So, what have we been doing lately? Burning up the e-mails, for sure. With one of us in Vicksburg and the other in San Diego, we don't get together in person too often. However, the internet permits daily contact and we make full use of it, passing as many as 20 messages, photos, etc., each day. Twenty? What in the world do we find to talk about? Keep reading and find out.
In San Diego, I am engaged in four wargaming projects. First, I am painting up 15mm Italians, French and Austrians for the Battle of Raab, 1809. This is just something I'm doing to amuse myself, as it was the first Napoleonic battle I fought and I've always had a great interest in it. Very colorful too. My Italian army will make maximum use of Battle Honours and Old Glory figures in full dress. I wanna see those tall plumes flying. Fortunately Eugene brought the Italian Guard along, so I'll get to paint them in all their glory.
The second project is Colonial wargaming. I have to be a trifle tongue in cheek about this one. Step gingerly around my historical wargaming friends, as it were. I decided this will be my fun project in my declining years and I am freely intermingling colonial troop types and eras, along with weapons and equipment. Maybe it should be called Victorian-era gaming, I don't know. Doesn't matter, really.
I have a fine collection building. There are British rifles, regular line infantry, Highlanders and Sikhs. Also Belgians, Germans, FFL, Egyptians, Ansars, Pathans, Africans and Fuzzys. A few cannons and machine guns with crews, the intrepid Valentine Baker steamer and my trusty Fuzzbuster (a steam-powered chopper with erratic firing habits). Just added are the Italian torpedo boat Vespa and another smaller paddle wheel steamer, The Queen of the Nile. Dan, who has started a new line of handcrafted wargaming ships, called Big Sticks, built all the ships. And, yes, I had to have his first offerings.
In addition, I have a couple dhows, a dock and an oasis building. Plus a group of Turks, Darkest Africa figures and Mexican infantry awaiting some paint. My colonial terrain consists of some corrugated paper mountain ranges and a roll of brown paper, sprinkled with lichen and palm trees from a variety of sources. I also have two buildings, blue river paper and that's about it.
I have spent less on this period than any other I have ever pursued, yet am having more fun. What's that all about? I still have a pile of lead to paint (as usual) including dismounted mounted infantry, more Jocks, Sudanese, Ansar cavalry, Italians and assorted civilians and sailors. If I simply finished them all, I'd have plenty, but I keep acquiring more. Like a steampowered motorcycle being coal-fed by the sidecar rider, an ACW observation balloon (being turned into the German Wolfehund - an erratic bomb-throwing random event masterpiece), a WWI Roland pursuit plane and a LEGO zeppelin I am eyeing.
I use the Sword & the Flame rules set, as it is tremendously simple and very easy to modify for any eventuality. I ran a solo game with it the other day, pitting Major Charles Edward Fromage of the FFL against Captain Percy Farthingale. The British troops were trying to put a heliograph unit in position at a small outpost. A simple enough task, if the outpost hadn't been occupied by Fromage and his band of scoundrels. As the British came on in proper fashion, Fromage sent hordes of native troops against Farthingale's right. One unit at a time until they broke through. On the left, Fromage simply used his guns and lines of FFL to shoot the Sikhs to shreds.
Morale checks favored the natives. The Brits never rolled well. The result was a slaughter. Three companies of British lay motionless in line, as a few remaining members of the heliograph team and gun crews made their way back. There was jubilation in the enemy camp with wild celebration, drinks and booty lavishly bestowed by Major Fromage (or as his men call him when certain they will be unheard, Chuck E. Cheese).
Dan and I are working together/apart on an interesting long-distance 25mm project. It begins with Charles Grant's rules as set forth in his book The War Game and will be set after the Napoleonic Wars as our own contribution to Italian Unification. The Italian forces will be led by the Pope (Dan) while I will be a French officer, hired by the Austrians to command as I was handy on the ground after fleeing from Waterloo to hide out in Parma. We are calling our little adventure The Pope on the Po. All figures used will be home-casts with the exception of really important officers and so on. All troops will be individually based and led by hand-painted standard bearers. All figures will be painted as old toy soldiers with rosy cheeks and glossy finishes and absolutely no flocking allowed. Artillery pieces will be Flintloque cannons and howitzers. Dan is constructing buildings exactly as depicted in the book, with removable outer shells that reveal battle-damaged ruins. This should be a blast. Once we get all the figures painted (did I mention we are creating fictional names and uniforms for all units?), we're considering taking it out on the road to a con or two. More as we progress.
The final project is my Little Wars adventure. If you haven't read it, Little Wars was a book on playing with toy soldiers written by H.G.Wells (yes, that H.G. Wells). I was inspired by the simplicity of the rules and the pictures showing grown men in white suits and straw skimmers crawling about on floors or lawns, taking potshots at 54mm Britains hollow-cast figures with powerful 4.7 ship's guns (mounted on wheels for field use).
So, I thought I'd give it a try, using the same type of figures and cannons. So far, the project has been one of cautious acquisition. These figures are really much too expensive for what they are and collectors have driven the prices high beyond their scarcity. Still, a lot of hunting and careful buying has netted me a bunch of the old cannons and a couple hundred of the old hollow cast figures.
I came across one group of 7 figures in an old red Britains box. A piece of masking tape had been placed on the end, over the real label. It said, BAITALIAN OFFICERS in a kid's handwriting. Inside, I found a mounted FFL officer, a naval officer, a British stretcher bearer, a Zouave, a drum major, a khaki clad territorial officer and a guard officer in red coat and bearskin. All had been embellished in gold paint to create imposing officers, with braid on tunics, sleeves, collars and imaginary shoulder boards.
This caused me to start imagining this kid, sitting there with a pile of Britains in their long red boxes, solemnly adding the gold to his group of selected officers. I assume the stretcherbearer must have been added when some accident befell his companion.
The gold would make any Britains collector swoon with grief You're not supposed to paint or alter the old figures; makes them worth much less you see. You can't imagine the horror my plans met when presented to collectors. "You're going to shoot at them with toy cannons! They might get broken!" It's funny, but when I asked these folks if they had ever seen such a thing happen, none had. I think it's an urban legend.
What's really funny is, when you delve into the Great Book of Britains (a massive tome by James Opie), he points out that the Britains family themselves converted and repainted figures. Imagine that! So, technically, you'd have to say it's more traditional to after and repaint than to be so concerned about leaving the figures in a pristine state. Hmmmm. Maybe that's the difference between toy soldiers and collectors figures. Whether you have fun playing with them or prefer to look at them unblemished and untouched - mint in the box.
Anyway, I did get one really old gem. A 4.7 cannon in the box that is old enough to have served with H.G. Wells' armies! Actually, I have about six others of a newer vintage- and they all shoot. For troops I have quite a mixture, starting with bearskinned Guards. I have a few Egyptians, Italians, Gurkhas, lots of highlanders charging, marching and firing in both traditional and tropical kit - even a couple in trews. I have WWI guys in shrapnel-proof helmets, a couple of cowboys, pilots and knights. I have Waterloo gunners, Fort Henry Guards, King's African Rifles, Mountain Battery gunners, Evzones, Zouaves, Arabs, Marines, Navy, Army and West Pointers.
Am just beginning some repainting. I use the flat colors as I do on my regular wargames figures but coat them with gloss varnish, The effect is great. It was pretty difficult learning to paint "toy soldier" style. No details or shading. And don't forget those rosy cheeks. I have some of the Britains so-called second grade of infantry that started life looking as though they were dipped in red and black paint. They look much better repainted, believe me. I am only going to repaint the really dingy looking troops, as there's something neat looking about the old toys.
Next, I want to get some blocks to make houses and fortifications. I'm still looking for more hollow-cast Britains figures, but they're hard to find. If you have any you want to part with, please let me know. I hope to have a battle report within the next year or so. A review of the Little Wars rule set, fancy that after more than 100 years. I'm really in the mainstream, no?
Just finished illustrating a Howard Whitehouse story to be displayed on the By Jingo website. It's all about old Binky Bagshot confounding the Zulus (and everyone else) at Rourke's Drift. Not to give anything away, but if you ever wondered who really started the fire in the hospital you'd better get online and start reading. You've probably heard by now that Howard is the new Foundry trade representative, but did you know that Patrick Wilson is the new USA mail order rep? He is available 9:30 am to 5:30 p.m. Central time, M-F. Fax 1-800-282-1802 or on the www at PATRICKWILSON@prodigy. net
Right now, Dan is making a scenery module for me for my colonial wargames. It's to be an archeological site with a monolith with hieroglyphs, tent, worktable, well and mine shaft. Enough wall remnants to make it defensible. It will be the set piece of another hell-raising rescue scenario with two relief expeditions - one by land and another by sea. Should be a hoot as the scientists and their womenfolk plus some roustabouts and Sikhs try to hold out against hordes of evil natives, FFL, Belgian Askaris, Egyptians, Italians, Turks and Germans. Tally ho! Yoicks!
I have some great figures for the defense. Some Foundry Darkest Africa adventurers and Victorian gun-toting womenfolk, an archeologist figure, an Egyptian servant and some various and sundry other oddball figures I've picked up. I am using Vallejo paints and like them very much. I had to find something to take the place of my gradually disappearing and seemingly irreplaceable PolyS (I will hate the Testor's Company forever for acquiring and ruining the PolyS line) and Magic Wand paints. The new paints come in nifty eyedropper bottles and you just pour out what you need one drop at a time. They are dead flat and cover beautifully and blend well. Lots of colors too.
I also have been hit by a wave of nostalgia. Have picked up some old kid's books, like Kipling's Stalky & Company and the Airship Boys and so on. Bought an old wind-up Marx tank like I had when I was a kid and actually bought a 1930s Daisy Buck Rogers ray gun. Maybe it's advancing age, but my thoughts often turn to my first bouts with toy soldiers. I had a buddy whose back yard ended at the end of mine. There was a gate in the separating fence and we would call each other out to go and "do stuff' after school, on weekends and all summer long. We were pretty much inseparable.
Our games revolved around our collections, mostly marine infantry, but including some planes, tanks, apcs and cannon. These were of the large 54mm variety, which were mostly made of rubber, so that we could shoot them with dirt clods, firecrackers and BB guns. I can still remember a hollow cast Barclay grenade thrower taking a BB in the chest, which opened a gaping hole. He rocked back and forth, then fell. Wow! What a shot! We also had knights and a castle for indoor games - and if memory serves a Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion playset.
Sure is fun thinking about those days. I remember how excited we were to discover that two other guys we knew were doing about the same thing we were. Painting up units of the same figures and blowing them up in their yards. We had a couple of mass battles, which were great fun, and somehow suddenly we got too grown up to do it anymore. Sigh. Well, on to more exciting stuff.
Dan discovered the Gray & Blue museum in Vicksburg. They have a nifty diorama, a lot of relics and - a wonderful collection of ACW ship models. So wonderful, in fact, that Dan and the owner have fired up the digital camera and put together a book that includes about 5 views of each ship and all relevant specifications (perfect, if you're interested in ships and truly a great reference for the model builder and naval or period wargamer). But, as they say, let Dan tell the tale in his own words...
I approached Lamar Roberts, director and owner of the Gray and Blue Naval Museum in Vicksburg, with the idea of writing a book about his collection of Civil War naval models in February 2000. I had visited the museum many times over the previous years during regular trips from East Texas to Vicksburg to visit the in-laws and never ceased to be fascinated at what I saw.
As a miniatures painter and bookseller, I regularly attend wargaming conventions throughout the South as a vendor. In talking with fellow wargamers, I discovered that few of my fellow gainers had ever been to Vicksburg, much less heard of the Gray and Blue Naval Museum. It struck me that they were missing out on a wonderful resource, and that perhaps I could bring the museum to them.
After moving to Vicksburg in April 1999, 1 had the opportunity to get to know Mr. Roberts better, and vice versa. In February 2000, 1 approached him with the idea of writing a book about his models. At the time, I was working on another project, a book about World War 11 U. S. Submarine battleflags, that I was having a difficult time researching since I was unable to travel all over the country to conduct firsthand research. This was my second reason for writing If It Floats Put A Cannon On It. All of the information that I needed, the models and the museum's huge reference library, was right there at my finger-tips, not to mention the considerable resources at the Vicksburg's Old Courthouse Museum, public library, and National Military Park.
Mr. Roberts was very enthusiastic about the book project, and we agreed to collaborate. We were soon working together digging through reference materials and setting up the models for photo shoots. To keep things simple, we agreed to split sales up into Internet and non-Internet sales. I got the former and he the latter.
The portriat of If It Floats Put A Cannon On It grew out of the necessity to make a book that met our several requirements. Mr. Roberts wanted a book that would be appeal to the general public that he could sell in the museum. I wanted a book that wargamers and model builders would find useful. I also wanted the book to replace the old three-ring binder guidebooks in the museum. I like to think that we accomplished all of these goals.
The book contains historical narrative and photos of Herb Mott's paintings that appeal to the layman. Photos were taken from port, starboard, bow, stern, and overhead aspects, and dimensions were given, for the modeler. For the wargamer, vital statistics were added. The models were listed in alphabetical order and a vessel size comparison chart was included as an easy visual reference to relative size.
If It Floats Put A Cannon On It went to the printer in June and sales began in July. Over 200 copies sold in the first six weeks in the museum and on eBay. The first revision, which goes to the printer in September, will correct a few typographical errors and omissions. Several new Herb Mott paintings and pages for USS KEOKUK have also been added. A web site for the book is also now available at http://acwshipsbook.artshost.com. If It Floats Put A Cannon On It is now also available at the Jeff Davis Home and Library at Beauvoir and through Eastern National, the company that runs the gift shops at over 200 National Military Parks.
We plan to continue to expand the book with each printing as the Gray and Blue Naval Museum's model ship collection continues to grow. Next in line are USS CHOCTAW, USS HARTFORD, and Porter's "Deluded People Cave In" Dummy Ship.
Prolific Dan has not abandoned his book on WWII combat submarines that breaks some new ground in the historical chronicles of the silent service. I can't reveal the secret yet, but this promises to be a definitive work that belongs in every historical book collection and certainly in every library in the world! Yes, it's that exciting.
In addition to all this activity, Dan has started a new venture creating waterline model ships for wargamers. BIG STICKS will produce all of the major ironclads built from 1860 to 1885. In addition he will produce (hang on tight) Sand Pebbles - the USS San Pablo, a Nile River steamer, a Nile gunboat and some generic torpedo boats. The distinguishing traits of each ship will be exaggerated. Beam is twice the scale of length. These are sturdy and tough enough for wargaming. Turrets will spin. Gunwales can be lowered down. Some will have small boats. All will have at least one cool little object to manipulate and although not historically precisely accurate and to scale, they will have features to readily identify them as the ship they represent. Regarding scale, the BIG STICKS are 1/240 scale lengthwise and 1/120 scale by the beam, so they all look a bit squatty. Freeboard (height of maindeck above the waterline) also varies by type. For example, he is using 3/4" hardwood for the hulls. The hulls of the broadside ships with a relatively high freeboard are two boards (1-1/2") thick, while the turret ships with relatively low freeboard are one board thick. The hull of GLOIRE, a broadside ship with a rather low freeboard, is 1-1/4" high. All raised deck areas, bridges, machine gun platforms, and so on, are wide enough to allow for figures mounted on bases of up to 1".
While the proportions of the craft have been altered for wargaming, these look and feel right on the table. I have the Vespa, an Italian torpedo boat with a tube mounted in the bow and a big deck gun at the stern. Looks beautiful on the wargames table with a hand-painted Italian flag flying and I'm busy developing a scenario to use it. Dan's newly written torpedo boat rules supplement to TS&TF involves marking an aiming point and then using a model torpedo to track its path. For every 6 inches of travel, the shooter rolls to determine whether the torpedo runs hot (straight and true) - or veers off or prematurely explodes. If the missile strikes the target (or anything else) one rolls on another table for cumulative damage. Yes, it is possible to sink an ironclad with one extremely lucky launch. Should a vessel sink, all minis aboard get to attempt to roll a six to survive (if they make it, they are placed ashore on the next turn, perhaps to be devoured by savages or armed by allies or taken prisoner).
Well, that's enough about us crusty old wargamers for the time being. What have YOU been doing? Write up your adventures and send them to Hal. They make for interesting and fun reading - and are a great source of ideas for others.
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© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
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