Something a bit different.
As well as collecting wargame books for many years, picking them up here and there in second-hand bookshops as and when I was fortunate to find them, I started to collect old sets of wargame rules a few years ago. This one was most unusual, in that the game is based on matchsticks painted blue or red and scaled to represent infantry, cavalry or artillery units. Each move is a minute, movement and ranges are 100 yards to the inch, casualties are calculated by percentages, and morale (fairly simple) occurs only after a mêlée, the latter being resolved by a dice role "face off" between the opposing units. The whole booklet is 8 pages long and typed. I do not know when it was written, perhaps in the 1970s? It has a very different style from the rules I first played back in the 1970s, which were Featherstone, Grant and Quarrie. I would be interested to know if anyone else has come across this set before.
I've never heard of these before - love to find out more. Have you tried them out yet?
ReplyDeleteHi Adrian
ReplyDeleteCan you give us any background? Where did you buy them from? Could you post a sample page? Sometimes the typeface will give a clue.
Kind regards
Allan
I had them. Late 70's bought in a wargame shop in Headingley, Leeds. Built up huge armies in red, white and blue pre coloured matchsticks from a shop round the corner while a friend did green, but had to dye them. They play a bit like Kriegspiel but without needing an an umpire
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried them out as they are specifically designed for matchstick and card armies, though it may be possible to adapt them for 25mm or 15mm figures. I don't have much background I am afraid. A member on the The Miniatures Page recalls buying a set in Leeds (UK) in 1980 and playing with them. I got them from Paul Meekins Books, one of my occasional on-line purchases - it looked so unusual I thought I would get it. I have emailed him to see if he has some more details, but am yet to hear back. The typeface is just an ordinary QWERTY keyboard typewriter, of the kind I once had in the late 1970s/early 1980s, but I will try to post a page soon.
ReplyDeleteI have heard back from Paul Meekins, but he could not shed any light on them, they were just part of a bulk purchase of second hand items.
ReplyDeleteVery sorry to be so late to this post, but is there any chance I could get a scan of these rules from you? Of course I'd prefer to get them from the author but when I asked on TMP no one had any idea how to contact him.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am afraid I do not possess a scanner! However, I could photocopy and post them to you, if you are happy to give me an address.
DeleteI'm quite interested in these wargaming rules. You might find it interesting that the Jomini System is mentioned by Andy Callan in the March 1978 issue of Wargamer's Newsletter (pg. 16). Reproduced here with permission: https://fourcats.co.uk/mags/files/WGN-192-Mch-78c.pdf
DeleteIf you're still interested I'd be very grateful to receive a photocopy of these rules. I'm in the process of researching the various DIY methods for creating armies that have cropped up over the years.
Hi, i emailed you back yesterday. Hopefully it works!
ReplyDelete