Wargames Research Group - History

A brief history of the Wargames Research Group

The Early Years: In 1968 the UK national wargaming competition was held in London and during the inevitable post-game discussion in the bar, it became clear that in the considered opinion of at least three of the competitors, the rules used for the ancient’s period were not based on historical evidence and could be improved. One interesting “feature” was a cavalryman with a shield, was more likely to have his horse shot from under him, than an unshielded equivalent and that a heavy cavalryman when dismounted from his horse went from being difficult to kill, to impossible to kill.

From these examples of unintended consequences, Phil Barker, Ed Smith and Bob O'Brian set themselves the task of writing a new set of rules based on the very best historical evidence available and thus, the Ancient Wargames Research Committee was formed.

Within six months, a working set of rules were ready and quickly adopted as the official ancient period rules for the 1969 national championship. Initially intended and distributed for just those taking part, their popularity spread and although not described as such, this was Version 1 of a series of wargame rules that developed directly to the current DBMM version 2.1 which is available today.

Following the successful debut of the rules at the Nationals, Version 2 was published with some amendments by the Ancient War Games Research Group and more significantly, the rules were made available to the general wargaming world.

1970s: Early in 1971 Bob O’Brian and Phil Barker were to formalise the business by establishing R.E.G. Games Ltd, but Ed Smith chose to leave War Games Research Group. He was very involved with the London Wargame Section, where he went on to produce a number of rules including an excellent set of ancient Greek Naval rules and he was heavily involved in the development of Samurai, one of the earliest skirmish one figure to one-man wargames.

Now as business partners, Bob O’Brian would look after all the marketing and distribution leaving Phil Barker to concentrate on the writing. The first publication was the continuing development of the ancient rules with the 3rd edition coming out in the September of that year. The price for this latest version was 65p, plus 7p post and packing. Of note, the third edition of the rules converted to metric units for all base sizes and for the first time introduced the concept of paces as a unit of measure on the tabletop. These principles that are still in use in WRG rules over fifty years later.

1971 also saw the first non-ancient set of rules published by the War Games Research Group. This was Wargame Rules 1750 – 1850. These and the second edition (1685 – 1845) published in April 1977 allowed players to wargame the horse and musket period from the War of the Spanish Succession, the Seven years’ war and the battles of the Napoleonic period. For probably twenty years these were the de-facto rules for the ever-popular Horse and Musket period.

Banana Oil: It is hard to believe in these days when the wargamer has within a few mouse clicks, an overwhelming number of figure ranges and scales to choose from, but the situation in the early seventies was very different. With maybe six companies selling a limited ranges wargaming figures, the readily available and cheap plastic figures produced by Airfix filled the ranks of many wargaming armies. However, for those wanting to field ancient armies other than Romans and Ancient Britons, or Napoleonic armies that were not exclusively made up of Scottish Highlanders or French Cuirassiers, it was the period of conversions and modifications.

Both the Airfix Magazine and Military Modelling, which was the closest thing to a wargaming magazine at that time, often featured articles written by Bob O’Brian. In these he would explain and illustrate how to convert the humble soft plastic Airfix figures into something not considered by the original designer. For example, Bob would describe how the top half of a Sherif of Nottingham swordsman could be grafted onto the lower half of a US Cavalryman to make a Roman heavy cavalryman. These extreme body modifications often required the use of a hot pin pushed through the torso and Plasticine to fill joints and construct headgear or cloaks. Plasticine was understood and readily available, but Bob also recommended the use of banana oil to harden the plasticine. For those who went looking for this mysterious product, it took on an almost mythical status.

Armies and Enemies: It is therefore noteworthy that around this time, Wargames Research Group published two ground breaking books, both written by Phil Barker. The first was Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, quickly followed by Armies by and Enemies of Imperial Rome. These two books were significant because for the first time, wargamers had a reference book which described in detail and illustrated the dress, uniform weapons and armour of specific ancient warriors.

At the same time, Neville Dickinson of Miniature Figurines in Southampton along with sculptor Dick Higgs created the PB and IR range of figures. Not only were these figures directly tied in with the illustrations found in the two books, but the numbers were the same as the illustration. If you were to order IR1 from Mini-Figs, you would get a Roman Legionarius of the late republic exactly as illustrated in image number 1 in Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome.

The 20th Century: Phil now turned his attention to another popular wargaming period and in 1972 produced what would evolve into series of rules for the 20th century. The first of these was Infantry Action 1925-1975. This fifty-year period covered the Spanish Civil war, right through to Vietnam, but they were predominantly used for World War Two. Although not unique, the unusual figure scale of one-to-one allowed players to concentrate their battles at platoon or company level, without the complexity of armoured vehicles. However, those who wanted tanks on the battlefield did not have long to wait.

Armour and Infantry 1925-1950 was published in June 1973. As well as the traditional scale of 20mm, these rules were written with the option of using the 6mm or 1/300th scale ‘micro tanks’ that were coming onto the market. By adopting the smaller scale figures and vehicles, Phil was able to reduce the disparity between ground scale and figure scale which was more noticeable with larger scale armoured vehicles. Although in a crowded market, the 1925-1950 rules proved to be very popular and remained the go-to set of WWII rules for well over a decade. It is interesting to note that Phil was able to write in the introduction, that for the first time, he was writing rules for equipment and service that both he and Bob O’Brian had first-hand experience of.

In January 1974 Wargames Research Group published a companion to the 1925-1950 rules. This was Armour and Infantry 1950 -1975, a set of rules that instead of being from a previous historical period, these were current, modern and even projected a year into the future. Uniquely this allowed players to game contemporary, but thankfully fictitious Cold-War battles between the Soviet Bloc and the West on the tabletop. The time scale was extended even further into the future, when in 1993 Phil published Wargames Rules 1950 – 2000.

DBR: Rules for the fascinating, but often overlooked renaissance period were covered by the 1976 publication of War Game Rules Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century written in 1976 by George Gush. A second edition along with a book of army lists followed in 1979.

The Purple Primer: In 1974 the Airfix magazine started to publish a series of slim A5 size booklets on various subjects. As expected, the first of these were to cover Plastic Modelling, followed by Aircraft and then Military Modelling. However, the next was titled Napoleonic Wargaming and then a few publications later, Ancient Wargaming, by Phil Barker. To quote from the introduction written by Bruce Quarrie. Phil Barker – a founder member of The Wargames Research Group, whose Ancient Rules have now become accepted as a national standard and are used by all serious wargamers specialising in this period – sets out to introduce the fascinations of the period to the novitiate ancient wargamer.

Although it was not a WRG publication, this booklet, known unofficially as The Purple Primer, due to the predominant colour of the cover, became an important introduction and inspiration of many to wargaming the ancient period.

Onto Seventh: For many wargamers WRG rules are synonymous with the ancient period and throughout the seventies and eighties the development continued with a new version every few years. When required, printed amendment sheets were issued free of charge to anyone sending in a stamped addressed envelope. These could be freely photocopied and distributed among the wargaming fraternity and it allowed minor changes to be incorporated into the rules without the need for a new version. Sometimes the wargamer would simply notate their copy of the rules, but where paragraphs required a complete re-write and long before Control C&V, the new wording could be cut from the distributed flyer and pasted over the appropriate paragraph in the rules.

The final numbered version of the Ancient Wargaming Rules was published in February 1986. Where the previous versions were a series of evolutions, this seventh edition marked a change of direction and included some new ideas. These rules did not have the removal of individual figure casualties to show losses and so a set number of figures could be mounted onto a base of a standard width and so Phil introduced us to the standard building block of many rule sets, the element.

Although Seventh Edition was extremely popular and adopted by the competition circuit, some did not appreciate the complexity and the 6th Edition continued to have a devoted following. However, Phil Barker was about to revolutionise the ancient wargame.

DBA: In 1980 a group of wargamers, on the invitation of Paddy Griffiths, met for a weekend conference at Moor Park College. This was the first meeting of the Wargame Developments group and what was to become COW, the annual Conference of Wargamers. The purpose of these weekends was to experiment with and develop new ideas for wargames. Phil and Sue were very keen members of Wargame Developments and both of them frequently put on games.

It was for the 1988 conference that Phil Barker set himself the task of writing the simplest set of ancient period rules possible, but that still required good generalship to win. Later that year and with great appreciation De Bellis Societatis Antiquorum was demonstrated at the Society of Ancients weekend. Little did anyone realise that this two-page document would have such an impact on the wargaming world and be the catalyst for so many rule sets. The demonstrated game revolved around two armies, each of twelve elements. Phil chose Romans and Gauls, with elements of each side reflecting the contrasting style of the armies. It was a great success and a year later at the 1989 conference it returned for another test.

De Bellis Antiquitatis was published in the March of the following year to great success. Jointly written by Phil Barker and Sue Laflin-Barker and with a Richard Bodley Scott campaign system, the rules were printed with 180 army lists. Other versions followed culminating in the publication of the final version in 2016 with lists for well over 300 different armies.

The rules cleverly used the same elements and basing regime from seventh edition, but presented a number of ground breaking ideas. Although these were not yet fully identified or developed, DBA introduced Player Initiative Points or PIPs, Threat Zones, elements lining up when moving into contact and combat between elements with each player rolling a D6 and comparing the result. These principles would remain the hallmark of WRG rules for the future.

HOTT: Phil Barker has always been an avid reader and the fantasy genre is one of his favourites. A section of the vast library of books that surround him is dedicated to fantasy authors as diverse as Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Moorcock, Pratchett, Rice Burroughs and many many more. It was therefore inevitable that Phil should write a fantasy set of wargaming rules. Hordes of the Things came out in 1991 taking many of the basic concepts of DBA but incorporating some very non-historical troop types.

As an aside, HOTT was not the first WRG excursion into fantasy wargaming. Published 1973, within the back pages of 4th edition of War Game Rules 1000BC – 1000AD there included an appendix titled, Suggested Adaptions for Sword and Sorcery Fanatics. It was an appendix in the back pages because, and I quote “They are hidden in the back like this so that sane, sensible wargamers can avoid continuous mental shocks while thumbing through the pages.”

What is less well known is that Phil had a direct influence on another fantasy wargame author. Between 1960 and 1980 the Wargamer’s Newsletter was published and edited by Donald Featherstone. This was undoubtably the first ever monthly wargame magazine and in issue number 51 (June 1966) Phil wrote an article describing how he was converting and painting Airfix figures from the boxes of Sherif of Nottingham, Robin Hood and (North American) Indians for fighting medieval games.

Although the article was titled Ancient Wargame Rules – by Philip Barker, the following three pages, headed Medieval Rules (without Phil’s name) were what we would now describe as a set of Medieval skirmish rules. Some time later a copy of these rules, without the introductory page came to the attention of an American wargamer. He was to incorporate them, in some cases word-for-word, into his own Chainmail rules. To be fair, when writing about the success of another of his projects, Garry Gygax was to acknowledge his debt to the unknown author of the original rules…

DBM: Throughout its development, De Bellis Antiquitatis has remained a game between armies of twelve elements and although in later versions there were rules for Big Battles, it was not intended as a replacement for Seventh Edition. However, it was inevitable that Phil was going to adopt the combat mechanism for the next generation of ancient wargaming rules. The result was De Bellis Multitudinis, or as it became known, DBM. Again, with contributions from Richard Bodley-Scott, DBM was published in 1993 and this became the de-facto set of ancient wargame rules for the next ten years.

Over the next two years Phil wrote four books of army lists as a companion for the DBM rules. These were to be updated and revised with the final edition published in 2016. Although Phil Barker will always be remembered as a writer of some of the greatest wargame rules, this great cannon of work is the most extraordinary contribution to wargaming. As a dedicated military historian and with the backing of a vast library, Phil Barker has somehow distilled 4500 years of warfare into over 300 different armies, each with its own description and historical context. For this he can only be applauded.

International Travel: During this time Phil and Sue were often seen at wargaming events chatting to friends or demonstrating games. The annual Society of Ancients weekend and the Wargames Development Conference of Wargamers (COW) at Knuston Hall were always on the calender. However, their travel was not restricted to just the UK. On several occasions and at the invitation of wargamers or clubs from across the globe, Phil, often accompanied by Sue has attended wargaming shows as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, The USA and even a trip to St Petersburg and Moscow.

DBMM: In 2000, DBM version 3.0 was published, but in 2003, when Phil looked wanted to develop the rules into what became DBMM, Richard was not persuaded. As a result, and with the help of John Graham-Leigh, Richard wrote some amendments to create DBM versions 3.1 and 3.2.

The development of De Bellis Magistrorum Militum (DBMM) started in 2003 when Phil made a draft set of the rules freely available on his web-site. Players were asked to download a copy, play a game and send in battle reports. From this feedback Phil would modify the rules and make another version available. At the same time a Yahoo forum was created where opinions both valid and otherwise could be expressed. Although the ratio of signal to noise was quite low, some very persuasive points were raised. The system had both advantages and drawbacks. On the plus side it created a greater cross-pollination of ideas, sometimes from players outside the regular DBM competition circuit. However, it also created dissention if players disagreed in the direction Phil wanted to go, or if a new rule was going to impact their favourite army.

The biggest failing was the length of time this process was taking. DBMM was not published until 2007 and that was sufficient time to allow those who did not like the direction of travel, to come up with alternatives. It is difficult to say if this was a good or bad thing, but prior to DBMM, there was really only one set of big battle ancient wargame rules. Today the wargamer has several ancient wargame rules to choose from.

Wargames Research Group as a company started as a partnership between Phil Barker and Bob O’Brian, but by 1990, Bob, at the age of seventy-two decided he wanted to retire and in 1991 REG Games was re-configured. With the departure of Bob, Sue Laflin Barker along with Paul and Teressa Bailey of The Keep, in Devises joined Phil as directors of the company. Phil with support from Sue would concentrate on the writing, while the Bailey’s would print, stock and distribute the publications. However, by the time DBMM was ready, this was no longer possible and within a year or two REG games Ltd ceased to trade. As a result, Phil had to look for an alternative publisher.

WRG Ltd: Regrettably, this proved to be most unsatisfactory, but in 2008 and on the suggestion of Steven Bowns and Nigel Spinks, Wargames Research Group Limited was formed. The new company, under the directorship of Phil Barker, Susan Laflin-Barker, Steven Bowns and Nigel Spinks immediately set about publishing the later purple covered version of DBMM, the four new DBMM army lists books and many of the old out of print reference books.

On the 28th of March 2022, Steven Bowns unexpectedly passed away. His sudden departure left an immense void in the company and we all miss his great wisdom, insight, depth of knowledge, enthusiasm and wit.

In 2016 Phil Barker signed off DBA version 3.0 and this is probably the last addition to an impressive catalogue of work that stretches back some sixty years. As he sits back to re-read his wonderful collection of books and while Classic FM fills the room, Phil can be content that the wargaming world is much richer because of his influence.

For Wargames Research Group, this not the end and the work will continue. A new set of Fantasy rules, De Bellis Fantasiea has been published in 2025. Using the combat system of DBA for their inspiration, three new authors have combined to build on the legacy. Other authors have projects to publish in the future, but whoever follows will acknowledge the debt they have to Phil Barker and will be grateful they can continue his work.