Stuffed Crocodile on Nostr: Did you know that wargaming, and by extension the tabletop roleplaying hobby, can ...

Did you know that wargaming, and by extension the tabletop roleplaying hobby, can claim descendence from a H.G. Wells book?

In 1913 already well-known novelist H.G. Wells published Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys’ games and books which provided a simple system for wargaming with miniatures.

Now, wargaming was older of course (I mean, there was chess after all, and Kriegsspiel was created as a training tool for the Prussian army in the 18th ct., and he does acknowledge a relation), but I think this might have been the first (published) ruleset to involve using toy soldiers and terrain built from toys.

According to the book the idea for the game came to notable pacifist Wells during a visit by his friend Jerome K. Jerome, where they began shooting toy soldiers with a toy cannon after dinner, which spiraled into a mess on the floor as more and more toys and written rules were added over time.

He even started with further extensions, and with thoughts how to integrate this whole system into the larger context of Kriegsspiel and make this into a strategic campaign. That all sounds very familiar.

What takes it from just interesting into adorkable territory though are the pictures. Pictures of soldiers and terrain, yes, but also of Wells and his friends playing the game properly dressed in some casual suit and tie.

The book often is reprinted alongside the previous book Floor Games, in which he describes games to be played by kids on the floor that do not involve war. Notably he described himself and his friends playing the war game, obviously trying to make a difference between children’s games and games for adults here. (although his subtitle indicates kids could be interested in it as well)

Where to get it

There’s reprints that can be found easily enough on various internet bookshops. But as these books are very much in the public domain right now the texts can be found on Project Gutenberg, archive.org, WikiSource, even as a free audiobook version on LibriVox

Little Wars on Project Gutenberg, Archive.org, WikiSource, Librivox (audio)
Floor Games on Project Gutenberg, Archive.org, WikiSource, Librivox (audio)Rate this:

https://gmkeros.wordpress.com/2023/10/26/h-g-wells-and-the-beginning-of-miniature-wargaming/

#h #Miniatures #scienceFiction #toySoldiers #ttrpg #Wargames #wells