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Product Description
Product Description
Wargaming is concerned with simulating historical conflicts through the medium of miniature figures fighting battles over three-dimensional terrain, their movement and combat being regulated by rules which create historically accurate battles.
About the Author
The university and college lecturer, Neil Thomas was introduced to wargaming by his cousin at the age of twelve. Neil lives in Orpington in Kent.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Wargaming is playing with toy soldiers, or so its detractors never cease pointing out, with all too tedious regularity. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Wargaming is playing with toy soldiers, or so its detractors never cease pointing out, with all too tedious regularity. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think the other people who've reviewed this book really are being unfairly negative. Any overview of the hobby is going to be somewhat superficial unless it is to run to excessive length. I've been a wargamer since the 1970s, and have read a fair few wargaming books, including the classics. I found Neil Thomas's book to be a well-produced volume which has some neat but effective rules sections and army lists, and contains some good ideas. Best of all, it's easy to read and clearly written. It's well worth the cover price given Amazon's hefty reduction. I enjoyed it enough to think about buying Neil Thomas's book on ancient/medieval wargaming. I'd say that if you're looking for a first book on wargaming because you're thinking of taking up the hobby, or you're a seasoned wargamer wanting to freshen up your ideas, then give this book a try. It worked for me!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book has filled a gap which has been felt in wargaming for three decades. It provides, in one affordable volume, a comprehensive introduction for newcomers. At the same time it provides a simple, enjoyable playing mechanism for longer standing wargamers who want to escape from the complexity of most current rule sets. It can be read by someone with no idea what wargaming might be about or by somebody who knows all too much and would like to get back to wargaming as a game.
The book covers concisely, but clearly, what wargaming is and where it comes from. It then takes almost recognised period of warfare, from biblical times to modern, mechanised wars and, building on the same underlying mechanisms, explains how to represent typical armies using model figures and simple terrain features on a table top and how to "fight" battles using a simple set of rules. Each period has its own unique features and so it sown variants on the rules, but all share a common approach. The rules are so simple that those for Napoleonic battles are only five pages.
Many gamers seem to have taken up the rules as their preferred choice. Others have adapted them, to cover periods not included or to include additional features. Others will find the book a route into the rich world of simulated warfare. Most, including myself, will find a great deal of fun.
The book covers concisely, but clearly, what wargaming is and where it comes from. It then takes almost recognised period of warfare, from biblical times to modern, mechanised wars and, building on the same underlying mechanisms, explains how to represent typical armies using model figures and simple terrain features on a table top and how to "fight" battles using a simple set of rules. Each period has its own unique features and so it sown variants on the rules, but all share a common approach. The rules are so simple that those for Napoleonic battles are only five pages.
Many gamers seem to have taken up the rules as their preferred choice. Others have adapted them, to cover periods not included or to include additional features. Others will find the book a route into the rich world of simulated warfare. Most, including myself, will find a great deal of fun.
29 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The wargames hobby has been waiting for years for a book that does the pastime justice; the last book to do so was Charles Grant's one, and that was published before I was born. Sadly this book isn't the one.
A curiously dull colour plates section, boring rules that are about 20 years out of date, and so little mention of history - which makes wargaming what it is - make this book a complete missed opportunity.
The rules are no better than any wargamer could write in five minutes, and won't make for a game worth playing. The army lists are so brief as to be almost unusable,. and the author's writing style leaves a lot to be desired. Even Iain Dickie's Foreword blathers on about the hobby preparing you for 'modern life' - what?!? It's a game!
This isn't the book that will bring interested newcomers into the hobby; kids won't ditch Warhammer for this book or the rules within, and old timers won't find anything worth ready either.
Sorry, but this book has so little to do with our hobby. Is the author really a wargamer?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
introduction to wargaming
I can not understand why some people have taken against this book. It is a great introduction to the hobby game. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr Pooter
Could be better.....
The big problem with this book is that, as a previous reviewer has noted, it squanders the opportunity to positively introduce a newcomer into the hobby, whilst rather patronizing... Read more
Published on 1 April 2009 by Dr. Mark W. Stephens
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