"Top ten wargaming books in the collection" Topic

Hi all,

As the title suggests, I've put together a list of the top ten wargaming books in my collection with a little description of each one and an excerpt.

It's a long post

link

So if you can't be bothered reading that lot then here they are (in no particular order):

Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, Duncan Head.
Lost Battles, Phil Sabin.
A Guide to Wargaming, by George Gush and friend.
Wargames, by the Don.
Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome, by Phil Barker.
DBM army lists, by Phil Barker and Richard Bodley Scott.
Ancient and Medieval Wargaming, by Neil Thomas.
The Gallic and Civil Wars, by Caesar.
Simulating War, by Phil Sabin.
Warfare in the Classical World, by John Warry.

Would be interested to know which (owned) books others would put in their top ten.

Cheers,
Aaron

My top 10 would probably be:

Charles Grant's "Battle!"
Don Featherstone's "Battles with Model Soldiers"
H G Wells' "Little Wars"
Young and Lawford's "Charge!"
Don Featherstone's "Tank Battles in Miniature" no. 1
Andrew Wilson's "War Gaming"
Paddy Griffith's "Book of Sandhurst Wargames"
Nicky Palmer's "The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming"
Jim Dunnigan's "The Complete Wargames Handbook"
Phil Sabin's "Simulating War"

I have copies of all of them, and have listed them in the order I read them -- most I have read several times. One might quibble about other books that deserve to be in such illustrious company, but there is for my money not one of those ten that is not absolutely excellent.

All the best,

John.

For an ancients gamer that is a pretty conclusive list, i would add the John Curry printed Tony Bath book for nostalgia reasons though.

mine are in no particular order.

Solo wargames, The Don.
Operation Warboard, Gavin Lyall
Napoleanic Wargames, Paddy Griffith
Setting up a Wargames Campaigns, Tony Bath
With Pike & Shot, Wesencraft
Lost Battles, Sabin
Napoleons Campaigns in Miniature, Quarrie.
Alexander the Greats Campaigns, Barker
Wargaming Airborne Operations, The Don
Play The Game, Wargaming

Mine would be:

Practical Wargaming – Charles Wesencraft
Little Wars – H G Wells
Wargames – Featherstone
Napoleons Campaigns in Miniatures – Quarrie
Wargames – David Nash
Setting up a Wargames Campaigns – Tony Bath
Lost Battles – Sabin
The Wargame – GRant
Programmed Wargames Scenarios – Grant
Scenarios for All Ages – Grant / Asquith

Mike

Four excellent lists, there … no doubt … 'Charge!' would always top my list, as it was where it all started for me.

That very first WRG 'Macedonian & Punic Wars' book Phil Barker deserves an honourable mention. Not a patch on Duncan's upgrade in many ways, but it got the ball rolling for a whole generation of ancients enthusiasts, I think.

… and Philip Haythornthwaite's 'English Civil War' is a classic starting point.

I'll have to think a little longer to come up with a top ten though …

Phil

Nice lists, gentlemen! I think I need to go and do some book shopping :)

Cheers,
Aaron

Little Wars – H.G. Wells
Battle – Charles Grant
Wargames through the Ages – Donald Featherstone
Lost Battles – Prof. Sabin
Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome – Phil Barker
Napoleons Campaigns in Miniatures – Quarrie
Setting up a Wargames Campaigns – Tony Bath
DBM(M) army lists – Phil Barker & others

that's about it for me…

Skirmish Wargaming by Donald Featherstone… not now, but was used almost to destruction in the 70's/early 80's.
Various Blandford uniform books.
Certain Osprey titles particularly Wellington's Infantry volumes.
Back in the day, WRG Imperial Rome.

Battle – CS Grant
Little Wars – HG Wells
Scenarios for All Ages – CS Grant and Stuart Asquith
Napoleonic Wargames – Paddy Griffith
Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome – Phil Barker
Napoleons Campaigns in Miniatures – Bruce Quarrie
Wargames – Featherstone
Setting up a Wargames Campaigns – Tony Bath
Wargaming Pike and Shot – Featherstone
Practical Wargaming – Charles Wesencraft

Ancient and Medieval Wargaming, by Neil Thomas
Battle – Charles Grant
19Century European Wargames by Neil Thomas
Wargames by Don Featherstone
Introduction to Wargaming by Neil Thomas
Principles of War by Tom Penn
Adeptus Titanicus by Games Workshop
Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age by Scott Bizar