SEVEN YEARS WAR ARMIES BY MAIL The Seven Year Wars are an interesting colorful period, with several good sets of rules available. However, while 25mm figures are available there is a lack of 15mm figures in the U.S. Unless you purchased MiniFigs several years ago you are out of luck at present. There is a solution I make use of mail ordering from Britain. I'd like to share my experiences: There are three areas to consider in mail ordering: the mechanics of ordering, the service given by the firm you order from, and the figure quality. If you have done any ordering from U.S. sources you know the basic mechanics. Print or type your order, the dealer has to be able to read it. Break out the cost per figure and the total cost of the group, i.e. "ten British Line Infantry at 6 pence = 60 pence". Use both the literal description "British Line Infantry" and the part number "BLI-7". Compute the order in their money. The catalog or price list will be in sterling, and as I will show later it's better to pay in sterling. If any problems come up as to what, how many, and at what price a well written order is better than trying to figure out what you meant later. It is best to keep a copy of your order and be sure to list alternatives. There may be more than one figure you can use. I personally do not like to fool around with back orders or credit vouchers. I would prefer "advancing, port arms" in hand to back ordered "attacking". Make sure you specify sea mail or air mail. There is almost a 100% difference in postage, and a bigger difference in time. The one time I used sea mail it took over two months. Air Mail takes as little as one week after mailing from England to reach you. The big difference in ordering from Britain is in the method of payment. If you are sending a personal check you must find the exchange rate $ to pounds in your newspaper's financial section. (it runs in the area of 1 pound = $2.00 to 2.50) Convert your total order price from pounds to $, and add at least one pound for bank charges. The company you order from is going to have to pay his bank at least 1 pound sterling to exchange your $ check. His bank may also want to wait one or two weeks for the check to clear your bank. It is best to buy a sterling money order at a commercial bank for cost or $1.00 to $2.00. This avoids having to guess bank cost at the other end, eliminates any delays waiting for checks to clear and fixes the exchange rate as of the day you purchase the money order (exchange rates are subject to political pressures and can change very rapidly). I have dealt with three companies: Peter Laing, England; Warrior, Scotland; and FreiKorp, North Ireland. Now as to service. How fast will you get those figures after you send in your money? What shape will they reach you in? My experience with Pete Laing has been very good. I have never recieved a broken figure from him. I have made several orders over a period of four years. The longest wait I have had was 21 days. The record for quick service was 10 days! That's what I call top service. A word on postage. Figure air mail postage at about 60 to 70% of your order cost. Looking at the stamps on my packages that seems to be about the cost. Mail order from Britain, at least with these three companies, is reliable and relatively quick. Quicker than some U.S. companies. Just remember: print clearly, list alternates, send sufficient postage and pay by a Pound Sterling money order. - JIM DAVIS, Glendale CA. SOME MANUFACTURERS A THREAT TO THE HOBBY If a threat exists to the survival of historical wargaming as a hobby, it lies mainly in the sales practices of figure makers. Figure manufacturers should admit to themselves that direct mail order service is more profitable than emphasizing quick money sales to retail outlets. To site two examples, for some time now, I have dealt with a manufacturer that now relies heavily on direct mail order service to individual customers. They have always filled my orders to the letter. They have NEVER sent me a credit voucher or note telling me a figure is unavailable. They have, in fact, done casting to fill a small order ($20.00) rather than send an incomplete order. They have even included free sample figures with an order so I could see a new offering in my historical period. Because of this treatment, Hinchliffe has a life-long customer. I feel certain they shall develop many more. By contrast, anotherwell known and well established company refused to even consider direct mail order service. One would call them because a back order with a retail outlet had been consigned to oblivion, only to be told that all purchases must be made through retail outlets. This same company has drastically cut back its historical line. Now that it has changed its policy on mail order customers, perhaps fantasy buffs will have better luck. MARK BARNES MAGNETIZED FIGURES I agree with you - Tom Condon's idea for the use of magnets (Dispatches from the field, THE COURIER, Vol. II, No. 5) was excellent. We've thought of using magnets before, but for the life of me, this is the FIRST time I've ever heard a practical way to do it! I've seen wargame companies re-sell magnetic strips at $2.00 per foot! The enclosed sample came from a "teacher's supply house" for $1 for 30"! It may be cheaper in bulk from the company itself - you may want to print the address for the readers. - NED ZUPARKO Glad to. Magnet Sales & Mfg. Co.; 1650-19th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404. Ast for "Flexible Strip Magnet". - DICK BRYANT A RALLY AROUND THE FLAG In a previous issue of The Courier (Vol. II, No. 3), our theme editor has noted that "the colors or standards, while expensive, were not 'revered' until a much later period; certainly no morale penalty should accompany their loss (in the SYW era)". I must respectfully disagree. It is certainly true that the quasi-mystical veneration for the flag is mostly a Napoleonic invention (only the staff was considered of importance: the fabric itself had no specific significance). Yet the importance of colors and standards throughout the XVI Ilth century should not be underrated. Frederick the Great himself is quoted as saying "any soldier who takes a kettledrum, a color or a standard will always receive a considerable sum of money; but to signal oneself by such a feat will always be the most powerful introduction to the King's attention and the best guarantee of promotion and favor" (La Grande Encyclopedie, under the heading of "drapeau"). Kettle-drums, by the way, were embodiements of the regiment's honor in the European cavalries of the XVIlth and XVIIIth centuries. Losing colors or standards could be an administrative death warrant for a regiment. When the Polleretzky Hussards were disbanded in 1758 by the French King, they having lost all their standards to the Prussian Black Hussars weighted heavily in the decision process. Around 1750, the office of standard-bearer of the "cornette blanche de la cavalerie" (admittedly a most prestigious standard) was worth more than the ownership of a whole regiment in the French Army (Desjardins, Recherches sur les Drapeaux Francais, 1874). To sum up, the colors and standards in the XVIIIth century had two effects: one purely psychological, the other practical. The psychological effect of losing one's colors could go either way. Some units could react with incredible feats of heroism to wash with blood the stain on their honor (cf., e.g., in similar circumstances the Anhalt-Bernburg Prussian Infantry Regiment at Leignitz). Other units (most likely, greener troops) would turn crestfallen. I hope you won't mind if I disagree with you on this point, Ken. Keep up the good work. All SYW devotees owe you a good deal. - Francis Taurand Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. III #2 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1981 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com