"The townsfolk hurriedly grabbed whatever came to hand and dashed to man their defenses. The attackers although outnumbered four or five to one marched forward with a determined and measured step, in time to the demands of their leaders. The avalanche of disciplined and trained steel cut through the milling throng with no noticeable change of pace and soon the townsfolk were running for their lives." An imaginative illustration of the clash between a trained force and untrained one with the inevitable outcome. I see wargames in this manner and although I can sit down and read and memorize rules until the rule book becomes more or less redundant, if I don't know what my troops can do against various opponents I might as well be reading a novel. No commander in real life would take an untrained and untried army into conflict unless he could really help it and it should be the same with a wargaming army. Originally I played with toy soldiers because I was a boy and I enjoyed it, but then I became more interested in military history and the tone of my games changed and developed. Still playing solo I learned how good or bad my various troops were against various opponents and I kept (and still do) a record of the strengths and weaknesses. These records help me when I field an army against another wargamer and give me the information I need to position and use my troops effectively. In getting the information, 1 need to know how my units fight. I use various solo wargaming techniques which I have picked up from Lone Warrior which is the magazine of the Solo Wargamers Association. Needless to say in learning how my units react in certain situations I have had some excellent solo battles, which have been really good fun and have been very educational. From these solo games I have a good idea how my army will behave and when it comes to a head to head confrontation, I am usually better prepared than my opponent. Obviously there is the chance element involved in a game, but that makes it more interesting for me. So in preparing for a game with a new army or set of rules, which is happening a lot to me at present with the arrival of Warhammer Ancient Battles (WHAB), I get to play two or more games while getting ready for the one. Now in anyone's book that surely has to be good value for the money. Soloing is not for everyone and in the past it was the only way I could wargame because of my location and lack of local opponents. Nowadays I have the best of both worlds in that I am chairman of my local club, Wargamers of Ripon (WOR) where I can battle across the table, argue and insult to my heart's content and then we all go for a pint afterwards. Then when I have the time, because I have always got the inclination, I can set up or carry on with a game by myself using my own ideas and techniques which I get a lot of enjoyment from as well. In learning how your army works it is best to be prepared like the attackers in the example above rather than be one of the townsfolk, who just grab their box(s) containing their army and dash off the the local club with the inevitable results. Getting to know the strengths and weakness' of your troops can be as much fun as the actual battle you are preparing for. Practice may not make you perfect, but it certainly can be good fun. Back to MWAN #103 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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