"Donald Featherstone's "Close Wars" in 54mm" Topic

I've been running these brief rules, published in 1962, with handfuls of Armies in Plastic AWI figures. I'm a children's librarian, so am basically GMing for kids and desperately simplifying the rules as I go (hard to do with Featherstone!) because they range anywhere from age 12 to age 4.

At the moment:

10 figures a side (given the chaos with two or three kids a side, I'm thinking eight or even six).

The entire table is assumed to be forest, except for trails.

Move: 9", 12" on trails, -3" up hills.
Fire: Range 12", 5+ to hit in the clear, 6 in cover. Figures in cover get 4+ cover saves.
Melee: Figures roll off, highest roll wins.
At beginning of turn, players roll a die. A 6 indicates a reinforcement figure has appeared on the table edge, taken from earlier casualties.

Have been experimenting with semi-simultaneous turns – side 1 moves, side 2 moves, side 1 shoots, side 2 shoots, melee. This requires figures to stay still to fire so they have the choice to flee or shoot at their attackers, but it can be hard to remember which figures have moved…

Terrain is a green tablecloth with masking tape for trails, books under the cloth for hills, and the occasional building made of books or blocks. I am planning to show the kids how to make simple paper trees to sprinkle through the forest. And looking at doing a paint-and-take program for Independence Day.

A couple pics:

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Wonderful idea!

Recruit 'em when they're young, and some may go on to appreciate history, if not war games per se.

If you've not already noticed the post directly before yours about "Johnny Tremain," I would also recommend either reading them the book, or getting the movie to show. It might not work as well for your very youngest, but I'd think the seven/eight and older kids would take to it.

And I don't know what noise considerations you may have to work with, but teaching the kids to the sing the "Liberty Tree" song should both get them in the mood, and give them something they'll keep in their heads/hearts forever.

Very best wishes to you and the best of luckK
TVAG

Thanks!

I do play folk music on guitar regularly. Mostly classic play songs and rhymes, but I try to mix in stuff on holidays. Thinking of a concert of sorts on the Fourth of July.

"Liberty Tree" might not be up their alley, but "Yankee Doodle", "Free Americay" and one of the several John Paul Jones ballads would work. As would anything by George M. Cohan – I was in Yankee Doodle Dandy in fourth grade.

I hadn't thought of Johnny Tremain, which is mostly above their reading level. Some of the Dear America and American Girl series, a handful of picture books, and nonfiction books for children about the period are good. We have a nice one of "Soldiers Through the Ages" that has large, colorful posed pictures of reenactors in many different uniforms.

I have a box of late Napoleonic British (the Americans are the same figures in blue) which would go with a "Star-Spangled Banner" War of 1812 theme.

Hi Jen,

The photo link aren't working for me. Any chance of another link? Great idea, by the way!

Https://ibb.co/bSmdGx

My current "table."

postimg.cc/image/pmf3bzo6z

And the figures.

Love it! Those are some lucky kids.

It's funny you posted this, because at the moment I'm considering doing something rather similar myself (getting in touch with my inner 10 year old, I suppose): simple rules (I'm leaning most to The Sword and the Flame, but something like what you are using has potential also), UNPAINTED plastics for troops and minimalistic terrain, using lots of felt, a scattering of trees and maybe some books posing as hills.

Thanks so much for the inspiration!