Ain't technology grand? Major Bill tells me that the HMGS Mid-South DISPATCH is now on-line through the services of MAGWEB and some people are actually reading it! Therefore, He has asked me to list my e-mail address which is gaiserco@aol.com. I guess he got tired of getting notes that began, "Dear Moron....".
For all of you ACW gamers out there, Osprey has come out with the "Orders of Battle" series The first two volumes are on Gettysburg, Army of Northern Virginia, and Army of the Potomac If you have any interest at all in this battle, RUN, do not walk, to you local shop and buy these books. Both books are very thurogh with excellent maps (including a nice fold- out in the back) as well as listings as to exactly how many men were under arms by regiment Volume I (Army of Northern Virginia) even list the regimental company names which are known. There are no color uniform plates in these books. Jut hard data on unit strengths as well as historical information. The books retail at $19.95 each and are well worth the money Soon to be released in this series are books on Quebec 1759, and the Ardennes, German and Allied.
Next on the list are the Essex 25mm Dark Ages range. While these have been out for a while, they do deserve a mention. The ones we have seen are the Vikings and AngloSaxon 617-1014 AD. I believe that these are older figures, but the molds have been redone and they are without a doubt some of the finest 25mm figures that have ever come in the door There are 21 different poses in the Viking and 13 in the Anglo Saxon line. Considering that there are three different head variants per figure, this gives us quite a selection to chose from. They scale out at 27M on the Barret scale and the ones which we have seen have zero flash and a crispness of casting which Essex is famous for. They run $1.49 for the regular troops and $1.89 for the leaders, horn blowers, and other personality figures. If you are playing the new WARHAMMER ANCIENTS rules, or thinking abut a new 25mm Viking DBA army, these might be right down your alley.
On the World War II front, Battle Honors keeps putting out new 25mm vehicles. The latest we've seen are Russian Gaz jeeps and German Kubelwagens, German Quad AA Gun & Crew, Opal Blitz truck and staff car, Strum Tiger, Strum Panzer IV, Jagd Panzer IV, Wespe, and a Wirber Winits Quad AA. For the Allied side there are the new Churchill IV & Vis, Firefly, Bren Gun Carriers, and an M-10. And there will be more next month, These folks have really been busy! The quality is still holding up , but the scale on the Gaz jeeps, Kubelwagens, and Bren Gun Carriers seems to be a little off. The Gaz looks a bit small, the Kubelwagen is too big, and the Bren is too short. And we are still languishing for US and British ETO troops. The prices run from $15.00 on the small stuff to $30.00 for the tanks. All in all, however, Steve & Steve are still cranking out some of the best lead and resin kits in 25mm on the market.
The final mention this month goes to FATCAT LLC. I am reluctant to review this line as I own part of it and this might be seen as a self-serving plug, as well as not being objective. Therefore, I will just go over the basics and let you folks decide.
FATCAT is a line of 20mm World War II and Modern figures They scale out at 20NI on the Barret scale. For those of you with long memories, they are the old COMBAT MINIATURES line that the late Dave Alsop sculpted. The only change that have been made is in the packaging. With the popularity of skirmish gaming, they are now packaged in 10 man squads and 34 man platoons, at $7.50 and $22.00 respectively The figures are also available individually at $0.80 each. And that is my commercial for this month.
Next month, we should have the new Dixon Pirate range as well as their new "Gunfighter" rules. Please feel free to e-mail me with comments or questions and let's all give Major Bill a break!
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