BIG GUNS?
By Rob Morgan
There's plenty of field artillery around, in 20, 25, 28, 10, and 15mm as we all know, but apart from a couple in the 6mm ranges where are the really big guns? I'm writing up a piece about Admiral Troubridge and the Allied defence of Serbia in 1915, and of course it would make a superb wargame, if only I could find some heavy artillery. Up to the 1860's wargamers in most of the decent sized scales are fairly well served, but after that it's a problem. Take the gun in the drawing. It's a French Canon de 120 L modele 1878-1916. A gun which saw remarkable service across Europe, even though by 1914 it was very much a 'stop-gap' weapon; having no recoil system and requiring coins, wedges and anchors to contain it's firepower. It was a frontline gun until well after Verdun.
The same lack of available models goes for the big British guns of WWI and WWII. Take the big 15-in BL siege howitzer for example, used by the Royal Artillery up to 1919, and then given as presents to the White Russians, who lost them all to Trotsky's Reds. Or the big Skoda's which served in many armies through two wars as 'fort-smashers' (what a target for a raid!) on most fronts.
So many of the bigger guns, from French Schneiders to the astonishing range of Krupp heavies, elderly (by 1939 standards) slow, ponderous but valuable are completely absent from the table-top; at least from mine! Does anyone know of a range, which manufactures 'big guns' in a bigg-ish scale?
LOTR!
Russ Lockwood, CEO MagWeb.com
Just some feedback on the Games Workshop Lord of the Rings game review. Folks who want to do LOTR but avoid the price of GW products can go to a couple places:
For traditional metal (pewter I think) orcs, dwarves, etc in roughly 28mm-30mm, Old Glory has a large line. If I recall correctly, you buy 30 figures in a “bag” (each has a body and a separate sprue of heads to glue on) for about $30-$35. At $1 a figure, it’s less expensive, if not “official” LOTR figures. You still have to prime and paint them.
There’s another company called Sabre games or Sabretooth games (have to find out what the name is) that sells plastic “official” LOTR figures and a game played on a hex map. The figures look exactly like in the movies: Elves, Gondorians, Hobbits, wizards, orcs, Rohirrim, etc. All foot figures, no mounted yet. The figures are mounted on hex bases (the map is a hex map) and cost about $2-$2.50 per foot figure—they are completely painted. Oddly enough, this is a “collectible” game, in that certain figures are “common,” rare,” and “ultra-rare” or some such nomenclature, in reality it seems the hex bases are the collectible part, as I believe the same figure gets glued on different hex bases, and the color of the little plastic “sliders” determines rarity.
There’s a point system involved (listed on the hex base), and so on, but it’s actually a cute little game involving special attributes each figure can have. Of note, the figures are really large – 40mm I’d say without having one in front of me to measure. There’s a web site with all the details. As long as you don’t intend to play in official tournaments, etc., there’s no reason you can’t pry the figure off the base and mount it any way you like. Or, you can make the classic “movement trays” out of stiff cardboard and leave the figures on the hex bases, pile them on the cardboard, and move them en masse.
Thought LOTR fans might be interested.
The website is: www.sabretoothgames.com The company is a subsidiary of Games Workshop.--RL
From Todd Bouverot
Hi Rich. Wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much I'm enjoying "Lone Warrior". Your latest editorial really underlined why solo gaming can be so much fun, since we don't need the consent of others to try any crazy scenarios out that we might dream up.
Speaking of which, with my just getting back into wargaming, I have thought much recently about what I'd like to do. My interests are, to say the least, eclectic and wide ranging. It was the horse & musket period that got me wargaming in the first place, as the Revolutionary Bicentennial had a great effect on my childhood, and the period remains my all time favorite today. But, I am a general history buff as well, and, like many of us, enjoy sci-fi and reading of the latest strange theories on the way things work in our universe. To that end, I came up with a campaign idea that would probably give many purists and armchair generals a migraine, but manages to tie all these disparate themes together. It involves some heavy borrowing from a number of rule systems, including DBA, Guns & Liberty, Star Fleet Battles and GURPS.
My campaign "starts", so to speak, in 2261. A Federation starship has discovered a Romulan ship dead in the water deep into Federation space. Intelligence and scientists soon determine that the Star Empire has been working on subatomic warp technology that will theoretically allow physically travel backwards along the timeline. Naturally, they hope to use to use this ability for militaristic purposes. The tentative evidence is that you cannot change the actual events of your own timeline, (not in the past anyway), but can cause a "branching" of another, parallel, universe. The Romulans hope to cause this branching and prevent the formation of the Federation by tinkering subtly in Earth affairs. If they succeed, the hope is that a Romulan Empire will expand unchecked in the parallel universe, and dominate the entire quadrant in their own 23rd century. The hope is that, as the technology advances, an inter-universe alliance between the two Star Empire's can be formed and subjugate the "prime" galaxy as well.
Of course, once you have the "subtle" tinkering idea, you can pick any time or place from "real" history you care to. For me, it starts in 7 BC, on the outskirts of the Roman Empire in the province of Judea. The Romulans, (ironically, since Star Trek based the whole species on the Romans), will attempt to start a provincial uprising that will spread east to west. If it gains momentum, it can topple the Roman Empire many centuries before she actually went down, and usher in a dark age that the planet may never recover from, even as Romulan culture and technology flourishes many light years away. On the practical side, for me, this will allow me to get my feet wet in ancients and paint some Romans and desert peoples, something I have not done before.
The other time period, aside from 2261 AD and 7 BC is my old favorite, 1777 AD. This scenario will have Romulan agents stirring up some stiff Loyalist resistance during the American Revolutionary War, something the British Crown never seemed able to do during the long conflict. This will be loosely set on the frontier of western New York. Of course, forearmed is forewarned, and they have the serious advantage of knowing all about "Gentleman" Johnny and his upcoming campaign in nearby eastern New York and New England.
Of course, the Federation will hastily back engineer the technology, perhaps make some modifications to it, and dispatch it's own teams to counter the Romulan actions. My military units and characters will all be fictional, but, I hope, semi-plausible. Historical personas may make a cameo now and again, though.
For me, this allows a little role-playing in addition to the sheer wargaming aspects and adds to the fun of painting figures and creating scenery. It'll also keep an otherwise idle imagination busy, which can only be good for my family and friends...
From Marvin Scott
Dear Rich.
Got LW145 and the more I look at it, the more impressive it is. First, I noticed four aviation articles – neat! The “Piper” stamps were a nice touch. Then I realized, articles about land, sea, air and space games. You covered ancient period (2), modern and Sci-fi and fantasy. I counted four rules sets! The “Introduction to Solo” and your editorial covered “how to” nicely. You had something for everybody. Well done! I liked the illustrations you worked into my articles. Mike Crane does very good simple games, a real talent! Thanks!
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