NED ZUPARKO – AN “OLD GUARD” It’s nice to see articles from the “Old Guard” of Miniature Wargaming. Ned Zuparko is writing again after many years. Jean Lochet is contributing again. Ian Croxall has, as a newer perhaps “Young Guard” influenced me a great deal. We share the same interest in the French Foreign Legion. The Courier articles, surprisingly, have not gotten stale. Jim Arnold’s AMR article has got me looking at figures for that. My wife is rolling eyes once again as I look into another figure era. - CHUCK HAMACK, Walla Walla, Washington. I’m not sure that Ned would like being characterized as “Old” but he surely was one of the early contributors to these pages and I am very glad to see him back. There are several articles from Ned in the cue. Ian is a power onto himself with his colonial articles – we have a few more of his in the cue as well. – DICK BRYANT A REVIEW African Warlord Rabih Fadl Allah - Review of Articles in The Courier. The Courier issue # 87 includes a very interesting article on the African Warlord Rabih Fadl Allah. This is part I of a series of three parts written by Ian Croxall of WarFlags.com fame. The story of the previously-obscure warlord Rabih is presented clearly and logically, quite possibly for the first time in an English language publication. We follow him from his days as a sub-sub-commander of the Mahdi’s forces through his rise to power over other warlords in the southwestern Sudan, his subsequent ejection from the area by British-led forces, and Rabbih’s stunning military triumphs and final demise at the hands of French-led forces near Lake Chad. The work covers in good detail the very-confusing Lamy-Forreau, Voulet-Chanoine, and Gentil missions which (after many harrowing adventures, some of which make “Apocalypse Now” seem like a stroll in the park) converged on Lake Chad from the Sahara, West Africa, and Central Africa. Some of the stories are amazing, and all written with the needs of the wargamer in mind. French colonial history includes numerous lost battles reminiscent of Isandlwana in everything except scale. It amazes me that the English-speaking wargaming community doesn’t know more of, and do more with these settings. These Courier articles should improve that situation. Of particular note are the plethora of useful maps and period illustrations of the combatants. If you ever wanted to learn about the “knights of the Savannah”, these articles distill their essence and make the information easily accessible. In addition to the above are many very detailed orders of battle, plus wargaming notes which include all that one might need to stage the battles of either Nyellim Hills or Kuno on the tabletop. Through these articles, Ian Croxall demonstrates that, through his research using numerous primary sources in French, he has become an expert on French Colonial Africa. We owe him a debt of gratitude for winkling out these wonderful tales and making them available to us. Chick says - “Buy Courier issue #87 today, #88 as soon as it appears and look forward to the truly stunning full-color-uniform-plates in Courier #89. You have never seen anything like them ! I’m off to paint some Tirailleurs Soudanaise. Chick Lewis Wow! Thanks! This was sent to me by our colonial Editor, Steve Winter. It appeared on TMP (The Miniatures page) a website wargame magazine - http://theminiaturespage.com/. A great review except that the color plates he refers to appear on the back cover of #87 and #88 - DICK BRYANT Back to Table of Contents -- Courier # 89 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com