From Robbie Rochiss I noted you are very interested in 6mm wargaming. This is the only scale that I use, having seen the light about ten years ago. Luckily, Irregular Miniatures produce all my needs and if I want anything extra, Ian Key (the owner) will cast it up. The beauty for me with 6mm gaming is the fact that I ran use every unit present at a specific battle. The effect from seeing a whole army is brilliant! Irregular Miniatures have a great range of Seven Years War figures and they paint up really well. I suggest that you use a black undercoating for the figures and then dry brush them in their main uniform color, picking up the details with a fine brush. I also black line my figures and highlight them to make them stand out. For basing, I use Basetex textured painted which is also dry brushed with highlight colors. I make my own terrain boards, and I enclose a photograph (badly taken) of my refight of Borodino at a local show. As you should be able to make out, I base all my figures on a single base, which represents in this case, a battalion. Our small group all use our own rules and in the case of the Napoleonic Wars, the casualties are recorded on the rear/bottom of the base. The boards themselves are cheap to make and once the preparation is completed, they are easy to paint.
(Editor's Note. - Thanks very much for the letter and article which appears in this issue, Robbie. Very interesting and you are correct, this 6mm stuff is most interesting. / might try my hand at painting some once / get situated from my move! Would like to publish your club's rules, if you are interested)
From Charles Elsden I've been invited to play the Americans at Fall '00 British Convention celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Boxer Rebellion. I'm also helping Pete Panzeri edit his newsletter "Veteran Campaigner" (also available on MAGWEB - see my upcoming article on Donald Featherstone's last US appearance among others), Just attended Pete's 55th Anniversary of Arnhem JodieCon, where I was umpire of the Arnhem sector, as well as an active Dutch Resistance force. I'm now a member of Little Wars, the free 54mm chat gang at onelist.com, moderated by Ross MacFarlane. All are welcome to join. It looks like my WWII rules will soon be published. New 54mm news: A BMC San Juan Hill playset will be making its appearance at Toys R Us. Ron Barzo has a new Treasure Island playset. The biggest news is Conte's Collectibles, which bids fair to become the new Marx Company, with licensed adventure/war movie playsets to make all our boomer dreams come true. Interested parties can check his progress at conteco.com. The first playsets, Zulu and the Warlord, are to be available in October. Where he can't get a license, he plans a regular military themed playset anyhow. Soon to be produced are Spartacus, Gettysburg, Beau Geste, The Longest Day, 55 Days at Peking, Pirates and add on figure sets for all, with figures only sets to become available for those who want to collect on the cheap. For the rich, painted metal figures will also be made. This man has 17 sculptors working for him! Other first time figures include WWI British and Scots in Glengarries by Armies in Plastic, new CTA Confederates, and a new CTS T-34 tank. The Second Golden Age of Toy Soldiers continues nonstop!
From Bob Beattie Maybe you can help me in a project I am working on. Some years ago for a convention, I made a "Timeline of Wargaming". This was on poster board, about ten sheets 2' X 3! Only up to 198O. Now I am doing this on the Web. The poster board allowed for only a few pictures on other artifacts on each one. On the Web, I can have an artifact for each entry. Some examples are Robert Louis Stevenson's wargame article from 1898 and the Sport's Illustrated 1965 article on wargaming with Charlie Sweet ; also original text from Wargame Digest and Table Top Talk. What I'd like from you is a copy of the cover and introduction of the first MWAN. Maybe just the first page if it's like my first issue (111, #2). I am also looking for some from Wargamer's Newsletter.
(Editor's Note: Sounds like a very interesting project, Bob! Good luck with it!)
From Curt Traina I'd like to say how much I enjoy MWAN- I remember reading a letter in MWAN where a subscriber described getting a new issue was like having an old friend drop by. That really is true. I subscribe to other magazines, but none of them give me the enjoyment of MWAN.
(Editor's Note. - Thanks very much, Curt! Much appreciated! I have been very fortunate with MWAN!)
From Steve Carroll At Fort Worth Wars on November 13th, my son and I ran two games using my Lone Star and Lion rules set, covering hypothetical colonial actions between the Texas-Anglo Alliance and the Prussian-Ottoman Empire. We painted up a bunch of colonial-to-WW1 figures that I had to represent the various units. Pretty fun. It kind of re-inspired me to continue, at least to the extent that I can.
(Editor's Note: would like to see the rules in MWAN, Steve!)
From Ron Lizorty While glancing through a past issue of MWAN, I noticed you had questions about paint brushes. I've been a professional commercial artist/illustrator (and college art instructor) for twenty years and I've found that everyone finds the brush they're most comfortable with through trial and error. I like the Windsor Newton Sable #5. It keeps a good point (most important) that will give a fine line or cover a wide area. Don't get the paint up to the metal of the brush (a sure way to ruin the brush). When through with it, wash it out and then using soap, form a point with your fingers and set it aside to dry (harden). This will prevent your bristles from getting damaged. When ready to paint again, wash out soap and you should find a good point once more. Arts and Crafts stores such as "Michaels" runs 40% off sales quite often and that's the time that I purchase brushes (although brushes are often omitted from sales due to 25% reduction on them). Hope this helps! (Editor's Note: Thanks for tips!)
From Colonel David Benjamin, Jr., Nothing special from this reader except to mention Karl Krueger's (The Last Square) and Bill Krieg's efforts in the industry. Not only are they both great people, but they go beyond the call to promote gaming and gamers. Karl's invitational is a unique weekend that goes outside the paradigm. It's this kind of effort that will make the hobby grow!
From Jon Laughlin I have not done as much painting as I used to do. I have made and painted a few buildings, but no figures since July. Maybe I'm satisfied with my collection. I have been making some buildings for my Han Chinese Army along with a few other scenery items like native huts, trees and other things. I have also been busy gaming, solo battles, board games and with friends. Those I'm gaming with prefer 25mm Fantasy, but I give them something realistic to fight, like sending a relief column to relieve a besieged fortress, or a band of raiders attempting to get their loot off the table. They have stopped trying to pay Warhammer and other such game systems and are now writing their own rules to play by. My games can handle large forces that look like real armies in a short time like two and a half hours. A battle with even Warhammer's Ancient rules with 300 men per side would take several days to complete.
From Dean Halley I am writing to you for some help in locating a specific brand of miniatures, and for advice on painting and basing techniques. Can anyone out there tell me where in the US I can find Platoon 20 figures? I want to start a 20mm WWII project between the Japanese Army the US Marine Corps, and Platoon 20 is the only line I know of with a substantial number of figures for both sides. Any help I can have in locating them would be very much appreciated. Now on to my quest for painting tips. The only style of painting I know how to do is block painting, and while I think I do a pretty good job at it, the figures look flat when I am done. I have tried giving them a wash, but if I use a black wash, they look greasy and if I use brown, they look dirty.
Can anyone out there give me some pointers on how to make my figures look better, or better yet, could someone write something for MWAN about simple, but effective, painting techniques? That way, we, the readers of MWAN, could all benefit at the same time. I am also looking for ideas to base my figures. My stands look lousy, and I am at a loss of what to do about it. I have tried foam flocking, model railroad ballast, and good old Oregon dirt, but the result is always dismal at best (and to be honest, I suspect the problem lies with the materials I use). Again, I am not looking for the professional result; I just want my stands to look nice.
(Editor's Note: Dean,- thanks for letter Re basing techniques, I really like the "static grass" approach because it is so simple. Just put on green paint and dip the figurelstand into the static grass. Very simple, but effective. Re painting techniques, I can't help you here as I am a block painter as well. Re Platoon 20, RAFM in Canada carries them as does Frei Korps 15 in the UK. I would recommend that you check into FAA, who advertise in MWAN, for 20mm WWII Japanese/Marines; their line is very extensive and high quality. They match perfectly with Platoon 20. Good luck and let us know how you do!)
From Len Brewer I need the Hinchliffe model of 20-45 (Russian 160mm mortar) but am having trouble finding it. I have two and I need more to complete a unit.
(Editor's Note, - Gosh, Len,- I can't remember where I got it. Maybe someone else can tell Len where to find the Hinchliffe 20mm WWII stuff)
From David Clayton Perhaps you can help me locate someone. His name is Terry Briggs who is a wargamer whose family resided in Upstate New York. He had moved to New Port Richey, in Florida, some years ago, and wargamed periodically with our group. When I opened my "Gamerz" retail store (alternative books, games, gifts & collectibles), Terry offered the use of his Empire army as a "house army" for a store- hosted campaign. He suddenly left and flew back home to NY. The store closed and I lost contact with Terry; I'd like to get his stuff back to him but can't find an address for him. I'd also like to thank him for his generous spirit in letting us use his figures. I hope he is still wargaming. Terry, if you are out there, please write and give me your address.
(Editor's Note, - Terry was a subscriber many years ago, David, but I don't have any current address on him; perhaps someone can help David out.)
From Jonathan Aird Congratulations on your 100th issue and what an excellent issue it was! There were some really great articles - Orv Banasik's ACW gun boats were just incredible. I think anyone with even a passing interest in this period would have been green with envy after seeing the Photo captioned "River Action" on page 142. Really enjoyed Chris Engle's "How to build a foam cutter" - I think he's managed, with all the health warnings, to convince me NOT to ever even think about building a foam cutter, but it was a very entertaining piece of writing! Similarly enjoyed several of the "reminiscences" articles, it's interesting the different ways people got into the hobby. For myself, entry into the "hobby proper"was probably due to the Minifigs- Skytrex shop in Central London - which opened in 1976, and was there until the early 80's - being around the corner from my home. I think that actual, real, shops that people can go into and browse get (got?) a lot more people in the hobby than conventions or magazines do, and there seem to be fewer and fewer shops (in the UK at least) and more and more postal only retailers.
Of course, I can't blame the traders for that, the overheads must be much smaller with a mail order concern, and hobby trading probably isn't the path to fame and riches for most people (there are always exceptions, of course). In fact, in the whole of #100 there were only two words that I couldn't really agree with -after the title "Plastic figures in 25mm plus" there were the words Kenn Hart - couldn't help thinking it ought to have said "Jonathan Aird(!). Ah, well, perhaps I'll make into MWAN #200! An index which Robert Burke missed from his list of magazine indexes is that for the Solo Wargamers Association's Journal Lone Warrior, which has been compiled by David McCann. This is available, to members of the SWA, from Lone Warrior's editor - Kenn Hart.
(Editor's Note ' - Oops! Sorry, Jonathan - I hate to make mistakes like that and not credit the right person for the arficle. Kenn wrote to me about my error as we// and / am sorry! Thanks for your most kind words re MWAN #100 and / am very glad to you enjoyed it!)
From Greg Principato Here's my attempt to inform MWANers of the wonders of the Internet. These are extremely well done wargaming sites out there and I have spent many hours enjoying them and using the tips and information they provide.
(1) MAJOR GENERAL TREMORDEN REDERRING'S COLONIAL WARGAMES PAGE http://zeitcom.com/maigen/index/htmI - this is a wonderful, professional site geared for colonial gaming, but there are many topics for all gamers to benefit from. Here is a list of the subjects on this site: figures, scenery, structures, vehicles, ships, landships, books, films, rules, Kipling's verse, links to other sites and more. There are many pictures on this site. Some of the battles this group has played and many are of the figures, ships and buildings used in their games. This site also gives information on how to build many of the ships, buildings and other accessories used in their games. Most of the members of this group were involved with Heritage Models (Heritage USA). I urge all gamers to visit this site immediately, as there is a wealth of information and fun there.
(2) ED'S HOBBY HOVEL http:/Itetrad.stanford.edu/index.htmI - this is a straight forward net site put together by Ed Allen. Ed has put together many topics for gamers to review but the best part of this site for me is the number of links to other sites that Ed has acquired. He touches on many historical periods and even some fantasy subjects also. There is information on painting figures and building terrain in addition to rules and research information. Ed has an opponent finder and a wargame magazine data base. I highly recommend visiting this site.
(3) LUKE UEDA-SARSON'S WARGAMING PAGES Http://homepages.ihu co.nz/~fingon/luke's_1st_page.htm] This site was found by using a link from another wargame site. Luke has topics like Middle Earth Army Lists, Greek shield patterns, DMB scenarios and a DBM Italian campaign. I looked at the Greek shield patterns and they are spectacular. Luke has about 196 different patterns from 630BC to 350BC. Very nice stuff here! You can also find links to other sites mostly dealing with DBM.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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