1) Guernsey Foundry Ltd., La Guelle, Mont Arrive, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Great Britain. (fax 011441481-714905) As you will see Guernsey Foundry turns up again in the Figure Review Column. As is typical from Guernsey Foundry the figures are great. The better news is that during 1997 they will be producing colonial troops of nearly every colonial power. And better, if it can be, they will also be supporting this with books and rules.

2) Articles of War, Ltd., 8806 Bronx Ave., Skokie, IL 60077-1896. 847-674-7445. Their latest catalog includes 22 colonial period books, plus their reprint colonial era books. Reprint list #1 has a new offering by Sir Henry Colville History of the Sudan Campaign 1884-85 at a pre-publication pnce of $54.95 until 20 April. Yeah, I know, so I called Bob Ruman and he has extended the pre-publication price for Heliograph subscribers until 15 May 1996. Call Now! for your copy.

3) Geo-Hex, 2126 North Lewis, Portland, OR 97227, 503-288-4805. Their '96 catalog shows they carry almost everything you need for terrain and spacemen stuff from Ground Zero Games. This would be a great way to make your terrain come alive. Remember the earth is not flet and neither is a battlefield.

4) Guthrum's Army, editor Phil Hendry, 12 Levens Close, Westbourne Park, Lancaster, LA 1 SUL, Great Britain. US Subscriptions from Richard Brooks PO Box 718, Swansea, SC 29160 0718. œ3 for 4 to 5 issues or in the US $5 for 4 to 5 issues depending on printing and postage. Received are issues 46 and 47. I will not relate what articles each issue contains because they are not relevant to the colonial period. Each issue contains 6 to 8 sheets (12 to 16 pages) of information pertaining to the period 600 to 1066 AD Western Europe, mostly Britain and its warfare. G A is a vehicle for those interested in the period to discuss the warfare of the period. There is also a play-by-mail game. GA includes military historians, archaeologists and anyone else interested. I know nearly nothing of the period, but have become very interested because of GA. If you are interested send me a dollar and I will send you a sample copy or two.

5) Victorian Military Society newsletter Soldiers Small Book. The newsletter contains information of value to colonial gamers. If you are interested in colonial period history and are not a member of the society you really should be. Write to VMS, George Dibley, Arm Farm Cottage, Blisworth Arm, Northampton, NN7 3EF Great Britain.

6) MWAN 79, Hal Thinglum, 29554 Pleasant Dr., Richton Park, IL 60471. MWAN's new format looks great. While there isnothing colonial this issue #79 there is a useful article entitled "Solo Campaigning by the Seat of Your Pants" by Jon Laughlin. It has several good ideas worth steal for campaigning, and if nothing else how Jon thinks about beginning a campaign, good stuff. Also, another outrageous Binky Bagshot story by 'orrible 'oward Whitehouse.

7) Practical Wargamer, Chris Nelson reports that that the January/February issue contained a set of rules for American Indian actions, looks fairly interesting. The March/April issue has a battle report "Surprise in the Sun" that is a good read and worth stealing the basic scenario.

8) Battlefields #3, Partizan Press, available from On Military Matters, 55 Taylor Terrace Hopewell NJ 08525 (609) 466 2329. If you haven't seen one try it. This is one of the best things to hit wargaming in a while. The magazine is devoted to wargaming famous and not so battles. For each battle you get a description of the historical battle, OBs, great detailed maps, how to refight it and a bibliography. You really can't get better than this approach. Even if you are not interested in the various periods, you get sucked in just looking at the maps and OBs. Fascinatingly interesting, highly recommended.

9) The Courier, they list no address, but it also is available from On Military Matters. "Save the Guns" a TSATF rules variant and scenario for ACW Artillery. I have a problem with some movement and firing rules changes but the article is worth a read. Victor O. Schmidt has an interesting article "Role playing in Miniatures" well worth reading. Finally, Bruce Duty's "The Battle of Weissenberg: A Scenario for They Died for Glory" is really more of a battle report but contains an interesting scenario that could be turned around for 1882 Egypt.

10) Regiment December/January, I do not know who carries this in the US, it is from the publishers of Practical Wargamer and edited by Stuart Asquith. Each issue is devoted to one regiment in particular and has info on one or more others. This issue # 11 has the Black Watch (1739-1995) and is full of illustrations, some in color, period photographs, and color photographs of uniforms. This contains a basic history of the unit, weapons, tartan, and music. If you have a favorite British regiment this is the place to get the info to paint them right. A trifle pricey at $7.95 each, but you can't beat this for a painting guide at three times the price. These might be available from Wise Owl Worldwide Services, 4314 W 28th St., Torrance, CA 90505.

11) Miniature Wargames from Wargames, Box 278, Route 40 East, Triadelphia, WV 26059-0278. March 1996 - Great cover but no colonial articles. April 1996 - A really nice detailed article "An Arduous and Difficult Task, The Abysinnian War of 1868" by David Diston is the highlight of the issue.

Wargames Illustrated (W1101) February 1996- contains "Long Haired Rebels, The Taiping Army 1851-66 Part 11: Dress and Weapons" by lan Heath that should precede the article in W1100. Very useful information. (W1102) March 1996 - There are several articles of note. The first "Garibaldi in South America Part 1: Rio Grande do Sul" by Paul Parsons is an informative article with several scenario posibilities. "Wargaming the Crimean War, Part Two" by Derek Coleman contains a sketch of the battle followed by a wargame report. If you are interested in math and numbers then "Alternative die roll methods for wargames" by Keith Barley is for you. I got lost in the last third of the article. However, if you make your own rules you should read this article paying particularly close attention to the dice distribution tables. If your game outcomes are too extreme and unrealistic this will show you how to cure that problem (two d8s will change the outcomes to a more believable ending).

"Retreat from Kabul, First Afghan War 1842" by DK Hunt is a short but interesting analysis of the retreat with a number state of hobby product costs with a plea to English Manutacturers about having to buying figures sight unseen from exclusive sources in the US. "The exclusive importer can establish prices in excess of what competition would allow." Isn't that the truth, 25mm figure prices range from $0.62 (plus postage) to $1.35 (plus postage).

A number of you have written me to complain about the high prices of figures and "being priced out of the hobby". People wonder at the graying of the hobby and that there are few kids in our ranks. There are to me two factors to this. Unless Dad is in the hobby, junior is not likely to obtain the needed cash to buy what he needs or wants (child labor laws). Second, where the heck are all the hobby shops that stock figures. I live in a metro area of 500,000 people. The one hobby shop is for trains. There are no, to my knowledge, hobby shops within 100 miles that stock figures (besides an odd bag or two). That l00 mile area would include more than 6 million people, and at least some ready to buy hobbists, going by the HMGS-MidSouth membership list. There are no places (read hobby shops that have playing tables or anything even remotely similar where you can go and talk to someone with a little knowledge) for kids to go to be with other kids/adults in the hobby that mom or dad are going to wait for junior to finish playing or that junior can get to alone.

I hear a lot of "I can order that for you", well duh so can I, but I can't see it before I buy it unless I go to a convention and even then some prices are outrageous. Bill concludes "Besides, there is no such thing as impulse buying through the mail." Enough ranting on the soap box, no wonder they stopped making wooden boxes for soap.

12) Military History, March 1996. I usually don't buy this but "Chinese Warlords" and "Rhodesia's Brutal Second Matabele War" caught my attention. Both are somewhat superficial articles geared to a mass audience, but they are worth reading for possible scenarios. Go to your library and read it.

13) On Military Matters. At Cold Wars (see #15 below) I purchased several books. The most interesting one is Le Guerre Coloniali Italiane 1885/1900 (Italian Colonial Wars). This is similar to Osprey and is number 7 in a series, the text is Italian and also has a complete English translation.

This is at least as good as an Osprey Campaign series book, may be better. It has 88 pages, 10 color uniform plates, at least 100 photographs, plus maps and OBs this is great, now if only we had Italian troops.

Their catalog 14b arrived with one interesting colonial title Importing the European Army by David Ralston "The introduction of european military techniques and institutions into the extra-European world, 1600-1914."

14) The South and Central American Military Historians Society, the folks who produce El Dorado (actually Terry Hooker) sent me a few items. Available in the US from Preziosi, 11017 SW 125th Ave., Miami, FL 33186 are Booklet 2 by Terry Hooker The Revolt in Texas Leading to its Independence from Mexico 1835-1836 and Booklet 4 The Spanish-American War, The Cuban Land Campaign-Order of Battle. If you are interested in the Texas War this is the book for you, it includes a history, OBs and most importantly lots of uniform information. The Spanish-American War OB is somewhat more escoteric being an OB but contains information down to company level and appears to be the first of a series on the war.

El Dorado is available by subscription from Paul V. Walsh, 227 Sunnybrook Road, Springfield, PA 19064 $25 for 4 issues each approximately 48 pages. The issues include news, book reviews, articles, OBS, uniform info, and maps. If this is your area of interest you need this publication. Terry Hooker reports that he is a consultant for the film "Evita" and may be writing a book for Bryan Ansell (Guernsey Foundry) on the Latin American Wars 1840-1890, looks good for colonial gamers since Guernsey Foundry has produced some figures for the period (see review below).

15) Cold Wars report: Outside of the Snowstorm the convention in Lancaster PA was great, even if the game I wanted was cancelled.

The following breakdown is based on the listed games in the program. There were many cancellations and many more new games added. Here goes: 175 total games, not counting the tournaments: ancients and Battalions in Crisis.

5 Ancients
5 Medieval
10 Renn. and ECW
22 Misc.
19 18th century
23 Napoleonic
15 ACW
3 Gunfighters
2 American Indian
12 Colonial
59 20th century

The colonials break down thus:

3 Zulu
3 Boxer Rebellion
3 Franco-Prussian War
2 Russo-Turkish War
1 Misc. African

Friday 8 March I spent a lot of time in the Dealers area, and picked up several catalogs, figures, and info.

Minifigs: 5938 Cathage Court, Cincinnati, OH 45212 1-800-631-7335. They have in l5mm Franco-Prussian War, American Indian Wars, Crimean War, Mexican American War, British Colonial Statrter Sets, and for TSATF in 15mm the following: British Army, Zulu Army, Egyptian Army, Dervish Army, Indian Army, Pathan Army Boer Army, Later Egyptian Army, French Foreign Legion, Sahara Tribes. In 25mm they have for TSATF British Army, Pathan War, Zulu War, Boer War, Egyptian Army, Dervish Army, Indian Mutiny, and Boxer Rebellion. These are the smaller 25mm figures.

Ral Partha: have the same address as Minifigs. I think I remember reading that Ral Partha had bought out Minifigs. I am not sure if the figures are the same, l think that Ral Partha had its own line of colonials. Regardless, call them for their catalog particularly if you are interested in the Russio-Turkish War they have a large selection, not just Russians and Turks but Rumanians and Bulgarians too.

Gallia USA, Armadillo Games, RR #6 Box 290, Schenectady, NY 12306: Resin buildings in 5, lS, and 25mm. If you are ready to undertake the Franco-Prussian or Russio-Turkish War you're in luck otherwise they have nothing for Africa or India.

Connoisseur Figures 161 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines, NC 28387. 910-695-1468. Yes, a new address. They have some ready made armies for Africa, some new Zulu figures, but I have not seen them. These are the larger 25s, a nice selection if you are ready for Zulus (Induluyengwe, Uthulawana and Udhloko regiments). On the other hand, while they have a nice large selection of British infantry and cavalry the Egyptians and Sudanese are somewhat lacking in depth. I hope they correct this soon.

Old Glory, Box 20 Calumet, PA 15621, 412-423- 3580. Mexican American War and American Indians and Cavalry in 25mm. In 15mm they have a selection of Colonials, they have 11 different bags each containing 100 infantry or 30 mounted for $18.50 tough to beat. But, I'm not changing to 15s I have trouble seeing the 25s..

Caliver Books, Partizan Press, Matchlock Figures 816818 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 3NH Great Britain. I picked up a list of their books, quite nice, if I lived in the UK I'd be here a lot. On Military Matters is their US outlet.

Piquet, The writers of these rules put on a presentation with a Q&A period and a game. The rules are general and come with one period variant. I picked up parts "Din of Battle" for the colonial period. Unfortunately, l can't play as I am still waiting to receive the complete game which I paid for, but they didn't have all the parts for at Cold Wars. I'm not sure I made a wise move, as they couldn't make it clear what was supposed to come with the game. I hope I didn't waste my money. They are providing support with a newsletter to clarify and supplement the rules on a quarterly basis, which also has a cost. Brent Oman has provided (see below) a reponse on the sample game they played. If and when I get the rest of the game I will give it a try, stay tuned for further updates.

On Saturday 9 March I did my thing. I am the editor for the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society-East Military and Naval History Forum and Saturday we held our paper presentations. We also print the proceedings from the meeting in March and publish another volume in July. Both are basically peer review journals.

16) Firing Line Miniatures (Formerly Bicorne Miniatures), 4761 N. Bear Canyon, Tucson, AZ 85749. I don't buy ACW figures, however, Firing Line Miniatures has produced 6 ACW Naval Figures worth a good look. These figures will give us a chance to have an American naval landing party and soon a naval gun crew. If you like Connoissuer Figures you'll love these. They vary in size from 27 to 28mm from bottom of teet to eyes. Figures look like those in Osprey's American Civil War Armies 3, Specialist Troops in plates G and H and include:

Officer, pointing with sword, yelling, slightly overweight, goatee, in long coat, nicely detailed.
Petty Officer with sword, firing pistol, I like this figure but it's not very animated and the gun needs some heft to it.
Petty Officer with sword, holding pistol.
Rating firing musket with bayonet.
Rating with musket and bayonet advancing. The sideburns look great, unfortunately this head should be switched with the next figures as they are looking in the wrong direction for where they're going.
Rating with musket and bayonet advancing at high port.

I like these figures and bought a unit and will get the gun crew as soon as they come out.

17) Miniature Service Center, 1525 Bridge #165, Yuba City CA 95993-8611. Reports that Redoubt will be offering new Zulu and Sudan line figures. They still have a 15% discount on until 30 April. They also offer a painting service and hand-crafted buildings. Write for a catalog to Fred Carroccio, 8009 Bull Run Drive, New Port Richey, Florida 34653.

18) Principles of War, Tom Penn, 1 Harnell Close, Shirley, Solihull B90 4QR Great Britain. These are wargames rules (£ 12.50 including postage) for regular and colonial conflicts in the 19th century. The rules (84 pages) come with a laminated playsheet and complimentary copy of "Principles of War The Magazine". There are pages of army lists with the rules and dozens of army lists are available separately. The magazine contains army lists, historical articles, and rules clarifications. The articles are short but interesting. The rules, if I read right, are competition rules as well as for regular play and I must assume solo play. I also need a club to playtest these rules and you must be willing to write a detailed review good, bad or indifferent.

19) Office Depot: I think I found the perfect campaign diary here. 'The Standard Diary for any year' manufactured by Keith Clark (SDU389-03). This was about $14 but lists by Clark for $30 full price. Give it a look and think about it.

20) Joe Boeke reports that he has two web pages for "Space 1889".
The first is for Sky Galleons of Mars:

www. bucknell.edu/~boeke/SGoM.html

www.bucknell.edu/~boeke/1889.html

Joe emailed that he will write an article on colonial period history gaming and miniatures materials on the web.

21) Colonial Conquest #11. Available from On Military Matters. Articles include: 'Heliographs in the Zulu War' by I. Castle, 'Disaster at Maiwand' by M Barthorp, 'The US Campaign for Santiago' by T Gordon, 'Blockhouses in the Boer War' by M Jones, and 'Burmese Land Grab' by M Bevis. All are historic articles except for 'Burmese Land Grab' which is a game scenario. The rules seem a little screwy, but I've not played them. The general scenario idea is good and the map superb to steal for your gaming. Overall, this is a very good issue, despite too many typos, all the articles are well worth reading and provided me with useful information.

22) Pony Soldiers Skirmish Rules for the Indian Wars and the Old West by Glen Allison, available from StarLance Publications, 50 Basin Drive, Basin City, WA 99343, 509-2694497. $8.95 including tax. Chapters include: Things needed to Play, Die Rolling and Skill Modifiers, Creating Characters, Tactical Game Turn Sequence, Campaign Rules and has four appendices. This game system is based on role playing. Each turn the initiative is determined before movement. There are a few asides to help understand the rules, which makes this easier to understand. I need a group to playtest these rules and you must be willing to write a detailed review--good, bad or indifferent. Volunteers please step forward.

23) Wargames, Inc., address above. Two fliers with 25mm Wild West figures. I have not seen these but must assume they are up to the usual quality of Dixon/Essex. I also have not seen the price. The figures listed include personalities (i.e. Calamity Jane, Billy the Kid,and Wild Bill), a stagecoach, townspeople (saloon girls!!!), and long horn steers. From the descriptions few of these figures will fit other 19th century areas (Boer War). Good grief!! with all the attention going to the Wild West lately you could fill up several towns full of figures.

24) New Paints!!! My son, Ben, found these while we were at Home Depot.

Krylon's ColorWorks Non-Refelective Camouflage Paint, for about $4.50 a can. I got 8141 Camouflage Khaki, naturally. This color is perfect for your British troops as you will not have to repaint their uniforms if you give them two quick coats. I am using it as an undercoat for the Wargames Foundry Irregular Sikhs, really wanted a slightly darker color but this is fine.

Plasti-kote Fleck Stone for a faux granite finish, about $9.00 for a set of two cans. There are 18 colors available, each basic color is mixed with two others so from a distance it does look like stone. I got Alabaster (white with khaki/tan) and test sprayed a balsawood arab house that I had painted some icky cream color. It looked awful. But, then I sprayed it with this Fleck Stone and WOW did its appearance change for the better. To tone down the white further I sprayed it very quickly with the Krylon Camouflage. This stuff is great for these types of buildings. It gives them a character that you can't get with just paint. I also got Serpentine Marble (green with black and pink?) for an final coat for forested areas before adding trees. These are a little expensive but you can combine two to give your arab dwellings some real character.

Next issue will include five or six short articles that Andy just sent me, one was dated 1992. I also have ten to fifteen pages of rules clarification for Savage Wars of Peace -- at least that's what Andy said. If anyone knows about this pleeease write me about it, the first page is entitled Fire Combat and runs 11 pages then skips to Chapter 16 Unit Ratings? There is no name on it, but, Andy thinks Mark Hayes wrote it, did you?????

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