Skirmish Wargaming

Donald Featherstone is one of the cornerstones of modern miniatures gaming. His first book was published in 1962 and the last one I've seen was published in 1998, but there may be later ones, too.

This "game" is only a book - no figures, terrain, dice, etc., are provided. It contains his rules for skirmish miniatures gaming. In skirmish wargaming, each figure represents one man (or woman or animal). Consequently, they tend to represent small action warfare.

The book has a chapter of basic rules common to all the scenarios, then provides detailed scenarios (even with an entertainingly written fictional account) and special rules for the following eras:

The Vikings (850 AD) English Archers in France (1429) English Civil War cavalry action (1643) Pirates in the Caribbean (1715) The Peninsular War (1813, Napoleonic) The French Foreign Legion in Mexico (1866) British Colonials vs Zulus (1879) The Old West (1888, USA) First World War trench raid (1916) Street fighting in Cassino (1944)

A typical battle will feature 8-12 men per side. Team play is possible.

The basic system requires a player to issue orders to his troops, such as seize a certain objective. It may take a few turns for the troops to get there, and in the meantime, the situation may have changed. It takes a full turn to issue new orders, during which the troops continue towards the old objective!

Rules are given for movement, ranged combat, melee combat, wound levels, troop quality levels, morale, etc. A record sheet is needed to keep track of these things (plus orders), but due to the small number of troops, it's not a problem. Very fun system if you have access to miniatures and terrain.

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