Wargames Terrain & Buildings (The Napoleonic Wars) by Tony Harwood

 

Tony Harwood, “Wargames Terrain & Buildings (The Napoleonic Wars)” 

Published by Pen & Sword Military (2019) 

Pages 160 plus covers 

Being that we here in England are in our second lockdown, I thought that I should get myself a belated Birthday present, which in fact was last month. This book has been on my list of things to buy at wargaming shows, but when it first came out it was one of them books that we hard to find. It was on my list for the shows this year, but with them all being cancelled due to the Pandemic I started to browse the internet, as one does in these times, I found this book on ebay for £10 and purchased a copy through Books etc. I know that most of you wargamers have already been lucky enough to have purchased yourself a copy, so now I can join the club. The good thing was that I took just a week for it to arrive via post.

The book is in soft back and it contains three sections with three projects in different scales in each. It gives you step-by-step guide with plenty of pictures to look at. Flicking through the book I can already see a couple of projects for me, like the La Belle Alliance in 20mm. So I do hope that the instructions are clear on how to make such a great model for the table.

I shall give this book a good read before making plans for building any models but before that, the Scotts Dragoons are still waiting to be finished.

WATERLOO By Tim Clayton

Published by Abacus (2015)

Pages 680 plus covers

First Published in 2014 by British publishers Little, Brown Book Group, "Waterloo", four days that changed Europe's destiny contains seventy-six chapters set in three sections. 

They are Part One: Preparations which is all about Napoleons escape from Elba on 26^th February 1815 to the horror of the British Government. His journey through France and how he picked up his supporters on his return to Paris. Wellington waiting to invade France with the Allies for early July, and much more. 

Part Two is all about The Invasion of the Netherlands. The France army gets their marching orders and cross the border. The slow march through Charleroi as the Prussian outposts pull back and the taking of all the villages on their way. The Prince of Orange at Quatre Bras with the Battles of Ligny and Wavre. 

Part Three is all about The Battle of Waterloo.

From newly discovered sources of letters and diaries from The Emperor Napoleon, The Duke of Wellington, and from ordinary officers and soldiers of the three armies. It tells the story of the four days of the Battle of Waterloo with its extreme weather and brutal fighting. The book also offers two sections of full colour pictures with black and white maps of the battlefield at certain time; the author makes the fog of war central to the narrative as we are thrown into the chaos and din of battle. The last greatest battle of the horse and musket period. This book is great for information as the French advanced through Belgium again it is great for setting up little skirmishes to the larger battles.  

WATERLOO by Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell - Waterloo

Published by William Collins

Pages 352 plus covers

Many will know Bernard Cornwell as the author to the famous Sharpe novels that were published in 1981 (Sharpe’s Eagle and Sharpe’s Gold) and then made into a television series from 1993-1997 about a fictional officer played by Sean Bean who ended his career in the 95^th Rifles during the Napoleonic Wars. This is Bernard’s very first non-fictional history book and what a great book it is.

First Published in 2014 by British publishers William Collins, it contains twelve chapters of meticulously storytelling of the four days of the Battle of Waterloo. Starting with Napoleons escape from Elba it takes you through the smoke and gore of the three battlefields and their aftermath. Giving detailed accounts from letters and diaries from Emperor Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington, and from ordinary officers and soldiers of the three armies. Bernard has taken great pains to research the four days of battle to give a riveting account of every dramatic moments and bravery, heroism and tragedy on both sides.

The book is near full of wonderful colour pictures and maps of the battlefield at certain stages of the battles.

The War Gamer by Charles Grant

Published by Ken Trotman 

Pages 191 plus covers 

This book has become one of the major classic war gaming books written by Charles Grant, one of our first pioneers of war gaming in Britain.

First Published in 1971 by A&C Black Limited, this was reprinted in 2007 by the Publishers Ken Trotman and it contains some extra text and a couple of coloured pictures.

Although the pictures and maps are all mainly black and white, there is a new introduction by his son Charles Stewart Grant and a set of eighteen century rules.

I received this book back in 2011 at Christmas and It has taken me quite a while to finished reading it. The reason for this is that the book is not heavy going but I seem to read a bit and then put the book down until I have another spell at reading. So in a year I have completed this book and it’s a great book to read.

The book starts from basic requirements for a game with knowledge to what the Infantry Cavalry and Artillery did in the 18th century warfare.

The book then goes on to constructing terrain (if you like DIY) and the effects your army has over them. Charles then goes on to Maps, Pioneers, River Transport and casualties.

At the back of all this there is a simple set of rules for you to play with. This section was not printed in the original book but I think that it raps the whole book up at the end. These you can add to or in fact take the bits out that you don’t need, but this sets you off in the right direction if you are waiting to make your own rules for your war game. It’s another book that I am glad that I have in my collection.

Donald Featherstone's Solo Wargaming

Published by Kayle and Ward

Pages 201 plus covers

Originally published in 1973 and written by Donald Featherstone, this book was re-printed back in 2009 by Lulu.com.

The book is packed from cover to cover with a load’s of information for Solo wargamers especially in the early stages of this hobby who are unable to find other opponents in their area where they live, to fight on their table top battlefield.

This book describes many methods of manoeuvring two armies which you both command. Mr Featherstone has written this book well to understand wargaming and with helpful hints and tips to help you on the way to solo wargaming. Although there are no rules to use in this book, there is a lot of information and ideas to help you make your own set of rules. This book has over 60 illustrations and they are all in black and white. There are 23 chapters in this book which include

INSTANT SOLO-WARGAMING

CONCEALMENT IN SOLO-WARGAMING

SOLO-WARGAMING CAMPAIGNS

THE IMPORTANCE OF WAR DIARIES

CHANCE and TACTICAL CARDS

A SOLO MUSKET WARGAME

PERSONALISED WARGAMES

and many more. This book is well worth the read.

The Napolenonic Source Book

Published by Arms and Armour

Pages 414 plus covers

Originally published in 1990 and written by Philip J Haythornthwaite, this book that is now in my procession has been re-printed back in 1999.

If you can recall, I found this book in a charity shop for a bargain price of just £3.

For most of the wargamers of this world, this book is there bible for uniforms and information, hence the title source book.

The book is packed from cover to cover with a load of information about Campaigns, weaponry, the nations involved and their commanders, plus there is over 200 illustrations including maps and charts. The only downside to the book is that all the illustrations are in black and white.

I must admit that after all these years of searching through books and now the internet that this book has filled in a lot of blanks about uniforms for me.

In the Campaign section it covers the periods from the French Revolution right through to Waterloo. The Weaponry deals with all the three arms, including their strategy & tactics both on land and sea. The warring nations deal’s with their armies and their leaders including medals. Commander’s is all about the commanders at that time. This book also has over 700 period and technical terms which is very useful.

In all you should have this book in your collection but not necessary your bible.

With all the reference books out there, it would be nice to have just one book with all the facts and figures that you need. Still I am very glad that I found this book.

Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun

Published by Lulu.com

Pages 171 plus covers

Originally published in 1980 and written by Paddy Griffith’s, this book has now been re-printed back in 2008. It is just one of a series of books being published through History of Wargaming. I got quite excited when I brought this book at SELWG last year, although I did not get my hands on it till Christmas from my partner. But I was just a little disappointed with it when I finally sat down and started to read it. This book includes no less than seven sets of rules, which is great. All of the rules are designed by Paddy Griffiths a well-known military historian. The book contains a wide collection of wargames for the Napoleonic period for newcomers and for the experienced wargamer.The sets of rules are for

SKIRMISH GAME

DIVISIONAL GAME

BRIGADE GAME

ARMY LEVEL GAME

GENERALSHIP GAME

A MAP KRIEGSSPIEL

A TACTICAL EXERCISE WITHOUT TROOPS

For every game, in the book, there is a brief historical introduction with a complete set of rules for each. There is also a detailed explanation for playing the game with a play sheet at the back of the book. So the Skirmish game starts off the feel very well but then it starts to get a bit complicated with each set of rules from then on until the Generalship game where it could get you into a right old pickle trying to sort out orders to the whole army. I think that this book does need to be read again and to play each game as it comes, but at the end of the day, I think that I shall stick with my own set of rules.

Although the book has some updated contents, it is a shame that the picture are not. There are a total of 13 picture and diagrams in the book and they are all in black and white. That’s fair enough as it is a re-print of a book but surely with today’s technology the picture could be made to look better as most of them seem to be very black in print as you can not see what they are showing. The only colour picture is the front cover.

Wargame Campaigns

Published by C S G Publications

Pages 153 plus covers

Published in 1995 and written by C S Grant, this book provides you with all you need to know about setting up and starting your own campaign in any period in history.
If you are starting up your own campaign as a beginner or a veteran in this wargaming world, this book provides you with all the basic means to start you on your way or the book may give you some extra ideas to add to your own set of rules.
Wargame Campaigns covers Land, Sea and Air, starting you off with maps, movement, weather, armies and even personalities.
If you want to enter the world of politics and finance, there are ideas for them too.
This is another book that all wargamers should have in their bookcases.
It’s a real gem of information for the realism of war with sections on casualties, hospitals, prisoners and recruiting. And with all this, there is a section on how to keep campaign diaries and basic book keeping.
I do like the way Mr Grant has set out this book. It’s very easy to follow no matter how long you have been doing this hobby.
After reading Wargame Campaigns, it has certainly made me re-think about my own set of homemade rules.
With so many books out now about wargaming, rules and campaigns, will we ever have a set of rules that we will be happy with?

The War Game Companion

Published by Ken Trotman Publishing 2008

Pages 86

I have finished reading Charles S Grant’s book, “The War Gaming Companion” and I must say what a great read it was. The book is a sequel to “The War game” which was first published in 1971 and although it is a reprint of this book, there has been some new additions to this book.

This time round the book has unpublished articles, letters and campaign accounts plus a quick gaming set of rules.

I must admit that I thought, like many of the other well known war gamers in this world that Charles would stick to historical battles. But no, Charles first started off with his dad in the American Civil War and then moved off to mid-eighteenth Century where they made fictitious countries, armies and campaigns. The book gives you reports about the counties and some of their battles. Most of the pictures are in black and white but there is a section where we do have some colour plates.

In other sections of the book we have how to make cheap simple terrain for the table and how to start a war game campaign. There are also some Table top teasers for you to try out and how to write your own table top teasers. This is a book that you should not be without.

Table Top Teasers Vol 1

Table Top Teasers Vol 1

Published by Battlegames 2008

Pages 76

These Table Top Teasers first appeared in “Battle for Wargamers” in February 1978.
I have played a couple of these at the old CWA on club nights and found them very interesting in the way the outcome was always different. So this book was a must.

I brought this book at Salute 09 for £10 and started to read this once I got the opportunity too do so.
There are 12 Table Top Teasers in this volume and they are mostly written by Charles Grant. The 12 scenarios all come from the Battlegames magazine from the first 12 issues.

The book is full of colour pictures and maps and if you are a solo wargamer then this book is for you, although some of the games can be played with two or more gamers.

Each of the scenarios are well detailed and will take you through step by step on how to set up with figures and scenery and how to play the game with information and maps. There is also a report of the game after each one.

There will be something there for everyone where ever you want a big or small game. This is the first special and I can not wait for volume two.