When I first started wargaming back in the early 1970’s I concentrated mainly on 25mm ancients using the few Minifigs and Hinchcliffe figures that you could obtain in Australia at the time. I also dabbled a bit in 20mm ACW using the four Airfix box sets available, and the French Foreign Legion set for Zuoaves.

I was living in New South Wales and there were only two places that sold 25mm metal figures, one in Sydney and the other in Newcastle. I chose a Sassanid Persian army using mainly Minfigs, and a New Kingdom Egyptian Hinchcliffe army both of which I still have. I started off with WRG 1st edition rules and stayed with them through to 7th and DBM

I moved to Newcastle to attend University and there were two thriving clubs, one at the University (now split into three separate clubs with varying interests )and the Newcastle Wargaming Club (now called Newcastle Legions). It was at both these clubs that I was introduced to Napoleonic gaming and I started to build a 25mm Minifgs Austrian army using WRG Horse and Musket rules.

We decided to move our young family back to Melbourne where 25mm figures were not that popular and Napoleonic gaming suffered from the lack of an agreed set of rules. The result was that my 25mm figures were packed away and I started playing 15mm ancients.

This progressed through the WRG 5th, 6th, 7th editions of their rules and then on to the various editions of DBM and died a natural death with DBMM. We tried Neil Thomas’ Ancient & Medieval wargaming and I still enjoy this but we haven’t played it in years.

It was at this time I started to play Warhammer Ancient Battles and 40k and was involved with running a major tournament for over fifteen years. Until GW opened up stores in Australia it was still hard to get stuff but you could order directly from them in the UK and get them at a much cheaper price! I still have an Orc and Goblin, High Elf, and Dwarf fantasy armies and a Space Wolf, Imperial Guard and Eldar 40k armies.

Next year is the Arcanacon conventions 40k’s 25th Anniversary and I have been invited by Dan Attrill to play so I probably will, just for “old times” sake.

When we became burnt out from running the tournament, my interest in GW style games also waned, and I started looking for other options. Along came Lasalle 1 and I was again hooked on 25/28mm Napoleonic gaming but had really only one person who was interested, so although still keen I never did get that many games in.

Ancient gaming was starting to splinter into Field of Glory, and a variety of other sets but never really hit the heady days of 7th edition WRG and the first versions of DBM. I tried these but was never happy with the rules. Our small group started playing Command and Colors with figures but the hex movement still appeared to me as an over glorified board game.

A move to Cowes on Phillip Island in 2014 coincided with a huge influx of rules, games systems, and periods that, at least to me, had never been seen before.

Ever since reading Donald Featherstone’s “Skirmish Wargaming” I had always wanted to try games where the impact that an individual could make was significant. Along came Saga and we loved this for a while but the power creep gradually became a real issue and playing in tournaments didn’t help and slowly this also died a natural death.

I know all of this is the world according to “Guru Dave” and you may love some of the games that I hate and vice versa. That is all good. We have a rule in our group that if you are hosting that week you choose the game and we will come along and play. The coming together with friends, rolling die, eating and drinking (probably in reverse order of importance), is the main thing.

All of this has been a long ramble to lead into what I like playing now. These are just what I like, and I would be glad to hear about what you are interested in, as we are all different. We might even share something that others might look and want to try themselves.

What games do I play and what rules do I use now?

I only have three criteria, it must be simple and easy to lean and use, it must not require me to buy lots of new figures, and it must be fun!

For the Napoleonic period I like playing “Blucher” in 6mm (I do not have figures in this scale but enjoy playing it with mates), and “Lasalle 2” in 28mm.

I also have a large range of 28mm figures Napoleonic figures based for skirmish games. I have been looking at the Too Fat Lardies set of Rules “Sharpe Practice” but have not yet played them. They look OK but more detailed than I was really after, so will probably keep an eye out for something else.

One of my favourite Horse and Musket periods is the French Indian wars and I prefer Dan Mersey’s “Rebels and Patriots” and “The Men Who Would Be Kings”. These are both medium sized unit based games but work well within period. They have American Civil War and Plains Indians War sections but we use our house rules designed by John G for playing large scale battles with 20mm plastics. Prior to these I used the old Airfix set of rules. I hope to finish my 28mm Plains Indian Wars figures and will either use one of these sets or the ones that my mate “Bucko” is working on.

As you would have noticed we have been playing “Live Free or Die” in 15mm for the American War of Independence, but again it is not a period I have figures for. They work very well for AWI but they are designed for larger battles so would not suit the smaller scale of FIW (accept the Plains of Abraham).

I have not generally been a fan of Simon Millers games but “For King and Parliament” works very well for 15mm English Civil War games, and I have enjoyed the games we have played. Hopefully my 15mm Scots Royalists Montrose army will get a run soon.

I have a number of 15mm Medieval armies but the only rules I like for this period are Dan Mersey’s “Lion Rampart”, and “Dragon Rampart” if you want to add heroes or fantasy elements. I am a fan of his simple mechanics which really capture the flavour for the periods he is writing on.

I used to be predominately a 15mm Ancient player with the various iterations of the WRG series of rules. Now I prefer Dan Mersey’s (yes I am card carrying fan) “Dux Bellorum”, for 15mm games, which is designed for Warrior and Shield Wall style armies. We have played it in a variety of periods and have enjoyed it. I am not a fan of some of the other “modifications” to the WRG systems that are now quite popular in UK and Australian competitions, and have steered clear of them.

The other Ancient set of rules that I enjoy playing in 28mm is “Sword and Spear”. I love the mechanics and it gives a very good representation of the linear battle lines that was ancient warfare.

For ancient skirmish style games I really like the “Gangs of Rome” set of rules by Footsore miniatures and Dan Mersey’s “Strongsword”, which also has a fantasy element to it. The other fantasy rules I have enjoyed is Hordes of the Things and DBF.

I am looking forward to trying the “Age of Hannibal” set of rules which some of my mates have played and rave about. I have read them and they have some very different mechanisms that I like.

I like the free flowing nature of World War 1 in Palestine where dashing and dare do cavalry and armoured cars still had a place. I have a large number of 20mm plastic and metal figures for the period and have adapted John G’s ACW rules for the period. It is also great for small unit actions using “Men Who Would Be Kings” or the “FUBAR” one page set of rules.

For World War 2 gaming I use three sets of rules. By far the most fun and enjoyable is the Too Fat Lardies “What a Tanker”. It captures the nature of tank V tank fighting quite well and is an all time favourite of our group. I do not play large scale games that often but if I did the Jim Bambra’s Combat HQ are one of the best around. For small scale unit actions I used to play “Chain of Command” by Too Fat Lardies, but now prefer “FUBAR” because they are simple, easy to learn, and have far better mechanics with their suppression approach. I also use their modern variation for games set in the 21st century. “Bolt Action” is easy to pick up for players of 40k but suffers from the same proliferation of army books (Codex) that 40k does.

The other quasi WW2 rules that I really enjoy are “Went the Day Well” by SAall Forth for the Very British Civil War. These work really well for platoon sized games.

At the moment (and this changes at a whim) I am playing a lot of Lasalle 2, Live Free or Die and the Dan Mersey’s sets of rules. I prefer the narrative that skirmish games produces and the fact that the detailed terrain you need brings out the modeller in me, or the frustrated model railway fan, I am not sure which!

For these skirmish games I am using Zona Alpha, FUBAR, and Last Days.

I would love to hear what you are playing and what sets of rules you enjoy.