Customer Reviews

Wargames Handbook, Third Edition: How to Play and Design Commercial and Professional Wargames

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have an earlier edition of this book, and thought that this one would bring things up to date. However, the author is stuck somewhere during the 1970's through the early 1990's. He apparantly hasn't heard of games like TOAW from TalonSoft, or the Close Combat series from Atomic. He even mentions GEnie (wastes several pages instructing his readers how to play online games there) and refers to PC's as "IBM compatible". The maps he uses in his example game have been reduced in size, and to top it all off, there's no index (no real need for it--there's not much useful information here). This book is just hopelessly out-of-date. I wish that I wouldn't have to give it any stars. I wonder if Dunnigan actually revised this book himself, or that the publisher hired some hack to do the job. TWO THUMBS DOWN!

I think the other reviews for this book are a bit harsh. I've given this five start just to balance their rating, I would say it is worth about 3 1/2 stars really.
I will agree that the so called "update" of the book just isn't so, especially in the computer area, where it age certainly shows. However, from a history point of view, the book is great. If you keep in mind the author is one of the significant contributers to the paper wargame era on the 1980s, then you can enjoy this book for what it is.
By the way, it's nice to read the paper version, but the whole book is freely available on the internet at the author's website.
With so few books on wargaming available in print, this book is worth reading if you want to see how it was in the "good old days" of wargaming, when there was a large number of gamers. If you want up to date information on wargaming, you won't find it here.

All the reviews are correct - really, this must have been a great book when first published but it does not age well. Great book if you want to learn about manual board games, how to play them, design them, understand them. If you want to know about the EARLY history of computer games and the military's use of said war games, this is kind of OK. If you want to see how war games went from the paper map to early computers, from early computers to the Play Station or X Box or Total War games...FAIL. It is if he had no energy to edit or update. Really, an author has to keep on top of this kind of thing if they plan to try to re-sell an old book.

James R. Dunnigan recently had his book, The Complete Wargames Handbook, republished (3rd edition) in 2000. However, since I have the revised edition (published in 1992), I am going to do a review of that book.
First of all, who is James R. Dunnigan and does he have the qualifications and experience to write a book on wargames? Dunnigan is a long time game designer, having published over 100 historical and current event wargame titles since the early 1970s. Additionally, he was the editor of Strategy & Tactics magazine--a wargame periodical that had a substantial following of wargamers between 1980 and 1990. He was associated with Avalon Hill, SPI, and even the "professionals," those who are associated with the military and government and are involved in military simulations (wargames).
Dunnigan claims his objective in writing this book was to provide "novices" with the basic mechanics, strategies, and underlying science of wargaming. In addition, he provides a sample of how someone, who has an interest in this field, can get started in creating their own wargames. While admittedly designed as an introduction to wargaming, Dunnigan claims that those "seasoned veterans" will even find information that will be beneficial in his book.
So what is a wargame? Dunnigan describes, "a wargame is a combination of game, history and science. Basically, its glorified chess." The objective of wargames "is to enable the player[s] to re-create a specific event and...be able to explore what might have been if the player decides to do things differently." Dunnigan believes that a wargame must accurately simulate a historical event (realism) while ensuring playability.
So as to not confuse the novice, Dunnigan begins by breaking down a wargame into clearly explained moves and options. Dunnigan does this by providing a paper wargame (reminiscent of S&T) along with his book. Using a historical battle--Patton's drive on Metz--Dunnigan is able to depict the workings and mechanics of a game. What the game does is allow Dunnigan a means of showing "how it works in reality" versus what occurs in the wargame thereby connecting the wargame with history. The game provides a simple but historical example of how wargame can be a useful tool for military historians and armchair strategist alike.
After that is accomplished, Dunnigan discusses the history of wargaming, the how and why to play wargames, to designing a wargame by oneself. While the `How to Play' chapter is relatively basic for an experienced wargamer, it is easily recognized as being necessary for someone who might have an interest in wargaming though has never played one. Perhaps the most important realization is one where Dunnigan expresses the opinion that gamers get the feeling they are participating in a study of human events and thus are able to change the course of history. This then provides the attraction to playing wargames, as the most common reason given according to Dunnigan, for playing wargames is to experience history.
While there is some information on computer wargames and their design, one would find that while providing a historical analysis of them (due to the date this edition was published) there is no timeliness. With the number of computers now owned, Dunnigan makes a simple observation that "the future of gaming...is in computer wargames." His section on designing computer wargames is outdated, and I understand this is still the case with the newest edition of the book since he discusses playing games on Genie, a relatively older internet service provider.
Dunnigan finishes his book by discussing those who play the games and how the professionals have applied them. Through his surveys, Dunnigan has determined that most wargames are "above average in education, income, and, especially, diligence." An interesting study, considering those who read this book will likely be wargamers. Perhaps another way of putting it is that wargamers are inquisitive, in that they not only want to know what happened, but how and why it happened. In comparison of hobbyist and professionals, those who play for a hobby seem to be interested in experiencing history while professionals are more interested in analysis and training.
So would I recommend The Complete Wargames Handbook? The book provided me with justification about my hobby, in the sense of knowing who I was and that there are several other "gamers" who have "grown-up" in the same manner that I have had--with wargames. I would recommend it to someone who had an interest in the hobby, from a board game perspective, but not for someone who has simply played computer games, as it is not timely. At time I did find myself becoming somewhat frustrated with Dunnigan's ability to slap himself on the back, as he is not afraid to throw out his accomplishments. While so much backslapping may have crippled others, Dunnigan manages to do so throughout the book without injury. While he is probably deserving of some recognition from a wargamer's perspective, let someone else tell us--not himself. Despite that flaw, the book has a lot of pertinent and useful information. In fact, based upon the information presented by Dunnigan in The Complete Wargames Handbook, I was able to create a wargame using Dunnigan's cornerstones.

I've read this book twice and think it is an excellent historical overview of the development of wargames. I've looked for other perspectives, but haven't found a better book. I particularly like the instructions for creating your own wargame and the sample wargame ("The Drive on Metz"). I highly recommend this book.

I had a great time reading this book. Mr. Dunnigan argues that his gaming company, and not Avalon Hill, carried the wargames market, that he himself caused a minor renaissance of wargaming in the early 80s, that he himself predicted the fall of non-computed wargames...the list goes on. The self-promotion is so overt that I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. If there was ever a vanity piece, this is it.