Wargames Research Group
FounderPhil Barker, Bob O'Brien, and Ed Smith
Founded atUnited Kingdom
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom

The Wargames Research Group (WRG) is a British publisher of rules and reference material for miniature wargaming. Founded in 1969 they were the premier publisher of tabletop rules during the seventies and eighties, publishing rules for periods ranging from ancient times to modern armoured warfare, and reference books which are still considered standard works for amateur researchers and wargamers. They are best known for their seminal ancient and medieval period rules, and also for De Bellis Antiquitatis and Hordes of the Things fantasy rules.

History

WRG was founded by Phil Barker, Bob O'Brien, and Ed Smith in 1969, when they published War Game Rules: 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D..[1]

The rules quickly gained widespread acceptance through the miniature wargaming world, especially in the UK, and quickly became the acknowledged standard for ancient warfare.[2] WRG followed with rules for other periods which gained similar widespread acceptance.

Innovative features of the rules included:

While very much a minority interest, both the 6th Edition and the 7th Edition continue to be played even at a competition level.[5] Both, however, are no longer supported by WRG.

WRG rules have been sufficiently widely adopted that other popular rule sets sometimes choose to adopt the same basing requirements for figures to avoid requiring rebasing of the large number of WRG-based armies.[6][7][8][9] Aspects of the WRG basing system such as the intermediate group of infantry between heavy and skirmisher infantry have, however, come under criticism.[10][11]

At the beginning of the 1990s WRG introduced De Bellis Antiquitatis (DBA) which was a radical simplification of ancient and medieval wargaming. The concepts of DBA were adapted to allow significantly larger games, which led to De Bellis Multitudinis (DBM) for Ancient and medieval and De Bellis Renationis (DBR) for Renaissance. The DBx series of rules are still in widespread use, the latest incarnation being De Bellis Magistrorum Militum (DBMM).

DBA was also adapted to a fantasy setting in Hordes of the Things.

Significance

WRG rules were a significant milestone in the development of modern miniature wargaming,[12] and attempted to use historical research to provide historical realism in wargames.[2] Thus, the WRG referred to the original historical texts as the basis for their reference works, rules sets and army lists,[13] and their historical publications are often found in wargaming[14] and other bibliographies.[15][16][17]

The reference works published by WRG are aimed at the wargamer rather than the academic history student, but are nonetheless accurate enough to be occasionally cited in more scholarly texts.

Products

Rules

Ancients & Medievals

In seven editions, normally referred to by wargamers just by the edition number.

Renaissance

Horse and Musket

Modern

DBx

Other

Army Lists

Ancients & Medievals

Renaissance

DBx

Reference Books

References

  1. ^ History of the Wargames Research Group
  2. ^ a b The Ancient Wargame Charles Grant p148
  3. ^ a b Courier timeline of wargaming development, 1969
  4. ^ The Ancient Wargame Charles Grant p149
  5. ^ "Home".
  6. ^ Ancient Warfare Fast Play Rules (2002)
  7. ^ Review of Armati rules
  8. ^ Classical Hack uses "the standard basing size used by international tournament gamers" - ie WRG basing
  9. ^ see Ancient Warfare, Medieval Warfare, Renaissance Warfare, Classical Hack, Holy Hack
  10. ^ Slingshot Issue 161
  11. ^ Slingshot Issue 168, The Myth of loose Order, M Anastadias
  12. ^ History of Paper Gaming
  13. ^ Phil Barker and Richard Bodley Scott, D.B.M. Army Lists recommended for Warhammer Ancient Battles
  14. ^ Duncan Head, Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, 359 BC to 146 BC, recommended on a Warhammer Ancient Battles page
  15. ^ Heath, Ian. Armies of the Middle Ages, volume 1; The Hundred Years War, the Wars of the Roses and the Burgundian Wars, 1300-1487 on the Hundred Years War bibliography page
  16. ^ The Stirrup Controversy, John Sloan
  17. ^ Warfleets of Antiquity, Classics 175, University of Pennsylvania
  18. ^ Slingshot 65/16-19, John Norris
  19. ^ "History".

External links

Categories