BEST: Terry Gore's "Ancient Warfare" & "Medieval Warfare" captures the flavor of the Period as only a true Medievalist (re-incarnated wasn't he?) could. Thoughtful and Fun with an excellent "lack of command" system. "WAB° is fun and a great way to introduce historical wargaming to the Warhammer & F%RPG crowd. But all that dice rolling can drive ya nuts! "Chainmail", and old standby, but a simple to play, blood & guts ruleset (and one that many others have been modeled after). Still pull it out of retirement when I want a quick game. "Age of Reason" for the SYW. Pretty concise and easily playable. "Koenig Krieg" if you're after something with a little more depth. "Tricolor" is to Napoleonics, what Chauunail is to Medievals. A simple, easilylearnable. fast-moving, and fun ruleset with lots of casualties and easy to determine outcomes. Written by Rick Crane (Rick where are you?) years ago, but still a whole lot more ftm than Empire, Napoleons Battles and rulesets of that ilk, that require a PhD in rules interpretation and the debating abilities of an attorney! "Fire and Fury" and Johnny Reb III are both excellent rulesets for the War Between the States. Well-organized and pretty basic, they make for highly-playable games. "Rapid Fire" for WWII. Easy to learn even for an old, brain-dead, graybeard such as myselfl A ftin game that can be completed injust a few hours if desired. What I'm Looking For: Easily playable rulesets for the Renaissance, AmRev., MexicanAmerican War and WWI Middle East. Any suggestions? Wargaming Philosophy Wargaming should be fun, not tedious and complicated. If one has to argue and fight about outcomes, it just reflects the insecurities and overcompetitiveness of the participants. Should make for a pleasant, quiet and gentlemanly evening among friends. Too many non-intellectuals and competition "freaks" getting into the hobby - one should not have to suffer fools! Advice: study the history of the Periods you're into and try to stay "reality oriented" with your tactics! And relax when you're gaming and don't get your blood pressure up! WORST: I will not comment on this category as I believe that all rulesets that have been produced are labors of love that are well-intended by the authors. Back to Dispatch March 2003 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com