Summary My name is Tim Simmons. Thank you for visiting my site. I set it up in 2015, primarily to share scenarios I had written for my favourite rules and periods. You can see these under the Scenarios tab. My blog consists mainly of Battle reports and rule reviews.
Career I studied history and French at university and learned Polish for my job. I retired in 2020 after a working life that took me to France, Belgium, Switzerland, the USA, Poland and Slovenia. Travelling with my job made it easier to visit European museums and battlefields and to pick up publications in French and Polish.
How it started I have been a fan of toy soldiers since Primary school in the 1960s. I collected Swoppit knights and Timpo cowboys before discovering Airfix HO-OO figures. My cousin and I made up rules to fight battles between British Grenadiers and Washington's Army on his family dining table, rolling marbles to kill the enemy. In 1970 my Dad bought me 'Rules for Wargames' by Arthur Taylor, my first real wargames set. This was published by Shire and unusually, did not use dice. From then until now most of my leisure time has been dedicated to one aspect or another of military history and wargaming.
Over the years, my main interests have been the Napoleonic Wars, the War of Spanish Succession, Hellenistic warfare, Renaissance Warfare in Eastern Europe, the American Civil War and World War 2. I have played against many opponents but my most constant enemy and dear friend since 1982 is Keith, a military historian who to my mind combines the three qualities of interest in the history, desire for a good game and fondness for good beer and food. I genuinely don't mind losing to him, which is just as well because he has a killer instinct on the wargames table.
In the late 1990s my sons and I discovered Games Workshop. For several years we collected and played with lots of Warhammer and 40K armies, as well as Gorkamorka, Epic, Necromunda, Blood Bowl and Mordheim. One son became an ace player and the other got steadily more interested in the modelling. We don't collect the figures any more but we still run our armies out occasionally and always have a good game.
I will play just about any game that my wargaming group arranges, but I most enjoy games set in periods that I have read something about. I especially enjoy researching and writing scenarios and have written several, including for the Leipzig campaign of 1813; Gettysburg 1863; First Bull Run 1862; Ukraine 1660; and Ramillies 1706.
I keep dabbling with rules writing, mainly for the Renaissance and Marlborough's Wars as I have yet to find a convincing commercial set for either period.
Rules played Rules I have played over the years, in order of discovery, include:
Arthur Taylor, Rules for Wargames
Bruce Quarrie, Airfix Napoleonic rules followed by his fuller set, Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature, published by Patrick Stephens Limited.
Donald Featherstone, Battles with Model Soldiers
WRG, 6th edition and DBA*
Fire and Sword/System 7 Napoleonics by Games Design Workshop
Tabletop Games, Shock of Impact
WRG, 1925-1950
Hoplite Warfare and Hellenistic Warfare, by Adams and Clarke
Dodo Publications' Rules for the ECW
The Courier, On to Richmond*
Avalon Hill, Napoleon's Battles*
Frank Chadwick, Volley & Bayonet
Warhammer Fantasy Battles* (several editions but not Age of Sigmar)
Warhammer 40k* (several editions)
Sam Mustafa, Grande Armee
Honour, Lasalle
Warhammer Historical, Kampfgruppe Normandy*
Honour, Maurice*
Great Escape Games. Dead Man's Hand*
Warlord Games, Pike & Shotte
Polkovnik publications, Sword and Spear*
Honour, Longstreet*
Honour, Blucher*
Warlord, Bolt Action*
Simon Miller, To the Strongest*
L'Art de la Guerre*
Tercios*
Battlegroup*
Simon Miller and Andrew Bentall, For King and Parliament*
Too Fat Lardies, Chain of Command*
Too Fat Lardies, What a Tanker*
Great Escape. Iron Cross
Honour, Lasalle 2*
Absolute Emperor, Boyd Bruce*
* still playing the rules
Model manufacturers Figures collected, in order of discovery (* still playing with them)
Airfix plastic 20mm Napoleonics*
Minitanks
Heroics & Ros 6mm Napoleonics*
Heroics & Ros 1/300 WWII
Minifigs 25mm Ancient Greeks and Macedonians*
Minifigs 15mm Carthaginians*
Minifigs, Essex, Battle Honours and Old Glory 15mm Napoleonics *
Timecast resin buildings*
Lancashire Games 15mm 17th Century Poles and Muscovites*
Minifigs 15mm ACW
Games Workshop Warhammer and 40k*
Various makes, 20mm plastic Napoleonics*
Combat miniatures, PSC and Armourfast, 20mm WWII British and Germans*