Let's read ... Practical Wargamer #4 (Summer 1988)

We have arrived in the Summer of 1988 with the 4th issue of Practical Wargamer. I remember that this was the summer when I bought the Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd edition hardback book, and got my first actual wargaming miniatures, but I was still blissfully ignorant about historicals. But anyway, on with the issue!

I must say I do not like this cover at all. Not because of the topic or artistic merits, but because it doesn't show miniatures or a wargame in action. I strongly feel that a miniature wargaming magazine must have miniatures on the cover. On the other hand, the cover ties in to one of the articles, so at least it's not completely random ... 

Stuart's editiorial mentions several things: the positive responses; the binders which are forthcoming; no, PW will not go (bi-)monthly; and please subscribe to the magazine. The last paragraph says the cover is specially commissioned for this issue. So perhaps I should be more gentle than what I said about the cover before. But still ... I want to see miniatures on my magazine covers! :-)

Points to Ponder is a new regular feature. As the editor says "... to offer ides and suggestions to the wargamer which should be of some interest, irrespective of any period or army preference." Sounds good! SO what do we get this issue? A small discussion about colours (as in flags, not paints) and banners, and the suggestion that we should use rules that make it possible to capture or lose banners after a melee. ALthough we can always fold such effects into a bigger morale rule, I'm always in favour of making events such as the loss of colours explicit, since these provide noce details to the narrative of the game.

Cockpit by John Bennet describes a solo campaign system, with 6 countries arranged in a hexagonal map. The article describes how one can randomly generate diplomatic and economic events for each country, and how to run military campaigns. It's a good article with some good ideas, but focuses (to my taste) too much on detailed rule mechanics regarding movement and recruiting rather than on how to run (what we would now call) imaginations.

 

One Day Stand at Mons (Peter Clowes) is mostly a historical article describing the battle(s) around Mons during August 1914 between the British and the German army. I have a special interest in the military actions in Belgium during the early stages of WW1, so I (re)read this article with great interest. The "wargaming portion" of the article is rather short, and mostly describes figure ranges and saying "woodland and railway lines are quite important". So no ready-to-play scenario, although the accompanying map does provide some inspiration.

Fontenoy 1745 (again an action in current-day Belgium!) by Paul Stevenson gives a complete overview of this well-known 18th century battle. In this article, I do like the wargaming paragraph near the end, giving considerations for the wargamer who wants to play Fontenoy on his table. I like such an approach, since one can translate such considerations to one's own favourite ruleset.

The Armada Battles (Graham Dixey) provides the reader with a good historical overview of the various Armada battles against the English fleet in July 1588, with some nice photographs of Skytrex 1/600 ships.

The Indian Mutiny (Don Fosten) and The Wind of Change (Keith Benson) both cover the Indian Mutiny. The fist article focuses on the uniforms of both British troops and Mutineers, while the second zooms in on the history and some of the actions being fought. The second article starts with "The Indian Mutiny seems to have caught the imagination of wargamers", as if it's a new period that deserves attention. To me, it always seemed as if the Indian Mutiny was one of the "classic" periods in (colonial) wargaming, but perhaps I'm wrong and it truly was a new kid on the block in 1988. The article has quite a lot of useful wargaming information, with several game suggestions ranging from the full campaign to small skirmishes. And of course, no article about the Indian Mutiny can do without a photograph of the siege of Lucknow ...

In between both articles there's a two-page spread showing fantasy figures painted by Frazer Gray. I even recognize some of the Citadel figures which much later were present in my own fantasy armies!

Egypt 1801 (Arthur Harman) describes the various battles in Egypt between the British and the French. The article is mostly an historical account, and has relatively little wargaming information.

Redcoats and Rebels (Peter Helm) describes a replay of the battle of Eutaw Springs in 1781, one of the later battles in the AWI. Various maps give a nice evolution of the game. 

Modern Fighter Combat by Chris Peers outlines some approaches on how to approach modern air warfare. The setup described in Mike Spick's Air Battles in Miniature is mentioned, in which the table doesn;t show the horizontal, but rather the vertical plane to better model air combat. I have never tried this approach, but it has been on my to-do list for a long time ...

Dawn of the Dark Age (Simon MacDowall) gives a nice overview of the barbaric invasions of the 4th century Lots of facts and historical context, rather little wargaming information. "I believe that the best solution is to attempt to write your own rules ... " Ok!

Platoon Commander, written by Andy Grainger, provides an overview of (British) platoon tactics in WW2, with an example of how a platoon attack could unfold, and which could serve as the core idea for a good scenario. 

Rivers, Boats and Things by Charles Grant zooms in on how to use water features and craft in scenarios. A ready-to-play scenario is not included, bu there are some one-line scenario ideas.

Shire Battles (Michael Nursey) gives us two scenarios for fantasy games set in Middle Earth. I was sort of hoping of finding a reference to contemporary fantasy rulesets, but interestingly, a quick and easy (Although very generic) ruleset is part of the article. 

 

The magazine also has a questionnaire to poll the readers about their preferences. Quite useful, although these days this would be of course an internet survey.  But what strikes me is the number of questions. 64 questions, of which only 30 questions are abut wargaming. Who would have time for this today? Also, some of the 34 "surplus" questions probably wouldn't be permissable today under GDPR rules, such as asking for type of bankcards, type of cars in the household, annual income, what type of beers someone drinks, etc. Whatever any of these have to do with wargaming beats me, but probably these were sort of standard in consumer questionnaires 40 years ago. Let's hope we see some interesting results of this survey in the next issues!

 

As for my selection of an advert, here's one by Wargames Foundry, in which they announce their new Indian Mutiny range. Perhaps the Indian Mutiny was a "new period" in 1988 after all ...

Let's read ... Practical Wargamer #3 (Spring 1988)

I am encouraged to continue this series by the comments given by the readers of this blog. Somehow, looking at the magazines of yesteryear brings back fond memories for many of you, or simply taps into our desire for nostalgia.

Anyway, let's take a look at the Spring 1988 issue.

I really like the cover, but that's perhaps because there's always room for more medieval knights with nice heraldry. Those always stir my interest. The figures do look somewhat crudely painted by today's standards, and have been given a coat of gloss varnish, but they have a certain charm. I wouldn't say "no" if I could get them (for free :-) ) as part of my collection. 

The editorial discusses whether a "general" magazine should focus on one specific period in a single issue, discussions that probably are still valid today. Also, Stuart Asquith says the reactions to Practical Wargamer so far were positive. I tried to look up whether I could find something in the issues of Miniature Wargames or Wargames Illustrated from late 87, early 88, but couldn't immediately find a review or comment. I will delve into my archives some more.

The Campaign of 1141 is a historical article and describes complex twists and turns of 12th century in England and the rebellion against King Stephen in efforts to dislodge him from the throne. The article contains some wargaming suggestions, but these are very general, more a description of what you could do to wargame the period rather than ready-to-play scenario as we might expect these days.

The Old Wild West zooms in on the conflicts in 19th century America between the US Forces and Indians. The article is very general in nature, describing some characteristics of the period and the organizations and weapons of both sides. A little attention is given to the "cowhands", although no big mention of possible gunfights as wargaming scenarios. Figure recommendations list Britains Deetail figures, some of which I actually do have in my 54mm figure collection.

Leaders & Generals is a very interesting article and provides some rules mechanisms on how we can realistically portray leaders and commanders in combat. Not by simply giving them a "+1" on some die roll, but actually define victory conditions for different types of leaders, and to give them actions that the real leaders would do. E.g. for medieval battles, warriors would start out as a mob, but it was up to the leaders to form them into battlelines, and at the same time raise their aggressiveness before sending them into combat. It certainly gave me some ideas about how specific actions can be defined in the rules such that leader figures can do "leaderly things" rather than simply providing a dry "+1". 

Thoughts on Modern Skirmish Games is all about modern skirmish gaming and small unit warfare, and discusses how one should set up games for this type of game. One example: enough terrain features, such that individual figures can hid or go prone behind all sorts of obstacles. It's somewhat ironic to realize that the current trend in wargaming is almost nothing else but small warband-type games, as opposed to the "big battle" games that were prevalent during the 80s.

Plancenoit 1815 gives some useful hints on how to turn a side event during the famous battle of Waterloo into a wargame. Mostly historical facts, and some fairly high-level description on how to turn the battle into a wargame, but again, no ready-to-play scenario. It's interesting to read general design comments such as "... there ought to be a fair selection of gardens and yards enclosed by walls and hedges in order to break troop movement and to give the French something to defend", but at the same time see very detailed information such as "The game should last a maximum of 14 moves", without mentioning any particular ruleset apart from "game moves of 15 minutes each". Compared to today, the wargamer really still had a lot of work to do himself. Whether that's good or bad hing, is perhaps worthy of a good discussion. But anyway, it's always nice to look at the pictures and study the "visual style" of games from so many years ago.

Soviet BT5 is a modelling article, on how to (scratch)build and paint a Christie BT5 tank.

In Sluys 1340, the medieval theme of the issue is continued, with a look at the naval engagement between France and England. Mostly historical facts, but also some nice colour drawing of the various types of ships of the period.

Late Feudal Rules discusses the specifics of medieval warfare, and how to design rules that reflect the period. No rules as such are given, but the article lists varies points to consider. E.g., the force of charging knights is discussed, or whether or not firing into melee should be allowed.

Gunboats on the Danube looks at the military importance or rivercraft in 17th and 18th century Europe. Lots of historical context, with some wargame suggestions near the end, but which copme down to some modeling tips and "there is little point in listing firm rules for boats ... it is probably best that the wargamer designs his own." :-) As for scenario suggestions: "The best actions to recreate are probably attempted landings and attacks on bridge building." It remains interesting to see how the style and content of article has changed over the decades.

Then there's a 2-page spread showing painted figures by Kevin Dallimore. 

Your Own Wargames Campaign by Charles Grant is an interesting read, and describes mechanics such as map movement, keeping a diary, casualties, the weather, finances, etc. It reminds me very much of Tony Bath's Setting Up A Wargames Campaign (the article references this book as well). During the past years, Charles Grant has written quite a lot about his wargaming philosophy, so in 2025, this article doesn't contain much I didn't know already. But a nice touch is a small diagram of the "campaign journal", as described in many other publications by charles Grant.

Stirling Bridge 1297 by Charlie Wesencraft is an account of how a diorama involving this bridge was constructed.

Ancient Cavalry by Terry Wise (this issue seems to have articles by a lot of the then-well-known wargaming personalities) deals with the evolution of cavalry as a serpeate fighting arm. History mostly, little wargaming content.

ACW Combat focuses on the (tactical) role of cavalry and artillery during the ACW. Written by Paul Stevenson, this is always useful, and being an ACW enthusiast, I always pick up something new I might use in my own rules.

Next we have an article (Against All Odds) that deals with warfare in South-America duting the 16th century and the campaigns of Cortez vs the Aztecs. Again a lot of history, before we come to the paragraph dealing with wargaming. It is stated that no currently available rules will do, so the wargamer has to write his own! There are a few nice pictures showing Ted Naismith's Aztec figures.

Action on the Coa (written by Don Featherstone - yet another wargaming celebrity!) is an article that deals with this specific battle during the Napoleonic Peninsular theatre, with a few suggestions enar the end what to look out for when you want to transfer this battle to the wargaming table.

For the advert, I selected Prince August. These adverts do bring back memories, because I once saw casting one's own figures as the sign of a "serious" wargamer. Reminds me, I still have a bunch of fantasy Prince August homecasts lying around somewhere!

Overall, another good issue, although I would prefer to see some wargaming content. As I said earlier in this series, I understand wargaming magazines before the internet did have a lot of historical background, but when we look back on them in 2025, it's the wargaming ideas we are mostly interested in.

Issue 4 is already on my reading list! 

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!

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.

Recent additions to the magazine index

I finished adding my remaining copies of Practical Wargamer to the Magazine Index. Only 6 issues are missing in my collection now, which I am currently hunting down on 2nd hand sites.

The missing issues are: March-April 1994, September-October 1995, November-December 1995,  Vol 11/2, Vol 11/6, Vol 11/9, Vol 13/1 (Although I am not quite sure Vol 11/9 does exist. It's a bit hard to recreate since a number of issues didn't have a proper date on them).

So if you have one of those issues to donate, please let me know!

I also have added the first issue of Battle For Wargamers, dated October 1977, and will add more issues in the coming days.

A new donation for the Wargames Index project

Yesterday I received a batch of issues of Practical Wargamer. These will be added to the indexing project in due time.

Thanks to Robert from the Wargamorium for generously donating them! These are roughly 35 issues in total, and provide a nice glimpse into the wargaming world of the 80s and 90s.

7 issues of Practical Wargamer added

I added 7 issues of Practical Wargamer to the index, that were donated to the cause. Slowly but surely the index is growing!

First donation for the Magazine Index!

This week, I received a first donation of old magazines for completing the Wargaming Magazine Index.

Robert McLean from The Wargamorium was so kind to donate 20 issues of old Miniature Wargames and Practical Wargamer. They will be added to the index shortly.