Mail Call!

Monday's Battle Among the Tombs with Richard is in the books.  A fun game, it was, but a story to tell another time.

First, though, a rare mail call.  This year, spending has been way down beside the arrival of a few books, an occasional Slingshot magazine, a few hex-and-counter wargames, and even fewer figures.  To shake things up, a trio of packages arrived on my doorstep this week.  Wargaming packages on the doorstep are always a welcome sight.  These were no exception.

What arrived?  Let's open the packages to see!

Tufts

Since 2014 (I know, I checked!), I have been regularly ordering grass tufts from Tajima1 Miniatures out of the UK.  My last order was in 2024 when I really backed up the truck and loaded up with many boxes of these excellent self-adhesive tufts.

Needing to resupply some of the colored tufts, I began a reorder.  Prices have certainly increased since 2024 but it was the sticker shock of postage to the US that kept me from pushing "Buy."  To add insult to injury, extra import duties would be charged on shipments to the US.  Even before the import duty was accounted for, postage was going to be over USD$30 for a small package!  At that point I closed the browser and went off in search of alternatives. 

After only a little searching, I found several vendors on Amazon who offered something similar at a fraction of the price.  In fact, the eight boxes of tufts shown below, delivered, were about the same price as the shipping charge from Tajima1 alone.  While these are not self-adhesive, they are about the same size as my favored Tajima1 tufts.  We will see how this goes!

1/100 Tanks

Always on the lookout for plastic 15mm Zvezda models, a pack of five PzIVs showed up on ebay a couple of weeks ago.  Luckily, I was able to snag them for a reasonable price.

1812 The Retreat From Moscow

Finally, and the piece de resistance was a small package from England.  In this thin package was the first offering from Paul Brook in his just released Battle Chronicles series.

This small format, 60-page book arrived courtesy of Reject Lee and Ray who helped in putting this title together.  Really a nice-looking effort of a similar size to Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame series.  I must admit that the footprint of this book is preferred to the large wargaming guides that Helion has been publishing.  The Helion guides, while beautiful and comprehensive, seem a bit unwieldy to read and use.  1812 is very comfortable in hand.

A cursory flick through the book reveals a pleasing layout and easy to read text.  The text layout is accompanied by handsome game maps and photos of Ray and Lee's gorgeous 1812 Retreat from Moscow collection.

Quite a nice effort.  Well done, guys, and THANK YOU!  Now, why was my copy not autographed???

Next time, hopefully a battle report from Monday's Battle Among the Tombs.

A Most Dangerous Time

For 2025, I made a conscious decision to pare down my (some would say "massive") hex-and-counter wargame collection.  I managed to make an almost noticeable dent in the collection by moving off more than 40 games.  Since many of these games have been long out of print, I actually showed a profit on some!  Of course, some of these 40 games shifted were offset by additional game purchases but I am still in the black for the year; and by a large margin.  That success is even counting that the November and December bargain season showed its head.

Many wargame companies offer a seemingly steady stream of sales from early November through the end of the year.  This year is no exception with plenty of bargains to be had.  Not only are the manufacturers offering up great deals but ebay bargains are popping up with regular and increasing frequency.  Now, is this plethora of bargains seasonal or a gauge of the state of the economy?  I will not dive into that topic... 

What I do know is that this approach to year-end is a most dangerous time for the shopper and especially me.  

What caught my eye so far in this run up to year-end bargain hunting?

Starting with MMP Games' Veteran's Day Sale, I picked up

From ebay, I snatched up

The selection of ebay-sourced games is an interesting lot.  In each case, the offering either had a very low minimum bid requirement or a Make Offer option.  I won all four by either a having a low opening bid or a ridiculously low offer.  All games are in new condition.

I suppose that I really only effectively managed to swap some inventory in the game closet.  Fortunately, many more games departed than arrived in 2025.

Also, an inexpensive snag on ebay were three more of Brad Butkovich's useful ACW scenario books. Great to be able to add three more titles to my collection.

Cannot overlook this week's Helion Flash Sale of

Of course, this does not account for the year-end sales that many of the figure manufacturers hold.  19th Century Miniatures and Lancashire Games have their year-end sales underway, and Eureka's annual December sale is only about one week away.  Luckily, I only "need" to pick up a few things this year.  Well, let's see how long I can resist.

What's In A Name?

After seeing the above book mentioned on Peter's blog (see A New Book...) and listening to the authors' podcasts, I placed an order.  Book arrived quickly and was read just as quickly.  I won't repeat the contents of the book since Peter did that and Table of Contents can be seen on Amazon.

What I do want to discuss is the authors' wrestling with the renaming of the gaming aspect of the hobby that we enjoy.  Many of us likely refer to this hobby as miniatures wargaming or playing a miniatures game.  Really, I lump all facets of the hobby simply into the catch-all, wargaming. 

The authors' take a different tack, however.  They state their rationale for first dismissing the use of tabletop games, then dismissing miniatures games, then dismissing miniatures wargames, before settling onto the term of non-discrete miniatures games. 

The name, non-discrete miniatures game is chosen since the authors argue that,

• Games are not necessarily about war.
• Spatial relationships between miniatures and terrain are crucial.
• Any physical object can be introduced into the game and have meaning in game terms (non-discrete components).
• Movement and positioning are not limited to fixed increments or grid spaces (non-discrete positioning).

Non-discrete is an interesting term to choose and returns me to the days of studying mathematics.  Typically, one sees a bifurcation between discrete and continuous but not between discrete and non-discrete.  I suppose if the term, continuous was utilized as in continuous miniatures game, readers might conclude that we game non-stop!      

Moving on, the authors define these games by their unique spatial characteristics in that,

• Precise physical positioning matters.  That is, movement and placement are analog (and continuous) and not grid-based.
• Players can bring any object to the game table and game systems must accommodate an infinite variability of components.

One example given of discrete movement and figure (marker) placement is the game of Monopoly.  A playing piece can only be in one of the grid spaces on the playing board at any one time and not between two spaces.  In a non-discrete game, movement is governed by a measuring device with a miniature able to move anywhere along that vector and stop anywhere short of the maximum move distance allowed.  This non-discrete movement criterion seems to not only explicitly exclude grid-based games from inclusion into non-discrete miniatures game by definition but implicitly as well with the continuous nature of measured movement along a vector. 

In later chapters, the authors relax the condition for non-griddedness.  Games having gridded movement or zoned movement may fit into the structure of building a non-discrete miniatures game as long as the focus on the design remains on the spatial relationships within the game and the infinite variety of components.  Given that discrete positioning and movement criteria are later relaxed, the grid vs non-grid distinction should be dropped from the definition altogether.

With the argument for excluding gridded games jettisoned, what remains the focus of non-discrete miniatures gaming?  What remains constant is the reliance upon the external components brought into the game system.

What distinguishes many boxed miniatures games from the non-discrete miniatures games that the authors describe?  The difference is that the former is self-contained with the rules and all of the components necessary for play while the latter is similar to a toolkit with a programmed game engine requiring any number of external inputs provided by the player(s).  These external inputs could include figures, terrain, army lists, dice, measuring devices, etc.

       

Is the classification still between discrete vs non-discrete miniatures games or is a better fitting distinction between endogenous vs exogenous miniatures games?  I suggest that the latter terminology may be a better fit if one agrees with the authors that the deciding attribute is bringing external inputs into the system.  Still, it is all wargaming to me.

There is much more to be pulled from this book of interest to wargamers and wargame designers whether focusing on non-discrete miniatures gaming or not.  I have only brought up the main thesis of Chapter 1!  With so much to consider, I may non-discretely dip back into this text on occasion.

More Sumerians and a Bit of Shopping

Close upon the heels of last week's Sumerian reinforcements (see Sumerian Reinforcements), a similarly sized batch of Sumerian javelinmen departs from the painting desk.  This dozen light infantry is split between a four-figure stand of skirmishers and an eight-figure stand of light infantry.  Figures are, again, from Newline Designs.

While attention at the painting desk has turned toward projects not Sumerian, I did dig out a pack of two dozen Akkadian spearmen to prep for pushing into the painting queue.  First, though, more FPW Prussians are on deck as is a return to the SYW/WAS project.  Time at the workbench has actually increased over the last two weeks and progress is being made on the painting front.  I may reach 900 figures painted by year-end.  We will see.

While figure purchases have remained very much at a minimum this year, recent sales on books and games have dented the wallet slighty.

Helion recently offered a Black Friday sale with 25% discounts and free shipping to the USA.  An offer I could not refuse!  The two books shown above are part of the order.

In similar sales and preorder releases, the following games dropped into my mailbox of late:

I know, these annual holiday sales can be so difficult to resist.  While 19th Century Miniatures always holds a Christmas sale on 15mm Old Glory figures, I am resisting in order to keep my 2024 Figures Purchased tally in check.  Since the sale runs through 04 January, I can place an order in the New Year after the counter resets.

On the gaming front, one more First Battle of Azukizaka is on deck for a Tuesday game.

Review: Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe - Redux

 Neil Thomas' WARGAMING NINETEENTH CENTURY EUROPE 1815-1878

Given David's recent musings on contemplating embarking upon a Risorgimento project in 6mm and Neil Thomas' Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe 1815-1878 (see Imperfect Painting), my thoughts returned to this classic work and the rules, themselves.  Tossed into this inspirational mix is Keith's move to resurrect or recycle old posts (see An "Almost" Anniversary Post).  Seems that the pair of posts from David and Keith converged to nudge me in a similar direction.  Call it serendipity.

With their inspirations, I resurrect a post from the very early days of Palouse Wargaming Journal.  Reproduced below is the 29 OCT 2012 post on my overview of Thomas' book.  Hard to believe this review was published a dozen years ago.  At the time, my review garnered a grand total of one comment.

Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe book remains one of my Top 10 all-time wargaming books.  I might even push it into my Top 5.  Even with the passage of a dozen years, my appreciation for this book is unwavering.  While I do not use these rules for my own Risorgimento wargaming, perhaps I should give it a try?  Typically, my adaptation to Fields of Honor is my "go to" choice for gaming the period.  In fact, I tend to use Fields of Honor for many horse and musket periods.

What might be interesting is to offer a side-by side comparison of both rulesets to investigate any similarities and differences.  Will a comparison between the two cause a change in perception of Thomas?  For now, below is the republication of my review of Thomas' book from 2012 (see original post at Review: Thomas' Wargaming 19th Century Europe).

Hope you enjoy this look back down memory lane.  I did.

--- Original Post from 29 OCT 2012 ---    

Having an interest in 19th Century warfare in general and the Second Italian War of Independence in particular, I recently bought Thomas' book.  Wargaming 19th Century Europe is my first Thomas wargaming book so I didn't know what to expect.  Existing reviews are lacking the detail needed to make an informed decision but I plunged ahead anyway on the road to discovery.

Although the book covers a wide span of history (some might argue too large since weapons and tactics evolved throughout this period), Thomas justifies his position by reminding the reader that the mindset of commanders during this period remained practically unchanged.  That is, commanders continued employing Napoleonic tactics over this 60-year span.  This same argument could be made for the American Civil War as well.  

Thomas provides a comprehensive examination from a wargaming perspective.  Thomas breaks the book into a number of manageable chunks.  These components include sections on:

• Historical background
• Design notes
• Wargame rules
• Generic scenarios
• Army lists
• Historical scenarios
• Appendices listing bibliography, scales and figure discussion, and wargame related vendors

The rules, themselves, only take up eight pages and cover,

• Units and Formations
• Basing
• Sequence of Play
• Changes of Formation
• The Charge Sequence
• Movement
• Firing
• Hand-to-Hand Combat
• Morale

The rules' mechanisms lean decidedly towards the simple end of the wargame complexity scale and Thomas defends this approach throughout his design notes chapter (entitled, Nineteenth-Century Wargaming).  Thomas emphasizes the "simple" rules' design approach to allow players to focus on the game rather than the rules.  The rules have no specified time or figure scale. 

All units of the same type are the same size regardless of historical doctrine.  Unit size is,

• Infantry - four bases
• Skirmishers - two bases
• Cavalry and Dragoons - four bases
• Artillery - one base

Basing guidelines are provided but any basing scheme should work as long as both combatants are based similarly.  

One interesting step in the Sequence of Play is that formation change is a separate step and that infantry may not move in line.  The result is that infantry may only charge to contact while in column.  Only infantry and artillery may change formation.

In the Charge Sequence, Thomas provides a matrix for easily determining whether a charging unit may contact a defending unit.  Conditional charges are allowed provided that the charging unit outnumbers the target.  If attacked frontally, defenders may fire at the attacker before hand-to-hand combat is resolved.  

In the Fire Phase, firing units throw a number of dice per stand dependent upon unit type (rate of fire).  Ranges are singular per weapon type with the exception that smoothbore guns have both a short and long range, and skirmishers add 8cm to weapons' range.  Hits are cross-referenced with respect to firing unit and target.  For example, an infantry unit firing in line against an infantry in close order line needs 4-6 on each D6 to score one hit.  Each base may take four hits before removing one base.  Saving throws are allowed for provided the target unit is either in cover (woods or towns) or armed with breechloading weapons.  The rationale for the breechloading saving throw is to model the tendency for breechloading armed troops to "go to ground" when under heavy fire.     

In Hand-to-Hand Combat Phase, each unit totals the number of dice it throws against its opponent with each stand receiving a set number of dice dependent upon the attacking and defending unit types.  Like fire, saving throws are allowed for units in woods or towns.  The side taking the largest number of hits retreats after Hand-to-Hand. 

During the Morale Phase, only three conditions trigger a morale test.  These conditions are:

• Losing a base through fire combat
• Charging cavalry takes fire from defending target
• Losing Hand-to-Hand combat

Notice that in the case of a cavalry charge, the defender does not necessarily have to cause casualties to trigger this morale test.  Thomas argues that the process of taking fire during a cavalry charge was often enough to cause 'extreme' disorder within the charging cavalry's ranks.  Units are rated in five distinct morale classifications.  These are, 

• Fanatic
• Elite
• Average
• Levy
• Rabble

with each classification given a set range of values on 1D6 for passing the morale test.  Fanatics fail only a on a roll of '1' while Rabble fail on any roll other than a '6'.

To me, the most interesting portion of Thomas' book is contained in his design notes in chapter 2.  This chapter allows the reader insight into Thomas' rationale for designing the rules as written.  Some thought provoking ideas are surfaced within and prompts me to consider some of my own gaming designs.  Thomas' rules definitely possess the flavor of classic, Old School wargames as handed down from the pioneers of Featherstone, Grant, Wesencraft, and Morschauser.

Gaming Face-to-Face?

The panorama photo above was taken at the end of May on an afternoon downtown stroll.  The Spokane River was still high with a torrent of water spilling down the lower falls.  Three weeks later and the flow has reduced dramatically.

Gaming face-to-face (F2F), me?  Yep.  Although most of my gaming seems to revolve around the remote variety via zoom, I got in a F2F game yesterday.  Yeah, an unexpected surprise to me too.

The battle fought was a scenario from one of Michael Hopper's many Napoleonic scenario books.  This time, the battle selected came from Eagles Over Bavaria and the 1809 Reinhausen scenario.  Notice that I am listed as a playtester in this volume.  

The battle was a two-player affair in which I took command of the Austrian brigade facing an equally sized (but more flexible) French brigade.  Terry (the Assisted by fellow on the book cover) umpired.  The French were defending town sections on both sides of the Regen River.  Austrian task was to take the two town sections situated on the east bank of the river. 

Anyway, in less than two hours of play, my Austrians managed to quite handily demolish their French adversaries having destroyed six of their nine infantry battalions and an artillery battery.  Austrian losses?  Hmm. None! 

On the Stuff Recently Acquired front, this week saw a resupply of hexes from my favorite purveyor of wooden bits.  The box is more than two feet tall and stacked with hexes to expand both my four inch and five inch playing surfaces.

I also snagged a HUGE castle and keep from Vol at A Miniatures Hobby Room.  Vol even hand delivered the castle in two heavy boxes.  When Nancy saw the castle and I told her that Vol was downsizing his wargaming collection, she asked when do I plan to downsize.  I know.  Very funny question. 

Anyway, I imagine this behemoth may feature in either Reconquista or WotR games in the future.  As an added bonus, Vol is interested in gaming.  With his massive collection of warships from a variety of periods, I would not be surprised to see the gaming table transformed to open seas at some point.

Finally, this weekend features the annual three-on-three basketball tournament in my fair city.  Billed as the largest 3-on-3 tournament on earth with 6,000 teams on 450 courts, downtown will be packed with players and spectators throughout the weekend.  For this weekend, my cycling will need to divert around the downtown area as it will be virtually impassible.  A few photos taken before the storm.

Piedmont Guards and Grenadiers

On the path toward fielding a Piedmontese army for the War of Austrian Succession, more Piedmontese march out from the painting desk.  This time rather than run-of-the-mill infantry, guards and grenadiers make an appearance.

In my earlier refight of Bassignana, both a regiment of Guard and a battalion of grenadiers were present on the day of battle.  Unfortunately, ersatz guard and grenadiers were needed to fill these slots.  Next time, the proper units will be present and available for duty.

Figures are Old Glory infantry led by a Eureka mounted colonel for the Guard.  Flag is from Not By Appointment.

Piedmont Grenadiers

Piedmont Guard

Piedmont Guard

Made it back from a weeklong exploration of several ACW battlefields on Tuesday.  It may take a bit of rest to recover.  A number of miles put into the legs tramping over battlefields.  No time to rest, though, Peter is hosting a continuation of his long running WWI Campaign in Palestine later today.  We see the first appearance of the Arab Rebellion.  I may be playing the role of Lawrence.

In a nod to serendipity, I have had my eye on a recently released book on the Battle of Assietta 1747 set during the WAS.

Fortune smiled upon me in a browse through a small bookshop in Gettysburg.  There I found the book!  A few other books made the trip back to Washington State with me as well.  My travel-buddy ended up shipping a box of books back to his home.

I leave you with a sunset taken from the observation tower at Pitzer's Woods looking west at Gettysburg.

French Regiments Aquitaine and Limousin

Wargaming activities of late seem to be ensconced in the SYW.  

This week witnessed three gaming sessions refighting the Battle of Mollwitz with two different opponents, a little painting, and a book order arrival.

On the painting front, two more French regiments of infantry muster out to join their brethren in the growing French army.  Out from the painting desk are Regiments Limousin and Aquitaine.  Figures are 15mm Old Glory with Eureka mounted officers and flags from Not By Appointment.  These latest additions bring the French army up to a strength of 18 infantry regiments.  I really need to turn attention to fielding some guns and horse.  Both are seeing progression through the painting queue.

Regiment Aquitaine

Regiment Limousin

On the gaming front, two Battles of Mollwitz are in the Battle Logbook. The anniversary game on Sunday has been chronicled (see Mollwitz, A Battle Report). Game #2 finished up on Friday afternoon. Once I gather all of the artifacts, expect a battle report on this action as well.

Finally, the library sees three new arrivals all on the SYW. Helion recently offered up a 3-for-2 sale and I nibbled. The books in this order are:

They all look to be handy reference books.  Let us hope they are!

Not on the SYW theme, this week also saw a remote game recreating the Hundred Years War Battle of Cravant.

Battle of Cravant

I would like to draft a Battle Report from this interesting action but with games coming fast and furious, I often fall behind.  Sometimes, way behind.

Sumerian Serendipity

While work has begun on a Sumerian project inspired by Graham Evan's To Ur is Human rules (see my First Impressions here), many questions remain unclear as I dive into a new, and unfamiliar period.

Imagine my relief when an advert for the above book recently popped into my Inbox.  This looks promising!  Well, little surprise that I quickly ordered a copy of this Soldiershop book from Amazon.  Being available in Kindle format, I received near instant gratification after having pressed the "Buy" button.

The author, Chris Flaherty, has produced a very interesting primer on the period.

The book is divided into the following thirteen chapters:

• Chapter 1: Selecting Soldiers
• Chapter 2: Role, Organization, and Maneuver of Armies
• Chapter 3: Battle
• Chapter 4: Kings and Military Leaders
• Chapter 5: Priests and God Idols
• Chapter 6: Hunters and Herder-Warriors
• Chapter 7: Shield-Bearers and Spearmen
• Chapter 8: Storage Pots, Water and Land Transport
• Chapter 9: Fortifications and Siege Craft
• Chapter 10: The Sumerian War Cart
• Chapter 11: War Cart's Battle Use
• Chapter 12: King Sargon's Standing Army 
• Chapter 13: Amorite, Elamite, and Lullabi Warriors

A quick reading of this 218 page book has clarified a number of questions I had and given me as many questions to ponder.  Some of these chapters are directly applicable to wargamers whether painting and organizing armies or gaming.  I will be re-examining Graham's wargame rules in a new light.

Very useful addition to a wargamer's library on an often overlooked period.