From Scott Hansen:

I'm currently waiting for my order to get here from Freikorps 15 in Ireland. I ordered armies for the Spanish-American War. Would this be colonial to you? The US army would double in the Pilippine revolt of 1900 too. Meanwhile, I'm finishing up my 1864 Danish army in 6 mm to fight my Austrians. Prussians are next. Have you heard about a rule set called "Republic and Empire" carried by Outland Games in Dayton, OH? It's a generic l9th C set using a DBA variant combat system. There's a lot of suggestions on armies for colonial wars (Sikh Wars, Boer, Zulu, Spanish-American). Though I haven't tried it, it looks good.

My first Miniature period was Zulu War using ESCI plastic. I think about redoing it in 15 mm (everybody knows what happens to plastic figures). Thanks for a great newsletter and let me know if you want articles on the 1864 Danish War and Spanish-American War.

(Yes, the Spanish-American War would be colonial to me, the 1864 Danish War is harder to conceive as colonial. However, it depends what you what to do with the Danish war, let me know. As to the Spanish-American war yes, send me an article, include with it a review of figures for the war. How about a review of the rules. Thanks for the encouragement.)

From Chris Nelson:

Chris notes that Grenadier UK has folded and that Rich Merritt of Tall Ships has copies of Alexander Kent/Douglas Reeman's latest paperback and hardcover books. Chris also sent along a manuscript for westerns that lists 300 movies. Obviously, Chris did not list every western made, that would have been rediculous. So if you want to make sure your favorite is listed send me a list now so it will be there when I print the list is several installments, maybe starting next month.

From Bob Pavlik:

I'm not committing myself, but I have a lot of info on the Germans fighting the Herero 1900-1914.

A few corrections: 1) Lt. Blue (Bavarian Blue) was the trim color used in SEV Africa (rather than just blue as I stated in #92).

2) No Askaris were used in SW Africa, the Germans didn'l trust them. They only used some friendly tribes as mounted scouts. If I can get all my information translated and organied, I may do another, more complete article.

(I must concede the point concerning SW Africa, however, I have a photo of Askaris in Togo. Letter G in #92 should read Sudanese soldiers from East Africa. It is quite interesting that in SW Africa they distrusted the natives and did not use thezn, while in EastAfrica they used Askaris almost completely. Bob, we will patiently await your article, the August issue is almost full so I can wait until October or December.

From Henry Rones:

Re your article on German Colonial Uniforms - another potential source for figures (25mm ) might be Falcon Miniatures German Southwest Africa Field Force - these included command sets, camel troops, mounted field force, German Askari, German sailors, German Marines, gunners, Naval gunners, three different sets of Hcreroes, a Krupp field gun, a wheeled maxim gun, et c. I remember seeing them and thought they weren't bad at all. (chunkier than Ral Partha, with a bit less detail, but nice figures - there were some imaginiative poses in the field force - such as two men carrying a wounded comrade - and the camel trooper was a treat. Other lines include Dahomian Corps of Amazons; French North African; French Indo-China (including Legion, Marine, Sailor, Annamite regular, Maxim and Naval gunners; field guns, millitrauese); boxers, Chinese; a Rolls Royce armored car; British colonials; and US Marines). Infantry come in packs of six for about $7. I have 12 of the Falcon Askari firing - in Fez with neckcloth, shorts, barefeet, bolt-action rifle, ammo bandalier, uniform jacket and belt with bayonet scabbard. An old Address I have is Falcon Miniatures, PO Box 411, Medford, MA 02155. (Your address for Falcon is still current).

Thanks for all the letters cheering on the new format and keep writing so I know how you think things are going with The Heliograph. More changes in design and layout coming soon with a great deal of help from Ron Lizorty. There seem to be big changes taking place in the hobby especially with regard to spending patterns. I need your help to recruit new subscribers to keep The Heliograph healthy. If you know someone who is interested in the colonial period please pass on The Heliograph address to them.

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