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(Writer on wargaming) Henry Hyde

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The Wargaming Compendium Paperback – July 19, 2015

by Henry Hyde (Author)

4.7 215 ratings

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This book gives a complete overview of the hobby of 'wargaming with miniatures, especially suitable for the newcomer but also containing sufficient depth and breadth of information to attract the more experienced gamer. Packed with color photographs, maps and diagrams the book is a visual treat, but one built on the solid foundations of a highly literate and engaging text that does not ‘dumb down’ the hobby. Every aspect is explained clearly and in a way that both informs and entertains, with plenty of personality, gentle humor and a lightness of touch.

The contents will include a brief history of the development of wargaming and advice on such subjects as: choosing a period, from ancients to sci-fi; the question of scale (not only of miniatures, but the size of game from the smallest skirmishes to epic battles), terrain, buying and painting miniatures, creating scenarios for wargames, running a campaign, solo wargaming and so on. It will also include simple rules for gladiator combat and Wild West skirmishes as well as a Comprehensive rules system for the horse and musket era.

Print length

528 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pen and Sword
Publication date

July 19, 2015
Dimensions

7 x 1.25 x 10 inches
ISBN-10

1473823773
ISBN-13

978-1473823778
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"as complete a guide to the hobby of wargaming as you can currently get. If you have a friend or relative who wants to get into this hobby or has only just got into it then buy them this book for Christmas, their birthday or Easter... like having a seasoned wargamer at your elbow guiding you along the way....if you are like me a wargamer of some decades of experience then buy this book. It will remind you why you got into the hobby in the first place, bring back some very vivid memories of “the early days” and make you look at the hobby afresh. .... yes I really, really like this book and make no apologies for laying it on with a trowel! Don’t waste anymore time and get this book into your life now!"
The Wargamer

"graphic arts extravaganza is enhanced by lively and engaging text that clearly explains things with a feel for flair and a good sense of humor. ..ranks as a great addition to the pastime's lore...comprehensive and entertaining...highly recommended to both more experienced tabletop generals and beginners."
Toy Solder & Model Figure

"I highly recommend this 519-page book to ANYONE interested in miniature wargaming. The title of The Wargaming Compendium is at least an understatement as this one volume gives the prospective gamer an insight to the beginning of this hobby that will only grow stronger with time. Also, grab this fascinating book while you can, as Wargaming Books, such as this, will sell out quickly and become a collectors editions before you know it. Get it while it's HOT."
Mataka.org

About the Author

A wargamer since childhood, Henry Hyde burst onto the wargames scene in 2006 with his own _Battlegames_ magazine. He went on to edit the combined _Miniature Wargames_ with _Battlegames_ before leaving to pursue other design and publishing interests in 2016\. His enthusiasm for wargaming is rooted in his deep love of history (he has a degree in European History from Sussex University) but he also enjoys writing fiction, photography, watercolour painting, music and cooking. He is the author of the acclaimed The _Wargaming Compendium_ published by Pen & Sword Books in 2013\. Henry lives near the sea in East Sussex.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen and Sword (July 19, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1473823773
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1473823778
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.9 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.25 x 10 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,005,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,142 in Miniatures

Customer Reviews:
4.7 215 ratings

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About the author

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(Writer on wargaming) Henry Hyde

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Henry is a designer, writer and editor, but not necessarily in that order on any given day. Since the start of 2017, his design work has focused on creating book covers for other indie authors, and you can see examples on his site.

His first non-fiction book, "The Wargaming Compendium", dealing with the hobby of miniatures wargaming, was published by Pen & Sword in July 2013 and became an instant Amazon best-seller. He is now writing more books related to wargaming for Pen & Sword, but insists on making his life difficult by also working on fantasy and historical fiction behind the scenes. His next non-fiction work is scheduled to be published late 2017, and his first fiction is due to be released on Kindle in 2018.

Like many modern writers, Henry spends a great deal of his life wasting time online, delighting in discovering ways to circumvent software he has installed to prevent him doing precisely that. He blogs, podcasts and hangs around on forums and is an Author Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

Henry lives in Brighton and Hove on the beautiful south coast of England with his partner Ann and two adorable cats of their own, plus a rescued stray who knows a soft touch when he sees one. He is passionate about military history, martial arts, epic fantasy, design, music, languages, travel, and makes no excuses for playing games involving hundreds of beautiful model soldiers.

You can follow Henry's blog at http://henryhyde.co.uk and his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/henryhydewriter

For his wargaming life, see http://henrys-wargaming.co.uk and his Twitter account @battlegames

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

215 global ratings

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Mark Hilton

Perspective from a veteran wargamer

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020

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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.

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Shane

A detailed account of WARGAMING

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2021

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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.

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2022

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This is a thrilling and inclusive read which sets the imagination free. Breathes new life into the hobby and would encourage anyone to give it a try.

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david crater

A very good basic primer into miniature wargaming.

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014

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I purchased the Kindle version after listening to Mr. Hyde's interviews and conversations via the Meeples and Miniatures site. Much of his passion for the simpler games that are played with model soldiers come out in this book. It has a very heavy focus on the "horse and musket" period of gaming but does give comprehensive overviews of many of the other periods.

Mr. Hyde starts with a history of his undertaking into the hobby then moves in to descriptions of the myriad of games types and equipment that one acquires to play the games. A set of Napoleonic style of rules are included along with a sample replay so as to better illustrate what should take place.

One of the positions he takes which peaked my interest was that he never found much panache in the naval wargaming sector. Grey ships on a Grey sea just doesn't garner any excitement. I would recommend this book to the beginner or the grognard type who wants a more simple type of game. This is not intended for the FOW tournament player or the Challenger Modern MBT guy.

My only complaint is that the pages are not numbered in the Kindle version so that all the PDFs of the book are unavailable for download. I only wish the password was tagged to the photo description or some such. The charts in the Kindle display get cut off so you can only see the first 70-80% before it is cut off.

8 people found this helpful

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William Reger

Very comprehensive Compendium!

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2021

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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!

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2020

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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.

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MPK

Nice book, but a bit biased

Reviewed in Italy on February 15, 2021

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It's the perfect guide for anyone who would actually want to start playing miniature wargames.
It features a huge quantity of informations, tips and tricks to how to organize your hobby, how to do that and how to expand it.
The problem is that, every information provided, is aimed toward the 1/72 historical, musket era, miniatures, which is not bad, but is a bit too much focused.
While talking about "games that use cards to play", the author make a big mistake not mentioning Malifaux (which in fact doesn't use dice at all, and was already available at the time the book was in production) and he always talks in a bad way about non-historical encounter played out (imperial romans vs anciet greek, something that can happen in games like SAGA or any competitive setting that allows a bit of presonalization or freedom, such as Bolt Action) or generally sci-fi and fantasy, while praising imagi-nation campaign (which are EXACTLY the same things).
Other than these nitpick (which are the authors' preference) the book is really, really well written, with examples and guides, some rules to test out what you just built and painted and some other general suggestion to the hobby.
Buy it.

EN

Excellent

Reviewed in Canada on July 4, 2019

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Excellent and thoroughly useful resource for both novice and veteran wargamers. I highly recommend it!

Wizard

Super Übersicht zum Thema

Reviewed in Germany on January 25, 2020

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Super Buch für alle die an Tabletop interessiert sind, aber auch für alle die schon länger dabei sind 👍🏻

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dukeofwelli

Hep ! Wargamers (joueurs de jeux d'histoire) de France, voilà de la lecture pour vous...

Reviewed in France on June 20, 2017

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Le Compendium d'Henry Hide est une mine d'idées et de renseignements sur le thème du jeu d'histoire (avec figurines).
Il y est question de l'historique voire de la genèse du jeu d'histoire (assez enracinée dans le monde anglo-saxon il faut bien l'avouer). Il y est également question de règles, allant des plus simples aux plus complexes, évoluant selon le niveau du jeu et de la quantité de figurines mises à contribution. Un chapitre entier est dédié à celles développées par l'auteur lui-même, couvrant la période de la "Guerre en dentelle".
Le livre est agréablement structuré, couvrant, par une suite logique, la quasi totalité du domaine évoqué.
Cerise sur gâteau, la fin du livre comporte des listes de fabricants de figurines (avec des indications quant à la taille et l'usage, comme par exemple historiques ou fantasy) et d’éléments de décors. Hyde avoue cependant ne pouvoir être exhaustif, au vu des mouvements dans cet artisanat.
Malgré ces 500+ pages, ce livre est passionnant à lire de bout en bout.

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