Book Review Donald Featherstone's Wargamers Handbook of the American War of Independence

Recently I purchased this book from Amazon. Quick review after giving it an evenings examination, partial reading, lots of skimming, is that while it's not awful it's not really that great either. I would not recommend it, except to the completist. The work is basically a reworking of a book he wrote in 1977, although with editing and new portions added by a gentleman named John Curry (hence the 2010 copyright date on this.)

Donald Featherstone was one of the classic publicizers and promoters of the hobby. In 1977, the year after the American bicentennial when interest in the period was high, he released the early edition of this book. Therefore the bulk of the information in this book is "state of the art" but for the 1970s. Much has changed since then, and not just with the death of disco.

Today's wargaming guides usually contain much more detailed information on uniforms, unit sizes, and troop types than this book contains. The author's ideas on what a set of rules should or should not contain are a key part of the book and some of these, for instance, the use of "chance cards" are less popular now than they were then.

A picture from an AWI Wargame I recently played using a friends figures and terrain.
Rules used were first edition Black Powder from Warlord Games and the conflict was hypothetical.

In some portions I caught what I feel are errors.

For instance on page 28, he refers to "Rogers' Rangers" as the most famous of the "ranger units" of the war. I would question this. It is my understanding that while Robert Rogers, head and founder of the famed French and Indian War Roger's Rangers, did found a second rangers unit during the revolution, he soon left it to do other things having been forced from military service due to "poor health" (he suffered from alcoholism at this time) and it became much better known as "the Queens Rangers" under the command of  John Graves Simcoe.

Another photo of the same game as described in the above photo.

On page 31, he states that the Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau line regiments had not just a grenader company, but also a light company. This seems to be false. I have looked into the issue and they did not. Of course, in fairness to Featherstone, I am writing 40 years later and have the benefit of access to 40 more years of research on the matter, much of it done by decades of obsessive wargamers trying to answer this very question. While on one hand, it seems to be unfair to attack this book, judging it by modern standards, on the other hand, it is being sold on Amazon with a 2010 copyright date.

The battle guides are also not up to modern standards. For instance, most modern day gamers when reading of a battle wish to know exactly which units were there and how large each unit was. Instead the gives the number of troops on each side and hints at this with large sweeping numbers. While this information is generally available elsewhere it is the sort of thing expected in a modern wargamers guide to a conflict.

Another photo of the same game. British troops assault the American line.

Some parts, however, have been updated. For instance, there is an update, useful list of figure manufacturers included at the end. The modern day editor, John Curry, also added a set of wargame rules for the period, written by Featherstone as well. So it is an updated text. On the other hand, in my opinion, the primary value of this book for a modern wargamers who games the American War of Independence is as a historical document, a look at the earlier days of the hobby. If takes as such, it should be a fun read and purchase, a stroll down memory lane. But if one expects an up-to-date guide to the period of modern standards, you are likely to be disappointed.

If one wishes to buy this book and support this blog, please feel free to do so by using the link below. 

If interested, these are three of my books written by me. Please feel free to purchase them and support this blog that way as well.