Dear Craig: Thank you for the issue of the Gauntlet #17 which I received last week. Very pretty print on the cover, even though it is out of my period. Also thank you very much for the Russian flag! Now you remember me! Let me introduce myself before I critique the Gauntlet #17. I started wargaming and collecting militaria way back in 1962, long before either was popular. Since that time I have added to my collections yearly. At this point in time I have over 400 games and game products. In miniatures I have over 7000 military vehicles with which I use on a 8' by 16' wargame table. To decorate this table I have over 400 trees (100 trees per square) and around 350 buildings. I have played ACW, SCW, RCW, WWI, WWII, and WWIII in the past, but now mainly I play Twilight Zone, an RPG by GDW about WWIII. Through the years my military collection has expanded to over 25,000 items which covers 5 rooms of my house. Also, I am a member in good standing in the following organizations: C.A.F., ASMIC, OSMA, IPMS, Tailhook Assn, Smithsonian Assn, NMRRA, CCMRRA, CCMGS, SOTCW, INRO, USN Ins. So, as you can see Craig, I have been busy a while and seen and done a lot. And now, let me critique the Gauntlet #17, if I may. Most of the articles are good, some not to my period. For instance, take "Wargaming Products from Russia" - good added touch! (by the way, the 1/76 scale Soviet Missile Launcher is really 1/89 scale. I have had 25 out of 38 in the series. All the rest are indeed 1/76th scale). "Escape from the Claws of Ra" - the streets of Thebes with a roll of 6 on the dice - GREAT rendition! "White Death" - good, but where is the Russian TO&E? "Russian Cavalry Standards 1907-1914" - good, I enjoyed reading the charts. Great for anybody in this period. "1999 MAGWEB Survey Results", about the same as 1962 when I started in the hobby! "Equatorial Bakonga 1883" - Excellent and guess what? It is playable even though my character lies dead with a spear in his heart. All player characters should have two eyes to watch for spears. Remember that Craig! "U-Gory" - Excellent article about the little guys. "The Good, Bad, and Grubby" - Good, very good. It reminds me of the role-playing and card game called Dead Lands. All in all a good 10 for this magazine. Keep up the good work! Next time you are at the flea market, think of me (1/87 scale models, military hats, flags, medals, wings, patches, badges, and uniforms). Let me know what you have found and I will get it from you. Hoping to hear from you soon. Best Regards, Eugene Mapes Ed Note: Eugene: Thanks for the kind words and thank you very much for the critique. If I am to improve the Gauntlet, it helps to get feedback of all kinds. I will check on the Russian TO&E for "White Death". In regards to availability of Russian Militaria - the flea market here consistently has all modern Soviet and Russian uniforms, hats, and badges/patches. Pins and Medals are pretty easy to get, unless you're looking for a specific one. Whenever I'm on a search for something in particular, I can't find it. It's best if I look with nothing set in mind - that's when I have my greatest success in finding things. For example, I found a copy of the Kornilov Badge from the RCW, in addition to a Markov badge and all four classes of the Order of St. George from that same era. I had a standing order for those from a friend of mine, but never held out hope that I would find them. And the best part is that they only cost $10 each. I am on the lookout for more due to the popularity of the RCW in the U.S., but of course, I hold out no hope of finding any more. The most prevalent flag out here, besides the Russia and Moscow City (St. George spearing the serpent on a red field) are all the old Soviet Lenin flags. These are red with a picture of Lenin, gold embroidered (or silk-screened) lettering and a gold frilly fringe. They are square and are meant to hang from a center pole, as opposed to a normal flagstaff. Hats! A popular tourist item is the RCW peaked hat in black, gray, or brown. with the big red star up front. Some have ear flaps, some don't. A neat item for the wargamer shelf and to wear if you really want to be in form during an RCW game. I found one replica of a Red Army uniform. Even the replica cost about $300, but it appeared to have original patches for rank, wounds, and unit. Only the blouse and trousers were replicas. Still, OUCH! One of the favorite items of the Soviet regime was the badge. They issued badges for just about everything, from being a good worker to the anniversary of this or that, to graduating from various military schools, etc. These badges are about five dollars each and have enamel, brass, a pin on the back and the designation on the front of what it is for. One of my favorites is the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy badge. This has a background of a flowing Russian Navy flag (white with a light blue "X" across). On top is a modern ship and the word 300 years below. It has a screw-type pin on the back. Very nice multi-piece pressed steel and enamel pin. Enough rambling...I go to the flea market every week and it is open every weekend year round (yes, even in the harsh Moscow winter). Come January I will curtail that a bit and might go once every other week. Still, it is a good time and I always enjoy getting out there to talk with the military collectors hawking their wares and to see all that is available. Thanks again Eugene, and by the time you get this issue, you should have received the last batch of shoulder patches that I sent to you… Craig Hi, this message is going out to all of the friends I have met at HMGS and BattleGroup Boston. I have begun a project in which I am researching the unit history of the Seabees that my Grandfather was a part of from 1943-1946. He left me with a fantastic oral history (recorded on tape) that you just won't find anywhere. Recently and sadly he passed away. I am looking for people who would like to help proofread, edit, research and provide any other assistance in preserving this for anyone interested in the true history of the war in the Central Pacific. I want to incorporate an overall "official" narrative of what was going on - stuff you can find in books like "Mantel of Glory" and intersperse it with stuff you could only get from an oral history such as the one my grandfather left me. It will have an obvious value and benefit to people like us (wargamers, armchair historians) and reminds me of the many oral and written histories I have read about the American Civil War and the Indo-China War (Viet Nam to most people.) The people I am sending this invitation out too (this is the second pass) are all people I have met that I respect and that I think could give me valuable assistance in this project. Please email me if this appeals to you in anyway or if you know of someone who might be interested. One of the reasons I have waited for my Grandfather to pass is that the story directly involves him in one of the most interesting thefts in Naval history - the consignment of officer's liquor rations in the Central Pacific; 2 1/2 tons worth. Obviously I was not interested in getting him tossed in jail as an old man for something he did during his youth. (Actually there were a lot of stories along these lines and I am glad they are all recorded, but for obvious reasons were best left until after he passed.) Liquor was part of a very interesting economy in the Central Pacific. Most of the men sent their money home so cash was not available as a means of exchange. Thus the barter system was quite common. In the Seabees the men all had trades and thus could create things of value. My grandfather created jewelry boxes out of metal he salvaged out of the hulks of zeros and bettys. My mother still has one. Some men made picture frames and so forth. But Liquor was the key currency, the American Dollar if you will, of a vaster economy. The way it worked was the Naval Aviators were given liquor which most of them did not want. So they traded it for goods. Sometimes the goods of the Seabees were good enough but often they wanted something a bit more exotic. Food was a common request, but also clothing, toiletries, etc. The Seabees were in the perfect position to help this economy along. They were the stevedores of the Navy and thus had interaction with the Merchant Marine. My Grandfather always called the Merchant Marines a bunch of drunks, but in this economy they were rich drunks. They had constant access to goods from back home. Knowing this, they brought all manner of goods with them in trade for booze which I take it was banned from entering the ships at home port. (Rodney, you have any details about liquor regulations for the Merchant Marines you could share?) One of the most memorable characters from my Grandfather's stories is this fellow from Toledo who earned the nickname "Gummy" and ran a gang of Seabees. By gang I mean along the lines of "The Latin Kings" or the "The Jets". They didn't kill anyone but they did attempt to profit from the war as much as humanly possible. My Grandfather is notable in his deep honesty. I have no idea and still cannot understand what psychology was at work to make him join this gang but join he did. I guess some people's characters just have internal inconsistencies. It makes them interesting. "Gummy" (if you must know, the man got scurvie(sp?) in 1943 and lost most of his natural teeth) had men in all parts of the Naval staff. Being the stevedores they were the ones who loaded and unloaded the supply ships. It did not take a genius to know that when a shipment came in that they were not to unload but a special Marine Corp MP detachment was it had to be something very, very interesting. A little detective work later and it was determined that this special pallet contained the liquor ration for the every officer in the Navy (over what period I am not sure but it was enough to completely fill a duce and a half truck.) Now a plan needed to be devised. The first part of the plan was the deception. Gummy could have been an Intel guy I think. The orders that came in that spoke of the shipment were painstakingly copied with just one minor change. The date of arrival was pushed ahead 1 day! Gummy knew that the Marines and the Seabees had two things in common that the rest of the Army and Navy did not: A) they had the same vehicles, B) they had the same rifles! Using the already mentioned economic system of barter they were just a few complex trades away from procuring several Marine Corp MP uniforms. As odd as that may seem they managed to get those uniforms and a Seabee truck relettered to match the Marine Corps. My Grandfather was an expert rifleman. He had never used a weapon before his 90 days of training in California just before he shipped out. He managed 19/20 on his first time at the range and maintained similar records of accuracy there after. Since he knew his weapon inside and out he was placed on the roof of the cab with his snipers rifle along with another gang member. The vehicle rolled onto the dock, the fake MP's gave severe salutes to the Merchant Marines and accepted their top secret cargo. The vehicle was loaded with precision and speed as only a well trained Seabee could have performed and then they got the hell out of dodge! I'll tell you all later about the subsequent breaking loose of ALL HELL that followed and how the plucky Seabees managed to hide the liquor and avoid the spies sent by the FBI to infiltrate their ranks. This is just one of the *many* stories told by my Grandfather about his time in the Seabees. What I want to do is write them up in the context of historical events and to do that I need to see if any of this stuff is researchable. I know that the Official Records of WWII will be coming out Real Soon Now (tm) and perhaps those will be of help. I am wondering if it is possible to get notes on an FBI case that was closed over 50 years ago. Anything that anyone can do to help would be appreciated. Things like actual research, editing, proof-reading, additional ancedotes about activities of the Navy and Seabees during the period (1943-1946) would all be immensely helpful. Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested, be sure to keep my contact information intact so that if anyone is interested they can write me back. Thanks, --Peter pmancini@yahoo.com -ed note: Are there any Gauntlet readers out there who are able to give Peter a hand? Quite the noble and worthy cause. Peter, I wish you the best of luck in reaching your goal. From: "Brent Oman" To: Subject: Re: Russian Civil War Hi Craig I received the order from you the other day - all I can say is WOW! What fabulous books! Thanks for sending the Interventionist book as well. I would also like to order the RCW tanks book. I'm only guessing here, but it certainly appears that from a wargamer/military historians viewpoint that Moscow is MUCH more interesting than Korea! -ed note: INDEED! From Bryan Stroup (bstroup@garrison-clubs.org) For more Roskopf military: www.seniorfocus.com/Collectables/IndexMil.html CHEERS !! Well, holy s..t (edited for parental control)! I just received Rhett's first 1/100 Huey in the mail today. It came with a web address for more 1/100 kits (see the Aircraft section). They have PUMA Helos!!!! Wooo Hooo! After opening the kit, I'll have you know it's very clean and simple to put together. Nice detail. He got a bargain! You'll find that this West German company has multiple BO 105s, a BO 106, Alpha Jets (can we say Nigeria?), Aloutte IIs, Gazelles, Pumas, Transalls, and a couple Sikorsky's. If you need a specific copter for your AK47 games, you're covered! They also carry a full line of models so if you can't find it from Peter Pig, you can probably get in plastic. I'm not POSITIVE they are 1/100, just the helos. Best to all, - Bryan Hi Craig, Are you in Moscow for the Government? For your information, while I am very interested in the army materials that you have listed, my principal love is Naval History. For the Russians, this would include everything from Peter the Great's establishment of the Russian Navy through the Revolution. If you come across any photographs of ship model's, paintings of naval matters, or even naval history magazines, I would be very interested. Translations are nice but not critical as I have my Russian Dictionary. A couple of years ago I was able to attend a Shipbuilding Conference in St. Petersburg that allowed me to visit the cruiser Aurora and the Naval Museum. I had a great time but the museum was so dark that none of my film really came out. My interest in Naval History also applies to other countries like Japan too so if you come across anything just let me know. Thanks again. Todd Craig, You are doing great work over there---keep it up. I know you must be very busy, but have you seen any material on the WWII period---especially maps and OOB. I'm on the hook for Pete to run a Bukrin bridgehead JODIECON in Feb, and I'm on the lookout for anything to add some pizazz to the event---posters, art, etc., too. Appreciate any thoughts. OORAH---or however the Marines say that! Regards, Mike Pierce Craig -- just saw a description of your rules on The Miniatures Page. They look very interesting. I was happy to note what appeared to be some BAPS influences -- at least from the sparse information on TMP. I am stil interested in doing an Airborne and Ampibious supplement for BAPS: "Death from Unexpected Places." I am trying to finish up my dissertation, so I won't get to it until March at the earliest. When do you come home from Russian? We have been playing some Crossfire here (seems like your rules are somewhere between BAPS and Crossfire in scale. In BAPS a man is a man, and in Crossfire a base is a squad. We have had to make some heavy modifications to make it work, but the basic C2 idea of doing stuff until the enemy takes away your initiative is very neat. Much like the bound system in Empire III and IV. I have been thinking about trying to use the idea for a WWII operational-level game, as I think Spearhead (while the best of its type) is too generic and CDII (I have not played III) is laborious and tedious. Hope things are going well. Buck From Len Brewer. Hello Craig, Received your book yesterday ( Fri. 10/22/99 ). Very nice. Just looking over this book and a person can see a lot of small extra's in it. Thanks for everything. Leonard Hi Craig, I got the books and they are wonderful. The 1910 Infantry book is very nice, but not very useful to the wargamer. The dress uniforms are beautiful though. The three RCW books are fantastic! Are you planning on translating any more of the text? I'd love to have every caption for the pictures translated and every description page for the plates at least. I know that it is a lot of work, but it would add tremendous value to the book. (-ed note: good call, Eric, and it is all now translated and yes, it has added immensely to the quality) The Poster book was very nice! I still own you $10 for that one. When will the cavalry book be ready to send? I'd like to send you a check for the cavalry book and the poster book at the same time if possible. I'd be very interested in the 54mm RCW figures if they are nice. Keep me informed! Eric From: cbssecman@aol.com I've just joined the list, and after perusing the archives for material on AK47, I see that it is customary to introduce oneself. First, though, I'd like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed going throught the archive, and have found answers to a number of questions that have been plaguing me for months. Glad I finally clicked on that link on the PP website! My name is C.B. Stevens, resident half the year in Houston Texas, and half the year in Hassi Messaoud, Algeria. I am formerly a Captain in the US Army Special Forces, with two combat tours as Commander of an A Detachment (more commonly described as Team Leader of an A Team), one in Desert Storm (with the Egyptians), and one in Somalia (with the Canadians and the Somali factions along the Ethiopian border). I left the Army in '94 (thank you, Mr. Clinton...), and joined the civilian work force as an Overseas Security Manager for an international construction company. I have been working in Algeria ever since (with a short 6 month break in Chad), though for several different companies. I arrived in Algeria at the height of the Islamic Fundamentalist Insurgency (though at that period it was more of a rebellion, with company- and battalion-sized guerrilla units operating in the provinces and set piece battles with the government forces taking place in areas that were firmly under the control of the terrorists), and have had a great deal of interaction with the Algerian security forces. It has been an interesting five years. I have quite a bit of first hand knowledge on Somali militias, as well as info on Chad and Algeria (plus Egypt and Iraq), and have crawled all over a lot of the equipment that we play with on our gaming tables. I would be more than happy to share what I know with anybody who has any questions in those areas. I noticed a few recurring questions in some of the postings, and at the risk of beating a dead horse or answering a question that was already answered, I thought I'd throw my two cents in: For those looking for Centurions or Olifants -- Quality Castings carries them in their line. I have four. They are nice, 2-piece models that come pretty clean and paint up well. They may need a slight mod to make an Olifant, but as I have found in African armies, anything goes! I have quite a few QC vehicles, and am very pleased with all of them -- though they are 15mm, not 1:100 scale, and so slightly smaller than PP gear. They still look great on the table, though. I especially like the BTR60, which is an outstanding sculpture with lovely detailing. The QC BTR60 is a must-have!! On the question of (okay, duck now...) how many people can ride in a truck, the quick answer is, as we used to say in the Amy, 'all of them'. This is particularly true in Africa, where I have seen as many as 25-30 people riding in the back of a Toyota pickup. They weren't soldiers, however -- usually just villagers on their way to or from market. The lucky owner of a Toyota PU can make a decent living as a 'bus driver' (we always called these overloaded trucks 'happy buses'). As far as deciding how many troops can ride in certain types of transport, here's my approach and the reasoning behind it: In an unarmed truck -- 4 bases of infantry, regardless of type, as the rules state. You can pack a lot of guys and equipment into a military-size truck, and they'll make sure that their RCL RFLs and Mortars and ammo get brought along one way or another. Think of it as a giant heap, and you've got the picture. Trucks (usually) are for transport - not for fighting from. In an HMG armed truck -- 2 bases of infantry, regardless of type. The gunner has to have room to move around in the bed so that he can aim the MG. That takes up somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% of the space if the HMG is mounted behind the cab, and a lot more if the pedestal is mounted in the center of the bed. A good gunner won't allow the passengers to interfere with his 'space', believe me. In a truck mounting an AA gun, RCL RFL, or any other large weapon -- No passengers. These weapons take up a whole lot of space, even in a large truck, and to carry all the requisite ammo and fight the weapon, there would be no room left for hangers-on. In a tracked APC or halftrack with or without an HMG -- 4 bases of infantry, regardless of type. I go with what the rules appear to say here. There's not alot of square footage inside an M113, but there is a lot of volume. I know I've stuffed them to the gills. The MG has no impact on the passenger load, as it's mounted outside. Overloading can make it difficult to get to the ready ammo inside the troop compartment, but troops don't normally sit inside an APC during a firefight (and a smart M113 crew won't hang around too long either!). In a tracked APC or halftrack mounting an AA Gun or a RCL RFL -- 2 bases of infantry, regardless of type. The troop compartment in these APCs would be holding a lot of ready ammo. In a tracked APC or halftrack mounting a cannon -- may carry 2 bases IF the vehicle was designed with a turret mounted cannon (like the Bradley IFV). In a wheeled APC with or without an HMG -- 2 bases, regardless of type. Have you ever been inside of a BTR60? It's tiny. Teensie-weensie. And very difficult to get out of! Besides, this is what the rules say (and I agree). In a wheeled APC mounting any kind of weapon not in a manufacturer-built turret -- no passengers. There's just no way such a vehicle could carry the requisite ammo and have room for pax. There is also no question that pax would get in the way of fighting the weapon! Any kind of carrier mounting a mortar -- no pax. These are purpose built weapons platforms, and have no room left for pax. A mortar crew wouldn't want them all tromping around on their equipment anyway. As for riding on the back of a tank, no sane man would do it under fire. I agree with the rule that tanks can't fire when Infantry are riding for the reason that the infantry wouldn't stay on board! For one thing, when that gun goes off and you're only a few feet from the muzzle, it is VERY loud and VERY uncomfortable. Secondly, the crew will start chucking out spent shell casings, and they won't be worrying too much about where they land. Tank shell casings are quite heavy, and you wouldn't want one landing on your head, or your knee, or your (gulp!) 'lap'. Thirdly, when a tank shoots at something, chances are something is going to shoot back. Sitting up exposed on the rear deck is not the place infantryman want to be when the bullets (or worse) are flying. I hope these comments have been helpful to somebody. I have put together a 'force building matrix' in Excel that automates all the stubby-pencil work (I am notoriously poor at math, and neede some help), and it includes every kind of vehicle I could think of. I made up some point values, trying to keep them in line with the ones published in the rules, but they are easily changed in the spreadsheet if you don't like them. I'd be happy to send a copy of the Excel file to anybody who would like it. Just e-mail me at CBSSecMan@aol.com. I've also been working on some supplemental rules for multi-player AK47, wherein the overall commander doles out points to his subordinate commanders to build their own units (all part of the normal 5-unit force). The fun part is that each subordinate commander has his own goals, his own personality, and may or may not follow orders depending on his own personal agenda. Each player receives his own victory points (again, based on his 'character'), and the point is to be successful enough to oust the General, if not the President! Success does not always depend on battlefield prowess, either. I've also included rules for typical African battlefield tactics like looting, committing mutiny, and executing subordinates. Haven't played with these rules yet, but it should be interesting. Well, that's a longer message than I had intended to post. Hope I haven't bored you. C.B. Stevens CBSSecMan@aol.com -ed note: Thanks C.B., lots of good first hand info. Back to The Gauntlet No. 18 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Craig Martelle Publications 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