By Hal Thinglum - VATICAN ENTERPRISES - Most MWANer's are familiar with the fine wargames buildings produced by Hudson & Allen Studio in 25mm. Vatican Enterprises, 43259 Herring Dr., Clinton Twp., MI 48038 (Phone: 586-822-7874; Website:www.wargamescenics.com E-mail: info@wargamescenics.com is now producing them. This is an excellent line of polyurethane foam lightweight wargames structures. First of all - European Village ($70) measuring 15." Long X 11" wide X 6" high with a two story "L" shaped building and attached single story stone building, two entrances, an "L" shaped stone wall with two smaller buildings forming part of the wall all based. Also excellent for the English Civil War! Next is a Fortified Medieval Farmhouse ($70) 1.75" X 9" X 5" high; great again for Europe/England; stone walls with four inner structures of which two have removable roofs; one of the removable roofs is a second story. Cobblestone and stone base with a well in the center; lots of detail, two parapets, both with steps leading up to them. Excellent!
Late Medieval Manor House ($60) which is 10.5" square X 6" high also on a base. Two 2story structures joined in the middle by a single story with cobblestone base in front and back (some dirt in the back) with a large cobblestone road in the back yard. At the edge of the road in back, there is a nicely done stone wall. Late Medieval Village set ($70) of three buildings, all on bases. There is a single story brick house with a well in back; a large two story house with adjoining single story - these buildings are a combination of wood, stone, and plaster. The third building in the set is a barn with hatch roof and dirt/stone base with a "manure" pile in one corner. There is also a log cabin village set - perfect for the Americas or for my WWII Russian Front - there are five buildings in this set ($60) of which I received two; a large cabin and a barn with thatched roof. Also received was one of the four buildings in the Medieval Village Set #3 (4 buildings/$60) - a stone building with thatched roof.
Also available are two other Medieval Village sets, each of five buildings for $60 - I purchased both of these sets years ago for my 25mm SYW collection and was very pleased with them. Other sets include a Scottish Highland Village (3/$60), Native American Village Set (5/$60; two long houses and three wigwams), castles, a bridge, watch tower, The Alamo ($275; how could you make one better than this?), desert fortress ($125), and Megalithic Wedge Barrow ($30). Detail is outstanding on all of these structures; they paint up well using either a base of black or white; I've tried both. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - 3-D CONTOURS TERRAIN ITEMS - Andrew Doyle, 120 McPhail Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39401, sent me some more 15mm ACW fences which I am using for my 20mm ACW project; these are all hand-made, based and nicely terrained! 15SR8 split rail fence ($3.50/two 3" sections); 15SR7 ($5/°T" shaped fence 5" long with 2" section jutting out from the middle); 15SR4 ($5/6" section with gate); 15SR6 ($7/two slight angled sections); 15SR5 ($7/two sharp angle sections); 15SR2 ($6/two 6" straight sections); 15SR3 ($4/6" section with small gate); and 15SR1 ($10/two 12" straight sections). Andrew does quality work; I like the fact that they are all hand-made, and thus, have some variation. The base is very durable and none of mine have ever warped; in addition, the terraining is very well done. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinqlum - WARGAMES ACCESSORIES METAL STANDS - For some years now, I've been using Jeff Lista's (7566 20th Street N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702; Phone 727-522-6203). I used to make my own stands out of tempered hardboard and the only collection I still have based on non-metal stands is my 25mm SYW as I don't want to redo them! There are 38 differently sized bases, all $4.50/pack with anywhere from 15 to 50 stands in a pack, dependent upon the size. Jeff also offers "Fantasy" metal stands (wonder how they are different?!), and magnetic 15mm movement stands for Armatie and Fire & Fury. Jeff provides excellent mail order service and his stands are available in many hobby shops. Personally, I use super glue to attach my figures and this has worked out very well with only the occasional figure coming off (these are always figures whose base is not completely flat or leaning forward too far). I then simply paint the stand green and drop static grass or Woodland Scenics turf on it while it is still wet. The effect is very nice. Jeff's stands are cleanly cut so there is no cleaning or filing to be done. You can also order special sizes; I ordered some very long/thin strips for fences some years ago. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinqlum - GEO-HEX ITEMS - GEO-HEX, 534 SE Oak Street, Portland, OR 97214 (Phone: 503-288-4805; E-mail: krs@geohex.com; Website: www.geohex.com) has some interesting table mats all 4' X 6' in size; they offer a seascape mat (GSMAT-S) which is aqua colored and printed in two colors which provides a look of wave shadows ($37.50). Very effective for sea wargames. GSMAT Gamescape mat ($42.00) comes in either green (G) or desert (D). All of these mats are also available with hexes. I find that they fit very well on the wargames table and look good as the mats are coated with terraining material. One could easily "spice" them up by spraying a clear type of coating and then dropping extra types of flocking on them. They easily fold up into a 12" square bundle and would be perfect for convention games giving you a nice functional (easily transportable) wargames surface. Highly recommended! GEO-Hex also carries the full range of WOODLAND SCENICS; available for mention are the following: T49 blended turf green blend ($5.98 for 50 cubic inches), T44 fine turf burnt grass and T43 fine turf yellow grass (each $2.98 for 18 cubic inches). I very much like the WOODLAND SCENICS colors; I've been using it with my 25mm WWII collection and the effect is very nice!
By Hal Thinqlum - AOUILIFER 15mm SEVEN YEARS WAR - Aquilifer, Viale Cuglielmo Marconi, 444-00146 Roma, Italy (Phone: (+39) 338-7424286; Website: www.aquilifer.com) is, to my knowledge, a new company producing wargames figures. Their first release is a very impressive and extensive 15mm SYW line consisting of Prussians and Austrians. The Prussians have nine packs each of Musketeers, Grenadiers, and Fusiliers including casualties (.40 Euro per figure); four artillery packs (foot and horse - both with officers, bombardiers, and casualties), mounted officers, four packs of personalities, four packs of Guards, four guns, and two limbers (2 or 4 horses). Figures are available in brigade and division packs as well. The Austrians are set up the same way re poses and have German and Hungarian Fusiliers and Grenadiers; artillery, and mounted officers. Their next releases will include cavalry and Jaegers/Grenzers for Prussia and Austria. The figures have a lot of character (I really like them a lot!) and are about 15mm tall from top of base to eye level. Outstanding detail and nicely cast. I received only one horse (without rider) but it is very animated and well detailed! I am extremely impressed with this new line of 15mm SYW figures! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinqlum - REDOUBT ENTERPRISES NEW RELEASES - Redoubt, 49 Channel View Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN22, 71N, UK (Phone: 01323-738022; Website: www.redoubtenterprises.com) has released some additions to their 28mm English Civil War line with some unbelievable cavalry! First of all, there is a pack (ECX52) of five heavily armed and armored Lifeguards (10 pounds) with trotting horses; the second pack (ECX53) has twelve heavy cavalry/harquebusiers (21 pounds) with horses. Included in the ECX53 pack is an officer, open handed standard bearer, and trumpeter. These figures have the back and breast plate, three barred lobster pot helmet and armed with carbines or long barreled pistols. Both packs come with separate heads and two-piece body (trunk and lower body); this allows a really wide variety of poses within a unit. The horses are very good; many different poses; I'm not sure if I see two of the same pose in a pack!). Casting is great, as we expect from REDOUBT, as is detail! ECX51 Ensigns of Foot features six differently posed openhanded ensigns with separate heads; simply beautiful figures, MWANers! If that's not enough, how about ECX50 twelve pistol armed light/medium cavalry again with separate legs/heads and a trumpeter and standard bearer; talk about great looking figures! All of these cavalry can be used for the Thirty Years War as well. You can run a file on the underside of the horse base, but I don't think you'll have to do any more cleaning of the REDOUBT figures! Match up the REDOUBT ECW/TYW figures with the VATICAN buildings mentioned earlier in this column and you will have a sight to behold! Great work, Peter Helm - most highly recommended! They've also added to their ACW line with AC119a Cadets action set (4.50 pounds) has three wounded and three firing or stabbing. They have separate heads. Excellent figures!
By Hal Thinqlum - DZ 1/48TH VIETNAM FIGURES FROM RLBPS - Bob Bowling, 4827 Treeview Terrace, Rockford, IL 61109-4135 (Website: www.rlbps.com) is carrying more and more interesting UK lines one of which is DZ's new line of 1/48th Vietnam wargames figures. This is an interesting scale and Bob sent along a pack of four Special Forces figures; three are advancing while a fourth is kneeling and pointing forward. The figures are roughly 35mm high from top of base to eye level and heavily equipped; detail is outstanding and there exists a "ton" of 1.48th plastic models for Vietnam. I haven't seen the listing so I can't tell you the price or extent of the line; check out the Website. I know you'll like these figures; they'd be perfect for skirmish gaming! Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinqlum - MUSKET MINIATURES HO SCALE ACW - Musket Miniatures, PO Box 1976, Broomfield, CO 80038 (Phone: 303-439-9336; Website: www.musketminiatures.com), as you know, as an extensive line of 22mm (HO) American Civil War figures and terrain/accessories. Their ACW buildings are nothing short of fantastic! I picked up STR1060 - Railroad Station ($12.95) and STR1005 set of three outhouses from the buildings line (very outstanding buildings!); HSA3031 Sibley tents (two/$4.95) for a Shiloh scenario (two inches tall), and STRO08 Spilt rail hasty words (metal) which features ten 2" sections for $4.95. Musket Miniatures offers a very wide selection of both 22mm and 15mm ACW figures and terrain accessories and provide high quality service! The buildings would be very useful for Wild West as well. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - RENAISSANCE INK PAINTING SERVICE - Renaissance Ink, 335 Torrance Ave., Vestal, NY 13850 (Phone: 607-748-4665; E-mail: JWIRTH4702@AOL.COM) has done a lot of painting for me over the years and I received another shipment of 20mm Franco-Prussian War units recently. Jay did an excellent job on them, per usual, and the turn-around time was outstanding! I like Jay's painting style; straight-forward with crisp colors and good detail painting. He also communicates well with customers which I like. Jay must have a vast collection of uniform information as he has never required uniform details from me. Highly recommended professional service!
By Hal Thinglum - HOMEGROWN MINIATURES 25MM ACW - Homegrown Miniatures, 914 Curlew Rd., #356, Dunedin, FL 34698 (Phone: 813-277-9024; E-mail: homegrownfigs@excite.com; Website: www.ancielfire.com/biz6/homegrownfigs/index.htm) has an interesting line of 25mm American Civil War figures which are compatible with 28mm figures. A bag of 30 mixed infantry poses is $21.95; you can also get 24 infantry with six command for the same price while a painted bag costs $54.95. They offer 16 packs of infantry with a lot of "character" and animation (i.e., foraging troops, withdrawing under fire, cautiously advancing, dynamic casualties, plantation people, winter units, and sutlerer). There are 16 cavalry including troopers in greatcoats (under fire), riderless horses being shot down, troopers and "raiders"; three guns (3", 10 and 12 Ibers) and an "action limber and crew). Winter huts ($21.50) and Averasboro small cabin ($21.50) are also available. I received a pack of 30 assorted infantry poses featuring seven different poses with differing types of equipment/headgear within each pose. There were four officer poses included. I like the animation and character in this line; if you do 25/28mm ACW, you'll want to check out this line.
By Richard Brooks - Chris McNab, 20th Century Military Uniforms, 300 Uniforms From Around the World, (New York: Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 2002) - Purchased from the bargain table at a mere $9.98 this book which contains 300 uniform plates is an excellent. As suggested by its title the book covers uniforms from Abyssinia to Yugoslavia throughout the 20th century. Many of the uniform plates are familiar to those who have the Mollo book, Armed Forces of World War ll, or the Villard Military Series on Elite forces (Israeli Paras, Green Berets, US Marines). My assumption is that the other plates were also previously published. The plates are photorealistic and an excellent source for anyone painting figures from the period. 20th Century Military Uniforms, 300 Uniforms From Around the World is also a fun book through which to browse. Each plate is accompanied by text that describes the uniform and places it in historical context. McNab covers many obscure conflicts and bush wars including: Greek Civil War, Chinese Civil War, Malayan Insurrection, Indo China, Algeria, Angola, Biafra, Bangladesh Liberation, The Falklands, El Salvador, Rhodesia, Afghanistan, Eritrean Conflict, Grenada and the Iran-Iraq Gulf War. Numerous plates are dedicated to VWVI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Elite and Anti-terrorist forces are also featured.
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