Throwing Thunderbolts: A Wargamer's Guide to the War of the First Coalition, 1792-7: 11 (Helion Wargames)

Throwing Thunderbolts by Garry David Wills is a wargamers guide to the War of the First Coalition 1792-1797 and published under the Helion Wargames series. Often called the French Revolutionary Wars the period follows the birth of the new French Republic up to the start of the French Empire under Napoleon.The book covers a short history of the Revolution before a very factual and informative chapter on the Military Chronology of the War of the First Coalition. Everything is explained to assist the wargamer to understand the history behind the war and is invaluable in putting everything in order. The following chapter describes the forces involved in the war and is very clear and concise, right down to numbers involved in how many troops made up formations. There is even a section on the Navies of each faction. The author provides assistance in organising wargaming forces before moving onto a substantial chapter which has scenarios for gaming the period.This is a great book to aid you if you are a wargamer interested in starting this period. It is full of useful hints and tips to get into the period and well worth buying.

A really comprehensive work and clearly a labour of love. This is the essential guide to this fascinating period that every wargamer looking to or ready gaming this period should have.

Throwing ThunderboltsThe Revolutionary War of 1792-97 is sadly neglected in wargames terms, but this veritable encyclopedia is enough to enthuse even those most jaded with ‘conventional’ Napoleonics.A third of the 300 pages explains the history, then come the armies, scenarios, figures available…AND it covers the naval side for would-be young Hornblowers. The idea of a Royalist Vendean force nearly got me buying figures whilst reading!

First thought that came to my mind when I seen this book was: wow, is that really ‘just’ wargamer’s guide? I was holding in my hands massive (more 300 pages, in A4 format) volume, that straight away looked very impressive. Once I open and browse through it though, it became even better. Willis’ book is ideal for both those that just starting their journey into wargaming Napoleonic Wars and those veterans that, like author, play it for decades. While not aimed at specific ruleset or scale, there are suggestion based on some commonly used one, although with plethora of information provided by author (bit more about it below), one can easily adjust the gameplay to fit their own choices. There are two main parts of the books: historical background (just over half of the volume) in three chapters and wargaming-related aspects in four chapters. One can wonder, why historical part is to extensive? It’s mainly because there is detailed chronology of the whole War of the First Coalition, with events in Europe, outside of it and even naval actions. It’s perfect for those that never play early Napoleonic wars before, as it gives perfect background, explain European alliances and different theatres of wars. As for protagonists, to attempt not to miss a single one, here are the described armies: Austria, Holy Roman Empire (divided into Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, Hessen Kassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Baden), France (with the most detailed introduction of its military structure), Great Britain, Prussia, Sardinia-Piedmont, Spain, Naples, United Provinces and Royalist French. This part itself makes this book worth to buy, as it provide so many useful information and can be extremely useful tool in building armies for different scales and rulesets. As for the wargaming part of the book, once chapter discussed different approach to wargaming and playing the games, mentioned current most popular games, also use Donald Featherstone’s rating for scoring the armies involved in the war. There is also very useful rating scale for main generals taking part in the events of 1792-1797. Chapter describing building forces and preparing miniatures, while focuses on 15 mm scale, have plenty useful tips and hints, that could be especially useful for new players. Another large chapters provides with 10 different wargaming scenarios, based on real battles and encounters. We have seven land battles and three sea battles. With each scenario there is in-depth historical background, organisation of the troops and maps. Each also have suggested ruleset to be played with, although of course with such great information about each battle, it shouldn’t be too difficult to adjust them to players’ favourite game system. Clear and detailed way that each scenario is written down can be also used as source of inspiration to create one’s own scenarios, based on different fights from the period. Another very useful addition are few final chapters of the book. One describe long list of companies supplying miniatures and terrain: in different scales and with different armies. There is list of useful online resources – from historical pages to wargaming rules. Very detailed bibliography could be of great use to those that want to expand their knowledge of the period. Volume have nice collection of associated illustrations: from maps, through period pieces presenting soldiers and battles, to examples of beautifully painted wargaming armies, giving readers some idea how great such troops can look on the wargaming table. In overall, Throwing Thunderbolts is an great book, that easily could be shown as example of how such wargaming guides should be written and published. It had great balance between historical background and wargaming-related info, with many fresh ideas of how to translate War of the First Coalition into wargaming settings.

This arrived with a massive thump as it hit the doormat on Friday, and what a whopper it is; ‘A Wargamer’s Guide to the War of The First Coalition, 1792-1797’, by Garry Mills. This period is, as I am sure folks know, a subject very close to my heart and I was all a-flutter when I read through it last week.What does the reader get for his money? In a words, LOTS! After the introduction there is a brief history of the French Revolution followed by a very comprehensive year-by-year and by theatre of war, outline of the war which takes up a third of the entire book. There is a useful chapter covering each nation involved in the war, big players and small, including France, Great Britain, Piedmont, Austria, Prussia, Spain, the United Provinces, Naples and Emigre and other Royalist forces. These sections include a description of each nation’s armed forces, organisational details and more.There is even a piece on naval forces employed in the war.Given that this is a wargaming guide, it is no surprise that the following chapters cover ‘Wargaming the Period’ and ‘Building the Forces’. These are thoughtfully presented and will be a big help to anyone new to the period. Also in this section is a how to painting guide.The next chapter includes 10 ready-made scenarios, including three dedicated to naval battles. The land-based scenarios are full of detail, representing a variety of protagonists and size of engagement, and come with maps, orders of battle, troop qualities and so forth, starting with Lincelles and ending with Castiglione.The book concludes with sections signposting readers to suppliers of miniatures and terrain and online resources available, together with an extensive bibliography.As well as the maps there are a number of contemporary illustrations both in colour and black and white, and photographs of troops in action on the tabletop. I am pleased to say that all the photos of 28mm games included in the book are of my own ever-growing collection of miniatures.From my point of view there is nothing not to like about this book and within the parameters put down by the author he has achieved an impressive feat, and this is not only the best in the Helion Wargames series but also a very good one-stop-shop for gamers, whether already deeply involved in the period or considering it as a new project. I can absolutely recommend this excellent piece of work, especially if it draws more people into wargaming the French Revolution.ISBN 978-1-805412-03-6 soft back, A4, 301 page

The book was filled with resources and images of early Napoleonic miniature wargaming and added a lot to my growing base of information for painting and gaming this period.