We've seen how Donald Featherstone played an important role in the earliest stages of wargaming by publishing a continuous stream of periodical and book material. As the 1960s drew to a close, his authorial efforts didn't diminish in the least. As he'd done in his trilogy devoted to land, sea and air war, in "Advanced War Games," he brought together a collection of ideas from a broad group of wargamers. This time his coverage returned to a broad overview of the hobby, reviewing new ideas from movement, morale and melee to commanders, couriers and civilians and much else along the way.

Featherstone's table of contents lists 18 different headings for subdividing his discussion, and many of these hold several ideas within them, so this short review will only be able to highlight a few. It's interesting when looking backward at our history to see how many ideas we're using today were being discovered, discussed and mucked about with 40, 50, or even 100 years ago. It's also interesting to see those ideas whose time came, and passed, quite rapidly, and this volume includes both categories.

In the latter category are two wargaming "computers" that reflect the era well, and demonstrate how frightfully glad we should be that the PC made its bow before long. The first of these was a card file with paper clips attached to permit, relatively, quick retrieval of a result set which satisfied several conditions simultaneously. (105) Developed by Richard N. Timms, this device actually depended on the calculations being done by hand, slide rule, or, at this point in time very expensive, pocket calculator. The data was then noted on a collection of cards. Each card could hold information for several different wargaming needs.

For example, if one was interested in a Morale "calculator", the data might cover troop quality (crack, line or irregular troops), physical condition (fresh, tired, exhausted), and casualties suffered (none, few, many). A card would be present to represent every combination of these conditions from crack, fresh troops with no casualties, to irregular, exhausted troops with many casualties. Each card would have a paper clip attached over one factor in each section, with no duplication, resulting in 27 cards for this example. When a morale check was needed, a knitting needle, or some similar long thin object would be inserted in the appropriate row for one area and those cards removed from the file. Then it would be slipped through the clips for the next area and so forth, with the third operation resulting in one card with the results precalculated on it. Each card could contain information relevant to a variety of situations as long as they all depended on the same input, so post-volley morale, morale after melee, and melee results might all be determined with one card set. Of course, the cards could contain information in other areas than those cited here, with the resulting set growing substantially with each additional section or further subdivision within the existing ones. I suspect that the Quick Reference Sheets many rule sets contain are the more successful alternative to the Timms computer. They're certainly easier to transport than a card file, and probably quicker to use.

The second device was the "Miles' Rounder". (115) Actually, there were several of these for a variety of purposes. Ron Miles created them to quickly determine the results of a variety of wargaming activities. They included two round wheels, a smaller one attached on top of a larger. The top wheel had a cut out area which exposed the results needed to resolve the current activity.

For example, when determining fire results the top disk noted open or closed formations, range and type of cover. It also contained modifiers to results based on troop type and position. The bottom wheel indicated the type of fire, e.g. one man firing, 1/2 volley, full volley, type of artillery, etc. It also included the result of the fire with a notation of the number killed or other damage. By spinning the top wheel to match its factors with the type of firing unit the resulting kill rate or ratio was quickly discovered. Other Rounders were made for morale effects after fire and melee and for fire in various eras of warfare. Once again, though I've seen similar devices in unrelated fields, I've not seen them in actual use at the wargaming table. I fear the ubiquitous QRS has filled the need more cheaply than the Rounder could.

Quite a few of the ideas in "Advanced War Games" are still seen on the wargaming table. Featherstone describes several different methods for determining the results of artillery fire, from firing sticks to "burst circles". Both types of tool allow the user to take account of the vagaries of artillery fire which, depending on the period, may bounce or drift to one side or the other, or end up short or long. A simple firing stick to measure the distance from artillery piece to target is a frequently seen device in many wargames. A simple cross piece to make allowance for drift is something I've seen, too. The firing stick is marked for range, as most artillery rules take into account at least short range for cannister fire and long range for ball ammunition. A separate cross piece is placed at a specific distance from the firing piece. This is marked off into sections and numbered. A die roll tells the firer which number of the cross piece to move the firing stick to. This causes the target zone to drift if an undesirable die roll comes up. Burst circles perform the same function. Placed with the central circle over the intended target, a die roll moves the actual fire result to a nearby location marked by an attached circle, again assuming that the roll in question is one the firer would rather not see.

Many of the ideas found in the morale and combat sections of the book are essentially there to add more realism to Featherstone's basic game which we reviewed a while back. They introduce the entirely familiar, nowadays, at least, modifier chart which adds and subtracts from the basic die roll based on variables thought to be important.

So we end up with, "Let's see, I rolled a '4'. I add '1' for short range fire; I subtract '2' for hard cover, giving me a final result of '3'. A miss!?!" Sound familiar? The miss part does to me! Once again, we end up with a QRS to help us keep it all straight. Not that I'm complaining (except about the die roll.) The QRS permits a much more intricate game while making the information necessary readily available, and I've found that the important factors for a particular game usually turn out to be the same ones over and over and are learned by game's end. I've also found that any game that needs more than one side of a page for its QRS is more complicated than I'm willing to figure out. Of course, I do use a small font to cram as much as possible on to that one side.

Since I live quite a distance from any active groups of wargamers, I was particularly interested in Featherstone's ideas for "Solo War-gaming". (129) While I've found that most well written rules can be played solo with results that aren't predestined between similar armies, I still look for ways to add a bit of mystery and spice to these games that don't necessarily rely entirely on random chance. An attractive option is one developed by A. J. Mitchell which allows units to develop their own characters as they proceed from battle to battle. Each unit has a record card which tracks its Quality, Leadership, Supply, Physical Condition and Mental Condition. These factors determine the unit's morale factor for the upcoming battle. These factors are used in conjunction with a morale chart created by Mitchell, but could easily be adapted for use in other systems. One of the advantages of this system, particularly in a solo gaming situation, is that it permits the gamer to feel a closer association with the units being fielded on the battlefield. Taken one step further, unit flags can be added to regimental files and annotated with battles fought in and honors received. (179) Units will also have the honor of keeping captured flags in their archives. Of course, there's no need to stop there!

The role of the commander of a unit can be critical to its performance on battlefield or wargaming table. (171) Having an officer attached should improve the performance of a unit, unless the officer is too dull to add any enthusiasm to his troops' morale. Contrariwise, losing an officer should have a negative effect. We can go a step farther and introduce "Personalised Wargaming" (160) and name our troops. Depending on the types of units we field, we may only name officers, but, if we play small enough scale games, why not in whole hog and name the whole unit. After all, I do recall one Union flagbearer who brought down six Confederate infantrymen, including a mounted officer! Certainly he's as deserving of recognition and promotion as the Captain of his victorious unit. And this does add a bit more verisimilitude to our games. It's a bit more disconcerting to see "Chandler" blown away by the artillery piece we've ordered him to charge, than to simply knock over some unnamed figure.

Other ideas included in the solo gaming section serve to add more randomness to the arrival and strength of units. Most of them are simple enough - die rolls to determine the turn of arrival, the competence of commanders, and the point of arrival on the base line of the table. An alternative to dice is the use of "Tactical Cards" (136) which set the general orders for the battle, unit by unit, or on a larger scale. These may in turn be altered by the player, taking circumstances on the tabletop into account, if the player desires. This can also be controlled by a semi-random choice of cards which may or may not allow deviation from the original command. These choices may be affected by the unit's, or its commander's, capabilities, with a greater probability of deviation being given to the more capable. Since I prefer campaign situations for solo gaming, I like less randomness in my games than some of these ideas would provide for. However, when testing a new rule set, or for a quick game unrelated to other activity, many of these randomizing concepts would be perfect for bringing in an element of surprise against oneself.

I've skipped over most of what this volume has to offer, barely glimpsing it's ideas for combat and morale and ignoring such things as Couriers, Weather, Military Bands, Civilians, Logistics, Engineering and Map-making. Now, I have to say that this is the only place I can recall musicians taking an active roll in the results of a wargame, though the ideas here make sense, but the other areas are all found in other rules I've read and played. Oftentimes they appear in variant forms, but the basic concept is the same. Of course, since we're all dealing with the same raw materials - the "laws" of war - it's not too surprising that we'd come up with similar ways of working them out on the wargame table. Indeed, as I was reading the Logistics chapter in this book, I was reminded of Robert Louis Stevenson's wagons transporting ammunition across the attic floor in Davos, Switzerland 80 years before this wargaming study was written. Nonetheless, Donald Featherstone's place in the wargaming pantheon was a little bit more secure after the publication of this volume sharing another cornucopia of wargaming ideas.

"Advanced War Games" is a relatively obscure book, judging by its rare appearances in the used book marketplace. However, I found it to be full of ideas that piqued my interest and which have influenced my gaming style. After taking a look at the rules on my shelf, I'd say I'm not the only one who found this to be the case, as its ideas are found over and over again throughout the wargaming universe.

Reference

Featherstone, Donald. Advanced War Games. London: Stanley Paul, 1969.

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
Wargaming Literati