One Wargamer's Library

There are some books that have really influenced what I do as a wargamer and which I wouldn't really want to part with.  I suppose we all have those books which grabbed our younger selves' attention and shaped how we saw things be they hobbies or more important stuff.  So what follows is my list of those books which really influenced my wargaming life over the last 50 years or more.

1. Battle - Charles Grant

Still worth a look even after all these years

Actually it was the Meccano Magazine series of articles from circa 1968-1969 (which when collected together became this book) which were my first step up from playing soldiers with Airfix figures to wargaming with a set of formal rules.  Not all of the rules made it into the compilation shown here but an expanded edition is available that I presume does have the missing parts.  This wasn't just a set of rules but most importantly included an explanation on why the rules worked the way they did and the thought process that led to them.  Really rather old school now but still capable of providing an enjoyable World War Two game.  

2. Discovering Wargames - John Tunstill

I'd love to get another copy for nostalgia sake

I lost my copy of this 1971 book, or rather booklet so I have parted with it but can't ignore the impact it had .  The Discovering series was intended to give an introduction to a number of hobbies, I recall Discovering Brass Rubbing as another title in the series .  In this work John Tunstill did for Ancients, Napoleonic's and American Civil War gaming what Charles Grant had done for WW2 wargames.  It provided a set of simple rules, but more importantly an explanation of how they were designed.  I still recall his explanation of how a figure's base size was linked to ground scale , how many men a single figure represented (I don't recall if it was 20, 25 or 33 by the way) and the spacings for ranks and files.  Without this and Battle I don't think it would ever have crossed my mind to play around with creating my own rules.  These gave me the toolkit that allowed me to understand the process.

3. WRG Ancient's Rules and Army Lists - Phil Barker et al

Based on a desire to play the rules in Discovering Wargames a friend of mind and I converted lots of Airfix figures into various pre-gunpowder troops (very badly to be honest) but they gave us hours of enjoyment.  Then two things happened in quick succession firstly a model shop opened in Blackburn which stocked Hinchcliffe 25mm metal figures and in my first term at university I saw a game played with an early set of WRG Ancient rules using full armies of 25mm metal figures.  These were a huge step up from previous rule sets I had used.  I think I have copies from 3rd Edition onwards.  Out of fashion now a days but for the 1970's these were the standard other rules aspired to.  The army lists were also a huge innovation as they took much of the guess work out of army creation.  They also stopped the creation of unstoppable but non historical armies as well as creating a shopping list of new must have figures!  On the other side of the coin they fostered the rise of the 'min-max' army creator mentality.

4.  WRG Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome (and all the other 'Armies of' books) - Phil Barker et al

In the world before Osprey's these were the go to reference works for any armies tied to the WRG ancients rules.  I still have a good few of these on my bookshelf and refer to them on a regular basis.  They provided almost everything needed to gain an understanding of the history, main battles, equipment and tactics of the period covered.  The only thing missing was coloured illustrations.  I went as far as getting the coloured pencils out and coloured in the Late Roman shield illustrations to see which ones I wanted to reproduce on my 25mm Hinchcliffe's.  My copy of Imperial Rome is now getting a bit battered after almost 45 years of use! They still get used as my initial reference for any new army I think about creating in the period they cover.  While a lot of more recent information has been published since these first came out they have the advantage of being a one stop shop for the information wanted by wargamers.

5. Warfare in the Classical World - John Warry

It was the cover illustration that grabbed my attention

I saw this in a tiny wargaming shop in York  in the late 1970's or early 1980's, the shop is long gone now (aren't they all) but I still have the book.  I forget how much it cost but suffice to say I was more than slightly nervous about walking into the house and facing the "and how much was that then?" question from Mrs E.  Not that I needed to have worried really.  Its a cross between a general military history of the period from (roughly) the Trojan Wars to the Fall of Rome and a look at weapon's armour and tactics as they developed during that time.  I suppose much of the detailed analysis has been superseded by more recent research but the illustrations and battlefield summaries are still worth a look.

6. Atlas of Military Strategy 1618 - 1878 - David G Chandler

Sorry about the shine from the dust jacket

Ever since I first saw a couple of pages from this book detailing the classical military strategies of antiquity I had wanted my own copy.  Once I actually laid hands on one I was not disappointed.  It really does do what it says on the cover, provide maps and analysis of strategy and tactics as applied for the pike and shot and horse and musket periods.  Well written and easy to digest with some really useful maps and plans to support the text.

There are others of course: the original version of DBA showed just how far a set of rules could be stripped back to while still being playable.  The 1970's Western Gunfight Rules provided an introduction to skirmish level wargames that is still hard to beat.  Then there are the works of fiction that make you stop and think "Ooh that would be an interesting period to game".  Yes, so many books and so little reading time (or book shelf space).