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Little Wars (Mass Market Paperback)

by H.G. Wells (Author), Gary Gygax (Author), Michael J. Varhola (Author), Diane K. Varhola (Author) "Little Wars" is the game of the kings-for players in an inferior social position..." (more)
Key Phrases: little wars, right gun, Hook's Farm, Modern Beginnings Page, The Rules Page (more...)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
Wells wrote a ground-breaking work when he penned Little Wars, which started the hobby of military miniatures war-gaming. -- Gary Gygax, March 2004

Product Description
Originally written in 1913 by one of the fathers of modern science fiction, this is a reprint of one of H.G. Wells' lesser-known works. Little Wars will appeal to science fiction fans, history buffs, students of politics and international affairs, wargamers and RPGers, and anyone interested in the other works of this great author.

Features of this edition include:

• Clear, authoritative, and entertaining text that reveals both the great mind and the sense of humor possessed by one of the world’s greatest science fiction authors.
• A complete miniatures wargame system that can be played as-is or used as the basis for other miniatures rules.
• An appendix on Kriegspiel that expands upon Little Wars and shows how it can be adapted into a military training tool.
• Foreword by Gary Gygax, whose development of Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons were influenced by H.G. Wells in General and by Little Wars in particular.
• Introduction by editor Michael J. Varhola, author of several history books, gaming sourcebooks, and the Skirmisher miniatures rules.
• 19 original black-and-white photographs from the 1913 edition of Little Wars.
• More than 75 black-and-white line drawings from the 1913 edition of the book.

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Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 98 pages
Publisher: Skirmisher Publishing (April 2004)
ISBN-10: 0972251154
ISBN-13: 978-0972251150
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #616,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
"Little Wars" is the game of the kings-for players in an inferior social position. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
little wars, right gun

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hook's Farm, Modern Beginnings Page, The Rules Page, Great War

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 15 books:

Little Wars by H. G. Wells on 10 pages
The Time Machine / The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
The Time Machine (Penguin Classics) by H.G. Wells in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
The Time Machine by H G Wells in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)

See all 15 books this book cites

28 books cite this book:

Floor Games by H.G. Wells on 7 pages
Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People by Michele M. Root-Bernstein on page 227, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Depictions and Images of War in Edwardian Newspapers 1899-1914 by Glenn R. Wilkinson on page 82, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Picshuas of H. G. Wells: A Burlesque Diary by Gene K. Rinkel on page 118, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection by Susan Stewart on page 59, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 28 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	84% buy the item featured on this page: Little Wars 5.0 out of 5 stars (28) $9.95
	7% buy Wargaming: An Introduction 4.5 out of 5 stars (4)
	5% buy Floor Games 5.0 out of 5 stars (16) $11.95
	5% buy The Games of War: A Treasury of Rules for Battles with Toy Soldiers, Ships and Planes 5.0 out of 5 stars (3) $29.65

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A genuine classic. Buy it for all boys between 7 and 15!, June 29, 2005

By	B. Marold (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great wargaming book!, May 11, 2004

By	Bob McLaughlin (Fayetteville, NC) - See all my reviews

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.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally back in print!, May 10, 2004

By	Angus Beaucage "AB" (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

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*

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The grandaddy of wargaming
In 1913 HG Wells wrote this book on wargaming.This edition includes many of the original illustrations. Read more

Published 5 months ago by James O'connell

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best!
I've played many minis games in my life (Warhammer, 40k, LotR, etc...) and I have to say this original of H.G.Wells is still one of the best rule systems out there! Read more

Published 21 months ago by R. Moraes

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Wells is the man! Thank you Skirmisher for putting this classic into my hands. It's a great family game - not too complicated, but not inane. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Og

5.0 out of 5 stars A piece of wargaming history
I've been an avid wargamer for 15 years. I'd heard of the rules set down by Wells but hadn't gotten around to reading them. I am glad I did. Read more

Published on December 21, 2006 by Jeremy Balin Deloach

5.0 out of 5 stars Pick it up
This is really worth picking up. A great book and a good time.

Published on April 13, 2006 by Matthew Valentine

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unexpected Pleasure!
For years, gamers in the English-speaking world have gone to all sorts of extremes to acquire copies of H.G. Read more

Published on February 1, 2005 by Nigel James

5.0 out of 5 stars Before the Big War
What a treat to finally be able to read the original words of H.G. Wells' "Little Wars." I'd seen it mentioned many times in other literature and I knew it was a treasured... Read more

Published on January 7, 2005 by L. Albers

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look back
"Little Wars" is a good opportunity to look back 100 years and see how wargames were played then. Wells has a lot of interesting tips on the way to improve your game playing... Read more

Published on October 9, 2004 by L. Howard

5.0 out of 5 stars The Master speaks from the top of the last century.
Probably one of Wells' least known works, Little Wars has nonetheless helped to spawn an entire hobby, industry, and lifestyle. Read more

Published on July 31, 2004 by Leon R Garvin

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last!
I'd heard about this book for a while now, and I've always been fascinated to learn which celebrities are closet gamers...so of course I had to pick this up. Read more

Published on July 30, 2004 by R. Fernandez

› See all 28 customer reviews...

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