The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Good morning. Today's class lecture is entitled "Introducing Historical Wargaming to a New Generation", or "You Don't Gotta Have Hair in Your Ears to Play the Prussians". Please take notes, as there will be a pointless 10 page essay test following the discussion.

As a long time miniature wargamer, it always seemed understood that most historical (hysterical?) wargamers had to be older than other gamers; I was pretty sure that being on Social Security was a prerequisite to buying DBA. In fact, to hear the local Napoleonic players talk, they painted their figures from memory, having been in those battles themselves ("If only Nappy had listened to me, we would have taken Moscow that day...."). It took a lot of knowledge about military history to play, where the more fantasy / science fiction systems just took imagination.

Personally, this was a lot of the reason why my friends and I never got into historical miniatures. This, and the seemingly complex rules systems (The first edition of DBA made the original Traveler look like a Metagame). No wonder man invented the machine gun; 18th century combat took too long to work out. This is all a shame, because there is a large group of players out there, of all ages, who have an interest in historical gaming, but without a user friendly access to the "genre".

Enter Warhammer Ancient Battles, from Jervis "I own your financial soul, hand it to me" Johnson and crew at the recently formed Warhammer Historical Wargames. Who better than the creators of the popular and quick Warhammer system to bridge the gap over to historical battles. On the off chance that you haven't seen this game, the rules are based more than loosely on the Warhammer Fantasy system that currently owns my paycheck, but with a....gasp...historical flair. No magic, but you don't miss it. No magic items, but you don't need them. No monsters, unless you count the Roman Legions. New rules for things like chariots and trained units, and you welcome them.

The layout of WAB will be very familiar to Warhammer and 40K players, as the army composition uses the same point system. Many of the rules for movement, combat, and psychology are still here, but with a more - dare I say it - "realistic" manner (compared to Warhammer Fantasy, anyway). The main rulebook is easy to read, familiar to anyone who has ever played Warhammer, and comes with lists and overview for the Romans and Barabrians (generic), as well as a simple campaign system (again, a la WHFB). The recently released Armies of Antiquity covers armies as varied as the Normans and Saxons to the Samurai and the Persians, with more books and lists on the way (Biblical and Viking lists are due out this year).

"So what about miniatures?", I hear you cry. Well, first of all, Games Workshop has no plans to produce historical figures or to create a historically based gaming system. However, the Perry twins, who sculpt some of GW's nicest figures, also sculpt historical miniautures for other companies such as The Foundry and these fit perfectly within the rules. WAB does not hold to any particular scale and any figures or size will work with the rules (Gripping Beast and Old Glory are good companies to look at, too, and are also mentioned in the seemingly all-encompassing rulebook).

This opens up the players to buy figures from any company, and the book comes complete with a list of companies, distributors and magazines for the new historical enthusiast. This brings me to another reason to consider historical gaming, and WAB in particular. Players are not tied to army lists or boxed sets of any sort. All it takes is an interest in a time period, battle or military leader, some research, and picking out the figures to go along.

If there is any drawback to this game, it is the availability of the figures themselves. Warhammer players are more or less spoiled and used to buying regiment box sets and blisters at their local game store. Most stores do not carry complete lines of historical miniatures (and many of the miniature companies are located outside the US), so a lot of catalog, internet and special orders will be involved in building armies for WAB in many cases.

Also, availability of the rules and supplements in the US is limited in many areas to major distributors such as Brookhurst Hobbies or ordering directly from Warhammer Historical Wargames. However, don't let the fact that this game may not be on your local game store shelf stop you from investigating further. Warhammer Ancient Battles is a great way to get into a fun part of miniature wargaming that has been untapped lately; it's worth the little extra effort. The book itself is a great deal, and is really packed full of rules, background, and of course the perfectly painted miniatures in the color section which always make my own figures look like feces.

Besides, instead of waiting for a codex to tell you about your army, you have entire libraries and movies to flesh out your troops. If you like miniature wargaming, and you want a new challenge, try Warhammer Ancient Battles; you won't be sorry. This concludes our lecture. Go out, buy WAB, and find some old guy to tell you what your army was like when he was in it. Your test is due next week.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Warhammer Ancient Battles
Author: Jervis Johnson, Rick Priestley, Alan Perry & Michael Perry Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Warhammer Historical Wargames Cost: 24.99 Page count: 144 ISBN: 1 872372 53 8 Capsule Review by Jason Driver on 03/16/99. Genre tags: Historical	Good morning. Today's class lecture is entitled "Introducing Historical Wargaming to a New Generation", or "You Don't Gotta Have Hair in Your Ears to Play the Prussians". Please take notes, as there will be a pointless 10 page essay test following the discussion. As a long time miniature wargamer, it always seemed understood that most historical (hysterical?) wargamers had to be older than other gamers; I was pretty sure that being on Social Security was a prerequisite to buying DBA. In fact, to hear the local Napoleonic players talk, they painted their figures from memory, having been in those battles themselves ("If only Nappy had listened to me, we would have taken Moscow that day...."). It took a lot of knowledge about military history to play, where the more fantasy / science fiction systems just took imagination. Personally, this was a lot of the reason why my friends and I never got into historical miniatures. This, and the seemingly complex rules systems (The first edition of DBA made the original Traveler look like a Metagame). No wonder man invented the machine gun; 18th century combat took too long to work out. This is all a shame, because there is a large group of players out there, of all ages, who have an interest in historical gaming, but without a user friendly access to the "genre". Enter Warhammer Ancient Battles, from Jervis "I own your financial soul, hand it to me" Johnson and crew at the recently formed Warhammer Historical Wargames. Who better than the creators of the popular and quick Warhammer system to bridge the gap over to historical battles. On the off chance that you haven't seen this game, the rules are based more than loosely on the Warhammer Fantasy system that currently owns my paycheck, but with a....gasp...historical flair. No magic, but you don't miss it. No magic items, but you don't need them. No monsters, unless you count the Roman Legions. New rules for things like chariots and trained units, and you welcome them. The layout of WAB will be very familiar to Warhammer and 40K players, as the army composition uses the same point system. Many of the rules for movement, combat, and psychology are still here, but with a more - dare I say it - "realistic" manner (compared to Warhammer Fantasy, anyway). The main rulebook is easy to read, familiar to anyone who has ever played Warhammer, and comes with lists and overview for the Romans and Barabrians (generic), as well as a simple campaign system (again, a la WHFB). The recently released Armies of Antiquity covers armies as varied as the Normans and Saxons to the Samurai and the Persians, with more books and lists on the way (Biblical and Viking lists are due out this year). "So what about miniatures?", I hear you cry. Well, first of all, Games Workshop has no plans to produce historical figures or to create a historically based gaming system. However, the Perry twins, who sculpt some of GW's nicest figures, also sculpt historical miniautures for other companies such as The Foundry and these fit perfectly within the rules. WAB does not hold to any particular scale and any figures or size will work with the rules (Gripping Beast and Old Glory are good companies to look at, too, and are also mentioned in the seemingly all-encompassing rulebook). This opens up the players to buy figures from any company, and the book comes complete with a list of companies, distributors and magazines for the new historical enthusiast. This brings me to another reason to consider historical gaming, and WAB in particular. Players are not tied to army lists or boxed sets of any sort. All it takes is an interest in a time period, battle or military leader, some research, and picking out the figures to go along. If there is any drawback to this game, it is the availability of the figures themselves. Warhammer players are more or less spoiled and used to buying regiment box sets and blisters at their local game store. Most stores do not carry complete lines of historical miniatures (and many of the miniature companies are located outside the US), so a lot of catalog, internet and special orders will be involved in building armies for WAB in many cases. Also, availability of the rules and supplements in the US is limited in many areas to major distributors such as Brookhurst Hobbies or ordering directly from Warhammer Historical Wargames. However, don't let the fact that this game may not be on your local game store shelf stop you from investigating further. Warhammer Ancient Battles is a great way to get into a fun part of miniature wargaming that has been untapped lately; it's worth the little extra effort. The book itself is a great deal, and is really packed full of rules, background, and of course the perfectly painted miniatures in the color section which always make my own figures look like feces. Besides, instead of waiting for a codex to tell you about your army, you have entire libraries and movies to flesh out your troops. If you like miniature wargaming, and you want a new challenge, try Warhammer Ancient Battles; you won't be sorry. This concludes our lecture. Go out, buy WAB, and find some old guy to tell you what your army was like when he was in it. Your test is due next week. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)