Photo by Nick Krug

Lawrence resident Michael Machell is pictured with a miniature battle representation of the War of 1812. Machell has been collecting miniatures and developing scenes for about 10 years.

Special to the Journal-World

British Writer H.G. Wells is credited with being the father of historical miniatures wargaming.

The game is addictive.

Players can lose themselves in different time periods, commanding vast armies of Napoleonic soldiers or Civil War brigades or World War II tank divisions.

It offers the skill and strategy of war without ever having to leave your house ... and you don't even need a computer.

"There is so much more to miniatures wargaming than I've ever gotten out of a computer wargame," says Michael Machell, member of the Lawrence Historical Miniatures Wargaming Club.

"First of all, there's the camaraderie. You're talking across the table and kicking ideas around with people. There's definitely an aesthetic to it, an artistic bent. A lot of guys will scratch-build their terrain and paint gorgeous armies of several hundred figures. It has a certain artistic look and feel to it that you can't get from a computer."

Machell and three of his colleagues will be giving a hands-on demonstration this weekend at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt. They'll showcase various aspects of the pastime. Those attending are encouraged to observe or play along.

"I selected four different games because I wanted people to see different periods, different scales of miniatures, different ways of doing a wargame. Maybe one will appeal to them. You don't have to spend a lot of money doing it. You could get a bag of plastic soldiers for a few dollars and put them on bases, and you can do a war game," Machell says.

The 47-year-old enthusiast first became interested in the hobby at the age of 10 when his parents gave him a Gettysburg board game manufactured by the Avalon Hill company.

Then a decade ago he happened by accident upon a miniatures wargaming convention in Atlanta.

"It was everything I liked about boardgaming - the history, the battles - but it was 3D. You had all these figures, houses, terrain, hills and rivers. That just kind of hooked me," he recalls.

Oddly enough, the hobby can be traced back to legendary science-fiction writer H.G. Wells.

Machell says, "In 1913, Wells wrote a book called 'Little Wars,' where he had taken army miniatures and written rules where you could move to fight out battles with guns that actually fired projectiles. That was the earliest start to miniatures wargaming."

Combat ready

These days, people who take part in recreational wargaming are typically interested in military history. Many are actually quite versed in it.

"A lot of wargames were originally designed to help train officers, and they still do that. There are still military personnel up here that come and do wargaming," says Stephen Allie, director of the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth.

Allie, an Oskaloosa resident who has been wargaming for 34 years, often finds himself across the table (or floor) from a colonel or two. In fact, Gen. David Petraeus, head of the multinational force in Iraq, came by one day to watch a gaming session at Leavenworth's Command and General Staff College.

Are officers usually better players than, say, a civilian dentist who just enjoys the hobby?

"Honestly, no," Allie says, laughing. "But that's because they're dealing with so many different time periods."

The 47-year-old Allie is one of the four members of the Lawrence club who are putting on Saturday's presentation. He will supervise a World War I game that utilizes "Trench Storm" rules. Players will take command of the German army that is invading Belgium or the Belgian forces defending their homeland.

"Most people picture World War I in the trenches. This is the war before it became trench warfare," he says.

Also leading the event are George Knapp, an editor for Leavenworth's Department of Joint, Interagency and Multinational Operations, and Bernard Harris, an instructor at the Command and General Staff College.

Knapp will demonstrate the "Lexington and Concord" game that he designed. Harris will conduct a naval simulation set during the Napoleonic Wars using "Master and Commander" rules.

As for Machell, he will be leaning toward the old-school end of gunpowder combat with an American Revolutionary War battle.

"The real hardcore people tend to cross over into different times," says Machell, a human resources director for UnitedHealth Group. "But there are certain periods that are very popular because there is a lot of source material on them - and other people are interested, so it's easy to find opponents. Civil War is very popular. World War II is popular. Napoleonics is the heart and soul of the hobby, probably because of the colorful nature of the uniforms."

Geek factor

Hand-painting figures. Obsessing over uniform details. Gathering into the wee hours of the night for faux warfare.

Isn't all this just a tad "geeky" for grown men?

"My wife refers to it as 'nerd-vana.' My daughter rolls her eyes quite a bit. Although she has admitted on occasion that some of the stuff she's seen is pretty cool. But on a geek-factor scale, yeah, it's pretty high up there," Machell concedes.

Allie adds, "I would say it's less geeky than the guys who do the computer games because we actually have to talk to other people. ... With a computer game, you're loading it up and playing it. But you don't know what went into putting that game together. Whereas with miniatures wargames you're involved in the whole process.

"But I run a museum, so my view of geekiness is different than most."