SKIRMISH WARGAMING by Don Featherstone. (9 1/4" x 6 1/4"; 100 pages; 11 photos and 10 drawings. Patrick Stephens Limited - £2.95p). I spent some time thinking about the way to start this review. Indeed I spent some time thinking about whether to attempt the task at all. It is difficult enough to be objective in a review when you have yourself known the anguish of the writing process, and how the end result never seems quite as good as you hoped it might. When the book in question has been written by a friend the problems are even greater. Indeed it would be only slightly more difficult to write an unbiased review of a book of ones own. Which brings me to my other problem. Not only is Skirmish Wargaming about a field of the hobby I am deeply involved in, but I also contributed to the contents! Let me hasten to add that my contribution was a graphic rather than literary one, as I shall explain later. So, having been completely honest with you so far, I will now attempt the task of producing a review which is fair to both the author and the potential purchaser. The title of the book will explain its contents to many readers familiar with the Skirmish Line contributions in this magazine. For the benefit of those few amongst us who turn the page quickly at the sight of that by-line, I will explain. It would be difficult to describe the contents and aims of the book more accurately and vividly than the blurb itself does, so I shall quote therefrom (lazy per haps, but I will add comments of my own). "Wargaming with small groups of model soldiers, in which each man represents an individual with his own personality, service record and fighting experience" which is a pretty good definition of what Skirmish Wargaming (with small s and w) is all about. This is a style of wargaming which more and more wargamers are showing interest in, and without launching into an eulogy about this kind of game (not yet anyway) the key word in the quote is "personality". Indeed in complete keeping with the original concept so ably described in the books Introduction, the major effort of the author has been devoted to bringing this aspect out in full. The bulk of the book is occupied by ten scenarios covering the whole range of human conflict, from a Viking raid on a Saxon village around 75 AD, to street fighting in Cassino in 1944. For each incident the scene is set with a description of the men, their weapons, and their characters. Reading these stories will reveal why Don yearns to turn his undoubted talents to fiction, because they really capture the flavour. Having led the reader up to the point where the action really begins, the wargamer is left to decide the outcome himself by setting up the game and playing it through. In order to do this, Ian Colwill has contributed a set of basic rules covering the mechanics of individual wargaming, and each story has a special rules section which covers the new weapons or idea introduced in that scenario. The chronological approach from simple hand-to-hand and missile weapons through early firearms, to the complexities of breechloader and automatic fire means that basic concepts can be grasped and then a logical development follows. This should be invaluable to the newcomer to this kind of game. To back up the stories and rules, there is a photographic section which shows part or all of the figures and games described, and each scenario also has a pictorial map. The maps are rather unusual in that instead of the normal two-dimensional flat map with representational symbols for the terrain and men, they are three-dimensional picture maps. This is an approach which works very well for Skirmish games, particularly when the reader will be playing the game and needs a good idea of what the table-top should look like. I must avoid rambling on about the maps too much because this was where my contribution was (Chris Beaumont did the real work, I hasten to acknowledge) but I do think that they will enable the reader to fully appreciate the tactical problems, and explore the potential of the game more fully. One minor point, which I understand from Don was the publishers responsibility, is that the maps have been reproduced to rather a small size which does lessen their impact and value a little. Even the interiors of buildings can be shown if required, by leaving off the roof or upper stories, and this has been done with the Old West incident. Displayed to the reader and just begging to be played, the scene shows the smoky inside of the Black Ace Saloon with rival groups of gunmen, gamblers and cowboys drinking and playing cards, whilst at the far end of Main Street the Lawmen have just emerged from the Sheriff's office and are about to begin the long walk down to the saloon, when the skin and fur will begin to fly. My other favourite is the Napoleonic scenario, set in the Peninsular in 1813. This is a high angled view of a small Spanish village, with Spanish guerillas hidden behind every wall, on every roof, in fact everywhere a man can be concealed, watching the door of an old barn from which the French and British are about to burst. The Spaniards tense expectancy can almost be felt as one studies the sketch. But wait, you exclaim, did I say French and British ar about to burst out? Yes, I did, and to find out the fascinating reason why you will have to read the book! Coming back to the text, the book certainly achieves its stated objects of showing the reader ho, this kind of wargaming is accomplished, and to provide a fund of fascinating ideas. I would think that a newcomer would be enthralled by the narrative stories, and eager to play the games through. These simple rules provided will enable him to do just that. When the basics have been conquered and the (Continued on Page 19) victim is well and truly hooked on Skirmish Wargaming, Don points the way to getting more deeply involved by directing those who seek more advanced and comprehensive rules to the publications produced by Skirmish Wargames to meet just this need. I am sure that this latest volume of Don's will add many to the ranks of those enlightened wargamers who play skirmish games. I must finish now because I am itching to put the finishing touches to the ruined adobe walled courtyard to the old Mexican Mission, so that my gallant Foreign Legionaires can fight off Ian's ragged Mexican guerillas, to settle our argument over who would win the chapter devoted to just that incident set in Mexico in 1866! Just one further point before I do start to mix some polyfilla, rather a sad one. Readers will already know of the death of Steve Curtis, one of the founding trio of Skirmish Wargames. Steve contributed a chapter on Figure Sources and Ideas, and typed out our combined contributions. In a way the book is a memorial to him because, as Ian states in the introductory chapter "In the beginning it was all Steve Curtis's fault really!" I am sure he would have been delighted with the book, and with the very lavish praise Don pays to the efforts of Skirmish wargames in bringing about this kind of Individual Wargaming. I am only sorry that he dial not live to see it. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 167 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1976 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com