Chris Nelson: Brassey's is publishing a number of books that might be of interest: The Rogue's March, John Riley and the St. Patrick's Battalion 1846-48 by Peter Stevens, 336 pgs, $27.50; The Spanish-American War 1898 by Ron Field, 144 pgs 150+ illustrations, $32.95; World War One: British Army by Stephen Bull, 144 pgs, 150+ illustrations, $32.95 and Boer War Diaries: The Diaries and Photographs of Malcolm Riall, 192 pgs more than 100 personal never seen before photographs, by Nicholas Riall, $29.95. I happen to have seen an ad for Platoon 20 figures in Miniature Wargames Feb 98 issue. What caught my attention was that the address was different and then I noticed that the ad said to make the check payable to Freikorps. I wonder if Model Figures and Hobbies sold the Platoon 20 line to Freikorps or what. Have you heard anything.

I seem to remember reading somewhere, last December or November, that Platoon 20 had changed hands. Thanks for the info on Brassey's I have seen , from  Wargames, Inc. a color ad for Brassey's new books. Brassey's also have World War One: German Army by Stephen Bull, British Army Zulus to Boers by Ian Castle and Ian Knight, plus many others. I may have to invest some money here.

Joseph Seliga I thank you for your efforts in producing the Heliograph. I know that producing a newletter on a regular basis is hard work and that occasionally you have wondered whether it is worth it. I for one am greatly appreciative of your efforts.

If you are going to New Jersey in the near future I hope you go to the main library of New York City to see their exhibit on the Spanish-American War. It covers the political as well as the military. It's only a few blocks from the bus station on 42nd street.

Thank you for the kind words. Unfortunately I will not be going to NJ until next April, so will probably miss the exhibit. I hope other subscribers in the northeast go it should be worth the effort.

Timothy Boyd May I praise you for your goal of attempting to cover the widest range of interests in the smallest space? I would add, as well praise for the xerox figure review. I wish you could do it for every new line on the market -- how often have I bought figures blind because I lived in a place where the only way I could see them was by ordering them!

The "Colonial Army Lists" was a very interesting read. The authors could add a few items, however, if they had a look at American makers. The catalogue from Modelers Mart, for example, lists a number of colonial additions in 15mm made by Frontier.

Jim Zylka Regarding the decline of colonial gaming and interest, I agree with all of Chris Nelson's reasons in Number 104. Add to that the collapse of our local colonial games group (how many times can you recreate Rorke's Drift?) and the whole period tossed onto the shelf. I never lost interest and had to take drastic measures to continue on, mostly on a solo level. I hope to send in a few articles regarding the survival of what I like to call "classic" colonials namely the Zulu War, the River war and the Northwest Frontier!

Thanks for providing a means for students of the Victorian era and colonial warfare to share ideas thru the publication of the Heliograph!

I await your articles. Thanks for the kind words.

Christopher Willett I was wondering if you knew the address of Rafm Co., the address I have is not any good, I wrote them a couple of weeks ago and my letter was returned. I got the address from an old issue of the Heliograph.

I just thought I would let you know that I think Foundry figures are just great. I have been hbuying Prussian figures and they look great and they have the fastest service of any company I have been dealing with. My orders have been delivered within three or four weeks of me sending the order. Soon I will be ordering some of the "Darkest Africa" figures, from what I have seen in your magazine they promise to be a great addition to my collection of figures.

I'm sorry but I haven't seen an address for Rafm for quite awhile. Can anyone help Chris?

Patrick Wilson Got the new "Heliograph" and ate it up like a Klondike Bar. As always everything which follows may be used in its entirety (or not as your Editorial prerogatives may dictate).

The article by Ian Knight was very interesting, as is just about everything he has to say. The information sheet from Mark Copplestone on the Darkest Africa Range had already been forwarded to me and it was rather like reading the menu in a four star restaurant while entering the second month of a hunger strike. Last time I was Kelly Green about the sample figures you had received and now you've gotten a lot more. What is the shade of green past Kelly? Emerald? Chartreuse? Bryan Ansell and I have been talking for over two years now about my old RPG "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" and his "Far Country" colonial combat system getting under the same covers and this new range is a dream come true.

Late last year when Bryan first told me about Mark's latest passion and the resulting range, I asked if there would be a Sir Samuel Baker figure and his "Forty Thieves". Obviously, the answer was "yes" but when I breathlessly asked if his beautiful wife Florence would be included, I was shocked to be told "no." Since she accompanied him on literally every step of the journey from the coast to Lake Albert and back to Egypt, she could hardly be thought of as merely extra baggage.

"She was not a screamer," Sir Samuel spoke of this remarkable and lion hearted woman who deserves as much credit as he for their survival and ultimate success. But Bryan told me that based on his considerable experience, if a pack of eight figures has one female in it, that pack will sell badly (!?).

Naturally the obvious course (to me) would be make an entire pack of Victorian Heroines including Florence, Fanny Duberly, Ethel St. Clair Grimmond (the Heroine of Manipur), and maybe even Nurse Nightingale herself! I vaguely recall a few "named" heroines of the Mutiny who might fill out the pack. Then again, for a Darkest Africa Range, what about Queen Ravanalona? Anybody here remember Harry Flashman's adventures with her? Or what about Shaka's mother, Nandi? You get the idea, but Bryan recommends that I write to Maestro Copplestone myself with theses suggestions. I mention it here in the hope that you and my brother readers will have more suggestions for Bryan and/or Mark.

Meanwhile, as the positively unofficial mouthpiece for Richard Houston (he never knows what I write about him until it's too late!), there's a lot to report here. By the time this is in print two or three more "Battles In A Box" will already be available. These are "El Caney! 1898" and "Rorke's Drift: It's Jolly Deadly, Old Boy!" Both of these will debut at Nashcon in late May. The El Caney set has already been described and is probably advertised elsewhere. The card stock blockhouses and other buildings have been finished and have plenty of character. The Mega Map is also available and play testing proves this battle is actually more tactically interesting than the more famous action further down the Heights. Again, the rules included will be "A Splendid Little Wargame."

The Rorke's Drift set is by Chris Ferree and comes complete with 250 Zulus, 20 British rankers, five Sergeants, five wounded Brits, and personality figures of Dabulamanzi, Chard, Bromhead, Reynolds, Dalton, Rev. Smith and "Pip!" There will also be a card stock sheet of British Seriously Wounded and Dead counters as well as Dead Zulu counters in addition to the Movement Counters used to randomly determine order of movement and fire. And, besides the 11" x 17" schematic of the Rorke's Drift station, there are 15mm card stock cut-and-assemble models of the Hospital, Storehouse (with interior plans), Kraal, Cook house, mealie bag and biscuit box barricades and cast wagon model. The buildings are highly detailed (some bearing graffiti such as "Hooky was here"). Not least are the necessary dice, map for the Zulus to use for initial deployment, and the rules themselves. Like the other "Battles In A Box", the whole thing comes with full color cover for the usual $85.00 price.

The game was played publicly for the first time at TwisterCon VI here in OKC late in March and was popular with the many people just stopping by to ogle the spectacle and the models. Played at 1:5 scale, the rules are very fast and clean taking only six pages to present it all. Again, they are a dedicated set of rules and a totally new set emphasizing speed of play and a short learning curve. Individual "Hero" figures have their own special functions with Chard and Bromhead providing special Leadership bonuses (and a little extra fire power where it's needed!), Surgeon Reynolds takes the wounded who walk or are carried in and patches them up before sending them back on the walls, while Commissary Dalton and Rev. Smith dole out bullet packets to the lads!

The next set that may be ready by then is "Moro Wars: "Always Outnumbered, Never Outfought!" Again some 250 15mm Moros, possibly with light artillery, will face a small number of Filipino Constabulary and U.S. Infantry. Included will be another card stock collection of Philippine Native Huts which I am finishing now (early May as I write) as well as the dice and rules. These will be a dedicated version of "A Splendid Little Wargame!" containing an extensive Scenario Generation system that will randomly build actions by objective, terrain, and opposing forces. The Random Terrain Generator allows the Yanks to move around on an otherwise featureless table top and reveal the ground to their front as short as only an inch away, depending on the immediate terrain. The Moros can always be controlled by another player, but can also be randomly positioned and moved by the system. I keep telling Chris that something like this may be the best way to represent the Ashanti and other deep forest opponents. Since Chris and Richard long ago finished the 25mm line of Ashanti (I've got a hundred or so painted up), I would like to play test this right away.

After some consideration, a complete version of "A Splendid Little Wargame" has been completed called "Rough Riders! America's Little Wars of Empire" and are already available from Richard for $10 (add another dollar for postage). Besides the complete rules, there are many more tables, maps, diagrams, examples of play, and detailed historical OB's for San Juan Hill and El Caney, as well the special tables for fighting the Moros. Richard will be using these rules again at NashCon (I believe) to fight El Caney, but he still might run San Juan Hill again as his 3D battlefield looks great. He will also be running, apparently, some Moro actions, but this depends on getting the production molds ready in time. There is still some doubt (due to pettifoggery at the other end) that Richard will be going to HistoriCon, even though it' always the highlight of his convention season. If he does go he may run all of the above and--just maybe--Rorke's Drift as well.

The next "Battle In A Box" may be "Perdicarris Alive Or Raisuli Dead!". The figures are now all finished, master molds made, and production molds might be ready in the Summer or Fall, depending on business with the other sets.

I've designed some T-shirts for Richard and Chris. Would anyone be interested in buying (at a reasonable price, of course) color Personality T-Shirts of each of those named in the Rorke's Drift game (including Dabulamanzi)? What about a color T-Shirt with the name, appropriate battle cry, weapons array, and specific shield pattern for each Zulu Regiment? These would probably run about $10 to $12 apiece (cheaper if there was sufficient demand to buy materials in bulk). I'll send you a sample of the "Rough Riders!" T-Shirt and you can judge for yourself (besides, all of us need an expendable shirt for painting in!).

That's all I know for now. My promises about the gunboat rules and other things are still good, they just aren't in hand.

Wishing you the best, I hope this letter was as full of--ah, er--information as I always mean them to be. I guess I've been busier than I thought. I'd already forgotten about that shirt! It was the "Rough Riders!" cover, wasn't it? In any case, you're very welcome. I would be honored if you did wear it publicly. I might want to invest in an "industrial strength" iron and go into some kind of limited production, but I've got to think seriously about that first.

I got to play the most recent version of the "Rorke's Drift!" game and found it to be a blast. I just wish there was greater opportunity for it to be seen by a larger audience as I'm sure it would be very popular. This game, and the other "Battles In Boxes", could be a great way to get more people into 15mm Colonials, as well as historical wargaming in general. If you are going to Historicon this year, say "Hello!" to Richard Houston who'll be running demo games of San Juan Hill and Rorke's Drift. Richard has more stuff coming, including "Moro Wars!" which might be ready for Historicon (I'm finishing the cardstock huts and Moro forts as I write). "Perdicarris Alive Or Raisuli Dead!" should be ready by late Summer or early Fall. Chris Ferree is also nearly finished with the Intombe Drift boxed set with civilian figures, bell tents, wagons, and all the other requisites.

Oh, and in the Psychosis In Wargames Department, Chris is getting closer to finishing his magnum opus of Isandlwana in 1:10 scale. The 5' x 8' CAD machine designed map is now finished and Chris already has about 600 of the approximately 1600 Zulu figures painted and all the 150 or so Brits (some "units" consisting of 1 figure!). This won't be a boxed project, but will be made available for the brane damijed who want to try it using the other sets previously released.

Looking forward to the next Helio.

I won't be going to Historicon, blast the luck, so I'll say Hello to Richard now instead, Hello Richard. I can't wait to see the "Moro Wars!" and "Perdicarris Alive Or Raisuli Dead!" Both will be very interesting to me personally. I have been scavenging old bamboo place mats for several years in order to build Filipino and south Asian huts, I have enough now for an entire city in 15mm. The 5 X 8 CAD maps sound like they would be a great idea to sell. The Random Terrain generator I really like, it will be perfect for expeditions into "Darkest Africa" with Stan and Ollie leading Abbott and Costello, now there would be one great expedition to be on. I add to your list of females - Jane to go with the Tarzan figure. I would also like to see Emin Pasha and I believe he had his daughter with him, she was also no screamer. With all the slavers it should follow that bound slaves would also be appropriate, They could also be used with Charlton Heston, no, no that's Gordon with Egyptians in the Sudan . The "Rough Rider's" shirt was great, what a picture on the front, anyone interested in the SP-Am War should have one of these.

Bill Stewart I very much enjoyed #106. That is wonderful news about Old Glory's future release of massive amounts of colonial figures. With the reprint of the Soldier's Companion and the Old Glory's figures to be added to the Foundry lines might we see a surge in colonial gaming? We can only hope.

As to Savage and Soldier. Its too bad that there is a problem with subscriptions but I don't believe that a new version of that revered magazine could do any better than you have in keeping us informed about colonial gaming.

Speaking of web sites, have you visited the Colonial Wargaming Page web site? Its located at "tetrad.stanford.edu/hm/colonials.html". One of the links at this site leads to "Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargaming page "zeitcom.com/majgen/". This is an inspirational page for the colonial gamer. If you haven't been there it is well worth the trip with articles on modeling, scenery, structures, vehicles, ships and more. Great game photos. It gets the wargaming blood boiling!

Oops, and double Oops! Earlier I gave credit for these two to Patrick Wilson, which he didn't deserve, at least for this. Sorry Bill, but thank you for these two web sites they were great.