Cutting one's coat according to one's cloth

Regular blog readers might find some of what follows covers things that I have previously written about on my blog, but for completeness – and to help me to clarify my own thinking – I have written about how I arrived at the situation I find myself in today.

---

When I retired in 2014, I had visions of spending loads of time wargaming and doing wargame-related activities ... interspersed – of course – with going on cruises, doing the usual round of household chores, and fitting in all the other things that normal life demands.

In anticipation of this, during the early years of the new century we spent quite a lot on money converting our house's loft into an home office, a shower room, and what became my toy/wargame room, and for the first years on my retirement I was able to use the latter almost every day.

Then real life made itself felt. A simple test showed signs of blood in my faeces, and on investigation it was discovered that I had a small cancerous polyp in my intestines. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic I went into hospital to have a minor keyhole surgical procedure to remove it. The operation did not go according to plan and I ended up with what turned out to be an irreversible colostomy.

Two years later, what I thought was a minor problem with my urinary system turned out to be prostate cancer ... and since then I've undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. The cancer is still there, but it is under control and does not seem to be getting any worse.

Now, these two cancers rather took the wind out of my wargaming sails, but I carried on as best I could. I found things a bit more difficult as I was spending lots of time either undergoing treatment or tests, but what time I was able to devote to my hobby was very enjoyable ... and then I broke my right leg, just above the ankle.

I had been experiencing problems with my legs for many years, but by 2024 they had become very weak and climbing the stairs to my toy/wargame room was sometimes very difficult. On the evening of 10th April, I stood up from a living room chair in order to go to bed, and as I walked forward, my right leg gave way and my fall broke my leg.

What followed was nearly three weeks in hospital and then twenty-two weeks confined to bed at home. For the first sixteen weeks, my axonal polyneuropathy – the cause of my weakness – had left me unable to walk, let alone climb the stairs up to my toy/wargame room. At the time, the prognosis was that I would probably be confined to a wheelchair and not walk again, but thanks to the Royal Greenwich Reablement Team and six weeks of intensive physiotherapy was not only able to stand again on my own two legs – with the aid of a walking frame and walking sticks – but actually begin to learn how to climb up a flight of stairs.

Twenty-five weeks after I had broken my leg, we had a stairlift installed, and on 2nd October I was able to use it to go up to bed the first time in nearly six months ... and a visit to my toy/wargame room soon followed.

It soon became apparent that it was very unlikely that I was going to be able to fulfill my dreams of wargaming as much as I had hoped when I retired. Just getting upstairs – even using the stairlift – was tedious and very restricting. If I went up there, I felt marooned ... and if I didn't go up, I felt cheated of the enjoyment I get from wargaming. This dilemma has hung around every since, and every attempt I have made to find a solution has not exactly been a failure but has proved unsatisfactory.

This is where I now find myself ... and until I can find a workable solution, I cannot seem to make significant progress. This is not to say that things have been in a state of limbo; I've been working on my Belle Époque project and I've been gaming on a regular basis at Dice on the Hill. I've also been playing around with a new version of my PORTABLE WARGAME rules for use with my Belle Époque project and trying to devise a set of campaign maps for this project.

So, what do I need to do? I need to create a truly portable wargame that is light and small enough so that I can either bring downstairs and set it up on our dining table or that I can set up on the worktable in my toy/wargame room. I have the figures, I have the draft of a set of rules that might be suitable, and I have loads of Hexon II terrain ... but the latter is not as portable as I need.

I’ve been playing around with possible alternatives to the Hexon II … and I am giving serious consideration to using either a square gridded cloth or board. The choice of squares makes sense for several reasons:

• Late nineteenth century warfare tended to be linear in nature, and using a square grid reflects this.
• It is easy to mark up a cloth or board with a square grid.
• It harks back to games like Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER and Dr. David Charles Ballinger Griffith’s POLEMOS.

At present I am looking at using 5cm x 5cm (2-inch x 2-inch) squares. I've used this size of grid square in the past (e.g. The Attack on Morobad) ...

The Attack on Morobad. It used a 12 x 12 grid of 5cm x 5cm (2-inch x 2-inch) squares on a sand-coloured felt cloth. The Great Wall of Morobad was homemade from wooden Jenga blocks mounted on 5cm x 5xm MDF squares and the palm trees were mounted on bases made from Fimo.

... and an 8 x 8 grid would be 40cm x 40cm (16-inches x 16-inches) and a 12 x 12 grid would be 60cm x 60cm (24-inches x 24-inches). Both of these would be ideal for my requirements.

Another advantage of using this size of grid square is that my existing Belle Époque collection is mounted on 4cm-wide MDF bases (Infantry on 4cm x 2cm, cavalry on 4cm x 3cm, and artillery on 4cm x 4cm bases) that fit inside this size of grid square. In addition, I will be able to mount terrain on 5cm x 5cm MDF squares (or multiples thereof), of which I have a plentiful supply.

This is the current state-of-play with regard to my plans to create a truly portable wargame that I can easily carry up and down stairs from my toy/wargame room or fit on my worktable. Now all I have to do is to get hold of a suitably-sized piece of felt material or board ... and then I can start being creative.

Squared grids: A short (and incomplete) history

My PORTABLE WARGAME rules are designed to be used with either a square or hex grid, hence the use of the term 'grid area' in the text. Over the years, I've used both types of grid and have come to the following conclusions:

• Square grids work well in wargames set during historical eras when armies fought in linear formations.
• Hex grids work well in wargames set during historical eras when armies fought in more flexible formation.

I am currently working on the draft of a set of PORTABLE BELLE ÉPOQUE WARGAME rules and I have yet to decide which type of grid to use. However, as part of my deliberations I have spent time looking at the history of square grids ... and decided that it might be of interest to my regular blog readers if I shared the results of my researches.

---

As far as my research shows, wargames with square grids were being used by the time that Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig – the Duke of Brunswick’s Master of Pages – first published his wargame in 1780. An improved edition appeared in 1782, and this was followed in 1803 by a drastically revised edition.

A reconstitution of Hellwig's wargame.
Creative Commons CC0 License

This was followed in 1812 by Lieutenant Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz's famous KRIEGSSPIEL, which also used a gridded terrain although movement and weapon ranges were measured using dividers.

All the playing equipment used in von Reisswitz's KRIEGSSPIEL was stored in a specially constructed wooden chest.

The top of the specially constructed wooden chest turned through 180 degrees and opened to become the playing surface.

Some of the playing equipment used in von Reisswitz's KRIEGSSPIEL.

Von Reisswitz's KRIEGSSPIEL in use. It shows some of the terrain squares.

This game was developed by his son, Georg Heinrich Rudolf von Reisswitz, into the game that was widely used by the Prussian Army ... and subsequently by many other nations.

Later examples of nineteenth and early twentieth century wargames that used squared grids include:

• STRATEGONON (1830) by Wilhelm Freiherr von Aretin.

An Illustration from STRATEGONON showing examples of the two-dimensional buildings and trees used to play the game. These are reminiscent of the two-dimensional building used by Joseph Morschauser.

An Illustration from STRATEGONON showing examples of the playing pieces used to play the game. It is thought that the figures were fixed to the wooden blocks using wax.

An Illustration from STRATEGONON showing examples of the differently shaped wooden terrain blocks used to play the game.

• THE GAME OF WAR (1858) by Walter Whitmore Jones*.
• WAR-CHESS OR GAME OF BATTLE (1866) by Colonel Charles Richardson. This used a grid of diagonal squares.

• POLEMOS, THE NEW GAME OF WAR (1883) by Dr. David Charles Ballinger Griffith.

An image from the Illustrated London News of POLEMOS, THE NEW GAME OF WAR being played at the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI).

Some of the painted figures supplied with boxed stes of POLEMOS, THE NEW GAME OF WAR.

• GAME OF NAVAL BLOCKADE (1888) by Lieutenant H Chamberlain RN.

A reconstruction of Lieutenant Chamberlain's GAME OF NAVAL BLOCKADE..

• NAVAL WAR GAME (1898 onwards) by Fred T Jane. Like von Reisswitz the Elder’s wargame, Fred Jane’s game used a square grid as its playing surface, and in the first edition (1898) movement and weapon ranges were measured using the grid. In subsequent editions this was done using rulers.

A naval battle being fought using Fred Jane's NAVAL WAR GAME rules.

• BATTLE (1908) by T H Ward and J Ward. This used simple wooden pieces and a board that was almost identical to a chessboard.

The wooden BATTLE playing pieces.

The BATTLE board and playing pieces set up for a game.

• SOLDATEN-SPEIL (1908) by E L Böttcher. This used a squared grid with 630 squares (30 x 21) and sixty two metal playing pieces per side (twelve cavalry and fifty infantry).

The top of the box containing the pieces required to play E L Böttcher's SOLDATEN-SPEIL.

The figures included in E L Böttcher's SOLDATEN-SPEIL.

• JEU DE LA GUERRE (1907) by Ms Julie Moller. This was very similar to L'ATTAQUE.
• L’ATTAQUE (1908) by Ms Hemance Edan. This game formed the basis of several other wargames, including MANOEUVRES, LE CHOC, DOVER PATROL, AVIATION, TRI-TACTICS, and STRATEGO.

One of the illustrations used in the patent granted to Ms Hemance.Edan for the game L'ATTAQUE.

An early example of the L'ATTAQUE games board and playing pieces.

In the 1960s, Joseph Morschauser wrote several sets of rules that used square grids. These included his FRONTIER rules.

A battle being fought using Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' rules. His square grid appears to have 384 (24 x 16) 3-inch/7.5cm squares, making his tabletop 6 foot x 4 foot (180cm x 120cm).

A close up of Joseph Morschauser's Britians soldiers in action on his gridded tabletop.

In more recent times, the French Marxist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic, and founder of the Situational International Guy Debord devised A GAME OF WAR, which also uses a square grid ... which allows diagonal as well as orthogonal movement.

A screenshot of a battle being fought using the computer version of Guy Debord's A GAME OF WAR.

---

* Walter Whitmore Jones also wrote the first standardized rules for croquet, and this led to the establishment of the All England Croquet Club in 1868.

Setting some short-term goals

During our recent cruise, I made sure that I had plenty of time to do some thinking about what I want to achieve during 2026. One thing that I decided was that I ought to regularly set myself some short-term goals that I can realistically achieve ... and these are the ones I have set myself for the next month or so:

• Paint the buildings that I constructed last December.
• Organise my existing Belle Époque armies into formations.
• Add another army to my Belle Époque project. To this end, I have bought a number of painted 15mm Essex Minatures Zulus so that I can field a Zulu-style army on my tabletop. With luck, they should only need a minimum amount of work done on them (i.e. touching up any damage to their paintwork) before they can be varnished and based.
• Playing around with ideas for a Belle Époque version of the PORTABLE WARGAME that uses smaller grid areas. This will draw heavily on 'The Gatlings jammed ...' Colonial wargame rules I included in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME and that were used in my recreation of Joseph Morschauser's ATTACK ON MOROBAD.
• Adding some more vessel to my growing collection of 1/1200th-scale model ships. I particularly want to expand the Imperial Japanese Navy and pre-dreadnought sections of my collection, and I have several eBay purchases in transit that will help me to do this.

None of the above should be too difficult to achieve in the timeframe I have set myself ... and if getting there takes me an extra week or two, so be it!

A set of Portable Wargame rules written by ChatGPT

As part of my investigation into the use of ChatGPT in wargaming …

… I asked it to design me a set of PORTABLE WARGAME rules for the period 1880 to 1910, and what follows is the result.

---

Portable Wargame Rules: Colonial & Early 20th Century Warfare (1880 to 1910)

A simple, fast-playing, and portable wargame system for small-scale battles.

1. GAME OVERVIEW

This set of rules is designed for quick and engaging wargames set between 1880 and 1910, covering conflicts like the Anglo-Zulu War, Mahdist War, Spanish-American War, Russo-Japanese War, and early colonial skirmishes.

The rules prioritize playability while maintaining historical flavour.

Scale & Setup

• Map/Grid: Hexagonal or square grid (8 x 8, 10 x 10, or larger)
• Unit Representation: One unit represents a small detachment, platoon, or company.
• Dice: D6-based mechanics for simplicity.

2. UNIT TYPES & STATS

Each unit has the following attributes:

• Strength Points (SP): Represents combat f fectiveness.
• Units are eliminated at 0 SP.
• Firepower: Maximum range and fire dice roll.
• Movement: How many spaces the unit moves.
• Morale: Affects retreat and combat resilience.

Unit Type	SP	Firepower	Range	Movement	Notes
Regular Infantry	4 SPs	1D6	2 grid areas	2 grid areas	Core unit, steady fire.
Native Infantry	3 SPs	1D6-1	1 grid area	3 grid areas	Fast but less powerful.
Cavalry	3 SPs	1D6-1	1 grid area	4 grid areas	Charge bonus.
Artillery	3 SPs	1D6+1	4 grid areas	1 grid area	Indirect fire, powerful at range.
Machine Guns	3 SPs	2D6	3 grid areas	1 grid area	Devastating firepower but immobile.
Commanders	-	-	-	2 grid areas	Boosts morale & activation.

3. TURN SEQUENCE

Each turn consists of the following phases:

A. Initiative Phase

• Both sides roll 1D6. The higher roll decides who goes first. Re-roll ties.

B. Activation Phase

• Players alternate activating units (move/fire or fire/move).
• A unit may either:
• Move & Fire
• Fire & Move
• Charge into Melee (Cavalry & Native Infantry only)

C. Movement Rules

• Terrain affects movement (e.g., hills cost +1 movement, rivers require a bridge or crossing).
• No diagonal movement on squares; hex grids allow full movement.
• Cavalry may retreat 1 space after melee combat.

4. COMBAT RULES

A. Shooting

• Roll 1D6 (or more based on unit type) to determine hits.
• Target hit on 4+ (unless modified).
• Cover reduces hit chance (-1 to dice rolls).
• Condition Modifier:
• Target in cover -1
• Long-range fire -1
• Command nearby +1
• Example: British Regular Infantry fires at Native Infantry in cover. Rolls 1D6, but applies a -1 penalty.

B. Melee Combat

• Both players roll 1D6.
• Higher roll wins; loser retreats or loses 1 SP.
• If the result is a tie, both lose 1 SP.
• Cavalry gets +1 when charging.

C. Morale Checks

• A unit reduced to 1 SP rolls 1D6. On 1-2, it retreats; on 3+, it holds.
• Commanders nearby add +1 to morale rolls.

5. VICTORY CONDITIONS

• Control the battlefield: Hold key objectives for X turns.
• Break the Enemy: Reduce the enemy's force to below 50%.
• Survival: Defend a position until a set turn.

6. OPTIONAL RULES

A. Command & Control

• Commanders can activate 1 additional adjacent unit per turn.
• Without a commander, units require 1D6 roll of 3+ to activate.

B. Special Weapons

• Gatling Guns: Roll 3D6 but jam on a double 1 (misses next turn).
• Bayonet Charges: Infantry get +1 in melee when charging from 2 spaces away.

7. EXAMPLE SCENARIO

Colonial Defence Situation: A British column is ambushed by a large force of native warriors. The British must hold their ground until reinforcements arrive.

• Map: Village in the centre, river on one side, hills on the other.
• British Forces: 3 Regular Infantry (4 SP), 1 Artillery (3 SP), 1 Machine Gun (3 SP), 1 Commander.
• Native Forces: 6 Native Infantry (3 SP each), 2 Cavalry (3 SP each).
• Objective: British must survive 8 turns without losing 50% of their force.

8. FINAL NOTES

• This system is easy to expand with more unit types (early tanks, armoured trains, etc.).
• Designed for solo, two-player, or small group play.
• Play on a small board (8 x 8 grid), making it portable and quick.

---

I find it interesting that ChatGPT has not just copied the text and mechanisms from the published versions of the PORTABLE WARGAME. For example, it has added Morale rules, and the Melee rules are very different from those I have written. It has also included ideas for Victory Conditions (something that I know some wargamer like) as well as some Optional Rules that have rather piqued my interest.

I was intending to play test Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER rules in the near future, but I am now giving serious consideration to shelving that idea and play testing these rules instead.

Exactly what I want!

Earlier this week my old friend Nick Huband sent me a couple of documents that were extremely helpful.

One contained an article from the June 1976 issue of BATTLE magazine about 'Wargaming for Beginners'. It was written by Tony Bath and included several photographs of Joseph Morschauser wargaming on his gridded tabletop with 54mm and 25mm figures.

The second was a copy of an article from the August 2018 issue of MODEL BOATS magazine. The article described how Ashley Needham had constructed a model pre-dreadnought battleship based on the tinplate one manufactured between 1928 and 1981 by Sutcliffe Pressings Limited. It was named Valiant and is exactly the sort of model warship that I need for my Belle Époque project.

Ashley Needham's model of the tinplate battleship Valiant sailing at high speed.

© Model Boats Magazine

Now that I have a photograph on which to base my own models on, I hope to start work on building several as soon as I have completed work on my simple naval wargame rules and play testing Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargame rules.

Joseph Morschauser's Frontier Wargame Rules

The following is the text of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargame rules. They were intended to be used on a square gridded tabletop, and I hope to play test them as written in the near future.

---

The text comes from the WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER No.62 (May 1967). Donald Featherstone wrote the following introduction to the rules:

GRIDDED WARGAMES

The leading exponent of this unique, and perhaps stylised, form of wargaming is Joe Morschauser of U.S.A. (author of "How to Play Wargames in Miniature" Walker & Co. Few York, 1962).

Joe uses boards gridded with 3" squares, on which he fights with 54mm troops on trays - 3 foot or 2 cavalry; 1 gun and 2 gunners per tray. A tray is handled and used just as a single figure could be – Joe's "Roster System" is not used. Flexibility is gained by narrowing the area controlled by a tray to merely the adjacent square.

Movement is always across side of grid square and to move on a diagonal requires the use of 2 for 1 so to speak. Trays control only grid square directly in front of them thus enemy could pass aside or to rear in adjacent square, provided no facing of trays is involved. This is what really gives you "space" on such a small table top. Guns fire 7 or 8 squares again using "across sides of square" for counting – the 2 for 1 on diagonal deal. There is of course no shooting of guns a la Wells, only dice rolling and troops do not fire as such but come into "battle-contact" when facing across sides of adjacent grid squares, Cannon "fire" (by dice) longer distances of course.

Joe has built a “city”, some hills, tree areas and a village for this set-up all of which look pretty impressive on the board, set up. Yet not one bit of this accessory material uses up a single grid square of space. Every one of the 144 grid squares on this board (it’s 12 by 12 grid squares in size) can be used to set troops in or move through. This was accomplished by having things like walls, houses in “flat” form running along the grid lines between the grid squares.

Here are Joe’s rules for “Frontier” type gridded wargames.

TROOP TYPES

Infantry Moves: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Cavalry Moves: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Maxim Guns Move: 2 squares; Battle Powers: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Light Field Artillery Move: 2 squares; Battle Powers 1; Range: 4 Squares.

Field Artillery Move: 1 square; Battle Powers: 1; Range: 6 Squares.

Position Artillery Move: None; Battle Powers: 1; Range: 10 Squares.

Command Units Move: 3 squares; Battle Powers: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Notes

Infantry & Cavalry: Native State units of this type have 1 point less Battle Power.

Other units: will not move forward to replace enemy after successful attack.

No Battle Power will drop below 1 regardless of other rules.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

1. First conduct fire. All cannon in range will fire before cannon hit are removed. Fire is thus simultaneous.

2. Now roll dice to see which side takes first move this sequence. High number takes first turn this sequence.

3. First-turn-side moves all pieces, then conducts battles indicated by contacts, removing casualties at once. Then second-turn-side the same. This completes the sequence and a new sequence will begin with conduct of fire again.

FIRE RULES

1. Move no pieces, fire cannon as they stand and face.

2. For each gun firing; point out target square then roll a die for shot fall location. A 5 or 6 indicates a hit will fall on designated target. . A 1 indicates fall at 9 o’clock, a 2 indicates fall at 12 o’clock, a 3 indicates a fall at 3 o’clock, and a 4 indicates fall at 6 o’clock thus…

3. Now roll a die to determine effectiveness of shot on the location already indicated.

DIRECT FIRE HIT roll a 2, 4 or a 6 (**).

INDIRECT FIRE HIT roll a 4 or a 6 (**).

** Command Units: Direct Fire Hit requires a 4 or 6, Indirect Fire Hit requires a 6.

4. Range is counted off across sides of grid squares. If entire tray base (not troops on it) can be seen from gun, use direct fire. If tray base cannot be seen or is in town or wood, use indirect fire.

5. Fire is simultaneous. If cannon is hit it may still fire that sequence before removal. Roll only once per gun per sequence. Cannon in battle contact during firing segment of sequence may not fire.

6. Arc of fire is 90-degrees forward, sweeping from one 45=degree diagonal line of squares to other. If location of shot fall is beyond range, or out of arc of fire, shot is ineffective. If shot fall indicates fall on friendly piece, die throw for effectiveness of fire is conducted by enemy commander.

MOVEMENT RULES

1. Each piece may be moved only once per sequence. All moves are made across sides of grid, squares, never across diagonals.

2. A piece may be moved through grid squares adjacent to flank or rear of enemy piece provided its own front does not face the enemy during the move past the enemy.

3. A piece may not move through grid squares adjacent to the front of an enemy piece. It must stop in that grid square, face the enemy, thus ending its move that turn. If it moves into a square faced by several enemy it may face any of enemy; it then does battle with that enemy during its turn using the numbers v one rules listed in Battle Rules section.

4. A piece facing or being faced by an enemy piece or pieces in adjacent square (s) at start of its move may break contact with enemy piece(s) and move away. It may not come in contact with any enemy piece this turn after breaking contact.

BATTLE RULES

1. Battle contact is made when one piece faces an enemy in an adjacent square. A piece may fight only one battle during its turn, that is attack only once during its turn.

2. When attacker moves into contact with flank or rear of enemy the latter is faced to meet attacker at once. If several attackers contact one enemy, enemy faces last attacker to be moved into contact. If attacker loses battle it is faced attacker that should be removed.

3. If attacker is successful, remove defender at once. Then move attacker whom defender faced into defender's square if desired (optional). If this results in new contact attacker still may not conduct another battle this turn. If defender is successful attacker re faces should be removed as noted above in (2).

4. When several attackers assault one, defender's Battle Power is reduced thus;

2 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 1.

3 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 2'

4 ATTACKERS - defender's Battle Power reduced 3.

The Battle Power used for several attackers is Battle Power of attacker defender faces.

Battle Conduct

Side taking turn (attacker) rolls one die for its piece (or pieces), a different colour die for enemy piece. Roll only once per attack.

(a) Both dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – remove both (if several attackers against one), remove defender and attacker he faced.

(b) Neither dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less - stalemate, all pieces remain on board in position.

(c) One die shows number pertaining or less, other does not – remove other piece (if loser is several attackers, remove attacker faced by the defender's tray).

SPECIAL RULES

1. Hills - Take one point of Battle Power from attacker up 1 hill step, 2 from attacker up vertical two-step. Take one point from defender v attacker down one or two steps. Includes square adjacent to base of hill. Cavalry, Artillery, Maxim may not move up or clown two-step but may attack up or down same.

2. Roads - Each square on road uses only one half square of move. Standard move on or off, odd ½ square lost. Towns are roads.

3. Rivers - Two squares of move used to cross one of river or river line. Take one point of Battle Power from attacker across river. Pieces in adjacent square with river between are in contact or not depending on attacker's decision.

4. Trees – Take one point of Battle Power from cavalry attacking in or into woods or defending in woods.

Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Possibly … but I think that I can see a way forward

Back in the middle of last December, I decided to concentrate most of my wargaming efforts on my Belle Époque project. Since then I've been thinking about this project and wondering if I might just have taken on a much larger project than I originally conceived ... especially as I still have quite a few more figures that I could add to it.

I am enjoying the process of creating these armies (and navies) and their backstories, but I want to avoid ending up doing just that and not actually using them. I am therefore trying to find a way to actually get at least two of the armies onto my tabletop as soon as possible … and I think that I can achieve this without having to take my terrain out of storage. (Trying to get anything out of storage at present is something that is rather challenging due to my reduced mobility.)

This is one of the reasons why I’ve been looking afresh at Joseph Morschauser’s FRONTIER rules. They use a grid that is made up of squares that are large enough to take a single base, and as my bases are 40mm wide and between 20mm and 40mm deep, I need to make a grid of 40mm or 50mm squares.

Tesco sell cork-faced pinboards that are 40cms x 40cms and I could easily use one to make a 10 x 10 or a 8 x 8 grid. If I used two or more, I could create an even bigger battlefield. I am therefore planning a trip to our local branch of Tesco to buy some.

The Battle Rules in Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' rules

I have recently been re-examining Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' (i.e. Colonial) wargame rules and his Battle Rules have been giving me a few problems. The wording of the relevant sections of his rules are as follows:

TROOP TYPES

Infantry: 2 squares; Battle Power: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Cavalry: 2 squares; Battle Power: 5; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Maxim Gun: Move: 2 squares; Battle Power: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Light Field Artillery: Move: 2 squares; Battle Power 1; Range: 4 Squares.

Field Artillery Move: 1 square; Battle Power: 1; Range: 6 Squares.

Position Artillery: Move: None; Battle Power: 1; Range: 10 Squares.

Command Unit: Move: 3 squares; Battle Power: 6; Range: Adjacent Squares.

Notes

Infantry & Cavalry: Native State units of this type have 1 point less Battle Power.

Other units: will not move forward to replace enemy after successful attack.

No Battle Power will drop below 1 regardless of other rules.

---

BATTLE RULES

1. Battle contact is made when one piece faces an enemy in an adjacent square. A piece may fight only one battle during its turn, that is attack only once during its turn.

2. When attacker moves into contact with flank or rear of enemy the latter is faced to meet attacker at once. If several attackers contact one enemy, enemy faces last attacker to be moved into contact. If attacker loses battle it is faced attacker that should be removed.

3. If attacker is successful, remove defender at once. Then move attacker whom defender faced into defender's square if desired (optional). If this results in new contact attacker still may not conduct another battle this turn. If defender is successful attacker re faces should be removed as noted above in (2).

4. When several attackers assault one, defender's Battle Power is reduced thus;

2 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 1

3 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 2

4 ATTACKERS – defender's Battle Power reduced 3

The Battle Power used for several attackers is Battle Power of attacker defender faces.

Battle Conduct

Side taking turn (attacker) rolls one die for its piece (or pieces), a different coloured die for enemy piece.

Roll only once per attack.

(a) Both dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – remove both (if several attackers against one), remove defender and attacker he faced.

(b) Neither dice show Battle Power number pertaining or less – stalemate, all pieces remain on board in position.

(c) One die shows number pertaining or less, other does not – remove other piece (if loser is several attackers, remove attacker faced by the defender's tray).

---

The Frontier Rules in use with Britains 54mm figures. The original rules were designed to be used with a 12 x 12 square grid. In this photograph the playing surface appears to be marked off with a 24 x 16 square grid, allowing for more troops to be deployed on the tabletop.

The Frontier Rules in use with Britains 54mm figures on a 12 x 12 square grid.

Whilst reading this, I kept feeling that it was a counter-intuitive mechanism ... so I decided to do some worked examples.

Example 1

A Native Infantry unit (Battle Power = 4) attacks a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5). Each Infantry unit throws a D6 die and they score 6 and 3 respectively. The Native Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. the European Infantry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the Native Infantry unit is removed.

Example 2

Three European Cavalry units (Battle Power = 5) attack a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5, reduced to 3 because it is being attacked by three enemy units). The European Cavalry unit facing the European Infantry unit and the European Infantry unit each throw a D6 and they score 3 and 2 respectively. The European Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. The European Infantry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, both units are removed.

Example 3

Three European Cavalry units (Battle Power = 5) attack a European Infantry unit (Battle Power = 5, reduced to 3 because it is being attacked by three enemy units). The European Cavalry unit facing the European Infantry unit and the European Infantry unit each throw a D6 and they score 5 and 6 respectively. The European Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. The European Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal to or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the European Infantry unit is removed.

Example 4

Two Native Cavalry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Light Artillery unit (Battle Power = 1 ... but not reduced as no Battle Power can be reduced to less than 1). The Native Cavalry unit facing the European Light Artillery unit and the European Light Artillery unit each throw a D6 die and they score 6 and 5 respectively. The Native Cavalry unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Light Artillery unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the fighting is a stalemate and neither unit is removed.

Example 5

Two Native Cavalry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Light Artillery unit (Battle Power = 1 ... but not reduced as no Battle Power can be reduced to less than 1). The Native Cavalry unit facing the European Light Artillery unit and the European Light Artillery unit each throw a D6 die and they score 2 and 4 respectively. The Native Cavalry unit gets a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Light Artillery unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the European Light Artillery unit is removed.

Example 6

Two Native Infantry units (Battle Power = 4 each) attack a European Maxim Gun unit (Battle Power = 6, reduced to 5 because it is being attacked by two enemy units). The Native Infantry unit facing the European Maxim Gun unit and the European Maxim Gun unit each throw a D6 die and they score 6 and 3 respectively. The Native Infantry unit does not get a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. The European Maxim Gun unit gets a score that is equal or less than its Battle Power. As a result, the Native Infantry unit is removed.

---

These examples show that although the mechanism still feels counter-intuitive, it seems to work. Perhaps I need to try it out in a proper wargame to be firmly convinced that it does.

'The history of a wargame design ...'

'... is not unlike the history of a ball. Some designers may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the rules that are written, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.'

I do hope that the Duke of Wellington will excuse me mangling his quote* about the Battle of Waterloo, but it is rather appropriate at the moment.

This quote came to mind when I began work on the PowerPoint presentation that I am preparing for the forthcoming VCOW2021. I wanted to start with a short explanation about how the whole PORTABLE WARGAME concept came about ... and then realised that it was not as straightforward as I had thought that its was.

Looking back through my past blog posts, I began to realise that the rules evolved as a result of the coming together of several separate strands. The first of these was my desire to emulate the gridded wargames illustrated in both Donald Featherstone's and Joseph Morschauser's books.

In the latter's case, he was strongly influenced by Professor Gerard de Gre, who ran the wargame club at the college that Joseph attended as a student.

The second was Ian Drury's RETURN TO NEW STANHALL game at COW1998(!). This led directly to the development of SCWaRes (Simple Colonial Wargame Rules), which in turn was developed into WHEN EMPIRES CLASH!

At about the same time, I 'rediscovered' Joseph Morschauser's book and bought a copy of Richard Borg's MEMOIR '44 ...

... which eventually led me to buy both the first ...

... and second edition version of his American Civil War game, BATTLE CRY.

I did develop my own take on MEMOIR '44, which I entitled MEMOIR OF BATTLE, which in turn led to MEMOIR OF BATTLE AT SEA and MEMOIR OF MODERN BATTLE.

All the strands were now in place, and all it needed was a catalyst to start the process that led to the final development of the PORTABLE WARGAME.

The catalyst was an old, boxed chess set that was then stored in our conservatory. The heat and sun in the conservatory had not treated it kindly, and the wooden chessmen were warped and cracked. The edge of the board had become detached as the glue had dried out, and my wife gave me an ultimatum to either find a use for the chessboard or to throw it away.

I was loath to throw it away, and decided that it might make the basis of a simple, portable wargame. I began experimenting with ideas that I had garnered from my previous wargame designs ... and this eventually led to the creation of the PORTABLE WARGAME.

---

* The original quote is:

'The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.'

It was written by the Duke of Wellington in a letter to John Croker, dated 8th August 1815. Croker was an Irish Member of Parliament and a longtime friend of the Duke.

The Portable Napoleonic Wargame book: First progress report

Work on my latest book is progressing quite well ... even though real life has a habit of interrupting me when I least want it to!

So far I have written the introduction, a chapter about and containing the first set of Napoleonic wargame rules that I wrote fro use on a gridded tabletop (these rules were based on the HORSE AND MUSKET and FRONTIER ones written by Joseph Morschauser), and a short, illustrated chapter about how I organise the units that I use. I am currently working on the chapter that will contain the Brigade-level rules, after which I will add a chapter that details how the rules work using an exemplar battle.

Although I have lots of notes, the process of setting down the rules takes time, as does taking the photographs I want to include. As a small taster of the latter, here is a photograph of a brigade (with caption) that I will be including in the book.

A typical brigade-sized force. This brigade consists of three infantry battalions, a detachment of rifle-armed infantry, a cavalry squadron, and an artillery troop, all commanded by a Brigadier General. Assuming that all the units are rated as Average, it has a total Strength Point value of 27 SPs and will reach its Exhaustion Point when it has lost 9 SPs.

The Portable Napoleonic Wargame book: Work begins!

I started work on writing THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME book this morning and have already written a draft introduction and begun work on the first chapter. The latter will contain the rules that I wrote in 2011 and which were based on Joseph Morschauser's HORSE AND MUSKET and FRONTIER rules. I used these rules to fight two battles from the Cordeguayan Civil War and my later PORTABLE WARGAME rules were based on them.

Other people's Portable Wargame battle reports: Cavalier 2018

One thing that I really regret about not making it to CAVALIER this year was the opportunity to see Mike Lewis and Anthony Morton running a PORTABLE WARGAME using 54mm-scale figures. Luckily Mike has written a blog entry about the game, and he has illustrated it with some excellent photographs.

As I wrote in a commented on his blog, 'I was struck by how similar the whole game looked to the battles fought by Joseph Morschauser, who was – of course – the inspiration for my PORTABLE WARGAME rules. Mike’s terrain and figures look beautiful, and I love the very simple but very effective trees and built-up areas. A truly inspiring wargame!'

Reading Mike's blog and seeing the photographs has certainly given my somewhat lagging spirits a bit of a lift, and when I begin feeling a bit better I hope to stage a PORTABLE WARGAME of my own.

---

Please note that the photographs featured above are © Mike Lewis.

The latest draft of my 'Modern' version of Joseph Morschauser's FRONTIER wargames rules

Having play-tested the latest daft of my 'Modern' version of Joseph Morschauser's 'Frontier' wargames rules during my recent mini-campaign, I am now in a position to share it with my regular blog readers.

---

UNIT TYPES

Click on the table to enlarge it.

Notes:

• A unit is destroyed and removed from the battlefield when its Strength Value is reduced to 0.
• No unit’s Combat Power may drop below 1 regardless of other rules.
• Elite units may increase their Combat Power by 1.
• Poor quality Infantry or Cavalry units (e.g. Militia) reduce their Combat Power by 1.

---

TURN SEQUENCE

• Fire Phase takes place.
• Both sides throw a D6 die. The side with the highest score (side A) moves first this turn.
• Side A may activate each of its units that have not fired during the Fire Phase in turn. When a unit is activated it may either:
• Move or
• Move and initiate a combat with an enemy unit or
• Remove barbed wire or
• Work on the removal of a minefield
• (An activated unit may not initiate a combat with an enemy unit and then move unless it is an Infantry, Engineer, Cavalry, Tank, or Assault Gun unit that is moving into an adjacent hex that was occupied by an enemy unit they have just destroyed or forced to retreat.)
• Once side A has activated all the units it wishes to activate this turn, Side B may activate each of their its units that have not fired during the Fire Phase in turn..
• Once both sides have activated all the units they wish to activate this turn, the turn has ended and the next turn begins.
• Before the next turn can commence, both sides check to see if they have reached their Exhaustion Point. A side that has reached its Exhaustion Point may not undertake any aggressive actions during the next and subsequent turns. When both sides have reached their Exhaustion Point, the battle ends.

---

FIRE PHASE

• Fire is simultaneous; therefore if firing unit is destroyed, it may still fire that turn before it is removed.
• Assault Guns and Artillery fire within an arc-of-fire that is 120° forward of the direction in which it is facing (i.e. in an arc sweeping from one 60° diagonal line of hexes to the other).
• Tanks and Armoured Cars have a 360° arc-of-fire.
• Weapon ranges are measured orthogonally (i.e. through the edges of the hexes not the corners).
• Units may only fire once each turn.
• Units that fire may not move during the same turn.
• If an entire enemy unit can be seen from a unit that is firing at it, the fire is direct fire.
• If an entire enemy unit cannot be seen or it is in fortifications, a built-up area, or a wood, the fire is indirect fire.
• Before it fires, each unit identifies the hex it is firing at. It then throws a D6 die to see where its fire will land:
• Die score = 1: Fire lands in the hex beyond the target hex (i.e. at 12 o’clock relative to the target hex).
• Die score = 2: Fire lands in the hex in front of the target hex (i.e. at 6 o’clock relative to the target hex).
• Die score = 3, 4, 5, or 6: Fire lands on the target hex.
• If the fire lands in a hex occupied by a friendly unit the opposing side’s commander throws a D6 die to determine the effectiveness of the fire upon that unit (see below).
• If the fire lands in a hex occupied by an enemy unit a D6 die is thrown to determine the effectiveness of the fire upon that unit (see below).
• Direct fire: D6 die score = 4, 5 or 6: The unit in the target hex has its Strength Value reduced by 1.
• Indirect fire: D6 die score = 5 or 6: The unit in the target hex has its Strength Value reduced by 1.

---

MOVEMENT RULES

• All movement is measured orthogonally (i.e. through the edges of the hexes not the corners).
• A unit may only move once each turn. Any unit that has fired during the Fire Phase at the beginning of a turn may not move during that turn.
• No more than one unit may occupy a hex at any time.
• A unit may pass through – but not stop in – a hex that is already occupied by a friendly unit.
• A unit may not move through a hex that is adjacent to a hex occupied by an enemy unit. The moving unit must stop as soon as it enters such a hex (thus ending its movement for that turn), face the enemy unit, and initiate combat with the enemy unit.
• A unit that is facing or being faced by an enemy unit that is in an adjacent hex at start of its move may break contact with that enemy unit and move away provided that it does not come into contact with any other enemy unit this turn as it breaks contact or after it has broken contact.

---

COMBAT RULES

• Combat takes place when a unit ends its move facing an enemy unit that is in an adjacent hex.
• The unit that has initiated the combat is regarded as being the attacker and the unit they are attacking is regarded as being the defender.
• Units may only attack once each turn but may defend themselves as often as may be necessary.
• When a unit moves into contact with the flank or rear of an enemy unit the latter is turned to face to the attacker at once.
• To determine the outcome of a battle, each unit throws a D6 die and adds the result to their Combat Power:
• If the resulting amended dice scores are equal, the battle is a draw.
• If one unit has a higher amended dice score than the other it has won the battle and the losing unit must retreat one hex immediately or reduce its Strength Value by 1. Any unit that is unable to retreat reduces its Strength Value by 2.
• If a unit throws a 6, the opposing unit’s Strength Value is reduced by 1 even if the opposing unit has won the overall combat.
• If the unit that did not initiate the combat is destroyed or is forced to retreat and the unit that initiated the combat is an Infantry, Engineer, Cavalry, Tank, or Assault Gun unit, then that Infantry, Engineer, Cavalry, Tank, or Assault Gun unit may immediately move into the newly vacated hex. If as a result of that move into the newly vacated hex that Infantry, Engineer, Cavalry, Tank, or Assault Gun unit comes into contact with the enemy unit that they have just forced to retreat or another enemy unit, the Infantry, Engineer, Cavalry, Tank, or Assault Gun unit may not attack that enemy unit this turn.
• No unit’s Combat Power may drop below 1.
• A defending unit that is in cover (e.g. built-up areas or woods) increases its Combat Power by 1.
• A defending unit that is in fortifications (e.g. trenches or a fortress) increases its Combat Power by 2.

---

SPECIAL GROUND COMBAT RULES

Barbed Wire:

• With the exception of Tank, Armoured Car, and Assault Gun units, a unit must stop as soon as it enters a hex in which there is barbed wire.
• The unit that has stopped may remove the barbed wire the next time it is activated and must remove it before it can move again.

Built-up areas:

• A unit must stop as soon as it enters a built-up area.
• A unit moving through a built-up area has a maximum movement rate of 1 hex per turn.
• The range of all weapons fired within a built-up area is reduced to 1 hex.
• A unit that is in a built-up area increases its Combat Power by 1.

Exhaustion Point:

• Before the battle begins, both sides calculate their Exhaustion Point. This is one third of the side’s total initial Strength Values, rounded up.
• When a side has lost that proportion of initial Strength Values, it has reached its Exhaustion Point.
• A side that has reached its Exhaustion Point must immediately stop taking aggressive action (i.e. it will continue to fight to defend its existing position, but will not continue any movement towards the enemy).
• When both sides have reached their Exhaustion Point, the battle ends.

Hills:

• Infantry and dismounted Cavalry units may move up or down one or two hill contours per turn; all other units may only move up or down one hill contour per turn.
• A unit that is in a combat an enemy unit that is one hill contour above it reduces its Combat Power by 1.
• A unit that is in a combat an enemy unit that is two hill contours above it reduces its Combat Power by 2.
• A unit that is in combat against an enemy unit that is one or two hill contours below it increases its Combat Power by 1.

Minefields:

• A unit may pass through an uncleared minefield, but must throw a D6 die to determine the effect the minefield has upon that unit (see below).
• D6 die score = 5 or 6: The unit passing through the minefield has its Strength Value reduced by 2.
• D6 die score = 2, 3, or 4: The unit passing through the minefield has its Strength Value reduced by 1.
• Each time a unit passes through an uncleared minefield, the D6 die score is reduced by 1.
• A unit may remove a minefield by staying in an adjacent hex for five consecutive turns. During those five turns the unit may not fire, move, or initiate combat with an enemy unit; they may, however, defend themselves if attacked.
• The number of turns required to remove a minefield is reduced by one every time:
  • A unit passes through the uncleared minefield or
  • The uncleared minefield is hit by artillery fire.

Rivers:

• It costs two hexes of movement for a unit to cross a hex with a river in it other than via a bridge.
• A unit that is in a hex with a river in it and is in combat an enemy unit reduces its Combat Power by 1.
• Units from opposing sides that are in adjacent hexes with a river between them may be in contact with each other if the attacking side decides that they are.

Roads:

• Each hex of movement made along an open road (i.e. one that does not pass through a built-up area or wood) by a unit uses up only half a hex of movement.
• If a unit moves along a road and then off the road during the same turn (or vice versa), any unused half-hexes of movement are lost.

Woods:

• A unit must stop as soon as it enters a wood.
• A unit moving through a wood has a maximum movement rate of 1 hex per turn.
• The range of all weapons fired within a wood is reduced to 1 hex.
• A unit that is a wood increases its Combat Power by 1.