEED: This is an essential element to be able to start and finish a
game in one night (if possible!). The use of cardboard or balsa-wood trays
for each separate unit helps to cut the time down on troop movements.
SIMPLICITY: Keep the game on the higher level of 'mass' and get
away from complicated rules or fighting efforts of individual soldiers (like
medics, engineers or grenade-throwing grenadiers). The less amount of
dice-throwing the better, but let what is thrown be potent enough to make
the game move along fast and true to life. The formations of your
regiments, their firepower, morale and how you manoeuvre them to get the
best possible use from them make it a real test of your basic generalship.
This is the most important factor of any solo-wargame. It is those
unforeseen little battle conditions which help to 'stir the pot' and keep
things in a fluid condition.
HONESTY: Don't let the brass buttons and the 'jazzy' paint job on one
'pet regiment' take a hold of your true battle sentiments. Be honest! If this
terrific-looking regiment which you like has just suffered a tremendous
blow, let it go that way. I have found out that even if your favourite army's
master battle plan has been completely disrupted by conditions left honest,
it sometimes works out for the best.
The formation of one army
Split the army into seven separate brigades with as many regiments per
brigade as your collection allows. With the seven various types of brigades
your army will contain all the three elements (infantry, cavalry and guns)
needed for a good, balanced, musket wargame army. Here is the
breakdown.
FOUR - Infantry of the line brigades
The strength of each brigade in regiments is up to you (as you will
know your own collection best). The regular infantry of the line regiment
should get a rating of medium firepower and morale. If a regular infantry of
the line regiment suffers losses that will take its total to one-quarter of its
original strength, it should be removed from the battle. You can make a
further breakdown in the quality of your infantry of the line brigades by
creating the recruit brigade. The recruit brigade will have at least two
regiments that will be rated at a lower status than regular infantry of the
line. The recruits in firepower and morale are not as strong as the regulars
but they will get equal status during a 'mêlée' (they then are literally
fighting for their lives and must put out better to survive the ordeal).
ONE - Infantry guard brigade
Regimental strength would again be up to you. The guard regiments
have superior firepower and morale and should fight to the very last man. In
the case of losses to a guard regiment some sort of reduction of firepower
should be figured (because this is a solo game and you and only you are
fighting it, take this as only a suggestion which can or cannot be inserted
into your rules). The guard regiment should get a more powerful count
when you figure them in mêlée. The guards, because of their 'elite' status in
armies, were absolutely the best fighters in the army and thus are always
superior to other troops.
ONE - Light infantry regiment
Only a regiment in strength (there should not be a brigade of light
infantry). This single regiment of light infantry is a completely separate unit
from your regular army's plan and is not to be included in the master battle
plan. The 'Lights' are a strict 'ad-libber' from the master tactical manoeuvres
of the main army. The light infantry regiment should be the only unit in the
army that will get the split move or cavalry move. The light infantry
regiment has the identical value of a guard regiment, except that in mêlée it
has the same quality as a regular infantry of the line regiment. As this unit
of light infantry can be 'freelance' to such an extent, it can sometimes throw
its added power to an attack or repel a tremendous attack that in the master
battle plan there was no way of repelling. The light infantry regiment, used
as a free agent with its special powers, really puts the added bite to that
'chance' element during the battle.
TWO - Cavalry brigades
Regimental strength of both the cavalry brigades will be optional to
you and your collection. The cavalry regiments fight to the last trooper and
are affected by morale like any regular infantry of the line. I have heard of
some generals who break down their cavalry to lights and heavies and even
further to regular, guard and recruits (like the infantry) in quality; these are
considerations if you are prone to complicate your rules.
TWO-THREE-FOUR - Guns (number optional)
The gun-crews again will be up to whatever your collection can
muster. In my personal set of rules I allow each of my guns the opportunity
to move either one cavalry move or one-half infantry move and fire a
volley. A gun under such a ruling can then accompany an attack, as in 'them
good old days' of gun-crews pushing the gun along, then stop long enough
to fire off a volley. In the case of the guns, before I actually know each
army's master battle plan I set up on the 'chance' part of the game with the
guns by attaching the various guns to various brigades (be it infantry or
cavalry). The chance element enters when you must guess when to attach a
gun to a certain brigade for the battle; it may work out fine, and you will
have a gun in the very front line when the game opens, or it may work out
that the gun and that particular brigade are in reserve which puts you short a
gun in your master battle plan. If a gun is attached to a cavalry brigade it
will get the cavalry move or an infantry move and fire. If it happens that the
cavalry brigade breaks in morale or is destroyed in a mêlée or fire, the gun
will then revert to the status of an infantry gun (moves and personnel will
have infantry status).
Brigade formation cards
For each of the seven brigades that make up each army you will have a
corresponding brigade formation card. You can number each brigade as you
see fit (or, as in the American Civil War, name brigades after States or
generals, etc.). Upon each brigade formation card you will write its
regimental make-up and strength and whether it has its gun or not. To make
it an exciting game with the chance element in it, short change one or two
brigades of a regiment and create an over-strength brigade by releasing the
other regiments from the weakened brigade. There are many ways of
creating various units' T.O. and E. (Table of Organization and Equipment)
which has been written on the back of each brigade formation card. Shuffle
them so they will be ready to draw as you start to line up your troops
according to the master battle plan of each army.
Master battle plan
The master battle plan is actually a series of formations of the brigades of
each army which the player previously draws out for both armies. I
dreamed up six formations (to correspond with the numbers on the dice).
I use two dice (one red and one green) to determine which master
battle plan each force will use. The plan is simply the tactical manoeuvring
of each of the seven given formations after they finally consolidate into an
army.
The Red dice will therefore represent the six various formations that I
'dreamed up' to give one army a certain balance after it consolidates.
Your own imagination will help you line up six varied formations
which will determine the pattern your brigades will be in.
The Green dice determines the other patterns and also determines
whether you attack (and where you attack) or defend (and how you defend).
Red 4, Green 1 means a right-flank attack.
 Red 4, Green 2 is an opposite pattern with a left-flank attack.
These examples are a simplified version of what can be done.
For example, in setting up the formations, you can diagram out twelve
formations (instead of six) using two dice to determine what number will be
the diagram in which one army will use to enter the fight. The same is true
of the idea on attack or defence. Thus, the imaginative solo-player, who
wants to set his battles up on a 'chance' basis, is not limited to only a few
basic 'patterns', but can make up as many as he desires.
Thus, over a period of time and experimentation, I have set up
defensive patterns - defensive patterns with counter-attack based upon the
results of the first mêlée. You can have patterns for double envelopment,
off-the-road extreme flank attacks upon the opposite battle line, with
various size formations, according to your original master plan formations,
plus your dice throws.
This is how a flanking attack would work:
The 'enemy' must complete his battle formation and actually start at
least two moves (as per his battle plan) before you can even place your
flanking units on the table in their proper position (right or left flank as
determined by your dice throws and your master plan). The flanking force
('your' army) should be evenly distributed and will be aligned so that the
central brigade is actually on the enemy's front line.
For example:
'Enemy' plan was determined by Red 4, Green 5.
'Your' battle plan was determined by Red 6, Green 5 (flank attack).
Then, roll the dice once more -this roll determines how many moves
away from the ‘enemy’ flank ‘your’ flanking force is located - to begin the
attack. This is thus a battle situation set up from your master plan and is
determined by the dice roll. Chance, and chance alone, has set up an
interesting situation for you - as commander of both forces - to fight out.
 My own master battle plans are drawn out, one to a page, in a loose-
leaf binder. By using both dice to determine a set-up, one might find that a
Red 6 (for example) means your troops were set up along one line.
However, the Green number thrown might mean that two left-flank brigades
are to be brought over to the right flank for a right-flank attack; or perhaps
the Green number thrown would mean the left-flank brigades were to move
to the right flank and were to be set there for defensive purposes.
Thus, to start the battle, throw a Red dice and look on the page (in the
loose-leaf binder) for that formation. Then you throw the Green dice,
looking for the page this number determines: here you find out whether you
attack or defend, whether the right flank is strong or weak, etc. Seldom, if
ever, do you throw the same combinations, so that usually each battle is a
new one.
You will notice that the positions of the guns are not diagrammed.
They are determined by the formation chance cards, having been attached
to various brigades when you were setting up the brigades. Thus, the
placements of the guns will be determined by which brigade they have been
attached to.
Once the brigade formations have been figured out, and you have
placed the regiment (or regiments), gun (or guns) on the back of each
brigade card, you are ready to set the whole stage for a complete chance-
and-surprise situation for both armies. Now, draw the first two brigade
cards; then:
FRONT LINES can be set up in two ways:
1. Place the two brigades of each army two, three or four infantry
moves from each other in the centre part of the table. Place them in a
position to be tactically strong. For the remainder of the brigades, you can
draw the cards you have left and throw one or two dice, depending on how
many infantry moves you would like them to be away from the front line
position. Place them on the table so as best to get them to their master battle
plan as soon as possible.
 2. Place the two brigades of each army one infantry move from the
baseline of the table, leaving the rest of the army 'off the table', and work
with your campaign or terrain 'off-the-table' map. The 'off-the-table' map
should be gridded so that each square would be the equivalent to an infantry
move. To show the exact position of each 'off-the-table' brigade, draw the
brigade formation card, roll the dice to determine how far from the table-top
that brigade is and place a coloured flag with the brigade's number (glued to
a pin) into the 'off-the-table' map so that it can actually be moved after each
game-move. The regiment, or regiments, of that brigade may be placed on
the table-top only after the brigade pin finally arrives at the edge of the
table according to the 'off-the-table' map.
To find out which brigade, or brigades, will be placed either in the
front line or rear position, simply shuffle the brigade formation cards, draw
the first-needed amount (of troops) and place these troops in the best
possible position to protect that army, and yet go along with the master
battle plan.
If you will remember about the brigade set-up and the shortcomings of
one or two brigades, and the strengthening of other brigades with an extra
regiment or two, things are now really set up for that chance element that
has already been discussed. During this early phase of the battle, before the
whole army is on the table intact, you may find one force has the edge over
the other in regiments, guns, etc., from the chance entering into the picture
from drawing the brigade cards. Then, by shuffling the brigade cards (plus
each force having a different master plan, differences in quality of the
troops, the chance on each dice roll, etc.) you should wind up with a game
that will keep you fully amused by yourself.
NIGHT MOVES: To help keep things fluid, the night move can easily
be set up in this manner. Play about eight daylight moves, according to the
master battle plan of each army. Starting the ninth move (or whatever move
you wish night to fall on), simply roll the double dice and come up with a
different master battle plan. Give yourself four to six night moves to
accomplish these requirements (remember, cannons can be moved on night
moves, but cannot be fired; combat ranges are cut in half, but moves are the
same length). By the time day comes around, one of the armies will be
pretty well shot up or outmanoeuvred.
CHANCE CARDS: Chance cards are another way of keeping that
chance element alive during a solo game. The problems for each card, and
how many to use, is up to you and your imagination. I'll never forget how
happy I was in one battle to see the look of consternation on Jack Scruby's
face when his whole army was paralysed for two moves because 'his
general had a gut ache and was indisposed!' Jack moaned and groaned,
claiming it was not green apples his general had eaten, but a jug of Old
MacMurdock that had been 'liberated' by one of his grenadiers from the
local inn, which had just been captured that morning by his right-flank
forces!
10 SOLO-WARGAMES CAMPAIGNS
One of the most difficult things that a solo-wargamer has to face is
maintaining interest in his lonely military activities. In some cases he may
not even have a kindred spirit with whom he can discuss his activities with
a degree of mutual understanding. To a certain extent this facet can be
handled by the written word, either in the form of letters to other wargamers
or else in the shape of journals and diaries relating the course of his table-
top operations. As explained elsewhere in this book, these journals can
easily take on an aspect that becomes almost indistinguishable from real
life. However, it will be noticed that they are invariably concerned with
protracted or prolonged operations in the form of campaigns encompassing
large areas of ground and more than one battle; this is because journals kept
of individual battles and bearing no relation to what went before or what is
to follow are obviously labouring under a certain degree of restraint. With
this in mind, the reader will realize that the purpose of this chapter is to
open his eyes not only to the value of campaigns from a writing-up point of
view but also to the fact that these records are perhaps the greatest single
factor in assisting him to retain wholehearted interest in his solitary hobby.
The word is continuity - in our context represented by relating one
battle to another so as to achieve a set objective. Straight away, an interest-
provoking fact is placed before you because the human mind is geared to
activities that produce a tangible end-result, the lack of which will tend to
leave the affair 'up in the air' and so diminish interest. No one fights
wargames without reading military history and no student of that subject
can fail to discover a quickening of interest as he surveys a map of the
Waterloo campaign or Lee's advance to Gettysburg without realizing how
interesting it would be to use hindsight and re-create those campaigns,
correcting the mistakes made by the defeated generals and even reversing
history.
As in real life, military campaigns cannot be conducted without the
use of maps, vital for both the information of the generals as they advance
across what may be alien territory and, in the case of our wargames
campaigns, for a means of plotting the movements of opposing forces. A lot
of fun can be obtained from messing around with maps and even the most
blase table-top general feels the itch of power as he surveys the large sheet
of paper spread out in front of him and realizes that, like Napoleon,
Wellington and hundreds of immortal leaders of the past, he has the power
to manoeuvre large bodies of men and guns up and down its contours, along
its roads and across its rivers. The map need not be a professionally printed
Ordnance Survey sheet (in fact, their scale is too small to make them really
practical for our purposes except for use as the master-map covering
the entire campaign). It is far better, at the beginning anyway, for the war-
gamer to draw his own maps, indicating the most obvious sorts of terrain,
such as hills, rivers, roads, villages, bridges, etc., and to scale those maps to
his wargames table. For example, a map is perhaps 2 feet square while the
wargames table is perhaps 8 feet by 5 feet; this means that, with a map scale
of ½ inch equals 1 foot on the wargames table, the map is six wargames
tables wide by nearly ten wargames tables deep. Moving on such a map
(ideally by means of the matchbox system described) and marking in the
movements of the opposing forces with different coloured chinograph
pencils, it will not be too long before some contact is made and then it is
quite easy to transfer from the map the details of sufficient terrain around
that contact-point to cover the 8-feet-by-5-feet wargames table.
38. The ‘lonely’ wargamer plots a campaign
Just as the map is scaled to the size of the table, so can that scale be
used to plot the rates of movement of the opposing forces. For example, if
½ inch on the map equals 12 inches on the wargames table, and a column of
troops can move along a road, on the table, for 12 inches per game-move,
then that same column will move ½ inch per map-move during the map-
moving phase. Cavalry will have a greater move-distance, say 18 inches,
which will mean that one's cavalry patrols will be moving half as fast again
as the infantry columns and will thus be fulfilling their true function of
scouting forward until, in the shape of their numbered counter in an enemy-
occupied matchbox, they come upon the foe they are seeking. There may be
a forest or a mountain between them so that it is necessary to check with the
map before taking any further action. It may be that neither side can see the
other, in which case further moves have to take place before either side
need disclose anything at all about the troops they have in that area. If
scouts should reach ground overlooking an enemy area, then they will be
able to judge not only the strength of the force in view but also its
composition, i.e. whether it consists solely of cavalry or whether it is a
mixed force of cavalry and infantry and artillery. In real life the scouts
would give an estimate of numbers -a difficult thing to simulate when the
same commander is handling both forces in a solo-wargame. One way of
handling this situation is to assume that the scouts have the same failings as
other humans and tend to exaggerate rather than to minimize so that their
estimation of the force in view is about 33½ to 50% per cent higher than it
really is. With all the other things on his mind, the solo-wargamer may well
overlook the real size of the force and tend to become confused, a situation
made even more likely if he is handling a number of scouts and other
dispersed forces. On the other hand, his preliminary movements may well
have been masked by other means suggested in these pages so that he really
is unsure of the accuracy of any reports sent in by scouts.
There are certain conditions governing scouting parties and their fields
of vision; for example, from a hill a patrol has an uninterrupted view for
two or more complete map squares (matchboxes) in front of them or to the
side. From level ground they have an uninterrupted view for one complete
map square (one matchbox) or, with one clear map square (matchbox)
between both sides, each force under view must give its composition and
strength with a 331/3 -per-cent variation, either higher or lower as desired. If
two clear map-squares (matchboxes) are between forces then all they need
to do is simply to state the strength of their force with a 331/3 -per-cent
variation and withhold information as to its composition. If three clear map-
squares (matchboxes) are between forces then they need state only that
there is a force present.
The conventional role of a scouting party or patrol is to return with
information and they should make every attempt to do this. However, they
may consider that, rather than withdrawing and returning to their main body
with information of the approaching enemy, it would be advantageous to
remain and fight a delaying action until their main body arrives. Such a
situation would apply if the scouting party were able to take up some
position of great defensive strength, such as a defile. Similarly, it may be
that both armies have patrols out and that these small forces will come into
actual conflict perhaps because they consider it to their advantage to
prevent the enemy patrol returning with information. In the first place,
under such conditions neither side need disclose any information about their
strength or composition until after the conflict between the patrols has been
resolved, and if one patrol is wiped out then no information need be
revealed although the main body to which they belong may be aware that an
unknown enemy force is in the vicinity. But if any scouts escape from the
mêlée and return to their own main body, then information should be given
as to the size and composition of the opposing enemy force.
This is a situation where the solo-wargamer has a great advantage over
those fighting dual wargames, for time is their least expendable commodity
and they may well be chary of spending a valuable evening settling a
small-scale battle between two patrols of about half-a-dozen men each.
Hence they may throw a dice and allow a decision to be made in
accordance with its score or settle the matter in some similar perfunctory
manner. But the solo-wargamer will find a situation involving a small action
between two cavalry patrols to be a really mouth-watering prospect and,
with no such inhibitions about time, he will set about arranging an
interesting exercise involving small numbers of cavalry manoeuvring
around each other. His eyes will narrow at the vision he conjures up of
sabres slashing, horses rearing and neighing and carbines rattling as each
little force seeks to prevent its rivals from revealing the presence of their
parent body. There are various ways of simulating this little affair. One of
the best is to set up the full-size wargames table with the terrain features
likely to be used in the forthcoming battle between the two main bodies,
and then set up the opposing cavalry patrols on their respective sides of the
table. They move forward at normal movement rates, attempting to
outmanoeuvre and outflank each other so as to gain an advantage, making
full use of the distance-bonus given when making a charge-move. A less
complicated but quite effective method is for a dice to be thrown for each
force at the beginning of the game-move: The highest scorer has the choice
of moving first or second. This small factor enables tactical advantages to
be obtained and invokes a certain amount of luck which can represent the
ebb and flow of the fortunes of war.
Going to the other end of the scale, this small cavalry affray can be
turned into a full-scale wargame of an original and fast-moving character.
Assume that the cavalry patrol is a strong one of squadron strength (say 15
troopers plus 2 officers) but allow this number of figures to represent a
troop rather than a squadron and then say that 10 troops represent a
squadron. This means that each side has a total strength of 170 cavalrymen
split into 10 troops of 2 officers and 15 men each, allowing for more than
300 cavalrymen in two forces each massed on the baselines on the opposite
sides of the table.
It is most unlikely that any wargamer will have 150 cavalrymen of
exactly the same type, so that from this point on the perfectionist need read
no further because this 'squadron' will offend his eye! It is made up of all
the available French or British or whatever cavalry are involved and are
available to the war-gainer - they look a bit scrappy hut the imagination can
paint nearly as well as the brush!
The mobility of cavalry plus their faculty of being able to dismount
and act as infantry with their carbines enables a very flowing action to take
place. To it can be added an even greater interest if a horse-gun or a battery
of horse-artillery is allowed to accompany each force. Now things become
really interesting as each commander manoeuvres to bring his guns into an
advantageous position while dismounting squadrons to hold vital bridges or
hills or to prevent a strong outflanking movement by the enemy troops. On
the result of such a skirmish can depend the future battlefield dispositions
of each side's main bodies as they arrive in the area, so that it may well have
a very big effect on the campaign that follows.

39 and 40. The Dervishes attack the Sudanese and Egyptian Infantry and
Camel Corps
41. The Egyptian and Sudanese Infantry, together with the camel Corps,
fight off their attackers.
It is essential that the War Diary is kept fully up to date. Record the
number of game-moves occupied by this skirmish so that the time they take
can be weighed against the lime required for the oncoming main bodies to
reach the battlefield. In the first place, the cavalry patrols may be perhaps
two or three moves ahead of their own main body so that, if a patrol is
taking on the enemy's main body in an attempt to delay them, it may be that
they will have to hold up an entire army for two or three game-moves. This
must be very carefully recorded to enable troops to come on to the
battlefield at the correct time.
Map-moving can become very complex, particularly when it is
being done by one man who is endeavouring to split himself down the
middle and, with the strictest impartiality and the highest degree of secrecy,
to be moving opposing forces. However, this same character has one great
point in his favour in that he alone will settle all the arguments, make the
decisions that clear up knotty points when they arise without having the
whole affair soured by acrimony or irritable bickering between himself and
another commander, both intent upon securing the greatest advantages for
their own men while conscious that the other is trying to do them down. It
may seem a simple matter, once rates of movement are decided, to move
armies across a map, but all sorts of snags present themselves which the
solo-wargamer, falling over backwards to be fair to both sides, will try to
sort out with a Solomon-like wisdom; and, blessed with all the time in the
world, he will eventually arrive at a solution which satisfies him (or 'both'
of him). Let us consider just a few of the things that might crop up.
1. What effect does a bridge or the narrow streets of an old town
have upon the speed of movement of a force? Obviously, they cannot all
rush through as a complete army like an irresistible flood, can they?
2. Your troops may be plastic or metal but they are meant to represent
real live human-beings fettered by physical limitations that prevent them
from marching and marching and marching for day after day. Some
arrangements must be made to simulate rest-days. And there is a certain
glamour about forced marches that arouses pictures of relief columns
grimly plodding on, hoping that they will arrive before the besieged fort
falls. At what rate are you going to allow your men to force-march and what
sort of penalties will they incur for all this excess expenditure of energy?
Here is an interesting and fairly realistic method of simulating this arduous
aspect of military life. Estimate a total 'marching distance' that can be
covered by infantry, cavalry and artillery for a map-moving 'week'. This can
be done by assuming that each map-moving 'day' consists of eight moves
(corresponding to eight game-moves on the wargames table) so that a map-
moving 'week' will consist of fifty-six map-moves, let’s say six moves for
resting, giving a total for the 'week' of fifty map-moves. An infantry unit,
for example, can move 12 inches in a game-move (scaled down to ½ inch
per move on the map) so that in fifty map-moves an infantry unit is capable
of covering a total of 25 inches on the map (or 50 feet on the table).
Now, using the War Diary (explained elsewhere), the general marks
down the distance the unit has covered each day at the normal rate, giving a
progressive total so that by the end of the fourth day, for example, the
general was able to look and see how far his unit had marched and what
they have left of their week's marching 'distance'. So for a forced march,
allow a unit to march half as fast again as normal. This will mean that a
unit, normally capable of marching 25 inches in six days, may, in an
emergency, march say 18 inches in the first three days and then have seven
inches remaining for the other four days of the map 'week'. Refinements to
this system could be made so that a unit force-marches for say two days,
rests one day then force-marches for another two days - it is all rather
complex to go into here but is by no means beyond the inventive brain of
the solo-wargamer who seeks realism and interest.
3. Consider how you are going to reflect victory or defeat - will it
satisfy you to allow the victorious force to move forward as far as the
loser's original base-line to occupy the ground they have won, while the
loser withdraws so many squares or feet from that point?
4. A really large-scale campaign that might last years (such as Lionel
Tarr's Russo-German campaign of 1941) would require a large general map
broken down into a series of much smaller maps each covering an area
which in turn must be broken down into terrain maps scaled so as to form a
set of wargames tables. Do you have the patience to move on main maps,
battle maps and terrain maps, keep a strict check of all that is going on and
still retain the secrecy and impartiality required of you as a solo-wargamer?
It can be. done and jolly fascinating it is too1
5. As soon as the wargamer sees a map, his mind starts twinkling
around on large-scale outflanking movements or cavalry raids such as those
carried out by J. E. B. Stuart during the American Civil War. It can be done
but is rather complex and needs extra thought so as to be kept secret from
the 'other' general.
6. The majority of wargamers carry on their table-top battles with a
blithe disregard for such military refinements as lines of communication.
This will not be good enough for the solo-wargamer who seeks reality
without boredom and has the time to so indulge himself.
7. And then there are the questions of logistics and attrition - how are
you going to handle the little matter of deciding what sort of penalty the
loser suffers for being unfortunate; and the winner cannot be victorious
without some sort of losses, can he? Those factors and everything already
mentioned can be the subject of considerable study and discussion -
and in fact it has been in my book Wargame Campaigns. Its pages are full
of suggestions and explanations and include specimen campaigns in all
periods from ancient times up to the present day. On the other hand, the
solo-wargamer might consider it part and parcel of his interest-retaining
role to ferret out these things for himself - and he's got the time to do it!
11 THE MATCHBOX SYSTEM IN SOLO-
WARGAMING
Acknowledged to be one of the most successful methods of map-moving in
a campaign between two players who like the services of an umpire, the
matchbox method can be adapted to suit the solo-wargamer with almost the
same degree of success. The essential apparatus consists of thirty-six empty
matchboxes glued together into a sort of chest-of-drawers so that they form
a chest six boxes long by six boxes high. Each box is numbered from one to
thirty-six from the top left working across to the bottom right; these
numbers are placed on both ends of the matchbox so that the chest can be
operated from either side. The map for the impending campaign is
correspondingly gridded into thirty-six squares and similarly numbered so
that it is identical with the matchbox chest in that the lower numbers begin
at the top left-hand (northern) part of the map while the highest number
ends at the bottom right-hand (southern) corner.
Two sets of plastic counters are provided, one colour for one army and
another colour for the other, and each of them is given a number or code
letter. List the units in each army, starting at the top with say the 1st Bn.
Grenadier Guards; then:
the 3rd Bn. Coldstream Guards
the Black Watch
the Connaught Rangers
the 3rd Hussars
the 16th Lancers
No. 1 Horse Gun
No. 2 Horse Gun
No. 1 Field Gun
 Now place against each of these units one of the code numbers or
letters on the plastic counters, jumbling them up so that you do not have
them reading number 1 -Grenadier Guards; number 2 -Coldstream Guards,
etc. By jumbling them up so that the 16th Lancers are number 1 and the
Grenadier Guards are number 2, while the Field Gun is number 3, it is
unlikely that you, representing both generals, will recall which code number
or letter represents which unit.
Next, the force of each general is disposed on the campaign map,
marked in different colour chino-graph (blue for one side and red for the
other, for example) on the transparent plastic covering to the map. As one
force is starting from the north and the other force from the south, it may
well be that the northern force will be in map-square numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
and 6 while the southern force will be in map-square numbers 31, 32, 33,
34, 35 and 36. Place counters representing each of the units in the various
numbered matchboxes that correspond to the numbered map squares.
Now the forces are moved on the map by each general and when a unit
moves from one numbered map square to another, its numbered counter is
moved from its original matchbox to the next matchbox whose number
corresponds with that of the square on the map into which the unit has
moved. For example, if the Grenadier Guards start off in map square
number 1 (therefore matchbox number 1) and move on the map at the
agreed rates, then, at the end of perhaps three moves, they may pass from
map square number 1 into the square immediately below it, which is
number 7. At once, the numbered counter that represents the Grenadier
Guards is moved from matchbox number 1 to matchbox number 7 below.
The moving continues in this manner until a box is opened to insert
another counter and there within is seen a similar counter but in the enemy's
colour. This means that a contact has been made and 'both' generals have to
decide whether to accept battle. If both feel confident of their chances, then
the contact point is marked on each map and the wargamer must now set
about deciding the exact area of that map that has to be transferred to the
table-top.
If the map is a home-produced one then it might well be conveniently
scaled to fit in with the wargames table; for example it could be scaled 1
inch equals 12 inches with the wargames table being 8 feet by 5 feet. This
means that an area on the map 8 inches by 5 is the same scaled-down size
as the actual war-games table. Cut a piece of transparent plastic 8 inches by
5 and square it off in 1-inch squares. Then thrust a pin through the exact
centre of this template and press it into the contact point on the map - the
war-games table is the area covered by the template.
That wonderful bonus granted to the solo-wargamer of having time to
do things properly has been mentioned before, and its benefits are once
again seen when using this matchbox system of semi-concealment of troops
before battle is joined. It may well be that the map on which the initial
movements are taking place shows ground that is mountainous or heavily
wooded so that, although two forces may be in the same map square, they
will be unable to see each other because they are separated by a ridge or a
dense strip of forest. In this case the general has the right to hold on to a
unit counter and not put it into the appropriate matchbox until moves on the
map have taken the unit it represents on to the opponent's side of the forest,
or else his moves bring him round to your side. Similarly it may be possible
for units in one line of map squares to have a visibility range that enables
them to see the enemy three or four lines of squares away. For example, the
campaign map might include a large bare plain which covers map-square
numbers 11, 12, 13 and 14 and 21, 22, 23 and 24, so that all forces on the
plain would in actual fact be visible to each other and are known to 'both'
generals. An additional counter for each unit concerned is put into a
matchbox whose number approximates roughly to the centre of that bare
plain. This will mean that the units concerned will have counters in the
matchboxes that cover, for example, the northern part of the plain, then
counters in the matchbox that covers the centre of the plain, so that those
enemy forces in a similar position in the southern part of the plain have
them in sight, and vice-versa.
At first glance it might seem that all this messing about with counters,
maps and matchboxes is a bit of a waste of time because the same man is
doing the lot and can remember facts about both sides that will destroy the
illusion of secrecy or concealment. In fact, this is not the case because not
only are the counters numbered in a manner that makes it difficult to
remember but also, after a while, the counter representing a specific unit
plus the repetitious moving on the map, opening matchboxes, extracting
counters, replacing counters, etc., results in a slightly confusing pattern
which makes for surprise. Try it and see!
12 THE IMPORTANCE OF WAR DIARIES
The solo-wargamer often replaces physical contact and conversation with
the written word, his necessary preoccupation in this field becoming greater
in proportion to the size of the campaign that is being recorded. To carry out
successfully any sort of wargames campaign, a considerable amount of
recording is necessary to keep a check on the whereabouts of armies or
detachments, the time of arrival of flanking forces, the effects of the
weather, etc. Inexpensive and easy to make, the War Diary consists of
sheets of ruled quarto or foolscap with a margin on the left hand side to
record the date, and with sufficient space on the rest of the paper to write
down the events of the particular day.
Although its purpose speaks for itself, it is worth stressing that a War
Diary has an essential part to play in the working of a campaign; but, more
than that, it remains as nostalgic and tangible evidence of many pleasurable
hours of war-gaming and planning. What would the epic Siege of Fort
Shabkadar be without its glorious story shining out from the pages of the
War Diary maintained throughout the campaign?
One of the most essential uses of a War Diary is that it includes all
moves of every army, unit or detached force involved in the campaign, not
necessarily given in great detail but referred to by map references or even
the numbers of the matchboxes into which counters were placed. Make sure
that recorded co-ordination is achieved between the matchbox method and
the relevant map! All maps are numbered or given a reference letter which
is noted in the War Diary along with the entry showing movement on that
map.
The campaign began on a specified date and that is the beginning of
the entries in the Diary. Another essential is faithfully to record the weather
conditions at the start of that map-day. Of course, the weather may change
during the course of the day or the map-week - facts which are put into
perspective in chapter 19. As seen in chapter 11, the War Diary plays a vital
part in keeping check when map-moving changes from a main map (of a
country or large expanse of countryside) on to the larger scale of an area or
battle map. Perhaps different forces are attempting outflanking movements
on both the main map and the area map, or an outflanking movement is
being attempted only to bring troops on to a table-top terrain at some
intermediate stage in the battle. Simple as they may sound in cold blooded
print, these are tricky things to keep check on and frequent reference to a
War Diary is often necessary. It is perhaps superfluous to point out just how
much more valuable such entries will be to a solo-wargamer who is
controlling the destiny of both forces.

42. Royalist Musketeers prepare to defend a farm during the English Civil
War. This is a 'sectionalized' piece of wargames terrain measuring about
36" x 18".
43. A close-up view of Royalist troops defending the farmhouse.
 In that connection, both in dual and solo-wargaming, commanders
have to keep control of their armies, know where detached groups are and
send them orders. In dual war-gaming, such facts tend to be glossed over
and commanders have bestowed upon them an undeserved accolade of
supreme deity so that, with or without a crystal ball, they are in full
possession of all knowledge concerning the location and whereabouts of all
their forces without such mundane considerations as messengers or orders.
This will not do for the solo-wargamer who, above everything, well utilizes
his limitless time to achieve reality and realism. He will send out couriers
and couriers will come back to him, their progress duly controlled in
accordance with suggested rules given elsewhere in this book, and limes of
departure and arrival recorded in the War Diary. This is essential because, to
be realistic, units cannot move until they receive orders.
Having acknowledged that the War Diary plays perhaps its most
important role during the map-moving part of the campaign, it still has a
very important function when contact is made and the battle is transferred
to the wargames table. It may well be that units are moving by-forced
march towards the table, or are carrying out a flank march with the object of
cutting the enemy's line of communications. This will probably be done by
moving them in matchboxes or by some other similar method, but in any
case it has to be carefully controlled and a few written words are worth a
dozen faulty memories.
It might be that two battles are taking place simultaneously although,
because there is only one wargamer, they have to take their turn on the
wargames table. This means that the first battle may take seven game-
moves on the table (or seven-eighths of a wargames day) while the second
battle will take only four game-moves (or half a war- games day). The
net result of this is that the forces, both victorious and defeated, in the first
battle are still fighting on for three moves after the forces (again victorious
and defeated in the second battle) have ended their conflict, and one is
streaming away in rout while the triumphant force is perhaps pursuing them
or else making their way towards the sound of gunfire of the first battle to
aid their comrades. This sounds complex and is complex but it can be
sorted out by a well-kept War Diary.
An apparently minor but important inclusion in the War Diary to be
made at the beginning of each battle should be the direction of the wind.
This has a number of applications -as at Towton in 1461 when the Yorkist
archers, firing with the wind behind them, had a greater range than that of
the Lancastrians; or it might mean that the 'fog of war' of a Napoleonic
[5]
wargame will, in the absence of more than a gentle zephyr , lay low and
motionless upon the battlefield allowing cavalry to approach unsuspecting
infantry with a high degree of concealment. More than that, it allows the
commander of a force not engaged in battle to follow that well-known
military practice of 'marching to the sound of the guns'. For example, if the
wind is blowing from east to west and a battle is taking place in an eastern
area of the map, then forces moving a specified distance away from the
battle on its westward side may be considered to have heard the sound of
artillery and their commander is permitted (without orders by courier or any
other notification from his C.-in-C.) to march towards the sound of the
battle. This means that a very timely reinforcement may well arrive on the
enemy's flank at a crucial stage of the conflict.
The solo-wargamer should make a friend of his War Diary, confide in
it, treasure it and refer to it constantly. Every minute of time taken in doing
this is not wasted but is worth thirty minutes' well planned and smoothly
running wargaming time.
13 CHANCE CARDS
Probably the best known and most widely played of all board-games is
Monopoly which, suitably translated and with currency converted, etc., is
played the world over. One of the most enraging yet engaging features of
the game is its 'chance cards' set in a pack in the middle of the board; the
top card is drawn by the player whose token lands on a space which directs
him to do this. When turned up, the instructions on the card may produce
reactions of joy or sorrow -he may forfeit some long-awaited bonus or, on
the other hand, some shares may turn up trumps and he will receive a
substantial and unexpected dividend. But whatever occurs as a result of
drawing a chance card, the reaction has a noticeable if minor effect upon the
game by causing some sort of unexpected twist or trend in its progress.
Far too promising in its scope to be allowed to rest on a Monopoly
board, the chance card system is tailor-made for wargaming and is ideal
when the lonely wargamer plays by himself. Chance cards introduce into
solo-wargaming a frustration- factor by causing eventualities both pleasant
and unpleasant which can materially affect the course of the conflict. Their
use, together with the other cards described in this book (those concerned
with weather, couriers, units, tactics, etc.), will go a long way towards
ensuring that even without an opponent one's wargaming can still be a
pleasure.
For example, if the wargamer is following a system where a chance
card is drawn by the respective commanders at the beginning of each game-
move, the dictates of each card may have a great bearing on the subsequent
actions of one or both forces. More than that, chance cards introduce variety
and interest into a table-top battle - both are vital to the solo-wargamer who
lacks the stimulus of true competition and the adrenalin-producing reactions
of a personal confrontation with a live enemy.
By making chance cards of varying degrees of importance (major and
minor cards) differing reactions can be obtained. For instance, by following
a system that requires a minor chance card to be drawn each game-move
and a major chance card to be drawn every third game-move, it is possible
to have a fluctuating game reaching peaks of frustration as a minor card
reveals that an infantry regiment has lost its way while marching to the
battlefield, and the major card drawn next move tells with clinical clarity
that the incorrect route taken by this particular unit leads directly into a
partisan ambush! The cards can be strictly tactical or they can allow the
war-gamer to work off some of his sense of humour by informing their
unfortunate drawer that 'The battalion commander of the 14th Light Infantry
has been delayed with his mistress and, lacking orders, the unit will not
move off until two game-moves after the start of the battle'. On the other
hand a tactical chance card could read 'Only seven rounds of ammunition
(sufficient for two game-moves) remain per man' or 'Partly demolished by
enemy engineers, the bridge at San Ridolfo has collapsed and will not be
repaired for six game-moves'.
The author recalls one particular battle against an opponent much
given to the use of chance cards when, at the very start of operations, this
general drew a card which announced that it was his army's National Day -
a fact which so inspired them that for the entire battle all their dice
throws were increased by 50 percent! During the third game-move, this
same commander drew a card which announced that the author's cavalry
were in a mutinous state and, subject to certain factors, might well desert to
the enemy. Those factors consisted of each general throwing a dice, and of
course the Chance Card Kid threw a six so that his cavalry force
immediately doubled its size. As if this were not enough, in the following
move the author's card announced that the commander of his left flank had
had a brainstorm and ordered the entire flank to withdraw from the field. At
this stage the author similarly had a brainstorm and withdrew from the field.
And yet, even in the face of such vicissitudes and blows of fortune, the
author still acknowledges that there is a very definite place for chance cards
in wargaming, particularly when it is solo.
The solo-wargamer is able to devote time and energy towards the more
mundane but essential problems of warfare normally neglected on the
wargames table. It is not unreasonable to claim that the military factor most
unrealistically neglected in this way is that of logistics (the supply and
reinforcing of armies in the field). Perhaps this 'military housekeeping' is a
bit boring, or perhaps its implications and effects delve so deeply into what
makes an army tick that the war-gamer fights shy of becoming involved in
it. Occasionally one comes across players who allocate a certain number of
rounds of ammunition per gun so that it is unable to fire when it is out of
ammunition until fresh supplies are brought up; and very occasionally a
single battle or part of a campaign is affected by the cutting of lines of
communication so that the forward forces run out of supplies. But generally
speaking, logistics have a right to feel sadly neglected, which is a pity
because they provide something frequently lacking from a wargames table -
a reason for the battle or a convincing cause for it being won or lost.
Through the use of chance cards logistics can play a valuable part in the
activities of a solo-wargamer. Ideally, he will make his cards out in a graded
series so that one set deals with ammunition, another with rations, another
with communications and so on. He will use them at appropriate moments
and link each set of cards with a major chance card so that their effects are
reflected upon the course of the conflict.
Earlier, it was suggested that a minor chance card be drawn each
game-move and a major chance card every third game-move. This may well
be considered too stereotyped and might well be altered so that Red
commander draws his major card every third game-move while Blue
Commander draws his on the second, sixth and ninth game-moves; or, a
minor chance card will be automatically drawn on each game-move and a
dice will be thrown at the same time which, if turning up a 1 or a 2, will
mean that a major chance card also has to be drawn. Another idea could be
to use major and minor chance cards as a means of weighing the odds for or
against specific forces. For example, force A consists of 500 men of whom
350 are not particularly well-trained militia. Obviously such a force might
well be subject to greater fluctuations of morale and a less predictable
course of action than an all-professional army. It should be made easier to
draw a major chance card for this force, but any detrimental effects
resulting from that chance card might well be tempered by the militia unit
or group being closely supported by a regular regiment. Immediately this
forces the general to dispose his troops in a manner that ensures the militia
is mingled with the regulars and thus supported, rather than having a strong
right flank of regulars with an expendable left flank of militia. On the same
tack, the opposing commander might have only 300 men, all of them
regulars and veterans less likely to do the unpredictable when under the
stress of battle. He will draw fewer major chance cards than his opponent,
and those which have a detrimental effect upon his troops should be
confined to instructions relating to battle-fatigue, exhaustion following a
forced march, etc.
Do not run away with the idea that the dictates of chance cards should
always be of a detrimental nature - just as in Monopoly, our chance cards
should give with the one hand and take with the other. If your right wing
turns tail and runs during the third move of the game, then Dame Fortune
may well smile upon you so that reinforcements unexpectedly arrive a
move later to take their place. And while you are screaming with laughter
because the enemy have suddenly found that 80 per cent of their
ammunition is of the wrong calibre for their guns, spare a thought for the
card that lies in wait for you telling of a mistaken trumpet call that sends all
your cavalry hurtling back through the very centre of your position!
Returning to that reference of reinforcements arriving on a flank: many
of the operations detailed in Wargame Campaigns involve flanking forces
moving to join you or to take an enemy force by surprise. In these accounts,
reference is made to these flanking forces being subject to chance cards
detailing such eventualities as slow-marching, losing the way, attacks by
guerrillas, etc. Still on flanking forces, a major chance card may inform that
the enemy have an outflanking cavalry brigade three game-moves from
your right flank, or that your patrols have reported signs of an enemy
outflanking force. That outflanking force can become a real menace a
certain number of game-moves later, say three game-moves on, when the
commander of the outflanking force throws a dice, for example, arid by
scoring 5 or 6 brings his group on to the flank of the battlefield.
If you are a serious type of war-gamer then you might prefer to keep
this chance-card business within fairly rigid limits. In this case you might
consider having battle chance cards. Closely resembling tactical chance
cards, they will carry instructions of an operational nature which have to be
followed at once. By using them it would be possible to work a rather
interesting system using the method described by the Wargames Research
Group in their Ancient and Medieval Wargames Rules. Here, general orders
are written for each unit at the start of the game and must be obeyed unless
they are countermanded by a messenger sent from the army commander.
This has always seemed a bit rigid to the author because it rather tends to
assume that the commander of a unit or a separate group is completely
lacking in initiative and is going to blunder happily forward towards a dark
and menacing wood which is almost certain to be crawling with large
numbers of the enemy, or else tripping gaily down a rocky defile that
screams out 'ambush' at the top of its voice. By writing out initial orders for
units as suggested by the Wargames Research Council, and then drawing
battle chance cards every second or third game-move as desired, then it
might appear that a more realistic situation will result. On the other hand,
too much intelligence might be presumed for the unit commanders, but here
again this could be turned to advantage by having experienced or regular
units given the chance of drawing a battle chance card every second move
and militia or less-trained soldiers every fourth move.
However, if you prefer to send couriers realistically galloping all over
the battlefield, then they can either amble nonchalantly along at light
cavalry pace (with a bit of a bonus if you visualize them as a sort of Pony
Express) until they reach their destination, or else you can make life
difficult for them by subjecting them to the normal exigencies of warfare. In
real life, these couriers frequently came up against circumstances which
delayed them or even prevented them from arriving with their message, and
it may well be considered that the simulation of such circumstances not
only adds to the realism of our battles but also achieves that aim of all solo-
wargamers - the unpredictable.
That preamble brings us on to courier cards, sets of thirteen which are
shuffled; a card is drawn by a commander whenever he sends a courier
away with a message to alter orders or impart other vital information. When
dual wargaming, the commander draws his card and discovers what
happened to his man at one and the same time - a fact unknown to his
opponent. Of course, this is unrealistic and ideally there should be an
umpire who draws the card and tells the general what happened to that
gallant aide-de-camp sent out at the start of game-move two when he
arrives at the end of game-move eight, having been ambushed by partisans,
thrown from his horse, made drunk by a barmaid in the pay of the enemy
and/or slept it off. In solo-wargaming, where it may well be that only one
man is available to do the lot, this is a difficult thing to simulate but it can
be done.
One way of handling the situation is to utilize the services of a non-
wargaming helper (see chapter 4, 'The press gang', for wily schemes in this
connection). The commander draws the courier card but does not read it;
then he estimates (or measures if you wish) the distance between the
commander-in-chief and the unit to which the courier is riding and notes
that it will take perhaps three game-moves, so that the courier could reach
his destination at the end of the fifth game-move, for example. On his order
sheet, the commander makes a note against the fifth game-move that the
courier is expected. Then he puts the courier card into the warm and
perhaps unwilling hands of his pressed assistant with the stern injunction
that it is not to be lost and that he will come and ask for it in a little while.
The game progresses and at the start of the fifth game-move the commander
goes along to his assistant and says, 'Look, that card I gave you has a
number on the bottom - do not tell me what that number is, but is it more
than 3?' The assistant looks at the card and says yes or no as the case may
be. If she (presumably your wife would be the only person trusted with such
a vital role!) says 'Yes' it is more than 3', then you tell her to hang on to the
card and you go back to the start of the fourth game-move and repeat the
business, asking if it is more than 4, and so on until you are told that the
number you ask is the one on the card - and then you know that the courier
has arrived.
Of course, this means that the instruction on each card has to be so
phrased as to convey its information to the non-wargaming mind of your
assistant. This is not too difficult and is perhaps best accomplished by
starting the numbers with 2 (assuming that a minimum of two game-moves
will be required for the courier to reach his destination) and then adding or
subtracting from that card in accordance with the instructions shown below.
Cards l, 2, 3, 4 Moves at normal speed (each of these cards will bear
the number 2)
 4 Riding a superior horse and moving at double rate (this card will
bear the number 1)
6 Riding a good horse -moves half as fast again as normal (this card
will bear the number
7 Rider loses his way takes double time (this card will bear the number
4)
8 Horse goes lame- rider proceeds at half-speed (this card will bear the
number 4)
9 Horse dies courier fails to reach destination (put an impossible
number on the card for this, say 12)
10. Horse dies- courier obtains another horse but takes double- time
for journey (put a number 4 on this card)
11 Ambushed by guerrillas courier killed (another impossible number
required here)
12 Ambushed by guerrillas -courier delayed, journey takes half as long
again (put a number 3 on the card)
13 Ambushed by guerrillas - escapes without loss of time (put a
number 2 on this card).
It should be mentioned that this system of courier cards works better
when the courier is moving 'off the table' rather than in full view,
because a number of the eventualities he might face are seemingly unlikely
to occur if he is ambling from one side of the wargames table, through his
own troops, to the other side; but, for a good game, such hard facts might
well be glossed over.
14 TACTICAL CARDS
In actual warfare it is usual for one army to attack while the other, often
numerically smaller, defends, but when simulating battles on a table-top
they usually seem to take the form of two armies each attempting to attack
the other until adverse circumstances force one upon the defensive. When
solo-wargaming it is easier to reproduce the real-life situation because,
being master of both armies, you are more inclined to favour reality by
having one force attack while the other defends, whereas in a dual
wargame, either general standing on his side of a crowded wargames table
will be reluctant to forgo the excitement and glamour of the attack for the
dour satisfaction derived from defending a position. A solo-wargamer is
aided even more in this facet of the game by the use of tactical cards which
encourage the offensive/defensive character of real-life warfare.
Two sets of major tactical cards will be required - one for the attack
and one for the defence. On the attack cards write such orders as 'Feint
with your left wing while advancing the bulk of the infantry on the right
wing supported by cavalry' or 'Right wing to hold while centre advances
with left wing moving inwards to act as a support'. The defence cards could
read 'Strongly hold the best defensive position on your part of the front and
mass remainder of army behind it for a counter-attack' or 'Refuse to commit
your troops until the enemy's intentions are obvious'. Then a further set of
minor attack and defence cards will be required each bearing an instruction
that relates to the major card with which it is connected. For example, if the
major attack card orders an attack in oblique order with one flank moving
forward in strength while the other flank is refused (held back), then the
minor defence card could say 'Support refused, flank with cavalry to
prevent it being turned'. To prevent an anomalous situation where both
armies are ordered to attack or to defend, as the case may be, it is essential
that all tactical cards are 'keyed in'. So that a greater degree of personal
responsibility falls upon the general the instructions on the cards
Another method of employing can be of a vague nature or can be
tactical cards is to have one card for subject to the fluctuations of
chanceeach unit, bearing a general outline cards of the tactics to be
ridiculous -such as when both armies are committed to the same type of
tactics! For this reason it is necessary that the sets of tactical cards are
paired so that the tactics of one side blend reasonably with the tactics of the
other followed by that unit. They could be drawn by chance or allocated as
desired but in any case these tactical cards must be made up into sets so that
a logical sequence of events follows, otherwise one regiment might draw a
card which tells them to advance while the regiment on their right flank has
instructions which tells them to fall back! When chance is allowed to
intervene and tactical cards are drawn for both armies, the results are
sometimes so unconventional that they border on the.

44 and 45. A Russian Artillery Battery (1877) in action behind their gabion
positions.

With all the freedom in the world, the solo-wargamer can vary the
rules governing the use of tactical cards to suit himself. He may have a
system of 'alternative orders' which permit him to alter the tactics to suit the
situation; on the other hand he may have an unbreakable rule which forbids
this. Falling somewhere between these two situations is the system of using
a well-shuffled pack of cards which stands by the side of the table from
which, when a change in tactics is desired, a card is drawn and the
wargamer is given a free hand if it is an ace or a picture-card.
One complaint that is often heard about the failings of solo-wargaming
is about the apparent impossibility of 'off-the-table' outflanking movements,
where forces move on maps designed to show the country that surrounds
the immediate terrain laid out on the table and come in on a flank or rear at
some propitious moment. But this can be done by the solo-wargamer
through the use of tactical cards.
Another method of using tactical cards is to make out three sets: (a)
offensive, (b) defensive and (c) withdrawal. Each card sets out general
instructions for the army's tactical movements specifying any initial moves
which may be required to 'set up' the situation implied by the instructions
on the card. After considering the nature of the terrain and adjusting the
numerical strength of each force so that the defensive force is inferior in
number to the attackers, the defender draws an offensive card for the
attacking force and a defensive card for their opponents. In the resulting
battle it may be that the attackers are repulsed so that the next card they
draw will have to be either a defensive or a withdrawal card, while the
enemy who were originally the defenders will now draw an offensive card.
The game proceeds in this manner with each force carrying on its
movements in accordance with the orders on the tactical cards.
15 REGIMENTAL CARDS
Make out a regimental card for every unit of each army so that they are all
given their own card and then grade the units so that they are classified
downwards from elite or guard troops to militia or irregulars. Each
regiment's classification is filled in on its card and may be altered as time
goes on, or during the course of a campaign should that regiment
distinguish or degrade itself in action. The various grades of unit can be
easily recognized on the war-games table by giving them a different colour
base or mounting them on movements cards of varying colours. A further
development that will add interest is to group them in brigades or divisions
so that there are elite formations or else formations formed of one strong
regiment giving backing to two weaker regiments (this could also represent
mixed brigades in Colonial armies where a white regiment was brigaded
with two regiments of Native troops). When this is done, clip the cards
together and retain them in that manner until the formation is broken up
either by choice or through battle losses.
[6]
A regimental card system devised by wargamer A. J. Mitchell
explains how to make a card for each unit on which is recorded (and
amended when necessary) five separate points, the values of which vary
according to experience, training, discipline, etc.; each represents a factor
likely to have a bearing upon the quality of that regiment.
A. Points
5 Corps elite - guards regiments
4.Line regiments - veterans, experienced troops
3 Line regiments - losses made up with young, inexperienced troops
2 Conscripts
1 Irregulars
B. Leadership
5 Exceptional commander, with many victories
4 Average, popular commander, experienced
3 Average commander, lacking experience
2 Below-average commander, with experience
1 Below-average commander, lacking experience
C. Supply
5 Well shod and clothed; regularly well fed
4 Well fed; other supplies not so plentiful
3 Reasonably clothed and supplied
2 Irregularly supplied
1 Prolonged shortage of all supplies
D. Physical condition
5 In excellent health; rested
4 Reasonable health; rested
3 Reasonable health; need resting
2 Indifferent state of health and fatigue
1 Sick; battle-weary
E. Mental condition
5 Confident; buoyed by intense patriotism
4 Reasonably patriotic and optimistic
3 Reasonably patriotic but pessimistic
2 Dubious of their chances
1 Realize their position is hopeless
 To assess the behaviour of a regiment under the stress of battle, total
up their five points-ratings and then, by dividing five into that total, obtain
an 'average morale figure'. To use that figure, refer to the chart.

Notes: Falling back denotes in good order, with the unit ending the move
facing the enemy. This counts as their next move, but they may fight back if
attacked.
Retreating denotes falling back in rout, ending in disorder and with
their backs to the enemy. It counts as their next move. The unit may be
rallied by a general (if local rules provide for this). If the retreating distance
takes the unit off the table then they are out of the battle.
Any unit supported within 6 inches by a unit with a higher average
morale figure adds 1 to its own average morale figure.
The presence of a staff officer adds 1 to average morale figure. The
presence of the Commander-in-Chief adds 2.
A 'potted' tactical problem can occupy the solo-wargamer with time for
only a short battle. He can write down on a sheet of paper a force equal in
size to, or smaller than, each of those with whom he is preparing to battle,
fold up the piece of paper and then fold another identical piece of paper;
this one, however, will be blank. Both pieces of paper are put on one side.
At the beginning of each game-move from the second one onwards, the
wargamer will throw three dice, seeking a total score for the three of 15 or
over. Should that score be attained at the start of any particular game-move,
then it signifies that an outflanking force equal in size to that written down
on the slip of paper might be coming on the flank of one or other of the two
forces at present fighting on the war-games table. When this occurs, take
one of the two folded pieces of paper placed on one side before the game
started and unfold it - it may be blank, in which case no flanking force will
arrive; on the other hand it may contain details of the force that is looming
up on the borders of the wargames table. The question is, whose flank is
being threatened? Once again the ubiquitous dice is brought into play and,
being thrown, comes up with a 3. As the right flank of Red force is number
1, the left flank of Red force number 2, the right flank of Blue force number
3 and left flank of Blue force number 4, then we now know that the right
wing of Blue force has been hit by an outflanking force sent out by the
crafty Red general.
Well, there is the nucleus of crafty schemes to enable the bright solo-
wargamer to embellish his solitary battles and, dare it be said, it is quite
likely that they will introduce a far greater degree of surprise and
concealment than is usual between opposing generals in a normal dual
wargame!
16 A SMALL SPARK OF COURAGE
The title of this chapter is also the title of a fascinating book by D. A.
Rayner (published by Collins in 1959, but also still available in paperback).
Perhaps more than any other book that can be called to mind, A Small Spark
of Courage is absolutely made-to-measure as a wargame, particularly for
the lone player.
The book tells the story of an infantry brigade of three battalions
supported by a squadron of tanks which has pushed forward into Germany
during 1944/5 and is about to be counter-attacked by an armoured division.
The book gives a series of maps on which every stage of the conflict can be
plotted and the text outlines the action from the points of view of both
enemy and British commanders, infantry battalion commanders, tank
squadron commander, individual tank commanders and even individual
soldiers. In an action which lasts from 1300 hours to 1606 hours, the actions
of various people involved at varying times are all detailed.
Using this book, the solo-wargamer could evolve a 'potted' campaign
in the modern period which need not necessarily arrive at the same result as
that in the book but which has enough built-in factors of surprise,
indecision, personal initiative, disobedience of orders and disregard of plans
to give great rein for a chance card system. The numbers of men and
material involved are not too great to be reasonably represented on the
wargames table in the following manner:
BRITISH FORCE
Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Crockford)
24th Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Petersen)
62nd Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Lambert)
139th Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Morse)
'A' Squadron, 51st Bn. Royal Tank Regiment (Major Ransome)
Royal Artillery Battery of 25-pdrs
 4 scout cars

ENEMY FORCES
Armoured division (General Falkenhausen) 48 tanks
72 armoured personnel carriers
1 battalion Panzer grenadiers
1 battalion infantry (carried on tanks)
It is suggested that this can admirably serve as a battle fought 'without
an enemy'. This means that the single force (scaled down to suit resources)
is laid out on a terrain built up from the maps in the book while the enemy
never actually come on to the wargames table, their movements and
activities being recorded. Both sides will be subject to the vagaries of
chance cards, with those for the German force also dictating tactics. In this
way, the solo-wargamer will fight as commander of one side only while his
enemy will be as tangible and threatening as though another wargamer were
standing on the other side of the table facing him.
It is not unreasonable to claim that of all the periods of military
history, modern wargaming is best suited to the solo-player. In fact, it is
extremely likely that not only is solo-wargaming the best way of fighting
wargames in this period, but also it is far more likely to result in a realistic
simulation of the period than in a dual wargame. Difficult to re-create
because of its extreme diversity of weapons and equipment, wargaming in
the modern period (Second World War onwards) can be so drawn out and
pedestrian as to cause irritation, if not boredom, when two or more
opponents face each other. The solo-wargamer can devote an entire
afternoon or evening to working out one single facet such as one tank
stalking another, or a dug-in 88-mm gun repelling an attack by a squadron
of Shermans. It is particularly when using armour that time is consumed,
but that time can be so professionally occupied as to result in a fascinating
diversion. For example, individual tanks, troops of tanks and squadrons of
tanks do not just career blindly around the countryside - they are controlled
by coded wireless messages from Brigade to regimental headquarters; from
regimental headquarters to squadron headquarters; from squadron
headquarters to troop commanders; from troop commanders to individual
tanks and, within the tanks themselves, from tank commander to driver,
gunner, wireless operator and loader.

46. Sherman Flail tanks clear a path for an advancing Churchill

In the book A Small Spark of Courage enough is related about this
method of tank communication to give the reader a pretty reasonable basis
from which to evolve a system of his own. Correct wireless procedure must
be used, first 'netting-in' the tank radios, because there are certain chosen
wavelengths on which specific formations work and it is necessary for
every individual tank to be 'netted-in' to that wavelength before any
communication is possible. Because a tank may have a 'dis' (out-of-action)
radio, it will be extremely unlikely that it will conform to orders so that,
moving on the initiative of its commander, it will present an interesting solo
action within a solo-wargame. Then there is the life-and-death matter of
positioning the tank so that it presents as little as possible of itself to the
enemy. Coupled with this is the highly technical business of a tank's gunfire
and counter-fire - which merits a chapter on its own. In the first place, not
all tanks are similar -some have lower silhouettes so that they present more
difficult targets; others have thicker armour and the plates that are welded
together to form the tank are angled differently so that a missile is deflected
and is less likely to penetrate than when hitting a plate at right-angles. Not
all guns are equal - the 88mm-anti-tank gun used by the Germans was
superior to almost anything else used in the war where knocking out tanks
was concerned, while the puny 2-pdr gun originally on the British tanks was
able to do little damage except at very close quarters. Later, 6-pdrs and 75-
mm guns were far more effective, but throughout the Second World War
British armour was out-ranged so that it was necessary for them to
manoeuvre themselves closer to the Germans before they could knock them
out; the Germans, on the other hand, were capable of 'brewing-up' (burning
up) a British tank before it could get itself within effective killing range. All
these things can be realistically simulated on the wargames table, but they
all take time and, as repeated so frequently in this book, the solo-wargamer
has got time!
[7]
When a tank is fired upon, the missile either hits it or misses it . If it
misses then no further action is necessary, but a hit merely begins a chain of
events. First, the angle of impact has to be decided - this is discovered by
first ascertaining (by dice throws, cards, etc.) exactly what part of the tank
has been hit: whether it is the turret, the side, the front, the suspension,
tracks and so on. Then place the flat side of a semi-circular protractor
against the side of the tank that has received the hit and take a ruler or
straight surface from the point of the tank that has been hit to the muzzle of
the gun, thus discovering the angle of impact. Next, it will be necessary to
have a chart of penetration-possibilities at varying ranges; it will include
vital factors such as what calibre of gun can penetrate what thickness of
armour at angles of impact ranging from 90 to 50 degrees. The purists can
even chart the type of ammunition carried by the tank and the number of
rounds that it can stow, detailing what particular type happens to be loaded
when it fires upon an enemy tank; for a specified armour-piercing round
(such as a sabot) will have a greater chance of penetrating than the
comparatively useless (for this purpose) high explosive (H.E.).
Once penetrated, it has to be decided whether the tank 'brews-up' or is
merely immobilized and whether or not the crew are able to bale out. In the
latter case, how many of the crew get out and are they machine-gunned by
the tank that has knocked out their vehicle?
 If conducting campaigns such as that in the Western Desert (1940-2),
the tanks can be moved on compass bearings involving the use of map-
reference numbers on gridded maps. Because of the nature of the terrain,
the maps that need to be drawn will not be very elaborate affairs, perhaps
showing only a patch of rocks, a ruined aircraft or some other man-made
landmark. A squared grid will be superimposed on it, numbered as on a
military map so that it is possible to give a four- or six-figure combination
of numbers; by reading across and downwards on the map, one can thus
pin-point the spot represented by this map-reference number. In the Western
Desert campaign, orders were given causing convoys of tanks or soft
vehicles to move on compass bearings of so many degrees to reach
reference number such-and-such - because of the absence of recognizable
landmarks there was no other way of moving. Simulated on the wargames
table, this new style of warfare holds considerable interest for the solo-
wargamer, particularly if he can utilize the services of an umpire or an
outside party to handle enemy movements. Surprise in the desert was
achieved by speed of movement because it was possible to detect a moving
vehicle from many miles away through the inevitable cloud of dust that it
sent up behind it. When simulating this style of warfare, artificial dust-
clouds can be made from semi-transparent plastic and, until such time as the
vehicles come within range of visibility, they move behind these dust-
clouds. In this way two forces can approach each other without knowledge
of their respective strengths, or even whether they are armoured or soft
vehicles. The Western Desert Campaign was 'pure' tank warfare and can be
simulated as such on the wargames table; infantry played relatively little
part in this style of conflict because, once their armour had gone, they had
no choice but to surrender.
17 MORE BOOKS FOR SOLO-WAR GAMES
One well-written book has already been suggested to serve as a model
for Second World War wargaming and it is not really difficult to complete
the triumvirate by recommending books for the other two principal periods
of wargaming - horse-and-musket and ancient. Undoubtedly one of the
most interesting periods for horse-and-musket warfare is the Napoleonic
Wars and from them the Peninsular Campaign has much to commend it.
The book Wellington in the Peninsula by Jac Weller (Kaye & Ward,
London, 1962) is ideal as a basis for a solo reconstruction of this campaign.
It takes the reader minutely through each of Wellington's battles in Spain
and Portugal, giving orders of battle, regiments and numbers of troops
involved, and describes the battles, aided by most understandable maps. As
a means of formulating a real-life campaign that can run progressively for a
long period, this book has few equals. It may well dawn on the war-gamer
at an early stage that such a campaign falls flat on its face if the real-life
result of a battle is reversed on the wargames table. For example, if
Wellington had lost one of those battles in the Peninsula instead of winning
it, then the French would undoubtedly have pressed him back and the battle
that actually followed in real life would not have occurred because the
British army would have been many miles away from its site. This can be
handled by making each battle a single entity yet within the framework of
the whole campaign.
French Foreign Legion Mule Company in Desert: 47-49
47. The Mule Company plod across the desert.

48. and 49. The rearguard holds off an Arab attack

For example, Wellington wins the table-top Battle of Rolica, inflicting

proportionate losses of 33 per cent on the French at a cost to himself of 25
per cent. Then he wins the Battle of Barrosa at a cost of 10 per cent
casualties to himself and 25 per cent casualties to the French. He suffers a
reverse at Salamanca, where the British lose 30 per cent casualties to the
French 20 per cent. Now we make up a 'league table' as follows:
CASUALTIES (as %)
P W L D F A Pts
 BRITISH 3 2 1 0 78 65 8
FRENCH 3 1 2 0 65 78 5

From the table we can see that both sides have played three games
(fought three battles); the British have won two and the French have won
one; the British have lost one and the French have lost two, while none have
been drawn. The British have inflicted 78 per cent casualties on the French
while the French have inflicted 65 per cent casualties on the British
(totalling up the percentages for each battle and assuming that replacements
make up the number before the next battle). The points are assessed as
follows - 2 points are given for a win and 1 point for a draw; for every 20
per cent casualties inflicted upon the enemy (rounded up or down according
to whether the odd figure is under or over ten) a further point is given -this
means that the British, having inflicted 78 per cent worth of damage on the
enemy, get 4 extra points, while the French get 3 points for their 65 per cent
damage inflicted upon the British. So the British have 4 points for two wins
plus 4 points for casualties inflicted, giving a total of 8, while the French
have 2 points for a win and 3 points for casualties inflicted, giving a total of
5 points.
This method is described in considerably greater detail in Chapter 12
of the book Wargame Campaigns, where it is related how wargamer Neville
Dickinson (of Miniature Figurines) and the author spent many months
relighting the Peninsular Campaign, using Jac Weller's book, Wellington in
the Peninsula, as a guide. The author has also taken part in some sporadic
battles in this same campaign, fighting them solo in Southampton while
Peter Gilder in Hull fought their counterpart - each general communicating
tactics and results with the other. This method is described elsewhere in this
book at greater length. Another method of handling this problem of the
possible reversal of results in real-life battles is described in the chapter 'Re-
fighting the Franco-Prussian War' in Wargame Campaigns, although the
purist may be unhappy about the chronological meddling that this method
necessitates.
Solo Campaign in Roman Britain
The wargamer seeking a book on which to base an ancient campaign will
find himself most ably suited by George Shipway's excellent novel Imperial
Governor (Peter Davies, London 1968, also put out in paperback by
Mayflower). Most vividly told, this book gives a highly authoritative and
informative account of the manner in which the Roman Governor of
Britain, Suetonius Paulinus, quelled Boadicca's revolt in AD 61. In addition
to giving a great deal of information about Roman and auxiliary formations,
the book describes most convincingly the manner of fighting, together
with the tactics and strategy employed. Read as a work of fiction, Imperial
Governor is enthralling; for use as the basis for a solo-wargames campaign
it would be difficult to find anything better.
The first essential is an Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain. On it
will be marked the main military highways of the Roman Province of
Britain which all radiated from London - the Northway ended at Lincoln;
the Midland Way reached Wroxeter by way of Verulam and the great forests
of central Britain; the West Way ran to Gloucester through Silchester; the
main lateral road, the Frontier Way, ran from Exeter through Cirencester
and Leicester to Lincoln. At the time of the rebellion of AD 61, the frontier
had advanced to the line of a road joining Gloucester and Wroxeter,
bordering the countries of the Silure and Ordovice tribes. Other highways
connected important towns -Colchester to Verulam; Silchester to Bath, and
Dorchester to Winchester and Port us. The Roman Province of Britain kept
its communications open over these roads, using hard-riding horsemen on
fast horses, each riding a daily stint of fifty miles. By means of a rapid
change of mount it was possible to send messages as fast as eighty miles a
day.
Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman Governor of Britain, had his forces
disposed as follows:
The most powerful fortress and largest settlements in Britain were at
Wroxeter, which dominated the upper Severn from a small plain encircled
by foot-hills that rose westwards to the mist-shrouded peaks of Ordovicia,
half a day's march away. This powerful fortress, two miles in perimenter,
housed two legions - XIV Gemina and XX Valeria - together with four
auxiliary cavalry regiments and six auxiliary cohorts of infantry, making a
total of 17,000 men.
Number II Legion Augusta plus 3,000 auxiliaries, formed in three
cavalry regiments and five infantry cohorts, were at Gloucester.
Detachments from all these units, amounting to nearly-1,000 men, were
scattered at road stations along many of the. highways of Britain. At
Lincoln was the legion IX Hispana with three auxiliary cavalry regiments
and four auxiliary infantry cohorts, giving a total of just over 9,000 men. In
AD 61 there were 22,000 legionaries and 17,000 auxiliaries in Britain.
At this time it was believed that no tribes on the western or northern
frontiers, other than the Brigantians and the Silures, were likely to give
trouble to the Romans. The former were a strong, well-armed tribe of fierce
fighters capable of putting up to 30,000 armed men in the field.
They lived in the area around what is now York. The Silures occupied
the area north of the Severn (now south Wales); they were divided into
clans and based on hilltop strongholds from which they raided and
ambushed. In AD 61 all the land west of the Severn was Silurian and the
Roman forces could enter that territory only at the risk of almost immediate
attack. Nevertheless, the Romans occasionally sent punitive expeditions
into the area, burnt the villages and, at considerable cost, stormed the
numerous hill forts. The Silures did not take part in Boadicea's revolt
because the Romans held hostages from their tribes.
The Iceni lived in a bulge above the Thames Estuary, north of the
Roman colony at Colchester. It was an area practically covered with marsh
or forest and the tribe lived in small communities in and around hill forts.
They were a proud and belligerent people and it was this tribe that Boadicea
led in revolt against the Romans.
The other tribes in Britain were the Trinovantes who lived north of
Colchester bordering the Iceni; the Degeangli who lived in the hills of
northern Wales, and the Ordovices who lived in Wales south of the
Degeangli. The Setantii tribe who lived north of Gloucester were not
considered to be a serious threat to Roman rule. North of Lincoln were the
Parisi tribe who fought mostly from chariots, while the Cornovii who lived
in the Midlands north of Wroxeter were friendly towards the Romans. The
Coritani and the Catuvellauni were tribes who occupied the forested areas
that stretched from north of London to the Midlands above Leicester. They
occasionally raided from their wooded strongholds and small numbers of
them assisted Boadicea in her revolt.
Boadicea's host was made up of hundreds of undisciplined and
independent war bands each under their own petty chief. They advanced as
a disorderly mob with cavalry and chariots in the front and with their rear
taken up by thousands of wagons and carts, pack ponies and herds of cattle,
because it was a tribal habit for Ancient Britons to take their families with
them when they went to war.
The rebellious Britons descended on the undefended town of
Camulodonum (Colchester); they burned it to the ground and slaughtered
its inhabitants. The IX Legion, marching from Lindum (Lincoln) to quell
the revolt, was overwhelmed by sheer numbers and almost wiped out.
Number II Legion remained to protect their camp at Gloucester. At the time
of the revolt, Suetonius Paulinus had taken the XIV and the XX Legions to
north Wales where they were engaged in a campaign in Anglesey, and
before they could intervene Boadicea's host had burned Londinium and
slaughtered its inhabitants. Finally the two legions, greatly out-numbered,
stood their ground on a well-chosen defensive ridge said to be in the
vicinity of Staines. Here they held off the wild onslaught of Boadicea's host,
slaughtering them in large numbers and so ending the revolt.
This Roman campaign has much in common with that suggested for
Colonial warfare on the North-West Frontier of India and its organization
can mostly follow that suggested for British colonization some eighteen
hundred years later. In fact, Field-Marshal Sir Claud Auchinleck, writing to
the publishers of Imperial Governor, said:
'I have found it quite absorbing and extraordinarily exciting to read. It
is a most remarkable effort. As an old Indian infantryman myself, I am
proud to think that such a book has been produced by an ex-Indian
infantryman. So far as my own experience goes I think he has been able to
describe the workings of a commander's mind and the difficulties and set-
backs of commanding an army in the field with remarkable clarity and
truth. The whole thing hangs together from Commander-in-Chief to the
local levy - no doubt Shipway senses the likeness in many ways (allowing
for the lapse of time and the alteration in points of view) to our own
experiences in India when we were faced with like problems. I must stress
again how impressed I was by the author's insight into the processes of a
commander's mind when faced with momentous decisions!'
With the availability of Airfix Romans and Ancient Britons, plus the
conversion details frequently given in such journals as Airfix Magazine and
Wargamer's Newsletter, it is not difficult to turn out reasonably large
numbers of figures for this campaign. With time on his side, the solo-
wargamer can really get down to the 'meat' of fighting in this period by
using the perhaps complex, but very complete rules for ancient warfare put
out by the Wargames Research Group.
As discussed elsewhere in these pages, reading books is a vital
background pursuit for the solo-wargamer in that they not only provide him
with information about the campaigns he wishes to simulate, but also
stimulate him with the enthusiasm that he might feel he is missing because
of the lack of a live opponent.
18 BATTLES BY MAIL
Wargamers who find each other's style and methods congenial are not
always fortunate enough to live in the same town and have to content
themselves with perhaps an annual visit, when a single lengthy and
exhausting 'punch-up' is undertaken. Their obvious solution is to 'battle by
mail' using the postal system as a means whereby they can pit their tactical
skills against each other, either with a local opponent substituting for the
far-off general and working to his strategic and tactical orders, or else with
each general fighting the battles as solo affairs. Battling by mail is a very
workable system in either case and it is equally advantageous to the
wargamer who, perhaps for geographical reasons, is simply unable to find a
real live human general to stand and oppose him from the other side of his
war-games table.
Battles by mail can broadly be divided into two types:
I. Where a distant general, having been provided with necessary maps
and data, sends strategical and tactical orders that will control the
manoeuvring of one army in a battle taking place many miles away from
him. Later, as a matter of courtesy, he is given details of what transpired and
whether or not his orders and dispositions were correct and victorious.
2. The two distant generals decide upon a campaign in which both
actively participate; thus General Sheridan in Virginia, USA is responsible
for dictating the tactics of not only his own Federal Army but also the
Federal Army of his opponent, General Wellington in London, England.
Likewise, General Wellington is responsible for the strategic and tactical
control of the Confederate Armies that belong both to him and to General
Sheridan in the United States of America. Orders and dispositions are
exchanged so that both Generals Sheridan and Wellington set up the same
battle on their own wargames tables and each fight it out. Both duly relate
to each other the details of the battle that ensued and its result so that British
and American maps are suitably marked up and the campaign continues in a
like manner.
 In case 1, your friendly correspondent will need both a master-map of
the full battle area and a tactical map together with a narrative of the events
leading up to the campaign and the general set-up at the time when external
intervention begins. The 'home' general will outline his opening dispositions
and his intentions and begin his map-moves. With that information to hand,
his far-off aide will work out his orders and dispositions and send them off
by mail. When a map contact is made, the specific terrain will be erected
and the battle fought. Obviously, tactical instructions received by mail must
include both offensive and defensive instructions in case the side under
external orders are-defeated and have to withdraw on the strategic map.
Satisfactorily to handle a situation as outlined in case 2, it is necessary
for each of the generals to have an identical map of the entire area over
which the campaign is to be fought. For the sake of convenience in
description, this may be an Ordnance Survey map of the South of England
scaled 1 inch to the mile and ideally divided into 1-inch map-reference
squares. Allocate to each general the initial areas of his troop dispositions,
working them out from some sort of narrative which provide an excuse for
the coming conflict. Let us assume it is the year 1810 and that Napoleon's
French armies have managed to do what no one has done since the
Normans in 1066 and have secured a substantial foothold on the southern
coast of England. At once this gives objectives for the campaign - the
French wish to exploit their gains and force the British to surrender, while
the latter are naturally more than a little keen to throw the invader back into
the sea from which he had the cheek to emerge. Within those broad
objectives can be built a set of smaller ones with each general selecting a
headquarters (it might well be a town and, in the case of the French, a port)
together with a number of strategically placed towns or points. The main
headquarters can be given a value of 5 points and the other sites graded
downwards from 3 points to 1 respectively. The object of the campaign
could be to attain the major objectives by scoring points when attaining the
minor ones.
Decide upon a rate of movement on the map, giving adequate bonuses
for moving on roads so that they assume their correct significance in
campaign-warfare. When two opposing forces enter the same map-
reference square then a contact has been made and the forces have the
choice of either fighting or retiring.
The Napoleonic Wars: 50-52

50. Sailors have gone ashore and mounted a skip's gun on the headland
while the Royal Marines form up on the beach.
51. The Marines are forming up on the jetty whilst the ship's gun covers the
bay.
52. A boat's crew unloads provisions for the ship's gun mounted on the
headland.
At this stage it will be necessary to make a map scaled to the table-top
battlefield; for example, if the actual table is 8 feet by 5, then the map may
well be 8 inches by 5 and will be a 'blown-up' version of the map-reference
square. It will show salient points such as a crossroads, farm or bridge; also
its contours will give an idea of the rise and fall of the ground and it will be
necessary to embellish it with trees, hedges, walls, etc., as these probably
will not be shown on the original 1 inch to 1 mile scale map.
To begin the campaign, each general marks his opening dispositions on
his map, using a chinograph pencil on the transparent plastic covering of the
map so that the markings can be rubbed out as the campaign progresses. A
map reference is given to each unit or battery and this information is then
sent by mail to the opposing general. He, in his turn, will have made his
own dispositions and will have likewise sent them off to his opponent. Thus
each side has a note of where the enemy are but a greater degree of
concealment maybe required so that a far more vague idea of the
whereabouts of armies and units is sent; that is to say, instead of writing
'there is a regiment of cavalry at map reference 684341, a battery of guns at
626366 and a brigade of infantry at 689543', all that needs to be said is 'my
force is located in area 6934'.
Both generals continue in this manner until two forces arrive in the
same square; accepting that both sides are prepared to risk battle, the scene
is now set for the campaign to burst into life. Taking into consideration the
relative slowness of the mail, it may be considered useful to send as many
as three or four consecutive moves in numbered envelopes so that both
generals open envelope number 1 and mark up their map, then number 2,
then number 3, etc.
Each general now sets up on his own wargames table a battle terrain
that roughly resembles the area of the map in which the contact has been
made. Having been told of the rough size of the enemy's force, he
assembles an army to represent them and then gathers together his own
force to oppose them. The battle that follows can be fought under any
desired set of rules with the addition of some of the suggestions and ploys
contained in these pages.
A situation now arises where contact has been made and each general
in his own town has fought the same battle; it may well turn out that the
Federal force, for example, wins in England while the Confederate force is
victorious in America, resulting in the anomalous situation of both sides
winning the same battle! There are two solutions to this: by mutual
arrangement the battle can be refought by cither one or both of the generals
concerned; or else the two battles can be viewed each as half of the whole
battle - that is to say the Federal force of the English general will form the
left wing of the Federal army, while the Federal force of the American
general will form its right wing. Similarly, the English Confederate force
will form the right wing of the Confederate army while the American
Confederate force will form its left wing. This means that the two battles
are now linked in that we have a two-corps battle which can end in a
number of different ways:
1. Both Federal corps or both Confederate corps can win, in which
case it is an outright victory for the side concerned.
2. The Federal corps may win in England and the Confederate corps
may win in America. In this case it will be necessary for each general to
draw a map of his terrain and mark on it the dispositions of both forces at
the end of the battle, giving casualties for both sides. By mutual agreement,
both of these reports are considered and it may well be that although the
Confederate right-wing corps has won its battle, the left-wing corps has lost
and has been thrown so far back as to leave the right-wing corps
unsupported in mid-air. In this case, the Confederate right-wing corps will
sensibly adjust its position so as to conform to its defeated partner. On the
other hand, the same thing may apply to the Federal corps - but in either
case a great deal of mutual agreement and understanding is required to
solve the situation!
Obviously, when fighting a two-corps battle such as this it is necessary
for the battle-map to be made in two sections, each the size of a war-games
table and each joining on to the other. Sometimes a tricky situation such as
has just been discussed will resolve itself when it is seen that a victorious
Confederate corps, for example, is overlooked and enfiladed by a Federal
battery of artillery on a commanding hill!
And so the campaign continues by the week, the month and even the
year, with each general notifying the other of his moves and marking his
map up as his force retreats through the pain of defeat or advances with the
triumph of victory. Before long, each general's campaign-map is an
interesting sight to behold, with arrows denoting wide-out flanking
movements and different coloured squares representing the positions of the
various types of troops.
Some battle-by-mail combatants find themselves temperamentally
suited to embark upon even more colourful enterprises. For example, one
such commander began a propaganda campaign, flooding his opponent with
dispatches, newspaper cuttings and Orders of the Day relating, in glowing
colours, the victorious achievements of his invincible army. Not to be
outdone, his opponent replied in like manner and the resulting mass of mail
almost brought the campaign to a halt as each general sorted out the wheat
from the chaff!
In case it is not considered that luck plays a big enough part already,
then chance cards can be used with a duplicate set made so that each
general has the same number and type of card from which a specified
quantity must be picked at specified intervals. Of course, his opponent will
be unaware of the sad or glorious reactions to the wording on these cards
and will carry on his troop movements in blissful ignorance of some dire
calamity that may be befalling his rear as partisans cut his lines of
communication, or of the glorious opportunity of complete victory he has
missed as half of the army facing him become mutinous and throw down
their arms.
No one will pretend that all that has been written so far can be
stomached by every wargamer: there are those among us who take a far
more serious view of the hobby! A general may wish to have more control
over his forces, particularly if they are hitting a losing streak, and, let it be
faced, both sides are in the same position of being under the control of
complete strangers whose tactical ability is unknown to the actual owner of
the force in question. To develop a greater degree of control once contact
has been made, both generals send, in the normal fashion, sealed
instructions to each other. It is quite likely that these instructions will be
tactical ones giving either a greater or lesser degree of control to the general
receiving them. For example, they may detail specific troop movements
down to the individual units or batteries, coordinating them so that each
supports the other and no risks are taken. On the other hand, they may be of
a much looser nature (probably in those cases where the writer either is a
trusting soul or has an unusual faith in the wargaming ability of his overseas
friend); then they will say, 'Suggest you use strengthened left flank, refuse
right flank and wait opportunity for oblique attack', or else, 'Defend until
situation arises to counter-attack'. Both of these methods can be a little
hazardous because, although both generals have the same map, it is quite
likely that their efforts at embellishing them with hedges, etc., are vastly
different, or even that the actual distances between salient points on the
maps are different. In these cases an attack that is very much on the cards
when seen on a map in England might well founder against a farm or line of
hedges that is 8 inches further to the left on the American map!
Battles-by-mail need not be the only activity of the wargamer, be he a
solo player or one with an opponent. He may carry on his battle-by-mail
simultaneously with other activities of his own. In any event, a battle-by-
mail is an interesting and often amusing enterprise provided one can find
suitable opponents; even so, an advertisement in one of the better-known
wargaming magazines will usually produce results.
19 WEATHER IN WARGAMES
In his never-ending search for factors which will provide the unpredictable
and, to a reasonable extent, take the control of events from his hands, the
solo-wargamer should turn his attention towards the weather. It should not
be difficult to British wargamers because weather is a very vital part of their
national life with which most of them have a preoccupation bordering on a
phobia! The effect of weather, both good and bad, upon warring forces must
be quite profound, both in its strategical and tactical effects, and yet not
many wargamers take it into consideration.
Perhaps, like logistics, it is a subject so vast in its implications that it
frightens them off and, with those same national tendencies which have
marked Britain's athletes for so long in that they wish to get on with the
game and never mind the training, perhaps the wargamer wants to forge
ahead. Nevertheless, the solo-wargamer will derive great benefits from
allowing his table-top battles to be influenced by the vagaries of the
weather, both on the table-top and in the map movements that lead up to the
campaign.
First, make a chart like the one on the opposite page indicating the
varying types of weather most likely to be expected at the various seasons
of the year.
This would seem to be a pretty representative selection for British
weather although there could be a difference between the extreme north and
the extreme south. When campaigning in foreign countries, pains should be
taken to ascertain the normal weather conditions at the various times of the
year.
Next, prepare a set of cards for each season, making the cards in
varying numbers so as to reproduce the odds against any particular type of
weather. For example, when making out the summer cards there could be
two cards for thunderstorms and two for torrential rain (presumably
accompanied by thunderstorms), one for light rain, three for intense heat,
one for mist, three for bright and sunny, one for dull, one for wind and three
for average, making a total of seventeen. Thus

there are three chances in seventeen involving conditions of intense heat

and only one in seventeen of mist (although an early-morning mist might
well be encountered). The stickler for reality might well make a subsidiary
set of cards for things such as early-morning mist, a part- of-the-day
weather condition that could have a decisive effect upon the tactics of a
battle.
 There are various ways of using these cards, ranging from drawing one
as a routine before each map-move or at the start of a wargame to drawing
one every second or third day (when fighting in country with more
consistent climates than Britain, for example). The weather is more likely to
be changeable in spring or autumn so that a regular routine drawing of a
card will be satisfactory, but in summer and winter, when weather
conditions are more settled in that heat or cold remains constant for days on
end, then a card can be drawn at less regular intervals. On the other hand, a
dice can be thrown or a card drawn from a pack and, working to a pre-
arranged code, the dice or card score might indicate that-a change in the
weather is due, whereupon a weather card will have to be drawn. During the
campaign's map-moves that lead up to actual conflict on the wargames
table, a card can be drawn at the beginning of the campaign to decide upon
the state of the weather; steps are then taken each 'map day' to see if the
weather has remained constant or whether it has changed. Obviously, a
commander is unlikely to embark upon a well-planned campaign under
adverse weather conditions; therefore weather cards can be drawn and a
degree of uncertainty can be introduced into the game by the commander
deciding secretly when he considers the weather to be suitable to set his
forces into motion.
Some of the weather conditions listed on the chart have no strategical
or tactical effect whatsoever upon military operations; these include average
weather, dull weather and bright and sunny weather. Light rain may affect
battles where powder could get wet or the bow strings of archers become
damp; similarly wind (short of gale force) would affect archery fire and
should be taken into consideration. However, it is unreasonable to allow
weather conditions to affect warfare in modern periods to the same extent as
it did in horse-and-musket or ancient times.
Strategical Effects
Torrential rain For the 1st day of such rain all movement other than by rail
or water will be cut by half. On the 2nd of such weather, all cross-country
movement will cease so that all movement must be by road at the rate of
25% of normal. If torrential rain continues for 3 days, all movement will
cease. If it stops on the third day, movement will continue at the rate for the
second day and will similarly continue at this speed through the fourth day,
being thoroughly mired, on roads. If there is rain on the 5th day after none
on the 3rd or 4th, movement will cease for 2 days and then resume at ½ rate
for a further 2 days. For every period of rain, 1 further period will elapse
before the ground dries out sufficiently for normal movement.
On the 2nd day of torrential rain, streams and creeks will become
rivers and rivers will become impassable. Throw a dice to see if bridges are
washed away—throw a 1 will mean that the bridge is down. Rivers remain
in this condition for 2 days and then revert to normal unless other abnormal
weather conditions intervene.
River traffic—on the 2nd day of torrential rain, movement up-river
(against the current) is reduced to ½ speed.
Light Rain Wheeled transport, including artillery slowed down by 25%
across country. No effect from 2 days of light rain, but if it continues for a
further 2 days the rate of movement by road will then be reduced by 50%
for the following day.
Snow 1st day—no effect.
2nd day movement across the country ceases, movement by road,
movement by rail reduced 25%.
3rd day—all movement ceases. If the snow has ceased on the 3rd day
and weather is anything but wet or sunny then movement is normal.
If the weather is wet or sunny all movement other than by rail or water
is reduced to 25% normal rate for next 2 days. If snow continues all
movement ceases until the snow stops. If snow is followed by average or
dull weather, movement at ½ speed.
Blizzard All movement by road or river ceases until 1 day after the end of
the blizzard. Rail movement may continue at ½ speed.
Fog No movement by water. Land and rail movement are reduced by ½.
Mist (at beginning and end of day) All movements reduced by ½ .
Intense Heat Movement halved except by rail or water. After 2 consecutive
days of intense heat, marshes, creeks and small streams dry up and medium
rivers become fordable. These conditions will prevail until either 1 day of
torrential rain or 2 days of light rain have occurred. In the event of torrential
rain affecting the terrain, followed by a day of intense heat—this will
merely reverse the effect of the torrential rain.
High Wind Will carry sound of battle in the direction of the force towards
which the wind is blowing
Thunder Storm(Lightning) -No effect.
Tactical Effects
Torrential Rain On 1st day of such rain, the movement Of troops is halved.
Houses on fire will only burn at ½ their normal rate.
On the 2nd day of torrential rain movement is at ¼ rate and only the
roads.
Bows, crossbows and muskets less effective, decrease rate of fire.
Light Rain Bows, crossbows and muskets less effective, decrease rate of
fire.
Snow All movement on the war- games table is halved .Visibility is limited
to 6 in. Effective ness and rate of fire of bows, crossbows and muskets
reduced by 50%. Effective aimed range of all weapons reduced to 6 in

Blizzard No action possible

Fog No action possible or visibility limited to 6 in. Aimed missile range
also 6 in.
Mist (at beginning and end of day) visibility limited to 6 in. Aimed missile
range also 6 in.
Intense Heat Movements halved. Effect on marshes and rivers as in
strategical column. Woods and houses are more liable to catch fire.
High Wind Fire from bows and crossbows less effective at long range.
Visibility may be affected if terrain is known to be dusty. Fires in woods and
buildings will spread twice as quickly as normal.
Thunder Storm (Lightning) Decide duration of storm.
During storm no archery is possible. Throw 1 dice for each move
during which the storm is present—1 means something is struck by
lightning Divide table into 6 and decide by dice throw which has been
struck and then, similarly by numbering items in that area, decide which has
been struck. A house struck by lightning is set on fire, an infantry unit is
reduced by 50%, a chariot, elephant, or artillery piece is destroyed, a
cavalry unit loses a ¼ of its strength and flees back to base line—having to
be rallied.
CONTINUITY OF WEATHER
In addition to the weather card which is picked daily, a new card may be
picked every second day and a dice throw decides which of the weather on
the two cards prevails.
There are references in Chapter 1 of the book Wargame Campaigns to
the effects of weather upon wargaming concerning rate of movement and
the advantages of good bivouacking. The chapter on war diaries includes
references to weather conditions and also explains this most vital adjunct to
wargames campaigns, both solo or dual. Some of the campaigns, such as the
Viking Raid, can be influenced by weather, which must be given great
consideration when dealing with seaborne landings. All-in-all, weather
conditions have a most useful role to play in providing yet another of the
many factors that aid the solo-wargamer to bring to his game the
fluctuations of fortune and the perversity of other things beyond his control.
20 WARGAMING IN BED
A bed is for sleep but fighting battles with model soldiers in bed, although
a bit unusual, is quite possible. We wargamers are no less fallible than other
human-beings to the pangs of sickness, so that there usually comes a time
when Fate beats us in the dice throw and we are put on our backs and
pushed around by surgeons, doctors, nurses and wives for varying periods.
When recovery is just around the corner, Man displays an unfailing sign -
his return to normality is heralded by a desire to resume some pastime or
practice to which he is addicted. In spite of many signs to the contrary, the
wargamer is basically a normal human-being and it is not unlikely that his
palsied fingers will long for the comforting feel of a plastic or metal
soldier. 'I knew Charlie was getting better when he kept worrying for a box
of Airfix figures and a dice!' says a happy wife. It is of such things that
family legends and anecdotes are made!

At first glance beds, with their blanket-covered hummocks, hills and

valleys, might seem pretty reasonable places upon which to fight a
wargame, but experiment soon proves that this is not so. In the first place,
the figures will not stand up and even the most judicious positioning of the
legs under the bedclothes so as to make the hills less steep will eventually
be defeated by cramp if nothing else. So the invalid-wargamer is
counselled to proceed slowly, gathering bodily strength while marshalling
his physical resources in manoeuvring a mere handful of figures around a
lone tree perched on one of those tables that wheel across the bed.

Minor actions can be fought: half a dozen Airfix men can try to
capture a Bellona pillbox manned by a German machine-gun team, or one
face of a British square (made up of half a box of Airfix Waterloo
Highlanders) can be challenged by another box of Airfix Cuirassiers -they
don't even have to be painted!

Airfix figures or other 20/25-mm figures may be a little too fiddly for
bed-wargaming. Therefore, let us get down to some concrete suggestions
for bed-top solo-wargaming using two, four or at the most perhaps six
54-mm model soldiers.

How would you like to take part in a bit of jousting? Bribe a nurse or
browbeat your wife into bringing to your bedside a couple of those plastic
54-mm Swoppet armoured knights and position them, one at either end of
the bed-table . As our bad-tempered invalid knows already, jousting was a
mock battle in which two armoured knights with blunted lances tried to
knock each other off their chargers. As soon as one knight was unhorsed
the contest was finished as the combatants did not fight on foot. In this first
tournament, both our knights will be considered to be equal, each as good
as his rival and possessing the same chance of victory. After they have
made a few passes at each other and one knight has had success or defeat,
those values can be altered and a champion will rise to the top, to become
the target of all-comers. Therefore, both our knights are given an attack-
value of 1.

Advance the knights so that they meet at the middle point and then
throw a dice for each of them. Scores count as follows:

6 The lance has caught the opponent on his helmet.

5 The lance has hit his breastplate.

4 The lance has hit his shoulder.

3 The lance has been deflected by his shield.

1 or 2 The lance has missed.

To decide the victor, add the dice score to the knight's attack-value,
which at the moment is 1. As an example, Sir Roderick Valiant (known as
the Red because he wears a plume of that colour) hits his opponent's helmet
and so gains 6 points. Added to his attack-value of 1 point this gives him a
total of 7 so that he cannot be beaten. Sir Walter Mallet (known as the Blue
because he wears a blue plume in his helmet) unfortunately had his lance
deflected by the Red knight's shield and so wins only 3 points. This score
together with his 1 point attack-value gives him a total of 4 points. The Red
knight is therefore the winner and, as a reward for his valour, his attack-
value is upgraded to 2 points. Normally a losing knight has 1 point
deducted from his attack-value but Sir Walter (now living up to his
nickname of the Blue) retains his present attack-value of 1 point because he
cannot have any less.

By rechristening each knight, or by further bribery of that nurse,

additional combatants are obtained and further jousting takes place. In
time, a champion with an attack-value of perhaps 5 or 6 points will emerge
and, just as all the other cowboys tried to shoot down the fastest gun in the
West, so will our champion be the target for all-comers.

Feeling better? No? Well, perhaps you lack patience to put up with this
chivalry and olde-worlde courtesy. Maybe a little less-refined 4knock-em-
down-and-drag-em-out' type combat might better suit your present frame of
mind. For this you will need your two mounted knights and a few Swoppet
foot-soldiers, armed in varying styles. With them you can attempt to
simulate the fighting of individual men during the Middle Ages.

Pick the two men who are going to try each other's mettle and, as in
most other aspects of warfare, it is quite likely that one will be attacking
and the other defending; so, with the aid of a dice, decide which man does
what. Of course, if you prefer, you can have two groups fighting each other
with the men paired off into individual combat.

If it is the first contact between the two men, then the man who has
charged strikes first. If it is continued from a previous turn, then the
defender strikes first. A dice is thrown first by the attacker and then by the
defender and results follow as detailed below.

If the victims are in full armour

A charging horse requires a 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

A charging foot-soldier requires a 5 or 6 to kill.

 Others require a 6 to kill.

If the victims are in half-armour

A charging horse requires 3, 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

A charging foot-soldier requires 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

Others require a 5 or 6 to kill.

If the victims are unarmoured

A charging horse requires 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

A charging foot-soldier requires a 3, 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

Others require a 4, 5 or 6 to kill.

If victims survive they strike back, discontinuing the turn of the

moving or charging player. Troops strike only to their front, so a group
attacked in flank or rear cannot strike back during their opponents' turn.
Missile-armed troops such as bowmen always strike second as they are pre-
concerned with their bows.

A deviation from this method is:

Initial blow is followed by return blow.

Two men can strike at one; he can return blow at one if he survives.

Pikemen in second rank can strike.

Men must have adequate frontage to use weapons.

Close combat

Encounters are individual, man-to-man.

 First blow is struck by defender if behind an obstacle.

Otherwise, by man with longest weapon: (a) Pike (b) Spear,

Lance (c) Pole Axe, Halberd, Bill, Quarterstaff (d) Sword, Mace,
Hand Axe (e) Dagger (All men carry one).

Otherwise, by horseman.

Otherwise, by man with advantage from sloping ground.

Otherwise, by highest ranking: (a) Baron (b) Knight (c) Captain (d)
Others.

Otherwise, by attacker. Scores required for a disabling blow.

No armour Half or Half and Full

shield shield armour
Pole Axe, 4 3 4 5
Halberd, Bill
Sword, Mace, 2 4 5 6
Hand Axe
Spear, Lance, 3 5 6 6
Pike
Dagger, 5 6 6 6
Quarterstaff

Individual Combat

The 'Lunge, Cut and Stop-Thrust' system was developed by Gerard de Gre
of the Model Generals' Club, U.S.A., to meet the needs of War-gamers who
like an occasional tourney with men-at-arms where the prowess of an
individual knight is to be assessed.

When two individual men-at-arms meet face-to-face a mêlée occurs.

Each knight simultaneously (either by writing it down, or by designing
cards for the purpose) chooses a type of attack from amongst the following:
 1. Cut to head.

2. Parry and lunge.

3. Stop-thrust Results are as follows:

Type of Attack
Type of
Defence Cut to Parry &
Stop-thrust
head lunge

[8] Hit on
Cut to Head * Hit on Def.
Attackcr
Parry &
Hit on Def * Hit on Att.
Lunge
Hit on Hit on
Stop-Thrust *
Att. Defender

* If Type of Attack and Type of Defence are identical, then it is

assumed that both parried attacks successfully and both miss. (For faster
and bloodier battle an alternate rule can be agreed upon: if Types are
identical, then both hit their opponent. This, of course, leads to situations
where both combatants are killed!)

Men-at-arms are assigned different combat powers and mobilities, for

example:

Type of unit Combat power

Light Foot 2

Heavy Foot (armour) 3

Mounted Knights 3+1

Light Mounted (Unarm.) 2 + 1

 Commanders add 1 to Combat Power

Combat Power refers to the number of wounds (or hits) required to kill
a man. An armoured foot knight can therefore withstand three hits, while
an unarmoured landesknecht is killed by two blows. In the case of mounted
men, the first hit is against their horse. When their horse is killed, the rider
continuous the fight on foot. The two opponents hack it out until one falls.

For example:

Landesknecht (C.P.=2) vs Light Mounted Axeman (2+1)

1st Round: Cut Stop-thrust

Result: Cut is effective against Stop-thrust, and Axeman's horse is

killed

2nd Round: Lunge Stop-thrust

Result: Landesknecht is wounded.

3rd Round: Cut Lunge

Result: Landesknecht is wounded again and is killed. (Axeman is still

worth two combat points, but his horse is dead).

A simple way to adjudicate combat is to make three cards for each

player, labelled (and illustrated!) Cut, Lunge, Stop-Thrust. Attacker (man
initiating mêlée) places card face¬down. Second player then responds with
card face up. Results are then compared, and wounds assessed. A score-
card must be kept of the number of wounds on each man, for when they
survive a fight they continue the game with their wounds counting against
them in new melees.

All that excitement, combined with the innovating change from

bread-and-milk 'pap' to such stimulating hospital food as sausage and chips,
shepherd's pie and chips or Irish stew, has no doubt brought you to a point
where you begin to feel like a real-live man again. Here is something
capable of bringing a swagger to your gait (in spite of those ill-fitting
slippers and that sloppy dressing-gown) as you make your faltering way to
the toilet each morning.

Do you remember, before you were ill, coming out of the dark
cinema into the neon-lit High Street after seeing a particularly good
Western film, how you swaggered along, ready to drop into a crouch and
go for your Colt as soon as that traffic warden made his move? Well, there
is a very stimulating and realistic way in which you can savour all the
thrills of the gun-fight in the O.K. Corral or clean up Dodge City in
complete safety and without leaving your bed. Steve Curtis, in company
with some friends, has evolved a fascinating set of Western gun-fight war-
game rules. They give a highly personalized game utilizing 54-mm figures
of cowboys that can be purchased in Woolworths for a few pence. They
deal with street fighting in the 1870s with the combatants using the two
most common weapons - the Colt -44 pistol and the Winchester -44
carbine. None of the action familiar to Western gun-fight fans is omitted -
we can 'fan' our revolvers, 'nerve' tests have to be taken, hand-to-hand
combat with the fists can be undertaken, horses stampede or otherwise
react in a typical fashion, guns have to be reloaded and the rules even
specify the particular type of injury and its disability-penalty.

After all the miracles of modern medical science that have been
lavished upon you, together with expensive drugs and medicines, how can
you grudge 20p for a set of rules that may well rehabilitate you to the full
heights of physical recovery?
53. A Red Indian attack on Silver City.
21 A PRINCE OF SOLO-WARGAMERS
The name Lionel Tarr will frequently be encountered in the pages of this
book because it is not possible to consider or to research into the past days
of solo-wargaming without constantly coming up against the name of this
knowledgeable enthusiast from Bristol in the West of England. Most
wargamers fight solo battles because they are unable to find an opponent
(one of the objectives of this book is to remedy that lamentable situation),
but Lionel Tarr pursues this facet of the hobby for the sole reason that he
prefers to battle alone! Being a strong and single-minded person, he would
rather go it his own way than make concessions or diplomatically accept
situations with which he was not in complete agreement. In fact, his
principal venture into the field of wargames with others (see Retasol,
following chapter) was not exactly a notable success so far as he was
concerned and, returning to his first love, he may still be found in noble
seclusion battling away in that impressive wargames room on the first floor
of his Bristol home. A loner, out of contact with the current wargames
scene, subscribing to no wargames magazines and attending no
conventions, etc., Tarr's activities need some ferreting out, but a search
through the pages of the long-defunct War Games Digest and the still lively
Wargamer's Newsletter has produced examples of his earlier writing which
both illuminate and stimulate. For example:

I believe a solo player has to approach the game in a different way to

many of the wargamers I know in that he has to be more than interested in
tactics. His whole game needs to be one of tactics defeating tactics rather
than Colonel Bluebag's Fusiliers over General Red Rag's Guards. Because
of necessity, the solo player commands both sides of which, for simplicity,
one is required to be the aggressor and the other the defender. Many times I
have been asked, 'What excitement is there in knowing what moves you are
going to counter with before you have even completed your moves?' There
is a simple answer - the excitement comes when one is proving one method
of waging war against another.
 Because chance plays a very great part in wargaming, the dice decides
most actions, and the morale rule and the melee rule can between them
upset all the carefully laid plans. In the course of one battle the tactics of
each side can alter as many as three or four times for attack and counter-
attack as each commander seizes every new opportunity that presents itself.

I fight German against Russian and I rely mainly upon the handbook
of German tactics as laid down in Blitzkrieg, and vary my counter-
measures from French Maginot-mind thinking, to the Russian policies as
practised, and the tactics used in the Western Desert by Auckinleck and
Alexander. Sometimes one kind pays up, sometimes the other, but, as a
solo player, I have the time to assess the position as it occurs. I believe the
solo player who has this approach to the game has quite a number of
advantages in his favour:

1. He has to be unbiased in his approach to the game as he controls

both sides.

2. Time is limitless so that he can concentrate on his tactics without

the fear of his opponent looking at his watch or making rules to limit his
movement times.

3. A good general has his concentration areas and he does not

launch his attack until he knows all his forces are in position and ready to
move. Again, he can take time to study the results and consequences of his
decisions.

He is able, to a great extent, to simplify his game: for example, as I do

by marking on my table the fire limits (ranges of projectiles) and by
painting the speeds (length of move) on each and every vehicle -these are
facts which would be required to be kept secret if playing against an actual
opponent. The first example is by far the best time-saving factor as I do not
need to measure the targets to the guns but fire automatically, providing I
can see them in my periscope .

4. Naturally there are never any arguments or disagreements over rule-

interpretation, which makes life much easier.
 5. Should any rule be found unworkable then it can be amended
during the actual game.

Of course there is one disadvantage - a solo player lacks the real

pleasure of beating an opponent, but, as I have said earlier, if he approaches
the game in the right spirit, the pleasure of a successful operation is always
his because he never loses!

I find that when fighting against an actual opponent I believe that

someone else is needed to move the troops while the general stands back
and appraises the whole situation, which he cannot do properly when
moving troops at the same time. I have been charged in the past with being
too much of a perfectionist and doubtless the charge will be repeated after
this has been read, but I must admit that I cannot get interested in a 'Gilbert
and Sullivan' war - but then it is a good thing that we are not all alike!

It is not my intention to list my rules [Lionel Tarr's rules can be found

in Chapter 8 of War Games], but as a solo-player I find time to lay
minefields and wire entrenchments; dig slit trenches and gun emplacements
and even a whole trench system when I think the situation demands it. I use
not only smoke as a ‘laid-on’ operation but also the unwanted smoke of
burning vehicles and buildings. I use four different types of aircraft -the
long-range fighter, the heavy bomber, the tactical bomber and the transport
aircraft. Sometimes I use my tactical Air Force as 'spotters'. Then I have
armour, motorized infantry, foot infantry and cavalry with horse as well as
motor vehicles; horse artillery as well as motorized artillery and such
support weapons as mortars, flamethrowers, bazookas, etc. - all this for two
armies. This last paragraph outlines my whole thinking as to time being of
no account to the solo player, for an opponent might begin to fret at the
time taken on a single move!

I originally started fighting war-games with my cousin, A.W. (Ed)

Saunders of Taunton (perhaps the greatest and most stimulating of all the
earlier wargamers in Britain, but, like Lionel Tarr, he prefers to wargame in
seclusion, lacking contact with other wargamers or groups. D.F.]. My first
wargames figures were of the American Civil War period, 30 mm scale,
and were all made and cast by Ed and myself. But the modern wargame
appealed most to me so I started fighting in that period upon contour maps
each 6 feet by 3 feet with counters representing vehicles and men. I even
brought in locomotives and ships of all classes. But counters were not as
inspiring to handle and deploy as were models, and so it was not long
before I purchased a large number of 18 mm scale figures from America.
They were German and Russian types, which suited me well, as national
pride stops me from using British since I should just hate to lose! I started
making the armour and lorries, mortar and machine-gun groups and, using
these models as prototypes, I cast paratroopers for both sides and made
artillery observers, flame-throwers, anti-tank guns, etc.

At this time my home was in Taunton and too small to house a sand-
table, so I made a sectional table, but this was even more difficult to stack
away when not in use. Then I moved to Bristol which gave me the
opportunity to buy a house big enough to give me a war-games room which
I could call my own so that I was able to have a sand-table. The size of the
room decided the table size and I purchased a quantity of timber: 3" x 2½"
for the legs; 3" x 2" for the frame; a sheet of 5/8" plywood; 6' x 6' for the
base; a quantity of glue, nails, screws and I was in business. When
assembled, I put 6-inch sides on my table to retain the sand and covered the
base with green linoleum to protect the plywood from the wet sand; when I
need water (rivers or sea) I need only cover the linoleum with crinkled
cellophane to obtain the desired effect so that no base colouring is needed.
Under the protection of the table edges I built shelves and placed my
models upon them in regiments complete with armoured vehicles and
transports. This gave me ease of selection and control.

Then came the Air Force, plastic kits for the Luftwaffe although I had
to make my own heavy bombers and transports and all my Russian planes
because none was available at that time. Many experiments were carried
out as to the best way to use aircraft and for a long period they 'flew' into
action upon stands which were very difficult to place into position without
knocking over men and material on the ground. Then the idea of a net held
in position over the table came to mc, so I locked myself up with the table,
some strong canes for uprights and three reels of tailor's button thread and
made a net with 3-inch mesh upon which my aircraft were flown. This
gives excellent results and was worth all the trouble because there were no
more stands sprouting up from the terrain and I had a clear field for ground
operations and visibility. [The fascinating story of Lionel Tarr's activities in
the fields of air wargaming is fully related in the book Air Wargames.)
Next came the rules and the applications of them with amendments,
cancellations, trials and assessments. I will not go into this period very
deeply because we have all gone through it in our turn, but my sole aim
was realism because I belong to the school who must have things as near to
reality as possible. I can well recall the time when I was not so fussy and
how amazed I was at the players who were super-realists. But playing solo,
when time means nothing and a game can go on for weeks with the table
left untouched, made me into a sort of perfectionist who strives to create
the real conditions so that the right conclusion is reached. My interest lies
in tactics rather than in who wins and the forces employed are like so many
chess men and I use them to pit one form of strategy against another.

My first order of campaign was planned as an invasion with Moscow

as my objective. I used a series of maps and drew a comprehensive map
showing towns, rivers and roads up to Stalingrad, which was my first major
target. Then I drew a series of maps scaled to take me over some fifty sand-
tables of terrain. This became my operations map and upon it I moved my
armies by coloured mapping-pins. These maps are squared off in infantry
moves but my troops are mainly mobile. I move quite rapidly upon the
available roads, and whenever two opposing forces enter an area small
enough to be reproduced upon the table, I create that terrain and fight out
the action upon it. I allow twenty-four hours to elapse before continuing
my map-moves (hours being in effect moves on the table). My aircraft are
always based upon the map and the flights are mapped until the aircraft
arrive over the table; then they are controlled by a certain number of
moves, and upon completion of these moves they have to depart for home
whether or not the 'mission has been accomplished.

To give an indication of the time factor - I have been engaged in a

specific campaign entering Russia via the imaginary Boluno Line for three
years, and I am now, at the time of writing, only just across the River
Dnieper at Kharkov.

When playing solo-wargames, one has to have a somewhat different

view than when one has opposition so as to maintain the level of
enthusiasm needed for an all-out effort. Maybe it is my days of chess-
playing against a Nazi commandant which has given me this approach
to the wargame, but I like to relax and size up the situations as they
develop, which I could not do when fighting an opponent. Time is greatly
speeded up in the majority of games between two or more players and it
becomes more of a game of split-second decisions than the playing of
hunches and cold calculated risks.

It has become almost automatic to me that every piece I move has a

piece in support and I admit that my speed would be deplored by many
wargamers who like to get into the battle by 2 pm and finish in time for tea
at 5 o'clock!

I have gathered together training booklets of camouflage techniques

and the use of mortars and artillery etc., and I employ the instructions they
give in my tactics and I amend my rules to allow actual eventualities to be
covered. Playing solo means that I become detached from both armies and
I am able to concentrate on the finer points of the games without prejudice
or bias.

One of my greatest aids in 'getting things right' is a sighting periscope

which works in reverse to normal procedure. It is made to give me a view
from ground level because, as all wargamers will know, standing over a
table enables one to view the entire enemy force without interruption and
many movements are made which would not have occurred had the
opposing forces been unseen. Therefore everything has to be done from the
level of the terrain (except where spotter-aircraft are used). All artillery fire
must be observed by trained observers with the periscope placed close to
the actual piece and only what is seen in the glass can be acted upon. The
same method is used for any firing and enables men to use natural cover
such as the folds in undulating ground. More than anything else it makes a
commander place his men in position so that they will cover such areas
with adequate fire power.

Playing solo enables me to test known military theories and practices -

when I find myself becoming too defensive-minded I refresh my memory
with the book Blitzkrieg by F.O. Mikshe. But I have never been a defensive
fighter since becoming a solo-wargamer, although I have had to do just that
with one side and I do sometimes get into a frame of mind where I feel I
ought to dig in and start wire entanglements and sow a few minefields. But
modern war is essentially one of movement and speed, both factors that
greatly appeal to me.

Well, now you know why he is entitled to be called a Prince among

solo-wargamers. If any note of regret can be detected in all this, then it
must be that so much enthusiasm, knowledge and talent should be
restricted to one wargames room rather than being the source of pleasure
and stimulation to less gifted wargamers.
22 RETASOL
When serving in the British Army in Aden, veteran wargamer Charles
Reavley thought up the following method of solo-wargaming with a
difference.
While travelling about I have experienced all the frustrations caused
by lack of opponents, the necessity of learning rules to play new opponents
and frequent unsatisfying games because of un-familiarity and lack of
experience of these rules. While I think that we will all agree that playing
against a live opponent across the table gives the most interesting game, the
solo game offers a reasonable alternative; indeed I believe that one player at
least prefers them!
The Hampshire Regiment on the march during the Seven Years War:
54-56

54. The Hampshire* are led by their Grenadier Company.

55. In the foreground of the picture is the Light Company of the
Hampshires.
56. A composite picture to show both the Grenadier and Light Companies
leading the march.

I have never enjoyed solo games and could never in the past plan a
game of this type - whichever side's moves I planned first suffered the
disadvantage that the enemy (me!) knew their plans and made his own
accordingly. Recently, I hit upon an idea for a game intended for those of us
who have no suitable opponents in the same town, but of course it can also
be used by all interested. The first stage is that two solo-wargamcs players
contact each other; let us call them General A and General B. General A
sends General B a map of the ground he proposes to play on, a rough
situation report and the number of troops under the enemy's command.
General B, as the enemy commander, sets out the troops on the ground and
sends these dispositions and his plan of campaign back to General A, who
then plays the game solo-wise. The situation is reversed so that General B
can play his solo game.
The two situations which A and B play as solos have no need to be
connected, nor is it intended that they should be; neither is this intended to
be a postal game with A and B solidly awaiting the delays that occur in the
mail. All that B does for A is to lay down a plan of campaign; if he wishes
to give alternatives in case of a certain course of action on the part of A, or
to detail his plan in stages (e.g.
Stage 1 is game-moves 1-3,
Stage 2 is game-moves 4-5, etc.),
then these are refinements which will give A more pleasure and he will
probably reciprocate for General B!
A further refinement would be a campaign with General B periodically
sending orders dependent on situation reports from A - this of course would
probably necessitate delays while awaiting orders, but even this
disadvantage could be overcome by asking for new orders before the
situation actually required it.
This campaign of A's could be played throughout with B as his
opponent, as A could change to C, or even have B and C (and D) ad
infinitum as opposing generals on different fronts. A should plan his own
dispositions and moves before receiving an order.
The advantages of this scheme are:
1. A and B working on a strict exchange basis can be as detailed or
otherwise as they wish.
2. It puts an end to lack of opponents.
3. You can play your own rules on the table so that argument and
compromise vanish.
 4. It does not matter what scales or periods your opponent collects as
really he is using your troops!
The disadvantages appear to be:
1. The experiments required to find an opponent who suits you, and
you him.
2. The fact that almost inevitably situations will occur on the table
which only dice can decide; so, to avoid bias on your part, a standard table
of probabilities in the face of situations will have to be worked out based on
a system of dice throws.
3. Mail delays - but these are not as great as those inherent in the post-
game.
4. Deciding on your initial maps and drawing them, but this could be
overcome by:
(a) asking your opponent to do it (if you do this you will probably have
to do the same for him, so you won't gain!);
(b) replaying a historical campaign;
(c) adopting Ordnance Maps already available.
These ideas of Charles Reavley's were not just a shot in the dark but
were the result of postal games played with Stewart Thomas in England
allied to a never-ending search for improvements leading to greater realism.
Later, Charles Reavley met Lionel Tarr and they both found that their
attitude to wargaming was remarkably similar, so they decided to try out the
solo-wargames methods just described. Lionel was already engaged with
his own solo-game concerned with Russia in the 1940 period so Reavley
went in with him on that campaign. On Reavley's return to Aden, they
exchanged battle plans and each directed the strategical actions of the
other's enemy so that Reavley directed the Russians both on his own front
and on Lionel's while Lionel Tarr directed the Germans. This enabled
Lionel to fight his solo German-Russian campaign with the strategy and
tactics of one side being dictated by an experienced opponent who was
actually many thousands of miles away in Aden. So polished were these
two wargamers that Reavley's planning for the Russians and Tarr's for the
Germans transformed the campaign into virtually a dual affair, although
Tarr was doing all the actual manoeuvring on the table-top while Reavley
impatiently awaited the results of his carefully planned tactics.
The system worked very well with the advantages already mentioned
apparent, while the disadvantages seemed to be contained in the amount of
information that was not passed on to one's postal colleague! However, both
men realized that there was a limit to the size of the force they could
adequately control and the ground that could be covered; so when Major
Reavley returned to the United Kingdom and left the Army, a new and
ambitious project was set in motion. He and Lionel Tarr thrashed out a
common set of rules (prior to this they had each played with their own) and
three more experienced wargamers were sounded out, to be eventually
recruited into a far-reaching campaign with the title of Retasol - a
combination name derived from Reavley/Tarr/Solo. Each of the five players
assumed responsibility for an area of the Russian front combined to cover
the entire battlefront from Leningrad to the north to the Crimea in the south.
Areas were allocated in accordance with official army group boundaries,
with war-gamers Bill Gunson commanding the entire northern army group
of some six infantry divisions and one Panzer division; Stu' Thomas had the
northern section of the central group, and Charles Reavley the rest of the
centre. Lionel Tarr had the northern section of the southern group and
Graham Biddle the remainder, with Reavley controlling the strategy of the
Russian forces and Tarr that of the Germans. (In Retasol, the actual armies
were called divisions.)
The players, after much discussion at meetings in London and in
Bristol, worked out a new set of rules acceptable to all concerned and
designed to give the most realistic simulation of the actual campaign.
Forces were scaled down to one-twentieth of the size of those in real life,
and a suitable ground scale was agreed. Map-moves were designed to co-
ordinate with table-top moves so that supply and troop movements could be
realistically carried out.
Lionel Tarr continued in his role of OKW (Oberkommando der
Wehrmacht) while Reavley provided strategical guidance for all under the
guise of Marshal of the Red Army so that both Tarr and Reavley were
wearing two hats - one as sector commander and the other as overall
commander of one of the opposing nations. This control by Tarr and
Reavley was minimal and designed only to avoid confusing situations. The
sector commanders commanded both sides in their sectors but got their
orders for each force from the national commander.
Originally designed to fill gaps in Tarr's completely individualistic
game, Retasol developed into a thriving set of co-ordinated solo-games
each related to the other and each enjoying the peculiarities of a dual game
as much as a solo one. Players contacted each other by phone or mail and,
because of the agreed set of rules, were able to visit each other and give
battle in the present campaign. Four meetings a year were held in Bristol
(centrally placed for most of the other players) where, in addition to much
anticipated war-games, frank discussions on the campaign and its
progression took place. Retasol, perhaps optimistically, tried to cover every
possibility of warfare in the period and, while it was realized that there was
no easy way to fight that period accurately, it was felt that Retasol with its
five incorporated different lines of thought has gone a long way towards
perfecting a system where solo-games can be played with other solo-
players.
Alas, for reasons not unconnected with the fact that when you put two
or more wargamers together you sow the seeds of an argument, Retasol
folded up before it got into its full stride or worked at anything near its
fullest possible capacity so far as the number of players involved was
concerned. During its brief life, Charles Reavley wrote: 'Retasol can be
used for any period of history with equivalents on an agreed scale, and no
general is tied to a specific number of moves or battles but plays just when
he feels like it. It provides plenty of interest and, more important, actual
table-top battles.'
If this is so, and there is no reason to think to the contrary, then it is
about time that another Retasol came into being - perhaps sponsored and
organized by one of the larger wargames magazines.
23 SETTING UP A REALISTIC BATTLEFIELD
An essential aspect of solo-wargaming is taking advantage of every possible
factor that will encourage the lone player to retain his interest and
enthusiasm. Perhaps one of the easiest ways of doing this, besides being the
most rewarding, is to set up realistic-looking table-top battlefields upon
which it is a pleasure to fight. An attractively set out terrain representing
English or Continental countryside, desert or mountainous area, provides an
immediate stimulus to the battle that is going to be fought over it. -The
hills, valleys, rivers, roads, woods, hedges, houses, villages, castles, ruins,
walls and fences set the scene in an exciting manner that encourages the
wargamer to lay out his armies and commence battle. To fight a wargame
without any terrain features, upon a perfectly plain table-top, is rather like
going to the theatre and seeing a play staged against a plain-coloured
backdrop. This may be an avant-garde outlook but it leaves an awful lot to
the imagination! Nor is it reasonable to spend a lot of time and money on
accurate and well-painted figures, form them into rigidly scaled-down
armies and then charge them over terraced pieces of wood or march them
bravely down a dusty chalk road or across a blue paper river. Your little
warriors are entitled to more than that - to a battlefield that looks realistic
and is yet functional. It is not much use having a wonderful mountain with
crags, cliffs, overhangs, etc. if troops cannot stand on at least part of hi
Terrain features are essential for the following reasons:
1. They bring realism to the table-top battlefield.
2. They provide a means of utilizing topographical features in a
tactical manner.
3. They provide cover from fire for troops and serve as a means of
concealment.
4. Apart from the uniforms and equipment of the armies themselves,
terrain features are often the only means of establishing the period and
locale of the battle.
57. French columns move up on the right of La Haye Sainte on a brilliantly
realistic Waterloo terrain by Peter Gilder.
5. In the case of the reconstruction of an actual battle, terrain features
that resemble those on the real-life field are essential because they give a
realistic representation of the area over which the battle was actually
fought. It would be impossible to fight Gettysburg without the Round Tops,
Cemetery Ridge or Devil's Den and what would Waterloo be like without
the Ridge, Hugomont, La Belle Alliance and La Haye Sainte?
6. If the wargame is an imaginary one and forms part of a campaign
involving map-moving, then the terrain must be so constructed as to
resemble the features on the campaign map.
7. Warfare is often a matter of one side or the other fighting for and
gaining or losing some advantageous topographical position. Therefore
terrain features on the wargames tables in the form of hills, crossroads and
river-bridges form objectives enabling wargamers to decide who has won
the game and at what stage.
Generally speaking, few war-gamers give adequate attention to the
influence of ground upon tactical operations on the table-top battlefield.
Part of the pleasure of wargaming lies in the colourfully realistic
appearance of the terrain we build.
55. I view from behind the British Line near La Haye Sainte on the Gilder
Waterloo terrain.
But it should not end here, because ground affects view and movement
and, while giving full effect to each arm, gives protection to them.
View
Cover from view is obtainable from very gentle undulations to a far greater
extent than suspected. Such cover is always of great importance in getting
troops into position before serious fighting commences, in secretly
transferring them from one point to another during an action and in
facilitating surprises.
But cover from view that does not also protect from fire, such as
hedges, must be utilized with some caution, for men are apt to crowd
behind it and so present a dense target.
Movement
Ground affects movement by extending or limiting the breadth of front on
which troops can advance and by limiting their speed through difficult
surfaces. Even the best laid-down roads become almost impassable in bad
weather after a certain number of troops have traversed them. Thus, in
1815, part of Napoleon's force in pursuit of the Prussians from Ligny took
seven hours to move less than five miles.
Minor features, such as fences, hedgerows, dykes, etc., are
unimportant obstacles to infantry, while they afford, to a certain degree,
protection. But greater obstacles, such as streams and marshes, impede its
action seriously through the delay imposed by changes of formation in
order to effect a passage at special points.
By rendering difficult communication between the different parts of a
force, these obstacles materially affect tactical operations. Hence, in attack,
a cultivated country, not too enclosed, is the most favourable. In defence,
the country to the front cannot be too open. In the first, infantry gains a
succession of covered positions by means of which it is on more equal
terms with the defence. In the second, the infantry of the defence has a clear
field to destroy the assailants as they approach. AH country that tends to
restrict movement is more favourable to infantry than to other forces.
Houses, farms and villages afford advantages in defence to infantry only.
When firearms allow cavalry to approach to within striking distance of
infantry, ground could not be too flat or open for its action. But with more
powerful and accurate firearms, cavalry must be kept at so great a distance
in such country that little opportunity would be afforded for its
employment. To get within reach of the other arms its approach must now
be to a certain degree screened both from fire and view, for surprise will be
one of the elements of success. This can be effected only by means of
undulating or moderately broken ground. Yet when cavalry finally comes
into action the ground cannot be too open, level and free from obstacles.
Very precipitous, or very wooded country makes the use of cavalry for
fighting almost impossible.
Moderately undulating country, with long and gentle slopes, little
wood or cultivation, good roads and sound ground for the free movement of
wheeled carriages, is the most suitable for artillery.
Ideally, guns should be placed in positions that afford extensive range
and a good, coverless view of the enemy.
 A basic essential for all wargamers is a firm and flat table-top. If it is
made of hardboard then it must be adequately supported otherwise it will
speedily sag and will need to be strengthened with cross-members to
prevent the hardboard from warping. A raised edge or lip is helpful -
perhaps a strip of hardboard nailed round the periphery to give an edge of
about 1 inch above table level. Blockboard or Beatiboard is ideal material
from which to make a war-games table as it needs little underneath support.
Large pieces of insulation board can be used - for example, use three large
sheets to cover the table and colour them green, brown, gold, etc., to give an
impression of a patchwork of fields.
The 'square' method is a simple and highly effective manner of
producing very realistic wargames terrain; f-inch insulation board is cut into
squares 1 or 2 feet square.
Terrain features are built on in such a way that each square forms a
complete feature. One square can bear a hill, another a farm or village,
another a sunken road or river and marsh. Each square fits cosily alongside
the next so that they form, for example, a road running across the table,
passing over a hill, crossing a river first by a bridge and then a ford; at one
point there is a side road leading to a farm, winding through a wood and
skirting a ploughed field -all of these features are built up on squares that fit
alongside one another.
Sandtables
At one time or another, almost every wargamer has aspirations towards
fighting battles on a sandtable, perhaps because he has read of highly
elaborate sandtables used by the armies of the world to train their soldiers
and plan their operations. At first glance, a sandtable possesses unique and
highly desirable features for the wargamer. It looks most realistic; it is
possible to mould the sand into hills, ridges, river-beds, sunken roads, etc.,
and, most desirable, it provides 'dead ground' in which troops can be hidden
out of range. There are certain snags to sandtables that become apparent
only when one gets deeper into the project. Let us first deal with the
advantages.
 The first and essential requirement for a sandtable is a very strong,
rigid baseboard with built-up sides (at least 6 inches). Secondly, the table on
which it stands must similarly be of the stoutest construction. In the days
when the author had a sandtable, it rested on a very strong tubular-steel and
timber mess-table taken from a troopship that was being broken up. Thirdly,
and probably the most unforeseen aspect, the floor on which it all rests must
be strong! Having made sure that the table-top, the table itself and the floor
beneath are strong enough to support the weight of the sand, the next item is
the sand itself. Silver sand (from a corn-chandlers) is the best as it is fine
and clean. Less expensive sand, such as plasterer's sand, can be used. The
sand can be dampened so that it can be moulded into semi-permanent hills,
etc. Fine sawdust can be mixed with the sand in equal proportions to reduce
weight, but not if it is intended to dampen the sand, as the mixture then goes
'mouldy' and gives off an unpleasant odour. It is essential for the shallow-
sided table to be lined with a waterproof material; first cover the base with a
[9]
piece of linoleum and then line the whole with plastic material, tar-paper
or polythene sheeting.
When the hills have been moulded into position and the roads and
watercourses hollowed out with a trowel and child's seaside spade, the
general effect can be heightened by colour. Oil and paint shops sell
powders which are used to colour cement; distemper can also be
used. Make up a watery solution of grass-green and pour it into an old tin
that has had holes pierced in the bottom. Move the tin rapidly over the
terrain until it is all covered with the desired colour. Brown can be used to
represent ploughed land, yellow for cornfields, etc. Another method is to
use a soft, thick paint-brush and 'paint' the firmly moulded hills.
Roads can be painted in with yellow-ochre; for rivers pour a very thin
green-blue mixture into the prepared course so that it runs and forms its
own river-bed. Place houses, trees, bushes and walls into position and
prepare for battle.
Apart from the weight-factor, sandtables have other snags. They are
messy; with the best will in the world, the sand manages to creep over the
sides of the board and on to the floor. Small 20-mm figures very easily get
covered over and lost in the sand and are likely to reappear later: it is
disturbing when a modern machine-gunner arrives in the midst of a
Napoleonic battle!
Time is always an important factor in wargaming and sandtables take a
very great amount of time to assemble and then take down - too long for
me, anyway: I use squares of terrain now!
Hills
One of the most fascinating features on a wargames table is a really good
hill or ridge that rolls and rises to form an admirable defensive area for one
side and a point of attack for the other. Mills, in wargames as in real life,
probably provide more focal points for battles than any other feature. Some
of the most famous battles in history have been fought on ridges - Hastings,
Gettysburg and Waterloo to name but three. A ridge running across a table
invariably seems to give a good battle. On the other hand, many battles
were fought over pleasant, rolling agricultural country, particularly the more
formal 'set-piece' battles of the eighteenth century. Rolling country also
provides interesting examples of 'dead ground' - as useful an adjunct on the
table-top as it is in real life.
If hills are not to dominate one's table to the exclusion of any other
feature, they must necessarily be scaled down a little. For example, a table
can be set with three or four hills each on a 16-inch square, or with two
larger hills on 24-inch squares that fit together to form the whole hill.
Interchangeable sections can be rearranged to make up a variety of different
hills.
The easiest way of making a hill is to nail or glue a piece of wood
across the middle of a square of hardboard. Cut a piece of stiff packing
paper an inch larger all round than the baseboard. Glue one edge of the
paper under the edge of the baseboard and stretch the paper tightly over the
block of wood; glue it down on the remaining three edges. This gives a
regular, rising and falling hillock that can be used with others to form
rolling ground.
 To make bigger hills: use an irregularly shaped baseboard; build up
varying levels with pieces of wood and then cover the whole with a sheet of
sacking or hessian soaked in Polyfilla, firmly 'bonding' it to the baseboard
at the edges. When dry, this will set firmly in whatever contours your wood
frame allows. An even firmer affair, allowing contours to be moulded to
choice, can be made by first stretching small-mesh wire-netting over the
wood-blocks, then bonding and pushing the netting into shape before laying
the treated sacking over it. A similar and lighter construction can be
achieved by using torn-up newspaper soaked in Polycel or a similar paper-
hanging adhesive instead of the sacking.
There are numerous methods of finishing off the hills so that they look
realistic and attractive. They can be painted with a matt finish -
'Buckingham Green' undercoat is very effective, and then other shades of
green and earth colours, etc., can be blended in before the basic colour is
dry. A pleasing effect can be obtained by coating the surface of the hill with
an adhesive (the best for this purpose is Copydex) and then sprinkling on to
it quantities of coloured powdered cork to represent grass, earth, sand or
almost anything you want. This material can be obtained at model railway
shops.
The best surface for wargaming, although by no means the cheapest, is
obtained by moulding sheets of suitably coloured plasticine over the now-
dry contours. The bases of the figures press into it so that they 'climb' the
hills!
Hills can be finished off by being suitably embellished with shrub
(pieces of lichen moss), rocky outcrops (pieces of cork suitably painted),
clumps of trees and so on.
A very easy way of covering the table with rising ground is to stack
books in piles and then cover the whole with a large green cloth or blanket.
Roads and rivers can be laid on top and houses placed in position. It looks
excellent but is not always very satisfactory when it comes to standing up
the soldiers.
Hills should be made in such a manner that soldiers can stand up on
them. This means that their slopes must be gradual and/or covered in
plasticine into which bases of moving trays can be pressed.
Many wargamers have secret dreams of extensive campaigns amid
passes, ravines, narrow tracks and trestle bridges. The essence of such
games in mountainous terrain lies in the fact that movement has to be made
on tracks and engagements have to take place on plateaux or on the level
ground reached after extensive mountaineering! Mounts, cliffs and bluffs
also have other vital war-game uses in that, if placed on the table in clever
strategic positions, they form blocks that 'channel' movement into other
areas and allow for interesting tactical manoeuvres. These 'mountains'
should not be too extensive as they take up valuable 'battle' space on the
table-top; rather, they should be almost flat, 'symbolic' features that serve
their purpose without being too large.
Roads and rivers
To many wargamers, particularly when they begin the hobby, roads and
rivers are represented by chalked paths across the table. These do not look
very good and they soon realize that there is considerable and effective
realism in well-made roads and rivers - but they do not seem easy to
construct!
Strips of brown-grained Fablon or Contact can be stuck to the actual
table-top to make realistic roads but they soon lose their 'stick'. A road on
the table-top should not be too wide otherwise it takes up a disproportionate
amount of space - about 2 inches for the actual road with ½ inch on either
side for the verge is sufficient. So, cut strips of hardboard 3 inches wide
and about 24-36 inches long; make some of them curved and include a
cross-roads, T-junction, etc. Paint the roads with yellow-ochre poster paint
flecked with burnt sienna for ruts and cart-tracks; the verges are green or
can have coloured scenic powder stuck to them. These are utilitarian roads
and can be laid in position and lined with hedges, walls and so on.
A more attractive idea is to build up road sections on baseboards large
enough for the road to begin 'flat' at an edge, rise and curve, then fall again
to flatness at the far edge. In this way ditches can be made by the roadside
or sunken roads constructed between high hedges.
 Rivers can be made in much the same way as roads; in fact the author
has painted his river sections on the reverse side of the road-strips! More
elaborate rivers can be made on baseboards; it is then possible to make
them fast-running with clumps of rocks (cork) surrounded by white foam or
with beds of rushes and marshy areas.
It is not always easy to make a river look realistic with paint. A simple
and easy method is to paint your river its normal green-blue and then add a
number of layers of clear varnish. Another way is to paint the river, then cut
strips of cellophane to size, crumple them up, straighten out and glue them
to the 'river bed'.
The glue should be applied in areas so that the cellophane adheres
patchily giving the appearance of depth and shallows.
Rivers should not be their true scaled breadth, otherwise they occupy
too much space that could be used for wargaming!
Based on the railway-line idea, roads and rivers are of standard widths,
roads 2 inches, rivers 3 inches, actual width. Make sections of road out of
stiff cardboard, paint them up as roads, and then glue a drawing-pin
underneath at each end, positioned point downwards. Press the drawing-
pins home thus fixing the road without fear of it shifting. Road junctions,
forks, etc., are all constructed in the same way as railways are made up, so
any network of roads can be organized. All that is required are a few sheets
of stiff card and a box of drawing-pins. One can paste 00 gauge scale paper
of cobbles and pavements, on to the card. Rivers are made in the same way
using light 1/8 -inch plywood, cut about 5 inches wide in curves, junctions,
straights, etc. On the rivers glue small strips of balsa along each side about |
an inch in, then model low or high banks from Polyfilla. Colour the banks
and river: the effect is very pleasing and much better than having chalk or
tape. The rivers have drawing-pins glued into position at each end to secure
them in the same way as the roads. Very simple and not expensive, any
shape of river or road can be made up. Obviously, many more pieces than
you would use at any one time are needed but this ensures straight sections,
18-inch curves, junctions, forks, roads, river junctions and bridges as
required.
Woods, trees, bushes, etc.
The appearance of a battlefield is greatly improved by clumps of natural-
looking trees and bushes. They also have considerable tactical uses.
Clumps of trees, serving as 'blocks' and not capable of having troops
placed within them, are easily made and are most effective. Use loofah
sponges or rubberized horsehair (a material used for packing electrical
equipment and by upholsterers). Cut the material into irregularly rounded
shapes of varying sizes (3 to 4 inches). Glue a number of these pieces of
varying heights to form a rough group on a baseboard or on top of a hill.
Then glue different coloured pieces of lichen-moss (obtainable from model
shops) to represent the tapered tops of trees emerging from the clump.
Colour the whole in suitable shades; paint or poster paint will do but the
author has found the best method is to mix powder-colour (obtainable from
art shops) with a watery mixture of Polycel so that a creamy liquid
results. Plastered over the trees with a brush it gives a most realistic effect.
Individual trees and bushes can be easily purchased but if the
wargamer wants to make his own then he won't do better than by using
lichen-moss and rubberized horsehair or loofah sponge cut to shape and
pierced by stout pieces of twig, the bottom of which is embedded in 'roots'
of plasticine. Hedges are shaped strips of horsehair or loofah sponge,
painted and dotted with colour to represent hedge-plants.
Marshy scrub or heathland growths can be made from small 'off-cuts'
of the materials, suitably embedded in plasticine and dotted around the area
like clumps of marsh grass.
Fallen trees look good; they can be made of twigs cut and trimmed to
represent felled trees or else a foliage top can be cut to give the flattened,
spread-out appearance of a fallen tree, the trunk (a twig) splayed out at the
bottom to look like roots, and brown plasticine shaped to represent the earth
that would come up with the roots.
On wargames tables, troops must be able to go through woods; this is
often difficult without knocking over the trees! One simple way of getting
round this is to cut out irregularly-shaped pieces of hardboard, paint them
dark-green and then fix three or four trees around the perimeter of the
baseboard. The whole shaped board is the wood, the trees indicating this
fact without getting in the way of the soldiers.
Buildings
For want of space, villages and towns on wargames tables are usually
represented by a church and about three houses grouped around a
crossroads or village-green. This is tiresome and can, in part, be avoided by
having a wargame in which your entire table-top is filled with the village.
Thus the fighting takes place in the streets and gardens and from house to
house.
It is by means of buildings that one can 'date' one's terrain - it is
incongruous to have modern buildings on a terrain for a Napoleonic game!
The enthusiastic wargamer will accumulate buildings that are 'in period'
with his armies. This is easy for modernists but gets harder as one goes
back in history or tries to wargame in Eastern or Oriental settings.

59. 'Just like the real thing' - a Peter Gilder reconstruction of the interior of
Hugomont at Waterloo.
 Whether you buy or make your buildings the decision has to be made
whether you want actually to place their defenders inside them or whether
this is being done symbolically. The latter is the easiest; decide beforehand
on a classification for buildings: small houses hold five men; big houses,
churches, etc. hold ten men, for example. Then cut out small strips of tin
(l½ inches by ½ inch) and fold them in a 'V shape so that they can rest over
the bend of the roof. On each tab mark a number, so that when five men are
in the house, '5' tab is displayed; two casualties and '3' tab takes its place
and so on.
With this system, houses can be made from solid blocks or from kits or
cardboard cut-outs without alteration. If you want your garrisons
realistically to line the windows, then make houses with removable roofs. In
the case of Eastern houses, they can be made with flat roofs and a parapet
on which troops can be positioned.
A pleasant effect is obtained by grouping a number of buildings on a
baseboard; thus a farm can be made with farmhouse, stables, barns,
hayricks, walls, etc., on a board perhaps 3 feet square. This will form a very
good focal point for a battle.
Houses are not hard to make but, with so many cheap and readily
available kits around, it is hardly worth while going to the trouble unless
some special type of building is required.
A search around the hobby shops will reveal fascinating buildings -
even timbered and ancient houses are available, both in kit form and as
cardboard cut-outs. When these houses are completed they can be very
suitably 'aged' by sprinkling ivy-coloured scenic powder on patches of
adhesive to represent ivied walls and roofs.
For wargames purposes, it is a good idea to make buildings in
duplicate - one complete and the other half ruined. Then, during a game,
when a house is hit by shell fire, the complete building is removed and
replaced by the ruined one.
The polystyrene method
Expanded polystyrene is the material to use for the wargamer wishing to
construct terrain sections that are cheap, light, clean and easily produced. It
is a white snow-like material sold by Do-It-Yourself stores in 9 x 9 x ¾ inch
sections costing about 5 pence each. It is also used as a packing material for
electrical appliances; large sections come with new washing machines, for
example, so your local electrical dealer is a good possible source of supply.
The only tools required are a set of sharp blades or handicraft knives;
expanded polystyrene is very much like balsa-wood and can be carved and
shaped quite easily. A simple method of hill or high ground construction is
to glue sheets or blocks of the material together, starting with a large base
and building it up to the required height by adding smaller sheets. This is
left to harden and it can then be carved into a uniform shape. Roadways,
caves, paths and shell-holes, if required, can be cut at this stage. When
gluing do not use plastic inflammable types of cement; these act as solvents
and will melt the expanded polystyrene into a sort of 'candy floss'! To be of
any real use in wargames, terrain must have large flat areas on which
figures can easily stand. These flat areas should be masked by rocks and
boulders carved from small off-cuts and glued in an irregular pattern around
the edges. Trees will also serve as screens.
Use oil or plastic paints well mixed with thinners, as expanded
polystyrene is absorbent and requires paint with good flow quality. Poster
or water-based paints are not suitable. A good finish can also be obtained by
using scenic and flock powders, in stone greys, green and earth colours.
Bridges are quite easily constructed. Naval wargamers can also find use for
polystyrene in the making of harbours, islands and coastal defences.
It is also admirably suitable for making walls, forts, castles, ruins,
earthworks, bridges, etc. Ruined houses can be made and, when a building
is destroyed on the table-top, it can be removed and replaced by a half-
destroyed replica. The cheapness of this material makes such things
possible.
Polymethane is a liquid having two parts and when mixed, dries out to
become styrofoam. It can be used to make hills or even bunkers. When
painted it looks very realistic. Polymethane is available under the trade
name 'Superfoam' in the USA but has no trade name in Great Britain. It is
used by radio-controlled aircraft modellers to encase their airborne radio
equipment. A model-dealer specializing in model aircraft of this sort would
be the most likely source.
Balled up or twisted newspaper, tin cans, paper tubes, boxes, etc. are
used to form a base. Then pour the polymethane over it and let it dry. It will
form its own contours. A second method is to build up by pouring several
layers on top of other layers that have hardened. A word of caution - be sure
that you pour the polymethane on the base you want it on. It sticks to
everything! Wargamers' wives are an understanding lot in general, but I am
sure that one would be most upset if she had to serve dinner around a
styrofoam mountain that her husband had poured on to the dining table.
However, the use of polymethane is advantageous in that it is a very rapid
way to build terrain as it dries out quite quickly.
Use an old glass jar to mix in, one that can be discarded. Pour part A
into the jar and measure with a ruler. Then measure the same distance up
from the top of part A. Make a mark and pour part B to the mark and then
mix with a throw-away paddle. The mixture should be half and half.
There are many obvious advantages derived from using realistic scenic
effects on a table-top battlefield and the degree of importance attached to
this will vary with the temperament and attitude of the wargamer. The
average wargamer will gain far more enjoyment from manoeuvring his
troops over a battlefield that really looks like a scaled-down version of the
real thing. To fight over a poor-quality terrain with chalked-in roads,
matchbox bridges and houses will be sheer purgatory to many wargamers.
However, the craftsmanship and imagination required to devise and
manufacture realistic terrain-pieces may elude many less talented
wargamers. Terrain-pieces are invariably bulky, fragile and impossible to
'stack away'; for want of a place to store it, many a delightful and ingenious
terrain-piece has remained in the mind of its originator or on the drawing-
board when its existence on the table-top would have given many hours of
increased pleasure.
The wargamer requires cheap, complete terrain-pieces that need only
painting and he will find a good variety of such pieces in the range of
Bellona Battlegame Scenery made by Micro-Mold Plastics, Sussex, and
sold in most good hobby shops. These 'instant' terrain-pieces, made in
natural-coloured plastic, are strong enough to withstand reasonably rough
treatment and can be packed away in a small space. The range includes the
Redan, a classic defended earthwork, revetted with row upon row of wicker
gabions filled with earth; sandbags and timber protect the position and form
. what is really a hastily improvised fortress made out of anything the
countryside could provide. This piece, size 16½ x 10½ inches, could be
used for any period from Marlburian onwards in the Horse and Musket era.
Other Bellona dioramas, as they are called, consist of the 1914-18 trench
system - a realistic set-piece with two lines of intercommunicating trenches,
firing platforms and revetted sides and with board, corrugated iron and
sandbags. Then there is the Menin Road which, although based upon the
First World War, is a layout that can be used for the American Civil War or
many of the campaigns of the later nineteenth century. This diorama has a
removable cellar roof which also forms the ground floor of a wrecked
building; this allows the cellar to house a First Aid Post, headquarters or
anything similar, or alternatively it can form a ruined house in its own right
Another Bellona diorama is a twin 88-mm gun position such as that found
in the Atlantic wall during the last war. It could house a lightly defended
coastal battery, an AA battery or an ATk position. It also includes a
command post, surmounted by a light machine-gun position; the roof of the
command post is removable to give access to the room below. Then there is
the fighter dispersal bay which has a reinforced concrete wall protecting the
aircraft from enemy bombs or mortar fire while on the ground; by its side is
an air-raid shelter which protected the ground-crews during an alert.
Bellona battlefields are also made in smaller sections, selling for from
a few pence. Mostly suitable for modern wargames, the range includes gun
and mortar positions, trenches and slit-trenches, sandbagged emplacements,
Japanese bunkers, ruined buildings, pillboxes, encampments, defence works
and tank traps and revetted earthworks suitable for all Horse and Musket
periods. The range also includes a culvert bridge and lengths of wall and
river sections. For the wargamer who wishes to embark upon an ambitious
building project there is a canal wharf set formed of a section of canal and
opposite bank, canal sections and rock face suitable for quarries, etc. These
textured surfaces can also be obtained in asphalt, rough concrete and Waney
Elm. The set-pieces can be coloured with poster paints although Humbrol
paints are recommended in most cases. The author personally painted up
the Redan in less than fifteen minutes and the resulting scenic set-piece was
most realistic and effective.
There are obvious advantages to such compact, self-contained pieces
of wargames terrain. All wargamers will be familiar with the dash home
from the office on wargaming night, to snatch a hasty tea while setting up
the terrain for the battle that is to follow. This often takes as much as an
hour and involves dragging out scenic effects often damaged through being
stored, and setting them up in combination with other pieces to form what is
frequently a most disappointing landscape. Bellona battlefields not only
save all this time but also give increased periods for painting up one's
armies in the time saved in research for planning and making a terrain
piece. And the completed effect will be far more professional and realistic
than that attained by most wargames terrain-makers who will be the first to
admit that whatever talents they may have in painting model soldiers they
are not particularly good at making realistic battlefields.
All wargamers will appreciate that there is a very great temptation to
'crowd' the table-top with favourite pieces of terrain so that the battle
becomes bogged down as troops are impeded in their efforts to cross walls,
struggle through marshes, push through hedges and negotiate other
obstacles strewn in luxurious profusion across the table-top battlefield.
Using ready-made terrain-pieces, one soon acquires the habit of having
perhaps two choice pieces, positioned tactically on the table-top, with a few
trees and smaller items to add colour. On this less crowded but far more
realistic battlefield it is possible to move one's troops with freedom and so
attain a far more enjoyable and effective battle.
The possibilities for this type of professionally made terrain are
literally unlimited. They can be cut and used in combination with each other
so as to form elaborate and ambitious set-outs; they can be mounted on
chipboard or hardboard and blended into dioramas 2 or 3 feet square,
involving rivers, bridges, buildings and positions built in and around these
topographical features.
 A similar type of ready-made terrain is the Power Play Battleground
made by Mainstream Power Play Products, Cheshire. Costing about 60p
each, these fully-detailed, scenic layouts of 24 x 24 inches are to a scale of
00 x HO and are specially designed for wargames in conjunction with the
Airfix soldier sets and matching military vehicles and war pieces. At the
time of writing the range is harbour layout, trench system, coastal
fortifications, beach landing, ruined village and ravine. Each of the 'battle-
scenes' will interlock on any three sides with any or all of the others in the
range, making a possible battle area of 6 x 4 feet, or sections can be cut out
and used individually. The manufacturers claim that very striking effects
can be obtained by using spray-type enamels.
Ken Chapman is an architect with a talent for designing scaled-down
cardboard construction kits of buildings well known to military enthusiasts.
His model of the farm of La Haye Sainte at Waterloo is large enough to
make an excellent wargame's centre-piece and is scaled to suit Airfix
figures. Unfortunately, pressure of work has caused Mr Chapman to cease
his current activities in this field and he can no longer supply such kits.
Airfix have put out a model of La Haye Sainte, in addition to their
well-known range of Roman, Foreign Legion and American Frontier forts,
castles, gun emplacements, etc.
Terrain plays a vital part in all wargaming but most of all to the solo-
player who will find that attention to the field upon which his battles are
fought will pay immense dividends in retaining his enthusiasm.
60. A 00/HO scale model of the Waterloo farmhouse of La Haye Sainte,
made in cardboard by Ken Chapman. On a base of24' x 24', this building
forms an excellent centrepiece for a battle.
APPENDIX 1 SOURCES OF TOY SOLDIERS
The cheapest possible way of amassing armies for wargames is to form
them of the 20-mm plastic figures produced in a constantly increasing range
by many producers.
[10]
The initial massive producers in this area were Airfix . There initial
range included:
Guards Band
Guards Colour Party
Infantry Combat Group
German Infantry Group
Civilians
Indians
8th Army Group
Foreign Legion
Afrika Corps Group
American Civil War Union
Infantry
American Civil War Confederate
Infantry
American Civil War Artillery
Wagon Train
US Marines
Russian Infantry
Japanese Infantry
Arabs (Bedouin Tribesmen)
Robin Hood
Sheriff of Nottingham
US Cavalry
Paratroops
World War I German Infantry
World War I British Infantry
World War I French Infantry
World War I American Infantry
Romans
Royal Horse Artillery
Commandos
Tarzan Set
Ancient Britons
Waterloo Highland Infantry
Waterloo French Cavalry
Waterloo French Artillery
Cowboys (High Chaparral)
Washington's Army
British Grenadiers (War of Independence)
Astronauts
French Napoleonic Line Infantry
 British Napoleonic Hussars.
These figures were converted by many wargamers, sometimes by a
mere coat of paint to many other periods.
Writing in the 21st century the range of plastic figures is absolutely
huge. Finding them in the toyshops can be hard as the range is so vast, that
only the largest of toyshops could stock a good range. The answer is to look
online. In 2008 the range of plastic soldiers is best covered by:
www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Manufacturers.html
which seems to comment on almost all 20mm wargaming plastic
figures. To buy them, www.harfields.com is perhaps a good place to start
with their range of 500+ different boxes of figures in stock.
Of course, there are also many excellent ranges of metal figures.
Searching in the advert pages of any of the current wargaming magazines
seems a good place to start.
APPENDIX 2 RULES FOR USE IN SOLO-
WARGAMES
Because the solo-wargamer is not necessarily a beginner, little attempt has
been made in this book to lay down rules for specific periods of military
history, assuming that the wargamer will have obtained or formulated rules
for the type of warfare in which he is most interested. To this must be added
the well-established and acknowledged fact that few wargamers have the
inclination or patience to fight under rules that they did not compile
themselves. This is not surprising because rules are a highly personalized
affair, reflecting the temperament and character of their devisor - the
dashing lad backed with all the enthusiasm of youth will have rules that
give great scope for cavalry charges and other expansive movements while
the more mature and steady player tends to slant his rules so that dogged
defence pays a dividend.
All sets of rules have common characteristics in that they set out
conditions governing movement, fighting at a distance with hand missile
weapons and artillery, hand-to-hand fighting, morale, etc. The usual
practice is for a wargamer to take an already established set of rules and
then amend them to suit his own ideas of the manner in which the various
aspects of warfare can be best simulated on the table-top.
However, this book may well fall into the hands of a novice, a
complete newcomer to the hobby who either lacks an available opponent or
wishes to familiarize himself with wargaming before entering into
competition with others. Such a man will require some basic rules with
which to begin battling. He will find not only such rules for Ancient, Horse
and Musket, and Modern periods in the book Wargames (by Donald
Featherstone; published by Stanley Paul, 1962) but also will gather
information he requires to 'get off the ground'.
It is stressed throughout this book that one of the great advantages of
solo-wargaming lies in its timelessness, in the manner in which a wargamer
can 'float' along in an unhurried manner as he manoeuvres his forces to the
most detailed rules. Complexity does not necessarily bring increased
realism, although a leisurely attention to detail will obviously make it more
likely. Some solo-wargamers may find their interest held at a reasonably
high pitch by a short and sharp game fought to a reasonably simple set of
rules. In time this may pall and, seeking a deeper satisfaction from their
activities, they will appreciate the leisured pleasure that can be derived from
relatively complex sets of rules ideally applied to their own understanding
and without the acrimony of dissenting voices. Ideal for their purpose are
those rules formulated by the Wargames Research Group. At the time of
writing, it is possible to obtain rules for 1000 BC to AD 500; 14th/15th
Century Warfare; 1750 to 1850; and Second World War.
Better still, the solo-wargamcr should obtain as many as possible of the
available sets of rules for his own particular period and then 'mess them
about' to suit his own ideas and interpretations of warfare.
The popularity of rules tends to change in response to trends in
wargaming and even popular culture. If I was to recommend a single range
of rules for offering something different, but without unnecessary
complexity, I would perhaps suggest the Peter Pig range of rules. See
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/ for further details.
APPENDIX 3 SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
AND INSTRUCTION FOR THE SOLO-
WARGAMER
References are made in this book to various other published wargames
books. Each of them contains developments, ideas and suggestions that will
add enjoyment and realism to table-top battles with model soldiers. Here is
[11]
a ready-to-hand index of the content of the following books :
(a) Wargames
(b) Naval Wargames
(c) Air Wargames
(d) Advanced Wargames
In order to avoid constant repetition, these books will be represented
by the letters that precede them. For example, Wargames will be denoted by
(a) and Advanced Wargames by (d). The number that follows the letter
indicates the chapter.
Ancient Wargames
Rules - (a) 6.
Description of battle, 'blow-by-blow' - (a) 6.
Morale - before contact - (a) 6.
after contact - (a) 6.
affected by Staff Officers - (a) 6.
Elephants - (a) 6.
Chariots - (a) 6.
War Engines - (a) 6 and (d) 5.
 Individual combat - (d) 9.
Mercenaries - (d) 21.
Combined naval/land operations -(b) 21.
Horse-and-Musket Wargames
Rules - (a) 7.
Description of 'blow-by-blow' wargame - (a) 7.
Combined naval/land operations - (b) 21.
Firing - simulating smooth-bore artillery (firing ball and grape-shot) - (d)
5 and (a) 7.
Bursting shells -(d) 5.
Casualties - differing between dead and wounded - (a) 7 and
(d)6.
Houses and fortifications - (a) 7 and (d) 9.
Sieges - (a) 7.
Jungle warfare - (a) Appx. 2.
Gatling guns - firing - (d) 5.
Artillery firing, with allowances for:
1. Infantry }
2. Cavalry }
3. Guns }
4. Moving targets }
5. Stationary targets } (d) 5.
6. Lying-down targets }
7. Standing targets }
8- Deployed targets }
9. Close order, etc. }
Representing Batteries by single guns
Musketry firing - simulating flintlock musket - (d) 6.
Shock effect of charging cavalry -(d)9.
Couriers and Messengers - (d) 14 and 19.
Colours and Battle honours - (d) 22.
Bands, morale raised by - (d) 23.
Natives against disciplined troops -(d) 24.
Logistics - (d) 25.
Engineering - (d) 26.
Modern Wargaming
Rules - (a) 8.
'Blow-by-blow' modern wargame -(a) 8.
Combined operations - (b) 21.
Aircraft combined with land forces - (e) 6.
method of operating
rules for - fighters }
bombers } (e) 6.
transports }
gliders }
fighter v. fighter }
fighter v. bomber }
bombing } (e) 6.
AA defence }
spotting for artillery }
Simulating para-drops }
Simulating gliders }
Helicopters - (e) 11.
Bombing and bombers - (a)
Artillery
Firing - open sights }
observed }
by map }
target-ranging } (a) 8.
Burst circles }
determining damage}
Bridge and vehicle classifications -(d) 4.
Attack and Defence Values of:
Air-strikes }
Flame throwers }
Mines and Minefields } (a) 8
Smoke }
Paratroops }
Glider-borne troops }
 Motorized infantry - (a) 8.
Street fighting - (a) 8.
Visibility - (a) 8.
Minefields - (d) 30 and (a) 8.
Burst-circles }
Observers }
Registering } (d)5.
Fire-plans }
Off-table shoots }
Pinning-down }
Firing - Musketry
Effect of high or low (d) 6
morale of firers Guards or elite troops have superior ability Fire-effect
charts, allowing for range, morale and
target-formations }
Firing - tables }
Moving-and-firing } (d) 6
Order of firing – for }
artillery and musketry }
Firing on attackers coming in on flank - (d) 6
Computer-device for assessing fire-effect - (d) 11.
Rounder-device for assessing fire-effect - (d) 12.
Mêlées
System to simulate lack of Mêlées in periods where
fire-effect broke up (d) 9.
charges before contact (d) 9.
Mêlée effects upon formed and unformed troops (d) 9.
Individual combat (Ancient and Medieval) (d) 9.
Shock-effect of charging cavalry (d) 9.
House-to-house fighting (d) 9.
Mêlée system, taking into consideration (d) 9.
1. Class of troops
2. Type of terrain
3. Direction of attack
4. Numbers of men making charge
5. Number of men taking charge (and their morale- state)
Morale
Use of morale rules to obtain realistic troop reactions (d) 7
Simple morale systems }
Amendments that add realism }
Morale decided by }
1. Casualties suffered }(d) 7.
2. Physical condition. }
3. Officer-state. }
When to check a unit's morale state }
Morale charts for various historical periods }
 covering more than 30 separate factors }
Computer-device for establishing morale-state - (d) 11. Rounder-device
for establishing morale-state -(d) 12.
'Bulk' morale for armies and forces - (d) 7.
Moving
Time represented by Distance (enabling exact placings of troops to be
determined when they are fired upon) (d) 1.
Surprise and concealment }
Pre-programming a wargame } (d) 2
Writing down moves }
Continuous combat - 'fluid war-gaming' - {d) 3.
Timed moves (d) 4
Movement cards put near units (d) 4
'Chance' cards (giving unexpected fluctuations in moves) (d) 4
Continuous command wargaming -(d) 14.
Time and Motion charts - (d) 14.
Solo-Wargames - (a) 9 and (d) 13.
How to Start a Wargame
1. Types of battle }
2. Movement maps }
3. Large v. smaller forces } (a) 5
4. Selection of unbalanced forces }
5. Arrival of reinforcements }
Games for more than two players (d) 14.
 Organizing a campaign - (a) 4.
Map movements - (a) 4.
Terrain - laying out a battlefield - (a) 3.
Model soldiers for wargames - (a) 2.
Making model soldiers (moulding and casting) - (a) 2.
Converting model soldiers - (a) 2.
Wargames, historical background and general information - (a) 1. The
composition of wargames armies (scaled formations in various periods) -
(d) 15.
The efficiency-rating of commanders - (d) 14 and 18.
Personalized wargaming (small groups of soldiers, fought individually)
- (d) 16.
Doing without dice - (d) 17.
Effect of weather upon wargames - (d) 27.
Easy map-making - (d) 28.
The defence of gaps and defiles - (d) 29.

[1]
There is an example of such an action circa 1936, 'A punitive
expedition to the Pushna Valley', Chapter 27 of Wargame Campaigns.

[2]
In fact, at the first UK Wargaming convention, they even gave a prize to Tony Bath’s wife, Mary,
for regularly beating her husband on the ancient battlefield. JC.

[3]
Many of these ideas came from the Wargamer’s Newsletter. An early wargaming publication. JC,
[4]
If they intend to reinforce, a relief column from the nearest town having
troops will arrive after ... moves (number of moves to be chosen as desired).

[5]
A gentle breeze. JC.

[6]
Described in Donald Featherstone’s Advanced War Games
[7]
And Don Featherstone knew what he was talking about when he wrote this.

[8]
If type of attack and type of defence are identical, then it
is assumed that both parried attacks successfully and both
miss. (For faster and bloodier battle an alternative rule can
be agreed upon: if types are identical, then both hit their
opponent. This, of course, leads to situations where both
combatants are killed!)

[9]
Heavy duty paper used in construction. JC.

[10]
Though there were other cruder makes of plastic figures such as Giant. JC

[11]
All by Donald Featherstone. JC.