To make rule-devising a greater challenge, the passage of time must be understood. Rules devised for the 1815 period will be only partly applicable to 1870 - and would be hopelessly wrong for 1940. It seems that, although everyone knows that war has been going on for a very long time, we often talk about it as if it has been the same from the beginning. This is a basic error, both for the political commentator and the wargamer. Taking the American Civil War as an example, the training and quality (also weapons and their employment) changed so much from 1861-1865 that there must be differently slanted rules to realistically cope with the different campaigns of this war. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 171 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