Wargames Research Group
British publisher of rules and reference material for miniature wargaming
The Wargames Research Group (WRG) is a British publisher of rules and reference material for miniature wargaming. Founded in 1969, they were the premier publisher of tabletop rules during the seventies and eighties, publishing rules for periods ranging from ancient times to modern armoured warfare, and reference books which are still considered standard works for amateur researchers and wargamers. They are best known for their seminal ancient and medieval period rules, and also for De Bellis Antiquitatis and Hordes of the Things fantasy rules.
History
WRG was founded by Phil Barker, Bob O'Brien, and Ed Smith in 1969, when they published War Game Rules: 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D..
The rules quickly gained widespread acceptance through the miniature wargaming world, especially in the UK, and quickly became the acknowledged standard for ancient warfare. WRG followed with rules for other periods which gained similar widespread acceptance.
Innovative features of the rules included:
morale rules, based on a reaction test which evaluated the tactical situation of a unit as well as the casualties it had suffered. The results of the reaction test could result in players' losing control of their troops. Not only would troops on occasion flee but they could also go into uncontrolled advance.
Up till 1969 the normal way of recording casualties was to remove figures.
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This entry incorporates text from “Wargames Research Group” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.