It been quite a while coming ... but at last, Chris Kemp's NOT QUITE MECHANISED: TABLETOP OPERATIONAL WARGAMING 1914-1945 is now on sale!
These were the first proper operational-level wargame rules that I ever used, and they had a significant impact on my wargaming ideas at the time and ever since. They were also the inspiration for what became Tim Gow's MEGABLITZ operational-level wargame rules, ...
... and although both use very different game mechanisms, they are – in my humble opinion – both excellent sets of rules. (See here for a more detailed background to the development of the latter.)
I've known Chris Kemp since we both attended the first ever Conference of Wargamers (COW) back in 1980, and he began developing what became NOT QUITE MECHANISED in the years afterwards. I am lucky enough to own a copy of the first draft of the rules and was able to take part in several of the developmental play-test battles that have taken place in the interim.
As originally drafted, they did not use a grid but over recent years Chris has adapted the rules so that they do ... and there is no doubt that this has had a major impact on their playability.
The book is divided into twenty sections:
- Index
- Modelling the Game and Scales. How to Organise the Toy Soldiers
- Pre-Battle Organisation
- Timescales
- Unit Quality/Endurance
- Measuring Range
- Defining Contact
- Starting the Game
- Resolving Combat
- Logistics and Markers
- Miscellaneous
- Example Game Turn
- Sample Orders of Battle
- Player Notes
- Designers Notes
- Acknowledgements
- Bibliography and Further Reading
- About the Author
- Glossary
- Playsheet
- Front Scale
- Corps Scale
- Divisional Scale
- Regimental Scale
Unusually for a set of wargame rules, Chris' rules include logistics and medical units, the latter being able to remove hit markers from units they are in contact with during the reorganisation phase of each turn, assuming – of course – that the unit is not under fire or involved in combat at the time.
Chris Kemp's blog - which is (not surprisingly) entitled NOT QUITE MECHANISED - has a host of battle reports and other goodies including numerous ORBATs. The most recent of these is called 'Building Rubbish Germans' and is the ORBAT for a Corps Scale German M1944 Infantry Division.
A Corps Scale German M1944 Infantry Division ... but lacking its schnelle Batallion, Pioniere and horses.
I cannot recommend this book too highly ... and even if you don't use the rules, I hope that you will find it as inspirational and informative as I have.
NOT QUITE MECHANISED: TABLETOP OPERATIONAL WARGAMING 1914-1945 was written by Chris Kemp and published in 2024 by Not Quite Mechanised Publications (ISBN 978 1 4452 7312 9).
Please note that photograph featured above is © Chris Kemp.
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Bob -
ReplyDeleteThe Chris kemp rule set was one of the inspirations behind the Operation Uranus game Paul Jackson and I played out six years ago.
https://archdukepiccolo.blogspot.com/2017/12/operation-uranus-assault-against-third.html
Played, ironically, on a scorching 30-degree December weekend. We promised ourselves we'd do it again - I've even revised the map and the starting positions - but that seems to have fallen by the wayside. Pity.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteWhilst I am an advocate of wargamers being as ‘cultural’ as possible, I think that I’d prefer to refight an Eastern Front battle in the warm - or even hot - rather than in the cold!
I’d love to see your revised version of Operation Uranus if you ever get around to doing it.
All the best,
Bob
I purchased a hardcopy version as soon as I knew they were released and have been reading an digesting them. They are certainly more comprehensible than some of Chris' web based versions!
ReplyDeleteI had not appreciated the influence of command until I read them. This has impacted my formation of miniature armies, with the addition of brigade command stands to both SIDES and new WW2 desert forces. I had toyed with it for AIW in any case as it seems to have been the most important; IDF Ugdah being ad-hoc formations, Syrians only having notional divisions, Egyptian divisions being fluid in composition and Jordanians not having divisions at all!
NQM are comprehensive; due to the detail, they enable several different levels of games while keeping the same basic rules.
I'm contemplating their use for SCW, as well as WW2 and adapting to AIW. They have recently been used for a Guadajara refight.
You are obviously too modest to mention your own Hexblitz - Chris acknowledges them and may have helped persuade him to use hexes....
Neil
Neil Patterson (Neil),
DeleteThe current iteration of the rules is certainly a lot more detailed than the very first copy that I read ... which was more like an umpire and player's guide rather than a set of rules. Ove the years, Chris has added and amended them in the light of extensive playtesting and development.
From early on, the different levels of command have played an important part in how the system works, and the fact that in some armies it is more cumbersome than in others does affect that armies abilities ... which I've always found to be more realistic. I well remember taking on the role of a German Panzer Division commander during an imaginary invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. My ability to react to events and deploy my troops accordingly gave me considerably more flexibility than the Czechoslovak forces which relied on a much more centralised and rigid command system.
If the Portable Wargame system not 'taken off' in the way that it did, I think that I would have liked to develop Hexblitz into a much more rounded set of rules. Its certainly something that I ought to think about.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks for the kind review and comments, Bob.
ReplyDeleteYou will be pleased to hear that my original NQM 20mm toys, with your additions have been absorbed into Tim Gow's Megablitz collection and have now been passed on to Tom Davis. He recently ran his first Megablitz game at Crookes Social Club in Sheffield, with Tim umpiring, Martin Rapier commanding the Soviets and me commanding the Germans as Werner Kemp(f). :-)
You are absolutely right that for years I resisted turning the Umpire Guidelines into a proper set of rules, so I was very happy when Tim picked up the ball and ran with it to produce Megablitz. I certainly benefitted from seeing Megablitz, Hexblitz and various of Graham Evans' rules in print, because it firmed up my ideas of what I wanted the rules to look like.
We just have to pester Ion now, until he runs URANUS :-)
Regards, Chris.
Regards, Chris.
Chris Kemp (Chris),
DeleteYour rules deserve all the praise I could lavish on them. They inspired quite a few wargamers to develop their own operational-level rules … and we got lots of fun from fighting battle using NQM.
I saw the report of the recent Megablitz game in Sheffield and that and your book have made me think about reviving my own Hexblitz rules. They work … but need a few bits of chrome added to them (e.g. logistics, air power).
All the best,
Bob
interesting, and very tempting. Mind you, I have not got round to ordering your latest Portable Wargame Compendium yet... :)
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteBe tempted … by both publications!
All the best,
Bob
It is very nice to see NQM actually in print. I've also downloaded various iterations over the years, and even pushed some toys around with them from time to time, but the published set is very well presented and clear. Although th huge multi table Megablitz games are fun, they take a lot of setting up, and the grid based version of NQM allows for more manageable games taking up rather less space.
ReplyDeleteMartin Rapier,
DeleteI must admit that I like the broad sweep that Megablitz has, but after seeing NQM in action at COW2023, I could see that in its current iteration it had several advantages. It great to see that the rules are now in print, and I look forward to them gaining more users as word about their excellence spreads.
All the best,
Bob