Review of Table Top Battles
By Mike Crane
Table Top Battles (ISBN 13 978-1485818-036-6) is a paperback rulebook written by Mike and Joyce Smith and published by Ashford Overload Services, Ltd. In addition to 40 years of experience wargaming tabletop battles and campaigns, Mike has also written another book, Matchlock—Rules for E.C.W., published by Partizan Press.
Table Top Battleshas a copyright date of 2000 and the last edition was published in 2007. The book measures 11.75” x 8” and is 42 pages long. There are seven black & white photos, several diagrams/charts, and three campaign maps.
This is the kind of rulebook a wargamer will love or hatedepending upon his attitude toward simple vs. complex games. It covers all periods (some better than others—I find the WWII era lacking) using a small battlefield—generally a playing board 2.5’ x 3’ with a grid of 2” squares. The rules are so simple that the gamer may find himself adding conditions that will make them more complicated. The rules are advertised as being suitable for use with 6mm to 28mm figures but I have only used 15mm figures, which seem to work quite well. The number of figures needed to play a game is reduced to the point that a player is not intimidated by thedread of having to buy and paint huge new armies in order to play in a different era.
There are 39 listings in the table of contents, too many to list here, but the following examples will give the reader an idea of their comprehensiveness: Figures and Organization; The Board; American Civil War; Assaults on Fortifications; Starvation; Mules and Wagons; Campaign Rules; The Navy; Galley Warfare; Rules for Fantasy Gaming; Rules for Science Fiction; Solo Gaming; Aerial Warfare; etc.
This book could have been organized better and it should have received a better proofreading (there is an addendum with corrections to the text in the back).A couple of lines were left off the diagram of the playing board that will need to be drawn in with a pencil; but, in spite of the editorial shortcomings,as a solo gamer I still rate this rulebook as an excellent buy for people who want to play quick, uncomplicated games with small armies in a limited space. Even if you don’t play all your games according to this rulebook, you will pick up a lot of good ideas that can be transferred to your own games. But, if you like long, detailed, intricate games with lots of figures on a large playing area, this rulebook definitely is not for you.
So far as I know, the only place to find Table Top Battles is at Caliver Books in England. My copy was bought as a birthday present a couple of years ago and the sticker price was £8.50. A quick search on the Caliver website a few minutes ago shows that it is now priced at £13.50. In addition, the standard minimum postage rate for foreign mail would add another £4.25 for U.S. customers. That may sound like a lot of money for such a small book, but I have spent a lot more for rules that were worth a lot less to me.
To learn more about the rules and to see them in action, check out the play testingdone byBob Cordery on hisblog, Wargaming Miscellany. He applies the rules to a British colonial battle in the Sudan and a WWII scenario with adaptations. Read these blogs and you can decide whether you like themor not.