The Wargaming Compendium

I have roughly 7 years of experience with tabletop wargames, mainly sci-fi & fantasy. I got this book on sale expecting it to be a rerun of familiar ground, but was pleasantly surprised by the detail of the content. There is a very thorough history of wargaming, starting with the token based games played by Prussian nobility up to the book's publication in 2013 (Warhammer Fantasy had not yet been discontinued). There is a very strong emphasis on historical wargaming since that is what was played until the 70s and 80s when Games Workshop rose to prominence. If you are an SF/F purist you may be disappointed, but it's important to understand the origins of our hobby, even if you don't like the Napoleonic period (and even I wonder why there is so much emphasis on it out of 200 years of musket warfare!)The book includes sections on how to get started, including creation of a table and terrain, as well as a painting guide for soft plastic minis (the kind of plastic used in board game tokens). I already have a number of terrain books, so this was familiar ground, but it will be new to the book's intended audience. The painting guide was pretty meh, the author should have focused on hard plastic or metal ones as those are the standard and aren't that expensive if you don't buy GW. Again, there are other books and resources out there that cover this topic in greater detail, but this is clearly aimed at beginners.The book also includes three sample sets of rules, one for gladiatorial duels, one for wild west shootouts, and another for linked historical musket warfare campaigns. The rules are aimed at beginners but seem to have an "easy to learn, hard to master" feel to them, which is ideal.Lastly, the author talks about finding resources online and taking good pictures of your games to share with others. He includes a long list of manufacturers and events, noting that the table will probably be out of date by the time you read it.The pictures are great, the author's prose is a joy to read with just the right amount of British tongue-in-cheek. I was a surprised by the guest preface grumbling about the "thought police", aka political correctness, but there is none of that in the book itself.If you have any interest in wargaming, please grab this.

I had not heard of Henry Hyde when I purchased this book on the kindle. I read the reviews and took a chance. I have since bought a very prized hard back copy and am looking forward to his new book. Geared more for the historical wargamer, but certainly an excellent starting point for any wargamer.Coming from the GW background, I missed Airfix and Donald Featherstone. This book was the perfect bridge for that gap. If you are moving away from GW and into Bolt Action or Chain of Command, I strongly recommend this book as a background primer to historical wargaming.

The Wargaming Compendium is a detailed account of the hobby of WARGAMING. My experience with WARGAMING and miniatures started with D&D, then Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I collect rules-sets and models from these genres and create armies for playing against friends. Over the years I have had an interest in creating the entire gaming experience, choosing the rules and scenarios, painting the armies and terrain and providing needed rules to play narrative driven games of FANTASY and SCI-FI WARGAMES of various types, and scales. Learning more about the history of the hobby and how seeing the armies and tables with battle being fought was very inspiring. This is a great book, and I also gained a lot by visiting the links and looking at hundreds of models and rules-sets. I've also enjoyed viewing the content on a Mobile device some times.

Well written book giving as solid a description of Wargaming as one could ask for. Mr. Hyde takes you from what war gaming is to a large number of resources for you to build your own games. He includes a well developed set of horse and musket game rules and plenty of useful ideas for other aspects of the hobby. If you're interested in getting into war gaming, this book is an excellent starting point!

This is a charming introduction to the miniature wargaming hobby. While other so-called 'introductory' books plunge into historical trivia and page after page of SWIG (Standard Wargamer-Issue Gibberish,) THE WARGAMING COMPENDIUM takes a lighter, friendlier tone, assuming that you've never been near a wargame before, and starts with filling you in about the hobby's history, and then goes on to explain things that could leave someone new to the hobby genuinely confused......but it doesn't stop there! Not content to just TALK about the hobby, the book encourages the reader to give it a try by devoting chapters to miniature painting, terrain creation, and no less than THREE separate sets of rules for various eras, all written in a style that is simple, but doesn't insult the reader's intelligence.Seriously, if you are interested in the miniature wargaming hobby, BUY THIS BOOK. If it doesn't inspire you to give it a try, your soul fell out somewhere...

For me, this is the new, modern day, de facto standard for the all-encompassing guide to the wargaming hobby. Well written, beautiful to look at, chock full of useful advice and tips, and even containing its own set of rules (several in fact), I don't forsee anyone surpassing this stellar effort from Henry Hyde anytime soon. Highly recommended for every wargamer's bookshelf.

I missed out on this book when it was first published as the cover price seemed a little too rich for me at the time. Fast forward a few years and the chance to acquire a Kindle version for £1.19 seemed too good an opportunity to turn down and I am so glad that I took advantage of the offer!As a wargamer of a similar vintage to the author the best I can say about this book it that it not covers many of the wargaming developments since the late 1960s to the time of writing but also passes on the best of this on into the current (and future) arena. I enjoyed the reminder of rules and books of the past and the acknowledgement of how these have all contributed to a lesser or greater degree to what wargaming is today. 'Written on the shoulders of giants' would be a great way of describing this book as the author readily acknowledges how wargaming's early pioneers have helped to fashion and forge the hobby we enjoy today.The sections on historical periods, army sizes and figure scales are all routine fare but the author describes them simply, eloquently and with many pertinent observations - both of actual games in progress and his own set up. There is practical advice and examples of painting, terrain making, designing rules and creating campaigns for a variety of periods. A wide variety of photographs of games and historical uniforms as well as diagrams, 'how to' sequences as well as list of figure manufacturers, wargames shows and modest but useful bibliography - not to mention some of the author's own rules, complete the book.The Kindle version is really handy to have alongside the hardback version as it means that the various links can be more readily accessed. I have not mentioned the paperback version as this is not a medium I use where other options are available. In fact I have now also picked up a hardback version for my own collection.I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. There was little contained in the pages that was new but what is contained therein represents a new baseline to start from for anyone considering embarking on the wargamer's path.In essence the author has taken what could be described as an 'old school' style of wargames book and has made it the 'new old school'.I highly recommend this book and am looking forward to the author's forthcoming volume on campaigns in wargames (which will be of similar size!).

An extremely interesting, informative and useful book for both the experienced and the novice wargamer. Having bought the paperback I just had to get the hardback. It covers every aspect of wargaming from wargaming periods, scales, figures, manufacturers, basing, terrain and buildings, Also included is a set of wargames rules and a listing of wargames clubs and much more. I wish this book had been available when I started wargaming. Very highly recommended.

A comprehensive and well written book covering many aspects of wargaming. I particularly enjoyed the history of the hobby section.

Written with a great enthusiastic style that keeps you reading. The author clearly knows his subject and his love for it shines through. If you are an old school gamer or new to the hobby this is a must read.Excellent

Excellent. A very comprehensive look at the Wargaming Hobby.