Let's read ... Practical Wargamer #2 (Winter 1987)

The first post in this series received some nice feedback, with people saying how great PW as a magazine was. So that was enough encouragement to go on. Hopefully I can cover all the issues that were ever published.

The cover looks nice, although I would have chosen another color for the yellow font on a light-blue background. But that's a minor detail, and I'm not sure how difficult or easy it was to change this sort of thing in 1987.

 

So let's take a look at the table of contents and the editorial. Stuart Asquith is asking for articles, but also gives advice about how to get hold of your copy with your local newsagent, or subscribe! I guess nothing much has changed? There is a promise of more articles in the pipeline, "with several how-to articles which will offer ideas and suggestions for varying aspects of wargaming mechanisms." That sounds good, but that's of course for future issues.

 

The First Frontier describes the historical setting of settlers and native Americans (or Indians as they are still called in the article) in North America during the 17th century. It's an article full of historical information, describing various weapons, organizations, buildings ... with a little "wargaming paragraph" attached at the end. It's understandable back in the 80s, when during the pre-internet days this sort of information was difficult to find for the average wargamer, so magazine articles focused on the historical background, rather than the actual wargaming. But it feels somewhat strange in 2025. Nevertheless, a fine article.

Spicheren 1870 also gives the history about this particular battle in the Franco-Prussian War, but gives much more wargaming info. I do like the historical map as well as a possible conversion to the wargaming table. As a historical wargamer, who really likes good scenarios inspired by real battles, I welcome such examples since they really show one doesn't have to mimic the a map in all its details, but rather capture the essentials such that a similar tactical challenge is recreated.

 

Tchernaya, the "other" battle in the Crimean War (the "others" being Alma, Balaklava and Imkerman) goes back to the history perspective only, perhaps typical for wargaming magazines of the era and for which magazines sometimes got some bad rep.  

Solo War Chess is very interesting. It's the type of article I still like today, focusing on wargaming mechanisms, and not being afraid of deviating from well-trodden paths. The mechanisms are presented as belonging to the traditions of "War Chess". Although the article is a bit vague about it, but in the history of wargaming, the term "War Chess" can indicate many designs over the centuries. The article zooms in specifically on some mechanisms for playing wargames on a grid, combined with drawing cards for providing variable movement and firing factors for units, hence introducing uncertainty for the solo wargamer. The visuals are interesting too, I always like to see what games looked like back in the day.

 

 

Robert The Rampant Rides describes a nice little scenario, a raid from Lithuania into Poland. However, no map, so that makes it a bit difficult to imagine what the scenario can look like. A nice suggestion: "I think it's a good idea to name commanders, and it's also an idea to give them names that remind you it's only a game, and not to be taken seriously."

The Nature of ACW Combat, is written by Paul Stevenson, a household name for ACW wargamers. It describes various ACW deployments and how they went into battle. Great stuff for an ACW wargamer!

Then we have nice photo-spread of some Foundry miniatures, probably very new at the time!

Random Thoughts on Random Movement, written by still-active designer Andy Callan, gives us some mechanisms for ... you guessed it, random movement! One involves rolling dice for determining movement distance, another suggests using maps for an aerial bombing raid game (gridded for the umpire, ungridded for the players), such that accuracy will start to deviate on the player's map. As someone who likes to experiment with various mechanisms in my games, I love this sort of article, although I already do use random movement in my own games ;-)

Then another photo spread showing the work of miniature painter Bill Brewer. His work was featured a lot in the wargaming magazines of the day, and served as an example for many figure painters.

The Influence of Technology on Wargaming is written by Don Featherstone. Apart from some historical context on how technology determined warfare (and the other way around), the article has a nice idea, fighting wargames with the same armies throughout a campaign that was fought during let's say 10 years in reality, and adapting the rules slightly over different games to reflect the changes in technology (weapon ranges etc.) as the campaign progresses.

Airmobile Vietnam has some good ideas for fighting games set in the Vietnam War, with the suggestion to fight games as a "multi-player solo", i.e. various players taking one squad, and the enemy played by the umpire, "rather like an rpg". Such a setup seems trivial to me now, but was apparantly still something of a novelty in 1987? 

Battle of the Nile ... an account of the battle of Aboukir Bay, but with little actual wargaming information ... except a mention to Skytrex for where to buy your ship models.

Wargame Demonstrations is an article written by Charles Grant. A lot of advice on how to plan your game, how to set it up, how to run it during the con, how to engage with audience ... To be honest, such articles always seem a bit overanalyzing the issue to me. I have run games for over 20 years at various cons, and the only advice I can give is "talk to the people who come to take a look at your table." No plan survives first contact! Nevertheless, a good photo of Stuart Asquith running a game. Wargamers smoking pipes were once a fashion statement, or so it seems. I also notice a lot of individually-based figures. Must have been a nightmare to move those units!

Kriegsspiel is written by Bill Leeson, who is known for having published a translation of the well-known Prussian game. He gives a good account of the history and various versions of Kriegsspiel, and his adventures on how to track down original publications of Kriegsspiel in libraries. Interesting read!

Sons of the Desert is the last article in this issue, and as the title suggests, gives some historical context of the French Foreign Legion in North Africa, along with some (text only) suggestions for scenarios and figures. Interestingly, the figures listed are Timpo and Britains Deetails, plastic 54mm toy soldiers!

And for a nice advert from yesteryear, here's "Scotia Micromodels", a steady supplier of various ranges, and still in business!

Overall, another good issue, and still entertaining to read 38 years later!

I finally played Commands & Colors Ancients

When it was first published, almost 20 years ago, I bought a box of Commands & Colors: Ancients. Although I did apply  the stickers to the wooden blocks, I never got around playing it, and I sold it at some point. I have played variants of the C&C system (Memoir 44, ...), but never the Ancients version.

Last Friday, my wargaming pal Wim invited me to his club, HQ Gaming Club. They have a large gaming area, with several tables. After some chatting we ended up playing C&C. I was familiar with the overall framework of the game, but not all individual little optimization about what unit is best attacking what other unit etc. Since it also had been some years since Wim played the game, we decided to play the intro scenario - no terrain, and only some basic units present.

I played with the Carthagians, against Syracuse. What can we say? A sound 5-1 victory, after I pushed strongly in the centre battle line of the Syracusans.  Let's call it beginner's luck :-)

Let's read ... Practical Wargamer #1 (Autumn 1987)

I am very much a wargaming magazine collector. I cannot resist buying old copies of various magazines when I see them at a Bring&Buy at wargaming shows, and it is my ambition to somehow preserve and chronicle the history of our hobby this way.

So I decided to start a new series of articles on this blog, going through some magazines of yesteryear. And what better way to start with Practical Wargamer, of which some people say it was the best magazine of the 80s and 90s.

 

The first issue of Practical Wargamer was published in late 1987. The cover says "At Last! The NEW magazine for ALL wargamers!" It probably refers to some discussions that were present in the hobby back then, but my guess it might have to do with the inclusion of fantasy and science fiction. Perhaps some older wargamers can shine a light on this. But more interesting, the launch of Practical Wargamer meant there were now 3 "glossy" magazines published in the UK: , Miniature Wargames (started in 1983), Wargames Illustrated (issue 1 dated September 1987), and Practical Wargamer. Strangely enough, Wargames Illustrated and Practical Wargamer seem to have been launched at the same time?

The table of contents seems promising, but more interesting is the editorial by Stuart Asquith. He refers to previous publications by ARGUS, one of these a booklet called Wargames! of which he says it's now a collectible item! Luckily I have a copy, so let's keep that for a next post. Stuart Asquith (1946 - 2019) is of course a well-known name in wargaming, and a good overview of his contributions to the hobby can be found on Keith's Wargaming Blog or on Henry Hyde's Battlegames.

Now, onto the articles!

The Ancient Period gives a nice overview of how to approach the period in wargaming, and has an extensive list of rules and figures, dated 1987!

Conflict in the East is an historical article, the type of article which was common in pre-internet days, and focuses on the Turks in Eastern Europe in the 16th century.

Trouble at' Mill is a nice skirmish scenario, in which raiders have to destroy a flour mill to break the siege of Marseilles in 1536. It is suggested the game is played as a roleplaying game, although with miniatures on a proper map.

Colonial Rules gives an overview of the colonial period, and cntains some interesting terrain generation mechanism, in which the native player has the advantage of placing terrain that would obscure his troops so he can close in over closed terrain.

Arbeia Reconstructed by Charlie Wesencraft (another well-known name) builds an old Roman fort, which is followed by an article by John Treadaway how one can build a medieval castle. Both interesting articles, but of course somewhat oudated w.r.t. tools and brands of materials used. 

The Franco-Prussian War gives a good overview of the period. I guess this sort of "overview" article was easy, but useful, content for a first issue of a new magazine. The American Civil War does the same.

Painting the Model Horse gives useful hints and tips on how horses can be painted. Always useful to know, and the topic is reiterated every so many years across many magazines! Enamels were still the paints of choice!

Sepoy gives an historical overview of the wars on the Indian subcontinent during the late 18th and early 19th century. The photograph below shows how "empty" some of the wargaming tables were back then. But perhaps nothing has changed?

 

Raid on Vesta is an article by Charles S. Grant, describing a mini-campaign between his well-known imaginations, the Vereinigte Freie Stadte and the Duchy of Lorraine. It is in the typical "Table Top Teaser"-style for which the Grants became well known. A photograph shows his famous Spencer Smith figures. I recognize that figure on the bridge from somewhere, but going through several of Grant's books in my collection, I haven't identified him yet. So any help would be appreciated.

Edit: A recreation of the "Raid on Vesta" mini-campaign can be found on the "Not Just Old School Wargaming" blog.

War Chariots is another historical article, with an overview of the use of chariots during the ancient period.

The Battle of Bywater gives a scenario based on The Lord of the Rings, and is of course set in the Shire.

 

Computers! is by now of course completely outdated ... mentions of the famous ZX Spectrum hobbycomputer on how to use it for wargaming! 

Then we have 2 more historical articles, one focusing on the naval battle at the Falklands in 1914, and one listing TOE for British Reconaissance units during WW2.

A fun aspect of browsing through old magazines is to look at old adverts. I picked out one, for "Plastiform" figures. I never had any of these figures, but we can still see them on the Lost Minis Wiki.

Overall, a nice selection of articles. The "wargaming" articles containing scenarios are still very much usable and inspiring today. The "history" articles are of the type we don't see anymore in wargaming magazines ... all superceded by looking up that information on the internet.