Articles for Wargame Design?

[Willow]

I've been pondering my next design, a hybrid wargame/rpg.  I'm pretty clear on where I want the rpg mechanics to be, but the wargame part is taking up more of my creative juices.  I've been searching the web for resources, but my sources are coming up pretty dry.

Anyone know where there's a good stockpile of articles about wargame design and rules sets?

[Valamir]

Steve Jackson (I think) put out an "Art of Wargame" design book(let) years ago.  It was pretty old school if that's what you're looking for.  Not sure if it's available electronically, but I have it in print form.  I might be able to glean some articles from it if you have something specific you're looking for.

[J Tolson]

Civilian or Military?

Wargames are designed differently depending on who is doing the gaming. Generally, military game design seems to be easier to find information on. Despite that, online sources for game design in general seem to be limited (The Forge is one of the larger sites, in my experience); wargames in particular is almost nonexistent. As such, you might be better off hitting up your local library/book store. Here are two links that you might find useful (but alas, not really repositories of wargame design knowledge).

http://www.strategypage.com/wargames/default.asp
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18343

[Willow]

Civilian Wargame.

I looked at that first site- you're right, much more geared towards Military.  But I'll have to check out the library and see if they've got that book.  Even if it's not exactly what I'm looking for, it might give me some different ideas.

[Simons]

What exactly are you looking for on the wargame side?  What mechanics are you trying to figure out?  What elements of you game are going to be RPG, vs what parts will be wargame?

If you're looking for free downloads of small scale (on in some cases larger scale) wargames, here are a few that I've come across in my own research:
http://www.specialist-games.com/inquisitor/default.asp
http://www.specialist-games.com/necromunda/default.asp
http://www.specialist-games.com/mordheim/default.asp
http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/free.html
http://www.hasbro.com/games/kid-games/heroscape/default.cfm?page=Inside/Demo
http://www.aberrantgames.com/rez/pdfs/Rezolution_Quick_Start_Rules.pdf
http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage%20Worlds/Downloads/Showdown/Showdown.pdf
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1621 (rules at bottom of page)
http://www.jimwallman.org.uk/wargame/
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/8077/FMquickstart.pdf
(and, as shy as I usually am about pimping my own game, http://www.bgdf.com/tiki/tiki-download_userfile.php?fileId=883, or if you'd like a full version just send me a PM and I'll email it to you)

Also, these guys don't really do design, but someone at The Forge sent me their link, and I'd say they're pretty close to the middle ground between and RPGs and Wargames:
http://forum.backofbeyond.de/index.php
They also might be a good place for finding new rule sets. 

I've been trying to find sites dedicated to wargame design, and haven't been able to come up with anything either.  If you are able to find a wargame design site out there, let me know. 

Simon