"19th Centrury Wargame rules by Niel Thomas " Topic

I wrote a review on my blog that you might find useful.

link

Interesting. I am surprised about the comment on most gamers having a 2'x2' space being the norm. I don't know of anyone I game with who has less than a 6'x4' table. Most have 6'x8' or 6'x12'. Is that a more UK typical size?

Thanks,

John

I don't think table size is important. I own the book, as well as Mr. Thomas' other rulebooks. The book comprises of a historical breakdown of the period and the evolving weapons/tactics. Next Neil writes an explanation of his rules' philosophy. The rules are about 5-6 pages. Next up are army lists, followed by scenarios. The rules are not generic in my opinion; simple but nuanced. There are holes in the rules but the game is intended to be played among friends, as opposed to a tournament setting. I give the book a thumbs-up.

John,
The comment is actually about the larger 3 x 4 foot rather than 2 x 2. A number of wargamers only have the dining room table to game on in the UK which is often only 3 foot across. A lot of people game at clubs for access to larger tables..

I have the book and thought it was excellent, well written and interesting. I am in the process of rebasing some 28mm Britannia Crimean figures (put the snow on the bases today) to use with the rules and hope to try them out next month.

It departs from Neil's previous books in not having fixed army sizes and having scenarios with different size forces.

Mike

I haven't but would love to pick up a copy of his Ancients rules it anyone has one to part with.

"A lot of people game at clubs for access to larger tables.."

And even then, our group tends to go for a smaller table size (typically 3x4 ish). It mans you can play sitting down, which is a great boon for our aching bones. If using grid based rules then table size is largely irrelevant, it can get a bit fiddly with measurement based ones of course.

Yeah I've been dreaming of a 6x4' table since I was 12… I doubt I will ever own one.

I have the rules and have used them for battles in the FPW.

They give good results and do not require hours of endless calculations.

The book has some interesting ideas not just on the rules philosophy (complex vs simple) but also in the way some scenarios and battles are set up. Even the opposing sides selection gives food for thought.

I strongly suggest that anyone with an interest in European warfare rule (1815-70) give them a look.

looks interesting but for what scale of figures are the rules; seeing the small table it must be 15 or smaller?

units are 4 bases. Any scale or number of figures works. My 10mm infantry units are either 12 figures for loose-order and 16 figures for closed order infantry.

There's a Yahoo group at link for discussion of Neil Thomas's rules. Current chat is about the 19th century rules.

I just received this book this week (ordered from Amazon) and I am very pleasantly surprised. This is a book that harks back to the classic wargames books of the 70's. I very much like the way the book is structured and presented. I may never the play the rules themselves, but it is a delightful read.

6X4 tables? That's just a hoot. The average dinning room table is 42" X 56" unless you have one especially built. I once saw such a thing in an extrodinary rich person's house in a dinning room with a cathedral ceiling where I tutored their entitled son who could barely read in high school history.

A designer on Consimworld remarked that he had a "friend" build him a special table for his upcoming design! I'm tired of rule books by terrain builders (closet model RR) and 28mm fans who have a thousand figures for their "scenarios."

I have contended for a decade now that Wargaming has lost its way and is becomming rich man's past time. Heck even 6mm are expensive now and designed for the producers rule sets.

Yea, I know the price of tin and the world economy. But offer a supplier to send the box of crap Minifigs you have from 35 years ago to cast your order, and that's an "Oh no, the mixture may not be right."

Measure the top of a card table and then make fun of people who have that to play on 2X2.

I love this book -you can use any basing and you get to the action quickly. The rules feature simple, elegant mechanisms that actually make sense.