Reproducing the
Napoleonic Command Experience

Part Three: Bibliography

by David Commerford

Part 1
Part 2

Thanks to the eagle eye of Keith Webb (I'll deal with you later Webbo!) it appears that at least one of you dear readers spotted that I forgot to supply a bibliography to my recent articles on the above.

I would plea in mitigation, having to hammer out the closing paragraphs with the clock ticking against the boat for Spain (Vitoria, loved it, would move there tomorrow!) and Iron Handed Editorial goading.

As for V&D, the final paragraph of Part II (see below) fell foul of the Editorial shears (DW has to make it all fit somehow). I hope this explains where things are at the moment.

The rules themselves have already been demonstrated in pre production form at US conventions and are currently under going the traditional "good hammering" that seems the norm for all sets these days, prior to them becoming commercially available. Hopefully, they will come out the other side of this arduous process ready to give the Napoleonic enthusiast a taste of what was really involved in the Command Experience.

As is the way of things this process (in which I am involved) will take some time. Not least of which is because James Machin, being a serving officer, gets dragged all over the place and so has several irons in the proverbial fire, not least of which are his professional commitments in producing "games" for the US Army!

However, those interested will be comforted to know that I and others involved in the project, will be keeping him at it, not least of which because we want to play with the final version ourselves!

I regret that a lot of what's on the following list is "Hunt round libraries, the Net and second hand specialist books store time" The Dennis, Knight and Jeffery rules are long out of print. However, the magazine bits should be available through publishers. I wonder if DW can even remember FE3?

Anyone with Net Access wishing more information on the Boyd Cycle (OODA) and Auftragstaktik etc. can get a good overview by simple word search. Watch out for Boyd's material, as it has become a fashion in American, Business Management Theory, so you may need to sift a little.

Finally, though obviously not entirely germane to our period. On the tactical front, I would recommend Not Mentioned in Dispatches – A study of 2 Para at Goose Green, as a guide to what Auftragstaktik is all about in the modern world and how the men of that particular unit found out to their cost.

Bibliography:

Rules for the Conduct of the War-Game (1872) – Baring Capt. E. Reprinted by Pallas Armata 1994
The American Kriegsspiel Published – Livermore Capt. W.R. published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston 1882
The Tactical War Game (1884) – Von Verdy du Vernois Reprinted by Pallas Armata 1995
Floor Games – Wells H.G.- Frank Palmer 1911
Little Wars – Wells H.G. – Frank Palmer 1913
The Napoleonic Wargame – Jeffery G. Almark Publishing 1974
Napoleonic Rules for a large-scale wargame with small-scale figures – Peter Dennis & Cliff Knight in association with George Jeffery - Raider Games, Leeds
Kriegsspeil: The Original Military Wargame – Arthur Harman – First Empire No.3
Variable Length Bound Wargaming – Jeffery G. - Miniature Wargames No.14 (July 1984)
The Wargame: Game or Simulation? – Jeffery G - Miniature Wargames No. 21 (Feb 1985)
The Wargame: Game or Simulation? Part II – Jeffery G - Miniature Wargames No. 22 (March 1985)
The Wargame: Game or Simulation? Part III – Jeffery G - Miniature Wargames No. 23 (April 1985)

More Reproducing the Napoleonic Command Experience

Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #55
Back to First Empire List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2000 by First Empire.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com