During the late 1950s and early 1960s, wargamers relied on the books we've looked at and a short list of model collecting and wargaming periodicals to keep in touch with each other. It may be hard for many of us to remember, but the first substantial wargaming conventions didn't take place until 1961 in Britain and 1964 in the U.S., and local clubs were often small and far apart.

In 1962, Jack Scruby knew of 1,000 wargamers, and his view of the hobby was as broad as anyone's (Newsweek). When one considers that they were scattered across the U.S. and United Kingdom, for the most part, it isn't hard to understand why the magazines that held them together were so welcomed in wargamers' mailboxes.

I've mentioned "War Games Digest" in earlier articles. It was published from 1957 to 1962 by Jack Scruby, with Donald Featherstone joining him in that capacity for 1960 to 1962. The two of them split the duties, each publishing every other issue. While model soldier collecting periodicals had contained some wargaming material, notably the work of Captain Sachs and Tony Bath in the British Model Soldier Society's publications, "War Games Digest" was the first regular periodical devoted to hobbyist wargaming as a separate entity.

Table Top Talk Begins

In 1962, Scruby and Featherstone had some editorial differences which lead to the abandonment of their bicontinental publishing venture. After the demise of "War Games Digest," Featherstone picked up the British publication ball with the creation of "Wargamers' Newsletter." In the U.S., Scruby started over with "Table Top Talk" (TTT) in July of 1963.

Because TTT was a general interest periodical, it's a bit difficult to describe. I've seen it noted as a house organ for Scruby Miniatures, more an advertising tool than anything, but it sure never looked that way to me. Scruby did include an insert in most issues describing new products, but they were usually paged separately from the rest of the magazine. Otherwise, the advertising was from various other vendors.

Looking at "The Courier" or "MWAN," or one of the other current generalist wargaming periodicals gives one an idea of the range of coverage one could find in TTT. Basically it came down to whatever showed up in Scruby's inbox. The contributors, then as now, included a wide ranging group of gamers with interests concentrating on history or gaming or uniforms or model making or any other aspect of the hobby. I find it particularly interesting to see the reports on wargaming conventions. We're looking back at people's reactions to these seminal moments in wargaming history as current events. However, rather than trying to look at everything that TTT discovered, let's review its coverage of one area of longstanding consternation among wargamers -- concealment.

Concealment in TTT

We've seen this pop up before, with covered movement boxes, or slips of paper, used to indicate the location of units but not reveal their strength, and with roster systems which make it somewhat more difficult to know for sure the current strength of a particular unit. Scruby's Strategy-Tactical Wargame used screening units to hide other troops moving behind them. In fact, the first item in my collection of TTT dealing with concealment comes in the January 1965 issue and is Jerry Pournelle's take on the movement box. He suggests using "headquarters boxes" held off the table and filled with troops represented on table by a headquarters piece. Not until an opposing unit gets within a certain observation distance are the troops in the box put on the table. Of course, one option is to have a box empty except for a headquarters unit! (14)

In the following issue, a game report by Scruby demonstrated the effectiveness of using hit and run tactics on and off the edge of the table. This was a 19th century colonial battle where the European troops were in the center of the table and the Natives were able to strike one place then move back off the table to reappear elsewhere, or to use a different body of their troops from another direction. It kept the European player guessing as to where the next assault would occur. In the end, the tactics wore down the defenders enough that a final assault with a fresh body of troops won the battle. (3/65, 11-12)

The July 1965 issue follows up on this approach with a description of a system used by Harold J. Cypher for a Seven Years War campaign. Working with large scale maps of Pennsylvania, he had Indian and Ranger scouts screening columns of troops trying to avoid ambush. Troops attempting to create an ambush would be removed from the map with their continuing movement noted on paper. Whenever this situation existed the opposing player would roll a die each turn and, with even numbered results, would expose ambushers within 25 miles. When ambushes were sprung, the game would move to the tabletop and proceed much as in the previous example. (2)

Jack Scruby relates a more direct approach to concealment in the same issue. His "Smoking and War Games" demonstrates the effective use of tobacco smoke to obscure the board and, especially, to blind the opposing "general" in a much more personal way than we've seen before. But you have to pity his poor opponent who tended to chew, rather than smoke, during battles and chewed the end right off his favorite pipe. Since I won't even go to the Volunteer Fire Department meetings during the winter months because of the cigarette smoke and closed windows, I'm afraid I wouldn't have made very regular appearances at the Scruby gaming table! (7)

Peter Kolosky introduced an ambush rule in the the May 1965 TTT, which varies a bit from what we've seen so far. He proposed using table coordinates for ambush sites noted on a piece of paper. When an opposing force reaches a point within range of one of these sites "Ambush" is shouted and the ambushing forces form around the hapless enemy and get a free shot off before he can respond, with that response occurring at half strength. Of course, if the ambusher misjudges the distance, the ambush will not take place and the opponent gets a free move to reform away from the ambush site or to attack the now exposed ambush party. A good eye for range is necessary for a would be ambusher! (16)

Harold Cypher reappears in the Sept. 1965 issue with ideas on night attacks, an ideal time for concealment ideas. Here one player places his main force's camp on the table in full view of his opponent. He then notes the placement of sentries and outposts on a map not available to the enemy. The posts are stationary and cannot move until the attack is discovered or launched. After the camping party is ready, the attacker places his troops on the table and play proceeds as normal, except that each turn the attacker rolls a die and an appropriate roll results in the discovery of any outpost within six inches. In this case the defender also rolls a die to determine whether the outpost raises the alarm or is silenced. If an outpost isn't discovered on the turn the attacker comes within its six inch radius, the alarm is automatically raised the next turn. This allows the defender to begin moving their main force, though it takes a turn before they can move, fire and/or melee at full strength. (8)

Off Table Movement

A bit further on in this issue, Colly Hardy describes his use of map movement to allow troops to move unseen off the table top. When troops reach the edge of the table, as it appears on the map, they are placed on the playing surface. Not until 20 troops are on the table top, may the commander change the formations of units still moving only on the map. Artillery may fire on troops not on the table, with obvious allowance for firing without "observers." It's also important to note that the off board area of the map is limited, so troops placed appropriately on the table may prevent movement past them; once spotted, off table troops must move onto the battlefield. (10)

Jack Scruby also weighs in on "Concealment," reminding readers of the screening tactics used in his Strategy-Tactical War Game, (15) and, in the following issue, David Spaulding adds another twist to this idea by creating a reserve force as a random proportion of an army to further confuse the issue. (11/65, 16)

Roster Systems

Returning to the Morschauser Roster System in March 1966, Scruby suggests using variable strength stands to help keep the opposing general from knowing the exact forces he's facing on any part of the battlefield. By simply adjusting the initial strengths of stands on the roster sheet, within certain limits, an army can end up with under- and over-strength regiments assigned to appropriate tasks. Now the enemy must not only view the positions of units to guess their objectives, but must also keep in mind that the forces appearing to be conducting a holding action on a flank may actually be an over strength unit waiting a propitious moment to launch a crushing assault. One extra factor should be noted. In Scruby's proposal, combat factors don't change, so even after combat has begun the strength of a unit isn't revealed. Not until they last longer than expected on the field, and probably after your own troops are beginning to fade into memory, is the real staying power of the beefed up unit revealed. (9)

In the May 1966 TTT, Mike Frank and the rest of the Visalia, California wargaming fraternity came up with additional ideas for using the roster system for concealment. They created 13 variables which could apply to any unit and then drew a playing card indexed to one of these variables which would be applied in the coming battle. Thus neither general could be sure exactly what was up until immediately before the battle and the opposing general wouldn't find out until that unit was engaged in combat. The variables could range from an attack of scurvy reducing the strength of a unit by 25%, to the elevation of a unit to elite status, increasing its morale, firepower and/or movement. At least half the cards should say "Normal" to avoid overdoing it, but it could add a bit more fog of war to the gaming table for both players! (9)

Speaking of "The Fog of War," Robert Shukraft introduced rules to help keep your opponent from knowing how many troops you have on the table and where they're located. Actually, they look like they help keep you from having a lot of control over things, too! Dice are used to determine when troops may arrive on the table, and where they come onto the battlefield. From 1/4 to 3/4's of an army may be available immediately, with the rest coming along at a rate determined by die rolls, with each unit's roll added to the one before. Roads are numbered and a die roll determines where units will arrive, with blocked roads forcing them to march, off-table, to the next available road. Other variables include allowing troops for armies with only 1/4 of its strength on the table top at the game's start to arrive more quickly and vice versa for the lucky force with 3/4's on the table. Visibility plays a role, too, with troops out of vision range moved on paper until they can be "seen." (10)

Ideas brought up in TTT often generated follow-up comments, as we've already seen with the roster system articles noted above. Jack Scruby followed up Frank's ideas with a game report in which the rules were applied with great effect, (7/66, 5) and the same ideas were developed in a slightly different context by Bruce J. Conrad in an article on solo gaming. He adjusted them slightly to add a new factor to his games. He drew cards, as suggested, for his own army before the game began, but didn't draw them for the other army's units until combat was engaged. Thus, he was presented with the same situation he'd be in when facing a live opponent by not knowing the strength of the units he was facing. (1/67, 19)

Obviously, 1965 and 1966 saw a great deal of discussion concerning "concealment" as an element of wargaming. The ideas reviewed here developed from those which came before and continue to affect gaming today. One of the great pleasures of reviewing the literature of wargaming is seeing the process of rule writing moving along, and learning that most of the ideas we see created in this 21st century had been thought of, and used, as early as the 19th century in our hobby. TTT covered a wide ranging discussion of many wargaming topics including a series by Fred Vietmeyer on Napoleonic army organization for wargamers that was collected and published as a separate monograph.

The break up of "War Games Digest" in 1962 seems to be a critical moment in the history of wargaming publication. From that point onwards, we've seen the continuous publication of more than one periodical devoted to our hobby. Table Top Talk represented half of that literature for several years and is worth remembering as an important stepping stone in the world of wargaming publications. It helped keep the literature moving at a time when wargaming was gaining steam. By the time Scruby ended its run, a number of new journals were appearing, both general and specific in nature. During TTT's publication period, ancient wargaming saw the beginning of "Slingshot" and the "Bulletin of the Colonial Wargame Society" (later "Savage and Soldier") began to appear for that genre, both in 1965. Of more general interest, 1967 saw the beginning of "The Trumpeter" and "The Canadian Wargamer," and, shortly after TTT ended its run, Scruby followed up with "The Miniature Parade" in that same year. "Miniature Warfare" and "The Armchair General" appeared in 1968 and "The Courier" first debuted in 1969. Remember that 1962 also represents the beginning of an increasing number of wargaming books, and you may have an inkling about why my collecting interest ends in 1971--there's just too much to keep track of after that!

Bibliography

The Armchair General. 1968-1969.
Slingshot. 1965- .
Table Top Talk. July 1964-March 1967. Published 7/1963-3/1967.
Vietmeyer, Fred H. Napoleonic Army Organization, Circa 1812. Visalia: Jack Scruby, 1965.

More Roots of Wargaming

Robert Louis Stevenson
H.G. Wells
Shambattle
Children and Toy Soldiers
Links Between Military Miniature Collecting and Gaming
Jack Scruby
1962
Table Top Talk Magazine
Naval Wargames Part 1
Naval Wargames Part 2
Air Wargames
Horse and Musket I
Napoleon Rides Again
Featherstone Again