H.G. Wells' Little Wars

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-02-18 01:26pm

I've recently been enjoying a read-through of the first codified set of rules devised for miniature soldiers; H.G. Wells' Little Wars. Simple by today's standards perhaps, but nonetheless a very interesting artefact by a man of many facets. The somewhat portly gentleman stretched out alongside his miniature army in some of the accompanying photos is none other than Mr. Wells himself —a glimpse of the great man at play.

This link leads to an online illustrated edition (and .pdf format versions) of both Little Wars and its allied work, Floor Games.

The foundations of a modern hobby.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-18 01:50pm

That's the one that's considered to be technically the first role playing game, right?

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-02-19 03:17am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:That's the one that's considered to be technically the first role playing game, right?

Floor Games, I think, might fit that label better than Little Wars —as might his suggested modifications to the game Kriegspiel, which was being used as a teaching device at Sandringham for junior officers but suffered, as Wells observed, from so much umpire interference as to be valueless.