From Herb Gundt Just a quick note to let you know that BATTLE CRY by HASBRO/AVALON HILL is a relatively new game, designed by Richard Borg. I was fortunate enough to be a playtester of Rich's game at HURRICON in Tampa a couple of years ago, before it was acquired by HASBRO. The game is well designed and very playable, with opportunity for a lot of variation. In my opinion, the game is a good balance between a good "beer & pretzels" miniatures game and a board game. Furthermore, I am always pleased whenever I see someone in our hobby make it from the "Grassroots" of the market into the "Big Time". I know that Rich put a LOT of effort into his project and I hope that he reaps suitable reward!
(Editor's Note: Note: Thanks for message, Herb'. BATTLE CRY, by MWANer Rich Borg, seems to be scaring up considerable Interest amongst MWANers; my congratulations to Rich!.I've known him for twenty years and used to play CLS 30mm with him for some time when he lived in Ill.. Great to see him doing welli Rich informed me there are several sites available re this system: http://users.erols.com/jadf/bc/
From Hubert Klak I have just got MWAN 108, and I have to admit I very impressed. Great magazine. Thank you Hal. I have seen in editorial a question about using single figures for Napoleonic. So here are two cents of mine. In the matter of fact I use single figures in a limited way. All my figures are single based, but when I move them as a unit I use magnetic stand. This approach gives me a lot of options, if I like to set up a skirmish (but first I should find good skirmish rules for this period) I can use the same figures, taking them from appropriate unit. If I need a unit it can be easily moved on magnetic stand. Moreover unit itself is much more flexible, as it can be reformed quite freely and adopt a formation suitable for given place on battlefield. In the matter of fact all of it is consequence of rules I use. I am afraid I am rather old fashioned, course I use Napoleonic Warfare by Newbury Rules. As loses are removed by single figures in this rules, having figures single based really helps. As those rules are dating back to early eighties (forth edition 1981) they are definitely not from Fun, Fast and Easy period. But after two or three games player can play using Quick Sheet (two sides A4) seldom referring to rules itself. Maybe one side note re rules design and complexity (playability?). I have read article Several Degrees of Disorder by Chris J. Hahn. I can agree with most of his statements, analysis of different factors causing disorder is excellent, I cannot say anything about rules in development as I haven't seen Shako. What am I most surprised about? Napoleonic Warfare has all these factors (and few more a little bit more exotic) included by design. I was surprised Shako has not. Well, I assume Shako is much faster.
Editor's Note; Thanks for kind words, Hubert, re MWAN, and thanks for your thoughts on single figure gaming. The approach you outline is one I used about fifteen years ago for my 25mm ACW project and it worked out well)
From David Smith I just read your comments re: Battle Cry by AH? Hasbro. This is not the old Battle Cry (MB), but a new game based upon Rich Borg's historical miniatures game, Commands and Colors. I'm sure you've seen the game played at Historicon (in its .'miniatures" form). This is a terrific game; it's a miniatures game for historical gamers in a box, with an innovative rules system. I've played it with my 3 nephews (10-12) yrs.) and I've played it with veteran gamers. Both groups have expressed their enthusiasm for the game. I highly recommend this game, certain that you'll not only enjoy it as written, but will create modifications for other periods.
From Michael Wong I haven't played as many colonial or ancient battles this year as last. Only one TSATF battle and a few DBA fights but most of Y2K was spent fighting WWII battles with 20mm miniatures and either Rapid Fire or Crossfire rules. Lately, I have been spending time painting 20mm plastic SYW figures for use with Revd Glidden's rules.
From Paul Petri Hardly seems possible that another year has gone marching past us. Makes you wonder where your life goes, doesn't it? But with the passing of time, my kids have grown up enough to where Dad can sneak off once a month and game with Tony Adams' group in Mt. Prospect. This has fueled my painting considerably; it also helps that I have a part time job where I can paint undisturbed, for five to six hours two or three times a month. I have been able to paint more figures in the last year and a half than I had the previous four to five years. My 25mm Austrian and Prussian armies for the SYW are nearing total completion, which is something I thought was unthinkable a year ago! I am sort of in a gaming renaissance, well for me anyway. Gaming and painting on a regular basis, more so than when I wasn't married. What the heck did I do with all that free time?
I have also settled on a rules set, Volley & Bayonet by Frank Chadwick, which has liberated my spirit from writing my own rules and suffering the abuse with which that endeavor entails. If your goal is to fight out the entire battle of Leuthen in the actual time it took to historically fight the battled, then these rules are the way to go. It also helps that our group was already using these rules to fight out the American Civil War so the transition was relatively painless. Another aspect that has increased our gaming joy is the Terrain Maker hexes. Tony has labored away so that his entire gaming table is done with GHQ Terrain Maker hexes. We use the hexes for movement, weapon ranges, facing, defining terrain features, etc. These little hexes have cleared up a multitude of what I like to term the grey area of wargaming. The hexes also help when designing scenarios, as you know exactly how far units may move, how many turns it will take to reach the enemy, etc., all of which allows you as a scenario designer to set realistic goals.
Tony and I are planning to run several gigantic battles using his hexes at the upcoming LITTLE WARS convention in April. Logistically, Tony is trying to figure out how to keep all of the hexes on the table; the current table has edges which keeps them all in place. I plan on running the Battle of Kolin while Tony would run a hypothetical Civil War action on the same terrain, Tony's hexes are a thing of beauty to behold. It makes up for my very average painting standard for my miniatures! Anyway, our goal is to run the games once on Friday and Saturday and leave the hexes set up both days as a showpiece event. I never did one of those before so it should be interesting.
From Tom Barkalow I discovered the web site address I gave you for The Miniatures Page was wrong. Should be http://theminiaturespage.com.
From Nigel Casson I'm working on adapting AK47 Republic to another setting for a club project. This will be conducted using readily available (and cheaper) plastic figures to permit as many of our club members as possible to participate. Most of our club members are a conservative lot; they will willingly spend money on mainstream 15mm armies but are very reluctant to acquire something off the beaten track or in a larger scale. If the project proceeds according to plan, I will write an article on it for MWAN. I think the subject matter may amuse many of your readers and probably offend a few!
From John Bertollinil I noted you were not too pleased with the availability of military histories on the Franco-Prussian War. I have one that is pretty good and I don't think you mentioned it. It is David Ascoli's A Day of Battle, Mars-la-Tour, 16 August, 1870. It covers, of course, more than just Mars-la-Tour and has in fact, a complete account of Gravelotte-St.Privat as well. It's pretty good; published by Harrap in France and would not be widely available, I think. Am sculpting Balkan War figures in 25mm, having great fun. Just finished a 1912 Bulgarian infantry and gunner; a 1914 German infantryman and have just started some Romanians and Greeks!
Editor's Note: Thanks, John, for Info re book. Would love to hear more about your sculpting!)
From Bruce Meyer Just over two years ago I moved back to the USA after ten years in Hong Kong. It has been both interesting and frustrating ferreting out the small gaming enclaves that abound in the mists of Washington. MWAN has been very helpful in this quest. Periods that we regularly played in Hong Kong languish and painting projects to participate in the new found local interests abound. It is nice to be a time zone approximate to people like George Johnson of GAJO but annoying to pay the US dollar prices for European lead. The largest benefit is to be able to replace the small storage and temporary playing area of a tiny Asian apartment with the expanse of a good old American house. Visiting friends from Asia marvel at typical American excess space.
From Brian Datta Just a note to tell you how much I enjoy and appreciate MWAN (is that em-WAN, Mwaan, or emdubbya-ay-en?). I have been browsing through issues for several years, usually when I was in a game store or visiting other miniatures gamers, but this is the first time I've subscribed. I have been playing with miniatures for about ten years now, off and on, starting out with 15mm SYW, moving into 15mm ACW, then 15mm Colonials. Right now I'm painting a long-term project of 20mm WWII for Phil Yates' Warhammer Panzer Battles (on the Web, but I don't have the URL handy at the moment). My immediate project is a bit odd, in that I'm painting the figures from the Parker Brothers board game Lionheart. They're 28mm plastic medievals which would blend in well with most of the 28mm's on the market today. They aren't particularly well detailed, and they have a LOT of mold lines to deal with, but at $10.00 USD for 92 28mm figures, I'm not complaining (what I'm complaining about is the fact that the game is now available locally for $5.00!). If nothing else, there are some good DBA elements to be had from this.
I strongly urge Mitru Costea to sit back, take a deep breath, and consider that the person with "sh*tty attitude" was the guy running DBM at the convention. I would have at least told this man off. Mitru was a gentleman and let it slide. We need more people like this in the hobby (we could use them in my other hobby, board wargaming). I've seen his name in various publications for years. It would be a major loss to the hobby if he quits painting and playing.
From Dillon Browne Having received MWAN for a year now I thought it was about time that I wrote to congratulate you on an excellent magazine. I have been wargaming for about 35 years now and the great thing I find about our hobby is that in many respects I feel I have hardly begun to explore it. From the few boxes of Airfix figures with which I started - all I could afford - through to the host of new figures, rules and books I have bought this year, it is clear that the hobby is continuing to expand. This vibrant hobby and its participants are reflected wonderfully in your magazine. Keep it up. One of the periods that has been on my "to do someday' list has been the Franco-Prussian War. I was very interested in your article in MWAN #104 as it covered many of the ideas and options that I have considered but never got around to doing anything about.
But, in your article and all the subsequent letters, no mention has been made of the book that fired my enthusiasm for the period. It is A DAY OF BATTLE Mars-la-Tour 16 August 1870 by David Ascoli, ISBN 0 245-54250-7 written in 1987 and published by Harrap of London. Despite its title, the book covers in 370 pages the campaign up to the surrender at Sedan. There are 28 photographs of the terrain fought over during the 16-18 August and an order of battle. There are also 21 maps. This is not the dry book by Howard but one to make you want to get those armies on the table. But what Armies? I can not decide what scale to use 6mm (Heroics), 10mm (Pendraken or Chariot) or 15mm. My favored scale at the moment is 10mm as some of the figures have as much detail as the 15mm of a few years ago while being cheaper. An army does not cost an arm and a leg. As for rules for the Franco-Prussian War, I quite like the look of WARFARE IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE by Mark Strachan. We have used them at my local club a couple of times (Oxford) and seem quite easy to master. One of my problems has been an inability to let go of anything to do with my gaming. I have hundreds of wargame magazines going back to the Wargamer's Newsletter in 1970. I was reminded of a theory that I came up with a few years ago when I read Nick Stern's letter and your comments regarding pictures (MWAN #107). From my experience of wargame magazines, the quality of the magazine is inversely proportional to the number of wargame figures illustrated in them. Wargaming is as much about ideas as figures and some magazines have just tried to pad out thin pickings with pictures. Wargames Illustrated is the exception with some excellent pictures. The best magazine in the past was, I think, Wargamer's Newsletter. The key features of the magazine were an excellent editorial, good letters page, and the latest news regarding new products. Then a year ago, I came across MWAN and I quickly found much that was reminiscent of the Newsletter. I particularly like the "What's New" section as it gives the best round up, I think, of new products in any wargames magazine.
Editor's Note: Thanks for your kind words, 'just ordered the Ascoli book from the library. Glad you enjoy MWAN; it was modelled alter Don Featherstone's WN as I really enjoyed what Donald did with it over the many years he published it Hope you continue to enjoy It. Would like to hear more about the FPW rules you mentioned as I haven't heard of them)
From Colonel Bill Gray The response to my L'Armee Francaise Vol II: The Age of Eagles Fire & Fury Napoleonic variant (recently published in MWAN) has been pretty close to overwhelming. The current and what seems certain to be the final product, Version 1.5, is still available free as an MS Word file from me by Emailing hmqs1@)mail.hmqs.orci or from the friendly folks at Table Top Tactics via www.tabletoptactics.com. Comments or questions are always welcome, and a Fire & Fury variant on either the era of Marlborough/Frederick or the FrancoPrussian War is up next in the till. The Address Group seems to be leaning towards Frederick, Maria Theresa and the gang. Just to let everyone know one last time and clear up some confusion, Yahoo Groups has merged with and now controls Egroups. If you are just going to use the Email portion of this service, I believe you need do nothing. However, to use all other functions such as downloading files, removing yourself from the list, using chat features, etc you must reregister. You need to surf on over to http://qroups.yahoo.com , register and then search for NapoleonicFireandFury (yes, one word) where you can join the group once again and have full access to everything. Thanks and I hope to continue hearing from all of you, some great conversation going on.
From Ray Breyer I'm in the process of reading through issue #108 at the moment. I haven't actually been active in wargaming in several years, but I read each issue of MWAN as a way to keep up with the hobby. The closest I've gotten to wargaming recently is painting Dixon 25mm figures for custom chess sets. I saw your review in #108 for the new Woodland Scenics static grass line. I love this stuff! It gives a realistic grass texture, and comes in usable amounts (the shaker bottles WS came out with are a great idea!). I generally mix equal amounts of static grass with some of their blended turf mix to give the appearance of long stem grass and ground hugging weeds (a trick I use all the time in my model railroading scenery).
One trick I found by accident, while finishing a batch of chess pieces (Samurai pawns), was a method for getting the static grass to stand up more realistically. Spray the completed and flocked figure with a liberal coat of dullcoat (I use the economy-sized bottles of Krylon). For some reason, most of the individual blades of static grass will stand on end! Not only are you protecting your figures, but you end up with a much better overall base appearance. I'm starting to use this technique on my model RR as well, for large patches of static grass (for large patches of field grass, I'm using spray painted fake fur and real dirt, but that's another subject). Give it a try! Keep up the good work! And pass along this tip if you think it's worth anything; it's free for the taking!
(Editor's Note: Good to hear from you again, Ray; it's been a long time! Thanks for the tip; would like to hear more about your fake fur and real dirt approach.)
From Bob Codery The URL for my colonial website is http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~waden/colon ial. I have been continuing to develop SCWaRes and now have two versions being playtested. The first is aimed at experienced wargamers and is more detailed, but the second is aimed at 12-15 year olds and is very basic. The latter has been played several times at my school Warhammer Club (I have persuaded one or two youngsters to give it a try and they have actually wanted to play it again because they enjoyed its simple rule mechanisms!) and seems to work reasonably well.
Editor's Note: I accessed your web site, Bob, and really enjoyed it. I Iike the written accounts of the battles and the terraln construction techniques are very helpful!)
From Barry Oehl I was given your name and email address by Patrick of The Foundry, he HIGHLY recommended I contact you as your magazine may be a great resource for me. I am exploring miniature battle stuff as it looks like a fun hobby. I want to keep it basic and as "user friendly" as possible to begin with. The Warhammer concept looks ideal as for about $75 1 can buy a starter kit of 2 core armies together with rules and all I need to start except paint. The only downside is I don't especially care for the fantasy concept and wish they offered the same kit but with "real" armies, but of course they don't. I understand from Patrick that my interest is referred to as "horse and musket". Unfortunately I haven't found a Warhammer type novice kit that meets my need and is affordable.
Anyway Patrick suggested I ask you to send me any copy [back issue would be fine] so I can get a feel for what's around. Can you help me please? Of course I would be more than willing to pay for it and postage of course, and obviously if I can get organized with this new endeavor I am sure I would become a subscriber. Anyway, please let me know what you think.
Editor's Note: Thanks for e-mail, Barry; am sendIng you several back Issues for your Information. Also sent you some addresses of groups in your area and am publIshing your letter In hopes some MWANer will contact you and give you a proper exposure to historical minlatures. We don't use the Warhammer approach of boxed starter sets which I suppose, might not be a bad Idea In some ways, especially to get young people started who are used to the Warhammer approach. Good luck to you and let me know how you are doing!).
Response from Barry: With regard to scale, I'm afraid I haven't really got to the point of considering this much. I'm not sure that I have a preference ... I believe the Warhammer [which is all I've really seen] is 1/28, I suppose the bigger the better as they probably are easier to paint. Having said that I'm guessing that bigger means more expensive which could be a problem, as I do have to watch the pennies! I think maybe a scale that would allow me to use some model train type scenery from the local model shop sounds sensible. As you can see I'm pretty confused and definitely open to suggestions/advice. With regard to period ... this is embarrassing, but the truth is I'm not sure I have a strong preference, and could be happy with any. The main factors right now are 1. Simple out of the box type start a la Warhammer, but with horse and musket rather than fantasy creatures. 2. economical with potential to add on as time and money permits. 3.
Simple novice type rules that don't need a years worth of study. At this point I don't see me wanting to research actual historical facts surrounding historical army make up or authentic battle strategies. Maybe this will come later but to start I just want to paint and play! If I had to choose a period, having grown up in England I do have a soft spot for Napoleon and the good ole Duke at Waterloo! Thanks so much once more for being interested in helping me.
(Edltor's Note: Barry makes some vety good points here with his prionties I really hope some MWANer will take the time to give him a hand; I feel strongly he'd be much better off meeting someone who can provide him with Information re all his questions).
From Robert Pearce I am interested in the Seven Years War but that is not the only period which I have miniatures. I am interested in expanding my collection of Ancient and SYW miniatures into 25mm. For Napoleonics, I have 6mm and 15mm; the same for SYW and 15mm Essex Ancients for TACTICA.
(Editor's Note: You should check out the Seven Years War Association Journal from James Mitchell)
From Joel Klogming After a five year absence from the hobby in the land of collectable card games, I find myself in desperate need of an MWAN fix. When I strayed from the true path of miniatures, I sold most of my 12,000 miniatures to feed my cardboard addiction. Luckily, I sold most of them to local friends so I can still play with them. Since I am basically starting over, I decided to concentrate on two periods: SYW with Volley and Bayonet in 15mm (Old Glory) and WWII using RAPID FIRE in 15mm (Old Glory and Battlefront). I have found that both of these rules systems are easy to play and both provide a two to four hour game. These rules are rather simple but I feel they provide the right look and accurate enough outcomes. Anything more complex makes my brain hurt when I play.
Editor's Note: Good to hear from you again, Joel, It has been awhile! We welcome you back with open arms! Let us know how you are doing).
From Jim Davis MWAN keeps getting better; I get new ideas each issue and enthused about different periods. Looking at the present spread - 13 periods and seven scales - I have to resist new adventures and try to finish some projects. My WWII collection of 20mm goes back to 1960 and I am still adding to it. At present, I am doing three battalions of Afrika Korps infantry. I have most of the vehicles and the British infantry. I do plan to get some Heisers PzJG to replace the ESCI 1/72 kits. Well, maybe some early British tanks if he makes them.
From David North Have you noticed how many MWANers have been writing about gaming with kids lately? Well, you can include me in their ranks now. My son, Joshua (age 7) has become interested in wargaming. We started off with some WWII type skirmishes with painted "Army Men", using wooden toy blocks for terrain. He's been looking at all the great cover photos on my MWAN collection though and wants to play some games on realistic terrain with some more colorful figures. He's expressed an interest in Pirates and the ACW. The former will have to wait as I have no figures or ships yet, so our first period will be with Johnny Reb and Billy Yank. For figures, we'll use Imex 1/72 nd plastics. These are very nice figures and, being plastic, are virtually indestructible. Terrain will be a simple green felt piece (my GEOHEX being too fragile to risk with an energetic first-grader) with other colors of felt to represent roads, water, etc. I plan to make trees from pieces of dowel with lichen glued on. These should prove sturdy enough. Buildings will be made of card stock and thus disposable, in case of "accidents."
As for rules, I plan on using Aelred Glidden's rules (actually my own modification of them from MWAN #104). Josh says he wants to sue "real" rules, not ones made up for kids and I think these should be easy enough for him to comprehend. I feel like I'm entering a new era of wargaming and am probably as excited as Josh is. In the early days I gamed almost exclusively with my Dad. Then, since about 1992 I've been a solo gamer. Now, at the dawn of the new millennium I have a live opponent again. True, he's young and will have to be taught from the ground up, but that's exactly how I got started many years ago. Even if he loses interest as he grows up, I think we'll still have many years of fun ahead of us. So, to those who complain of the graying of the hobby, I suggest that they seek out their children, nephews, grandchildren, or whatever. It can be a lot of fun!
Editor's Note: Great letter, David, and it does sound like fun! I am going to send Joshua some items which he may, or may not, decide to share with you. Have a great time with your son; I'm sure hel'l have a great time with his dad!)
From Robert Piepenbrink As regards your Peninsular War project, you seemed to be having some organizational problems. Let me try to help: The short answer is that British line and light battalions did have ten companies. But the companies were often smaller than their French counterparts and the British often maneuvered by "divisions" of two companies. To counter a 120- casting French line battalion, Id build a 100-casting British line battalion, including one flank division of lights and grenadiers and add a rifle detachment of ten if your rules can stand such, and of 20 if they can't. You're about 5:1 and while rifle companies had a paper strength of about 100, 50 would be much more likely in the field. You might consider upgunning the French a bit for balance. Very common in the Peninsula to see a British battery of six 6pders attached to a division, where the French had eight 8pders (actually five and a howitzer vs six and two howitzers and at your level, this might make a difference). Yes, Spanish battalions are four companies for line and militia (lights are six) but do consider a I't battalion, where two companies are grenadiers in really spectacular bearskins.
Editor's Note: Thanks for information, Robert. I will take this Into consideration.
From Timothy Boyd I bent my head over the keyboard to write an exercise for my huge World Civ class last February and, when I looked up, it was the end of November and time to resubscribe to MWAN. How do these things happen? It's being over fifty, isn't it? I look at my undergrads and even my grad students and I know that time for anybody under about 35 has a very different meaning than it does for those over 35. Time to them is still in the future, mostly, and happens more slowly. Time for us is (if we're lucky) a balance of what was and what will be and seems to rush away before you know it; one moment, I'm writing you a letter in February, and only the next, it seems, I'm writing you a letter in November. But, while I write you, I can sneak a peak over my shoulder and there sits my wargames table, with its fenced-in fields of corn and haymows, a small village just this side of a narrow stream with a ford and, beyond it, a milldam and gristmill by a wide pond. It's peaceful right now, like an HO setup, but, at any moment, a foraging party of Loyalists and British regulars from Charleston will appear to collect all the eatables for man and beast, working slowly and deliberately, all unknowing that, just off the table, a small force of Continentals and militia, with Washington's Dragoons in front, will shortly come into view on the Charleston Road, completely blocking the British retreat.
What will happen then? Tomorrow's wargame will tell... Besides wargaming (and planning for fall courses and researching various articles and Carolyn's latest book), the summer months were devoted to attending reenactments, in which this area is so rich. From late June to September, we saw a huge French and Indian War encampment, a Revolutionary War encampment, and a two-day War of 1812 encampment, all with little battles which spread across the outer works of Fort Niagara or Fort Erie. I took about a dozen rolls of 36 prints to add to my collection of Around the World Military Stuff (for lack of a better term), which includes such items as the Turkish Military Museum in Istanbul and the Queen's Birthday Parade in London, as well as Apache Pass and Ft. Bowie, in the wilds of southeastern Arizona. Someday, I'm going to get organized, buy albums, and arrange and label all of my pictures someday. In the meantime, I'll write my yearly letter to you and continue churning out the figures on my painting table.
At the moment, I'm finishing up the French side for a 15mm Franco-Prussian wargame. It's certainly not in the extensive Hal Style only nine infantry units, four cavalry, six guns, and two miltrailleuse - with 12 German infantry units, six cavalry, and ten guns to come - but, on my little 4X6 foot table, it should be convincing and fun. By the way, do you know Richard Holmes'THE ROAD TO SEDAN: THE FRENCH ARMY 186690 (Atlantic Highlands: humanities Press, 1984)? If not, I highly recommend it. Based almost entirely on French primary sources, it provides a very detailed look at what the French government and army were up to in the period just before the war. Depressing reading for what was to come, but inspiring for wargamers interested in the period. I have to be inspired right now to turn out the necessary questions for the World Civ final, not to mention the final in the other class, so I'll sign off with thanks, as ever, for the excellent publication. I subscribe to everything from Vae Victis to Military Modeling, but MWAN has been, is, and always will be, a great favorite and lookedfor item in my mailbox.
Editor's Note: Always a pleasure to receive your yearly letters. Time does fly; I've mentioned to Annie, who is 21, and Kate, who is 15, the other day that I had removed their names from the MWAN credits. Annie spent probably sixteen or so years on the rolls; both were highly insulted that I had done so and insisted that they be re-appointed as 'Address Sticker-onners. It's been years since their little hands tried to help me and, to be honest, It took much more time for them to help me than it would have taken for me to do it myself,- however, you know how those things go. I guess I'll have to add them back on. Anyway, It seems like yesterday that Annie was on my wargames table setting up villages with my wargaming toysl Write more often, Tim.
From George Dullighan Saw THE PATRIOT and GLADIATOR this year they were both excellent. Since they are long movies, they are probably better to watch on video. I've started to count my troops and pack them in boxes. Looks like I have most armies - I'll let you know when they're all packed up. I've become interested in plastic troops for some eras, especially WWII and I base them on 12" X 3" wood bases. They look good. I don't paint them - they are fun - I'll write an article on these rascals. I also have cheap Northern and Southern 54mm armies they look impressive to me. I'm reading Oman's ART OF WAR IN THE 16TH CENTURY - he is a superb writer and apparently was also a member of Parliament and maybe a Lord. It's hard to believe somebody could write this well part-time, but Don Featherstone does, of course. I also collected numerous die cast WWII planes this year and I even have a Rumanian Army.
By the way, a quick painting guide to the Eastern Front satellite troops; Italians wore gray, Romanians wore Khaki brown with their unique helmets, Hungarians basically wear German uniforms in brownkhaki, and Finns have a slightly blue tint to their German type uniforms. I'll write a number of articles when time permits. I know you'll keep the MWAN first rate! I'm adding the following: TEN REASONS TO WARGAME THE EASTERN FRONT: (1) This was the largest campaign ever. (2) The Germans were not able to standardize the tanks they made so there is a fascinating army of armor to review. (3) THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER by Guy Sajer is possibly the best first person account of all time. (4) The figures are readily available in all scales including very nice plastic figures. (5) Some of the participants are still living and you can talk to them in placers where there are numerous senior citizens.
I have met Russian soldiers, German soldiers and civilians in the course of my medical practice. They serve to remind one that we play with toys only minimally related to real war and we need to not take our hobby at all seriously. (6) Winter battles look great on the tabletop. (7) It is possible to fight street actions in settings such as Sevostopol, Stalingrad and Berlin. (8) Pundits who decry wheel to wheel tanks may be scoffed at - the Russians often attacked wheel to wheel and it is legitimate to have huge tank masses on the table. (9) Aircraft are important and need to be used in huge masses. (10) If you read about this war, you hate war, dictators and philosophies that lead to killing. You play with your toys, but don't argue with rules lawyers and are glad to be alive. You are glad to enjoy toys just like a child because children and toys are inherently good.
(Good to hear from you again, George; my best to your brotherl The 54mm plastic ACW Figures you mentioned interest me greatly; I did get a gun/limber/crew In this scale; suppose someday I'll get some Infantry but don't know what I'll do with them, nice toys, though!)
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© Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum
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