"People who influenced your wargaming." Topic

" It was inevitable that I would select Charles Grant for my 'people who influenced my wargaming' posts. When I was struggling to understand what wargaming was exactly about in the late 1960's and early 1970's I managed to buy a copy of the Military Modelling magazine which contained an article written by some wargamer called Charles Grant concerning how to fight a Napoleonic Wargame. I was hooked from the onset as each month this man produced pages of information concerning the rules for fighting such a wargame and illustrated by black and white images of wonderful terrain and figures by someone called Peter Gilder…"

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Amicalement
Armand

I never had an opportunity to decline. Being the youngest of three brothers, I grew up thinking that war gaming was the norm. Dice and pieces of string was all we needed. My older brother's Britains fought many battles on our ping pong table. Outside activities centered around digging trenches for plastic army men. I often wonder how my life would have turned out without the influence of the study of history and military warfare. Since I've run a military miniatures war gaming conference here in NW Ohio for the last twenty years, I guess the appreciation of this hobby is here to stay. And I am better for it.

Donald Featherstone for me. My childhood games were inspired by Wargames given to me by a high school friend. I never would have gotten as involved as I am without that book.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Don Featherstone and Brig Peter Young

Donald Featherstone – "Battles with Model Soldiers"

My father bought me the book even though he was sad I was turning away from Hornby trains.

Gavin Lyall here Operation Warboard

Ray Johnson got me involved in Napoleonic Miniatures. One year Don Featherstone was a speaker and he and Ray Johnson put on a Napoleonic battle. Got to use my Baverians in the battle.

A few school friends and a Terry Wise article.

Another vote for CS Grant.

We even named one of my sons Grant – though to be honest it was US Grant. However both Grants have been an impact on my gaming.

Two guys influencers me tremendously: George Johnson who founded GAJO Enterprises and Greg Novak. Miss them both; think about them often.

My Dad, he started collecting "toy soldiers" before WWII.

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand

Being in my early 60's I am to young for a lot of the before mentioned giants in our hobby,

First off for me "Dick Bryant" aka MGluteus of the Courier. I met him in maybe 1970 when the Courier was the newsletter for the NEWA our of Brocton Mass.

Then Peter Rice of The Toy Soldier fame in bath Maine. I met Peter in 1975 and had the AWI bug. he got me into Scruby 12mm I think and we (he) wrote the rules.

Both are great men and still going strong in the hobby..

When I was back in secondary school in the 1970s I borrowed the War Game by Brig Peter Young and I was hooked. I would love to find hat book again

brig peter young with his rules

terry wise as a regular opponent

donald featherstone

i suppose the tv character callan

they all hit me at the same tine.

Paddy Griffith for his 'alternative' ideas on Napoleonic wargaming.
Bill Leeson for translating the Reisswitz Kriegsspiel into English and hosting games at his home.
And – of course! – Wells, Featherstone, Young and Grant for introducing me to the hobby.

Peter Gilder

Like Steve the TV character Callan introduced me to the idea, then the men at my local club.

The first time I became aware of wargame rules as a way of waging wars with our Airfix soldiers (as opposed to just firing matchsticks at them), was when my brother went to the public library and brought back Bruce Quarrie's Airfix guide "World War 2 Wargaming".

And the first wargaming book we owned (I still have it) was Bruce Quarrie's Airfix guide "Napoleonic Wargaming".

So I reckon it must have been Bruce Quarrie.

After that opening I would say the most influential have been Donald Featherstone ("War Game Campaigns"), Gavin Lyall ("Operation Warboard"), Charles S Grant ("Scenarios for Wargames"), the WRG/Phil Barker ("Wargame Rules 1685-1845") and of course Paul Hague ("Sea Battles in Miniature"), with honourable mentions to Terry Wise, George Gush, Stuart Asquith and Lonnie L Gill for GQ.

Oh, gosh- quite a list, I suppose: Jim Dunnigan, Charlie Roberts, and Frank Chadwick, also Scott Bowden. I started in the 1970s when AH, SPI and GDW were the big names in the States, and enjoyed games by all of them. Particularly Chadwick; Inrecently had the experience of listening to some old recordings of talks he gave, and came away thinking, well, that explains a lot! They were all good designers, and well grounded in the history they were trying to simulate, which is important.

I once talked with Roberts, perhaps two or three years before he died. I called the small publishing firm he was running to ask about publication rights on a photograph from a book I wanted to use for a business purpose. I called, someone answered the phone, and I asked if I might speak to Mr. Roberts. The speaker took on a rather guarded tone, and asked who I was, and what business I wanted to discuss. When I told him, the voice on the other end replied, in a far more welcoming tone, "oh, I'm Charlie Roberts."

He was very interesting, and more than willing to talk- and when I mentioned I knew him from gaming, well, he talked even more! But he was interesting and cordial, and although I can only recall a free snippets of things he said, I wish I had talked more with him- it just wasn't the time or place to discuss the mechanics of "Blitzkrieg."