"Roberts Louis Stevenson, forgotten hero of Wargaming ?" Topic

"On the brilliant 'Man of Tin ' blog Happy Robert Louis Stevenson Day 13th November 2021 – Man of Tin blog (wordpress.com) there has been a series of articles about Robert Louis Stevenson's and his wargaming , which pre-date the much better known H.G Wells 'Little Wars' . Very interesting indeed everyone knows about H.G. but nobody mentions R.L.Stevenson which is a shame . He seemed to use quite complicated campaign rules which covered supply etc. , I'm not sure how the actual combat was adjudicated though ,there is mention of pea-shooters and rolled marbles (?) , I wonder if anybody has tracked down the actual rules used ?"

From Tin Sodiering On Blog

link

Armand

The reason why HG Wells is better known as a wargamer is very simple: he published his rules in a book; Stevenson did not.

It is clear from the Scribner's article Stevenson at Play by his stepson Lloyd Osbourne that they had tremendous fun playing campaigns and battles with toy soldiers. It is a great pity that there seems to be no surviving copy of the rules used. RLS was obviously a wonderful stepfather to young Lloyd.

But was he more of a 'hero of wargaming' than any other father who played toy soldier battles with his children?
Perhaps it is rather Lloyd Osbourne, because he published an article describing the wargames he and RLS had played?

Thanks!

Armand