Donald Featherstone's Lost Tales (2009) - Articles
Donald Featherstone on WRG Ancients
While working through the documentation of the early days of wargaming I came across an interesting controversy. Donald Featherstone ‘damming’ the first edition of the WRG Ancients Rules and then praising them. Looking back with the hindsight of 40 years, I would say it takes courage for an editor to say they do not like a wargaming product and even more courage to admit they are wrong.
Wargamers Newsletter No. 86 May 1969
‘The British wargames clubs championships are to be held in Worthing in October of this year and, in company with other clubs, the Wessex Military Society have received sets of rules for the three teams entered by them.
Wargaming is a relatively intolerant hobby in which few, if any, wargamers will say a good word for any rules not compiled by themselves. Bearing this in mind, and without seeing the Ancient or Modern rules (which are not yet ready), the rules for Medieval, Napoleonic and American Civil war battles seem fairly straightforward and capable of giving a reasonable game. BUT already whispers are drifting down to Southampton (and if the truth be known in the Wessex Teams themselves) that there are ways of getting around this rules and that rules can be interpreted in such and such a way.
There is little that I find more distasteful about this hobby than the manner in which many wargamers seek advantages on the table-top by bending or mis-applying the rules. Whatever anyone says or does, wargaming is a GAME and should be played in a sporting spirit without gamesmanship or argument.
Obviously, competition requires rules and umpires to intelligently apply those rules. But neither good rules and fair minded umpires will be enough if the participants are racking their tiny minds to secure advantage within the rules by dubious reasoning. Let us hope that this convention will be run without the arguments and completely devoid of the sharp tactics reported to have been carried out by a well known wargamer at the last convention. Fighting an ancient battle and using Cataphracts (heavily armoured cavalry) only vulnerable through their horse being killed by a dice throw of a 1, he dismounted [his single cataphract] on a vital bridge in the centre of the table and then claimed that, because they were not on their horse, they were not subject to the dice throw of 1 and were therefore invulnerable.
This is a plea for wargaming in the right spirit at this forthcoming convention with everyone taking the rules on their face value and obeying, without question, the judgment of the umpire who MUST know the rules inside out and backwards besides possessing a genuine desire to see a wargame flow quietly and quickly. The best rules are the ones that never need be applied.
I must confess to being very disturbed by the knowledge that the new rules of the Ancient War Games Research Group are to be used for the Ancient games in the forthcoming Convention. These highly complex and involved rules require a great deal of time to assimilate and their use gives a most unfair advantage in the Tournament to their compilers Messrs, Bob O’Brien, Phil Barker, and Ed Smith should they be competing.’
Wargamers Newsletter No. 87 June 1969
‘Last Month in the Newsletter, I made some pertinent remarks concerning the Ancient Rules recently devised and produced by Bob O’Brian, Philip Barker and Ed Smith. At the time of writing, my comments were my sincere belief and opinion. However, various facts and details have come to my notice which I should like to record- if I am going to ‘knock’ then equally I am prepared to admit when I may well have been wrong.
These Ancient Rules, on first inspection appeared to be extremely complicated, so much so that I felt their devisers had an unfair advantage if they were to be used in the forth-coming Wargames Club Championships. Quite spontaneously (and before the publication of my last month’s editorial) Bob O’Brian of the Worthing Club readily agreed to fight the preliminary round of the Championships using the well known rules of the Society of Ancients. However, both the Wessex contestants, Tony Merson and Roy Godwell-Boss preferred to fight under the new O’Brian-Barker-Smith rules. In the case of Tony Merson, he had fought numerous practice battles with his father and they both agreed that these rules were far better than any existing rules for Ancient Warfare and that, far from being as involved as they looked, they were relatively simple and more than fully covered the many facets of this period.
I am very pleased to record this example of Bob O’Brien’s fairness and also to advise Ancient Wargamers that these rules would appear to be something worth having.
Don later said (forty years later, in conversation with the editor) that while such complex rules were not suitable for his evening games, they were essential if competion gaming was to survive in the face of some players antics. Don’s first test of a set of rules is can the game be played to a conclusion with friends in an evening and still allow the players to get to the pub in time for last orders (which used to be at 10.30).