On the brilliant 'Man of Tin ' blog Happy Robert Louis Stevenson Day 13th November 2021 – Man of Tin blog (wordpress.com) there has been a series of articles about Robert Louis Stevenson's and his wargaming , which pre-date the much better known H.G Wells 'Little Wars' . Very interesting indeed everyone knows about H.G. but nobody mentions R.L.Stevenson which is a shame . He seemed to use quite complicated campaign rules which covered supply etc. , I'm not sure how the actual combat was adjudicated though ,there is mention of pea-shooters and rolled marbles (?) , I wonder if anybody has tracked down the actual rules used ? .
I'd hardly say no one, I've seen multiple mentions and at least one old (OLD) article in Scribner's about the games. I may have a copy somewhere but I have a feeling its on a medium I can no longer access.
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves (and thats not as trustworthy as it ought to be) he played largely with small units of flats of various sizes (whatever he could find) and it involved a peashooter and a campaign newspaper.
Oh well here's a link to a blogpost with a link to the article.
Stevenson wargaming"
(Now I'll have to have a closer look at the blog!)
Thanks for the link , I think 'Man of Tin ' links this as well somewhere .
DeleteIf I remember correctly, his regiments were made up of 4 man units. As his report mention the number of losses, each figure must have represented a certain number of soldiers. One thing that I found really interesting was the use of supply wagons loaded with printers ems. For each volley, one em was removed. Once wagons were emptied they returned to supply dumps for more.
ReplyDeleteYes 4 man units, his campaign rules seem very detailed
DeleteRLS was a real pioneer and not just in wargaming. The account of his campaigns whilst convalescing are a great read.
ReplyDeleteA great writer, one of my favorites as a youngster.
DeleteRLS' Campaign map and his battle write up in the fictional Yallobelly Record from Scribners Magazine seem to be worth exploring for a future ImagiNations skirmish game.
ReplyDeleteI agree , he has some interesting ideas .
DeleteI have it at second hand that the people editing the Stevenson papers have the rules, but are proceeding very slowly, as when all the papers are edited, they'll be out of work. A pity. But--unless he influenced Wells--RLS is a dead end. What he deserves for not publishing.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in seeing his rules , if they would be usable in 'modern' wargaming is another matter.
DeleteMaybe not such a dead end. Re publishing, I think RLS was convalescing / pretty ill by the time this was happening and he died quite young.
ReplyDeleteObviously this is second hand through his stepson Lloyd Osbourne but I was surprised to see concealed movement cards etc. Although how innovative this is depends on what Kriegspiel was offering at the time.
Like the scraps of Bronte ImagiNations it should / could be a jump off point for modern gaming.
Do we know names / who the Stevenson papers people are?
To be Honest Lloyd Osborne does make a lot of it sound like advanced Maths as rules go.
Be very interested in any further developments .
DeleteAn excellent author indeed Tony, "Treasure Island" is one of my favorites of all time! This poem is new to me and I love it! Thank you for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure , I recently re-read 'Treasure Isand ' and it has stood the test of time I think .
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