Introduction
Liphook
Historical Wargames Group was formed in April 2000 when three old friends,
David Shepherd (amateur military historian and programmer), Tom Mouat
(game designer and logistician) and Trevor Maroney (military historian
and accountant) combined forces to lay on a bicentennial wargame of
the Battle of Marengo – Napoleon’s first major victory in
Italy on 14th June 1800.
The wargame took place in the Liphook Millennium Hall Complex on Sunday
11th June 2000 and involved 15 commanders and umpires. The battle was
fought over contoured terrain measuring 32 by 18-foot using 25mm painted
armies at figure and ground scales of 1:30 and 1:750 respectively. The
game was controlled by umpires and the conflict lasted 8 hours (36 periods).
The Austrians battle plan was to drive through the French centre and
to ignore the flanks. This enabled the French to hold out longer in
phase one thereby delaying their planned counter-attack. It proved to
be a highly successful engagement for a mixed band of enthusiastic historians
and wargamers.
Whilst the wargame itself was highly successful it proved expensive
and a smaller venue was sought. The Group therefore moved into Scout
and Guide Halls, still within the Millennium Complex, for its next event
the Battle of Vimeiro (21st August 1808).
The wargames of Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland followed along
similar lines with the Group’s membership growing from strength
to strength. During this process it was agreed that the Group would
run bicentennial wargames of all the major historical battles over the
next 9 years. It has also set up its own website to promote these events
and to share its research data on the combatants with other like-minded
enthusiasts.
Aim
The aim of the Group is to run large wargames of historical battles
involving thousands of figures with command appointments at all levels
from brigade upwards, and to have fun.
Membership
Membership is open to individuals and clubs. Encouragement is given
to forming teams of 2 or 3 players to command a division and its brigades.
This method enables beginners to learn from more experienced players:
father and son teams are regular participants.
The wargames are run on a ‘not for profit’ basis. There is
a game fee, currently £15, which covers the cost of hiring the
hall, insurance, model making materials, marketing, advertising and
postage. To keep this fee low the wargames are subsidised through an
annual membership subscription, currently only £10. To become
a member or register your club’s interest please complete the Enlistment
Form at [CLICK] or email: tmaroney@hotmail.co.uk
Prizes
In the past to encourage commanders to play with historical accuracy
and in a friendly, gamesmanship manner prizes were awarded by the umpires
to the “Man of the Match.” Similar prizes had also been awarded
democratically by each side to a team of 2 or 3 opponents who have played
exceedingly well. The Group has therefore decided to reintroduce this
system, and at the Jena Wargame the Man of the Match was awarded to
John Chisholm (von Tauentzien) for his sterling defence of the Lützeroda
– Closewitz line, fighting withdrawal and stunning rebuff of the
French Imperial Guard. John was received a copy of Jena, Auerstadt:
The Triumph of the Eagle by F.G Hourtoulle. Osprey Publishing has now
kindly agreed to sponsor these events and will be donating prizes to
both the ‘Battlefield Commander’ (Man of the Match) and the
‘Young General’ a player under 25 who has displayed unique
command skills.
Organising
Committee
With the growth in membership has come the need to consult more widely
and in this respect advice has been regularly sought from Peter Burke
(Tidworth), Mike Newman (Horsham) and Colin Boulain (Winchester). These
three have therefore been co-opted onto the organising committee.
The games are designed and produced by Trevor Maroney, covering AG and
QMG functions, and David Shepherd, covering intelligence, historical
accuracy and rule changes with Tom Mouat as the senior umpire directing
operations. Communications and rule testing is co-ordinated by Peter
Burke. As secretary of the Horsham Club Mike Newman’s role is to
encourage club membership, and Colin Boulain is responsible for monitoring
rules changes and assessing the players’ likely reaction to them.
In addition, the organising committee has decided to design its own
‘Art of Command’ rules for running large historical wargames.
It has formed its own Rules Forum and has co-opted three other regular
contributors onto the committee. These are John Chisholm (Guildford),
David Ronaldson (Winchester) and Steve Clubley (Reading and Newbury).
Rules
Forum
One area constantly under review is the search for an ideal set of rules
to suit wargaming large historical battles at battalion/squadron/battery
level. The Rules Forum committee has this specific aim in mind. The
committee will also draw on the experience gained in running mega-wargames
in Antwerp in the late eighties. These included Borodino (20 players),
Wagram (20), Waterloo 88 (76), Marengo 89 (24) and Talavera 89 (80).
More information on these games will be published on this website later.
Then and now the Group has been forming its own Concept of Operations
for running such large games.
Concept
of Operations
The initial concept is based upon recreating all the factors involved
in the original battle from the conditions, strengths, training, skills
and battle experience of the troops involved, to the effective use of
weapons, and the character and abilities of their commanders. In the
latter case we prefer that wargame commander make his decisions when
he is tired, uncomfortable and under pressure.
The terrain is carefully contoured to match the historical features
and appropriate factors are incorporated to reflect the prevailing weather
conditions on the day of the battle. Every effort is made to replicate
initial historical deployments, arrival times, morale and the physical
condition of the troops involved. For speed the preferred command structure
is tiered and designed to suit the figure, board and role playing wargamers.
Steps are taken to match an individual’s abilities to the respective
roles available. For example commands at brigade level would suit beginners
(raw) or trained figure gamers, experienced figure and board gamers
would find divisional command testing and all three categories would
find corps command challenging. In the really large games there are
interesting roles on the staff at army level that would suit non-wargamers.
The wargames are held on Sundays and are planned to be completed in
one day. Each game is controlled by experienced umpires and played at
a fast pace – 10 minute periods. In the past there have been highly
successful weekend events. The Group plans to hold three or more large
wargames each year cumulating in the Battle of Waterloo in 2015.
Future Wargames
We hope that this form of wargaming of historical battles appeals to
you and that you will join us for our next event: the Battle of Medina
de Rio Seco on 13th January 2008. Find more information on Medina here.