Some time ago, I (and several other people) helped to encourage Paul Wright to produce a new, revised edition of his FUNNY LITTLE WARS book. He has, and it is now on sale from Lulu.com for £20.00.
The book is substantially different from the first edition and reflects the developments and changes the rules have undergone in the intervening years. The book comes in two parts, the first explaining the background to the rules, the way the rules work, a couple of scenarios, and suggestion on how to build a suitable toy soldier army and to conduct a garden wargame. The second part contains useful information and a brief summary of the rules.
The contents include:
- Introduction
- 01. The History of Mr. Wells
- 02. Playing Little Wars Yesterday
- 03. Playing Little Wars Today
- 04. The Basic Rules
- 05. The Advance Rules
- 06. Some Sound Advice for Such Men
- 07.Two Classic Scenarios from Little Wars
- 08. The Historical Setting of Little Wars
- 09. Building an Army
- 10. The Garden or Arranging the Country
- 11. The Idle Hills of Summer, and a Last Word
- Funny Little Wars Kitbag
- I. Toy Soldier Resources
- II. Further Reading
- III. Army Lists
- IV. Players Aide Memoire
- V. Playing Aids
The Army Lists include ones for:
- Army Red (AKA Britain)
- Army Blue (AKA France)
- Army Black (AKA Germany)
- Army Black, Yellow, Red (AKA Belgium)
- Armies Orange/Green (AKA The Irish Republican and Protestant Volunteers)
- Army Dark Green (or the Tumbling Bear) (AKA Russia)
- Army Cerise (or the Rising Sun) (AKA Japan)
- Army Orange (AKA The Boer Republics)
The book contains numerous colour illustrations, both old and new. and in my opinion is even better than the first edition.
The book opens with a very interesting statement which sets the stage for the rest of the book:
This is a work of the imagination.
Picture a garden, with HG Wells and toy soldiers ...
...the idea of a Late Edwardian afternoon, and a little campaign in the sunshine set in the far away world of hills, forests, castles and forts.
This is a game of imagination ...
'I dream, therefore I exist'
August Strinberg
FUNNY LITTLE WARS: EDWARDIAN GARDEN WARGAMES IN THE STYLE OF MR HG WELLS was written by Paul Holcroft Wright and published in 2022 by Battlefield History Litd. (ISBN 978 1 4583 7005 1).
I ordered my copy early this morning!
ReplyDeleteSimon,
DeleteWell done, that man!
All the best,
Bob
I love Paul's army lists. The Irish one is new. I'd be interested to know if the book still includes Army Light Green (Balkans), Army Lime Green (Mexico), Army Red White and Blue (America), Blusia (France), Ruritania, Gerolstein etc. Paul's campaign book also includes lists for Chinese armies, etc.
ReplyDeleteQuantrilltoy,
DeleteThe book doesn't include them, but I understand that the original army lists are (or will be) available online from the FUNNY LITTLE WARS blog.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks Bob, and James,
DeleteThe lists have been slightly tweaked and all the originals will be on the Blog, with a couple of new ones like the 1913 Irish one in the book.
The re-write of Little Campaigns will also feature some army lists - and I will be working on this over the summer.
All good wishes, as ever,
Paul
Funny Little Wars (Paul),
DeleteIt was my pleasure to review the second edition of your book … and I look forward to reviewing the campaign book when it is published.
All the best,
Bob