As with any complex hobby, pastime or sport, Wargames has sprouted its own unique vocabulary. This can sometimes be bewildering to the newcomer, who will flounder about trying to discover the meaning of these arcane references. To help these neophytes we provide a GLOSSARY of many of the most commonly used terms in the hobby. "New Troop Types" = When used in a rule advertisement, it means you get such useful things like - Light-Medium-Light-Heavy Cavalry, Light-light Ultralight-thinny-thin light infantry, New wave Ultra-light-frozen-Yogi Cataphracts. "Suitable for Beginners" = These are the only suckers that'll buy it. "Widely Playtested" = We couldn't get any one group to try it more than once. "Extensively Playtested" = The designer holds the game at HIS house, and uses HIS troops, and the gamers drink HIS beer, and use HIS rules. "Custom-build your Armies" = You get an army that has no weakness and can't lose. "Historical orders of battle" = You get a loser of an army. "No umpire needed" = Lots of arguments. "Recommended by THE COURIER" = Mentioned in THE COURIER "No familiarity with the period necessary" = This way you won't notice the gross inaccuracies "Optional rule" = We thought of this one to fill up the blank page. "Tournament Rule" = A rule so complicated and arcane, you can only use it if you cheat. "Complex but rewarding" = We'll buy you a beer if you ever finish reading the rules. "Detailed" = We put in everything but the kitchin sink. "Super-detailed" = You get the kitchen sink too! "Suitable for all basing systems" = We don't like WRG. "Suitable for most basing systems" = Wont work with anything but WRG. "Designed for large armies" = It's a dull game without masses of troops. "Fast Moving" = A small game takes seven hours. "For use with" = You can't play the game unless you buy another set of rules. "Move-counter move" = One side moves and the other side reacts to his movement by arguing over the rules. "Simultaneous Move" = Simultaneous arguements. "Playability" = Has all the realism of the A-Team. "Up-To-Date" = The rules haven't been playtested yet. "State-of-the-Art" = The rules haven't even been edited yet. "Unusual Period" = So obscure THE COURIER didn't make a THEME YEAR for it. "Requires no measuring devices" = Easy to cheat. "Thoroughly Researched" = We pirated an old S.P.I. game. "Revised Edition" = You get an errata sheet. "Final Edition" = You get all the errata sheets. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #57 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by The Courier Publishing Company. 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