Looking over the last eighteen months I am astounded to see that the content of the Newsletter has astoundingly surpassed itself. The rule theorising of Chris Beaumont, the North American Campaign, the Janissaries and the Weather Guage, D.B. Clarke's Zulu Wargame Rules, Lt. Shagria's Morale and Merit Module, the 1810 French Invasion of England, the Napoleonic Legend and many others all of which repay reading and re-reading. Due to a constant work schedule I have been unable to get any table gaming, for the exams are two weeks earlier this year. I have however been able to get my solo wargaming prepared in Ancient and American Civil War periods, with political, economic and military factors all ready and worked out waiting for the time they will be needed. I have been able to read some books on military subjects and among new issues I have got "Discovering British Military Uniforms" by Arthur Taylor. This has 90 illustrations in line, of infantry, artillery and cavalry uniforms from 1686 to 1971, with details of differences of facings, lace, etc., providing an indispensable compact, concise uniform guide. New issues in the Discovering series seem to be "Artillery" and "Edged Weapons", which will probably be up to the high standard already set by 'English County Regiments", "Militariall, "Military Traditions", "Ship Models" etc. My Archaeology studies give me material for the Ancient period and I discovered that in experiments made at the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Combridge, reconstructions were made of circular leather and bronze shields of the Irish Bronze Age. When they were completed, tests were made in which both shields ".... were vigorously attacked with a bronze sword and a bronze-tipped spear. The leather shield was slightly nicked by the sword and just punctured by the spear; the bronze shield was easily slashed through by the sword and pierced by the spear with little difficulty. Which leaves one with the somewhat surprising conclusion that leather shields were valuable protective armour, while bronze shields can only have served as status symbols and parade equipment; and the old-fashioned thought that an ounce of experiment is worth a ton of theory." The quotation is from "Archaeology Discoveries in the 1960's" by Edward Bacon. Also in connection with Archaeology, was a recent BBC1 programme, entitled "Who Are The Scots?" (Scotland only), where it was revealed that recent evidence suggests that the Celtic chariots had 12 spoked wheels, and the wickerwork sides were made up of two half-circles on each side, requiring therefore some remodelling of the Airfix chariot. On the question as to whether British troops should be given a bonus in morale rules I think a units morale depends on their discipline, leadership, equipment, tactical position, cover, losses from enemy fire and/or melee, patriotism, physical shape, etc., much more than the still important, but not that important, factor of national flair and characteristics. On rules, I think Napoleonic Rules of S.& J. Reed are hard to beat if one wants strict casualty sheets and, with their optional rules, a very realistic game. I was so impressed that I am now basing my newly bought Napoleonic armies on their base system rather than that of the metric sizes thus being able to use my troops with both sets of rules. With adaptations to the basic rules I have evolved a set of rules that I can set against or adapt to your Newsletter rules. However the trouble always arises as to whether one can sacrifice speed to the all-consuming God of accuracy and still remain with a playable game. To those who like to have a narrative in their battles, whether these be single actions or just one out of a campaign, I recommend that in fighting large-scale actions one should use simple rules, then, at the end, by some means or other, choose a move or moves and a specific position in the battlefield to replay with more realistic rules, such things as a cavalry encounter, some daring raid or defence of a house, etc., etc. Thus allowing the enjoyment of a small but interesting local action with some brave action, the seizing of enemy colours, etc., giving each game some memorable incidents around which the game narrative can be spun, and allowing the setting up of triumphal monuments, and such like, which give spice to a campaign. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 121 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1972 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