Tabletop Wargames: A Designers’ and Writers’ Handbook

This book is not a "how to" that gives you a step by step process to follow from start of game to the finish. It does, however, offer up the very best explanation of the design and writing process one could ever hope to have. The authors don't give you a set of mechanics to build around, they shouldn't have to. They are giving you the general challenges that come once those mechanics are already in place. Having gone through about 90% of this process on my own set of rules, I can attest to that first hand.The sections are laid out in an order that makes sense and the explanations given are straight to the point. I love this approach because the bottom line is you either get it or you don't. It's not much different from reading a book on how to write and produce your own song. You either have that creative spark, or you don't. The authors are both veteran rules writers and game designers and it is evident they have their process down pat. They touch on subjects that take you along the whole path of creating a set of rules, not just the writing process. What I love most about this work is that it gives one the guideposts and theory but the actual work still lies with the individual.Ironically, I would not appreciate the author's efforts as much if I had not already gone through the process myself in advance. I'd like to think that this would not be the case for the uninitiated.That being said, this book represents the one of the best treatises on modern tabletop war game design there is.

Great tips for anyone beginning to design tabletop games. It poses important design questions to keep in mind when creating a game for flow and tone of the game. This book gives general examples and points for different styles of tabletop games. If you are a hardcore gamer and worked on your own house rules then this book may fine tune some aspects of your games.

Some good advice but I would not say it was much of a guide. It talked about some pros and cons of game development but nothing I felt was revolutionary. Good explanations as to why certain approaches were taken and a few cautionary tales were included. I did not see the "guide" factor developed much though. Many of the chapters brought you up to a basic understanding but then left you to figure out where to go from there. A decent read from excellent authors in the field.

Excellent book, but it is for those who are designing rules for wargames. I am not doing that, but still it's worth reading to get more ideas on the hobby.

Rick is truely ahead of his time and a great rule's writer I've enjoyed his rule set's for year's

A really good book, with a lot of tables and information I have spend years researching (and not finding).

very good read, even if you are just a casual gamer. Tons of insider information and many interesting insights into the collective gaming psyche. I definitely recommend this book.

A must-have !

A comprehensive guide that allows the reader to design their own game rules. It gets the balance between helping and actually doing the job for you just right. The book is interspersed with pictures from a wide range of games and genres which makes skimming easily too. The writing style is casual and funny as you would expect from these two authors. Excellent.

Two veteran writers give the benefit of their experiences in producing wargaming rules over 25 years or more. As to be expected, the book is full of wisdom about the structural elements of games and the compromises that have to be made. It's a good read - virtually a well-written philosophical tract, highly readable, clearly organised and altogether high production values. I enjoyed it and it certainly helped me see a 'bigger picture'. However, it is really half the book I would have liked - having pointed out the theoretical issues it would have been useful for the authors to actually work through some concrete tasks - designing an example section on - for eg - movement, one on morale tests etc outlining their thinking and compromises they made. While I appreciate that Hail Caesar or Bolt Action etc can be consulted for Rick Priestley's style, that's not the point. So it is not perhaps as practical a guide as it might have been nor for all the theorising there's not much discussion of 'foundation principles' (in their view) of wargaming - or alternatives - surely something that should be here. The use - rather misuse - of photographs is also disappointing and a real opportunity missed. Random images of figures just to break up the text - rather than to illustrate the text is unimaginative.For these reasons, I'm not really sure who will find it very useful in a practical sense as opposed to stimulating and interesting. Nevertheless, I certainly found it thought-provoking and good value at the lowest prices on Amazon.

Tabletop Wargames is the book I wish existed 10 years ago, when I begun my career as a game designer. Priestley and Lambshead have crafted an easy-to-read ( yet complete and stimulating) guide for those who want to create their own tabletop wargames. All the basic considerations are covered -- space and time concerns, discussion about complexity of rules, point systems, and the book features even mathematical explanations about dice roll probabilities and an analysis of the language of rulebooks. Mechanics are compared and analyzed, the psychology of gamers discussed, and all of this with the clear, clean style you would expect in a... rulebook. The text oozes love for the hobby. If you are interested in designing your own games, you can't miss this.

The book has a title that implies a guide on how to write and publish one's own wargame rules, possibly even how to format a presentable wargames rule book to a potential publisher.But no.Instead you'll find minutea on the rationale for dice percentages, obvious expositions on wargame movement percentages, and some hints at writing style that is reminiscent of that freshman's required reading "The Elements of Style". This is a meandering stroll through a series of games workshop style rule segments. You never really get to the destination promised.There is no aspect of historical research and how to translate that into a table top simulation.James Dunnigan did yeoman's work with his books on this subject, and he was focused and enlightening.This book has a lot of full color photos of miniatures.But as an aide to writing.No.Frankly, apart from the pictures, I see little use for this book.A doorstop maybe?

For anyone looking for a literal do-this/do-that guide book to writing wargames, you won't find it here. Apart from a few somewhat out-of-place charts breaking down the realistic range of weapons vs what's practical on a tabletop and the statistical odds of rolling certain numbers on different combinations of dice, this book is more of an advisory affair. Examples provided for context wax long on commentary but come up short on direction. Suggestive, rather than instructive, it's an interesting read but not an overly informative one.