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Wednesday 7 June 2017

Developing The Portable Wargame: The printed proof copies have arrived!

The printed proof copies of DEVELOPING THE PORTABLE WARGAME have arrived, and once a few final checks have been made I can proceed to full publication in the very near future ... which will probably now be early July.


The book has 128 pages and contains 82 illustrations that include black and white photographs, explanatory diagrams, and maps. The contents are as follows:
  • Introduction
  • Pinning and Unpinning Units
  • The Two Kills Option
  • Army Lists, Balanced, and Unbalanced Forces
  • Big Board – and Small Board – Gridded Wargames
  • A few observations about Portable Wargame Rules: Ancients
  • Portable Wargame Rules: Ancients
  • Army Lists for The Portable Wargame: Ancient Army Lists
  • The Portable Wargame in Action: Some example from the Ancients Rules
  • A few observations about the Developed Portable Wargame Rules: Early and Mid Twentieth Century
  • Developed Portable Wargame Rules: Early and Mid Twentieth Century
  • Adding another dimension: Some thoughts about Air Combat Rules
  • Portable Wargame: Air Combat Rules
  • The Portable Wargame in Action: Some examples from the Air Combat Rules
  • Simple Mini-Campaigns
  • Scenarios
  • Bibliography
  • Endnotes
When the book is finally published, the various versions will be priced as follows:
  • Ebook version: £2.99
  • Paperback version: £6.49
  • Hardback version: £15.99
This is slightly more that the cost of THE PORTABLE WARGAME and reflects the fact that it has 16% more pages.

34 comments:

  1. Hi Bob
    Looks very interesting indeed, book me up for a hardback copy. It'll give me an excuse to dig out my ancients which have been gathering dust.
    Real life has been getting in the way of wargaming over the last few months and this will boost my wargaming mojo!
    Looking forward to Vol 3.
    All the best
    Nick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nic101 (Nick),

      I am very pleased with the way the book looks now that it has been printed. Whilst I had some idea how it would turn out from seeing it onscreen, the printed version always seems to be more real.

      My energies are now going to be directed into completing my Napoleonic project ... and beginning work on my next book, THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Bob,
    Very pleased for you that you are at the final stages of your Book in readiness to Publish- I wish you every success in this adventure. There is something very pleasing about Publishing your own Book - it is indeed a great thrill to accomplish. Cheers. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson,

      Actually seeing the printed version of my book brought it home to me just what I had managed to achieve. I only wish I had done this year's ago!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Excellent news. A little previous I know but when do you think the Napoleonic rules will be ready for publication?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barry Carter,

      I hope to publish my Napoleonic rules by the end of the year, but I need to finish my Napoleonic project first.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Excellent news. Well done.
    I'll buy eBook and paper back again. I don't like eBooks but it is a handy 2nd copy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nobby,

      I hope that you won't be disappointed!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Congratulations. The Portable stable expands as the table doesn't. Sorry it's early here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephen Briddon,

      Cheers! I have one or two more books planned for publication over the next few years, including THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME and THE PORTABLE NAVAL WARGAME. In addition Arthur Harman has expressed interest in writing THE PORTABLE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR WARGAME, which I would love to publish in due course.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Another here interested in ECW, Bob.
      I don't do Napoleonics - all those serried ranks of slothful soldiers - although I might be tempted by a small model count :)

      Delete
    3. Nobby,

      Knowing Arthur, I am sure that his PECWW rules will be interesting and well worth buying.

      I came to Napoleonics fairly recently, and I hope that my rules will appeal to wargamers who don't want to buy huge armies.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Looks like another of your books headed to Southern Africa, Zimbabwe to be exact. My purchase will show up as a U.S, purchase but it will be Zimbabwe where it ends up after the mail pouch brings it here. Looking forward to it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John Camp,

      Hopefully you won't have to wait too long before you can order a copy of the latest book. With luck it should be on sale in early July.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. This has to be one of the fastest follow up wargame books ever! and one of the fattest. I like the cover and am sure the contents will be well received.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ross Mac,

      It would have appeared even sooner if I had stuck to my original plan to include my naval wargame rules and not the Ancient rules. Hopefully the next book - which will probably be THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME - will follow by next Christmas.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  8. Bob,
    Well done sir! I'm looking forward to seeing this new title as well as'The Portable Napoleonic Wargame' follow up, then the English Civil War title. Happy days!
    All the best,
    Stuart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stuart Asquith (Stuart),

      Thanks very much! I've really enjoyed the process of turning my raw ideas into books, and hope to continue to do so for some time to come.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. Jim Duncan,

      With luck you should be able to buy it by early July.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  10. Replies
    1. Ian Dury,

      I hope that you enjoy reading it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  11. Dear Bob. Apologies for my extreme tardiness in contacting you to thank you for your kindness in thanking me in he Portable Wargame, I have been rather unwell, more on the mad side of unwell really. Started to plumb the depths just as my copies arrived in the post. No connection obviously. I was touched and honoured to see my name - assuming it was me of course. It says more about your kindness, warmth and generosity of spirit than it does about my periodic blethering. I appear to have lost just over 4 months as a result of being on the receiving end of a rudimentary but nonetheless comprehensive kicking from my own mind and for most of that time the toy soldiers and books did not work. However back on track again. The book is great and I am very much looking forward to the publication of vol 2. I only wish that it had been published 40 years ago as it would have added an additional element of elegant simplicity to the classics that I had on more or less permanent loan from the local library. Your warmth and humanity shines through in your blog and I have spent a lovely rainy Manchester day catching up on your contributions and those of similarly lovely blogs, M S Foy, Mr Gow, Mr Hermit, 26 Soldiers of Tin, Mr Cullen and others. I also daubed some paint on some toys ! Thanks very much for your kindness. Naval wargames and ECW, toy heaven. I have in my possession a biscuit tin of home cast warships that I am mystified by and was wondering if you might be able to assist in identifying them. There are a lot of them and are all, I think , individual and some have faded typewritten names on the base. I will check them later and pass on more details. They were a job lot at a toy fair and the chap tried to tell me that they were WW1 ship recognition models until I pointed out the obvious home cast nature of them and that some are barely recognisable as ships ! What fascinates me is the sheer bloody effort of making them and naming them. This makes me think they are historically based. Apologies for going on but if you are able to help it would be great. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris Platt,

      My first PORTABLE WARGAME book would not have been written without the help, support, and advice of other wargamers, and you were one who was part of that group, hence the recognition and mention that you deserved in the acknowledgements.

      Your story is not an unfamiliar one. About thirty years ago I spent a long time in a very dark place in my mind, and for well over a year I was unable to function anywhere near normally. On the surface I may well have appeared just a bit miserable to other people who met me, but inside I was in a state of mental turmoil. With the exception of my wife and family, nothing and nobody really helped. Eventually time – and a change of job – helped me heal, but even now I have the occasional relapse. Luckily I know the symptoms and have developed strategies that enable me to cope until things naturally get better. I hope that you are now ‘on the mend’ and will find that over time things gradually get better.

      Thank you for your kind words about my book. It does seem to have filled a niche in the wargaming of quite a few people, and I wish that I had been confident enough to have written it earlier. That said, I am now trying to make up for lost time, and have several more planned … so be warned!

      The so-called blogosphere is full interesting places to go and to read about what other wargamers are doing. The only problem is that I could spend all day reading them, and doing no wargaming myself!

      I am intrigued by your collection of home-cast warships, and would love to see some photographs of them. They sound very similar to the ones that used to be produced by Minifigs, and that were reproduced by Caliver Books a few years back. I understand that they were copies of original models made even earlier, and had the look of being rather rough and ready. Some time ago I wrote a few blog entries about the ones that I used to own, one of which A Naval Diversion included photographs. Are these the models you are trying to find out more about?

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  12. Congratulations once more Bob, another excellent read for us all.
    Alan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tradgardmastare (Alan),

      Thanks very much for your help, support, and advice. I hope that you enjoy reading the book when it is finally published.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  13. Really looking forward to this to try out some other periods...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Lewis,

      I hope that you won't be disappointed.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  14. Bob, your PW rules have provided Mike and I with some wonderful games using our 54mm collections. We are now thinking ofusing your rules for other scales too. The news that you have more PW publications in the pipeline is just wonderful! Cheers, Anthony Morton

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anthony Morton,

      I really hope that my latest book will encourage you to try my rules with different scale figures and periods.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  15. Replies
    1. Leang Heng,

      I hope that you enjoy using my rules.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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