Harold Garvin: I would like to thank the team for the excellent work, perhaps sometime I will find the time to send something. The articles on computer games and figures are great and tell us far more than the computer games mags which do not see things from our view point. Many great computer wargames have crap graphics which get them a poor review with the computer gamers but play ability and how well it depicts the wars of that time are far more important to us. That said, some of the popular games will be liked by our kind of people. I for one like the Command and Conquer type ones, Warcraft II, The Age of Empires, Dark Colony, Beast and Bumkins and another little childish looking one which is quite hard to play… well... I wonder who I lent it to. ONCE AGAIN KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. [Harold, can only comment on Age of Empires not having played the others and despite what I wrote in LW 122 I will not be doing a review on it - too busy playing it (when I have the time)! Find the time to send something in because I really would love to move away from the 'hand to mouth' article situation that I often find myself in when compiling Lone Warrior and be able to put in a range of article that covers the membership interests. Puts begging bowl away and gets back to The Books! Kenn] Paul Sidwell: I really enjoyed Carl Holliday's article on the Zulu's and look forward to the next part. It is a period I have recently become interested in and Carl has spurred me to, perhaps, completely do away with the British and build up native forces of the earlier period. [Well if Part One got you going you will certainly enjoy the final part and Carl's details are there should you wish to contact him direct. Kenn] Chris Grice: Kenn, like you I am happy to wargame solo or with others. The only real drawback to solo gaming is that, whichever method you use for controlling the 'enemy' army, you always miss having that different perspective that a 'live' opponent would give you. I wonder, therefore, if we in the Solo Wargamers Association are overlooking a priceless resource – each other! A member looking to fight a particular battle could send the details to someone else, who could write the 'enemy's' orders, perhaps sealing them to be opened at a given point in the battle. I am sure many of us would be happy to do this, (in exchange for a report on how the battle went) or it could be made a function of the Advisers service. What do you think? Anyway, many thanks for a great magazine. [Chris, great idea and if any member is interested to try this system out please get in touch with me. Years ago a member ran for a brief time, I believe, a 'Helpers' service much on the same lines as you suggest but I have no idea what happened to it and would welcome any information. In 1985 I took part in a very enjoyable postal wargame competition run in SLINGSHOT, where players sent off their orders to the umpire who actually fought the battles and then let you know the outcome. I used Mamelukes, even though I didn't have a single figure. At the time I was based in West Germany and I was against a player from the USA (C16th Florentine) and the other (Moorish) was in Australia! This was a slightly different system to what you appear to have in mind but was good fun and something I would not mind having another go at, if there is any member who fancies the role of umpire. I can remember the basic mechanics involved and would pass them on. My result sheet shows that I played 2 and won 2 with the total cost being £ 1 (one pound sterling) for photocopying and P&P by the Empire! Kenn] Martin Hogg: I recently went back to my old club for a few weeks and keep saying that I ought to go back again, but it reminded a little of why most of my gaming is solo. A nice bunch of folk and I can usually find a fun game to play, but there doesn't seem to be much of a 'club' as such. - more a group of individuals arranging their own games at a regular venue. I wonder how many clubs are like this? I look forward to the next issue of Lone Warrior in the meantime. [Martin, at my local club it is more or less as you describe but we have a tendency to have a go at periods and games that perhaps one would not try or be interested in solo. For example there is a big FLINTLOGUE campaign going on at present and occasionally some of us un-initiated are invited in to boost numbers or just throw a spanner in the works. It's good fun and gives one a change from ones own favourite period(s). Recently finished an ACW campaign which ran for months and although not my period it made a pleasant change from the painting of Samurai etc. Soloing allows me to experiment with ideas that the main stream 'Head-to-Head' guy, with his bible/rules book and preordained 'Lists' would cringe at! Still I have had some of these systems published in other wargaming mags, so I can't be all that wayout. Kenn] Richard Lucas: I enclose a few lines on my participation in Wargaming over the last 25 years. I started in the 70s. The first campaign I was involved in was based on a 2nd WW German invasion of the Sicily Isles, using Airfix figures. The second one was a Napoleonic based loosely on the Fishguard Incident, using mainly 25 mm Minifigs. In the early 80s I took part in my brother Jon's 15mm campaign "Rebellion of The White Fox" - which was serialised in Lone Warrior. I played the peripheral roles as the Emperor Frederick, the Sword Brethren, The Ikhanid etc. Then in the mid 80s disaster struck, I was involved in a car accident and thought I would never lift a paint brush again, let alone organize another campaign. But 'Hope Springs Eternal'. I read an article in M.W. ref Dark Age campaigning which restarted me collecting and painting figures again. I suffered a short infatuation with Fantasy (Games Workshop). The plus side of which was Mighty Empires, and their paints, brushes sprays etc. I have since got rid of my Fantasy figures, but I still use Mighty Empires and their Colour Range of paints. Then in the late 80s I advertised in M.W. ref ITALIA, a mini campaign set in 13th century Italy. Though limited in time and space it was fairly successfully. Last year I managed to obtain in Hereford a 1/4 scale copy of the Mappa Mundi. I have now set up my 3 sets of Mighty Empires onto the Mappa Mundi, along with details of my other medieval campaign maps e.g. Middle Sea, Blood Royale, the Golden Horde, Emperor of The Steppes and The Crusades. So I now have; The Maps, Figures, Terrain and Buildings, so I am now ready for a new Campaign "MUNDI". [Richard, good to hear from you and I trust you are getting the numbers you need to run your PBM. Good luck. Kenn] Ian Duncan: I've been looking at some of the reviews of Alexander and Hannibal from Interactive Magic. All favourable. Only the 'campaign' aspect and a lack of PBEM seems to come in for some stick. Hannibal seems to be the best as a few niggles have been ironed out from the first game but the battles in Alexander are smaller and can be more fun. I look forward to trying it. In the original board game versions by GMT, there was a samurai game in the same series called, er .. "Samurai", which had something like 4 or 5 battles from the Age of the Country at War. I don't suppose there's any chance that Interactive Magic will computerise that one after Caesar, will they? [Ian, thanks for your work behind the scenes. The 'Great Battles' series is really enjoyable and I will pass on your comments to I-Magic because it is about time someone produced a Samurai computer game, if only for me and you! Awaiting a review on Caesar from Kris, who appears to be having some fun with it. Keep in touch. Kenn] George Heath: I am enclosing an article by Ron Moore. He asked me to write it up on the computer as he has the feeling you preferred articles this way rather than on the steam driven typewriter. I have been in touch with Steve Turner regarding the request he sent to you. Many thanks for forwarding it. I also managed to get a look at the photos of his 'matchstick' armies. Very effective but, now I am so far down the road of 2mm I cannot see myself changing. Very impressed with the content of Lone Warrior of late and, it seems to be back in the atmosphere of friendly and instructive content. The problem now seems to be that over the past 18 months, there have been so many excellent ideas that I am sick of constantly changing my ideas as new ones come to light. My compliments and sincere thanks to all concerned. [George, thanks for typing the article for Ron but as you will see from the sample I sent you sometimes a typed page just will not scan and then I have to do it by Finger Power! Hand written articles are more than welcome and ALL David Barnes stuff (and there's mountains of it) are done this way. If you do articles on a computer please send them by floppy disk and I always plan to return them when done. CG yours are on their way back - honest! Kenn] Steve Turner Dear Kenn, I'm writing to you to ask if you could place a request in "Lone Warrior for members to see if anyone has any suitable "Clip-art" for PC computers which have a military theme. To explain further: There are a great number of "floppies" and CD's which deal with clip-art (artwork available free of charge for anyone to use in order to "spice-up" their documents) and I already own a number of these disks myself. But, there appears to be a lack of suitable clip-art which portrays military or historical events, well, not of the sort I'm looking for anyway. Of course, because many of these collections of art are put together in the USA most clip art disks have sections offering modern, USA or American historical subjects - Jets, Aircraft Carriers, portraits of American Civil War leaders, American GI's, landing craft etc. etc. - but I haven't come across any which provide subjects suitable for things like, Musketeers, Pikemen, Mediaeval Knights, Napoleonic Uniforms, 18th century uniforms (tricorns and the like) or even any European historical subject matter of any form – after all, European history does stretch back an awfully long way, a lot further than 1492 at least. Perhaps then, you might put in a request to members to see if anyone has managed to locate any clip-art which might be available which doesn't present either an modern or American military theme. Anyway, thanks for reading this Kenn. I'd be grateful for any help you can give concerning the clip-art. Thanks again, and keep up the good work with Lone Warrior. [Steve, I too am interested in getting the items you mention for 'fill-ins' for Lone Warrior to cover the few periods that David Barnes has not provided me drawings for. Corel Gallery does provide some good graphics but again not of the sort you and I are looking for. Let's just see if one of the members can assist. Kenn] Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #123 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Solo Wargamers Association. 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