Editor's Note I came across the following article in the REVIEW of March, 1991. It set out my thoughts on "realism" in table-top wargaming, and even now, some 10 years later, these thoughts still hold. What the article basically says is that for any era of warfare in history, there are a number of specific situations, peculiar to that era, which must be set up on the table-top and quantified. For example, in the Napoleonic era, we should have cavalry units bumping up against infantry-in-square units, and via charts or tables or dice throws, for this particular situation, the cavalry should be given a 'hard time' in the sense that there's very little chance for it to win. The methods and numbers used in COLUMN, LINE AND SQUARE and LEGACY OF GLORY and IMPERIAL GUARD and NAPOLEON'S BATTLES and LE JEU DE LA GUERRE and IN THE GRAND MANNER and GARDE DU CORPS and EMPIRE and even SIMON'S SILLY RULES all do this. But note that every one of these methods and numbers are all different... the procedures and quantifiers are all different... the systems and relative assessments of unit values are all different... the results and assigned casualty rates are all different... and the only common denominator is that the cavalry is given a 'hard time'. How much of a 'hard time'? That's where the "realism boys" and I part company. Each author has his own ideas of a 'hard time'... and each advocate of realism has his... and never the twain shall meet. My idea of a 'hard time' may differ severely from yours, and this makes my rules system inherently ahistorical and incorrect. I think this is the first time in the history of the REVIEW that I've repeated a previously published article, but I thought the topic is always of current interest. And so, I bring you... The Theory of Recognizable Patternry Back to PW Review April 1999 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Wally Simon 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