The (Virtual) Armchair General's catalog of original
and exclusive rules and book titles continues to grow!
Authors include Chris Ferree, Howard Whitehouse, P. R. Wilson, Bob Wiltrout,
Jeff Wasileski, and Padre Paul Wright, with more in the pipe.
All rules offered by TVAG are available in your choice of
inexpensive PDF Editions for self-printing, or high quality, professional Print Editions.
Unless otherwise indicated, Print Editions are in 8.5" x 11" format
with full color covers, and use heavy card stock for all enclosed "Cheat Sheets," Game Counters, Card Decks, and other accompanying accessories.
PDF Editions represent about half the price of the printed books and
come with complete rules and game components (including color covers, card stock accessories, counters, etc) in "ready to print" form, with the added
advantage of full color illustrations and graphics not available in "hard copy" form.
All Titles are Copyright by The (Virtual) Armchair General, except where indicated.
2008 marks the 50th Anniversary of a publishing milestone, and the 160th Anniversary of the end of the Mexican War, too.
In 1958, historian and illustrator, Joseph Hefter and colleagues,
self-published one of the classics of modern military history, El Soldado
Mexicano, 1837-1847 . The only, printed edition quickly became the
standard reference on the appearance and organization of the Mexican Army in the
period of the Texas War of Independence through the Mexican- American War of
1846-48. Hardly a book written on these events does not cite Hefter's work, yet
it became scarce and the surviving copies show the effects of time on their pulp
pages and covers.
As part of TVAG's researches for the coming Mexican War rules, Gone To
See The Elephant , my own original copy of the book has constantly been
referred to. But its physical condition, the faded (but still beautiful) color
uniform plates, and the author's "stream of consciousness" layout of
his text proved frustrating.
After seeking advice, I have exercised due diligence in an attempt to
establish who may have the Copyright to Hefter's work since his death 30 years
ago. As a result, I decided to go ahead and return this remarkable work to the
gaming and historical community in a new and updated edition.
Not merely a reprint, color quality has been restored to the eight original
plates, plus seven more in b&w have now been "colorized" based on uniform data
in the text. Four more Hefter plates from other publications round out the work.
Further, three full color pages of Mexican Army Colors, Standards, Guidons, and
Pennants (most never before seen in print) designed by Eric Cox add a dimension
missing from the original work. A number of line drawings by Hefter have been
provided by other sources for use in this new edition, as well as extra photos
and drawings of more uniform details and equipment.
Besides being the best single source on uniforms for the period, The
Mexican Soldier details the tactics, organization, and weaponry of the
Army, answering many--if not all--of the questions of what made this remarkable
army function as it did. There are useful tables of OB's for the major battles
of the Mexican War, sections on the Army Health Corps, information on the
soldiers themselves (heights, illnesses, pay, discipline, etc). The
original text followed a roughly chronological arrangement, but tended to
meander-- tangentially--making it difficult to look up any particular item. This
has all been addressed by a nearly total rearrangement of the text into sections
and sub-sections, and then chronologically. The Spanish language text and
captions are removed for this edition, but hardly a word of the English version
is missing--and some new material by Hefter has been added.
Printed on high quality paper, well suited to best show off the color plates,
this edition is printed in 8.5" x 11" format, on 44 pages, plus
22 uniform, equipment, and flag plates, 21 in full color.
The Mexican Soldier is available for $40.00, plus postage
The Mexican Soldier is also available
as PDF files for $25.00, and these files be sent via E-mail.
With the full participation of Savage And Soldier past Editors Douglas
Johnson, Milton Soong, and Richard Brooks, TVAG is proud to announce release of the Mahdist Wars Source Book.
Destined to become a standard reference among
war gamers of the Sudan, the two
volume work contains seventeen pages of original
photographs and plates of Mahdist uniforms, the Omdurman Battlefield, Ansar Fortifications, Weapons, and more.
Each Volume measures 8.5" X 11" and has full color covers and comprises articles previously published over
20 years ago as the "Sudan Special." The MWSB expanded that 40 page pamphlet into some 270 pages of additional articles which first
appeared in S&S over the years, plus specifically written new material. Errors of fact, typos, and other corrections reflecting new information
developed since the original edition as well.
Large numbers of maps and tactical diagrams, detailed battle studies, and appendices providing information of
every sort, make up the bulk of the book. Uniform, organizational and tactical data for the Egyptians, British, Italians, and Abyssinians are included as well
as for the Ansar. Even the design of Mahdist Flags is covered, complete with full color examples by Eric Cox.
Finally, the complete Orders of Battle for the Sudan, from Hicks Pasha at Shaykan, to the death of the Khalifa
Abdullahi at Um Diwaykarat, are provided from the Andrew Preziosi Collection. Full details of units, their strength, officers, and organization are now in
one place for the first time.
MWSB Volume 1 (1883-1885) $35.00, plus postage.
MWSB Volume 2 (1885-1899) $30.00, plus postage.
Both Volumes at Once--$60.00, plus postage, a savings of $5.00
Both Volumes may be bought together as PDF's for $30.00, with everything delivered via E-mail.
"Astounding Tales!" 2nd Edition has doubled
in size to 100 pages since the 1st Edition two years ago, and is now the ultimate rules set for
Pulp Era Gaming. More complete and wide ranging than ever, with new features and resources, AT2
retains the same simple, direct game mechanics.
New features include references to airplanes and
airships, Rocket Men, Nazi Science, new weapons and special Skills (including greatly expanded
options for female characters), Snipers, alternate character generation systems, and more.
Extensive background on the World of Pulp Fiction,
new Game Title and Scene Generators, and two ready-to-play Scenarios round out the package. Besides the new rules and materials,
the original rules have been generally improved and clarified.
Now, with the Second Printing, the inevitable typos and
gremlins that appeared in the first Edition have been corrected within the rule book, and improved graphics have been
added to the back cover and in the text. More than ever, AT2 is the most complete and tested Pulp Fiction rules set
But perhaps more "Astounding" still is that the price is unchanged! The Print Edition is still available for $25.00, plus Postage, from TVAG.
AT2 is also available in a PDF Edition
for $15.00, and the files be sent via E-mail.
The First Scenario Book for "Astounding Tales!" is now available. From the first Scenario
writing contest conducted over the Internet, five submissions were chosen and another included by original author Howard Whitehouse.
All six Scenarios are ready to play with Character Stats and other necessary information already provided. All you
do is set them up and play!
Information has been provided allowing the same Scenarios to be played using these other popular rules sets:
To Be Continued...By Gaslight , Rugged Adventures , and
Presented in the form of a Magazine, the first "issue" of Astounding
Adventures is illustrated with maps, classic Pulp Covers (suitably customized for each story), and period advertising
(which may bear some scrutiny).
Print Edition is now available for $20.00, plus Postage, from TVAG.
AA#1 is also available in a PDF Edition for $15.00,
which will be sent via E-mail.
The Second Scenario Book for "Astounding Tales!" joins the first in the ever
growing library of Pulp Scenarios for Astounding Tales! . Four more blood and thunder scenarios written to match existing Pulp Magazine covers
from decades ago fill its 54 pages.
In this issue, find "Claws of the Cat Goddess," "Gimbals Gillespie and the Island of Terror," "The Bride of the
Mummy's Curse," and Howard Whitehouse's own "A Fete Worse Than Death."
As usual, all Scenarios are ready to play with Character Stats and other necessary information provided.
All you do is set them up and play! However, this issue includes 8 pages of full color game maps, a first in the series, as well as more
period advertising (which still bears some scrutiny).
And as a continuing feature of AA!, the usual information has been provided allowing the same Scenarios to be
played using To Be Continued...By Gaslight , Rugged Adventures, and .45 Adventure.
Print Edition is now available for $20.00, plus Postage, from TVAG.
AA#2 is also available in a PDF Edition
for $15.00, and be sent via E-mail.
It's now on the newsstand at TVAG, ready to give you a megadose of Pulpy Goodness!
The first full scenario supplement for Howard Whitehouse's ground-breaking rules Astounding Tales! to be one continuous adventure, it breaks new
ground with an old friend. As "Mexican Jack Squint" says in his airtight introduction/alibi: "In The Road to Skull Island, we get a tropical island
populated by savage natives unfamiliar with the basic tenets of tourist hospitality, plus cultists, dinosaurs, and a really big monkey. There's Japs, Russkies,
cavemen, lost aviatrixes, Marines and Minotaurs, sailors and scorpions — plus Patchy the Wonder Dog. I foresee big things for him! I think it might make an
excellent talking picture.
I think you'll like it!"
And if that doesn't clinch it, read what the author, Jeff Wasileski (channeling the great German Direktor, Erich von Schnitzel), has to say!
"Zis vill be ze Greatest All-Zinging-All-Danzing-Pirate-Gangster-Kultist-Dinosaur-Big Monkey-Science-Fiction-Musical Film Ever Made!"
What can I, a humble editor/publisher, add to that?
Oh, yeah... It costs $20.00 American, and you'll be stuck for the postage when you order.
AA#3 can also be had in a PDF Edition for
$15.00 and be sent via E-mail.
Now in its 23rd year, SvP is in its 3rd (some might say 4th) Edition, and better than ever,
and this new version is a 136 page streamlined update. The entire game is within one volume instead of the previous two separate Officers' and Referee's Manuals,
without a single word missing, but previous repetitions eliminated.
The book still comes with all the necessary game counters, while the previous
four Cheat Sheets have been reformatted down to two sheets, and yet contains even more information than before! (And, "No," you won't need a
scanning electron microscope to read them!)
Mixing elements of Role Playing Games,
traditional "Free Kriegspiel," and a fully developed miniatures rules system, SvP is the
last word in war gaming the campaigns of Hicks, Baker, Gordon, Wolesley, and Kitchener.
Playable in variable scales, with no
need to re-base existing figures, SvP can quickly be grasped and played by novices and old
Sudan veterans alike.
SvP is unique in that the Mahdi's
Ansar are operated by the Umpire with special game tables, and the British and Egyptian
forces are controlled by the Players themselves.
Rules are included for every concern,
as well as Nile Steamers, Railroads, Logistics, Personal Combats, and more. A major resource of
Sudan military lore, full organizational information, tactical practices, uniform information, and
actual writings by the men who fought there are the backbone of the work.
If you were to own only one source for
war gaming the Sudan, SvP is it!
SvP is available
ONLY in PDF format until May 1, 2013. The price remains at $15.00, and
will be E-mailed to your address.
The new 4th Edition has expanded to 68 pages of rules and Ship Logs for all three Hull Types,
and Native Craft. Where the previous Edition added important new rules for Torpedoes, Mines, and Critical Hits, this newest Edition continues to broaden the
game. New weapons include the 24-pdr Hales Rocket, plus completely revised listings of all Cannon, Machine Guns, and "Pom-pom's" with new Hit Points values. Some
guns have been dropped, and others added to make arming scratch built models a much easier proposition. All five of the Critical Hits Tables have been revised,
and many simplifications to the text have been made for greater clarity. More and new useful illustrations have been added throughout. The full color card stock
Action Cards, Weather Vane, Wind Speed markers, Torpedo and Mine markers are still included, too.
Once again edited and ever-expanded by P.R. Wilson, B&B 4th is now even more than before the
complete game for Riverine and Coastal actions in amphibious operations and between Gunboats in the Age of Imperialism. Fully integrated with
The Sword and The Flame and the Campaign Game, The Sun Never Sets (TSNS), the game allows for 25mm or 15mm Gunboat models to
fight each other, or in direct conjunction with miniatures land games. Players of TSNS will also find the game prices of armaments for vessels funded by Parliament
have been greatly reduced to encourage ever more "Gunboat Diplomacy."
All in all, B&B the 4th represents the continued evolution of
a rules system that has grown with the times. And, amazingly still, only the price has never had to evolve, and remains at $25.00 , plus postage.
Also available for self printing from PDF format for $15.00, and
be sent via E-mail.
A campaign system for The Sword and The Flame, this dedicated rules set allows players to be both members of Parliament
and Native Potentates.
Originally designed for use with TSATF
20th Anniversary Edition, the Battalion variant, 800 Fighting Englishmen is even better suited for play.
After years of success, TSNS was due for a new edition,
and in the Summer of 2010, it arrived. The book has now expanded to 96 pages, most of which represent the addition of the former game maps, counters,
record sheets, etc, to the body of the book proper. Now in B&W and printed on paper, their placement at the back of the book for removal and/or copying
allowed the price to drop from $40.00 to $30.00 . The rules themselves have not required any changes and owners of the
previous Edition need not worry--though the new edition does LOOK ever so much better!
Along with the campaign game rules, there are 30 pages of background,
tactical and organizational information on the new foes, including Abyssinians, Afghans (Irregular and Regular), Ashanti, Burmese, Chinese, Maori, and Northeast
Frontier Tribesmen, plus more Imperial Troop types, rules for Gunboats, Logistics, Replacements, Fortifications, Transport, and more!
And for those who still want the high quality game
accessories separately, they are now available as a special TSNS Supplement. This includes five full color Theater Maps measuring 8.5" x 11", one two-piece map
totaling 22" x 17", and three 11" x 17". There are also 5 full color card stock sheets of Event Cards (double sided), 4 sheets of ready-to-cut map counters,
Sea Distances Table, and more.
remains--the last word in a complete Colonial Campaign System!
NOW available in it's all new 4th Edition for $30.00, plus postage.
For those wishing to buy the TSNS Rule Book AND the Game Supplement Print Editions together, the price is $45.00, a
savings of $5.00.
The complete Printed Game Supplement may be ordered alone for $20.00, plus postage.
The complete package is
available in a PDF Edition for $25.00, and delivered via E-mail, post free.
has now been made more accessible to those who have been interested, but unsure of wanting to buy the entire game at full price.
The newly printed THIRD Edition has swollen to 196 pages of resources, as well as all of the
Second Edition's greatly improved and expanded rules for gaming India's colonial history, including the Mysore, Maratha, Sikh Wars, Indian Mutiny, and much more.
Besides the rules proper, there are 13 pages of Weather Tables (with full
color maps), 4 pages of Designers' Notes, 3 of Bibliography, 4 ready-to-play Scenarios (27 pages) with full color maps, 6 pages listing John Company's Battles,
4 pages of figure sources, six pages of Uniform data, and 2 pages of Basing Templates.
But still, one of the greatest values are the Army Lists with detailed organizational and tactical
information for the Afghans, Marathas, Sikhs, British and HEIC units, with special emphasis on the latter on The Indian Mutiny. This information is not to be
found in any one--or 25--books!
BUT instead of including all the previous full color, card stock game accessories as enclosures, these have now
been printed in B&W on paper and bound into the rule book itself. This has allowed the cover price to DROP
from $45.00 to $30.00!
It is now possible to buy the game at a much friendlier price and still be able to learn the game
with the necessary accessories. And if you wish to pursue the game with all the improved and longer-lived graphical components, you may still do so.
All 12 original full color card stock sheets for the three Game Decks, the 4 B&W "Cheat Sheets,"
and the other color game counters may now be bought as a separate Supplement. Better still, all three Card Decks (Action, Orders, and
Events) are now pre-cut and shrink wrapped ready for immediate use.
The John Company Graphics Supplement costs $15.00, and is immediately available!
NOW available, the Third Edition costs $30.00, plus postage.
The John Company Third Edition Graphics Supplement cost $15.00, plus postage.
For those primarily interested in the book as a resource, or who prefer
"self printing," the PDF Edition is available for $20.00, and includes all full color card stock accessories, plus postage.
All files will be sent via E-mail.
Chris Ferree's homage to "Rajah Brooke" and the Pirates of the South China Seas is now available in a full blown
2nd Edition exclusively from The (Virtual) Armchair General.
More than doubling in size to 42 pages, with new rules and tables, greatly improved graphics, two complete scenarios with maps and OB's,
Chronology, Bibliography, with newly designed Ship and Unit Record Sheets, Wind Vane and Game Counters, as well as full color front and back covers, the game
has never been more complete.
New rules include Towing, Weather Conditions, Heavy Artillery, greatly expanded Firing and Morale Tables, and additional organizational
information for Moro, Balanini, Dyak, Malay, Chinese, and Illunan Pirates to make collecting necessary figures for your game units easy.
Originally designed for use with the extensive line of 15mm figures purposely sculpted by author Chris Ferree, the game is supported by
card stock and resin cast accessories sold by TVAG. However, by simple scale adjustment, the rules may be played with 25/28mm figures and models from other
manufacturers as well.
The Kris And The Flame is still an officially authorized dependent
variant of the world famous The Sword And The Flame, 20th Anniversary Edition , and requires a copy of
those rules to be played.
The Print Edition is Currently Out of Stock.
Available in PDF format for $15.00, and delivered via E-mail.
B'hoys! is a detailed game system
based entirely upon Herbert Asbury's classic book, The Gangs of New York .
Emphasizing the fluid nature of mob vs. mob street-fighting, and the dynamics of such contests,
the rules use specially designed Action Cards to determine order of movement and cue test points
for "Resolve." Great for close-combat in other periods, too, we've had reports of folks using
the system for everything from Neanderthals to Roman Riots!
All previous Errata & Addenda have now been incorporated, and with improved graphics, TVAG is proud
to offer this much improved Second Edition.
The Newly published Print Edition retails for $25.00, plus postage.
The PDF Edition is economically priced at $15.00, and will be sent via E-mail.
From author/sculptor Chris Ferree, comes his most ambitious game rules yet!
Waken The Storm! is a Fantasy Battles game system for miniatures. The rules
reflect the technology and practices of Dark Age through early Medieval warfare, but allowing for the Heroic Fighters, Magic Users, Magical Artifacts, and
assorted monsters associated with European Mythology. WTS is the only Officially Sanctioned Fantasy Game System based on the classic The Sword And The Flame . The 72 page rule book, with full color covers, comes with three
special full color, Game Card Decks (Action, Magic, Magical Items), each now
provided pre-cut, ready for immediate play, in reusable plastic bags. Full
color game counters and Unit Record Sheets complete the game accessories
included. The specially designed 52 card Action Deck
regulates Movement, Fire Effects, and Casualties, each in the proper game sequence. WTS is not a "Dependent Variant" of TSATF, but a
complete, stand alone
Rules cover missile fire, close combat, and morale, all emphasizing the actual factors that helped
determine the outcomes of Dark Ages warfare. But the emphasis is on key characters: The Heroes, Born Leaders, Magic Users, and more of Humans, Orks, Elves,
Dwarves, and more.
Not more "warmed over" Tolkien, WTS is based on Western Mythology ("Song of Roland," "Beowulf," etc)
and only the races of the literature are represented. The product of years of development and play testing, no "special, must have" figures
are required, no re-basing of existing figures, and simple suggested basing systems are provided for those just starting out. Rules for monsters include
Dragons, Giants, Trolls, Griffins, and more, with special rules for each, including Dragon flight! Magic is intended for the battlefield,
but its effectiveness depends on the skill of the Magician. Fire Balls, Levitation, Animated Dead, Wind Storms, Thunderbolts, and much more can cause
fear and disaster to the enemy. Not enough skill, and a Magical Spell can go disastrously wrong! Magical Swords, Clubs, Armor, and more can also
be part of each game, but no two games need ever be alike with all the variables that can apply when building one's army.
Waken The Storm! was one of the most widely anticipated rules releases in years
and the First Edition is ready for immediate delivery.
The Print Edition price has been reduced to $25.00, plus postage.
The PDF Edition is economically priced at $20.00, and will be sent