Beginner’s Intro to History Gaming

 “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.”

— Patrick Henry

Painting by Glenn Moore depicting
the British attack on the American
breastworks at the Battle of Great Bridge.

This past weekend I participated in the City of Chesapeake’s re-enactment for the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Great Bridge. Astute readers might recall I designed a very basic game — suitable for kids and newcomers to the adventure gaming hobby — for a smaller event in October commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Culpeper Minutemen mustering in response to the call to oppose British military action in the region of Hampton Roads. Some contacts I made there put me in touch with the Great Bridge event organizers...which resulted in my displaying and demonstrating my game and board at the re-enactment. I spent both days busy running many games, meeting some wonderful people, using the board to outline the battle, and discussing how one might explore history through games. On the drive home some of those discussions started me thinking (yet again) about good games newcomers might use to indulge their investigations into historical conflicts. One might follow a logical progression from entry-level battlegames to gridded-style games that can ultimately inspire even newcomers to devise their own historical simulations.

I designed my Battle of Great Bridge game rules so wargaming newcomers might quickly understand them and have a meaningful play experience, all while reflecting the key historical factors in the engagement: limited room for the British to advance, Patriot breastworks providing ample defense, and the longer range of the Culpeper militia’s rifled muskets. Introductory wargames of any kind seem rare in the adventure gaming hobby.

I’ve seen a number of good introductory roleplaying games (and even designed one myself) and they do a good job orienting complete newcomers to that aspect of the hobby. But good introductory wargames for complete neophytes remain elusive, especially given the complexities inherent in wargame design. Many cater to folks already familiar with wargaming and serve in an introductory capacity to an existing game, including rulebook, dice, rangefinders, and numerous miniatures. Some presume a tolerance in the audience for a certain degree of complexity, often commensurate with the core game from which they derive. I’ve seen a few good examples of wargames for beginners, notably Bill Molyneaux’s various board wargames about the French and Indian War (conveniently available at several related historical sites).

Worthington Publishing's Hold the Line:
The American Revolution game.

Battlegames remain perhaps the best starting point I’d recommend to newcomers. These games use a hex-grid board with modular terrain one can arrange for specific historical battles, as well as dice, cards for activating forces, and the units themselves, sometimes plastic pieces but occasionally upright wooden blocks stickered with pictures of the units. They’re perhaps best represented by the Commands and Colors line (C&C) by Richard Borg — Memoir ’44 (World War II), Battle Cry (American Civil War), C&C Ancients, C&C Medieval, C&C Samurai Battles, C&C Napoleonics, and C&C Tricorne: The American Revolution — though others exist in a similar vein, notably Worthington Publishing’s Hold the Line games for the American Revolution and the American Civil War. Gameplay driven by cards activating units and dice determining the outcome of combat, overall relatively basic and easier to understand thanks to rulebooks with clean layouts and well-illustrated examples. The games include plenty of terrain tiles to configure the board for the numerous historical scenarios included in each game. The modular, adaptable approach gives such games good replay value and the ability to fight out extended campaigns simulating larger conflicts beyond a single battle.

Such games, however, usually suffer from two major drawbacks. They’re often pricier than the average casual gamer is willing to pay; many cost between $70 and $100 (not including the equally pricey expansions) and those on the secondary “used” markets can cost even more as collectors items. These games can also rely on more complexity than the average beginner might tolerate, even in their more streamlined state. Carefully crafted presentation in rulebooks and online support from fan communities can help beginners navigate rules that seem a bit more involved than the average board game.

Worthington Publishing's Hold the Line:
The American Revolution game.

Battlegames pit two players in head-to-head engagements...so they’re ideal for a parent and child to play, with some moderated guidance and encouragement from the parent. The numerous scenarios not only provide extended repeat play value but offer a historical framework to examine the larger picture of what was going on before, during, and after the fight on other fronts. Battlegames provide an experience from which participants can launch into more educational pursuits, discussing issues of tactics and the implications of victory and defeat, asking questions about the historical context, and finding inspiration for further exploration: reading related books, finding movies on the period, or visiting historic sites and events.

Next Steps

While battlegames offer a beginner-friendly experience in one complete package, the broader wargaming hobby provides fertile ground for exploration...with a greater investment in more involved rules and possibly a commitment to the crafting required to play, whether producing print-and-play materials or preparing armies and terrain. Learning new rules, adapting them to different historical scenarios, even creating terrain pieces and miniature units can prove excellent educational activities as well as experiences to share with family and friends.

Certainly many established rules might prove useful in the hands of an inspired newcomer, depending on their tastes and ability to comprehend their complexities. But I think Bob Cordery’s The Portable Wargame remains perhaps one of the better ones for the ability to adapt core mechanics to different periods and its use of a gridded play surface, a technique I’ve found useful transitioning those familiar with board games and the concept of “spaces” to different uses like wargames. I’ve found The Portable Wargame and its numerous variants useful in exploring different historical battles.

Papercraft Patriots under construction.

Here’s where the basic game experience branches out into more edifying activities. All these require a bit of research for individual periods and battles. Unlike battlegames and their rulebooks with predetermined scenarios — with units and terrain noted on a set-up map — one’s own games require some investigation to determine the kinds of forces, their deployment, and the terrain. Although he wasn’t specifically talking about miniature wargames, Dr. Jeremiah McCall once said “Historical game design is the ultimate historical research project for non-specialists!” He’s right. You can’t simply throw a bunch of military units on the board and expect it to reflect a historical battle; you have to do your homework. Yet this “homework” enhances the overall learning experience based on the wargame. It doesn’t simply consist of finding an order of battle and translating that to pieces and units; or finding a map and porting it to the tabletop. Research places a battle in the greater context of the historical situation. It can enlighten us about the cause of the conflict, give us insight into the commanders’ motivations, offer a view of available intelligence that influenced decisions, and highlight the factors that played a role in victory and defeat. They can even inspire further discussion of larger issues that might influence our outlook on attitudes and events in our current world.

Design Your Own

You might feel like expecting a beginner to design their own is a huge step. It is. But with the right inspiration, an analytical approach, and some experience with games like those mentioned above, intrepid newcomers can extrapolate their own historical games.

Goodness knows when I first discovered the adventure gaming hobby as an imaginative 12 year-old I created my own games. Some materials supported my roleplaying game interests, but others found inspiration in wargames I played or those seen at a local convention. They weren’t always good games, but they engaged my various interests. Few had historical roots, though my micro tank game combined my interest in World War II with the Cold War tensions of the time. Ultimately we had fun playing them in our after-school game sessions.

This level of involvement really requires a good deal of work. There’s the homework, researching a historical period and battle to get the details right; then there’s the work designing the game mechanics...or adapting them from a game you understand enough to port to your own battle and adjust with your own touches. It’s not easy, but the process can prove as satisfying as the eventual game experience.

Despite becoming more mainstream in society, the adventure game hobby still suffers from a good deal of cultural stigma. High-priced game materials, complicated rules, and an investment in time and effort trying to comprehend them can all seem like barriers preventing newcomers from exploring the hobby. The battlegames mentioned above offer one of the easier entry points to both board wargaming and miniature wargaming grounded in historical conflicts. Playing these games, even for sheer entertainment, provides a foundation for exploring history on your own, as parents with kids, or with like-minded friends.

“Historical game design is the ultimate historical research project for non-specialists!”

— Dr. Jeremiah McCall

Postscript

The City of Chesapeake’s 250th commemoration of the Battle of Great Bridge was a fantastic living history event. Re-enactors portrayed British soldiers and Patriot militia, both in their respective encampments and on the field in a skirmish and a narrated recreation of the Battle of Great Bridge. Numerous period artisans demonstrated and discussed their craft with attendees. Area civic groups provided information about military heritage and local history. And I displayed and demonstrated my battle diorama and newcomer-friendly wargame, with a sign asking “Can You Win the Battle of Great Bridge?”

The wargame demonstration set up at
the re-enactment event.

Throughout the two-day event I was constantly on my feet, talking with visitors about the battlefield terrain, the forces involved, the breastworks that protected the militia, the longer range of the Culpeper Minutemen’s rifled muskets that poured flanking fire into the British column, and how the terrain channeled the British advance into a “kill zone” in front of the Patriot defenses, ultimately forcing them to withdraw in defeat. Some folks knew details of the battle, others were there to learn. Many took part in the basic wargame I’d designed to simulate the battle on my terrain diorama, divided into squares by string to provide “spaces” for people to move the unit “pieces.” Several returned later to replay the engagement, commanding the other side and often trying different tactics. They proved the important role the limited terrain and long-range rifled musket fire played in defeating the British in all but one game.

The event proved an amazing opportunity for me. Aside from sharing my enthusiasm for history and games with everyone who stopped by, I met several folks involved in local history organizations and managed to inspire in a few young players an interest in exploring history through games...and hence found motivation myself for this blog post.

Once the onslaught of holiday season activities subsides and I’m able to focus on my creative endeavors I hope to find time to transpose my Battle of Great Bridge experience into a print-and-play board wargame to share with people online (though I’d love to find a publisher despite the project’s small scope and limited replay value). Events like the re-enactment provide excellent opportunities to demonstrate the game first-hand, but they have a limited exposure to the public given the internet’s extensive reach.

My participation in this event was perhaps the most encouraging experience I’ve had in a year that’s been rough for me on numerous fronts. Yes, a few other contenders are high on my list, but publicly presenting the Battle of Great Bridge game bolstered my spirits on several different levels. Here’s hoping my efforts helping people learn about history through games can evolve into something with a more positive impact on my life.

“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”

— Carl Jung