By Hal Thinglum - WOODLAND SCENICS ITEMS FROM GEO-HEX - Geo-Hex, 534 SE Oak Street, Portland, OR 97214 (phone: 503-288-4805; fax: 503-288-8992) carries the complete line of Woodland Scenics items. I've wanted to get some of these products for years and try them out re figure base terraining. Howard Whitehouse, who has produced quite a bit of terrain items over the years has been using the Woodland Scenics coarse turf of my terrain pieces and I like the effect. First of all, Geo-Hex offers a 4' X 6' grass mat ($42) which I find very effective for my wargames table. For years I've used indoor-outdoor carpeting which I obtain from hardware stores and although I like the look, I wanted to try something else so I gambled on the grass mats and was very pleased with the effect. They are of a dark green and blend in well with my other carpets. My goal is to obtain enough Geo-Hex carpets to cover my tabletop. Highly recommended if you have a small or large gaming space! Also comes in desert color as well as hexes, seascape, and space. As to Woodland Scenics, I obtained packs of fine turf in soil, yellow grass, burnt grass, and weeds ($2.98/bag of 18 cubic inches) to use as the main terraining item for my figure bases. I haven't tried it out but I like the way it looks - holds promise! I am wondering if I can just paint the base green and then drop on the fine turf. Maybe someone can offer me some suggestions. Also received bags of green and earth blended turf ($5.98/bag of 50 cubic inches) and they are a little more coarse than the fine turf. Perhaps I will mix the two together and blend some other colors with it. There are six types of coarse turf: earth, yellow grass, burnt grass, light green, medium green, and dark green ($2.98/bag for 18 cubic inches), again, a step up re degree of coarseness from the blended turf. Very nice stuff! I gave some of the items I've mentioned thus far to Curt Murff who is constructing me a 4'X 6' hill section in two pieces. Should look good given the quality of these terraining items! I obtained three types of foliage clusters: light, medium, and dark green ($$6.49/bag for 45 cubic inches) - this is GOOD stuff! You can break it apart and glue it to terrain bases for your wooded sections or use it to line farm fields. Very useful and looks great - my favorite Woodland Scenics product! Lastly, there are three types of field grass - straw, harvest gold, and light green - ($2.98/bag for 8 grams) - if you have some talent (I don't) for cutting these 3" pieces of grass in half and glueing them to your terrain pieces, they would look simply fantastic! All highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - TRUE NORTH PRODUCTIONS -True North Productions, PO Box 579, Merrickville, Ontario, Canada KOGANO (phone: 613-269-2557) is a growing miniatures manufacturer producing very interesting ranges (http://underworld.fortunecity.com/grandprix/623). Their newest is a 25mm WWII range consisting presently of 1939-41 Germans: the first is German infantry (14 figures consisting of two officers, two radiomen, two NCO's, and 10 infantry for $18/US), heavy weapons firing, and heavy weapons walking/marching. Each bag has up to eight different poses, and heavy weapons packs have two HMG teams, three LMG teams, one mortar team, one AT rifle team and one flamethrower. Also coming are German 1939 cavalry with an officer, bugler, and eight troopers priced as infantry. There will also be a Panzer 113 ($IO/US), SDKFZ 222 ($20/US), and a number of miscellaneous items including helmets, packs, etc. as well as packs of German and French decals. Should be an interesting line to watch. I received some samples of the infantry and they are very good. They match up well in size/quality with Old Glory's 25mm. WWII lines. Very nice poses, detail, and casting! They also produce 1/144t" Realmwerks, which are pewter WWII aircraft covering German (7), Great Britain (4), Italian (1), Polish (1), Netherlands (1), US (7), and Russian (11) aircraft. These are little beauties! I have a StukaG tank buster (three models for $14.50 which includes decals); it is cast very well in five pieces the main body of the plane, two wheels, and two bombs. Beautiful little model! Their largest range is 15mm WWII (50 infantry/20 cavalry for $14.50 US) for the 1940 Dutch, French, and Belgians. As well as a new line - 1920 15mm Russians and Polish figures which could be used for the Russian Civil War as well. In addition, there are 1941/44 Romanians and Hungarians and 1941 Russians. Most of these lines have heavy weapons and cavalry in addition to infantry and they are steadily growing. They are also releasing 15mm vehicles - samples included Dutch Carden-Lloyd Mk VI tankettes (3514.50 US), Polish 75mm gun with horse artillery crew, Polish TKS tankette w/7.92mm MG or 20mm cannon, Polish 7TP tank, Dutch M36 armored car, and Russian Kom Somolyets tractor with limber and riders. These are all metal kits and need assembly - detail is outstanding! Sample infantry packs included Polish 10h mechanized brigade, Polish infantry, Dutch infantry, Polish AT rifle and loader, Polish HMG and mortar teams, and Polish cavalry. These are just simply outstanding 15mm figures as to detail, animation, pose selection and variety! Try them out, you won't be disappointed! I'm going to look into the Russian-Polish 1920 figures for the Russian Civil War period! Lastly, they produce a growing range of 15min Russian and French Napolermics which are again, outstanding products! I have a bag of French foot dragoons including elites in various poses and they are some of the best 15mm figures I've seen! They look to be about 16mm from top of base to eye level. Twenty-four infantry ($8/US) or cavalry ($16/US) per bag. Drop David Jackson a line or check out his web site for more information. Highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - PAINTING SERVICES - I've been trying to finish up my 20mm FPW project with B&B Miniatures and painted up two units of French Marines prior to my eye surgery; they weren't too bad but nothing compared to the painters listed below who have done work for me for years. All of them use the black primer painting method. John Price, 5657 East 32"" St., Tucson, AZ 85711 - John is perhaps the most prompt painter I've used over the years (not a bad quality)! I sent him units of French Turcos, Bavarian line infantry and grenadiers, and Saxon line, grenadiers and foot artillery. Uniform detail is very sharp and John trims the tunics very nicely! The Turcos had gold braid for the officers as well as gold buttons on the officers. All kepis were trimmed in gold. The Bavarian light blue is one of my favorite uniform colors and John did an excellent job on the line and grenadiers - I especially like his uniform trimming. I liked John's selection of colors for the Saxon foot artillery horses - they had a "sweaty" look to them. The Saxon line and grenadiers were my favorites with a deep blue, again with terrific uniform and tunic trimming. He also added pennants to the flag poles for me and did them in two colors which is difficult to do. Highly recommended; quality painting and prompt service at a most reasonable price! Roy Downes/Celtic Fury, 9 Belvidere Place, Montclair, NJ 07042 - Rov did a Saxon foot gun/crew and Prussian Guard infantry unit for me. My best painted units in my collection are some of my Prussian Guard infantry and they have been done by Roy; though you pay more for this level of painting quality. The colors are very vibrant and there is a lot of detail. Faces are life-like with a determined look! The Prussian helmets are excellently done re detail, Guns and limbers are highly detailed and Rov likes lots of uniform information to do a good job and prefers to stick to 25mm figure painting. Highly recommended; prompt service and a quality product. Jay Wirth/Renassiance Ink, 335 Torrance Ave., Vestal, NY 13850 - Jay recently did some units of French Turcos, Guard Grenadiers, and Guard and Line Zouaves for me. He uses nice full colors - the blues seem "deep" and the reds are vibrant though some of the black primer comes through, which gives the figure a very nice look. I especially like his faces on my 20mm figures - I think Jay "hints" at facial features and somehow it works out very well! Uniform details are concisely done, especially belting equipment. Highly recommended painter who is very professional! Charles Van Norman/The Skirmish Line, 347 N.Maple Ave., Green Bay, WI 54303 (920-435 6337) - Charles is a friendly character who will go the "extra mile" for you as a painter; he has assembled cavalry figures for me (I hate super-glueing arms on figures!) at no extra charge. His work is very good and his prices are extremely reasonable - another winning combination! I recently received a unit of Wurttenburg line infantry and a Prussian Horse Artillery battery from him. Charles' strong point in painting, I believe, is his ability to detail uniform details - they always come out very "clean" and stand out on the figure! Two of my favorite units in my armies have been done by Charles - French line lancers and French Guard Chasseur infantry - beautifully done! Highly recommended painter! Mark Brown/Mark's Paintinit Shed, 11574 Dueling Oaks Ct. , Pensacola, FL 32514 (850-96& 4776) - Mark has been painting 25mm WWII and NWF figures for me for some time. He is a steady producer who has a "real" job and paints for people during his "off" time. I received a group of 25mm Indian Mutiny figures (OLD GLORY) from Mark recently and was pleased. as usual! He did a 10 man group of Mutineer cavalry in a variety of uniforms/regular clothing and the effect was very good. His horses also have that "sweaty" look to them - I couldn't do that! He also did a number of British mounted personalities and officers which turned out very well! When I give Mark figures, they are usually "irregular" types and I always know I will get a wide variety of colors, which is what I want. Highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - SCALE SPECIALITIES 1:160 SCALE DECALS - Scale Specialities, PO Box 4996, Anaheim, CA 92803-4996 (phone/fax: 714-535-7486; has released a line of 1:160 (N scale) full color decals designed for GAME FIGURES, INC Minifig WWII line in this scale. Received were British armored division - part I - NW Europe 1944-45 ($6.50), German National insignia for Bf-109 and FW-190 fighters ($4.95), and US National insignia for P-38, P-40, P-51 and Spitfire IX aircraft ($4.95). Each set comes with detailed instructions re application as well as helpful historical information. Future releases will include standard RAF fighter insignia along with squadron codes, individual aircraft numbers, and historically accurate serial numbers for the squadrons. Decals for German armored divisions are also in the works. These are very well detailed "N" scale decals - if you do "N" scale WWII, you have to get these products! They report their decals are the "thinnest, most versatile decals made" and "will conform to irregular surfaces" on models. Highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - REDOUBT ENTERPRISES 28MM ACW NEW RELEASES - Redoubt Enterprises, 49 Channel View Rd., Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK, BN22 7LN has released more 28mm ACW cavalrymen which are also available in the US from Doug Carroccio, 1386 Portofino Dr., Yuba City, CA 95993 (phone: 916-673-5169). There are twelve packs of dismounted cavalry in shirts, shell jackets, and regular cavalry in advancing, firing line, and firing positions. Three of the 12 packs are command packs. These are all two part castings (upper and lower body are separate) allowing many variations in poses. I've assembled Redoubt's two-part Fuzzies in the past and they are very easy to do and do allow for many different pose positions. There are six figures to a pack for four pounds. The heads are also separate and a wide variety of heads are available - over twenty! As usual with the Redoubt figures, you can expect nothing but the best - crisp detail and casting, little or no flash, and the highest quality if wargames figures. Highly recommended! This ACW line just keeps on growing in leaps and bounds! By Hal Thinglum - FANTASSIN MINIATURES 15MM NAPOLEONICS - Fantassin Miniatures/David Clayton, PO Box 574, Kennesaw, GA 30144 are produced in Spain and available through David Clayton in the US. First of all, I find it amazing that out hobby keeps pumping out extremely high quality figures in all scales; everytime a box of figures shows up in my mailbox, it is full of beautiful little castings and Fantassin Miniatures falls into this category! They offer three 15mm periods: Napoleonics, Spanish-American War, and the 1" Carlist War. As to Napolconics, the French are from 1806-12 and have the full variety of figure types: line infantry, grenadiers, chasscurs, enthusastic infantry, command, light infantry, Young/Middle/Old Guard, cavalry and artillery. There are Austrian-Hungarians (extensive listing), Prussians (13 packs), Russians (12 packs), Peninsular British (1808-13) with an extensive listing, Spanish 1808-14 (25 infantry packs, one artillery, and 5 cavalry), and Portugal 1808-14 (12 infantry, I artillery crew, and two cavalry). Prices are: 8 foot/4 mounted for $3 and there are battalion bags which contain command (10 figures/$3.75; 12/$4.50; 16/$6.00; 18/$6.75; 20/$7.50 while cavalry are in 8 figure bags/$6.00. I was looking to fill the ranks of my 15mm Peninsular War armies and obtained lots of French, British, Spanish, and Port. foot, horse, and artillery crew so I purchased battalion bags. The figures are about 17mm high from top of base to eye level and thus, fit in extremely well with AB Figures, my favorite 15mm manufacturer for the Peninsular War. Unlike AB, the figure bags do not contain a variety of poses, however, you can purchase smaller figure bags, as mentioned above, if you wish to have more variety within your units. What I will do is just mix and match from the different battalion bags (advancing, marching, etc). Fantassin makes the only French "Marie Louise" (in forage cap and shako) figures I've seen! Detail is equal to AB (high praise indeed!) allowing me to mix the two manufacturers together in the same unit. Horses are well done and again, match AB as to size and quality. A very good line of Napoleonics - highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - THE SWORD AND THE FLAME SCENARIO PORTFOLIOS - Larry Brom, (And That's The Way It Was, 213 3" St. NE, Hickory, NC 28601-5124) creator of TSATF, has released two more scenario portfolios for the rules set, although these sets are valuable even if you don't use TSATF. The idea behind the portfolios is to release a scenario set a certain number of times per year. Each scenario (six/set) has individual instructions for each side including the mission, forces, set-on, terrain considerations, and scenario options. In addition, there are two copies of each scenario map (which are very well done) as well as special inserts. For example, in the Scenario #13-18 release, there was a three page piece on "Viable Variants for TSATF" offering information on speeding up large games, attacking walled forts, variable weapon range, National Characteristics, Muscians, Standard Bearers & Medics, Multi-Faction TSATF Card Sequence, and Ten Man Sections. This set had scenarios for British vs Boers, Europeans vs Africans, British vs Dervish, Anglo-Indians vs Pathans (two), and British vs Zulus. The other release covered scenarios #19-24: Anglo-Indian vs Pathans, Europeans vs Africans, British vs Dervish, British vs Boers, British vs Zulus, and British vs Egyptians and also included a special section "D20 Morale Tables for TSATF which included tables for "Stand & Fight", "To Close into Combat", "Rally", and "Major, Critical & Pinned Morale." Cost is $38/year for four releases; a very interesting concept and highly recommended! By Hal Thinglum - G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. RULES - LMW Works, PO Box 844, Amherst, NY 14226 (email: pviveritol(&arthlink.net) has released G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. - Glorious Adventures in Science Loosely Involving Generally Historical Times ($15 including shipping), a set of Sci-Fi rules focusing on the Victorian period on a skirmish and army level and is by Chris Palmer and Buck Surdu. It is a 40-pagc MWAN-format well-produced color cover effort. The authors state "the rules allow for the generation of vehicles, weapons, and creatures that allow groups of players to tailor the rules to their perception of Victorian science fiction." Both Redoubt Enterprises and The Honourable Boiler Company are producing interesting vehicles and figures which would be appropriate for this type of gaming approach so there would be no shortage of fascinating accessories! Figures are organized into groups of ten with weapons and vehicle crews in groups of four with two types of troops (main characters and extras); characters have three attributes (shoot, scuffle & save) while extras have two (shoot & scuffle). There are charts for generating "fantastic" weapons, vehicles & conveyances, animals, and determining character skills. Movement is 6" for infantry and 12" for cavalry; a card system is used to determine sequence of movement for units. An interesting rules set for a period which seems to be growing in popularity! By Hal Thinglum - AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BOOKS - Two MWAN'ers have penned ACW books as of late - congratulations to both of them! RELUCTANT CANNONEER (edited by Michael Banasik) - "The Diary of Robert T. McMahan of the 25th Independent Ohio Light Artillery" ($19.95 with $2.50 postage for 4ffi class mailing) is published by Press of the Camp Pope Bookshop, PO Box 232, Iowa City, Iowa 52244 and is a 360 page paperback concerned with the ACW west of the Mississippi. McMahan took part in the Indian Expedition of 1862, the Lone Jack pursuit in August, and numerous other actions. When in the artillery, he was at Cane Hill, Prairie grove, Van Buren Raid, Little Rock campaign, and Camden Expedition. Michael has added many footnotes to the diary as to background on individuals mentioned as well as historical information. ALL FOR THE REGIMENT (authored by Gerald J. Prokopowicz) - "The Army of the Ohio, 18611862 ($34.95) is a hardcover 264 page book published by University of North Carolina Press, PO Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288 (Fax: 919-966-3829). The actual text encompasses 189 pages while the rest of the book is devoted to notes. It has some photographs and illustrations as well as three nicely done maps of the theater of operations of the Army of Ohio and the Battles of Logan's Cross Roads and Perryville. This effort grew out of Gerald's dissertation. Gerald refers to soldier's diaries frequently in his writing and I find this interesting and enjoyable. Nice writing style, Gerald! By Hal Thinglum - FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WARGAME RULES - You know of my interest in the FPW by now; imagine my surprise when one evening my mail box yields a rules set on the period and the very next day, a second set! Good looking stuff for the FPW enthusiast! CHASSEPOT AND NEEDLEGUN - Two years ago at HISTORICON, I encouraged Larry Brom (TSATF) to republish this set of FPW wargame rules and I am very pleased that he did so! This is a 43 page effort in 8 1/~" X I I" format spiral bound. The rules themselves cover about 18 pages and Larry's intent, as with TSATF, is to present a "playable, entertaining and enjoyable recreational wargames rules that create, to some minor degree, the excitement and pageantry of Tactical Battles of the Franco-German War of 1870." The rules have been revised since their release in 1985. Figure scale is 1:40, 1" = 40 yards and the rules were written for 25/30mm figures although Larry provides "conversion" rulers on the back of the cover for 6mm, 10mm, l5mm, and 20mm, a nice touch. The battalion is the smallest tactical unit. Movement is via random move cards but he has changed this since 1985 by having one card for each brigade instead of regiment; thus the game should move faster. The ability to move is influenced by command control, distance is determined by throwing a certain number of dice (I've always liked this approach feeling that it throws some of the "fog of war" into moving), and I find Larry's method of determining unit morale interesting (a unit's morale is determined the first time they test). I also like his Anuy Morale Status as it aids in determining when the game is "over". The rules are well written and presented, as we would expect from Mr. Brom, and they are a welcome addition to the FPW period! The rules are completed by inclusion of the Orders of Battle for the German and French armies (about 14 pages long) which is very helpful and what I have based my 20mm FPW armies on. Check address above in TSATF scenario section. No price information available but contact Larry re this. Highly Recommended! 1870 - GRAND TACTICAL RULES FOR THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR - by Bruce Weigle published by Mediaeval Miscellanea, LC, 6530 Spring Valley Drive, Alexandria, VA 22312 (phone/fax: 703-642-1740; web: www.Grandtacticalrules.com, is an 8 1/2" X 11" glossy 104 page effort with color ($25 with postage $4.95 for US and $8.75 overseas). This is abeautiful effort by someone who has really studied the period! Bruce reports "1870 was originally conceived to accommodate very large armies, and thus was designed with 6mm figures in mind." He also states it adapts nicely to 15mm with "no changes in basing or scale needed." The basic unit, in this attempt to recreate corps sized battles, is the infantry battalion/ two cavalry squadrons with a single base representing each in 6mm and 15mm. DIO are used, each turn - 30 minutes; 1 figure - 60-65 men in 6mm or 200-300 in 15mm; and I" = 100 meters with 10" = one kilometer. You can play the regular corps-sized rules or use what is called a "double-scale" version for smaller battles which doubles the number of stands per unit. Units (battalions, cavalry stands, artillery) are assigned combat points (infantry/artillery = 3 for example) and when that number reaches zero. Units are also ranked as to morale (Garde Nationale = 5 to Prussian/Imperial Troops/Zouaves/Furcos/Chasseurs d'Aftique = 10). There are command stands for brigade (I figure), division (2), and Corps (3) which render orders and rally troops; each has a command radius (4-8-12") and orders are given at the brigade level. The sequence of play is as follows: command & control, order activation, movement, fire, and melee with morale being checked throughout each phase. Cardboard order chits are utilized to denote unit action and these actions are influenced by order activation (brigade, division and corps command stands are rated on a scale as to the "professional competence of the commanders and staffs involved"). Movement is 8"/foot in line and 15+" for cavalry. Bruce offers much historical information and background throughout the rules set as well as illustrations and examples of the rules mechanics. In addition, there is a very nicely done designer's notes section (10 pages with great information!) and 14 scenarios with full page maps. Information presented in each scenario includes historical situation, mission, notes, alternate scenarios, and orders of battle. Maps are well done. The orders of battle section is 13 pages long and very helpful in Putting together armies for the period. Bruce includes an excellent bibliography with personal comments on each book (get the rules if for no other reason than this!), and he ends with a two-page section on "Making the Gameboard" with terrain tips (wish this would have been longer, Bruce - your color photos of your games are just great!). There is also a four page foldout stock paper section with the rules for reference during games. I am highly impressed with the effort and quality of this rules set - Bruce has done an excellent job in writing and presentation - his enthusiasm and knowledge of the period is evident through the set! You know how we like to have reference materials handy that cover a period quite completely? Well, this would be a perfect example of such a work! If you have any interest in the FPW and are looking for something that will give you a lot of information to get going, hey, this is it! Highly recommended and congratulations, Bruce! By Hal Thinglum - ANGELS 15 - AIRCRAFT DATA SUPPLEMENT FOR SCRAMBLE! - this data supplement (you need the SCRAMBLE rules to use it) is by Andrew Finch and Alan Butler and is published by Brookburst Hobbies (12188 Brookhurst Street, Garden Grove, CA 92840; phone: 714-63635 85; web: brookhursthobbies.com) for $14.95. It is an 8.5" X 11" spiral bound effort of 64 pages and all 64 pages are crammed with aircraft data (how could anyone know this much about aircraft for WWII?)! Information is broken down by theatre (NW Europe, Southern Europe and Africa, Eastern Front, Far East, and "Other") and information is presented for 15 different countries. Unbelievable amount of information. If you play SCRAMBLE, you have to have this booklet! Back to MWAN #113 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum 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