Charles Grant’s “Battle – Practical Wargaming” is one of the classics of the old school who were the original ‘modern-era’ wargaming generation – but what a lot of people don’t realise is that it was actually first published as a serialised account in Meccano Magazine, in 32 parts over 3 years from Mid-1968 until December 1970, with the more well known book version being printed in late 1970 while the magazine series was still being published. The Magazine series offers a chance to get “Battle” with extras, as it featured several parts that aren’t featured in the book, the latter only cover Parts I-XXVI (the Magazine series culminates in Part XXXII, the finale of a 1/32nd scale Wargame in the backyard)! In fact it was these Meccano articles (in my Father’s magazines) that were how I first discovered Charles Grant’s “Battle” in the mid-1970’s, long before I even knew there was book version! This was one of my very first classic wargaming publications that hooked me on the hobby as an early-teen.
Just recently I discovered that Meccano Magazine has put virtually their entire catalogue (dating back to September 1916) on line and it is possible to download individual pages from every issue…
UPDATE: The links for this article have been disabled, as it’s been raised that the source for this material is in breach of copyright and is an illegal magazine scanning organisation – not the original “Meccano Magazine” publishers (or current copyright holders). I have left the article in situ as a reference for those interested in the original Meccano serialised version – for reference to which issues contain the articles. Note that “Battle” by Charles Grant is still available from Caliver Books UK AND it includes all the addendum (i.e. the additional notes that Charles, CS & Charlie S Grant – yes 3 generations – have added, and the extra Meccano Series chapters that were missed from the original first edition of ‘Battle’ in the 1970 book version): BATTLE: PRACTICAL WARGAMING EXPANDED EDITION.
…and they have been scanned in reasonable quality to make the images and text about as clear as in the original publications as you are likely to get (given the printing techniques of the time). You can use the Meccano Magazine Viewer to view and tag (bookmark) individual pages, then click save to download these accumulated pages in a PDF. You can get up to 20 pages per PDF (coming out at about 5.7MB), so to get the whole 32-Part Battle Series you’ll need to download 4 PDFs, each of about 18-20 pages.
The “Battle – Practical Wargaming” Book version of “Battle” was published in 1970 and as such only includes the first 26 Parts (as it probalby went to a final editing deadline in mid-1970 before Charles Grant had finished writing the series, or perhaps the book just had space constraints) – so the Meccano series provides the infamous “Missing Terrain Rules Chapter” for “Battle – Practical Wargaming“, plus basic Map Moving & Campaign guidelines, and as mentioned above a finale of a 1/32nd game in the backyard!
I have provided a full index of the pages below and I have tagged with a * in the list where you need to stop and save a PDF, before starting the next one (and make sure you remember to click the link to clear your bookmarks after each download before starting the next batch). You should end up with 4 PDFs as follows: Parts 01-09; Parts 10-17; Parts 18-26; and Parts 27-32. Although I’ve always had most of the original actual Meccano Magazines (being in New Zealand magazine subscriptions back then were erratic and my Dad’s collection is missing odd issues), as well as the “Battle – Practical Wargaming” book version, I am missing some of the former so have downloaded the full set of PDFs myself to get a complete “Battle” set of the Meccano Articles to go with the book.
Battle – The Original Serialised Meccano Version
| Part | Title | Issue | Page Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Introduction To Battle | May 1968 | 251, 252, 253 |
| II | A Beginning With The Rules | June 1968 | 314, 315 |
| III | Rules For Movement | July 1968 | 374, 375 |
| IV | The Infantryman’s Weapons | August 1968 | 444, 445 |
| V | Artillery Range | September 1968 | 480, 481 |
| VI | The Defensive Power Of Armour | October 1968 | 534, 535 |
| VII | The Use Of Dice | November 1968 | 606, 607 |
| VIII | Strike Values Of Anti-Tank Guns | December 1968 | 641, 642 |
| IX | More About Anti-Tank Guns | January 1969 | 52, 53* |
| X | Anti-Tank Guns – The Final Points | February 1969 | 78, 79 |
| XI | Armoured Action | March 1969 | 143, 144, 145 |
| XII | Infantry Weapons | April 1969 | 184, 185 |
| XIII | More Infantry Weapons | May 1969 | 260, 261 |
| XIV | Infantry Weapons – Conclusion | June 1969 | 298, 299, 311 |
| XV | Infantry Organisation | July 1969 | 364, 365 |
| XVI | Action At Twin Farms | August 1969 | 412, 413 |
| XVII | Communications | September 1969 | 466, 467, 469* |
| XVIII | Artillery Fire | October 1969 | 500, 501 |
| XIX | Artillery Organisation | November 1969 | 568, 569 |
| XX | Infantry Headquarters Company | December 1969 | 627, 628 |
| XXI | Mainly About Mines | January 1970 | 50, 51 |
| XXII | Reconnaissance In Force | February 1970 | 108, 109 |
| XXIII | Reconnaissance In Force – Conclusion | March 1970 | 167, 168, 169 |
| XXIV | Morale | April 1970 | 228, 229 |
| XXV | More About Morale | May 1970 | 288, 289 |
| XXVI | The Morale Rule In Operation | June 1970 | 350, 351* |
| XXVII | The Effect Of Terrain | July 1970 | 404, 405 |
| XXVIII | More About Terrain | August 1970 | 458, 459 |
| XXIX | The Effect Of Terrain On The Rules | September 1970 | 508, 509 |
| XXX | A Beginning With Maps | October 1970 | 562, 563 |
| XXXI | More About Maps | November 1970 | 594, 595 |
| XXXII | Something Different | December 1970 | 658, 659 |
Additional Update
Mel Spence from the OSW (Old School Wargaming) Group has compiled these all into a single PDF document, along with a second PDF of all Charles Grant’s “Militaria” Wargaming Reviews in Meccano. Click the links below to download these compilations to save doing the above manual process:
- Battle Serialised Version from Meccano Magazine (17MB)
- Charles Grant’s Regular Wargaming Review Column “Militaria” (7MB)
Note: If you have the book and are just interested in the extra material in the article series, go to the Meccano site above and just download Parts XXVII to XXXII (i.e. 26 to 32) on Terrain, Maps, & Something Different.
Even More ‘Battle’
If you are really dedicated to “Battle” check out the Old School Wargaming Group at Yahoo – they have a file section for Charles Grant’s Battle (titled “Grant’s BATTLE!“), and it features additional add-on material (for using the rules with stands representing Squads or Platoons instead of individuals, and includes some extra vehicle & weapon stats), and they were onto the Meccano Magazine archive long before I stumbled onto it by the looks of things (I’ve been on the OSW Group for a couple of years, but haven’t kept up with the discussion, so if you are reading this and on there you probably know all the above already)!
And Lastly On A Related Note
The following are some other assorted wargaming related articles from Meccano Magazine of the same era that may be of interest to wargamers:
- On The Set at Captain Scarlet & The Mysterons! – May 1968, Pages 248-251.
- The First Fast Tank – Story Of The Whippet – May 1970, Pages 253-255.
- The History Of Tank Development – Part 1 – July 1970, Pages 370-373.
- The History Of Tank Development – Part 2 – August 1970, Pages 430-433.
- The History Of Tank Development – Part 3 – September 1970, Pages 494-496, 514-515.
- Building Thermopylae (by Charles Grant) – November 1971, Pages 530-531.
Hopefully this is of help & enjoyment to someone other than just me…
John
This is seriously cool.. Meccano magazine was my first introduction to the hobby (my brothers and I shared a large meccano set and were prolific builders as younger children). My copy of ‘Battle’, and the magazines, still all sit on my shelves and get the occasional nostalgic read.
Kind regards
Robin
Yep – I agree Robin, same for me – apart from David Nash’s Wargames this was the very first regular wargaming stuff I read when I was 9-10 or so years old, and it was after Battle and other articles in Meccano Magazine I discovered Don Featherstone , Charles Grant’s “The War Game”, Terry Wise’s “Introduction To Battle Gaming”, Young & Lawford’s “Charge”, in the later 70’s & first year or so of the 80’s!
If you have the time and poke around the Meccano site you will find lots of odd and interesting articles on wargaming, models, and so on. And Charles Grant’s regular Militaria review of wargaming models is in most issues around that time as well! The third page of each month is the index page – so a quick way to see what’s in each months issue. 🙂
John,
Just downloaded it, really simple since when you click the geen cross, its already bundled into 4 packages. Presumably you, if so, thanks very much. Thanks for the heads up anyway,
Rgds,
SPB
Hi Si – it may well have saved them – I honestly haven’t looked in that much detail how the Meccano viewer works. Anyway – Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this, a real treasure trove! I still have a copy of “Battle” signed by Charles Grant himself (though, sadly, not to me) on my shelves along with all my other old school wargaming gems.
Hi Henry – no worries – I think many of us have treasured memories of CG’s work! And yep it’s great to have both the original magazine series as well as the book – I have never checked exactly how much difference there is in the specific chapters/Sections – but the Magazine Series definitely has more AFAICS.
Note one of the OSW guys has now compiled all the Parts into a single PDF, and also all CG’s Militaria Wargaming Reviews from the same period – I’ve updated my blog post with the details and direct links to these PDF compilations…
Keep up the good work with BG Magazine!
John
This is seriously cool.. Meccano magazine was my first introduction to the hobby (my brothers and I shared a large meccano set and were prolific builders as younger children). My copy of ‘Battle’, and the magazines, still all sit on my shelves and get the occasional nostalgic read.
Kind regards
Robin
Yep – I agree Robin, same for me – apart from David Nash’s Wargames this was the very first regular wargaming stuff I read when I was 9-10 or so years old, and it was after Battle and other articles in Meccano Magazine I discovered Don Featherstone , Charles Grant’s “The War Game”, Terry Wise’s “Introduction To Battle Gaming”, Young & Lawford’s “Charge”, in the later 70’s & first year or so of the 80’s!
If you have the time and poke around the Meccano site you will find lots of odd and interesting articles on wargaming, models, and so on. And Charles Grant’s regular Militaria review of wargaming models is in most issues around that time as well! The third page of each month is the index page – so a quick way to see what’s in each months issue. 🙂
John,
Just downloaded it, really simple since when you click the geen cross, its already bundled into 4 packages. Presumably you, if so, thanks very much. Thanks for the heads up anyway,
Rgds,
SPB
Hi Si – it may well have saved them – I honestly haven’t looked in that much detail how the Meccano viewer works. Anyway – Enjoy! 🙂
Thank you so much for posting this, a real treasure trove! I still have a copy of “Battle” signed by Charles Grant himself (though, sadly, not to me) on my shelves along with all my other old school wargaming gems.
Hi Henry – no worries – I think many of us have treasured memories of CG’s work! And yep it’s great to have both the original magazine series as well as the book – I have never checked exactly how much difference there is in the specific chapters/Sections – but the Magazine Series definitely has more AFAICS.
Note one of the OSW guys has now compiled all the Parts into a single PDF, and also all CG’s Militaria Wargaming Reviews from the same period – I’ve updated my blog post with the details and direct links to these PDF compilations…
Keep up the good work with BG Magazine!
John, the colour image of Charles Grant above supposedly from the 1980s is in fact from the cover of Battle magazine in the early 1970s. If you want me to verify, I can have a look for my Battle magazine to give you the exact date. 1980s indeed!
—
Tim Marshall ( http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~tmarshal/ )
Hi Tim – okay thanks I will update – I took the date from the OSW Yahoo Group info. I must confess it is awfully familiar and I do wonder if it was also reproduced in an issue of Military Modelling (incorporating Battle For Wargamers) in the early 1980’s, and that is where the OSW Group sourced it from? But if you can confirm the actual date/issue it appeared on Battle’s cover that would be great.
John, I was wrong. The cover I was thin king of I have in my hands right now and it’s the July 1978 issue. To add insult to injury, it’s a different picture altogether, though he seems to be wearing similar clothing and carrying some papers and a very similar looking long yellow book. The explanation of the Battle cover indicates he is judging a table during Salute 1978.
Sorry for my misunderstanding!
—
Tim
No worries Tim.
Just discovered this by accident. I downloaded the full package and skipped to the last chapter to see something new – and realised that I read this article when it was first published, and indeed at the time imitated it.
We actually fought our outdoor battle in the dark, aided only by small torches (US = flashlights) from ground level to decide if enemy could be spotted.
Ah, those were the days…
Hey Paul – in the dark – wow that’s keen… Yep those were the days indeed… My early ‘army men’ style figs saw plenty of Grantesqe action in my Mum’s rock garden and similar, also surviving the trials and tribulations of combat against Tom Thumbs, Po-Ha’s, Big Bangers, and such around Guy Fawkes time each year! 🙂
Does anyone have a link to this file? The one above appears dead…I’ve the book, but never knew there was more on terrain etc…Battle was my first introduction to serious wargaming many years ago, would love to read the “missing chapters”!
hhhmmm, so it would seem Alex. May have been taken down for legal reasons? Have you checked the Old School Wargaming Yahoo!Group mentioned above? It’s likely there’s a copy in their files section…
P.S. Otherwise try the Meccano Magazine Viewer above – you’ll just have to search out each issue/chapter individually…
Mel Spence’s web site at http://www.hamnavoesolutions.co.uk/ is no longer on the web. I was able to download the parts of the Meccano articles, but does anyone have a tip where the ReviewsbyCharlesGrant.pdf may be found? It appears to have disappeared online altogether… the only links to it point to this article, or the defunct web site itself.
Agree, it would be great to have those back.
Ah! I bought this book many years ago – from an advert in Military Modelling Magazine. Loved it! So I was delighted to find this website.
Unfortunately the pdf’s linked above, which I downloaded, will not open – “The file “BattlebyCharlesGrant.pdf” could not be opened. It may be damaged or use a file format that Preview doesn’t recognize.” was the message I got.
I them tried to download the individual articles, but this is not allowed now – try again in a few days I was told.
What a pity!
Anyone know of any other way to get the articles please – I wonder if anyone could email me a working copy?
Re the “illegal scanning” of Meccano magazines – as a Meccano hobbyist and a wargamer, I’d like to note that permission to distribute copies of Meccano literature published before the closure of the Binns Rd. factory in 1981 were given to MW Models, a leading Meccano dealer at the time and consequently passed to MW Mail Order, a successor organisation. As a result the scanning projects were done with the knowledge and approval of those organisations as a resource for the hobby.
Some 40+ years after the closure of the magazine, and the original agreement allowing the copying of literature, the current owners of the Meccano toy are well aware of the legacy hobby, MWMO and the wide range of resources including the magazine scans, and have never sought to restrict any of these hobby activities.
Thanks Chris – that is very interesting!