A Gentleman's War or Glossy Coats and Tin Bayonets

I've followed Howard Whitehouse's career as a wargame designer ever since I was introduced to his SCIENCE VS. PLUCK wargame rules, and more recently I've found reading about the development of his latest rules – A GENTLEMAN'S WAR OR GLOSSY COATS AND TIN BAYONETS – intriguing. They are very definitely aimed at wargamers who like to fun and who enjoy fighting wargames with glossy looking figures, and who may well have already dabbled in using H G Wells’ LITTLE WARS rules at some stage in their wargaming lives.

The book is divided into twelve sections:

• Introduction
• Building Your Army
• The Country
• The Rules Of The Game
• Engineering
• Scenarios
• A Brief, Imprecise Guide To Armies Of The Wellsian Era
• On Colonial Matters
• From Flintlock To Needle Guns
• Cameo Roles
• Musings
• A Word On Traditional Toy Soldiers
• Designer’s Notes

The layout is very easy to follow and to read, and the use of Colonel Binky Bagshot and LITTLE WARS-like cartoons to illustrate the book add a level of humour that more traditional wargamers will love and enjoy. (This is definitely not for wargamers who think that what they do is in any way ‘serious’.) This book is all about having fun and enjoying yourself … and I thoroughly recommend it (and wish that I had written it!).

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A GENTLEMAN'S WAR OR GLOSSY COATS AND TIN BAYONETS was written by Howard Whitehouse with the assistance of Daniel Foley, and published by Pulp Action Library in 2018 (ISBN 978 1 945430 93 0).