Wargaming Tomes Collection: Part Three

Continuing on from Wargaming Tomes Collection: Part Two here’s a look at the remaining parts of my classic wargaming books from the 1960’s through to 1990, including some classic book series such as the WRG Armies & Enemies and Tank Battles in Miniature by Don Featherstone & Bruce Quarrie; and some new publications of old material and authors from the classic era by John Curry and his History of Wargaming Project.

Donald Featherstone’s second book “Tackle Model Soldiers This Way” published in 1963 (a year after “War Games” and 2+ years before “Naval War Games” and “Air War Games”).

One of the earliest wargaming books (and the second one published by Donald Featherstone) is Tackle Model Soldiers This Way (1963), and its one I think that can often get forgotten (or perhaps lost). Everyone knows and talks about Don’s War Games and his later Naval & Air War Games books (and his late 1960’s works like Advanced War Games & War Game Campaigns); and Charge! Or How To Play War Games (by Brigadier Peter Young & Lt. Colonel Lawford) and similar – but Don’s second book Tackle Model Soldiers This Way often seems to get ignored or forgotten, I’m not sure why (although oddly enough it’s his only work that doesn’t appear to have been issued ISBN numbers when published – so maybe it’s that). Anyway this is something I’ve recently picked up an original edition copy of for my collection – so I’m looking forward to reading it again in the next few weeks.

WRG Armies & Enemies

Armies And Enemies Of Ancient Egypt And Assyria [A. Buttery 1974]
Armies of the Ancient Near East: 3000 BC-539 BC [N. Stillman & N. Tallis 1984]
Armies Of The Greek And Persian Wars: 500-350 BC [R. Nelson 1975]
Armies Of The Macedonian And Punic Wars: 359-146 BC [D. Head 1982]
The Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome: 150 BC-600 AD – Revised 4th Edition [P. Barker 1981]
Armies Of The Dark Ages: 600-1066 AD – Revised 2nd Edition [I. Heath 1980]
Armies Of Feudal Europe: 1066-1300 – Revised 2nd Edition [I. Heath 1989]
Armies And Enemies Of The Crusades: 1096-1291 AD [I. Heath 1978]
Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 1: The Hundred Years’ War, the Wars of the Roses and the Burgundian Wars 1300-1487 AD [I. Heath 1982]
Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2: The Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Near East 1300-1500 AD [I. Heath 1984]
From Pike to Shot: 1685-1720 AD [C.S. Grant 1986]

WG Armies & Enemies: Imperial Rome: 150 BC-600 AD, The Dark Ages: 600-1066 AD and Feudal Europe: 1066-1300.

As an aside some people consider the Armies & Enemies of Imperial Rome as a little suspect (perhaps less so with the 4th Edition that I have); this is due to Phil Barker including what some consider his pet theories or views on the Romans that are unsubstantiated by historical records or archaeology. But I have generally found it still a worthwhile volume.

WRG Armies & Enemies: The Crusades: 1096-1291 AD, Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 1: The Hundred Years’ War, the Wars of the Roses and the Burgundian Wars 1300-1487 AD and Armies of the Middle Ages, Volume 2: The Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Near East 1300-1500 AD.

There was one other major title The Armies and Enemies of Ancient China: 1027 BC-1286 AD by John P. Greer however it seems this was considered highly inaccurate and fanciful (even after I think there may have been a second revised edition). As I’ve never actually seen one for sale I have never had the chance to buy it and/or read it.

Many of the older WRG works will now be somewhat out of date in some areas – due to 50 years of modern archaeology and research – but to me these still have value, and were key resources in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s for building a wargaming army, so still have some use now.

WRG Armies & Enemies: The Greek And Persian Wars: 500-350 BC (which is quite an old title now and was never revised as far as I know) and From Pike to Shot: 1685-1720 AD – which was quite a late (but interesting) addition to the series that covers quite a bespoke and short era that isn’t part of the classic ancient-medieval periods of the other titles.

A note too that Armies And Enemies Of Ancient Egypt And Assyria (by Buttery) was effectively replaced by the much newer and more comprehensive (and contemporary) Armies of the Ancient Near East (by Stillman & Tallis) – so is possibly somewhat redundant other than as a collectible. Armies Of The Greek And Persian Wars: 500-350 BC (by Nelson) is the other title from the series that is probably very archaic now with no revisions and where historical research is at today.

Tank Battles In Miniature

Tank Battles in Miniature was apparently a very popular series in their day. They were published about the time viable commercial 1/300th (or 6mm) models and figures came on the market through the 1970’s (as an aside I actually remember in early 1976, as a 9 year old, when a school friend told me about his 2 older brothers doing huge Napoleonic battles with armies of 1/300th scale figures). There are modern reprints available through John Curry’s History of Wargaming Project, and they still rate quite highly now amongst gamers, and in reviews, almost 50 years later. I have all 5 titles in my library:

Tank Battles in Miniature 1: A Wargamer’s Guide to the Western Desert Campaign 1940-1942 [D. Featherstone 1973]
Tank Battles in Miniature 2: A Wargamer’s Guide to the Russian Campaign 1941-1945 [B. Quarrie 1975]
Tank Battles in Miniature 3: A Wargamer’s Guide to the North-West European Campaign 1944-1945 [B. Quarrie 1976]
Tank Battles in Miniature 4: A Wargamer’s Guide to the Mediterranean Campaigns 1943-1945 [D. Featherstone 1977]
Tank Battles in Miniature 5: A Wargamer’s Guide to the Arab-Israeli Wars Since 1948 [B. Quarrie 1978]

Argus Wargaming In History

Argus Books “Wargaming In History” series 1990-1991

The Argus series just sneaks in – by virtue of it’s 1990 publishing date, and the curious fact The Paul Stevenson American Civil War and Donald Featherstone Peninsula War books both came out just a year or so before I became heavily interested in those 2 periods for the first time in the early 1990’s. My library has all 5 of these books:

Wargaming in History: Romans, Goths & Huns [S. MacDowall 1990]
Wargaming in History: The Peninsula War [D. Featherstone 1991]
Wargaming in History: Waterloo [C. Grant 1990]
Wargaming in History: The American Civil War [P. Stevenson 1990]
Wargaming in History: The Second Anglo-Boer War [E. Herbert 1990]

History of Wargaming Project (John Curry)

History of Wargaming Project: Early Wargames Volume 1 (Wells & Sachs), Volume 3 (Joseph Morschauser), and Volume 4 (Tony Bath, Lionel Tarr & Michael Korns) 2010-2013.

The History of Wargaming Project is a fantastic initiative by John Curry endeavouring to preserve existing, collate, and publish previously unpublished material from the classic era and authors of modern wargaming. And wile these books are not published in the ‘classic era’ I’ve referred to they are either reprints of works that were (often with additional contemporary material), or are new works consolidating previously unpublished or rare material from that era (including wargame authors who were never originally commercially published in their own right before now and/or material from authors who have since passed away, or before it could be published). Currently my collection includes the following (but I am eyeing up a few other titles):

Early Wargames Vol. 1: The Wargaming Pioneers – Including Little Wars by H.G. Wells, The War Game for Boy Scouts and The War Game by Captain Sachs 1898-1940 [2011 HWP*]
Early Wargames Vol. 3: Joseph Morschauser’s How to Play War Games in Miniature – A forgotten [U.S.] wargaming pioneer [J. Morschauser 1962 / 2010 HWP*]
Early Wargames Vol. 4: More Wargaming Pioneers Ancient and World War II Battle and Skirmish Rules by Tony Bath, Lionel Tarr and Michael Korns [2013 HWP*]
Lionel Tarr’s Modern Wargaming Rules 1939-1945: The First Modern Wargamer – developed 1947-1975; plus his Napoleonics Rules and cousin A.W. Saunders Post-1957 Rules [2017 HWP*]
Donald Featherstone’s Lost Tales – including Wargaming Rules 300 BC to 1945 AD [D. Featherstone 2009 HWP*]
Donald Featherstone’s Lost Tales: Volume 2 – Wargaming Commando Operations and Reflections on Wargaming [D. Featherstone 2013 HWP*]
Sprawling Wargames: Multiplayer Wargaming [P. Griffith 2009 HWP*]
Paddy Griffith’s Wargaming Operation Sealion – 1974 event [2021 HWP*]
Stuart Asquith’s Wargaming 18th Century Battles – Including Rules for Marlburian Warfare 1702-1714 [2016 HWP*]

History of Wargaming Project: Lionel Tarr’s WW2 Rules (originally published in ‘lite’ form by Don Featherstone in 1962), and Don Featherstone’s Lost Tales Volume 1 & 2.

Also a special mention to the fiction novel Sea Lion by Richard Cox, which is based on Paddy Griffith’s classic 1974 Sea Lion war game that included ex-WW2 German veterans General Adolf Galland (air), Admiral Friedrich Ruge (naval) and General Heinrich Trettner (land) as umpires. Richard Cox gives no acknowledgement to Paddy’s game in the book, but the basis of his storyline is, it seems, based blow for blow on the outcome of it. The story of Paddy’s classic 1974 game is told in Paddy Griffith’s Wargaming Operation Sealion listed above.

History of Wargaming Project: Paddy Griffith’s Sprawling Wargames and 1974 Operation Sealion Academic Wargame, and Stuart Asquith’s final book Wargaming 18th Century Battles.

So that’s about it (for now) – what I consider my classic & vintage wargaming book collection that either brings back the nostalgia and the inspiration they provided in my youth (the books of the 1960’s-1970’s), or built on it and expanded my love of wargaming as a hobby in the 1980’s and very early 1990’s. I may add a ‘Part 4’ addendum in the near future, as I can already think of a few books that while not strictly from this classic period have still inspired me since 1990 or have proven fantastic wargaming resources!