Since I wrote my last editorial, things have been quite busy and considerably changed from my usual routine. My 85-year-old father fell on Christmas Eve and fractured his hip. I went to Upper Michigan on January 4th to take care of him and just got back on February 22nd. Thus, I have not been answering my e-mails during that time period and ask for your understanding on this matter. If you sent me an e-mail and it bounced back, it was because my mailbox was full, so please try again! Because of this, I had to postpone my eye surgeries; the positive part of this is that if there are any errors in this issue, I can blame it on my vision! I have my first surgery tomorrow and am greatly looking forward to it. I really miss reading and am hopeful that the surgeries will result in me being able to do some painting with large 25mm figures! For some reason, I have rediscovered my 25mm SYW period over the last four or five months. I guess it had to do with the opportunity to pick up some 25mm EAGLE Prussian and Austrian SYW figures and a large number of FOUNDRY 28mm SYW figures obtained six years ago were returned to me. This brought me to list all of the my SYW units and start looking at filling in whatever "gaps" there were (or I imagined there to be!). I painted this project over ten years ago - hard to believe - and it was the most enjoyable period that I've ever painted! I have been separating my figures into units and making the Austrian infantry units a little larger (43 instead of 37 figures including a mounted officer) and adding a 30- figure Prussian Dragoon Regiment whereas all of the rest of my horse units are 24 figures strong. There are so many quality 25/28mm SYW figure manufacturers nowadays that it makes my head spin. When I started, FRONT RANK had just come out with their line and prior to that, there were the MINIFIG and GARRISON figure lines. A fascinating period indeed! Here's a listing of the "larger" 25mm SYW figure lines: Old Glory Crusader Foundry Sash & Saber Front Rank Eagle Elite Miniatures Dixon London War Room Dayton Painting Consortium (RSM) Hinchliffe Although my goal when I started out with this period was to build ten units of foot, five of horse, and three batteries per side entirely out of FRONT RANK figures, of course I deviated somewhat from that goal. Does anyone besides Rich Black and myself remember the old CAMPAIGN 25mm SYW range from the UK? I don't think they have been available for many years, but they had some very nice infantry figures though I wasn't too crazy about the cavalry. If anyone knows anything about this line, please let me know. The old RSM SYW figures are now being carried by the Dayton Painting Consortium and the samples they recently sent to me were quite impressive. When this line first came out under the BRITANNIA name (I believe), they were the cream of the crop and as I stated, they are still very good. I intend on obtaining some RSM figures for my collection and am looking forward to receiving them. Having added figures from other manufacturers over the years, I was always reminded of Orv Banasik's 25mm ACW project in which he built a "brigade" from each manufacturer. I also submitted my retirement to take effect March 311t, 2003. We have an "early retirement" program which ends on that day. Very hard to believe that I am at that "stage" of life! What am I going to do? Not sure; I suspect I will still work though probably not full time. What really appeals to me is to do something with my hobby - solo wargaming, painting, reading, writing, etc., - things that I have put off because of a lack of time. Years ago, I used to be able to work two jobs, do MWAN, and still paint like a "fool!" However, it hasn't been like that for a long time and I can't imagine having the time to set up a wargame in the basement and actually carry it out or do some fun hobby activities! Ill let you know how this works out! For some reason, people seem to be having difficulty sending in their resubscriptions since I started the new system of having my printer shrink wrap, attach the label, and send MWAN out. I suspect MWANers depended upon that little paper notice to remind them to resubscribe. If you plan on resubscribing, I would greatly appreciate it if you do so. Thank you for your support and understanding on this issue. Early this winter, I obtained what I think is the last of my 20mm FrancoPrussian War figures for this project. Obviously, they are all B&B Miniatures figures, except for some 30mm ACW mounted generals in kepis, because nobody else makes 20mm FPW. I had no real sense of where I was going to go with this project when it started, so naturally, it is quite large as I ended up obtaining more figures/units so as to balance the forces - have you ever done this? It certainly is a colorful period even though everything seems to be "blue!" The B&B figures are quite attractive - chunky little things and I like this look. I would like someone to come out with a 20mm Prussian-Austrian line so my armies can do "double-duty" but the chances of this happening are about nil, I would think. In moments of madness, I imagine myself hiring a sculptor to do an 1866 Austrian line with basic poses, however, luckily, I have not pursued it, as of yet, anyway. I've also thought of using EUREKA MINIATURES (in Australia) service where they will sculpt a figure for you based upon the figure type receiving a certain number of orders. For example, for a 25mm figures, they need a total of 100 figures ordered (from any number of people) and for 15mm, they need 300. You pay only for the number of figures you order. This is a much more logical way to go, no doubt. About the only thing I need to do for this period now is to commission Andrew Doyle of 3-D CONTOURS to make some French raised railroad embankments. We've talked about this and Andrew has reported he will make me a bridge as well. If you do FPW, I would think you'd have to have this type of thing, wouldn't you! Several months ago, my good friend Len Brewer came up with a friend of his and I hosted a 25mm Sikh War game; first time I'd played with my NWF figures. It was a massive game based upon any number of British-Sikh encounters where the Sikhs dig in behind entrenchments with lots of artillery and infantry behind them and tons of irregular cavalry and infantry on the flanks, and the British and their Indian Allies steadily advance in line formation. Len and his friend commanded the British/Allied force and I, as umpire, ran the Sikhs as very little was required in the line of giving orders. The "Regular" Sikh Army had orders to hold the entrenchments while the Sikh Irregulars responded to throws of the dice. It was quite a bloody encounter with the British/Allied force receiving the worst of it. Actually, there were far too many Sikh Irregulars (What will I do with all of them now?) and the rules - my own - had some rather obvious shortcomings. Nonetheless, it was really fun to set the game up, see all of the figures out on the table - the British and Allies really looked good advancing across the tabletop! I also enjoyed the social aspect of wargaming for the first time in over a year. I did decide to "re-organize" my Sikh Irregular foot into 36-figure units instead of 24 which will decrease the number of units and also made their cavalry units larger as well. With the beautiful 25/28mm NWF lines being produced by THE FOUNDRY )glad I got them before the prices went up!), OLD GLORY, BRITANNIA, and now, BICORNE, I hate to leave any of them out! I note that PETER PIG has released a 15mm ECW/Scottish Army line which looks quite extensive and impressive. I like the PETER PIG figures and love this period! This is one period I am planning on doing a large campaign for when I retire. Either the ECW or the Thirty Years War. I am sorely tempted to pick up some of these figures and add them to my collection. I have to tell you about a new company - BATTLE WORKS STUDIOS (www.battleworksstudio.com) producing an excellent 20/25/28mm line of building ruins and entrenchments. I have all five sets of the 28mm ruins ranging in price from $15 to $27 dollars and ordered their three piece trench set (40 inches long); looks perfect for WWII Eastern Front - my reason for obtaining it, but I am sure it could be used for a variety of periods. See the picture on the next page of one of the ruined building sets. They lack interior detail, but this is no big thing to me. They come with a rubble base and are perfect for any gaming where you need lots of ruined buildings. Reminds me that the 28mm WWII period has really taken off as regards figures, vehicles, and accessories. Unless gamers stick to small actions with a limited number of single-mounted figures, as the figures were intended for, I suspect we are going to run into the same problem we did when THE SWORD AND THE FLAME came out. Everyone loved the game and "over-painted" so that we ended up with too many single-mounted figures to move during a game. I've already reached the point where I regret having mounted them one to a base, except for machine gun and mortar teams and I haven't played a game yet. If one plans on having a lot of figures for this period/figure size, it makes me wonder what would be the "ideal" method of mounting figures - three infantry figures to a base? I suppose we could look into what the 20mm WWII gamers have done. Does anyone else have any ideas? No matter how good my original intentions are when starting out a period (keep it small), my resistance breaks down when a new company comes out with a line. I love the thought of having multiple figure poses and different types of units/vehicles, and always break down and expand far beyond what I wanted to in the first place. My brother recently gave me a catalog ED EDMUND INDUSTRIAL OPTICS (www.edmundoptics.com) and they offer an extensive line of magnification.. Leads me into my closing statement, This issue of MWAN will not have a "What's New in Hal's Mailbox" column and I feel very badly about it. People who send in items for mention in this column do so with the logical expectation that it will be mentioned in the next issue, as it always has been. However, my vision has reached the point where I can no longer read and it is not possible for me to make out what a wargames figure looks like. I would ask for your patience in this matter as I am hopeful this will be resolved following my eye surgeries which start tomorrow. I have put this issue together as best I could only by enlarging my computer screen while typing. Thanks for your understanding! Back to MWAN # 122 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com