Collecting, painting, displaying and gaming with military miniatures has a fascinating history. Military miniatures can be dated from the tombs of ancient Egyptian princes, and the history of collecting has been well documented. War gaming with military miniatures can be traced to chess and its predecessors, the Chinese Wei-Hai (i.e., “Go”), the Indian Chaturanga (which used figurines, terrain, rules and dice) and to some extent various miniature simulations used for military instructional purposes up to the end of the 18th century. The use of “lead soldiers” in war games for recreation (as opposed to military training or the amusement of royalty) was first publicized in Scribner’s Magazine (1898) and more extensively in H.G. Wells’ Little Wars (1913). The hobby became more popular in Great Britain and America in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s when figures became more affordable and available in various sizes. The growth of history-based gaming with military miniatures over the past thirty years has been impressive. While observing the large attendance and the quantity and quality of games, figures (including many beautiful paint jobs), scenery, rule sets, reference sources books and other accessories at “Historicon 2000,” I was moved to reflect on the writing, recording and transmission of some of our more basic gaming notions prior to the 1970s. That reflection is presented herein primarily as a chronological survey of published items. Similar surveys could be done from the perspective of the availability of military miniatures (e.g., just catalogs!), the growth of associations and conventions, the influence of board games and military simulations, rules and rule sets and even influential personalities. Pat Condray’s The Unexpurgated History of The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society: Volume I (2000) is an good example. Colonel Wilbur Gray’s “A Short History of Wargaming” on the HMGS East home page is also recommended, and The Courier’s home page includes Robert Beattie’s equally inspiring “A Timeline of the Historical Miniatures Wargaming Hobby.” Bob also published articles in 1979-80 on the history of wargaming in The Courier (“new” vols. 1-1, 1-2 and 1-5). However, this survey focuses on “published literature” for signs of H. G. Wells’ 1913 charge to the readers of Little Wars to “show by groveling devotion your appreciation of this noble and beautiful gift of a limitless game that I have given you.” War gaming with military miniatures or “toy soldiers,” whether for recreational or military instructional purposes, requires the interrelationship of three basic components: a system of rules for movement and resolving combat, representation of terrain features and of course the soldiers. The early 19th-century antecedent of our 20th-century recreational gaming was “Kriegspiel.” This military training tool was developed in Germany by the von Reisswitz father and son team (1809-1828) and “published” as Anleitung...des Kriegspiels for the Prussian Army (1824). Although Kriegspiel relied on maps, umpires and a set of rules, the “red and blue” armies were scaled unit blocks instead of miniature soldiers. Dice were used in some versions and there was some recreational appeal in Europe during the latter part of the century. Sir Evelyn Baring translated a version of Kriegspiel into English for use by the British Army as Rules for the War-Game (1872). A group called the Manchester Tactical Society soon used a more recreational version of the rules and an Oxford Kriegspiel Club was formed in 1873. Charles Totten published his Kriegspiel supplement in the United States under the title Strategos (1880). For a more detailed history of 19th-century and earlier war games, see Bob Bard’s Making and Collecting Military Miniatures (New York, 1957), John G. Garrett’s Model Soldiers: A Collector’s Guide (London, 1960), Gray’s above-mentioned Short History, Charge! Or How to Play War Games by Brig. P. Young’s and Lt. Col. J.P. Lawford (London, 1967) and A Guide to Wargaming by George Gush and Andrew Finch (London and New York, 1980). Throughout the 19th century this activity was confined to a small number of people who had both time and resources. Two giants from the literary world incorporate the lead soldiers and emphasize the “fun” possibilities. Lloyd Osbourne published his “Stevenson at Play” in Scribner’s Magazine (May 12, 1898), thus offering to a large readership an early glimpse of what at least one individual was doing in the way of “tin-soldier campaigns...an intricate Kriegspiel.” He described a detailed game that he and Robert Louis Stevenson played in 1881-82 while the great author was convalescing in Switzerland. Terrain was chalked on an attic floor and hundreds of metal soldiers were used, as were dice for morale (temporarily) and movement cards for concealment. However, firing was accomplished by tossing a limited supply of “printer’s ems” at enemy soldiers. William Britains’ 54mm hollow-cast lead military miniatures based on historical regiments provided a new source of figures at an affordable price for more people after 1893. The firm also published a pamphlet entitled The Great War Game for Young and Old (1908). The famous author H.G. Wells collected Britains’ miniatures, saw the 1898 Scribner’s article and was surely familiar with the Britains’ game pamphlet. For several years Wells had experimented with recreational games using Britains’ soldiers, and by 1911 he included his fascination with the games in two books (Floor Games and The New Machiavelli). He then convinced the editors of Windsor Magazine to run two articles on his war game (December 1912 and January 1913). These articles formed the basis for his full-length book, Little Wars (London, 1913), which would become the foundation for the hobby. Wells’ rules covered many basic aspects of gaming with miniatures and included photographs, a battle report (Hook’s Farm) and an appendix on “Kriegspiel.” However, “firing” was confined to shooting matchsticks at soldiers with Britains’ spring-action 4.7 naval guns. Two other publications followed Wells’ book before the horrific reality of World War I overshadowed many things military. Scientific American magazine (March 11 - June 10, 1916) published a 12-part series by Lt. Guido von Horvath (formerly of the Austro-Hungarian Army). The final article in this military map game series covered (with exciting photography) H.S. Gladwin’s outdoor game on a 40’ by 50’ terrain with 54mm Britains’ soldiers, miniature machine gun batteries that fired a limited supply of wooden shells, an operating train and a large running river! Also in 1916, Ossian Elgstrom’s published his Hur man fur krig med tennsoldaten (How to make War with Toy Soldiers) in Sweden; it was also translated into German as Wie man mit Zinnsoldaten Kriegfuhrt. The post World War I revulsion with war and the military caused somewhat of a “dark age” for the nascent hobby in the 1920s and 1930s. Despite this trend and the Great Depression’s economic impact on both making and buying military miniatures, there appear to have been a few monks at work. Harry G. Dowdall and Joseph Gleason published an illustrated hardcover book, Sham Battle: How to Play with Toy Soldiers (New York, 1929), which used a 6-number spinner to generate for random numbers. Little Wars was also reprinted in 1931. It was during this period that T.H. White described a character’s extensive game in his novel, Darkness at Pemberly Abbey (1932; see also The Courier #37, p. 63) and another famous author, G.K. Chesterton, mentioned a fondness for the hobby in his Autobiography (1936). American historian Fletcher Pratt also developed naval war game rules in the 1930s that were published in 1940. Designer Norman Bel Geddes’ large-scale game was described by R. Pickering’s 4-page article, “Games worth the Candle,” in Arts and Decoration (February 1933). Although the 14 players per side used numbered tacks instead of miniatures, the 16’ x 14’ table covered with detailed cork terrain and intricate rules (including written orders) would rival today’s games. Captain J.C. Sachs was also keeping the war game alive in England with the British Model Soldier Society, and his rules became the club’s official rules (1935). Sachs’ modifications and additions to the Wells “1912 game” were considered significant, as well as was his acquaintance with J.R. Granville Bantock (who substituted dice for the “shooting” feature in his “Wells” games), A.C. Cass, Peter Cornwall (who had also gamed in California), Charles Grant and Peter Young. On the eve of World War II, Sachs’ rules were being modified for the Napoleonic Wars. However, the reality of world war in the early 1940s once again temporarily delayed the hobby’s wider development. Post WWII Immediately following the end of World War II, the British Model Soldier Society included the London Wargames Section and Tony Bath began contributing articles to the Society’s Bulletin. When the Society’s president, Pierce G. Frederick, published “War Across the Living Room” in True (May 1950), gamers and potential gamers on both sides of the Atlantic were encouraged. In America, Charles Sweet, Ted Haskell, Herb Sherlock and others apparently saw this 7-page article, which included four photographs and a brief description of the Society’s rules. Haskell was using dice with a modified set of Sham Battle rules known as the “Asbury Park Rules.” Also in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Fred L. Patlel distributed his mimeographed rules, “KREIG-SPEIL: A Wargame ! A Mimic Battle with Miniature Soldiers” (1951-52). By 1952, California wargamer Jack Scruby had a copy of Sachs’ “non-shooting” Wells’ rules printed in a British Model Soldier Society official rules booklet. In 1956 he hosted what may have been the first war game “convention” with 14 gamers using 54mm figures. These informal connections in the early 1950s laid the groundwork for more interaction among and publications for American and British gamers. This survey presents an annotated chronology of subsequent events (with omissions hopefully forgiven by readers): 2/1956 Friends (Chevrolet dealer magazine) ran an article, “Battle on a Table Top” with four photographs of a 54mm Napoleonic game in Los Angeles. 1957 ( 1962) Making and Collecting Military Miniatures by Bob Bard (New York: hardbound) included Chapter 3, “War Games,” on pp. 51-74 with two photographs each of 54mm games by Jack Scruby, Herb Sherlock and Charles Sweet. Bard was the editor of Military Miniature Collector. 1957 (1963) All About War Games was produced by Jack Scruby (California: softcover)as a basic guide to the hobby, and it described gaming rules, figure types and sizes, painting hints, army organization and tabletop terrain. 3/57 -12/ 62 The War Game Digest was produced by Jack Scruby as the hobby’s first dedicated magazine (California: quarterly for an initial 40 subscribers in America and Great Britain). 9/1958 Mechanix Illustrated magazine featured a 2-page article by Ed Morris, “Little Soldiers-Big Hobby,” which included five photographs and mention of H.G. Wells, Jack Scruby’s games and Bob Bard’s book (above). 1960 - 62 The War Game Digest began alternating an “American” and a “British” edition with Tony Bath and Donald Featherstone editing the British issues. 1960 (1965 Model Soldiers: A Collector’s Guide by John G. Garrett London: (hardbound) included Chapter XVII, “Little Wars,” on pp. 190-201 with a photograph of a mid-1950s musket period American war game. 12/20/1960 Look magazine ran an article, “The Story of Little Tin Soldiers,” on pp. 72-74 that included seven color photographs of 54mm miniatures and mentioned Bob Bard’s book, war gaming and Jack Scruby’s The War Game Digest. 1961 The Strategic-Tactical War Game by Jack Scruby (California: soft cover) provided standard rules for musket period war games. 12/1961 The War Games Digest reported (with photographs) the first British War Game Convention held mid-year in Southampton and covered on television. 1962/63/67 War Games: Battles and Manoeuvres with Model Soldiers by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound) was the first widely available modern book on the hobby, and it included extensive rules for and photographs of ancient, horse & musket and modern periods. 1962/1963 How to Play War Games in Miniature by Joseph Morschauser New York:hardbound, was the first modern book on the hobby widely available in America. It included rules for and photographs of ancient, horse & musket and modern periods and described and advocated mounting multiple figures on unit movement stands and the “roster system.” 1962 -12/79 Wargamers Newsletter was produced by Donald Featherstone after the joint “American-British” War Games Digest experiment ended. This monthly publication was the primary source of hobby information in Great Britain and to a large extent in America. 12/17/1962 Newsweek magazine ran an article, “War Can Be Fun,” on page 48 featuring Joseph Morschauser and a photograph of a war game. 7/63-3/1967 Table Top Talk was produced by Jack Scruby after The War Games Digest stopped. Although promoting his line of miniatures for war games, this bimonthly journal initially reached over 400 enthusiasts and was the primary source of hobby information in America and to some extent in Great Britain. 1963, 1965 Tackle Model Soldiers This Way by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his War Games) complemented his earlier book. 1/1964 Fire and Charge! Rules for Musket Period War Games by Jack Scruby (California: soft cover) provided standard rules for Napoleonic war games. 10/1964 The Miniature Figure Collectors of America sponsored the first large “east coast” American War Game Convention in Philadelphia with 80 attendees. 1964, 1970 Miniature Wargames du temps de Napoleon by John Candler (U.S.: softcover) became the first rules for a specific period with historical details. 1/4/1965 Sports Illustrated magazine featured an article, “A Little War can be a lot of Fun,” on pp. 36-41.This description of Charles Sweet’s war games included three photographs and generated coverage on national television by CBS. 1/4/1965 The New York Times ran an article, “Tin Soldiers Brought out of Hiding in Suburbs: Adult War Games Gaining Respect,” on pp. 31 & 42. 1965 Slingshot, published by the Society of Ancients and edited by Tony Bath, became the hobby’s first historical, specialized journal (soon followed by Bulletin of The Colonial Wargame Society, later Savage and Soldier). 1966 Basic rule handbooks by various authors were sold through Wargamers Newsletter for war games terrain and eight historical periods (ancient, medieval, 1750s Europe, Napoleonic, American Civil War, 1917 and 1944). 1966, 1968 Column, Line and Square by Fred Vietmeyer (privately published) introduced the idea of historically balanced armies for Napoleonic games. 1966 Modern War in Miniature by Michael Korn was a set of rules for World War II small unit actions and possibly were the first rules for role-playing. 1966 Naval War Games by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his previous books) provided illustrated rules for naval war games, as well as a version of Fletcher Platt’s 1930s and 1940s naval war game rules. 1966 Air War Games by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his previous books) provided rules for war games with aircraft. 1967 The Bayonet began publication (Horse and Musket Society). 1967 The Canadian Wargamer and The Trumpeter began publication. 1967, 1969 Charge! Or How to Play War Games by Brig. P. Young’s and Lt. Col. J.P. Lawford (London: hardbound) was a beautifully illustrated book on the hobby with detailed rules for 18th-century war games. 1967 Collecting Toy Soldiers by Jean Nicollier and translated by Rene North (London, Melbourne, Australia Tokyo and Rutland, Vermont: hardbound) was a heavily illustrated book focusing on collecting that included Chapter XV, “Dioramas, Accessories and War Games,” on pp. 218-230. 5/1967 -2/69 Miniature Parade was produced three times per year by Jack Scruby after he stopped publishing Table Top Talk, and it was a primary source of hobby information in America. 1967 Strategy and Tactics: A Journal of American War Games began publication and included articles on board games and miniatures (“Wargamers Corner”). 1967 Angriff! by D. Myers and R. Zimmerman (Milwaukee: soft cover) provided World War II rules for HO scale and smaller games. 1968 -71 The Armchair General was produced by Pat Condray and others after Table Top Talk stopped. This “quarterly” journal was a primary source of hobby information in America. 1968 -74 Miniature Warfare, edited by John Tunstill, was commercially producedas a “slick-cover” illustrated competitor to Wargamers Newsletter. 1968 Wargamers Newsletter reported that there were 60+ hobby “publications.” 1969 Advanced War Games by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his previous books) presented “advanced” gaming concepts. Ancient Rules was issued by the “Wargames Research Group” founded in 1968 by Phil Barker and other British gamers to create standardized rules. 1969-present The Courier was produced by Robert Beattie, Richard Bryant and other members of the New England Wargamers Association after Miniature Parade stopped. Initially issued eight times per year, it became the primary source of hobby information in America and to some extent in Great Britain. 1969 Discovering Wargames by John Tunstill (Herts., U.K.: soft cover) was a moderately illustrated beginner’s book. 1969 Handbook for Model Soldier Collectors by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his Tackle Model Soldiers) was an updated primer. 1969 How to Go Collecting Model Soldiers by Henry Harris (London: hardbound) included a chapter and photograph on war games by Donald Featherstone. 1969 Introduction to Battle Gaming by Terrence Wise (London: hardbound) was a well-illustrated beginner’s book. 1969 The Wargame by Pat Condray (Baltimore: soft cover) was based on a translated set of 1964 French rules and sold through The Armchair General. 1970 Battle! Practical War Gaming by Charles Grant (London: hardbound) focused on rules for World War II games. 1970 Battles with Model Soldiers by Donald Featherstone (New York: hardbound similar to his previous books) was a new and more detailed beginner’s book. 1970 Sea Battle Games by P. Dunn (London: hardbound) were new naval rules. 1970 War Game Campaigns by Donald Featherstone (London: hardbound similar to his previous books) presented several concepts for campaign games. 1970 Western Gunfight Wargame Rules was published by British gamers Steve Curtis, Ian Colwill & Mike Blake. 1/4/1971 Time magazine ran an article in its Modern Living Section, “The Game of War,” which had a photograph and mentioned Jack Scruby (estimating 50,000 enthusiasts!), the Midwestern wargamers and the Society of Ancients. 1971 1750-1850 Rules was issued by the “Wargames Research Group.” 1971 Chainmail by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: soft cover) provided rules for medieval miniatures and a “fantasy” game. 1971 Frappe, A Miniature Wargame of Tactical Maneuver in the Napoleonic Era was conceived by Duke Seifried and written by Ray Johnson as the initial volume of Der Kriegspieler’s “Wargamers Bookshelf.” 1971 Knight’s Battles for Wargamers book series was launched (London: hardbound) and eventually included The Alma 1854 by H. Harris, Borodino 1812 by E. Holmes, First Bull Run 1861 by P. Davis and H. Cooper, Minden 1759 by H. Cole and Saratoga 1777 by J. Sweetman. 1971 Tractics by Mike Reese and Leon Tucker used 20-sided dice (modern game). 1971 The War Game by Charles Grant (London: hardbound) was devoted to rules for 18th-century war games and included numerous photographs. 10/1971 Rules for Wargaming by Arthur Taylor (Bucks,, U.K.: soft cover) offered basic rules for eight periods from the English Civil War through Modern. 12/1971 Soldiers, a magazine of the U.S. Army, included an article, “Table Top Tacticians,” on pp. 7-11 with over a dozen photographs. Fall/1971 The War Game Digest, produced by Jack Scruby as the hobby’s first dedicated magazine, reappeared as this single issue and included an abridged copy of Captain Sachs’ 1952 war game rules. Local Publications The many local and regional publications, newsletters and informal bulletins could not be included due to their sheer number. Nonetheless, their role in promoting the knowledge and growth of the hobby through local news media coverage during the 1960s and early 1970s is important. Five publishing events stand out after H.G. Wells’ Little Wars (1913): the 1957 debut of Jack Scruby’s War Game Digest, the commercial availability of two books in 1962 (Featherstone’s War Games and Morschauser’s How to Play War Games), Don Featherstone’s Wargamers Newsletter (1963-79), the 1965 national coverage of Charles Sweet’s war games in Sports Illustrated and on CBS television and the continued devotion of The Courier since 1969 under the editorship of Dick Byrant. As a “baby boomer” who painted Marx play sets used rather crude rules and then moved on to Airfix HO scale and Avalon Hill board games, the author was introduced to the hobby by the 1965 Sports Illustrated article. Bob Bard’s book was soon discovered in a small town library in Ohio and copies of the two books by Morschauser and Featherstone were located, followed by a subscription to Table Top Talk. A basement table was converted for war games, model railroad scenery was confiscated and a few high school collector and board game friends enlisted in the cause “of this noble and beautiful gift of a limitless game.” Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #81 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 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