One Hour Wargames is a wargame. It contains rules for play from bronze age fighters, all the way to WWII battles.
Via a super simple resolution system, simply checking for range and line of sight, then rolling a 6 sided die for damage, at the core of it, each age, of which there are over a dozen, has their own slight variants on the rules. Mortars in WWII for example, may fire on a unit they cannot if another an ally observes their target.
it also comes with a set of fuckin' amazing scenarios that i'm gonna gush about now.
so the game's simple, right.
check range, roll damage, 15hits drops a unit, ez pz.
But its heart is within its list of scenarios.
These are setups for fights, and the chapter begins with a great lil section about how, for all the good wargames can do with their lil engines and such, often, the battlefield is neglected for a pitched, even fight.
And, to paraphrase, it gets old fast.
It's also massively inaccurate. No commander wants a pitched even fight, they want an ambush, they want to route an enemy, they want to fight from a defensive position, they want an advantage.
And the scenarios provide.
At their core, these scenarios are deployment patterns, maps, and objectives.
For example, the Surprise Attack scenario.
In it, the Blue general has executed a surprise attack on Red.
Blue starts with EVERY unit, and right in range of Red.
But, everyone suffers the -1, and you roll damage only, no accuracy. Units take 15 Hits to die, so even if Blue can bring its full might to bear down on one of Red's units, they'll only kill 1.
Red has the woods and the lake to at least take the edge off, the lake acting as a barrier, the woods as a filter for cavalry and as a barrier for infantry, as they take half damage in there.
And, as the turns go through, Red gets their reinforcements.
I think my fav part is that these scenarios are unbalanced. It's a wargame leaning more towards war than game, but in doing so, makes for a fascinating challenge. With these advantages, can Blue pull through? Can Red survive?
The book also mentions this, how the pitched battle is boring. Throw balance into whack, give a side a clear advantage because THEN you can fight you way to seizing the advantage out from under them.
Or, if you have the advantage, trying hard to capitalize and maintain it.
It's why I adore games with no accuracy roll. After turn 1 you kinda know the deal, and you get to the like "oh fuck how do we win against this guy who clearly outtrades us" or "aha we got this," and then reinforcements come.
Or you actually got it! Standard Operating Procedure can be fun too!