Customer Reviews

Little Wars

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It is immensely appropriate that I review `Little Wars' by H. G. Wells on the day Stephen Spielberg's remake of a film version of Wells' `War of the Worlds' opens in theatres around the country. I have known of Wells' little book for at least 45 years, when I first became interested in wargames and searched out titles on the subject which, in 1960, seemed to be few and far between.

The early sixtys were the heydey of Avalon-Hill's tabletop sized board games with little cardboard counters representing everything from a single sargeant to an army corp. These games grew out of the minatures rules which would later contribute, along with the popularity of the `Lord of the Rings' novel to the creation of `Dungeons and Dragons' roleplaying games. Both Avalon-Hill styled and Dungeon and Dragons styled boardgames have been partially superceded by computerized versions of these simulations and, while I still fondly fondle my chit representing the 82nd airborne division as it participates in the Normandy invasion, I get much more satisfaction out of a good computerized version of the same campaign.

And yet, Wells' simplified minatures rules with no more than a few dozen pieces per side and firing success being determined by real live aiming, physics of ballistics, and the effect of wind deliver the same kind of charm evoked by that old Robert Lewis Stevenson poem of the young boy with his toy soldiers navigating the hills formed by his blankets lying over his outstretched legs.

I am not intimately familiar with minatures rules, but what I do know tells me that they are quite complicated with lots of tables based on the role of dice. Wells' rules are much simpler. And, he is not deeply involved in realistic landscapes which are so interesting to minatures hobbyists. Not a word is said here about cleaning and painting raw lead or tin soldiers. All our troops here are fully clothed straight out of the box. All the landscapes are created by nothing more complicated than the kind of plain wooden building blocks I so coveted when I was a kid. These are embellished with the outsides of houses painted or drawn on the plain side of wallpaper which is then folded and glued around the blocks. There is not interest with any ability to hide inside any of these houses, as this would simply slow things down and make the rules more complicated. The only other concern is that if rivers are part of the landscape that there are enough fording and bridged points to not funnel things too much into a single choke point.

The rules only deal with three kinds of troops, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. As this book was written in 1913, and Europe had largely been at peace for almost a hundred years since the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, it is not surprising that the strategies evolving from these three types of troops are strongly similar to Napoleonic battles. As this was the period of muskets, long range infantry fire was remarkably ineffective compared to the destruction caused by Napoleonic era artillery. To a person versed in 20th century wars, it is strange to see the lineup of forces at, for example, the Battle of Waterloo, where the guns were in front of the main lines of infantry rather than far to the rear. This was before the age of indirect artillery fire, which just began in the American Civil War and it's great mortars.

So, the only way our small forces can inflict damage at a distance is by little cannons which fire real live wooden projectiles and, a soldier is killed only if you actually succeed in knocking the little fellow down with the wooden pellet.

A similar combat simulation which existed in parallel with Wells' and other minatures' rules is the kind of wargame simulations invented by the German General Staff with the very German name of `Kriegspiel' or War Play. An expert in English Kriegspiel practice compares this professional exercize with Wells' game and finds the latter far more fun, as the Sandhurst (English Army Military Acadamy) version is weighed down with rulings from referees and the kind of tables of outcomes so familiar to modern manual wargame rules.

Remembering that this book was written in 1912-1913, it is chilling to read Wells' final assessment of the lack of proficiency of professional military men at this little game. The most chillingly Strangelovean statement is that `You have only to play at Little Wars three or four times to realize what a blundering thing Great War must be'. This was written in 1913!!!

One may be discouraged from reading this book by the prospect of reading 120 pages of game rules. This is not what this book is about. All the details of the rules are compressed into the last six pages. Everything which goes before is the stuff which is written to bring out the little boy in us all. And, the author knows nothing of politically correct gender washing, as he is firmly committed to the idea that this is an activity for little boys, and maybe girls who think like little boys.

A minor classic worthy of it's famous author.

A game, an illustrated historical text, and a humorous read all in one!

H.G. Wells took his hobby of wargaming very seriously, as shown by the photos of Edwardian gentlemen crouched or lying prone on the lawn ready to "kill" each other's toy soldiers. The book consists of explanations of how he and his friends developed their game rules, the game rules themselves, variations on the rules for indoor and outdoor games, suggestions on toy soldiers and the construction of buildings and other game pieces, a demonstration game, and suggested expansions on the rules. Photos and hilarious little drawings accompany all these and during the demo game Wells "transforms" himself into his imagined soldierly counterpart, the fierce mustachioed General H.G.W. of the Blue Army.

Any wargamer should have this in their library (at this price you can't afford NOT to) and fans of Wells will enjoy this pleasant surprise, back after so many years.

I was curious when I first heard about Little Wars, a wargaming book written by H.G. Wells. I really wasn't familiar with the title until recently, when some friends told me it was about to be reprinted and how excited they were about it. I got a copy and have to say that it's a tremendously enjoyable read and a fascinating chance to see how an English gentleman and author went about developing a wargame system using toy soldiers and toy cannons... decades before wargaming caught on as a popular hobby. The book is written with a great sense of self-humor and details how Wells and his friends developed the system through repeated play-testing... what worked, what didn't and what was changed around. In the end you have a very effective and simple system for wargaming with toy soldiers, that has a number of interesting rules conventions not normally seen in modern miniatures rules. Wells talks about types of troops, turn based movement, initiative, fire support, terrain and all the elements we're used to seeing in modern wargames. I strongly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys wargames or may even be working to develop their own.

I was overjoyed to hear about the reprinting of Little Wars. This classic wargaming book written by one of the fathers of science fiction has been out of print for decades and has become almost impossible to find.

Wells' Little Wars is a book on the development of a wargame system by Wells and his friends, exhibiting many of the same conventions of modern wargames while offering some interesting and unique elements developed in their system which are not widely seen today. It details how their rules evolved in time, and is written with humor and an obvious love for the game.

The new edition by Skirmisher press is handy and easy to read, with artwork and photos from the original editions. There is a foreward by Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, who discusses how Little Wars influenced his own wargame development.

I strongly recommend Little Wars to all lovers of wargames and it's even a fun addition to the collection of fans of HG Wells, seeing the writer in a new light as he details the game he and his friends developed with such passion and kid-like enthusiasm.

I remember my father talking about this book and was disappointed that it was out of print for the last several decades. I have only seen this rulebook of miniatures war gaming that started it all in the library, and I can certainly understand how it inspired Gary Gygax to create both Chainmail and Dungeons and Dragons. I particularly enjoyed the drawings and artwork reproductions from the original 1913 edition. What a great way for parents to spend an afternoon with their sons and daughters. Good Job Skirmisher!

Probably one of Wells' least known works, Little Wars has nonetheless helped to spawn an entire hobby, industry, and lifestyle.

The role-playing games of today would not exist if it were not for the efforts of mister Gygax, who decided, in the 1970s, to take his miniature games a little further. And miniature games would not exist if not for the efforts of H.G. himself, nearly a century earlier. It is fitting then, that this new printing of Little Wars (the first in a generation) should include an introduction from mist gygax along side the original text.

As a role-player, I am enternaly grateful to both of these men for midwifing the hobby into the world. As a fan of science fiction, I prostrate myself at the memory of Wells.

The book, while antiquated by today's standards, still has an enormous affection for the subject matter that cannot help be felt by the reader. Of additional note is the wonderfully naive Victorian language, not realizing that it could be read as sexist or non-politically correct by modern audiences.

Everyone should know where their hobby comes from, and this is it.

I had no idea that H.G. Wells had penned a set of wargaming rules! "Yes, of course he did," too many of my hardcore gamer friends have told me. I guess I should have known.

What makes this book especially enjoyable is that it goes beyond a mere set of table-top miniatures rules and incorporates the author's methodology in developing them, his philosophy, and his sense of humor. And Wells was an incredible author, making Little Wars a fun read in and of itself.

Wells also reminds his reader how little things have changed over the 91 years since he wrote it: "Great War is at present, I am convinced, not only the most expensive game in the universe, but it is a game out of all proportion. Not only are the masses of men and material and suffering and inconvenience too monstrously big for reason, but-the available heads we have for it, are too small." How true.

All in all, a great read!

Hard to believe that a classic wargaming book like this has been out of print for about 30 years! I once had the pleasure of reading through an original 1913 edition of this book and would have bought an affordable copy of it anytime since then, so it is especially nice to have a chance to own this new reprint.

Little Wars is enjoyable both as a straight read and as a set of wargaming rules, and I would recommend it to anyone who has any sort of interest in wargaming or military history or who is a fan of the great H.G. Wells.

As a fan of BOTH H.G. Wells and table-top miniatures, I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy of Little Wars for years. It is finally back in print! Thank you Skirmisher Publishing! My collection is now *complete*

What a pleasure to find and read. I have always been a great fan of H.G.Wells, but have to admit I did not know he was into gaming. This book has opened new horizons for me about H. G. Wells. My brother and I used to spend many hours playing with our plastic army men, wearing US and German uniforms. The book brought back childhood visions of building miniture forts made of grass, sticks, rocks and pools of water. The authors have captured in wonderful detail the original art of Mr. Wells as well as his unique advice to budding gamers. Little Wars is a must for its historical value alone.