Tuesday 29 October 2019

An opportunistic book purchase arrives

This week a secondhand book I purchased arrived - "CHARGE! OR HOW TO PLAY WAR GAMES" by Brig. P. Young & Lt. Col. J. P. Lawford. The book is in reasonable condition for its age having once been an ex-library book.


As I began to read the book I was soon tempted to get some Horse and Musket figures on the tabletop. So my very generic Napoleonic Spencer Smith figures were lined up for a game using a One-Hour Wargaming variant I am currently playing around with. As I work my way through the Charge rules it will be interesting to see if some of the ideas work their way into the OHW variant I am using.

Old Spencer Smith plastic figures


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17 comments:

  1. Norm29 October 2019 at 19:10

    Charge / OHW / Spencer Smith, what a great combo :-)

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  2. Jonathan Freitag29 October 2019 at 21:36

    A classic, for sure!

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  3. Mark Dudley29 October 2019 at 23:41

    An excellent choice of rules.

    I have some Napoleonic amendments on my blog if you are interested.

    https://ilkleyoldschool.blogspot.com/2019/08/charge-rules-napoleonic-amendments.html?m=1

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    Replies
    1. Peter30 October 2019 at 07:08

      Thank you and I will check out your amendments.

      Delete
  4. Rob30 October 2019 at 03:41

    Great buy, I hope you enjoy as much as I did/do. This was a seminal purchase for me from a secondhand bookshop in Salisbury more years ago than I care to remember. It is a treasured possession and I've since bought reprints to minimise the wear and tear of gaming usage. It was 'spirit' of the gaming that the book encapsulates so wonderfully that fired me up to go Old School and do my own Spencer Smith armies. Their first foray, a Blasthof refight, is posted on the Spencer Smith site. My armies are much larger now and I refought Blasthof again back in April this year and still enjoyed it immensely - I think it was the first time I've actually won that one! The SSM choice was also reinforced by all the pictures in Charles Grant's The Wargame which I borrowed almost permanently from the library in my schoolboy days.

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    1. Peter30 October 2019 at 07:11

      Thank you and I have read the Blasthof refight on the Spencer Smith site, most enjoyable.

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    2. Rob31 October 2019 at 04:37

      The latest refight appears on Hinton Spieler's blog.

      Delete
  5. Maudlin Jack Tar30 October 2019 at 05:53

    Great purchase Peter!

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    1. Peter30 October 2019 at 07:12

      Thank you an unexpected purchase, and I am very pleased to get an original version.

      Delete
  6. nundanket30 October 2019 at 09:56

    That book's a really good read. Obviously you've got to have the Wargame as well.

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    1. Peter30 October 2019 at 18:18

      I am certainly enjoying what I have read so far.

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  7. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com31 October 2019 at 02:01

    One of my first wargame rule books and the only one I still use occasionally. The deign philosophy comments scattered through it have been even more influential that the actual rules, esp given the practical experience of the authors on top of their research.

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    1. Peter31 October 2019 at 07:12

      Agree, those snippets of knowledge are a joy to read.

      Delete
  8. Gonsalvo4 November 2019 at 11:57

    I agree, a classic and very inspirational, even though I tjhink I have only once played a game using these rules.

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    Replies
    1. Peter4 November 2019 at 20:12

      I am certainly enjoying reading the book and the elementary game looks interesting.

      Delete

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