Wargaming can become a way of life can’t it? I get great pleasure with nearly every aspect of the undertaking. I enjoy researching the units, purchasing the figures, painting and mounting them, and gaming with them, opportunity permitting. I have many of my figures on display in a glass-doored cabinet (a converted gun cabinet) and I still enjoy gazing on each unit in turn. My wargaming endeavors, however, actually bridge into my professional life.
For many years I was working in the design of military simulations. I got to work with many other military retirees which is great fun. Our job was to describe military activity in such a way so that the programmers who hadn’t spent a day in uniform could simulate the decision-making process as well as make the physical behavior of weapons and vehicles look realistic on the displays. We actually achieved a level of artificial intelligence that was acceptable if not brilliant. For example, we could issue an order to an automated unit, perhaps a tank company, to seize a terrain objective and the unit would select the best covered and concealed route, move toward the objective, put a platoon in a supporting position, and assault with the other platoons.
Then, about six months ago, another company sought me out to join a team that was re-designing the curriculum for the Army’s Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. I was specifically hired to re-wicker the military history curriculum using new teaching methodologies. I had the great privilege and honor to teach in the Combat Studies Institute, the college’s military history department, for many years so in a manner of speaking, it was like returning home to old friends.
So, for the past several months I have been able to read or re-read a large number of military history documents and articles, selecting which ones should be retained in the new course. Yes, that’s right, I get paid for reading military history. The officers learn history using a variation of the Socratic method. The instructor assigns about three hours of reading as homework. The students, organized as a staff group of about 16, then meet for two hours to discuss the readings, trying to derive cause and effect and perhaps come away with a better understanding of the military profession.
In the past, the history course lasted the entire academic year with staff groups meeting with their history instructor once a week. Given the length of that course, the curriculum began with the Thirty Years War and ran through the American Revolution, Napoleonic Warfare, the American Civil War, and many of the wars of the twentieth century. The new course will be less chronological and more thematic. Besides covering a chronological sequence of key events, we’ll cover the themes of military theory, human dynamics in combat, operational art, and armies between wars.
In the course of preparing the new lesson plans, I have gotten the opportunity to review times, personalities, and places I had not dealt with in years. Some of this has rubbed off on my wargaming. As some of you know, as well as putting together the North American edition of Lone Warrior (as I am at heart a solo wargamer) I also write a solo wargaming column in the Midwest Wargamers Association Newsletter (MWAN) called “Going it Alone: the Solo Wargamers Corner.” This column appears about four times a year and is my attempt to spark some interest in solo gaming among the great masses of gamers. I have no idea how successful that endeavor is but the column at least allows me to get the creative juices flowing as I design easy-to-play games for my own enjoyment.
In the past, I have worked up solo rules covering World War II in Europe and the Pacific, the Alamo and the Texas Revolution, Napoleonic warfare on the Iberian peninsula and at Waterloo, the American Civil war, and even a favorite sci-fi topic, the Lost Regiment series. The good news is that my new job lets me explore new topics which will find their way into articles in Lone Warrior and in MWAN.
War of 1812 Gamer
My latest endeavor is War of 1812 Gamer, a magazine which only appears on Magweb.com. I have only released two issues to date and the response has been very heartening indeed. I am surprised at how much interest the War of 1812 can still generate. The magazine covers two areas, those interested in America’s wars and those who are willing to investigate America’s Napoleonic War. As I said, it only appears in electronic format on the web. This way I get to do the fun stuff, researching and writing. I avoid altogether the printing, maintaining records, mailing etc. that takes so much time with a hard copy magazine.
My concept for War of 1812 Gamer is to provide both wargaming and historical content. Stated another way, I provide historical content aimed at the wargamer. I try to feature one battle each issue. I have an article describing and analyzing the historical battle and another to set up a wargaming scenario. I include detailed unit histories of a couple units on each side which fought the battle and a review of books and figures that pertain as well. I even include the official reports and some unofficial recollections of the battle to better capture the flavor of the event. Much of this material is not readily available in popular books about the war.
So where do I get this material? Well, most of it resides in hundreds of file folders in a file cabinet in my office at home. During the research for my book, Niagara 1814, I collected large amounts of primary source materials - orders, reports, journals, letters - which I analyzed to sort out what happened and why. Now, it is just a matter of reformatting and synthesizing the material to appeal to the 1812 wargamer. For example, there is only one unit history of an American regiment which fought in the war and most popular histories have no detailed information on these regiments.
Well, I’ve collected a lot from the primary sources and I hope to eventually cover a couple dozen American, Canadian, and British unit histories in the magazine. The next issue will address Chippawa followed later by Lundy’s Lane and the Siege of Fort Erie. A lot of wargaming potential there. These battles provide variety, some being fought in the open, others feature storming the ramparts, some fought in daylight, others at night, and one in a rainfall in dense woods. And I really enjoy the wide variety in troop types and uniforms. No two units look alike.
My latest work on a World War II topic will be published soon in MWAN. I figured out a way to solo wargame the American battle against the Japanese in bunkers early in the Pacific war. It is a game you can play out on a tabletop with markers and paper if you choose to. It is at skirmish level and it plays quickly. No two battles are the same. Anyway, if you are interested, give MWAN a try in a near future issue.
I’m still painting War of 1812 figures. These are 25mm mounted singly: Americans, Canadians, British and Indians with many militia. I have been troubled and not entirely successful in coming up with a set of rules. What I use are okay but need tinkering. I like to use scales of 1:10 or 1:20 which gives me the flexibility of fighting most War of 1812 engagements, both large and small. When I finally come up with a set that satisfies me, I’ll publish them in War of 1812 Gamer.
Meanwhile, three of my sons are trying to persuade me to join them in Warhammer 40K. I can handle Warhammer to a point; I guess the magic leaves me a little cold as well as the obviously unrealistic game rules. And I have a prejudice against throwing a dozen dice just to kill a single figure.
Like I said earlier, wargaming can become a way of life! Good Soloing and Happy Holidays to all.
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© Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association.
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