I am beginning to really emphasize "playability" over-historical authenticity is my games these days: after 15 years of gaming and using about every published set of rules. It seems that the more "complete" and "precise" sets of rules are the least playable and the least rewarding, for me, in terms of pleasure, and apparently produce only a marginally more "authentic" game, I have never seen, nor want to, a set of rules that duplicate a firefight I have been in. For one thing, as I see it, a game should take no longer than four hours to play -- after which it becomes an ordeal. To this end I have drawn up a act of rules utilising a gridded table of 3-inch hexagons, but I think I am turning toward 3-inch squares right now. Though my 25mm Napoleonics still interest me, my favourite period is the American Revolution, which blends in with my scholarly interests. I am planning a strategy board of the Southern campaigns in that war, which leads to tabletop combats. The basic unit is a battalion and there is a great deal of manoeuvring in the game. The British have a three-part goal for victory. They must defeat and destroy the main American or French field armies; they must tie down large chunks of territory as well as their coastal bases to build up loyalist morale; and they must catch the roving American guerrilla bands. Sounds like Vietnam! Supply plays a big role, and pity the English commander whose entire garrison of Savanna is ordered to the West Indies just when a big push is planned. One should remember that the style of tactics is very similar to Napoleonics, but without large numbers of cavalry. However there are Indian frontiersmen, and various grades of militia. The uniforms are colourful and the research material abundant. So that is my idea of a good set up - a complicated campaign, simple battle rules and very well-painted miniatures. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 104 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1970 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com