Wargame Waffle: Dave

01 March 2025

Return to World War II

Introduction

In 2025, I consumed much time on a return to wargames set in World War II (WW2).

This post is intended as an introduction to a series of posts on these activities.

In the Beginning …

Like most wargamers of my vintage (born in the early 1960’s), I was steeped in a culture for which WW2 was a benchmark; as a young child, Mum had been an evacuee from London; we regularly met her older cousin who had served with the Royal Engineers; films that centred on WW2 were frequently broadcast on the television (TV) - there was no streaming then; there were only 3 channels on the TV. One of our teachers had spent some of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese; and there was a plethora of WW2 models from Airfix and other manufacturers.

Models were traded in the school playground; books, rules and magazines abound (there was no internet). The product of authors such as Donald Featherstone and Bruce Quarrie (to name only 2) adorned the shelves of many a teenager.

At various times, WW2 wargames were played in the loft or on a large piece of plywood board above my bed, hinged from the wall.

… Circa Fifty Years Later

Through one of our daughters, I met Alex during the Covid19 pandemic. Alex was (and still is) a very keen board-gamer with an impressive collection and sharp brain. More recently, he acquired and enjoyed WW2 board-games such as Undaunted and Memoir ’44. Knowing that I had an interest in historical tabletop wargames, Alex advised that he’d like to wargame WW2; oh dear …

02 January 2021

An Introduction

Motivation to Blog

Bob Stewart's 'Bob's Solo Wargaming Scrapbook' has been a prime motivator for this blog. I hope to engage with other war-gamers (both solo and multi-player) to benefit from their experience, research and thoughts and hopefully add value to the community; very much as Peter has added significantly with GridBasedWargaming.

Intended Material

The intention is to discuss: history, rules, modelling, after action reports and more. Of significance to me is the fidelity intended for a set of rules and over the last 3 years, I've gone round in circles trying to develop rules for English Civil War (ECW) that appear to sit right; fidelity and ECW are likely to feature in future blogs.

BackgroundThe Start

I started to war-game in late pre-teens. Whilst at the time I didn't appreciate the proximity of my early life to the end of World War 2 (WWII), that gap of circa only 30 years meant that most boys at that time had an interest. We'd battle with 1:72 figures from Airfix, Tamya, Rexell, etc and basic rules. It was around then that I often developed board games.

In later teens, I discovered micro-armour, a wargames club and very complex rules. In hindsight, the 'accuracy' of such rules may have been questionable and may have detracted from the pleasure of the battles.
I virtually stopped wargaming when I left school.

False RestartsNapoleonics

About 2005, I developed an interest in the Napoleonic era, found some simple rules, bought some used, 15mm French figures and some books on Napoleonic military history. From these, I learned that Napoleonic units were more complex than represented in the generic rules I had intended to use so I lost interest.

WWII Western Desert

About 2010, I got out the Heroics and Ros WWII Western Desert models I'd bought about 40 years earlier. I purchased a used copy of the Wargames Research Group's (WRG) rules for 1925-1950 and some army lists for 'Panzer Marsch!'. The WRG rules included descriptions of terrain that inspired me to start to build a modular terrain system but with other commitments at that time, the system was never completed and I had only one battle with what had been created.

Terrain and vehicles for the Western Desert

Civil Wars

In 2017, I watched part of a film called Gettysburg, started to read up on the American Civil War, then realised I knew very little about ECW; hence, the start of a new chapter in my life! Such a fascinating period in social, political, military and religious history. I'm currently reading C.V. Wedgewood's 'The Thirty Years War', which provides some context to ECW.

Re-Resurrected

In Nov20, I stumbled upon Peter's GridBasedWargaming, which inspired me to dig out the 40 year old Heroics and Ros WWII Western Desert models I had. These were already painted but I based them to try out the rules developed by Peter from the 'Tank on Tank' rules from Lock 'n Load Publishing. Peter and I have exchanged correspondence on these rules and ECW has taken a back seat, whilst ideas about the desert are explored.

01 March 2025

02 January 2021

An Introduction

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