Miniature Wargaming

The above picture of my three (3) volumes from my 1975 version of TRACTICS for WWII Miniatures

Tractics was first released by Guidon Games in 1971 and was created by Mike Reese & Leon Tucker with Gary Gygax and illustrated by Don Lowry. I discovered this just a little after Chainmail (it was from the same company Guidon Games – just as Chainmail – it was later republished by TSR, Inc). It ignited an itch in my historical love of WWII and wanting to recreate battles I had read about or seen in the movies I watched related to this period in history. Turned out to be quite a bit more sophisticated than the old-school plastic WWII toy soldiers that my brother and I had lying about.

The original concept it suggested of using 1/87 scale miniatures was an HO scale type of miniature, and just a bit far out of range in cost and accessibility for me as a young kid, doing paper routes and working at the donut shop part-time, etc., so I had to put vehicle purchases to the side. Later, I would find 1/285 scale micro armor (think GHQ), which was far more affordable and realistic in playability and table size (as in space available to put on a game).

Ok, that was a quick run down memory lane, but what is most important about all of this is how it would lead me to find Roleplaying Games (aks Tabletop Roleplaying Games, as we call them these days). We all have our stories, and I know mine took numerous different trails and travels around the world of Board Games, Miniature Wargames, and ultimately, playing all types of Tabletop RPGs of various genres.

Keep following and reading along as I share my path and much more about TTRPGs.

Image by: Bander Bramblegrub – Chainmail session at Gary Con II

Guidon Games creates Chainmail – Rules for Medieval Miniatures – 1st Edition, 1971. Chainmail would later come under Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR) ownership when they acquired its rights in 1975.

Yes, as a young kid in love with the idea of Knights, King Arthur, and movies like El Cid and Robin Hood, I had found a book that brought this period to life. Then, all I had to do was find some miniatures and identify a friend or family member that might play with me (but that’s another story for another day).

What I want to bring to life here is that I had found something that wasn’t a typical board game or family card game but something that took “gaming” to a whole new level. Plus, in finding this and visiting libraries, I started to see that there were these things called miniature wargames and that historical miniature wargaming was an actual thing, and I found a book called “Little Wars” by H. G. Wells. And this would turn out to be just the beginning of my discoveries.