Fulvio Beretta (from Italy). Now I've received copies 119 and 120 of "Lone Warrior" and I think they're very impressive. Lots of articles and ideas, rules and suggestions, campaign and so on. Good job, really good job. I hope to send you something in the near future (I'm more expert in computer games then in other kind of games). I enjoyed the articles by John Wilson on the 'Spacedogs' and Richard Barbuto's one on 'Obstacle theory' but I can tell I've found a lot of ideas in two numbers and a booklet so what will be in the future?
I read about "Beginner's pack goes public!" and I've got a suggestion. I think the booklet is quite perfect but, for a beginner (as me) in solo playing, I think that can be very useful to include some chapter with specific rules for a period e.g. A set of Ancient, a set of Medieval and a set of Napoleonics or something else.
Another idea is to have some beginners' pack for period (something like the Miniature Wargamers Beginner's pack, but without figurines) with the impressive amount of ideas of the standard beginner's pack (general features) and a special part for the period.
I would like to spend some words to congratulate all the team and contributors for the good job done for the SWA.
[Fulvio, Have passed your welcomed comments to Michael Gray on our new planned publication, on which I believe that progress is somewhat slow. Thanks for your kind words and looking forward to your article(s). Kenn]
Scott Hansen. Sorry that I haven't got an article to you. However, I'm working on one right now - Solo San Juan Hill (Spanish-American War). Though I enjoy reading about solo wargaming, for some reason, I have trouble working up enough energy to solo one battle. However, I don't have that problem with painting, having completed 500 Russo-Japanese figures so far this year! Maybe my problem is playing both sides. When I soloed Poltava, I was worn out after one hour. San Juan Hill should be easy because they barely have the troops to cover both hills. To vary it, I will have random Spanish reinforcements. You have done a great job with the NA edition of Lone Warrior!
[Scott, always glad to hear from you. I am pleased you have had such success painting those Russians and Japanese. Looking forward to publishing your piece on San Juan Hill - certainly one of my favorite small battle scenarios.]
Vincent Freeman. I recently visited Irregular Miniatures in York. Ian and two of his colleagues were gracious enough to show myself and a friend how the figures were designed. They then took us right through the process up to the finished article. It was very eye opening. Ian and every one was very friendly and informative. Whilst I was there they treated me to a liquid lunch. They also completed an order of 6mm CRIMEAN WAR figures while I was there. They had two wargames tables laid out in the middle of being played. This is one of the firms I regularly use and it was good to put faces to names. If anyone is in York I'd recommend a visit. Please ask them first.
I also recently visited my first wargames show for a few years. It was Wargamer 97 at Aston Villa Sports and Leisure Centre. The trade stands were organised around the outside of the room with numerous wargames set-up in the middle. One of the many things I bought was a board game by Keith Poulter called Barbarians. It turned out that this game was based on one of my all time favourite wargames called Caesar's Legions by Avalon Hill. Where as Caesar's Legions' had five scenarios or games, Barbarians has a massive thirty two. These use the same movement and combat system for each game. There are four 34" x 22" maps. Some scenarios use one map and some use up to all four. There are 1,000 counters representing Roman legions, auxiliaries and cavalry, Germans, Dacians, Pannonians and Sarmatians. Included are scenarios from Caesar's Legions in this game. The counters of the different troops have a picture of the troops on. I would say if members are interested in this era or enjoyed the original Caesar's Legions' games they should rush out or more likely phone Leisure Games in London for this game. It works out at less than £ 1 per scenario. To this you also get a system only limited by your imagination. If people buy no other board game, buy this one. I score it 10 out of 10!
I have recently asked Roger at my local Dungeons & Starships shop, 136A Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR (Tel: 0121 643 6008) and he agreed to 10% discount. I don't think this applies to credit card sales. If members are interested they should phone to check this. [Nice one! That's the way to do it!]
I agree with Steve Turner that I for one would like to see more campaign reports. As I have stated before I really enjoy the Volcian campaign. I am in the SWA for many reasons one of those being to learn from other peoples' experience and expertise. I like to enjoy my hobby and like reading different articles. I have contacted quite a few members for advice and have always found everyone most friendly and helpful. I enjoy seeing the different eras played and discussed. I often use some of the maps and systems as starting point for campaigns. [Send them in and I'll publish them]
One of the systems I use for making a campaign map is the Mighty Empires map tiles. You can use these for any wargaming period from ancients to ultra modern, or Sci-Fi. I hope the members might find some of this interesting. Thank you and the Management for your continued efforts on the members' behalf's.
[Vincent, nice to hear from you again. I visited Irregular many times in their old location but have not yet got around to nipping in to their much bigger, by the sound of it, base. Always phone first. Never had a liquid lunch, many coffees though, but always found the gang very friendly and helpful. Kenn]
Paul Trapani. (Poplarville, Mississippi) Enjoying reading LW 120. I would be interested in a solo rule set for World War I. My gaming table is 5' x 8' 6" long. So far I have made 2 1/48th scale biplanes (one each French and German). I also have some British and German troops coming from Pendragon miniatures in 25 mm. I have a barn, mansion, and two story house and about 20 pup tents, all home made. Lots of trees too. I have to start out with 10 figures each plus machine guns and gunners. Now all I need are some simple basic rules to start a game. I am very excited about this period and hope to collect some other countries involved in WWI also. I am hoping that I will not have a problem with getting tanks, trucks, planes etc. for this period. If you know where I could get a copy of Uniforms of World War I by Philip Haythornwaite by Sterling Publishing please let me know.
[Readers, Paul runs Soldiers Palette, an established painting service. He can be contacted at (601) 795-0669 or mail to: 2298 McNeil Steep Hollow Rd. Poplarville, MS 39470. Anyone who can help him out?]
Jonathan Aird: Bit of a shock to find the year almost over (again) - I think I last wrote in February ? It's not really been a good gaming year - too much time spent on sensible stuff in the real world. This must be my worst year for painting for almost a decade! Good luck on your degree - I'm starting on an OU course in the New Year. I'm not sure I'll go as far as the degree, I'll see how much time it takes and how things develop.
Have some sympathy with your comments on Wargame shows in the issue 120 editorial. I went to the Norwich Wargames Show - NOW 97 - in July, this had been advertised quite heavily and promised to be a fairly big show (30 Traders). I knew that the building it was being held in - St. Andrew's hall - has quite a lot of room. Unfortunately, there were only about a dozen or so traders (with 2 tables each - hence 30 traders I guess), and not all possible space in the hall was being used - probably because it cost too much to hire. However, there were some quite good participation games so it wasn't a completely wasted effort, just a bit of a long way to travel for a relatively small show. I'm not trying to criticise the organisers of NOW in particular, I quite like small local shows, in this instance though I'd "been expecting someone bigger". Basically I think the remedy is for the show organisers to give some idea of the traders expected to attend (SELWG for example tends to have a page ad' in the glossies listing all traders attending a couple of months in advance). I've never really understood why many traders don't list the shows they intend to go to in their ad's.
I've been spending some time dabbling in SF skirmishing, hence the enclosed Solo Killzone article. Hope you can make use of it. I think a fair bit of it could be read across to, say, a WWII skirmish in a built up area. I thought the same, read across wise, about John Wilson's "Avast Ye Space Dogs" - most of what was contained could easily be used for an Age of Sail pirate game. Good stuff.
I think that your point in the letters column was absolutely right - what the readers of LW are willing to contribute should be what LW contains. Surely the best way to see the kind of article one likes is to start the ball rolling? There must have been a first Fantasy article, a first WWII article etc. If you'd like a recommendation for articles for the "beginners pack" may I put a vote in for Convoy (LW Vol 16, No. 4.). This was the first issue of LW I ever received, and I immediately realised that this was a group I should have signed up for earlier (hence purchases of piles of back issues). The style of LW has definitely changed over the years, but it seems like an evolution rather than a series of revolutions and is almost certainly down to a growing membership. If there was a strict Solo Only policy, I suppose that I would have to quit, but I'd miss all the unusual mechanisms and scenarios, and the ambience of the magazine.
[Thanks for the article and I hope your long awaited Solo Wargamers Association badge helps in spotting/or being spotted at shows by other members - it works for me. Perhaps some traders will get in touch and let us know which shows they will be attending - one can but hope! The idea of 'Solo' wargamers only came up years ago and quite rightly died a death and I for one was not sorry to see the back of the idea. I have had some great games with fellow members of the Solo Wargamers Association and in doing so have made some excellent friends. I am a solo/multi player wargamer - there it is out in the open at last! We are hoping to put our participation game on at NOW 98, so watch this space for details. Kenn]
Brock Harring (Peotone, IL) I have enjoyed the magazine greatly. I am especially interested in campaign articles. I feel campaign are one of the most interesting aspects of the hobby. Perhaps one day soon I will be able to write an article about my own Napoleonic campaigning.
[Brock, I will be most happy to publish your article. As you know, I am particularly interested in Horse and Musket gaming.]
John Lomas: I have just finished reading the current issue. Many thanks for a great magazine.
[John , thanks for letting us know. Kenn]
Sean Clark: I am writing with regards to Steve Turner's comments in Lone Warrior 120 "On Campaign Reports". Hang on a minute Steve but what suddenly made you get on your white charger and gallop into the abyss like that? Scouring through back issues of Lone Warrior I could find no mention of members wishing all articles to be devoted to solo play and that rules systems should accompany all campaign reports. Or was this a conspiracy between you and Kenn to get more input from the membership (sorry Kenn I watched one too many of X-Files!)
I do seem to recall the argument of campaign reports and rule systems occurring in one of the monthly glossies, I can't remember which one. Maybe Steve got mixed up there? Either way Lone Warrior has got quite a good balance on reports rule systems throughout and if occasionally it doesn't we only have ourselves to blame after all we're the ones who submit the articles.
Personally I'm one of those "dried toast" type of people. Sorry but between painting figures, wargaming and those other mundane chores like work, kids, the wife, D.I.Y etc. etc. I hardly get time to breathe let alone "think for myself". So I pinch other peoples rules and ideas and use them myself (Sorry guv', I confess!) And no I won't be happy until I have a system that will let me refight Naseby in one hour solo without knowing what the other side is going to do next and makes me feel like I was actually there.
So come on Steve moderation in everything is OK. I'll even forgive you for the names you called me and next time you are in the Clacton area pop in and we'll have a game, fancy Lake Trasimene, I'll let you play the Romans!?!
[Steve, just a few points from the above. 1. Conspiracy theory; good idea wish I had thought of it! I plead: Not Guilty. 2. How can anyone watch too much of the X Files? 3. Rules, games systems etc. are printed in Lone Warrior for those who have no butter (or even marg) for their toast. 4. Do you think commanding the Romans at Lake Trasimene is very appealing in that surely they had more men at Cannae?
Please note: Both these members are real and not a figment of my overactive imagination, before someone else writes in! I am more than willing to print any member's comments as long as they are within the friendly atmosphere we have nurtured within the pages of Lone Warrior. Kenn]
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