Little Wars - By H.G Wells, The Complete Unabridged Audio Book on 2 standard audio cds ( playable in any cd player & fully digitally remastered )
Plot Summary
Little Wars was written by the famous author H. G. Wells in 1913 and is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers. Its full title is 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.
Little Wars is considered by some to be the first modern table top war game. It included fairly simple rules for infantry, cavalry, and artillery in the form of a toy 4.7 inch naval gun that launched projectiles, usually small wooden dowels to knock down enemy soldiers. In addition to it being a war game, the book hints at several philosophical aspects of war.
The development of the game is explained and Wells' thoughts on war, as he was known to be a pacifist, is revealed in his writing. According to Wells, the idea of the game developed from a visit by his friend Jerome K. Jerome.
After dinner, Jerome began shooting down toy soldiers with a toy cannon that Wells joined in to compete. The two decided that with an addition of written rules, a good Kriegsspiel type game could be developed. The game revolved around the use of lead hollow cast soldiers made by W. Britain and battlefields made from whatever materials were on hand, usually blocks or other toys.
Simple rules of movement, firing, and close combat were developed with a set amount of time for each player to move and fire. Wells also provides a chapter of 'Extensions and Amplifications of Little War'. In an appendix, Wells provides 'Little Wars and Kriegspiel'; more complex rules to be played in a larger space involving Military logistics, military engineers, cavalry charges, and railway transport of troops.
Wells also gives a description of the game from the view of one of the Generals in the battle bombastically relating his memoirs.
Little Wars was first published in 1913 by Frank Palmer |
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