An introduction to Tabletop Historical Wargaming
Tabletop battle games can trace their origins back to the abstracted form of simulated warfare that is chess, and some way beyond however the genesis of tabletop historical wargaming is a far more recent, and far more easy to precisely date phenomenon. In 1812 the Prussian and German armies created a set of rules for simulating battles on the tabletop as part of their officer training programmes, and with that game - "Kriegspeil" - tabletop historical wargaming was born.
Not that much later H.G. Wells published his book Little Wars, which brought the recreation of historical and contemporary battles on the tabletop into the refined atmosphere of the Victorian-era parlour, and with it the concept of simulating historical battles as past-time and entertainment.
All historical wargames involve fighting battles on the tabletops using figures based on their historical counterparts, fighting over appropriate scale terrain. The battles themselves can be straight re-enactments as well as "what-if" or "alternative history" creations of historical events, or - as is the case with the games you will see at any of the BHGS events held throughout the year - entirely fictional and theoretical pairings between carefully matched and balanced armies drawn from similar eras of military evolution.
Not that much later H.G. Wells published his book Little Wars, which brought the recreation of historical and contemporary battles on the tabletop into the refined atmosphere of the Victorian-era parlour, and with it the concept of simulating historical battles as past-time and entertainment.
All historical wargames involve fighting battles on the tabletops using figures based on their historical counterparts, fighting over appropriate scale terrain. The battles themselves can be straight re-enactments as well as "what-if" or "alternative history" creations of historical events, or - as is the case with the games you will see at any of the BHGS events held throughout the year - entirely fictional and theoretical pairings between carefully matched and balanced armies drawn from similar eras of military evolution.
This need to ensure that WW2 tanks don't end up facing off against Roman Legionaries is what has driven historical gaming to divide up into a number of core eras, each with a plethora of rulesets for the gamer to choose from. Some of the most popular eras to recreate are:
- Ancients: The broadest era, which starts with the Egyptians and their chariots and ends in the late Middle Ages with Knights ruling the battlefields of Europe - and all points historical and geographical. Many purists would argue that attempting to model so much military evolution into one system is a stretch too far, but before gunpowder warfare was still basically about poking the enemy with a sharp stick, and so "Ancients" has remained a coherent period.
- Renaissance : From the turn of the 1400's gunpowder emerged as a weapon, and military technology and tactics evolved dramatically in response - meaning historical wargamers needed new sets of rules to the recreate the battles of the era! The English Civil War is often seen as the defining conflict of the period, although anyone from outside the British Isles would probably point to the Thirty Years War in Europe.
- Napoleonic : Probably the "classic" era for historical wargamers to recreate, with the vast armies of Napoleon, Wellington, the battle of Waterloo and many others to seek to play out on the tabletop. The era is also - significantly - the first one for which fully detailed historical records of battles and uniforms, as well as first-hand accounts from the soldiers involved were recorded (and still survive) making the task of researching and recreating the look and feel of the men and battles involved far more achievable.
- World War 2 : With WW1 being somewhat of a niche area of interest - although one that the recent anniversary has seen some interesting new releases for - the globe-spanning land, sea and air combat of WW2, and the many books, movies (and now even video games) covering the era creates a huge amount of reference material and inspiration for the historical gamer, making this one of the most popular era to game, and one where the ranges of available figures are very comprehensive.
Today the hobby of historical wargaming is thriving, driven by many of the same social factors which are behind the resurgence of board gaming but also in more recent years by technical innovations in figure design and production techniques.
This has seen the (vitally important) figure design and production evolve from being itself somewhat of a "hobby" business to one where techniques like digital 3D sculpting, and injection plastic moulding are employed by large scale enterprises offering vast and constantly expanding catalogues of figures covering every era, and every theatre of conflict. There aren't quite any Games Workshop-scale businesses in the historical gaming world as yet, but it might not be long before there are!
The British Historical Games Society was formed almost 20 years ago to promote the world of Historical Wargaming, primarily through organising a number of multi-era, multi-ruleset wargaming tournaments at various locations across the UK.
At all of our events we bring together players from across the country - and across the world - for several days of competitive (but friendly) gaming, using many thousands of carefully painted figures on acres of tabletop terrain.
We also maintain this active website at www.bhgs.org.uk with listings of wargaming clubs across the UK where you can come along and join in, as well as a comprehensive calendar of upcoming competitions and events, as well as a directory of figure suppliers for you to browse and be inspired. We're also very active on Facebook and Twitter where you can find us and our players sharing news and photos from our hobby.
Whether you are new to historical gaming, or a "lapsed" gamer returning to the hobby after a mid-life break we would be delighted for you to get in touch with your local club, or even to come along to one of our regular tournaments and take a look . Hopefully you will go on to be inspired to pick up a paintbrush, some paints (and maybe even a history book or two!) and join us in the world of Historical Wargaming.