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24-636: By the late 1960s the miniature wargaming hobby had grown large enough that there was a demand for rulebooks dedicated to a single historical period. Don Featherstone of the UK produced booklets for eight different periods in 1966. A few years later the Wargames Research Group began producing rulesets with an emphasis on historical accuracy. With this trend in mind Lowry conceived the Wargaming with Miniatures series for which he recruited rulebook authors from

48-536: A fall at home. 51st (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment The 51st (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment (51 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Territorial Army that fought in the Tunisian and Italian campaigns during World War II and continued to serve during the 1950s. In April 1938, the 7th ( Leeds Rifles ) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment converted to the armoured role as

72-510: A year, before they were required for service on the Italian Front . The regiment celebrated Cambrai Day (20 November, commemorating the tank Battle of Cambrai ) in Algeria. 51 RTR embarked on 16 April 1944 and landed at Naples, where it was equipped with Churchill tanks , with a few Shermans and Stuarts . The brigade distinguished itself in support of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division in

96-851: The 25th Army Tank Brigade , in Northern Command , alongside the Newcastle -based TA regiments 43 RTR and 49 RTR . At the end of May 1940, with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) being evacuated from Dunkirk and the imminent threat of German invasion of England, the 25th Army Tank Brigade was redesignated 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade and its regiments reorganised accordingly. Each of 51 RTR's three MMG squadrons consisted of three troops, each with six Humber Snipe or Hillman Utility ( 'Tilly' ) two-seat cars, two carrying Vickers medium machine guns , two Bren light machine guns and two Boys anti-tank rifles . In July 1940, volunteers from

120-452: The 45th (Leeds Rifles) Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment . The Leeds Rifles was a long-standing Territorial Army (TA) infantry unit, founded by volunteers from the city of Leeds in 1859. In June 1939, the company based at Morley was split off to form the cadre for a duplicate unit, the 51st (Leeds Rifles) Bn, Royal Tank Regiment. On the outbreak of war in September 1939, 51 RTR was part of

144-468: The Gothic Line battles of August–September 1944. To deal with the successive enemy lines of defences anticipated in the later stages of the campaign, it was decided in late 1944 to convert the brigade into the 25th Assault Engineer Brigade , equipped with the specialized tanks known as Hobart's Funnies . Organised on 5 January 1945, this was primarily a Royal Engineers formation, but 51 RTR remained in

168-503: The Great , one of Guidon's stand-alone games, while TSR republished Fight in the Skies . Guidon was a small publisher, and print runs were never more than a few thousand. Lowry apparently failed to recognize the potential of Dungeons & Dragons , prompting Gygax to found TSR . Gygax made the following recollection about the company in 2004: Guidon Games had a game shop, sold gaming via

192-512: The Territorial Army was reformed after the war, it included a combined 45th/51st (Leeds Rifles) RTR. The personnel received their tank training from 'A' Sqn of 6 RTR at RAF Worksop . Brigadier Noel Tetley was the honorary colonel. In 1956, the 45th/51st (Leeds Rifles) RTR returned to the infantry role under its old title of 7th (Leeds Rifles) Bn West Yorkshire Regiment. It carried the honorary distinction on its colours and appointments of

216-527: The United States. Featherstone expressed disapproval of a trend towards articles "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime". In 1962, he started his own periodical, Wargamer's Newsletter . He produced this each month without a gap, with 214 editions until January 1980. In 1961, he organised the first UK wargames convention at his home in Southampton. Two years later he organized

240-734: The assault on the Hitler Line in May 1944. At the request of the Canadians, its regiments adopted the Maple leaf as an additional badge, later worn by 51 RTR's successors, the Leeds Detachment (Leeds Rifles), Imphal (PWO) Company, East and West Riding Regiment . Brigadier Tetley, formerly of the Leeds Rifles himself, was the only TA RTR officer to command a brigade on active service. 51 RTR went on to fight in

264-449: The brigade, although converted to specialised armour. 'B' Squadron received 15 Crab Mark II flail tanks, while 'A' and 'C' sqns had a total of 32 Churchill Crocodile flamethrowing tanks. Each squadron in the brigade was self-administering, so that they could be detached where required. 25 Armoured Assault Brigade first went into action at the crossing of the Senio on 9 April 1945. 51 RTR

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288-646: The first National Wargames Championships Convention at a local hotel which was attended by about a hundred wargamers from all over the country. In 1977 he was one of the founder members of the British Commission for Military History. In 1978, Featherstone appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby. After a discussion with Paddy Griffith , Featherstone realised that wargaming as a hobby could aid considerably in understanding military history. Donald Featherstone died on 3 September 2013, aged 95, from complications following

312-604: The first title in the series, Chainmail , which became Guidon's best seller. The series came to include games and books by Lou Zocchi , Tom Wham , and Dave Arneson . Other notable titles in the series are Tractics , one of the first published games to make use of the 20-sided die, and Don't Give Up The Ship! , the first collaboration between Gygax and Arneson, the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons . Guidon also produced Avalon Hill style board wargames, as well as supplements designed to be used with existing Avalon Hill board games. Avalon Hill later republished Alexander

336-430: The mail, published a magazine and likewise printed and sold military miniatures rulebooks and boxed board wargames. They were small but certainly a legitimate company.... I was paid for the work I did for them, yes. Unfortunately, sales volume did not make the income received thus sufficient to do more than supplement income from other work. I was asked to go to work for them full time. That would have required me to move to

360-711: The night and at 5.30 am on 8 April began its main attack, supported by 'C' Sqn 51 RTR, and by noon was on its objective. The regiment ended the campaign in Army reserve. The 25th Tank Brigade came under the command of Brigadier James Noel Tetley of the Leeds Rifles at the end of the Tunisia campaign. He was the only Territorial Army officer of the Royal Tank Regiment to command a brigade on active service. The brigade, including 51 RTR, remained training in North Africa for almost

384-660: The ranks of the International Federation of Wargamers . Through the IFW Lowry met Gary Gygax , who served as series editor. Gygax began working for Guidon in 1970. Gygax and Jeff Perren 's set of rules for medieval miniatures that had been published in the Castle & Crusade Society 's The Domesday Book resulted in Gygax being hired by Guidon Games to develop their "Wargaming with Miniatures" series of games. Gygax also co-authored

408-466: The rest of their squadron. The result was the destruction of two 88 mm, two 75 mm, two 50 mm and four smaller calibre anti-tank guns, twenty-five wheeled vehicles, two 3-inch Mortars , two Mark III tanks and nearly 200 Axis casualties. On 7–8 April, 51 RTR supported IX Corps at Fondouk Pass. The 128th (Hampshire) Brigade of 46th Infantry Division crossed the Wadi Marguellil during

432-557: The same pamphlet format used by Guidon. TSR took over some of Guidon's titles in 1975. In 1972 Lowry acquired Panzerfaust Magazine . In 1973 the Guidon Games imprint was shut down by its parent company, Lowry Hobbies. Lowry published Panzerfaust Magazine instead under the name " Panzerfaust Publications ". Wargaming with Miniatures Series Board Games Board Game Supplements Donald Featherstone (wargamer) Donald F. Featherstone (20 March 1918 – 3 September 2013)

456-612: The state of Maine. Tom Wham did so, but I thought their new location was a poor choice. Furthermore, the company was not run in an aggressive and responsive manner. In my opinion there was no chance for growth and success as things stood and I said so to Guidon. Sadly, I was correct in my judgement. Despite its brief existence, Guidon had a large influence on TSR and the nascent RPG industry. In addition to Gygax and Arneson, Lowry worked with Lou Zocchi , Tom Wham , and Mike Carr . TSR initially patterned itself on Guidon, publishing sets of wargaming rules such as Cavaliers and Roundheads in

480-412: The units of 25th Army Tank Brigade formed No 5 Troop of No. 5 Commando at Bridlington . In August, 51 RTR and the rest of the brigade moved to Northumberland to guard the coastline with machine gun posts along the cliffs and sand dunes. The 25th Army Tank Brigade was reconstituted at the end of 1940, and its regiments began to receive a trickle of tanks on which to train. By the end of 1942, 51 RTR

504-663: Was a British author of more than forty books on wargaming and military history. Donald Featherstone was born on 20 March 1918 in London . and during the Second World War, he joined the Royal Armoured Corps . An account of his war experiences with the 51st (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment can be found in his book Lost Tales . Professionally a physiotherapist living in Southampton, who worked for both Southampton Football Club and Hampshire County Cricket Club. Featherstone

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528-549: Was attached to the 2nd New Zealand and 8th Indian Divisions . The flamethrowing tanks crept forward during the preliminary bombardment and positioned themselves close to the floodbank as possible. One minute before the infantry assault started, the positions were flamed. Most of the Crocodiles had to be 60 feet behind the bank to be able to direct their flame over the bank. World War II in Europe ended shortly after this operation. When

552-499: Was first introduced to wargaming by reading H. G. Wells ' Little Wars and his first opponent was his brother. His second opponent was Tony Bath many years later in 1955. His wife saw a description of a solo wargame being played in Southampton by Tony Bath and Featherstone then got in touch. In 1960 the two of them began editing the UK version of the War Game Digest , a seminal wargaming newsletter started by Jack Scruby in

576-719: Was fully trained and fully equipped with Churchill tanks . In January 1943, the regiment embarked, with the rest of the 25th Tank Brigade, for North Africa, where it came under the command of V Corps of the British First Army in the Tunisian Campaign . The regiment took part in containing the German offensive of Operation Ochsenkopf in February - March 1943. At a place called Steamroller farm, two Churchill tanks ambushed and shot up an entire German transport column before rejoining

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