"Anyone can grow up. It takes a real man to remain a boy all his life."-- Anonymous

What is Hobby Wargaming?
Miniature wargaming uses miniature figures and models to create a semblance of historical or fictional combat in the form of a competitive game. Each figure represents one man or a unit of men. Players act as commanders, using rulers to govern the movement of the miniatures on the battlefield and dice to help determine the results of combat and firing. As in real combat, a combination of skill and luck determine the winner(s).

In a typical game of Maj. Gen. Rederring's gaming group, there will be four players, two on each side. Each will command perhaps three units of 20 infantry figures, plus one or more specialized units such as cavalry (12 or 6 figures), artillery (4 figures with a cannon or gatling-type gun), and possibly a boat, railroad train, supply wagon or other vehicle if the scenario calls for it. The group uses 25mm figures (approximately 1 inch tall).

The gaming area is a table which might be 3 to 4 ft. wide and 5 to 8 feet long, and have a variety of terrain. Different terrain can limit where or how fast a figure may move, and can give advantages or penalties to figures who are in combat or giving or receiving fire while in the terrain.

The objectives vary widely from game to game. One side may have to take and hold a particular village, to escort a group of civilians safely across the table and into the town, to rescue hostages, to destroy a store of critical supplies, to find a particular valuable item or any of a thousand other goals. The other side must prevent them from doing so, and may also have separate objectives of their own.

Simulation vs. Game
Most wargamers are history buffs to some extent; but hobby wargaming is an entertainment and social activity, as well as a technical exercise. Some wargamers prefer a tight, realistic and detailed simulation of actual historical combat, even though this often leads to more complex rules, and a slower, longer, and sometimes more frustrating game. Others prefer simple rules for a fast-moving game which comes to a definite conclusion, even though this inevitably means sacrificing a certain amount of realism and believability and ignoring many historical details. Since a hobby is an activity for personal enjoyment, both these philosophies are perfectly legitimate as long as the person holding them is enjoying his own particular style of wargaming. Our group tends to be much closer to the second philosophy; our players see the 19th Century in the sense of a romantic myth, and we are all much influenced by the fiction and cinema portrayal of the period, inaccurate though it may be. So our gaming is very social and imaginative, rather than technically accurate. In fact, some might call it downright silly at times, but we do have fun at it.

Historical and Fantasy Gaming
Hobby gamers have an enormous choice of subject matter. Rulesets and miniatures are made for every major historical period and region of the world (though they may not always be easy to get ahold of). In addition there are rules and miniatures made for dozens, probably hundreds, of imaginary fantasy and science fiction universes.

Most gamers combine the historical and fantasy aspects to some extent. Even tightly historical gamers often like to play engagements that might have been, rather than limit themselves to actual historical battles; some like to fight battles between armies that never met, such as Japanese samurai versus Aztec warriors. Some create armies for nations that never existed, opposing Napoleon's Garde du Corps with the proud grenadiers from the Grand Duchy of Bob. Though the Major General's group is loosely historical, we tend to combine different periods of history (from the 1860s to World War I), fight in a fictional subcontinent that includes both Asian and African cultures, and occasionally even incorporate the quaintly futuristic science-fiction gadgetry of 19th Century authors H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. For more information on the group's philosophy and variety of activities, click here .

The Satisfactions of Hobby Wargaming
Wargaming is a hobby which combines at least four types of recreational activity. It is an intellectual activity in that knowledge of history, psychology, and various mechanical and technical subjects are a large part of the enjoyment. It is an art/craft, in that the figures must be painted, the models must be built, and the terrain and accessories constructed in such a way as to combine practicality with visual appeal. It is competitive in the same way that any game with winners and losers is competitive. And because it requires at least one and preferably more opponents and/or partners, it is a social activity. The main advantage of the wargaming hobby is that it fulfills so many different recreational needs at one time. Its main disadvantage is that almost everyone who practices the hobby is of the same gender (guess which one), though it's possible that some gamers consider that an additional benefit.

If you are interested in learning more about the hobby,
you might find the following sites a good place to start:

Links
(Yes, thank you so much, the Maj. General is aware that metal links are raw-ther post-Victorian, but simply couldn't pass it up.)

The Miniatures Page is a large suite of pages with much valuable information on gaming in general, pictures and links.

Ed's Hobby Hovel spans a broad spectrum of gaming information, including figure-painting instructions and an Opponents Wanted listing. One of the pages, Ed Allen's Colonial Wargames Page contains info, links, military biographies, and lots of wonderful old engravings on colonial subjects.

The Terragenesis page has nothing to do with the 19th Century (it's mostly concerned with Games Workshop's science-fiction gaming universes), but it has page after page of breathtaking homemade gaming scenery and props, along with clear, practical, and literate directions for creating the effects shown, all in a beautiful, simple web-graphic environment. Do not miss it. Plan to be there a while.

The War Factory has a terrain section with the right spirit and a number of features of particular interest to colonial gamers.

Tim Peterson has a remarkable affinity for Victorian style and sensibility. His Gisby's Page has a great deal of information on Victorian-era role-playing, a highly amusing description of his own Space:1889 campaign, some glorious photos (do not miss the tripod war machine), and miscellaneous Victoriana. His Foundry miniatures site contains a list of links to Space:1889 and other Victorian gaming sites.

By Jingo! is Patrick Wilson, Chris Feree et al. 's web magazine dedicated to the military history, wargames and historical role playing of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The site is amusing, erudite, and impressive with a fine sense of period (even if those massive title images take a while to build). Lots of diverse, useful and entertaining information - pack a lunch (and a fast modem).

Bob Cordery's Colonial Wargaming site has some very clever histories of colonial operations in the imaginary regions of Damallia and Marzibar. His names and descriptions show a talent for wordplay and a keen sense of Victorian history, style and convention. His game photos are just beautiful. There are also online rulesets and photos of Victorian military subjects.

Though part of the By Jingo! website, Bob Duncan's Kafiristan and Ouargistan Station pages deserves separate mention, because Bob takes what are probably the most spectacular photos of the most spectacular colonial-era gaming scenery on the 'Net.

Ian Croxall's excellent Warflag site has colonial-era flags, plus instructions for downloading and printing them for use with miniatures. It now contains the stirring game adventures of The Red Shadow in French Algeria.

Steve Winter's The Colonial Angle page features figure and game photos, downloadable rules, construction articles, scenarios, and a useful list of Arabic names.

Milton Soong is beginning the herculean task of putting 30 years worth of Savage & Soldier articles onto the Web. S&S was a print magazine dedicated to colonial-era wargaming.

Trevor's Victorian Colonial Wargames Page has figure and game pictures, miniatures listings, and links. The site has some display problems on my Mac (pictures overrunning text and each other) and really should be broken into several pages to reduce load time, but is worth visiting.

You can tell that Ross Macfarlane is a pukka sahib; he games with 54s! His With MacDuff on the Web site contains accounts of his colonial battles with pictures, a nice steamer, and his full colonial-era rules set. Loch Sloidh! (Uh, yes, sir. And ook-ook-a-jook to you, too, sir).

Flagship Games' site has pictorial descriptions of sample games using their Rampant Colonialism rules.

Tony Stapells' Being a Short Discourse on Miniature Wargaming site includes a Darkest Africa game on the Battles page, with photos and sprightly narration.

Rob Beattie's The Steam and the Flame page chronicles a fairly spectacular Victorian Science Fiction battle featuring armored vehicles, walkers, zeppelins, etherflyers, trains and, of course, troops. The Major General especially likes the Zeptruppen's green uniforms.

Chris Johnston describes the nicely-conceived Olistan campaign on his Pore Benighted 'eathens site.

Sir Peter in Darkest Africa features Jim Stuht's beautiful modeling, good photography and graphics, and engaging writing.

Tom Dickson's Solo Colonial Wargames Page has campaign details and illustrated battle reports of the bellicose goings-on in MyAfrica.

Prehistoric creatures loose in Victorian London! Eureka Miniatures' site features Jurassic Hyde Park game photos. The horror!

The King's Carbine is a page dedicated to gaming Portuguese Colonial Africa.

Dan Brower's The British Colonial Wars has various types of features, including a photographic size comparison of several makes of figures.

The brilliantly entitled You and Whose Army? site has a section on colonials, with rules, scenarios and modeling tips.

Richard Silvano has put H.G. Wells' 1913 Little Wars rules online, and is building a thoroughly charming Garden Wargaming site, using Wells' rules and Playmobil figures. If your inner child has been especially good this week, reward him/her with a visit to Richard's page.

Philip Dutre's Frontberichten site has many areas of interest. His Little Wars section has information, pictures and links about the century's most charming set of wargames rules. There is also a demonstration game of Shambattle, a 1929 children's miniatures ruleset, with wooden Legionnaires and Arabs, as well as information and links on gaming the Boxer Rebellion.

Sandstorm, a very simple set of Colonial rules for 54mm toy figures is part of the amusing and nostalgic Army Men site.

Jeff Ewing's Miniatures Pages has scans of colonial-era miniatures, painted and unpainted, and some uniform information.

Pacman's Wargames Wonderpage (ahem) features an illustrated 1864 French Foreign Legion vs. Mexicans battle.

Jay Stribling's Jackson Gamers site is large and varied, with a substantial colonial-era section, game reports, campaigns, rules, construction and other information. The Jackson Gamers was TSATF-author Larry Brom's old club, and legend has it that the site is still haunted with pictures of Himself.

Fred Askew's Colonial Miniatures page features a delightful and useful glossary of Victorian colonial terms and a Boxer Rebellion battle.

Barry Burman's Small Wars page features colonial 15mm troops, battles, uniform illustrations and other items of interest.

Alan Hamilton's incognito gaming site contains a wealth of information on India and the Indian Mutiny, plus colonial-era rules, scenarios, photos, and great lists of Indian terms.

The Dortmund Amateur Wargamers (you mean there are professionals?) have colonial-era battle reports with great photos.

Blaze's Corner has painting instruction, beginner's tips, and photos of colonial-era miniatures.

Andy Cowell's kwaAndy site has information on the primary historical conflicts of the colonial era, plus downloadable rules and links.

The Northern Conspiracy's page for its Aortistan Campaign has turn and battle descriptions, plus some photos with too many pixels.

Scott Mathews' Tales of Zimdar has a battle report, tabletop photos and fictional background for a Colonial campaign with Victorian science-fiction elements.

On Sir Garnet's Wargaming Site, Robert Avery has begun a guide to all the large and small wars of the 19th Century. There are also longer articles, maps, and game reports.

Tod Creasey's site detailing his East African Mogdonazia Campaign has battle reports, campaign details, and rules modifications.

John Bell, a player in the Mogdonazia Campaign, has his own Mogdonazian Colonization Plan site.

Rudi Geudens' The Universal General site has some good pictures of colonial figures, plus the start of his Afriborea campaign. He also has nostalgic memorabilia from the Featherstone/Grant/Bath era of wargaming (sigh).

Ruggero Romano's L'Artigliere Stanco site contains a section on Italian colonial gaming, including uniform information. The text is in Italian and English.

John Ansari's Up the Nile (Without a Paddle) features well-photographed battle reports and amusing sidelights on his group's ongoing linked battles in Sudistan.

Darryl Smith's Bagamoyo Expedition site features historical background plus figure and rules resources for gaming actions in German East Africa.

Sir Rand McNally's Colonials Page features rules, history, scenarios, figures and scenery, with an emphasis on China and Canada.

The Bengal Club is a good-humored site devoted the 19th Century gaming, by a California gaming group. The look around the clubroom is worth the trip all by itself.

Rich Brooks' Miniature Wargaming Page features several games with 1:72 plastic Zulu Wars figures.

Grand and beautiful, The British Empire site had loads of historical information, timelines, maps and photos, as well as a TSATF campaign system and attractive, useful sets of action and event cards for use with TSATF.

Discussion Groups

Tim Peterson's ColonialWars Mailing List is the best discussion group on the web for Colonial Gaming subjects. It's members are friendly and very knowledgeable. Anyone can read the posted messages over the web, but to contribute to the discussions, you must be a member. Membership is free, but may take a day or so. ColonialWars is part of the Yahoo Groups , which includes a number of email discussion groups on military and gaming subjects, including CapeWars for discussing South African conflicts. rec.games.miniatures.historical, is a discussion group (also called newsgroup or usegroup). Anyone may post a message or question or read the postings, making the group more accessible, but more subject to spamming and flaming than the well-regulated ColonialWars. Other discussions in the same newsgroup category include rec.games.miniatures.misc and rec.games.miniatures.warhammer (for Games Workshop fantasy and science-fiction subjects).

Manufacturers' Links

For links to colonial-era figure and accessories manufacturers, go to the Major General's Figure Sources page.

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Copyright©1998-2002 David Helber. No commercial distribution of images or text from any page on this site without written permission.