S-4 Logistics In order to catch up on matters of importance to S-4, I recently sent letters to any and all companies that I could think of that deal with items of interest to those that play Command Decision/Combined Arms. I have received a number of answers and samples back that may be of interest to the reader, and trust that I will hear from some of the other companies as well. 15mm For the person starting off in a new period, and who wants something bigger than 1/285 or 1/300th for the ease of playing with infantry, but is discouraged by the fact that the items he needs are not always available in 20mm, 15mm is an option that one should look into. There are far more vehicles now on the market in this scale than ever before, and the prices are either the same, or even less than what the same item would cost 1/76 or 20mm scale. YUCCA MINIATURES: 528 Sequoia Road, Chaparral, New Mexico, 88021 (505-824-0415) Rob Edward's has sent me samples of his latest items, a T-54/55 with laser range finder, (#432 @ $6.50), a T-72M1, (@ $6.50) a MIA1, (# 272 @ $7.50) and the Humvee with the Point Defense Missile System (248C @ $5.00). All of these are very nice models and paint up rather well. The vehicles needed little or no assembly (other than placing turrets on top). Yucca's catalog lists 20 some WWII vehicles, and some 50+ modern vehicles, including items for the recent conflict in the Gulf.. Infantry packs are offered for World War II and the modern era, with most packs selling for $6.00 to $ 10.00, and offering sufficient figures for a Command Decision or Combined Arms Battalion. HORIZON BLEU MINIATURES: 1312 Hawthrone Lane, Glenview, IL 60025. Gary Hirel's company is designed to cover the period from 19 10 to 1925, and just has released his first figures. Currently, his line offers Turkish Infantry in four basic poses, and by adding five different types of headgear/equipment to these poses, he has managed to come up with a rather complete line for WWI. In addition, there is a nice selection of officers, as well as a 08 Maxim Machine Gun and Crew. Currently Gary is adding figures for Turkish cavalry and artillery, and after finishing up the Turks he plans to add both Arabs and regular troops of the Senussi to the line. After that, his future plans include ANZACs and troops for Africa. If you are a fan of Australian cinema as the editor is, and enjoyed such films as "The Light Horseman", "ANZACs", or "Gallipoli", and want to duplicate this interesting war, you need to look into this range. They fit in with the Minifigs 15mm WWI., and between the two lines you will be able to fight out a number of more interesting campaigns of WWI. I think that it's one of the best lines I've seen, and am looking forward to painting up more than a few. Foot packs of 12 cost $3.00, while Cavalry packs are 5 figures with separate mounts for $2.50 Officers are 4 for a dollar, while Machine guns and 3 man crews sell for 4 for $4.00. (You need to add 15% for shipping.) QUALITY CASTINGS: PO Box 11714, Alexandria, Virginia 22312. Chuck Cook started with the old Panzertroop line, and has since expanded the Quality Casting line to include the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Modern Era. Many of the older items have been redone. Vehicle prices run from $3.00 to $7.00, while a complete platoon of Infantry sells for about $10.00. For an updated price list send a SASE MINIFIGS: PO Box P, Pine Plains, NY, 12567. (518398-5166) Steve Carpenter reports that Minifigs is currently working on figures for Anzacs and Turks for WWI, and plans to have them out sometime this year. 1/285th SIMTAC, Inc: 20 Attawan Road, Niantic, CT 06357 (203-739-3609) Simtac is currently offering theScotiarange of 1/300 models, which includes a very extensive range of modern vehicles and equipment for the United States, China, USSR, French and South Africa, among others. There is also a WWII, and even a WWI Range, though neither is quite as extensive as the modern range. Most packs run $4.00 for 5 vehicles. TRUCKS: From Nick Klapper and Bill Michel, 2106 N 57th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53208 comes a special offer for those interested in generic medium truck for Vy'WII. Their model is of a 4 x 4 truck, which would make it suitable for most European armies. The price is 10 for $5, or 100 for $30, but you need to include an additional $3 to cover postage. CinC: 8090 University Avenue, NE, Fridley, MN 55432 has sent out a card indicating the release of several new items, including a G- 103 - Boxer Light Truck (5 @ $4.00), US 115, a Sherman III DD tank with screen folded (5 @ 5.00), and UK-48 MkII Matilda 111 (4 @ 4.00). They have also added a MiG-29 (1 @ $5,00), a Su-24 (1 @ 7.50), and a OV-10A (1 @ 5.00) to their range of 1/285 aircraft. ENOLA GAMES: Enola Games, which serves as the US agent for Heroics and Ros figures and vehicles, has moved from Brooklyn out to the other coast. They are shutting down in the Spring of 1991, and hope to reopen in the late summer or early fall of the same year. 20mm / 1/76 LYZARDS GRIN: PO Box 14522, Oklahoma City, OK 73113. Richard Houston has adding items to this line at a truly amazing rate, and is helping to make it much easier to game in 20mm. His latest additions include aSoviet203mm tracked howitzer at $5.00, a 1931 Russian Artillery Tractor at $4.50, as well as Forage Wagons and Limbers. For the Japanese Army, he now has 6 different weapons, ranging from the 47mm AT Gun, up to the 150mm howitzer, and the limbers needed to pull them. For a current price list, send a SASE . In all, he offers 33 different field and antitank guns for the French, Russia, Germany, Italy, United States, British and Japanese Armies of WWII, as well as horse drawn limbers and wagons. 20mm gun, mortar, and observer crews are also sold by Lyzards Grin. The weapons require assembly, so you need to be careful with your superglue. The draft horses are smaller than those used by other companies, but they work well, especially for the Japanese who used smaller horses than most armies. PLATOON 20: Either from Model Figures & Figures, Lower Balloo Road, Groornsport, Co Down, BT 19 2LU, Northern Ireland, or Ulster Imports, PO Box 4, Mason IL 62443 (618-238-4790) . (Writing a review of these figures presents a minor problem as I used to work for Ulster Imports, and I must confess that they started my love of 20mm wargaming.) The World War II figures are now being made in Canada by RAFM for Ulster Imports, and being sold packaged for Command Decision. They have some of the nicest 20mm figures that I have seen, though they are rounder than the old Airfix 1/76 figure. Currently the range has some 200 different figures for the US, Great Britain, Russia, and Germany. There are other figures for different modern periods, including the Arab-Israeli Wars, Modern US and Soviets, and additional lines as well. RAVENTHORPE MINIATURES: 2 Bygot Lane, Cherry Burton, Beverley, North Humbershire, HU17, 7RN. I have seen a listing of these figures for the first time, as well as some samples, and must confess that I am impressed by the range of the line. Tony Chadburn covers British Troops (1940, Desert, Commandos, 1944-45), United States Marines, (both early and late war), Germans - (East Front and North Africa), Italians - (East Front, North Africa, and East Africa), French, Polish and Japanese troops. Some items made by Raventhorpe I have never seen before, including such items as an American .50 Water Cooled Machine Gun, British 3.7" Mountain Howitzer, Russian Airsleds, and German Assault Boats and Crews. An interesting touch is that a number of figures come with separate heads, so that one can start with British troops in shorts for the Western Desert, and have the following choice of headgear: Steel Helmet KAR Hat Bush Hat Tam O'Shanter Guards Cap South African Sun Helmet 44 Helmet Beret One can buy French troops and add kepi's, Germans and add sun helmets or Russian fur caps, and build specialized units as needed. I am looking forward to building a French Foreign Legion battalion, and a Senegalese Infantry Battalion, as well as a Indian and Australian Infantry Battalion for a planned refight of Syria in 194 1. Cost of the figures is 25 pence each, with one separate head included. Additional heads are 4 for 25 pence. Postage is 35% extra for airmail, so that actual figure cost is about .50. If you do 20mm, you need to send off for his listing. Other Items HOWARD HUES: PO Box 20915, Oklahoma City, OK 73156. Jeff Howard has sent samples of his latest paints, which include a number of colors that the 20th Century gamer can use. Some of the more useful ones are: #10 GI Olive Drab # 11 GI Khaki Drab #12 British Brown Drab #18 Light Olive #23 Afrika Sand #32 Afrika Olive #33 German Field Grey #67 Japanese Uniform Green #68 Italian Uniform Gray He also does Flesh, Suntan, Mid East Flesh, Oriental Flesh, and 67 other colors. These are a very thick water reducible paint, and I have used then for years on my metal 20mm figures. You can purchase them in 1 or 4 oz glass jars. One oz jars are 1.75, 4 oz are 4.75. For an updated list send a SASE. POOR MAN'S MINIATURES: 2105 Old Country Home Road, Asheville, NC 28806 (704-255-0849 or 704 -645-6669) Christopher Buck is currently working on producing counter sheets for use with Combined Arms or other rules. The enclosed sample sheet is the headquarters of a US M1 Tank Battalion, as well as two companies of the battalion. The sets are due out in November, and Chris's goal is to have complete divisions as packages. I don't know what the price will be, but it appears that this could be a way to introduce the rules and different periods to people. For example, Chris is planning to put out sets for the Gulf War, and those that wish to game it without investing in major purchases might find this a solution. Anyone with information that might be of use to Chris is invited to contact him. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #6 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com