BY Len Brewer - BRITANNIA MINIATURES 20MM VIETNAM LINE - I recently received the following miniatures from THE GAME ROOM " 1293 Peoria Street Washington, Illinois 61571. Telephone 1-309-444-4640; web site www.theaameroom.net, e-mail theaameroomfl mwonline.net. Britannia Miniatures has released a new range of figures for the Vietnam War in 20mm scale. Currently only the Viet Cong and the American infantry in flak jackets are available. VCG-1, consists of three figures in various poses. There is one figure kneeling pointing and the other two are advancing in different poses and pointing. The three figures have a blanket roll and a small knapsack on them. All are armed with machine guns. This package is available for $1.99. VCG-2, consists of three figures advancing with rifles. The three figures are armed with rifles. The figures are equipped with the standard blanket roll and knapsack. All of the figures have the "coolie" hats. This package is available for $1.99. VCG-3 consists of three figures advancing with various machine guns. One figure has the Russian machine gun of WW-II fame; one looks like the Thompson machine gun and the last one looks like a typical light machine gun. All three figures have the blanket rolls and knapsacks, along with the coolie hats. This pack is available for #1.99. VCG4, consists of three figures advancing firing their rifles. The figures are couching and standing. The equipment is the same as the other figures. This pack is available for $1.99. VCG-6, is the two-man light mortar team. The loader and the mortar tube are on one base. Both figures are kneeling. The loader has a mortar shell in his right hand. The equipment is the standard blanket roll and knapsack. This pack is available for $2.25. VCG-7, consists of two figures. One of the figures is firing a rocket-propelled grenade. This figure has an extra four rocket grenades on his back. The other figure is an extra loader. This figure is firing a carbine and he has four rocket grenades on his back. This pack is available for $2.25. VCG-9 consists of two figures. The prone figure is firing a bazooka. This figure has the standard blanket roll and knapsack available. The loader is also kneeling. The figure is armed with a carbine and he is holding a bazooka shell in his right hand. This figure's hat is on his back. This pack is available for $2.25. VCG-11, is a command pack. One figure is advancing with a pistol. Another figure is advancing with a flare pistol and AK-47 and the last figure is advancing and firing his AK-47. All of these figures are equipped with a blanket roll and knapsack. This pack is available for $3.50. All of these figures were flash free. They are very well detailed and they will fit in very well with other 20mm scale figures.
By Curt Traina - WAL-MART 20MM VEHICLES - Anyone doing modern 20mm gaming should check out their local WAL-MART. They have a line of G.I. Joe die-cast vehicles that features an M3 Bradley and LAV-25. The Bradley can be had in desert tan, green, ora light green, dark green, and tan disruptive pattern. The LAV-25 comes in desert tan or the same green/tan disruption pattern as the Bradley. You'll possibly want to paint in details on these toys and paint over the rather garnish GI Joe decals on the side of each vehicle. There are some quibbles with these toys, most noticeable being the much too thick gun barrel for the LAV-25. However, they sell for .88 for the Bradley and $1.88 for the LAV-25, certainly worth a look to anyone interested in 20mm Modern Gaming.
By Hal Thinqlum - DAY OF BATTLE FLAG SETS - Chris Parker has released some 25mm color flag sets (www.dayofbattle.com; Email: dayofbattle(aattbi.com) and sent them to me via an attachment; unfortunately, I do not have a color printer so I can't describe the color to you. However, there were ten different medieval flags: Thomas Berkeley, Maurice Berkeley, Sir Ralph Basset, Roger Oigod, William De Felton, Henry De Lacy, Alexander Lord of the Isles, The Templars, Henry De Graham, and the Fitzwalters. Chris reports they are available from his website for $3.00 per page as a pdf download.
By Hal Thinqlum - COMBAT COMMAND - WWII SKIRMISH RULES FOR 25MM MINIATURES - MWANer Larry Freeman (LDT Gameworks, 37 Craig Martin Ct., St. Peters, MO 63376) has released a very nice looking set of WWII 25/28mm set of skirmish rules; 109 pages of rules and Table of Organizations including six scenarios, 24 pages of Quick Reference sheets for the armies, unit rosters, and game rules quick reference sheets. I've been waiting for someone to come out with such a rules set - I had thought about writing my own for my personal 28mm WWII collection, but I know so little about the period - and Larry has done just that! Like many other wargamers, I can find something of value in just about any rules set I run across, however, this, in my opinion, is an excellent effort on Larry's part and he deserves congratulations for the final product! The "core" rules take up only eighteen pages and I find his Table of Organization to be excellent. Larry was motivated to come up with this rules set by the new 28mm WWII figures available from a number of companies at the present time. He experimented with various rules sets, but like the rest of us, found them insufficient to meet his needs ("either too complex or too simple'). He goes on to say..."Within these rules, I wanted nationalities to fight differently and to stand on their own tactics; not because the rules told you to do so, but because it would make sense for your army with its equipment for you to do so. "He reports "The overall aim of Combat Command is for you to have a large amount of troops and vehicles on the table and still walk away three or four hours later feeling like the time was well spent." A man after my own heart!
He recommends single basing for figures (I like that) and uses a variety of dice (D4, D6, D8, D10, and D12); scale is one figure equals one man/one weapon/one vehicle. There are four phases: morale/support, first movement, firing, and second movement phase. Leaders are valuable in this system for morale purposes and firing. There are rules for air and artillery support, bombardments, shooting at aircraft, aircraft vs vehicles, hiding and sighting, opportunity fire, spotting, smoke, weather, mines and booby-traps, earthworks and fortifications, crew survival, special ammo. flamethrowers, and much more. There is an interesting optional rule - the Optional Leader Table - for leaders, medics and heroes which I think you enjoy when gaming in this period. Something I really liked about the rules writing approach is that Larry interjects a lot of the "game-designer" type of information within the rules; I always enjoy it when an author includes his in-depth thoughts as why he wrote a certain rule. You will enjoy this in Combat Command! His Table of Organization section, as I mentioned, is outstanding. For example, in the Commonweath Army in WWII section, he covers the rifle section, platoon, company, and battalion; and regimental/divisional support. Following this outline, he writes about "Using the Commonwealth Army in Combat Command" - very useful to gamers such as myself who have a limited amount of knowledge about the period - as well as what "leaders" of various ranks are able to do within the rules system. After this, he provides information as to other types of available support: Battalion heavy weapons company, sappers, anti-aircraft platoon, anti-tank, recce, Air Force, artillery, snipers, and armoured cars. The Royal Tank Regiment/Armoured Brigade is presented from the troop/squadron view as well as airbourne, SAS, SBS, and LRDG. The same is done for France, Germany, Imperial Japanese Army, Italy, Soviets, and the US Army and Marine Corps. The six scenarios feature a brief introduction, composition of the forces, victory conditions, terrain, deployment, "points to remember" and a map. This is an 8 1/z" X 11" spiral bound effort with color cover. What do I like so much about these rules in addition to what I've already mentioned? I really enjoy Larry's writing style - he's a good writer who makes reading his rules an enjoyable experience! His organization regarding the rules is outstanding. His knowledge of the period stands out to me; this goes back to how well I think he organized these rules - his effort "flows" in a very positive fashion. I am very glad I didn't take the time to "try" and put a playable set of WWII rules together for my 28mm collection; it would have been a waste of time - Larry has done it all for me! $30.00 plus $3.95 postage. Larry also has a website (http://www.ldtaameworks.com) and can be reached by Email at: lfreeman@@sbcaloba1.net. My congratulations, Larry, on a fine product! Hope to see more from you in the area of scenarios for this fascinating period and highly visual scale (28mm)! Most highly recommended!
BY Hal Thinglum - Andrew Doyle's 3-D Contours - I've used the services of Andrew Doyle, 120 McPhail Rd., Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (601-583-4321) for many, many, years now. I have extensive stream and river sections by Andrew as well as many tree bases, bridge river sections, a large 25mm swamp, etc., and I've always been extremely pleased with his services. For my 20mm ACW collection, I wanted some ACW-type log fences and Andrew was kind enough to forward me a pack of 15mm split rail fences (two six inch sections for $6.00). All of Andrew's terrain items are handmade and "one of a kind" - these are excellent as well! Based on hardboard, they are terrained with grass and small stones and the sections fit together very well. They are painted in a "weathered gray" type color - perfect for the ACW. They are available in packs for both 15mm and 25mm and have a variety of angles. My next terrain project for Andrew will be to send him the beautiful MUSKET MINIATURES 22mm ACW houses and have him base them in groups - small farms with a house and barn and the very good MUSKET MINIATURES metal fences - anxious to have him paint the houses and terrain them! Good work, Andrew! I will be getting his split rail fences for my 20mm collection as even though they are 15mm, they fit perfectly for 20mm! I have quite a few items to mention from Andrew in this issue - I'd sent him quite a few 15mm European buildings and farm sets to base and terrain; they were already painted. First of all, a beautifully done church from Scenic Effects; I don't recall the name of it, but there is "U" shaped church with a bell tower between the "U"," an outbuilding, and walls with gate. I asked Andrew to base this on a 12" square base along with a Scenic Effects cemetery, grove of six trees to be placed alongside the church yard, and an "L" shaped hedge in the back joining the back of the church with the side of the cemetery and he did a fantastic job. He made a dirt road going through the gate leading between the church and the outbuilding leading to the cemetery gate. This is a beautifully done piece! I also sent him a painted 20mm Bridge and had him base it on a two inch stream section; Andrew's rivers and bridges are even better than they were some years ago when I had them done. What I like about his work is that rivers, for instances, or streams, are measured so that I can order new sections and they will still fit with the old ones. He used a literal amount of white stones for the river banks and even has a clump of grass growing on the side of the river. I also sent Andrew the painted "Peel" farm set (15mm) from Village Green which is a great set of a large manor building with large tower, and three barns of varying sizes and ask him to put it on a base 12" X 16" with several walled in farm fields. Andrew made one field from the Woodland Scenics turf; five rows about seven inches long. Right next to it is a wheat field which Andrew made in strips about one by three inches with Woodland Scenics "wheat-like" grass. There are 13 such pieces made so that they fit neatly into the area but I can take them out and place troop stands in the area vacated by the wheat piece. Nicely done! I also sent him two trees for the corner. The farm is situated on half of the hardboard base with a dirt-like area and road leading in one side and out on the other. Another beautiful work of art by Andrew! Thanks, Andrew! Lastly, are a number of ridge sections which can be used for any scale. These are one foot wide and nicely sloped for wargames figures; the center sections are either one foot or two feet long while the end sections are one foot long. They join together very nicely and tightly; there are center sections with a river, cliff banks, sloped banks, sunken road, wooded, and more. I plan on adding trees to them on my own. Center sections range from $18 to $62.00; one of the center sections I obtained has a third ridge spur going out in the front, or back. They are mounted on a hardboard base, sculpted out of Styrofoam and then covered with some sort of compound followed by Woodland Scenics grass and rocks. Very effective ridges and highly recommended! Give Andrew a call with your terrain needs; I believe he can make anything. We talked about him making some 20mm French railroad raised sections for my Franco-Prussian War including a river section with a railroad bridge crossing it. Wouldn't that be neat! I just can't see anyone being disappointed with Andrew's work!
By Hal Thinglum - CELTIC FURY PAINTING SERVICE - MWANer Roy Downes, Celtic Fury, 9 Belvidere Place, Montclair, NJ 07042 has been painting 25mm figures for me for some years. I just received twenty 25/28mm French Napoleonic Line Infantry for my Peninsular War project - a skirmish-type approach. An MWANer some issues ago, in response to something I wrote about the project and it's organization, suggested that I use twenty-figure units and so I did! I went through my 28mm Napoleonic "storage box" and found twenty French line infantry from a variety of companies; Foundry, Old Glory, Connisseur, Redoubt, and no doubt, several other manufacturers and sent them off to Roy with instructions to paint them in a campaign-type manner and he did just that! The figures, being from a variety of companies, have a wide variety of clothing and headgear which makes them a very appealing unit to me. Roy did a fantastic job of painting; shako covers are different colors as are trousers: browns, off-whites, grey, blue, etc., there are patches painted on trouser knees, overcoats are different colors and look truly "dirty as do shako covers!" Any unit in the field for more than a day started to look like this, I would think! Roy's "style" is that of an "excellent professional painter" - lots of detail - the drummer, a Connisseur figure carrying his drum behind him and leaning forward with a pistol in his right hand is a lovely figure - the uniform trim is amazingly well done! The officer's mustache identifies him as an "aging" man, not a "Marie Louise." The patches on the trousers sometimes are painted in a pattern as if they came from something other than a "plain piece of cloth" - a nice touch! There appears to be a lot of shading; weapons are especially well done being outlined in black. You get the picture, don't you? Lots of fine detail from an "artist!" Highly recommended - thanks for a great job, Roy!
By Hal Thinqlum - COMMAND POST PAINTING SERVICE - I'd never had the opportunity to utilize the painting services of long-time MWANer David Reynolds, 20578 Alliance-Sebring Rd., Alliance, OH 44601 in the past. Some time ago, he did send me a very nicely done diorama of three French Napoleonic Cavalry (Old Glory) charging and I was impressed by his work at that time. I sent David a group of 20mm Kennington Miniatures American Civil War dismounted Union and Confederate cavalry knowing that David specializes in the American Civil War. I wasn't disappointed with the result - David does a very good job with what I consider a "drab" uniform - the Union "blue" - I was always disappointed with my own painting efforts with Union figures but David's are very good! My favorites, however, are the Confederates - they were done in a variety of trouser colors as well as different shades/tones for the jackets and hats. I suspect David uses a black priming method but can't be sure - whatever he uses, the effect is very good! Outstanding work and highly recommended! Thank you, David!
By Hal Thinqlum - REDOUBT 25MM ACW & VICTORIAN ERA NEW RELEASES - Redoubt Enterprises, 49 Channel View Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22 71N, UK (Phone: 01323-738022; Website: « , redoubtemerprises. com) has released four ACW items: ACX52 Ammo caisson (6 pds), ACX53 Rebel double guns & teams (15 pds), ACX54 Ragged Rebel wounded and stragglers, and ACX55 Ragged Rebel Battalion pack. ACX54 and 55 were received for mention in this column. The "stragglers/wounded" pack features five figures with separate heads (one has a separate right arm); one of the five is carrying a wounded comrade over his shoulders, another is walking while leaning on his musket held out in front of him, two are supporting a wounded Reb between them on a musket. The "Ragged Rebel" Battalion pack is something else to see! Six command, consisting of a drummer boy, sergeant keeping the line straight, two standard bearers (without poles), and two officers, one of whom is missing his left arm and has his left sleeve attached to the shoulder - a very interesting figure! There are twenty-four enlisted men - 24 different poses - advancing and/or marching in a very wide variety of clothing; one seems to have a carbine - there are figures in shell jackets, "unofficial" coats, blanket rolls, ragged clothing, bare feet, what a diorama this pack would make! All figures have separate heads and there is a wide variety of heads/headgear. As usual, REDOUBT figures have literally no flash and the detail is amazing! Lastly, from their expanding Victorian Range, they offer eight Russian infantry figures (.75 pence each); an officer, NCO, and six enlisted men; all wear soft caps and have blanket rolls (except for the officer). The officer is advancing with sword in right hand and firing pistol in his left; the enlisted men are advancing, charging, standing and kneeling firing, kneeling and standing loading, and marching. Excellent figures! I have long wanted to do Russians for the Northwest Frontier and these might just do the trick! They seem to fit in with the Wargames Foundry/Old Glory figures in my NWF collection. Highly recommended! Also available from THE MINIATURE SERVICE CENTER, 1386 Portofino Drive, Yuba City, CA 95993. By
Hal Thinqlum - FREI KORPS 15M REDESIGNED SEVEN YEARS WAR CAVALRY - Frei Korps 15, 12 Beechfield Ave., Conlig, County Down, BT19 7ZY, UK (Phone: 0044-2891471368; Website: www.freikoriD.com; Email: freikorp(cDglobalnet.co.uk) recently redesigned all of their 15mm Seven Years War cavalry; also, if you didn't know, they are now being cast in a less brittle metal. When I heard the line was being redone, I was a little concerned as Frei Korps 15mm cavalry were always my favorite cavalry figures; I liked the one-piece casting but I really liked the poses of the horses and figure! I was very pleased when my figures arrived and I could tell they still had the same positive qualities that I liked in the past! First of all - costs: eight foot/four mounted/three generals are $3.00/pack; five foot command/2 mounted command are $2.20; artillery crews are 4/$2.20 and artillery teams are 6/$3.70. I should also add that I really like their artillery, limbers, and horse teams - they are amongst the best available in my opinion. Plus, they make such a wide variety of horse teams for the various countries that I find it amazing! Postage is 40% airmail/30% surface to the USA. However, they are also available in the USA from David Clayton, PO Box 574, Kennesaw, GA 30144 (Email: histcolassoc anearthlink.net). Something else I really about Frei Korps 15mm cavalry, not just for the SYW period, is that they have command for all of the different units. Let's look at the Prussian cavalry as to what is available: Freikorps von Kleist Uhlan and Horse Grenadier, Cuirassier, Dragoon with and without labels, Hussar in mirliton or colpack, Bosniak, Ulanencorps Krczowsky, Mounted Feld lager, Guarde du Corps, as well as mounted Colonels and mounted Personalities. The troopers are all of one pose but I don't mind this at all. The British line has Line Cavalry/Dragoons, Light Dragoons, and Horse Grenadiers; Hanover offers Line Cavalry, Horse Grenadier, and Legion Britanique Cavalry, Schaumberg-Liuppe has Black Carabiniers. Austria has Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Horse Grenadiers, Hussar in colpack, and Mounted Pandours. Russia has Dragoons, Horse Grenadiers, Cossacks, and Hussars. Sweden has Cavalry in tricorne or round hat, and France has Gendarme Cavalry Maison du Roi as well as Horse Grenadiers, Line Cavalry in tricorne or bearskin, Line Dragoons Bonnet de Police, Claremont Prince Dragoons, and Hussars. Just an outstanding collection! I don't know how this line was "redesigned" - if they were resculpted or if new molds were made - however, they are free of flash and are very crisp castings. The "old" Frei Korps figures used to have some flash between the legs of horses and these don't. I find the Frei Korps 15mm SYW cavalry to be very "stately" in pose. I really like the wide selection of mounted Generals and personalities. Although I had thought all the trooper packs only had one pose, I have noticed that some of the Hussar packs have two different poses - this is a plus! Lancers and standard bearers have open hands without separate lance/pole - I like this as I like to glue in flag poles and lances and always use wire to do so. Outstanding quality and highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - 20MM WWII AB FIGURES FROM EUREKA - Nic Robson of Eureka Miniatures, 10 Woorayl Street, Carnegie, Vic 3163, Australia sent along some 20mm (1/76th) WWII releases from AB Figures (Wargames South, Ffos Yr Ewig, Llanfynydd, Carmarthen, SA32 7DD, UK) and they are beauties! AB Figures makes a lot of 20mm crews for trucks and tanks and they appear to be branching out. Nic sent German Panzer Grenadiers in Hanomag - none of the eight figures are on bases, rather, they are intended to be placed on the vehicle itself - two are standing firing different types of machine guns, one seems to be a loader, two are sitting (different poses), and two are standing (different poses). Then there are eight Panzer Grenadiers sitting in trucks with different types of weapons. Finally, a pack of SS infantry in defence - nine figures - only one is standing and he appears to be moving forward with rifle but slouched quite low; a three-man machine gun team with attached machine gun; a machine gunner without a machine gun; and four kneeling/semi-kneeling figures in different poses. I find these figures very attractive and well designed/cast. Highly recommended!
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