That was the first thought that came to me after reading two recent contributions to Wargamer's Newsletter. First Robert P. Cory in the December '71 issue "In Defence of Rules and Rulesmen!" and "Anglophiliall by D.Clark in the January '72 magazine. Taking Mr. Cory's article first, it is good to see someone putting in print the fact that he actually likes to use his brains! I suspect that there are rather more wargamers of his sort than one imagines from reading the pages of the Newsletter. However, reading some contributions one wonders whether their thinking has not been more influenced by the martial poets and patriotic historians than a considered appreciation of the forces and conditions of the time. That regiment of Hussars may look very romantic and pretty, but use them at the wrong time or in the wrong place under either the Research Group or the Reed rules and you have a broken unit in no time at all. Of course rules must be studied, this is the only way loopholes and nonsenses can be brought to light - we have welcomed wargamers with keen minds and a desire to win using our rules - this is the only way to show up any shortcomings, which can then be corrected in later versions. Rules should also have a basis of logic, with performance of men and units based on the norm, not assuming each man is a hero and genius rolled into one. As for the Editors comment on "relaxation rather than triumph", wargaming is competitive, and would lose all interest without the urge to win, within the rules. One would soon get tired of an opponent at any other game, who did not bother to study the rules, and, in short did not "give you a good game" so why is wargaming different? Using ones brains to the limit of their capacity to try to out think ones opponent, to try to get him off balance, using logical rules to get logical results, can be, and I am sure is, relaxing to many people - and is also "fun". If one wants fun alone, then Bingo perhaps? As for complicated rules, you should see the 14/16 year olds at our Worthing Group shaping up for an Ancient game and sparring for position like a couple of Roman aspirants for the Purple who know that the penalty for failure is permanent! Mr. Clark's article needs less comment, he has put into print something I have believed for a long time, and is I am sure echoed by many who have taken the trouble to properly study the accounts of Napoleonic battles. One other thing that affected the British troops performance in the Peninsular was that Wellington also did everything in his power to ensure that the troops under his command were properly provisioned and equipped. Let us hope that we will see the end of rules that give this "superman" quality to the British Napoleonic troops -- it does them a disservice, in fact, and ignores Wellington's appreciation and use of terrain. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 120 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 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