We've all read of the Prussian war games of the last century, with teams of officers in separate rooms passing their orders to a control cell of umpires. Bill Leeson, a Wargame Developments member, has undertaken the task of reprinting the variety of nineteenth century literature pertaining to Das Kriegsspiel and to other military history items; amongst these are a translation of Baron Von Reisswitz' original 1824 "INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF MILITARY MANEUVERS WITH THE KRIEGSSPIEL APPARATUS" at 9.85 pounds, and a set of British rules for 1884 at 3.50 pounds; revised the Von Reisswitz system in terms of the experience of the Franco-Prussian War rather than the Napoleonic era. Arthur Harman of "THE NUGGET" tells me that while the Reisswitz-era games are fairly unwieldy as recreational wargames, they feature some interesting mechanisms, and are worthwhile both as an insight into Prussian training methods, and as a view of C19th warfare as seen by contemporaries. Von Reisswitz made a salient point which is worth repeating among late C20th recreational players: "We may assume that among educated and intelligent men, who have entered voluntarily into the game for their own interest and enjoyment, common sense and cooperation will prevail." From the 1870's the Kriegsspiel took on much more flexible aspects under the auspices of Gen. Veidy du Vemois, and the Wargame Library has now, I believe, put out a set of British rules from 1896 which reflect this free approach; most of the tables, dice, etc., are done away with, and the umpire's opinion is paramount. I haven't seen any of these rules sets really, so I can pass no opinion beyond what I am told. Two booklets that I do possess, however, are "British Minor Expeditions Parts I and II", a reprint of booklets published by the Intelligence Branch of the QMG's Department in 1884. These cover the Expedition to L'Onent 1746, the two Expeditions to St. Malo, 1785, and the siege of Belleisle 1761 (Part One), together with the Quiberon Bay disaster of 1795, the Ostend Expedition of 1798 and the joint Russo-British invasion of North Holland in 1799 in Part Two. These brief accounts, together with separate maps, are a great source of potential material for the C18th wargamer, with complete orders of battle, whenever these are known. Highly recommended. Part One is 2.25 pounds, Part II is three pounds. The original Intelligence Branch series went as far as 1814, so further parts may be expected - I'm hoping for some West Indies campaigns! Also available is a 8" to the mile map of Waterloo designed for wargamers, and "INFANTRY FIRE TACTICS", three lectures on fire tactics for the Hong Kong Regiment of 1895, a treatise on use of the Martini Henry (1.25 pounds). I've no information on postage, but would think that 50% airmail would do the job. I think this venture, and others like it, are of enormous benefit to the historical gaming hobby, and the "Wargame Library" certainly deserves our support. Write to: Bill Leeson, 5, St. Agnell's Cottages, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 7HJ, Great Britain. Back to MWAN #19 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 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