Thursday 31 December 2015

Another Year in the History of Wargaming Project

Over the last 12 months, the Project has seen many people kindly donating material to the History of Wargaming Project. Some of the highlights include:

     Douglas Inglis (Director and Research Professor. The Texas Tech University Center in Sevilla) donating a huge collection of board games that document the development of modern wargaming. It will take me several more years to sort this lot out.

     David Bradley, Essex UK, for donating a collection of unpublished material about Lionel Tarr

      Isaiah, Athens for inspiring me to start the production of Featherstone's Wargames through the Ages series vols 1-4

     Peter Perla for supplying some early USN wargaming rules

     John Davies, with the assistance of Iain Russel Lowe, donated further material about Paddy Griffith's Wargames.
 
     and many others...

Plans for the next 12 months? I am always somewhat guarded about my publishing plans as wargamers can get very disappointed if there are unavoidable delays in a publication schedule. An example is when I discover at the last moment, just days before a book is about to go to print, that I have a lead on lost material and perhaps, with effort and a bit of luck (and perhaps the assistance of the Oxford Detective Bureau), I can track it down and insert it as new book chapter.

However, there are some works that are definitely going to print in the next few months:

1) A new book, It Could Happen Tomorrow: Emergency Planning Exercises for the Health Service and Business- after 4 years of hard graft it is going to print.

2) A new book by the semi-legendary Stuart Asquith on wargaming 18th century warfare

3) A new book on Confrontation Analysis with Mike Young- a way of modeling real world conflicts.

4) A reprint of another naval wargaming book.

5) A work on military history with Charlie Wesencraft- a previously unpublished diary of a WWI cavalry man.

One of the moments that make it all worthwhile is when I receive an email from a fellow wargamer, who kindly takes the time to thank me for my efforts. For example, I received this from Larry Foster (USA) "I also want to thank you and let you know how much I appreciate all the work you've done editing Don Featherstone, Charles Grant, and all the others and their works on wargaming.  It has been a huge impact and help to me."

I wish all my fellow wargamers who enjoy our diverse hobby, a happy and peaceful new year. I hope to continue to provide more interesting material for your book shelves.