Is the Portable Wargame a portable wargame ... and why is it The Portable Wargame?

I had an interesting comment about my recent YouTube video that has since been deleted. The writer suggested that Collectible Card Games (CCGs) and dice games were true portable wargames, whereas mine wasn't really portable.

This set me thinking ... and it reminded me why I capitalised the first letters of the name of the concept The Portable Wargame – thus making it a proper noun – rather than leaving it just as the portable wargame. Originally, what I had wanted to develop was a tabletop figure wargame that could be played on a small dining table, a large coffee table, or card table, that used a gridded playing surface, and that had rules that should be as simple as they could be whilst producing reasonably realistic results. It took time to get it right ... but I think that the end result met my design criteria.

I also wanted to develop a set of rules that were portable in the sense that it could be applied to larger games with little or no modification, In other words, the mechanisms should be portable.

So why The Portable Wargame (or PW for short)?

Many years ago, I taught Information Technology, and this included a brief history of computing. One thing that I covered was the introduction of personal computers. The first was designed and introduced into service by IBM in February 1984 and was produced in response to the release of the Compaq Portable. The machine was the IBM Portable Personal Computer (IBM 5155) Model 68 ...

... and it weighed 30 pounds (13.6kg) and cost $4,225 when it was launched. ($4,225 is equivalent to $13,701.36/£10,229.44 in 2026.) It had a 9-inch internal monochrome amber composite monitor, one or two half-height 5¼-inch 360KB floppy disk drives, and a separate 83-key keyboard. In order to identify the machine as theirs, IBM capitalised the name Personal Computer.

I took my lead from IBM, hence the name The Portable Wargame rather than a portable wargame.

I hope that this makes sense.

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PS. Weighing in at 30 pounds/13.6kg, the IBM 5155 Model 68 was hardly portable ... and at the time it was often referred to a luggable!

Restless Natives: One of my earlier attempts to write a set of Colonial wargame rules

The recent interest shown in my RESTLESS NATIVES by a French wargamer led to me re-reading the rules ... and finding a few mistakes that needed correcting.

The rules were first written in 2003 ... which is twenty-three years ago! I even demonstrated them at SALUTE2003 with the assistance of my old friend, Tony Hawkins.

The rules were designed so that two or more players could fight an interesting battle to a conclusion in under two hours on a 4' x 3' (120cm x 90cm) tabletop battlefield using approximately two hundred 15mm scale figures in total.

They incorporated several novel mechanisms including:

• The use of a standard pack of playing cards to determine the order in which units can move, fire, and take part in close combat.
• The use of Special Event Cards that the players can use to gain extra movement, firepower, close combat effectiveness, or to rally troops that have failed a morale test and have fled from the battlefield.
• The use of the Jokers to determine:
• When players must hand back any unused Special Event Cards.
• When the battle will end.
• Movement distances that have an random element to them (e.g. British infantry in Line move at 1D6 + 3" whereas in Column they move at 2D6". Therefore the former might move anything between 4" and 9" whereas the latter might move anything between 2" and 12")

There were 51 Special Event Cards:

• 15 x DASHED HARD LUCK!: This Special Event Card gives you no additional tactical advantage. Better luck next time!
• 9 x ENHANCED FIREPOWER!: Throw an additional D6 for each troop stand that is firing.
• 3 x ENHANCED FIREPOWER!: Throw an additional 2D6s for each troop stand that is firing.
• 9 x FASTER MOVEMENT:! Add an extra D6 to the number of D6s thrown to determine a unit’s maximum movement rate.
• 3 x FASTER MOVEMENT!: Add an extra 2D6s to the number of D6s thrown to determine a unit’s maximum movement rate.
• 6 x HEROIC CLOSE COMBAT!: Throw an additional D6 for each troop stand that is involved in close combat.
• 3 x HEROIC CLOSE COMBAT!: Throw an additional 2D6s for each troop stand that is involved in close combat.
• 3 x RALLY ONCE AGAIN!: Any unit that has totally collapsed can be rallied and returns to the edge of the battlefield.

I noticed as I was re-reading the rules that there are several typos and errors that I had not previously noticed. I am therefore thinking about revising the rules completely and possibly adding some more scenarios. I may also take the opportunity to change the unit of measurement from inches to centimetres so that battles can be fought on a smaller tabletop using a small number of figures.

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Some photographs of the demonstration game at SALUTE2003

Tony Hawkins (on the right) and me (on the left) in Peachy Carnehan​ and Danny Dravot mode!

Setting up the tabletop for a game. The terrain boards were from Essex Miniatures (alas, no longer available!) and the hills were from Games Workshop (also no longer available).

Restless Natives: Mea culpa

I was recently contacted by a French wargamer who uses my RESTLESS NATIVES rules about a mistake/typo in the rules.

He pointed out that in the scenarios section I had transposed the number of bases in a cavalry squadron and regiment. In the currently published version of the rules it read as follows:

The Sudan

British

Egyptian Lancer Regiment = 1

Egyptian Cavalry Squadron = 4

The Zulu War

British

British Lancer Regiment = 1

British Cavalry Squadron = 4

It should read like this:

The Sudan

British

Egyptian Lancer Regiment = 4

Egyptian Cavalry Squadron = 1

The Zulu War

British

British Lancer Regiment = 4

British Cavalry Squadron = 1

Whilst re-reading the rules, I spotted another error ... which is underlined below. In the Turn Sequence, the fifth item reads as follows:

5. If it is a Black King, Queen, or Jack, the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) also deals each of the British players a further Special Event Card (subject to the rule that no player may hold more than three Special Event Cards at any one time).

It should read:

5. If it is a Black King, Queen, or Jack, the umpire (or the player who is acting as umpire) also deals each of the Native players a further Special Event Card (subject to the rule that no player may hold more than three Special Event Cards at any one time).

Even more thinking about hexes

When I tried to create the very large hex I featured in my previous blog post, I discovered that I need to go to our storage unit to collect some more of my Hexon II hex terrain before I can. Feeling rather at a loose end, I decided to see if I could fit a large hex/smaller hexes combination onto my existing Portable Wargame warboard. Initially, the result looked like this:

I did not like this lopsided arrangement ... but realised that if I made a few minor adjustments to the number of hexes and half-hexes that I used on my warboard, it looked a lot better!

This new arrangement would require 3 x six-hex blocks (or the equivalent 18 single hexes), 19 x single hexes, and 22 x half-hexes as opposed to the 8 x six-hex blocks (or the equivalent 48 single hexes) and 6 x half-hexes used in my original layout.

For comparison purposes, I reproduced the terrain map for The evacuation of Abou Nasir that I had previously used as an example, and the end result looked like this:

Whilst it is by no means perfect (In the example, the village is spread over both of the large hexes whereas I would prefer it to only be in one of them), I does give me an alternative way forward that I had not previously thought might be possible.

It's not quite a 'back to square one' situation ... but it is certainly a new jumping-off point!

Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering: The programme

Last Saturday, I took part in the online Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering.

The sessions were:

• The history of French wargaming from 1871 to 2026
• Foreign volunteers fighting for the Papal States in the 1860s
• Seventy years of Spanish professional wargaming
• A forum on wargaming in space
• Cartoons and War
• The myth that has developed around the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU)
• Tony Bath and the invention of Dungeons & Dragons
• From Bench to Tabletop - A panel discussion on the latest wargaming research discoveries and their potential applications in our game designs
• The Last Ever Sing Along

This was the best of these day-long events to date … and I came away with lots of new knowledge and ideas.

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How ChatGPT imagined the Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering would look. It is not at all accurate! No berets were worn or pipes smoked ... but there were a few beards!

New YouTube video: The Portable Wargame in action: A Soviet combined arms assault

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

The video contains a battle report that was included in the original PORTABLE WARGAME book and features the use of two rule options: the 'Going Solo' card-driven turn sequence and the 'Sudden Death' combat result.

It lasts approximately twenty-one minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

The Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering takes place today!

Today I will be taking part in the online Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering. This annual online event has been taking place since October 2021, and is open to all members of Wargame Developments.

My contribution will be a talk entitled THE MYTH THAT HAS DEVELOPED AROUND THE WESTERN APPROACHES TACTICAL UNIT (WATU) and is a revised version of the one I delivered at the Conference of Wargamers 2026 (COW2026).

Some more thinking about hexes

Whilst playing around with the Wargame Map Tool program, I decided to see what would happen if I made an even bigger larger hex. I made one that was as tall as nine small hexes ... which would be 90cm tall. It would also mean that the large hex would be approximately 104cm wide and would contain seventy-three small hexes and twelve half-hexes.

This would just about fit on my wargame table and would be slightly larger than the 9 x 8 hex grid I have used in many of battle featured in my PORTABLE WARGAME books.

I think that I have pushed this concept about as far as I want to ... and I might try fighting a battle on the large hex/seventy-three small hexes combination to see whether or not it is a practical shape to wargame on.

What I am currently working on

I seem to have several small projects on the go at the moment, several of which are about come to an end.

Firstly, I have a talk to finish preparing for the Wargame Developments Autumn Virtual Gathering that will be taking place on Saturday 24th October. It is entitled THE MYTH THAT HAS DEVELOPED AROUND THE WESTERN APPROACHES TACTICAL UNIT (WATU) and is a development of the talk I gave at the Conference of Wargamers 2026 (COW2026).

On Monday 28th October I am giving a talk about FREEMASONRY to a group of mainly retired people at our local community centre, Shrewsbury House. The talk and its associated PowerPoint presentation are ready ... but I'll need to do a final run-through and fine-tuning on Sunday.

I am also working on my next YouTube video, which I hope to have finished and uploaded within a week. It is a battle report of the World War 2 wargame from the original PORTABLE WARGAME book.

Once all of these are complete, my next priority will be to do some more work on the next PORTABLE WARGAME COMPENDIUM.

Who said one should slow down when one retired?

Achtung Schweinehund!

Yesterday, I had to go up to my toy/wargame room to look for a book ... and found a copy of Harry Pearson's ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND! I sat down in my chair to just skim through it ... and an hour later I was still there and I had forgotten why I went upstairs!

ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND!: A BOY'S OWN STORY OF IMAGINARY COMBAT is a hilarious account of one man's journey through the hobby of wargaming, I bought my copy when it was published in 2008, and remember laughing so much when I read it that I actually fell out of bed ... much to my wife's amusement.

If you haven't read this book, I thoroughly recommend that you do. It will make you laugh ... and give a bit of background to the growth of the hobby in the 1970s, 1980s., and 1990s.

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ACHTUNG SCHWEINEHUND!: A BOY'S OWN STORY OF IMAGINARY COMBAT was written by Harry Pearson and published by Abacus in 2008 (ISBN 978 0 3491 1568 9).