A Contemporary Guide to Wargame Design

By Ray Weiss

A practical, opinionated guide to designing historical board wargames — from choosing your subject to getting published.

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Part I: Foundations

1. Why Design Wargames?

2. Choosing Your Subject

3. Research

4. Scale

5. Time, Space, and the Hex

Part II: Core Systems

1. Orders of Battle and Unit Ratings

2. Movement and Maneuver

3. Formations, Facing, and Posture

4. Combat Resolution

5. Sequence of Play

6. Supply, Morale, and Other Subsystems

7. Victory Conditions

Part III: Advanced Topics

1. Naval, Air, and Specialized Systems

2. Card-Driven Games

Part IV: From Prototype to Publication

1. From Concept to First Prototype

2. Playtesting

3. Rules Writing

4. Organization and Version Control

5. Development

6. Publishing Your Game

Part V: The Bigger Picture

1. Beyond Hex and Counter

2. AI and the Designer’s Toolkit

3. Go Design Something

Appendices

• Appendix A: Recommended Reading

• Appendix B: Tools and Resources

• Appendix C: Sample Design Exercise

• Appendix D: Historical Movement Rates

• Appendix E: The Workshops

• Appendix F: Glossary

• Acknowledgements

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About This Book

This book is free to read online. If you find it useful, consider supporting the author by purchasing the paperback or Kindle edition on Amazon (link coming soon).

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