Wally Simon's Skirmish Secrets of Wargame Design

Not long ago Russ Lockwood contacted me and asked if I would like review copy of the latest in the series of books he is publishing. They are all compendiums of articles written by the late Wally Simon, and Russ has edited them into variously themed volumes. The volume that he sent me – No.6 – was entitled WALLY SIMON'S SKIRMISH SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: A TABLETOP TOOLKIT OF IDEAS, ANALYSIS, AND RULE MECHANICS.

The book costs $19.00, is published by Lockwood Projects, and is available from On Military Matters (USA and World) and Caliver Books (UK and Europe). It is soft bound with a card cover and has 44 pages.

The contents of the book are as follows:

• Gladiators Behaving Badly: Bluffing, Buffers, and a Quick Arena Campaign
• Goin' Command: Falklands Raid: Stealth, Detection, and Demolition
• Victorian Colonial Skirmish Rules: Attributes, Cards, and D100s
• Samurai Skirmish: Archery, Windage, and Melee Bands
• Von Vorren's Machine Gun Duel: WWII East front Skirmish
• House-to-House Modern Skirmish: Reaction Deck, Wounded, and Response Deck
• Swath Fire: Volley Fire Variation: For Muskets Through Lasers
• Bash and Crash Medieval Melee: Agility, Strength, and Reactions
• Command and Control Cards: Activation with a Twist
• Hey Pilgrim! You Forgot Your Popgun: Wild, Wild West Shootout Rules
• Zgroshk Modern Skirmish: Clocking, Wounds, and Reserves
• Ragnar's Viking Raid: Fast, Simple, and Chartless Rules
• 23rd Century Urban Uprising: Dicing, reaction, and Rally Rules
• About the Editor

Before I begin my review, I must make one thing apparent. I've never enjoyed skirmish wargames ... and so I came to this book with a jaundiced point-of-view. I was therefore more than pleasantly surprised by what I found inside ... skirmish wargames that not only made sense to me, but which were also fun! Furthermore each chapter contained different ideas and mechanisms that I felt that I could easily adapt for my own purposes. I particularly liked Von Vorren's Machine Gun Duel and Zgroshk Modern Skirmish, both of which I could see myself staging and using with friends if there was not enough time or space to set up a normal wargame.

However, the chapter that really gave me a lot of things to think about was also the shortest. Command and Control Cards: Activation with a Twist uses a standard set of playing cards to activate each unit – something that I have experimented with myself in the past – and to determine how far they can move when they are activated. The latter is something that I had never considered doing before ... but I can see it being very useful in some of the solo wargames that I fight.

As I have already stated, this is the sixth volume of Wally Simon's work that Russ Lockwood has edited. The others are:

• WALLY SIMON's SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: A Tabletop Toolkit of Ideas, Analysis, and Rule Mechanics (Volume 1)
• WALLY SIMON's MORE SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: A Tabletop Toolkit of Ideas, Analysis, and Rule Mechanics (Volume 2)
• WALLY SIMON's SOLO SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: A Tabletop Toolkit of Ideas, Analysis, and Rule Mechanics (Volume 3)
• WALLY SIMON's CAMPAIGN SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: Volume 4: A Tabletop Toolkit of Ideas, Analysis, and Rule Mechanics (Volume 4)
• WALLY SIMON's MASTER SECRETS OF WARGAME DESIGN: Volume 5: A Tabletop Toolkit of Ideas, Analysis, and Rule Mechanics (Volume 5)

I must admit that I am very tempted to buy copies of these books, and especially Volumes 3 and 4. Christmas is coming, and they might make a nice little present for me to buy myself!

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A note about Wally Simon: Wally Simon was one of the early driving forces behind tabletop wargaming in the United States. He was a prolific writer of wargame rules, the prime mover in Potomac Wargamers, and the editor/published the POTOMAC WARGAMERS REVIEW from the 1970s until it ceased publication in August 2002. Wally was one of the founder members of the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS), and its first meeting took place in his basement in 1981.