My impression was that Hubert was referring to not using the rules rather than the mindset.

I'd agree with Hubert in that the books, whilst written by historians who often took part in the actual events they described, were not necessarily meant to be taken overly seriously in terms of creating an exact replica of the events they portrayed.

I agree with both of you that the rules are dated - in many cases they're over forty years old, how could they not be? However, I think it's interesting that when you look at a lot of the game suggestions in magazines and convention games there is a move back to the Featherstone/Grant era of simplicity.

When I went to my first proper wargames club evening in the early 80s it was complicated micro-armour and massed 25mm Ancients and Napoleonics. The rules published were full of dense type, massive modifier lists and armour penetration charts. I went back over 20 years later to the same club and new games and rules were being tried on a weekly basis. The rules were much simpler and more abstract - not quite as simple as the most basic 60s' sets, but not far of it. Most people had switched over to 15mm and there werefar more skirmishes and small battles. People don't seem to have as much time for actually gaming so they want something they can conclude in a few hours at most.

Wargaming clubs are still out there though.

In the UK, I suppose?

Quote from: Settembrini;238788In the UK, I suppose?

Absolutely - some of the more recent rulesets I've picked up have come directly from the clubs too. It's not as big as it once was, but I think the quality of games and resources is fantastic, supported by an ageing demographic who can at least put money if not time into the hobby. I don't think membership of clubs is necessarily as big, but then I think a lot of people have gone back to playing a home. One of my nearest clubs only has 4 members, another just 6, but I can pick and choose which ones to attend when I'm free.