About The League of Augsburg

The League of Augsburg is a name which I use as a vehicle for my wargaming efforts and is in fact,  a league of one. My  interest in toy soldiers and all things military was spawned at a very early age and with the exception of a ten year period between the ages of 14 and 24 when I discovered guitars and girls in that order, it has been my unswerving  lifetime obsession.

I first started demo gaming in the mid 80's having some minor success leading the efforts of a small club from my home town of East Kilbride. The League's demo trail  began in 1992 with appearances at Scottish shows which quickly extended to some of the better known and well established English events. The name was first suggested by a then wargaming acquaintance who briefly participated in the first couple of outings of the League before hanging up his dice. The nom de jeu suited what I was doing at the time because my main focus was the period between 1685 and 1714. What the League did between 1992 and 1999 raised the profile of this  period  by a significant degree but we were by no means the first to give it exposure. My  main inspiration was drawn from being part of  a small group of gamers in Lancashire led by Alasdair Jamison & David Shuttleworth, by the articles and figures of Mark Allen in Wargames Illustrated through the early 1990s and by top quality demo games (which I only ever saw in photograph) from the likes of Gordon Mclean, Lee Maxwell and Graham Cummings. During that period I was part of every LoA show table  cooperating with Phil Olley who contributed to many and David Imrie who was involved in several.  Interests eventually gravitated towards other periods as inevitably happens with wargamers and the joint efforts died out. I still have an enduring love of the Grand Alliance period which has resulted in the publication of Beneath the Lily Banners . These rules are the product of  18 years of gaming and research and are I feel, an appropriate way to mark the pleasure and sense of satisfaction derived from the 100+ games which I have played.

A characteristic of my approach to the hobby is focus. I don't flit around from project to project on a monthly basis prefering to really dig in to the background,  rules and  figure painting of my current interest . This has meant that over the years my collection has built to a significant size and is of high quality but spans a relatively small number of historical periods.

Since 2005 LoA has been a solo organisation although it was always the case right from way back in '92 that between 65% and 85% of the figures used in every LoA game were  painted by me or from my own personal collection. These are the figures you will see all over this website. Continuity has as a consequence always been a trademark.

I've taken particular pleasure in helping to organise the activities of The League of Gentlemen Wargamers, a loose association of nice chaps from all over Scotland and England who enjoy meeting for a weekend every four months. The games are large and ambitious in scope. We now have eleven successful weekenders under our belts and a further six in the can. Wargaming on this scale is a privilege not available to every gamer but if you ever get the opportunity  to organise or participate in such an event grab it with both hands.

When not being part of the Gentlemen I play with a circle of gamers based around central Scotland.  I enjoy writing very much and continue to contribute to Wargames Illustrated and Battlegames. I have in the past written for HMG in the US, Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy in Spain and Wargames Journal online.  I do this as and when the mood takes me. A recent collaboration with the hugely talented Mr Clarence Harrison of Quindia Studios fame has resulted in Beneath the Lily Banners as a commercial venture, the creation of my own Publishing company - WordTwister and the prospect of future printed offerings from our stable.

This site is about wargaming. All of the toys are played with but not as regularly as I’d like and with some noted exceptions, all of the toys reside in my collection. I continually draw inspiration from many other wargamers and hope you find something inspiring here. Thanks for visiting and feel free to contact me.

Barry Hilton