Post by ripx187 on Sept 1, 2018 15:17:53 GMT -5
Donald Featherstone is an interesting guy, and according to robkuntz and @gronanofsimmerya, his Ancients rules were the go-to set in Lake Geneva where they did a whole lot of sand table wargaming! Featherstone was extremely active and instrumental in the global community, writing and selling professional books on the subject. He was also a very vocal member in the hobby.
Featherstone often complained about immersed voices during battle reports. I'm not sure why? Maybe he just thought that it was weird? He didn't want to read some wordy and descriptive story about events that never happened. Featherstone was grounded in reality, he would painstakingly research a battle that interested him, acquire the figures that he needed and painted them in minute detail. Even the battlefield itself had to be as accurate as possible. He wasn't interested in changing events in his simulations, these were true simulations which were meant to provide visuals for battles that had taken place. His methods were not just restricted to Ancients, he developed rules to simulate battles from any time period, all the way up to modern simulations.
He was critical of Bath's work, and his influence upon Tony Bath no doubt limited magical aspects of the Hyboria campaign, but Don did participate early on and perhaps that is where the distaste for fictional stories inspired by the games came from? I am no expert, and I encourage help with this thread to correct me if I am wrong.
I don't think that this section of our message board is complete unless we include this mans work. He definitely had an influence on Dungeons & Dragons, something that I'm not sure how he would feel about if he were still alive today. Would he get it? His rules added a sense of accurate authority to the kriegspiel. The colour hardbound handbooks which he sold and are still floating around today are prized possessions on our bookshelves, for it was he that made the principles accessible to hobbyists everywhere. While he didn't enjoy the idea of wizards or monsters running around the battlefield, it is his focus on the medieval soldier which has been retained within the very DNA of our games. The real world physics of our combat systems is a debt which we owe to him.
Featherstone often complained about immersed voices during battle reports. I'm not sure why? Maybe he just thought that it was weird? He didn't want to read some wordy and descriptive story about events that never happened. Featherstone was grounded in reality, he would painstakingly research a battle that interested him, acquire the figures that he needed and painted them in minute detail. Even the battlefield itself had to be as accurate as possible. He wasn't interested in changing events in his simulations, these were true simulations which were meant to provide visuals for battles that had taken place. His methods were not just restricted to Ancients, he developed rules to simulate battles from any time period, all the way up to modern simulations.
He was critical of Bath's work, and his influence upon Tony Bath no doubt limited magical aspects of the Hyboria campaign, but Don did participate early on and perhaps that is where the distaste for fictional stories inspired by the games came from? I am no expert, and I encourage help with this thread to correct me if I am wrong.
I don't think that this section of our message board is complete unless we include this mans work. He definitely had an influence on Dungeons & Dragons, something that I'm not sure how he would feel about if he were still alive today. Would he get it? His rules added a sense of accurate authority to the kriegspiel. The colour hardbound handbooks which he sold and are still floating around today are prized possessions on our bookshelves, for it was he that made the principles accessible to hobbyists everywhere. While he didn't enjoy the idea of wizards or monsters running around the battlefield, it is his focus on the medieval soldier which has been retained within the very DNA of our games. The real world physics of our combat systems is a debt which we owe to him.