Thus I settled down with the original book, and I must say I'm really enjoying it. A nice, traditional, bottom-up development of how to play 18th Century wargames, starting from a consideration of how quickly men can march, and setting off at a comfortable, relaxed pace to cover the whole subject. Black and white photos of bounce-sticks, canister frames, huge regiments of free-standing Spencer Smith's. Brilliant. I have to say that I have no wish to play the actual game as described, but it is a very pleasant read - it's thorough, sensibly presented and written in an amiably genteel style, as is perfectly correct for its vintage. It is also, I freely admit, useful to revisit those fundamental assumptions and conventions which we have all taken for granted for so many decades.
I am interested to note that one of the more recent companion volumes discusses how the game has been adapted to use multiple bases - I must have a look at that. And then there is a discussion of campaigns. These rules have been in constant use and continuous evolution since 1971, when the original book was published, and they were already well played-in long before that, so we may safely assume that they work.
Anyway, in the meantime I'm quite happy with a glass of wine and my friendly old, non-threatening book. Very nostalgic.
***** Late Edit *****
There must be something in the wind - entirely coincidentally, I now realise that I have published this post almost simultaneously with a splendid commemoration of Young & Lawford's Blasthof Bridge game from Charge! on Wellington Man's most excellent Hinton Spieler blog- if you haven't seen it, go over there and enjoy it.
******************
I, too,enjoy, a good, non-threatening read!
ReplyDeleteVery therapeutic - no frights at all.
DeleteYes indeed, the best of 'old school'. I have a copy bought with 'holiday money' back in the mid-70s day, and I wouldn't part with it. 'Desert Island Discs' seems unlikely to come calling, but it would be a strong contender to join the Bible and Shakespeare - although Jane Austen might win out in the end. And there's always the 'luxury' - table, scenery, figures, rules, you could sneak it in there...
ReplyDeleteGreat comment - I wonder has anyone ever chosen "Trainspotting" as their book for the Desert Island? - funny how we all fall back on things we've known for years. Interesting - I have come across things in later life which I love dearly and wouldn't be without, but the real treasures are from years earlier. Similarly, though it's a rare experience now, I can think of nothing finer than a plate of calf's liver and onions - yes, with carrots and mash - and broad beans if you can get them. So much for sophistication, then.
DeleteI feel everything stripped away when I read the War Game. As you say, it's a pleasure to read. I've never played the rules in it though. When I first read it in the seventies I thought it was charming but not as 'realistic' as WRG. What a prat!
ReplyDeleteThe return of the Prodigal Gamer. It also seems odd that the trendy things we got excited about in the interim mostly seem more dated and more depressing than the classics now.
DeleteI exclude Howard Whitehouse, of course.
Naturally, my own is a now-falling-to-bits The Ancient Wargame - it's a period thing.
ReplyDeleteI had all the Charles Grant books, but sold most of them when I stopped doing Ancients. I wish I hadn't, of course, but it would need an increase in my wine intake to revisit them all.
DeleteI understand completely. My favorite is "Charge", a more or less contemporary work.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
Chris
I had a crib-sheet of the rules, and read the hardback on loan from the public library (Morningside Road library, Edinburgh - haven't been there in 25 years!), but I only obtained a reprint paperback fairly recently (it may even have been this century). All good things.
DeleteAs you may be aware I have the privilege of being involved in quite a few of the games in Charles' Refighting History series, and in my own small way have been involved in discussions re some of the developments of the rules.
ReplyDeleteI have adapted them for using 30 figure battalions and a 2/3 scale to accommodate smaller tables for which I am regularly chastised. :)
But a return to reading some of the wargaming classics is always a refreshing way to pass a few hours
I am absolutely green with envy, Graham - enslaved by Invidia, no less (which is the sort of phrase which CG Snr might have written). I would love to see one of these games (though unworthy, naturally), but I would be petrified in case I knocked all the soldiers over - I look at the photos of the drill-manual-perfect hordes of Spencer-Smiths, and a voice in the back of my head says "domino effect".
DeleteI still use The War Game for my 18th Century gaming. My copy was given to me as a Christmas present in 1971.
ReplyDeleteI find Charge, with modifications, work very well with my Classic Napoleonics.
I am determined that I must try a game with these rules soon. Spiritual renewal - why we did it in the first place.
DeleteLovely to see that old cover again, I sold my copy many years ago and of course regret it. It is a wonderful read and the photos are superb, those huge units all moved figure by figure! I did get to see some of those units when I met his son Charles S Grant at SELWG back in the days when it was held at Greenwich Town Hall and they looked stunning in the flesh although by then he had multi-based them but still in the old school style. I love the clarity of Grants writing, as you say makes for a very relaxing read with a great feel good factor. I want a copy!
ReplyDeleteIn the Companion volume, there is a photo of some of the original Spencer-Smiths, which explains that the plastic has deteriorated badly and many are now too weak around the muskets and ankles to be used. I understand that a lot of work has gone into gradually replacing the old figures with new metal ones - certainly the photos of the new ones are breathtaking. To me, this is all a different world!
DeleteThere’s nothing wrong with a good old nostalgia read Tony...
ReplyDeleteMy own particular none guilty reads are H.G.Wells’s Little Wars and Donald Featherstone’s War Games...
All these classics may not have hip trendy layouts and lots of pictures but the are well written and filled with fond memories...
I may have to go and peruse my library...
All the best. Aly
Excellent - with the older reads, the most obvious difference to me is the lack of coloured photos of some sponsor's figure range - we may be in slightly different camps here! I am now going to offend someone (I hope not), but my recent perusal of "Beneath the Lily Banners" wasn't helped by the photos of superb but rather grotesquely painted hordes of caricature-style toy soldiers. I was distracted by the soldiers' having authentically bad teeth, but all identically bad...
DeleteYou could always re-base your entire collection individually on washers! Although I know of it I've never read it (or Charge), not sure how they passed me by back in the day.
ReplyDeleteAh yes - were those big plastic chaps on washers? I should have thought of that, but it never occurred to me! I realise the photos in the books are posed a bit, but have no reason to believe that standards would slip during a game. I'd be paralysed by my ignorance of where the sergeant should be placed in the line!
DeleteI have dived backwards to a few older titles and have had some quality hobby moments just taking time out with a coffee and a good read like this. There seems to be more people ding this at the moment - perhaps its that old thing of what goes around, comes around!
ReplyDeleteSomehow, it seems that the old books will always be around somewhere, whereas a lot of the newer stuff has vanished to the point where the TMP Warriors argue about whether it ever existed. Daft parallel - last weekend I went out into a very rural area of the Scottish Borders - place I haven't visited in many years. Yes, it was a beautiful day and it's a lovely place, but the most therapeutic bit of the whole trip is that it has hardly changed at all! Why is that reassuring? - odd - if you go back far enough, the kids had rickets and they probably had lepers in the villages, but that gets lost in the Disney glow.
DeleteRickets and lepers. How's that for old school? In any case, Charge! and The War Game routinely find their way to my bedside table for a bit of reading in the evening. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Interestingly, I have never read any of these these Grant Books (although I have bopth of the "SCenarios" books. I have Little Wars and Charge!, of course. My own gateway drug and waht qualifies as real nostalgia for me is Joe Morschauser's "How to Play Wargames in Miniature", even though once again, I have never actually played a game with those rules!
ReplyDelete