You Write to Us "We've been fighting a campaign based on Strategy and Tactics' "Flying Circus" for the last 3 months. I have just got my 'Blue Max', having shot down 16 Allied aircraft so far and survived. Recently I became German Squadron Leader when the previous C.O. was killed in a dogfight with a couple of Spad 13s. This cheered me up to no end as it means I get the next Fokker DrI instead of him (shades of "the Blue Max" film). Things are getting bad though as the Allies now have Camels, Spads and SE-5s. I don't suppose I will survive many more missions." --Dave Millward I would like to ask you about a problem I have encountered. I joined an established group of miniatures players interested in the Napoleonic period and decided to begin to organise my new army after that of Westphalia since that State is unrepresented. However, I have experienced difficulty collecting information on the organisation of forces beyond that given in the Funken's book and on the Knotel plates. Do you know of any other sources of information on Westphalia? I imagine you receive hundreds of requests like this and if you are too busy ignore it -- I just thought I would ask." Gary Gehrke, Appleton, WI. U.S.A. "The thing I most admire is your magazine is its straight forwardness and the way I have beer able to understand and fellow everything I have read. I especially liked the first article on "Wargaming in Middle Earth" and look forard to more. For my taste this is the type of thing I would like to see more of. I feel sure that wargamers in other periods may feel the same way as I do -- can we ask for a little varistion of the Napoleonics? With reference to Stephen Reed (November '72), I feel that he is trying too much to seek Utopia. There are rules which claim to represent the capabilities of weapons etc., of their period and, when they a,,e ?ublished, they are acclaimed as the ultimate rules. Twelve months or so later someone else publishes a set of rules and the whole process begins again leaving the user of these rules to get more bogged down with situations caused by the rules and not by the gamer. As to losing a game because of a bad dice throw, have you ever heard the nursery rhyme which begins "For the want of the nail the shoe was lost, for want of the shoe the horse was lost"? It takes the dice to represent the horseshoe nail that cost you the battle." --George Heath of Leeds "Despite having little time for actual gaming, the Newsletter is a constant source of stimulation for my wargaming dreams and fantasies! Incidentally the reorganisntion of content in the magazine -- a periodic sponge-clean perhaps, which is a good idea - brought home to me how complacent some of the readers can get, for I suddenly realised that previously the standard of articles had been declining. The new reorganisation brings us back to the standard of several years ago (when I first started to receive the magazine) and Don Houghton's milestone in wargaming literature (need I repeat the title?). As what happens, the 1etter came with a reshufflement: "I hope, shortly, to be able to place before readers a selection of the literary "gems" of wargaming's Pioneer days" (July 1966). (N.B. Please forgive the quote: the strain of taking English Literature 0 Level was so great that now I quote anywhere and from anything to back up a point I am making). One might say, what right have I to comment on declining standards, even having contributed an article to the magazine. Well -- you have been warned. Within the next decade, out hopefully as soon as possible, I would like to send in an article on various subjects, probably totally irrelevant to wargaming. However, before that, a thought. My rules (such as they are) are a hybrid mixture of every other published variety, and have only the vaguest connection with the Crimean War (or even Napoleonic: into which period I am branching -- successfully too!) which will no doubt offend your views as published in this month's magazine. (No, I'm not going to quote). This is because I am constantly searching for: (a) ways to keep a game short, and (b) ways to make most of the game revolve ground tactics and not moving and calculating from rules. I.e. simplified rules, tables, quick calculators, etc. I also play to a scale of 1:40, so it is rather difficult to assess casualties (my statistics show that on average 1/7 of a fighting unit are killed or seriously wounded in a battle - so far the average unit (25 figures) to survive in a campaign, even though winning, it should not suffer more than 43 casualties per battle (i.e. 25%), though an my scale this is about 150 men. The result: (change your scale, you might say!) is that morale of a unit, under fire say, could depend totally on whether it has one figure casualty or two - the outcome of a battle could depend on the same - but how does one work this out realistically? A unit might lose a fire-fight but not have enough losses to enable one figure to be removed from the table - how does one then calculate simply the difference in morale between that unit and one in a similar situation with no losses at all - and there is a difference, I hope you can see what I au getting at. As you might have guessed, the thought is about morale. For the reasons above, and also because I would think that serious melee casualties would be slight compared to the effects of rifle fire, I am wondering whether it would not be better to decide melees only by a morale test (incorporating special factors in it if necessary). The end result would still be the correct one -- the unit with the higher morale would win and displace the defeated one. On the same idea, the whole battle could be controlled more by morale - if this is calculated properly (don't ask me how to do it yet) then more emphasis can be placed on the general's tactics and less on luck (I dislike dice intensely, but cannot afford percentage dice, and even then have not got the figures to work out the right %ages). Do you see my point - if so, any comments? Finally, the other week I had an interesting experience which brought home the difficulties of warfare. In the CCF, we Army cadets were taking our battlecraft test at Headley Heath in Surrey, complete with rifles and blanks. Admittedly the terrain was not exactly easy -- a veritable forest of bracken, heather and trees -- but it is incredibly difficult to spot an enemy when he is firing at you, you are supposed to be flat on your stomach, and you are in the middle of the biggest patch of bracken you ever say. It's all right for the officer's testing us -- they can stand up and see the enemy rifle flashes without being shot at! I well remember being a "defender" as we fired happily at the "invisible" enemy group in front only to be attacked by the rifle group in the rear! The best part of the whole exercise was seeing the flash of flame at the rifle's muzzle when it was fired (ecstacies of childish delight came over me for days afterwards). It was great fun, anyway." --Jonathan Hibbs of London "The Newsletter has improved recently. I found issue 127 very good but then it had A.W.I. articles so it may just be my bias showing! The "Must List" is far and away the best item as it alerts us to almost everything currently going on both here and in the U.S.A. May I make one comment though on the last "Must List" where you mention "Decline and Fall". If this game matches up to Avalon Hill standards it should be pretty abysmal! Avalon Hill games usually have a weak historical background, their Combat Results tables are usually rather sanguine, and in general are not "satisfying". I exclude from this those Avalon Hill games designed by Strategy and Tactics staff "France 1940"; "Panzerblitz" and "Origins of W.W.II". It is to be hoped this "British" game is up to S. & I. standard or boardgaming will remain poor cousin to figures for some time yet." --Charles H. Vasey of Guisborough "I gather that a suggestion has been put forward for a Model Soldier Manufacturers Show - once yearly - to be held in London, the first one, if possible, taking place later this year. This I feel would be a most excellent idea (providing all took part) so that one could see the whole range available and compare sizes and prices. This is most difficult today as with the range of figures available - each chap cannot afford to stock more than one or two lines." --John Nichols of Purley When obliged to attack with all one's forces, the engagement should take place in he evening, for then, whatevcr be the issue of the battle, night will come and separate the combatants before the troops are too tired; thereby power is obtained to affect a retreat if the issue of the fight so obliges. --"Napoleon's War Maxims" Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 131 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1973 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