Preparing an Ancients Game in Tribute to Stuart Asquith

My Solo Opponent for the weekend? Stuart Asquith in his 1988 Guide to Solo Gaming.

I was saddened by the news about Stuart Asquith’s death, whose funeral is on Monday the 18th of November. It has been good to read the many tributes to him by his gaming friends and readers, as his family have also publicly said.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/05/a-muffled-drum-for-stuart-asquith/

Along with many other gamers worldwide, I will be holding a small tribute game in Stuart’s memory. It will be a solo Ancients Skirmish game for this coming weekend. This will be using some of my 15mm Peter Laing Ancient Roman and Picts / Celts that used to belong to Stuart.

Here is my excellent research material:

Some Ancient inspiration …

Stuart Asquith’s Military Modelling Guide To Wargaming – Ancients page

Simple rules for the Ancients from Stuart’s book with option for individual melee

Tradgardmastre Alan Gruber recommends the Phil Barker WRG titles

One of these excellent books mentioned by Stuart is literally top of my list of Ancients research, Nils Saxtorph’s Warriors and Weapons of Early Times (Blandford Colour). Many of my childhood drawings were based on this book. Like the Asquith titles, my copy of this wonderful colour book came from my local childhood branch library when they started inexplicably selling off ‘old’ books in the 1990s (!) That was back in the days of reading Stuart Asquith in Military Modelling.

Some of Stuart’s books and his Peter Laing figures feature in my Full Metal Hic Jacet project ‘research’ pile: https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/full-metal-hic-jacet/

Choosing just one suitable small scale Skirmish scenario has been a challenge from the many ones in his Solo Wargaming book. One that I have looked forward to playing again is the ‘Stranded Wagon’ scenario 8, Wheel Meet Again, adaptable to almost any period from stranded oxcart of early times and Wild West waggon to broken down supply lorry or futuristic (but broken) cargo speeder.

This is the broken down ox waggon, almost straight out of Asterix!

When is the rescue party going to arrive?

Will the escort hold out long enough?

Can wheel repairs be done in time under the threat of attack?

Stuart’s stranded waggon scenario in his Guide to Solo Wargaming

I had one recent go at this scenario theme in my Bronte inspired Angrian Imagi-Nation skirmish https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/a-skirmish-in-angria-close-little-wars-rules/

My Angrian waggon Skirmish scenario – Bronte ImagiNations

Before I play out this Solo scenario at the weekend or on the evening of the day that he is put to rest on the 18th November, I need to slightly undo some of Stuart’s handiwork to turn these figures back to single basing.

Original Asquith beermat bases – proof that he followed his own book advice!

I’m sure Stuart would be pragmatic about my adapting his multi figure basing to single figures. Stuart’s basing tips from his Guide to Wargaming are shown above, including beer mats that Stuart has used here.

Single basing using Stuart’s original beermat bases cut in two or three

A small Roman Column, some to escort the stranded ox waggon, some to repair and rescue it.

Beer mats aside, some Beer may need to be opened and drunk in Stuart’s memory as well, on or close to the 18th November in spirit alongside my fellow gamers and admirers of Stuart’s many books.

I also want to fit in a 54mm game skirmish in Stuart’s memory soon, an unfashionable scale that he supported.

I shall post pictures afterwards.

The Click2Comic treatment of Stuart Asquith, Solo gamer!

And finally … my Peter Laing 15mm Ancient British Chariot Squadron which will probably not be appearing in this “Wheel Meet Again” Stuart Asquith Solo Scenario.

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN on 15 November 2019

Advertisement