Courier Dispatch
News of the Hobby
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700 HISTORICAL MINIATURE GAMERS ATTEND HMMC #4The following report has been generated from contributions by several people: Pat Condray (HMMC4 After-Action Report), 80%; Kruse Smith, 10%; Jay Hadley and Dick Bryant, 5% each.
The events were varied and interesting. Games new to our conventions included new Franco-Prussian games by Larry Brom and Dave Waxtel, Ben King's "Zouave" and "Vassal", Victor Schmidt's "Anvil of Jehovah", Hoy's "Struggle of Nations", Old Colony's "Grand Tactical Napoleonics", and a variety of colonial, skirmish, gang war, and other games sponsored by companies, clubs, and private citizens. There seem to have been as many events cancelled as in any previous three conventions. There were also more unexpected events cropping up at the last minute and thereafter. We snuck to extra tables into the main room plan, put some in hallways, and took an extra meeting room and filled it with tables. Between that and the last minute cancellations, we almost managed to accommodate the overflow from the WRG action and the last minute volunteers. Somehow it worked, and in spite of crowding, the facilities and the cooperation from the Ramada Inn staff were first rate. In the major tournaments there were some unexpected developments. Top seed WRG Ancients players Johnson Hood and Bob Andriola both turned up looking for a good time rather than a desperate struggle. Johnson Hood's 25mm Illyrian Greeks and Bob Andriola's 15mm Vikings were colorful and interesting, but not the weapons a master duellist would choose for a serious match. As a result both lost -- but I don't expect anyone will think either of them has lost his touch. Maj. Richard Rowe edged Steve Herndon in the more intensive 25mm match, while Dan Weitz, whose son has been sweeping the less intensive 15mm, won the 15mm more intensive over Richard Kroupa. Burkely was first and Leach second in the less intensive 25mm while Jamie Fish beat out Ron Jackson in the 15's. Mark Vogel got the sportsmanship award (the first of which went to then Capt. Richard Rowe at HISTORICON 84). There were 70 people in the Ancient Tournaments (10 people had to be turned away for lack of space), 48 of whom were in the heat for this year's American championship. The remainder played in a "less intense" competition. Kruse Smith and Steve Roper did their usual professional job of umpiring. I'm told that there were only 27 rule questions raised in 100+ games played! The results of the competition are listed below. There was a strong turnout for pike and shot action. The U.S. Pike and Shot Federation sanctioned 25mm WRG Tournament backed by Wargamers and the unsanctioned 15mm WRG Tournament backed by Mike's Models both drew respectable fields. Jay Stone managed to win both. The 15mm victor was a 100 Years War English force, with 17th Century Poles in the 25mm -- the latter having some difficult times in the earlier matches. The 15mm runner-up was Dave Ottney with 3OYW Spaniards -- a genuine pike and shot army. In addition to the WRG events, Will Chin demonstrated Verlorene Haufe, Victor Schmidt Anvil of Jehovah, and Marty Fenelon a new ECW game. This game period seems to have survived a slump brought about by mixed signals since HISTORICON 84 and is apparently healthier than ever. Marlborough's Wars got into high gear with the Duke going down to defeat at both Blenheim and Oudenarde. The latter was won by French determination to commit the whole army a 'outrance. A leading expert on musket period warfare, who was to have commanded the Maison du Roi, could have saved the Duke. He counselled a defensive stand would have left the French static in the face of overwhelming allied artillery -- but he went home with the flu and the allies were crushed in detail. Once again the Seven Years War was very much in evidence with games ranging from the skirmish level to the Grand Tactical with Barry Gray's Koenigskrieg II siege game occupying the middle ground. There continues to be a lot of attention paid to these events with armies being raised in all scales from 25mm figures standing 35mm taIl to genuine 15mm types. Although I find fortresses of all types lacking in dash and mobility, the simple and attractive star fortress being distributed by Greenfield is sure to foster interest in 18th Century siege warfare. The American Revolution was also represented -- mainly in skirmish and in Bob Coggins' highly modified 30mm version of Koenigskrieg I. Very picturesque in 30mm despite the historic shortage of cavalry. At past conventions a dearth of Napoleonics has been noted. After years of absolute dominance of the miniature wargame scene, the Emperor and his illustrious enemies have been at least partly eclipsed by people in tricorns, slouch hats, and pith helmets, not to mention the hordes erupting from the WRG Army Lists. HMMC #4 saw no lack of the other fellows, but Napoleonics returned in force. Empire III was played, but Gard du Corps, Struggle of Nations, and Old Colony's Grand Tactical Napoleonics were also presented. The continued interest in this climactic finale of the great smoothbore wars is to be expected in spite of occasional slumps in representation. The ALAMO returned. Rich Hasenauer and Ron Prillamon were only with difficulty persuaded to rerun the event that took best of show at ORIGINS 85. "Just once -- well, maybe twice." Once turned on they wouldn't stop. As usual The Alamo proved a crowd pleaser -- its popularity not diminished by recent media coverage of ORIGINS 85. The Alamo won The Courier Award for Best Terrain Demonstration at ORIGINS 85. Richard Hasenauer, the man responsible for that great attraction, again won The Courier Award for Best Demonstration of Terrain for his demo of heavily modified On To Richmond rules. Along with the usual OTR and Johnny Reb, Ben King introduced his grand tactical "Zouave" game in 5mm. The War Between The States was played from that scale up to40mm, while at sea the U.S. Navy narrowly prevented a Confederate flotilla based on the CSS Stonewall and several Laird Rams from breaking into Charleston. Many of these battles made the event lists only in the program, some not at all, but they drew interest and participation. After years of pushing Napoleon the Little's wars, Pat Condray let this one go by. It was not missed. Larry Brom and Dave Waxtel each put on Franco-Prussian games -- Larry in very picturesque 30mm (about the size of today's large 25mm figures) and Dave in 15mm (18) using mainly the new Minifig WWI line in 1870 colors (not much difference for the French). These games drew a lot of interest, and are just in time for the expected flood of new 19th Century European lines (Minifigs, Mike's Models, and others). Naval warfare enthusiasts were in evidence playing from the ACW to Vietnamese "Riverine" operations (that's what they called them when I was working for the Navy). Again a majority of these events were not well publicized -- as convention organizer I knew about them when I saw them -- but that didn't seem to slow things down much. On the other hand, air wargames were limited to Chris Oplinger's WWI and Marty Fenelon's air support to the Vietnam flotilla. Colonial wars were well represented by TSATF and some demos of new and unnamed games, and there was a flood of 20th Century actions, for a change at least half of which were in 20mm rather than 5mm. All told, the number, variety, and quality of events may have matched the offerings at HISTORICON 84 or ORIGINS 85 in much less space. At HISTORICON 86, of course, with an extra day and two and a half times the space, we should be able to do even better, especially with the events we had to discourage or trim down due to size this time around. Though there were not as many painting competition entrants as in the recent past, those that did enter made the job tough for the judges (Jay Hadley and Joe Miceli).
For the most part, other event winners were not reported and were presumably given prizes by the sponsors, as in the case of Chris Parker's other games, and the Seakrieg Tournament sponsored by Campaign Headquarters. In the Marlborough battles the French teams declined to select an MVP and split up the pre-packaged Editions Brokaw starter armies among all concerned. Among the Sun King's minions were Dennis Shorthouse, Mark McGlauglin, Joe Walukonis, Chris Vander Bruegge, Peter Evanko, and Nemo Lionikis. Major support and prizes were contributed by Alliance, Ral Partha, Lyzard's Grin, Mike's Models, Wargames, The Courier, ASP, Campaign Hq., Editions Brokaw, Falcon, Fusilier, Greenfield Hobby, GHQ, Quality Cast, RAFM, Soldier World-USA, The Armory, The Little Soldier, The Rusty Scabbard, The Ship Shop, The Viking Forge, The Standard Bearer, and Time Portal Hobbies. ANCIENT ARMY PHOTOGRAPHSThe Musee De L'Armee in Paris is offering an album of photographs dating from 1848 to 1918, and covers The Crimea-1855; Italy, 1859-1863; The Expedition to Mexico, 1862-1867; and more all the way up to 1918. The 122 pages contain 264 photographs and sell for 280 Francs. Ask for "Photographies Anciennes 1848-1919", Musee De L'Armee, Hotel Nationale Des Invalides, 75007, Paris, France. GLEANINGSEmpires, Eagles and Lions (RAFM Co., 19 Concession St., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, NiR 2G6; bimonthly, $18.00): Issues 90 & 91 on hand for review. A 60 page well-done publication devoted to Napoleonic war- gaming which contains some quite scholarly articles on the period as well as wargaming information, painting hints, wargame reports, and much more. These two issues contain a number of articles on the naval aspect of the Napoleonic Era, several interesting articles on the Peninsula War, and articles on the organization of a number of armies of this period. A "must" for the Napoleonic wargamer! Savage and Soldier (23902 SE 42nd St., lssaquah, WA, 98027; quarterly, $15.00): Oct-Dec 85 issue on hand. S&S is in its 20th year of publication and congratulations should be extended to editor Lynn Bodin for the fine work he has done in publishing this fine colonial journal. This issue contains articles on the Bashi-Bazuks in the Sudan and the Aradzai Campaign of 1879. It usually has well-done line drawings of uniforms of hard-to-find units which is great assistance to the wargamer. If you game in the colonial period, you'll want to subscribe to this publication. Arquebusier (Andrews Whitby, 17 Stanley Road West, Oldfield Park, Bath, Avon, BAl 3HU, England; bimonthly, $12.50 surface mail/$18.00 airmail). The Arquebusier is the publication of the Pike and Shot Society. Numbers 5 and 6,1985, feature articles on Wargaming the Polish Army; the Battle of the Mohacs, 1576; the Second Dutch War; Bosworth Field, Sedgemoor; Wargaming with Ottoman Turks; Thirty Years War, and the English Civil War. Many articles include information on wargaming the period/battle and I would think gainers interested in this period would find it most valuable. Spearpoint (The North American Society of Ancient and Medieval Wargamers, 2345 McFarlane Ave., Lake City, FL, 32055; Uncertain regarding publishing schedule but I think price is $5.00 per year). The official newsletter of The North American Society of Ancient and Medieval Wargamers contains articles on auxiliary units of the Exercitus Cappadocicus and the Mongol Army as well as a letters column, book review and rules review article. Appears to be devoted to the WRG rules system and since many ancients wargamers utilize these rules, I suspect that they would find this newsletter of interest. Ahketon, U.S.A, RD1, Box 125, Philadelphia, NY 13673 has available a plethora of wargames figures and accessories. They offer 25mm Texas War of Independence 1835-36 figures which include 13 Mexicans and 12 defenders at .60 each. I am told that additions will be made to this line and that we can expect a 25mm model of the Alamo. Gainers interested in the Crusades 1096-1291 will want to check out their Crusades range, currently consisting of 16 figures but soon to be expanded to include Turk, Syrian, and Egyptian figures as well as buildings, fortifications, tents and boats. An extensive line of Spanish Civil War in 20mm is also available and covers the Nationalist (32 infantry, cavalry, and machine guns) and Republican (24 infantry, cavalry and maxims). Expected to be added in the future is the Spanish Regular Army as well as various types of volunteer units. One would think this could be a quite popular period considering the wide range of figures available and the fact that the period has never been available for the wargamer. The Ancients wargamer has not been forgotten by Ahketon as they offer 25mm Ancient Middle East 1500-600 B.C. figures consisting at present of 18 Assyrian figures and a baggage camel as well as Assyrian fortifications and buildings. Also available are metal 1/76 vehicles for WWII, WWI and the modern period as well as a wide range of 20mm/25mm fortifications/buildings for many periods, including Vietnam. Frontier Miniatures, 629 Centennial, El Paso, TX 79912 released a wide range of boxed sets for a number of different historical periods in 25mm. Ten different Alamo sets (defenders #1 and #2, artillery & crew, personal ities, civilians, Santa Anna & staff, Mexican personalities, Mexican regulars and irregulars, and an assault team), three Buccaneer sets (boarding party, guns & crews, and pirate accessories), and seven Conquistadore sets (infantry, cavalry, artillery, allies, priests, elite Aztecs, and Aztec warriors). These sets sell for $9.95 and offer the wargamer a variety of items previously unavailable to him. For instance, the Alamo sets include flags, an operating table, tables, chairs, ladders, females, barrels, and casualty figures. The Buccaneers sets offer powder kegs, pirate chests, swivel guns, deck guns, and powder monkeys. The Conquistadore sets feature dogs, pack mules, native porters, ox carts and oxen and native converts. These extras much expand the scope of wargaming scenarios and add to gainers' enjoyment. Frontier also just released a 15mm American Civil War Naval line, which includes sailors and command, naval guns, artillerist sailors, and a most interesting set of a landing party and launch. Packs are $4.00 (20 sailors or 4 guns) while the landing party set is $9.95. Soon to be released are 15mm lines for the Mexican-American, Boxer Rebellion, and American Revolution periods. They have also redone their 25mm British Colonial range which has Zulus, Dervish, Fuzzy-Wuzzies, British regulars, and Naval Brigade figures. I have only seen the Zulus but was much impressed with them. If one considers that in the last year or so, Frontier has released a multitude of 15mm and 25mm ranges, including the previously mentioned Crimean War range, they must be considered as a candidate for the up & coming wargames manufacturer of the future in this country. Tradition Scandinavia AB, P.O. Box 21170, S-100 31 Stockholm, Sweden, offers the "old" Tradition 25mm line of wargames figures. This line encompasses Ancients, Normans, English Civil War, War of Spanish Succession, Jacobite Rebellion, Seven Years War, American War of Independence, Napoleonic War, Crimean War, American Civil War, British Colonial, American Indian War, Franco-Prussian War, and the First World War and is reasonably priced. Foot figures are .30 each while cavalry are .60 with 20% additional for surface mail and 30% for airmail. They also produce 30mm Tradition figures and the 30mm Suren line. RAFM, 19 Concession St., Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, NiR 2G6 just expanded their fine Flint & Feathers 25mm line by adding 10 packs of figures. These include British light infantry, British infantry in North America kit, British infantry for the Braddock campaign, British North American Command group, American infantry in hunting shirts and in regimentals, French infantry in waistcoat, French Marines and North American Command group, and female settlers. Packs are $4.00 and contain six figures. I just purchased a large number of these packs for my French-Indian War collection and am most pleased with them. Each pack contains a painting guide, a most useful guide. Makes me wonder why more manufacturers don't do this? Seems as though it would be a good thing for the newcomer to the hobby to have available to him. The Flint & Feather line offers a quite complete range now except for artillery and crews and should be very popular considering the range and quality. While at Winter Wars in Champaign, Illinois, I saw RSM's (513 E. Maxwell St., Lexington, KY 40502) fine line of 25mm Seven Years War figures. This good looking line covers British (18 foot, 7 horse), French (14 foot, 7 horse), Scots (6), Prussians (10 foot, 2 horse), Austrians (1) as well as guns, limbers, and artillerymen. They also offer French & Indian War figures (11) and figures for the Jacobite Rebellion (3). Foot figures are .70 each while cavalry are $1.60. These 25mm figures can also pass for 30mm. RSM just released their 20mm lines for the American Civil War and the British Colonial period. These sell for .35 for infantry and .85 for cavalry. They should fit in well with the Thoams and Jacklex 20mm lines and should be welcomed by 20mm wargamers. Miniature Figurines Limited (Minifigs), 1/5 Graham Road, Southampton, S02, OAX, England, are now producing the 25mm Lamming range which encompassed a wide period of history and contained a number of most interesting and useful figures for the wargamer. Since I mentioned Jacklex 20mm figures above, I should report that they are available from The Model Shop, 190-194 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex, England. They offer ACW infantry, cavalry, and guns/limbers, as well as British Colonial equipment and figures. Some years ago Minifigs offered 5mm blocks of wargames figures which were on the market only a short time. Irregular Miniatures has just released 6mm Ancient and Napoleonic figures (1/300th) in blocks, a line which should be very interesting as I would assume utilizing the block system, in which groups of figures are purchased in blocks of six men wide by 4 men deep, would be easier to handle, in this scale than the strip method although Irregular also makes strips of six figures. Irregular is carried in the states by Pendragon Miniatures, U.S.A. 1, 1549 Marview Drive, Westlake, Ohio 44145. Wargamers should check out Irregular for their vast line of Ancient and Medieval figures and especially for their fine line of equipment. Soldier World, U.S.A., P.O. Box 175, Shrewsbury, PA 17361-0175 and Asp Import Miniatures, 1021 107th St., Bloomington, MN 55431 also carry Irregular. WINTER WAR XIII ORGANIZER THANKS MANUFACTURERSGreg Novak, one of the organizers of Winter War XIII, recently submitted the following letter to THE COURIER: "I would like to take a moment to thank the following companies for their support of the miniatures events held at Winter War XIII, held in Urbana, Illinois on January 17-19, 1986: Asp Import, Alliance Miniatures, Falcon Miniatures, Frei Korps 15, Lyzard's Grin, Platoon 20, RAFM, and Stone Mountain. Due to setup problems, these companies were contacted late, yet they came through with aid and support for our hobby. I would like to publicly thank them on behalf of Winter War XIII, the Central Illinois Tabletop Warriors, and myself as a Miniature Event Coordinator. They deserve our support through their support of us." Personally, I think we need more of this type of recognition in our hobby. Manufacturers who support our conventions are worthy of our support and Greg is to be commended for bringing this to our attention. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VI No. 6 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |
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HMMC signals the end of the winter gaming convention doldrums in the east as witnessed by over 700 historical gainers in attendance. Over 60 events were scheduled and much open gaming was in evidence while 15 vendors satisfied the craving for more figures, more and more again.