From Aelred Glidden
"Monk's Corner" revisited! Greetings from the monastery (which you still haven't managed to visit). Well, I haven't been doing much in the way of gaming and I have lost the information you sent about how you wanted articles presented (in Word, as I recall, which I don't use), but if you are clever (as I am not -- perhaps one of your daughters is still young enough to know everything about computers) I understand you can take e-mail text and transform it into the word processor format document. Or you can just treat this as a letter (or simply ignore it). I did actually play a couple of games early in July when my friend Francis visited. Nothing too fancy, just Trafalgar and Waterloo! The Trafalgar rules we used were lifted from: http://www.juniorgeneral.orq/trafalgar/trafalgar.html We made a few changes, making the three deckers rather than the flagships the more powerful ships (not all three decked ships of the line at Trafalgar were flag ships and not all flag ships were three deckers) -- we also required ships reduced to one hit point remaining to attempt to withdraw. Finally, we set up both fleets in rather ragged formations based on the chart in Alan Schrom's 'The Trafalgar Campaign" (the book on the topic that I have always found most interesting even though the author has so little appreciation of naval tactics of the period that none of his charts indicates wind direction). I was lucky in the very first toss since it meant I got to be Nelson and so I won. Something that we found very interesting was that not reducing combat effectiveness or ship speed when taking damage seemed to have no effect on the outcome of the game.
By the way, I highly recommend Matt Fritz's entire site and his rules: http://www.juniorgeneral.org/ Since his rules are designed for use by children, they are just right for me (and any others of you entering your second childhoods). For Waterloo we did not make use of his Hougoumont rules (I don't think I have enough figures) but instead fought the entire battle with about 200 figures on a side (it was somewhat scaled down) with the French having a numerical superiority in cavalry and artillery and the Anglo-Allied forces having somewhat more infantry. There were garrisons in the three strong points of Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte and La Haie/Papelotte. Once again I won the initial die toss and had the British (and Dutch, etc.) and Francis had the French. This time it was not so clear who would win. Looking back on the game (not necessarily the actual battle), I would say that with the rules and forces we were using, the best bet would have been for Napoleon to pound Wellington's center La Haye Sainte with their artillery while massing their infantry and (when the time was ripe) launch their infantry assault while their cavalry protected the flanks. It might not have worked, but I think it would have been the most effective plan. Basically what Francis tried was an assault all along the line and the garrisons in the strong points were too much for him to take out all at the same time. Although his cavalry attacks frightened my infantry in the open more than they do in the history books and ovels, the thin red line (or square) prevailed and completed the ushering in of the "Pax Britannica" initiated by the triumph of Nelson the previous day (real time).
As I mentioned, we did not use Matt's rules for Waterloo but instead a set of my own devising which were inspired by Peter Young and are called "Charge! for Dummies." --Prior Aelred CHARGE! FOR DUMMIES MORALE A record must be kept of losses. The first army to lose half its force must discontinue the action and retreat. If a unit of Infantry or Cavalry is reduced to only 1 figure, it is removed. MOVEMENT Each turn each side tosses a die, high toss chooses first or second move. On a tie the side that moved first last time moves first again. Infantry and Artillery move 6" Cavalry moves 12" Halve moves on rough terrain (including woods) Cavalry may only move through woods in single file Artillery may only move through woods on trails MISSILES Artillery bombardment is simultaneous Artillery that has not moved may fire Toss 1 die per crew (normal crew is 4 -may replace losses with infantry) up to 12 inches hit on 4-6 over 12 to 24 inches hit on 5 or 6 over 24 to 36 inches hit on 6 If target is Cavalry (or behind cover) toss 1 die per 2 crew (Artillery always has cover from fire) Infantry musketry is simultaneous Up to two ranks of Infantry that has not moved may fire At up to 3 inches toss 1 die per Infantryman -- hit on 5 or 6 over 3 to 6 inches hit on 6 If target is Cavalry (or behind cover) toss 1 die per 2 Infantryman MELEE Figures up to two deep may melee. Cavalry against Cavalry or Infantry against Infantry toss 1 die per figure - hit on 5 or 6. Cavalry against Infantry or Infantry against rtillery toss 1 die per figure - hit on 46. Infantry against Cavalry toss i die per figure - hit on 6. Cavalry against Artillery toss 2 dice per figure - hit on 46. Artillery against Cavalry toss 1 die per 2 figures - hit on 6. Cavalry may not melee Infantry behind cover. Infantry against Infantry behind cover toss 1 die per figure - hit on 6. A side that has lost more figures in a melee must fall back 6 inches (if a tie, both sides fall back) -during the next movement phase they may form or face but not move or fire. SKIRMISHERS AND SQUARES (optional - - recommended for Napoleonics) Infantry may deploy as Skirmishers with space between figures (at least an inch) and fire and move normally but are treated as Artillery crew as target from fire and in melee with formed troops. Rather than move, Infantry may deploy into Square -- may not fire or move (except to deploy into line) but count all figures in the formation if attacked by Cavalry -- both sides toss 1 die per figure and hit on 5 or 6.
(Editors Note: Very good to hear from you again, Aelredi Someday, I will get back to Three Rivers, Michigan and visit you!)
From Michael Blake
You asked for letters and I thought I'd oblige - here are some crisp, erudite and pithy - not - comments on the last issue [which I enjoyed immensely as always] and what we in the Skirmish Wargames group have been up to.
Shiloh Solo part 2 by Chris Hahn was rather long and drawn out but fascinating - I loved the "personal accounts" woven in, they really gave it colour. These are the kind of things we do with our battle scenarios and writeups. Chris made a point near the end about the lack of higher-echelon officers wounded, killed or captured in his replay compared to the much higher number effected in the real battle. A thought occurred to me - how about attaching such an occurrence automatically to a fixed level of rank & file casualties? So at, say 5% r&f k, w or c, randomly allocate a higher-echelon officer casualty too?
I have to say I found James Woods' No Drums, No Trumpets a little dry for my taste, but it did get me thinking about Solo play. We meet so infrequently, only around 4 or 5 times a year, for games, and I have a playing area set up all the time - why not use it? Um, we will need to think about this - does anyone have any good Solo rules to suggest?
Charley Elsden's 2 contributions, on the other hand, had me engrossed - even though Heroclix and Mechwarrior hold no interest for me at all. What a writer - he's so damn funny! I was in stitches [as is he at the moment, I believe, recovering from an appendectomy] throughout at his wacky asides and tongue in cheek comments. In Search of Psychic Gaming Phenomena was nothing short of brilliantly hilarious! We have experienced many of the phenomena he describes - especially the young, brash and lucky v. the old, skilled and unlucky. I regularly play against Sarah Roberts, a 13 year old girl gamer, and her dice throwing is incredible - sixes seem to be at her personal beck and call. My clearly superior tactical skill is as nought against this wiccan! The articles are shining examples of how to write and great inspiration.
Darryl Smith's piece on Gaming Websites was fascinating - 2 of his sites/discussion groups I must join are the ones devoted to the MexicanAmerican war and Wayne's legion, both interests of mine.
I thought Singeing The Bashaw's Beard was OK but I would have preferred more gaming ideas or comments - best of all an account of an actual game based on the incident... wait a minute, that's one of mine!
The wodge on the Hungarian War of Independence was very well done - Bill Haggart did a good job on an obscure period [defined as "one I don't do"] and whilst I don't think I will be moving into it, it's always good to read about them.
I will be making contact with Russell Stratton to share his enthusiasm for The Grim, even though we play North West Frontier in different scales [he 25mm and I'm 54mm]. I am sure we will be able to bounce ideas and information around, as I too love the Guides and the Ghurkas and the Pathans, and the... one of the best books ever on the NWF is Bugles And A Tiger by John Masters; its an autobiography of his service there, set a little later than the "classic" colonial period but so well written and full of colour and incident. It follows his early career in a Gurkha regiment from wet-behind-the-ears junior subaltern to regimental adjutant - marvellous stuff, and very funny in places.
Orv Banasik, The Iowa Greybeard, is always worth reading - love the image, where did it come from? Odd though how his comments on the "innate human instinct" to hunt had me bristling. It's currently a hot topic over here, as there is a move to ban hunting fox hunting with hounds and I have to say my sympathy is with the fox. Somehow chasing after a live animal and then tearing it to pieces doesn't seem to sit well with Man in the 21st Century.
But the discussion about the legitimacy of our hobby is going to run and run I suspect. As one would expect from a reflective and logical guy, Jim Getz put it into words better than I could. In the end I think there is an inherent contradiction in making war into a game - but I guess the desire to do so comes from the same place as Orv's "human nature to hunt"? IMHO we'll never resolve this one!
Finally, I would not have thought an article on something as basic and mundane as Applying Paper Flags could teach me anything new, and nearly didn't bother to read Peter Michels' piece at all. Boy am I glad I did - it made me look at the way I do it and rethink - and try it his way, with a distinct improvement in the end result! Thanks, Peter, for showing me I can still learn, if I "listen" [in this case read] that is. My only twist on his ideas is to apply the flag to the pole before I fix the pole to the figure - makes handling a whole lot easier. Whilst on the topic of flags, a couple of tips of my own. Always replace the caston bendy soft metal flag poles with brass wire. Its cheap, stays straight and looks more "in scale", but best of all the end can be hammered flat and then ground to shape [eg "spade", spike etc] with a craft drill grinding wheel. As to sources of miniature flags, I get mine from Grahame Black, GMB Designs, gmbdesigns@bluevonder.co.uk or gmbr@globalnet.co.uk [one is the new one and I can't remember which!]. His flags are exquisite - miniature works of art, not just cold, flat computer graphics. Once you've tried them, you wont go back.
Now on to what we are up to on this side of the Pond, in Skirmish Wargames [SW]. These are exciting times, despite me not going to Historicon this year. I will miss it immensely, the re-energising the buzz there gives and meeting up with so many good friends in the US wargaming community, but it's not to be. So, in its place, I was planning on going to a new Con, WarCon, being held in Birmingham [England] over the August Bank [Public] Holiday weekend, but co-sponsor Duncan Macfarlane of Wargames Illustrated tells me its been cancelled, so its Plan B. Amazingly we do have one, possibly a first for SW - we will switch to my place for the games we were going to do! Planned are a WWII and an ECW game, continuing the 2003 themes. We played our first games in these 2 periods this year and have really enjoyed them both.
The WWII games have been skirmishes [ie 1:1 few figures] US Paras v. Germans in NW Europe using our own 20th Century Rules. These are very detailed [too detailed??] skirmish rules, and work well providing you have a GM who knows them [but then I guess that's really the case with all rules?]. but I do have to say that with the right, crowded hedge-row filled terrain, the atmosphere is amazing. You really are very cautious, moving from cover to cover, making sure you minimise time in the open, always have covering fire etc. I missed the very first game, but have played in 2 now, once as the US Para commander, once as an NCO in the German force. Tension in both cases was palpable - I really felt I was on the table, behind that hedge, and was very cautious - far too slow, making a number of basic mistakes both times.
The ECW is quite different, this is large numbers of figures "traditional" wargaming. Boy does it look good in 54mm! We always knew pikes in serried ranks was going to, but its even better than we'd imagined. Only one game so far, The Battle of Brentford, a real ECW one, using the Warhammer ECW Rules, which worked well for the bigger scale of figure. we are now planning another small battle to further familiarise ourselves with the rules, at the WarCon replacement game at my place, and two games at our main outing in September.
This is Colours, at Reading, Berkshire, where we stage the Steve Curtis Memorial Game [which we have done for more than 25 years, since Steve's untimely death]. We have won the Wargames Illustrated Best Demo game there an unprecedented 4 times with our 54mm games, no mean feat given that the "norm" is 15 or 25mm, and so our games are seen as "odd". We are going to do 4 games this year, as we will have 2 tables. Two will be ECW, a battle and a skirmish, and the other a repeated Sci-Fi game. This latter is based on the Games Workshop game Necromunda, but upscaled to a massive 180-200mm! We made the 2 gangs required from kid's wrestlers and other large scale collectors figures - it looks amazing because of the scale but also because we don't play on a table bit on a 6'x12'x6' wire matrix, with the terrain slung between or resting on the wire grid.
Finally, glad to hear the eye op went OK and you are painting again. Good gaming!
(Editor's Note: Thanks for your thoughts, Michael; I can't believe how much time has transpired in our lifetimes! I used to read your well-done articles on skirmish wargaming in Donald Featherstone's "Wargamer's Newsletter" and here we are almost forty years later')
From Dr. Richard Heath
Do I recall that you served in tanks? If so, do you remember this fire command sequence? I used to hear it in my dreams: Tank Commander: GUNNER .... SHOT .... Tank!" (Driver immediately stops the tank) Loader: "UP" Gunner: " IDENTIFIED" Tank Commander: FIRE! Gunner: "ON THE WAY!" We got off two shots in eight seconds. No computers. Just burst-on-target. I remember how the M48 seemed to jump as the 90mm round left the tube and the sucking of air down the hatch, and of course the deafening noise of the shot. Quite an experience. Over forty years ago now and it seems like yesterday on the tank ranges in Germany. Lucky me. In between wars.
(Editor's Note: We had the M-60 s tank, Richard, with a few M60A1s in the HQers unit, I believe. A long, long time ago, wasn't it!)
From Antonio Portillo
Thanks for your efforts! I've been reinvigorated for the past couple of months. I finally got back to painting. Too much work kept me away but now I'm free to go through my closet, finish basing and painting all the minis I stored there and organize my armies in some logical order. I have a tendency to let things come together. I have 100 15mm cavalry figures from Lancashire and Battle Honors I just painted up. I liked Lancashire because the trooper was connected to his horse. It saved me a step. But for poses I would go with Battle Honors. I also finished my 28 mm ACW rebs. I have bought half a dozen plastic boxes you get at Walmart, two by three feet and one tall. I will store my armies together. They fit under the bed. Someday, when I find a gamer. I'll pull them out. I have gotten the dust off some Foundry AWI British infantry and painted them up. I used various techniques to experiment. I wasn't really impressed. But they looked good enough.
I prefer the three step color scheme even though it is like painting three figures for the price of one. I won't use that technique with all the figures, just the skirmishers or the generals. On others, I'll coat and a wash and they are ready for battle. Recently, inspired by the release of a zombie flick called "28 Days Later," I began to get curious about the possibility of developing a zombie army. Further Inspired by the boardgame "Zombie." I knew this idea could possibly turnout to be fun. I knew I had seen some useful figures on Copplestones Future Wars range which I might paint up to be rescue squads and zombies. Once I began calculating the zombies I would want, I decided that $3 a figure would be too costly. I searched around and found Westwind which has a nice blister of zombies for about 60 cents each. I ordered a bunch of packs and started on my projects. Meanwhile, I began searching out rules for my project.
On the Miniatures Page, I posted a "Help need zombie rules. "I received a bunch of great responses. One in particular led me to the Project X site. I found them both easy to learn and easily tweaked. Only three pages, a miracle! Although set in WWII, I could easily modernize them. Best of all they were free! The zombies move on a roll so you don't need two people. I looked no further. These were going to be the rules.
So far I painted up 50 zombies. You can check out the poses at Westwind. Just use the search engine and type Westwind miniatures. Now I'm working on the hero/troopers/rescue squad types with a small amount of militia all by Copplestone Castings. Go to this site! Man this guy can sculpt! He is a master. I ordered from RLBPS here in the states. The castings are exquisite. Man, no flash, no lines, clean. The service was excellent and prompt. I will definitely stop at their booth when at Historicon. Hopefully on my way to Historicon I will get a chance to try out some ideas with friends Matt and Igor in NY. I may even run a game at the con if things work out.
(Editors Note: I agree with you about Mark Copplestone's work; it is very, very good' 1 was sorely tempted by the 28mm line he is currently working on which includes figures for the Russian Civil War' Fantastic work')
From Rob Dean
You asked for letters in your editorial in MWAN #123, and I have not sent one in a while, so here you are. Several years ago I resolved that I was going to spend more time actually playing games and set a goal of averaging one game per week over the course of a year. Luckily for me, my wife has been involved in roleplaying games for many years, so that sort of schedule seems reasonable to her. My sons are also now both of an age to play (13 and 10) so that at least some of the gaming is a family event.
Last year I only managed 43 games, but this year I'm at 25 already with the expectation of a couple more by the end of the month, so I'm on pace for reaching that 52 game goal. The problem I have been having is two-fold: free time has been getting scarcer for the past couple of years, and I have been trying to build up a complementary second hobby in photography over the past year. The result is that most of my available time for miniatures is now being spent on the actual playing of games, and getting anything painted for the old projects or getting new projects ready for the table has been very difficult. I find this to be a little frustrating. Although I am not yet ready to give up playing time in order to paint more miniatures, I have several projects, which I'd still like to see on the table and which I am unable to make time to work on.
I decided at the beginning of the year this year that I was going to concentrate on just five of my unfinished projects. Three of these are "new starts", projects which have not reached the critical mass needed to play, and two are older projects still being expanded. Most pressing at the moment is a 2"d Punic War project using 1/72 scale HaT plastic figures. Right now I am struggling to get a hundred or so remaining Carthaginians painted and based for a Historicon game I've already signed up to run. I had originally hoped to run this game for Historicon last year, for the HAWKs kids' game line-up, but was forced to substitute a different game when I was unable to complete it on time. This year it will be finished no matter how late I have to stay up to work on it. The second project I am working on is a 54mm medieval skirmish game using the Accurate plastic figures.
The HAWKS are running a "Battles for Beginners Contest" for Fall In this year, and this will be my entry. While I said that I was going to concentrate, the third project is really more of a distraction than a concentration. Some years ago, when I was first attracted to the idea of gaming with large-scale figures, I bought more figures than I could possibly use. Eventually I have resold most of these, but I have been hanging on to a group of 60mm medieval figures, recasts of old Marx, Reamsa, and Jecsan toys. I started painting some of these in parallel with the Accurate figures (they won't mix to my eye) and hope eventually to run a more historical game with the Accurates and a more heroic fictional game with the 60s. I am also continuing to work on my 40mm French and Indian War project (as described in MWAN#210) and have been preparing to work on an extension to my 40mm Renaissance project. I cleared my painting table of everything that didn't belong to one of these five projects, packing it away in boxes and literally shelving it until at least one of these projects has been finished.
I don't think that I have written about the Battles for Beginner Contest previously. There has been a lot of discussion over the last two years about HMGS-East moving the Fall In venue away from Gettysburg. One of their stated purposes in bringing the convention to Timonium Maryland (in suburban Baltimore) for this year was to exploit the proximity of a major metropolitan area and to attempt to bring in a lot of visitors to see what our hobby was about. In discussions among the HAWKs we debated what we could do to prepare for a large number of visitors. We concluded that it would be appropriate to do our part by providing a demonstration of how to overcome the barriers to entry to the hobby. I suppose that I should add that we view the hobby as one of staging games rather than one of simply playing them, so our goal was to show how to go from nothing to being ready to invite a friend over to play.
We considered that there are two main resources needed for the hobby, time and money, and that any given visitor might have a lot or a little of these resources. This would divide the visitors into four categories. For those with a lot of time and a lot of money we thought that the barriers to entry were minimal. For those with a lot of money but only a little time, we felt that they could still start fairly easily, by buying painted figures and scenery. We considered that those visitors with little time and little money were probably beyond help. The best we could do for them was to encourage them to play some games and hope that they would eventually have resources. That left us with one group, those with time but little money. We thought that these people could benefit from the boost provided by having someone show them the tricks we've accumulated over the years for doing something with nothing. That was the genesis of the Battles for Beginners Contest.
The participants (experienced gamers) are going to be putting on a series of games suitable for play by beginners and staged with a total budget of $100 per game. We will be providing write-ups for each game describing how one could recreate it, and it is our intention to make those write-ups available after the convention, probably in the form of a web site. Our goal is to put on the bestlooking, most-fun games that we can manage within our budget limits. The contest part of it is that we will be judging the entries and declaring a winner when it's all over. We thought that a bit of friendly competition would help to make the whole process fun, even if it turns out that we don't have the expected numbers of visitors. Some of the information on this is available through a Yahoogroups discussion list (BBContest@yahoogroups.com) we set up to facilitate the contest. If it works out well this year we may try it again.
I hope to write more about the 40mm Renaissance project sometime in the future. My friend Ross Macfarlane and I have been working on this on and off for a couple of years now. I have had a couple of small armies cast from Nuernberger Meisterzinn molds since 1996, more toy soldier than historical. I realized that the conversions needed to create the figures needed for a Tudor English army looked plausible, and Ross (much better at conversions than I am) picked up on this since he's long had some interest in the Anglo-Scots conflicts of the period. We had the opportunity to do some very preliminary playtesting on some simple rules for the period during Ross's visit for Cold Wars this spring.
The extended slowdown in painting has had me thinking about my longterm hobby goals. I don't think that I will be adding any large quantities of new soldiers to my stack of unpainted lead in the next couple of years. The backlog I have now I remain interested in finishing, and I have projects in all of the broad periods of history (Sword and Shield, Pike and Shot, Horse and Musket, Age of Rifles, and Age of Machines) so most interesting tactical situations could be adapted for an existing project. I would eventually like to rationalize things so that I have one major project in each era, and to arrange things so that any minor project has significant overlap with one of the major projects, so as to get the most out of the soldiers and terrain collections. (For example, I'm ignoring a project on the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion in 40mm this year, but it will make use of the British Regulars from my French and Indian War project when I get back to it.)
Thanks for continuing to publish MWAN. I look forward to its arrival every other month and always sit down to read it through the day it arrives. If you are interested in having photographs submitted for the covers, I would appreciate it if you would print the submission instructions.
(Editor's Note: Thanks for the great letter, Rob! As for guidelines for cover photos, I don't have many. Good quality color photos - I know so little about this sort of thing and am far too old to learn! I really enjoyed reading about what is going on in your hobby!)
From Peter Michels
Of late, I have been struggling with the pain of developing a mini-campaign for my WWII Northern European armies. I wanted to develop a semi-historical context to use as a purpose or reason for finishing off models, putting on decals, getting those weapons units, AT guns, soft vehicles, etc. I switched to Rapid Fire! rules recently from many years using Command Decision and before that, the very detailed Tractics rules. I started out with the context of 2 battalions of Shermans as my core army, then started to review battles from 2nd, 3rd and 4th US Armored Divisions to see what sort of field organizations and task forces were brought together in 1944 and '45. I particularly like the 2nd Armored fight against 2nd Panzer Division in the Ardennes around Christmas of '44.
I also found the old Command Decision campaign scenario for the Stolberg Corridor adjacent to Aachen. Simultaneously with revamping my NE 1944 armies, I decided to shed the excess scale armies that I had collected over the years. I had large vehicle collections in 1/87 and the larger mix of 1/72 & 1/76. After much pain and angst, I decided to go with the larger scale, since they seem to look better to me with the 20mm lead figures and Revell plastics that I had been collecting and painting. So once I focused on the scale I wanted, I had to review what sort of supplemental forces I had available. I had the 2 battalions of Shermans, except I had Fireflys instead of US 76mm M4A3s. Also, the only M-8s I had were in the Roco smaller range. 'I had enough 1/2 tracks from Airfix and others, so that Armored Infantry and others were covered in that area.
I expanded the requirements of the US core units to include 2 Sherman battalions, 2 Combat Command HQs, 2 Armored Infantry battalions, 1 Combat Engineer battalion, 2 Companies of M10 Tank Destroyers, 1 Company of Jumbo Shermans, 1 Armored Recon battalion, 1 Company of M-36 Tank Destroyers, 2 Companies of AAA (Mobile) and various sundries like a heavy mortar battery, artillery forward observers, armored recovery vehicles, etc. For good measure, I decided to include an Infantry Regimental Combat team of the regimental HQ and support companies, 3 battalions of infantry, a company of Shermans and a company of M-18 Hellcat Tank Destroyers. I solicited a couple of my good friends that collected armor and asked for suggestions on paint schemes. I researched the various WWII armor camouflage and painting guides. Then I had to find appropriate scale decals and make some aerial recognition markers for the engine grates. I had to get scale boxes, crates, barrels, sandbags, planking, gas cans, etc. and make some canvas rolls and covers, etc. to ornament the vehicles. Wow. That was an undertaking that was larger than I thought it would be. I have done the typically complete "acquisition phase" and bought everything that I thought I would need. I'm about 1/2 to 3/4s done with the various sub-tasks that it will take me for this army, like completing the vehicles, basic paint jobs, detailing, etc. Most of the infantry is done.
Somewhere along the line, I decided to have a game at the local club and realized that I needed to advance the German forces enough in parallel so that I could have decent games. So, I switched over to the German forces to build these up. I've never been a "collect the guard first" type of gamer, but almost all I had in my WWII German collection were special vehicles. I had 3 Ferdinands, but only 1 Mark IV. I went to the web again (isn't it a beautiful thing!) and found some good sources for the tanks I wanted. I bought a few models of Mk IVs from 4 or 5 manufactures. I decided that the core units for the German would be a Panzer regiment of 1 battalion of 3 companies of Panthers and 1 battalion of 4 companies of MK IVs. These would require a Panzer Grenadier Regiment of HQ, support companies and 2 infantry battalions. I decided on 1 armored (1/2 tracks) and 1 one lorry-borne (trucks) battalion each. I decided to compliment the US forces almost identically and added the engineer battalion, StugIII battalion, towed AT guns and selfpropelled AT guns, an armored Recon battalion, etc.
The Germans used less standardized vehicles, so the German army may be an ongoing work in progress, since things like AA and AT assets can take the form of towed or self-propelled. The gun types were of a wide range and the vehicle chassis were also quite varied. And, true to form, someone at the club got very enthusiastic about Rapid Fire and WWII, but really wanted to play Eastern Front. So I pulled out my T-34/76 and 85 collection, reviewed the KV-1 models, and realized I have no Soviet infantry and all the soft vehicles are unassembled! But that's for another letter. The armies are close to having enough of both sides, plus terrain, to fight a reasonable Combat Command versus Kampfgruppe battle with 50 to 100 vehicles on the table and a regiment of infantry and attached assets on both sides. I continue to labor periodically on this project. I have learned that it may take me 2 months to map a new war gaming period and what I want to collect, but it may take me a decade to complete it. I have set up simple painting work-in-progress and inventory systems to keep the project controllable. As those of us with wives and children know, life can intrude (as it should) on our hobby activities.
I have become patient with this and put things away sometimes, knowing that I will return to them. Occasionally, I plan and umpire a game at a convention to force myself to complete the final touches on a unit or add to the terrain collection. And, as always, new figures and new scales keep distracting me. Of late, the SYW 10mm figures from the UK having been whispering in my ear, "buy us, buy us". The pain. The agony.
(Editor's Note: Great letter, Peter! What a hobby, uh, to keep our interest going as you so well illustrated! Would like to hear more about your project as it moves along.)
From Matthew Irsik
An update of what the WFHGS group has been up to in the Salt Lake City area. First, I know that you are searching for rules for 15mm colonials. Have you looked at Battles for Empire yet? It's kind of a Fire and Fury version for colonial warfare and you can put as many figs on a base as you desire. I'm painting up a huge Dervish force and hope to do a good sized playtest in the near future.
Also, why aren't there any 15mm BashiBazouks or early Egyptians available? We got into Warhammer ECW in a big way(as with most groups, we can't seem to do anything in a small way!) and have enough figs for 10 player games. It is similar to Warhammer Ancients in that the historical aspect is somewhat suspect and bizarre things tend to happen a lot during games. However, it looks great on the tabletop, plays fast, and everyone has a good time with it.
I do wish that Old Glory wouldn't sell separate bags for every kind of hat! You would think that they could do an assortment as it takes 6-7 bags of foot to get the right look for an ECW regiment. Having searched for a good air to air combat game for years, I finally came across a miniatures variant of the Avalon Hill game Mustangs. It is well supported by the Air Pirates Yahoo group where the rules, variants, data cards, scenarios, etc..., are available for free. We've also played a modern version called Phantoms, which has been great. The rules are simple, but the maneuvering system is very challenging and it does a good job of simulating air combat. Has anyone else tried Warmaster? After having sworn off GW games I got sucked back into the Dark Side when this came out. The game has command and control, plus it has the feel of an ancients/medieval historical game.
The group took the plunge and now we have about 10 armies for the game. One of the selling points is that units are sold in packs, so you can add a unit here and there without buying extra figs, needing some command figs, etc.. . Why more gaming companies don't do this is beyond me. Far more people would get into historicals if units were sold in packs and they didn't need to buy a bewildering amount of bags of figs to get going.
Also, we publish a full color, online journal called Warning Order that is available to download for free. It has scenarios, battle reports, reviews, and issues 6 and 7 had interviews with Dale and Tod from Age of Reason fame. You can access them from: http://www.wfhgs.com/wrngordr.html or by going to the WFHGS homepage at www.wfhgs.com and clicking on the Downloads tabs. Hal, how you can put this great magazine out issue after issue astounds me! I try for three issues a year and just about have a nervous breakdown each time.
(Editors Note: Thanks, Matt. Re 15mm Bashi's, I tried to scare up some interest on Eureka Miniatures website by posting a request to cast them. Nic Robson needs a total of 300 figures to justify such a request. You might check it out and add your figure request to mine. Perhaps we can still get him to make some. I'd love them for my 15mm Early Sudan Project, I mean, you have to have Bashi Bazouks, don't you?). I got a copy of Warhammer ECW and enjoyed looking through it. It sounds like so much fun - and visually appealing - to do the large type units in 28mm for the ECW. It has crossed my mind so many times So many projects and so little time!)
From Darrvl Smith
I read with interest your idea to make the next issue of MWAN heavy on the letters, so here is my paltry submission to help get to that goal. Currently I am working on a new project. I was able to pick up some painted 25mm RAFM Riel Rebellion figures on eBay, and I have been buying books on the subject as well. Irv Horiwitz was kind enough to send a copy of an article that appeared in Historical Gamer, and I have modified a set of rules that originally appeared in Colonial Conquest.
I have been collecting additional unpainted Riel Rebellion figures as well as some of the Space 1889 Adventurers to add some personalities to my Riel events. I'm hoping to get everything together for Advance the Colors this year (www.hmqsgl.com), but if not, it will be my game for the 2004 convention campaign. My interest began because of the sculptor. Bob Murch does some great work on his Pulp Figures line, and he was the sculptor of the Riel figures. So, I started looking for figures. I placed messages on Bartertown, The Miniatures Page, and the rec.newsgroup. A tip from Joe Cairo led me to the eBay figures, and I have gotten some other figures from Jay Stribling and Bob Beattie. I searched on eBay using Riel as a keyword, and I have been able to find some good books for great prices, along with a movie made in 1979 entitled Riel. I am still looking for a Gatling gun and the Riel/Dumon command pack. I am mounting the figures individually on Litko 1" round stands. Lots of Canadian militia fighting the elusive Metis. The rules are simple, and the time period colorful. Should be a good convention game. I'll do a more complete write-up once this project nears completion. The discussion groups I host have been doing well. The Moccasins group has over 150 members now! I also started another group to discuss 19th Century Canadian Conflicts (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Fenian Raids) that covers 1837 through 1885. I've put my Bagamoyo project (German East Africa 1888) on hold as I await Copplestone to make the suitable figures (their website mentions they will be making the Wissmanntruppe figures in the future). Instead of using Volley and Bayonet as I originally intended, I am going to use the same rules as I do for the Riel Rebellion, modified suitably for East Africa.
(Editor's Note: Thanks, Darryl; I've noticed the RAFM figures for sale on Bartertown several times over the last month or so. Check it out and good luck!)
From Brian Carroll
Omigosh! 5000 figures in one period! Where do you fit them all? Are they all mounted up for the CHARGE project? In big battalions etc? I've been toying with the idea of playing a game using Charles Grants "The Wargame" rules. When my son gets a little older I might dragoon him into that project (what a great reason to have kids:) I've been exchanging emails with a great guy from Australia (oz as he calls it) who is determined to do wargames with the Grant rules. He will be using 20 mm figures. I liked your comment about Barry Edward's playable Nap. rules in the last issue. I like them too, and I especially love the pictures in the book! I lost my copy once and went out and bought a second immediately to replace it. It's another one of my "read it at least once per year" books. Oddly I've never really agreed with Barry's premise that orders and battle plans are not necessary. The one point of wargaming that always gets me is the fact that the wargamer can react almost instantly to any threat. There usually is no penalty for having no plan, or an reward for having one. But in any case ...I love his rule book.
My pride and joy project was finishing off the French regiment Soissoinais in 25mm. I had purchased 60 Wargames Foundry French Revolution French infantry some years ago for this purpose. Eventually my friend Jay Wirth painted them up very nicely. Now they're mounted, with flags flying and ready to go. I've got them 3 figure ranks deep. Wow do they look neat. This regiment was the pride and joy of my old friend Jay Dodson back when we used to fight out the Haledon - Britannia wars that I wrote about in a past issue. He would be very pleased with this new 25mm reincarnation. Another loony project is painting up 7 years war bears. Have you seen these figures from Eureka. They are really quite good. My kids saw them on a website I was surfing. We got a few. The kids starting painting and well .... I was hooked. I just finished a British Grenadier Bear unit (units are called "Hugs" by the way ) . I also painted up a unit of Spanish Dragoon Bears, and some Russian dragoon bears. I have some Bear artillery pieces (they shoot honey pots), and some "Bear-loons" - they drop honey pots.
My son wants to know if the company makes Bear sailors (Jack-tarbears?). I don't think they do, but if the Eureka folks in Oz are reading this... The other project getting a lot of medication induced attention is my ECW project. I've finished a Cuirassier regiment. And now I'm working on some guns and various foot units. I'm hoping by summer I'll have enough lead painted to have the first ECW battle in my house in probably 7 years. The English Civil has always been a favorite period for me. This was my first real wargame period and I lovingly remember my old Minifigs and Heritage horse and foot. It was tough decision to sell them off so I could embark on the big Marlborough project. But it was done and no regrets. But a few years ago, when Foundry decided to drop their ECW line and offered up all of their excess figures at fire sale prices, I couldn't help myself. I picked up 400+ Foundry ECW foot figures for a fraction of what they sell for today. I even got some of the quirky figures that I never would have gotten if I had to count my pennies - you know - the artillery men running away - the engineers in goofy body armor.... So as much as I am delighted to see the new manufacturers out there (Renegade, the Perry's , and of course Old Glory), my decision as to what to buy is pretty much made. I like the Old Glory figures and will probably round out my collection by purchasing their cavalry figures and artillery - though who knows, I will probably fall to temptation and get some Perry's and Renegades too.
But now the big question - besides how will I ever paint them - is how to organize them and what rules to play? As I age, I have come more and more to focus on two themes for my wargaming: first it must look MARVELOUS, second it must be easy to play. I intend to mount these figures 3 ranks deep. I don't care what the rules writers say. You can't capture the feel of denser formations without... denser formations. Of course that means the units have to be a bit on the large side - but hey - that's how they look MARVELOUS. I still can't get over how awesome my huge Marlborough battalions look when they are laid out. The ECW collection has to live up to that standard. But rules... there is the real problem. It was one of the main reasons we stopped playing with my old collection. I need a set of rules that will work.
The old Wargamers Guide to the ECW were fun - but the percentages were fussy and I never quite could get away from the feeling that the combat was a math exercise. Though I really loved the Trot-CanterGallop rules for cavalry . That made for riotous good games. Forlorn Hope was an excellent resource - but we never got into the flow of the actual game. "1644" had a great campaign system. But I never really tried the combat part. The Old WRG renaissance rules were .... well... impossible. I mean they worked but not all in one night with a large army. I was very eager to see Todd Kerschner's Warfare in the Age of Discovery Rules - but frankly, they did not live up to his truly excellent WTHAR. Our last experiment was Armati - and I personally liked them. Not everyone in my group did - but perhaps they deserve a second chance. Right now my target is set on the Warhammer ECW rules.
The system is not too hard to play. They unabashedly encourage focus on fun and a sort of Hollywood-esque manner of play. And from what I can see, at least with respect to foot units, they will allow the interplay between pike and shot fairly well. Plus, they seem to bias in favor of really large units. I love that. I'm looking at the chaos in my basement ...with lots of projects underway and a half - played wargame. I keep saying to myself ... what was he thinking!. I've got mostly painted Napoleonic cavalry, trees that are mounted on bases waiting for flocking, primed plastic ancients and just washed plastic ancients, ECW guns and gunners primed up, and bears ... lots of bears in various stages of priming and painting. Well, I must have had a lot of fun. I just read the most recent issue and enjoyed it. Since you asked for a lot of letters to fill the next issue, I thought the rambling letter I wrote would be perfect . I particularly liked the article on luck and psychic power to make dice work better. I'm in the middle of playing a Warhammer ECW battle with my 8 year old son. Needless to say he is just killing me with his die rolls. At least that's my story. But it seems to fit the rule of thumb that any gamer matching rolls with a child - is doomed.
(Editor's Note: Enjoyed your letter, Brian! My 28mm SYW project started life being individually based but luckily after the first thousand figures were painted and mounted/terrained on washers, I changed my approach and used double tempered hardboard and mounted the infantry six to a base, cavalry three to a base, and light infantry three to a base. The tempered hardboard is a thicker than metal stands and although I have come to really like metal stands, there is something about the hardboard look being up a little from the table that is very visually appealing! I only use static grass for terraining them and then go back and paint the four sides of the stand in green. Stands out very nicely and I like it a lot. I've been continuing to pick up 28mm SYW units - Eagle, Front Rank, Old Glory at present, thinking that when I retire, I would really enjoy going back to doing some painting for this period. I did finish a 37figure unit of Prussian Musketeers last year before my two eye surgeries this spring and although they weren't up to what I used to be able to do, I was pleased enough so as to try it again. Now if things would slow down a bit and allow me to get to the painting table and try them again!)
From Mike (Botch) Blake
MWAN 121 just arrived - the post mark was Feb 11 and it arrived 2 June! 122 I have had for a while, and couldn't understand why I couldn't follow some of the references! Never mind, it looks like another great issue which I will enjoy over the next few days. Oddly enough I had spent a train journey on Saturday on my way to and from a wargame [part 2 of a refight of Kernstown using The Long Road North rules] at the Foundry Fortress in Nottingham re-reading #122 and getting inspiration from it, including the quick-play ACW rules set by Robert Piepenbrink [great name].
I am going to suggest we try them because the LRN are so time consuming. We have 4-5 hours to play and it's taken us 2 day sessions to get to Turn 10 of a 12 turn game! I know we don't know the rules but I feel there are just too many lookup tables, cross-references and sitch - it seems to take forever. The scenario setups are good though. Anyway I have scanned Stone Wall Brigade and will send my opponent a set to look at with the suggestion that we at least give them a try. I am sure we'd get the game done in the time available if we did. On a different note - I would love to meet Sam Mustafa, what a dynamo he must be! Every time I read something by him I know I am going to be challenged and have all my ideas turned on their heads - he never fails to delight. He alone is worth the entrance fee, as they say. It was also great to see Jim Getz in print, with a couple of articles every bit as thoughtful and stimulating as the guy himself.
From Russ Stratton
You asked for 50 pages of letters in MWAN 124, well here goes my contribution, an update on some of my current projects. The other day I sat and worked out how many projects I had running at present, currently over a dozen, covering a range of periods from the Dark Ages to the modern day, primarily in 25mm with a 15mm ongoing interest in Napoleonics. They are all very much work in progress with no real idea of a completion date, I'll just see where they take me. To narrow them down a bit I've picked out four projects all at different stages, which I feel reflect my approach to the hobby.
- The grandly titled "Kingdoms of Britain" project I started about two years ago. The idea was a campaign set in post-Romano Britain around the time of the Saxon incursions into the mainland and is loosely based on Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Trilogy. My idea was to collect a number of warbands to represent the British & Saxon kingdoms, with the campaign spreading a number of years with different kingdoms allying or opposing themselves against each other. The figures are 25mm from a mixture of manufacturers, primarily the excellent Gripping Beast range, supplemented by Wargames Foundry, Old Glory, with a few Redoubt and Navigator thrown in. The campaign itself has yet to get off the ground, but I've played a few games using some "home grown" rules which I like the feel of.
- "Cross of Iron" is a WWII Eastern Front project featuring 15-20 man squads of German and Russian infantry. Inspired by the film of the same name, I wanted a quick play squad level 1:1 ratio skirmish game. Figures are 25mm Battle Honours, Black Tree and West Wind, none a painted, but I now have a squad of rifleman for each side and am looking to add a couple of HMG's.
- "A Few Bloody Noses" is a AWI project in its embryonic stages. I'm looking to put together two small armies of 4-5 units of infantry and 1 cavalry per side, to refight some of the smaller actions of the war. I've not purchased any figures as yet but am keen on the Perry, Foundry and Front Rank figures I've seen recently. AWI seems to have gained in popularity in the UK over the last 18 months with a number of new ranges being added to existing ones. Not sure when I'm going to start this project in earnest, perhaps I should paint some of the unpainted lead I currently have .... or perhaps not, you can never have too many new figures!
- Reading Hal's review of Sam Mustafa's "Grand Armee" rules has re-ignited my interest in large scale Napoleonics and I'm looking to obtain a copy of Sam's rules to try out with my existing armies. Some years ago I put together 15 mm armies for each of the main players of the Napoleonic period and gamed this exclusively for about 2-3 years. As a project it has sat on the back burner for the last 4-5 years as I've explored other periods, but Napoleonics has always been a favorite period of mine and now may be the time to take the King's shilling again and follow the drum.
I've always been impressed when reading various wargames publications including MWAN, to learn of prodigious gamers who undertake a number of projects, with a fine campaign or series of battles to show for it. I however, although being able to run a number of projects concurrently, never seem to finish them and end up with packs of unpainted lead as I head off to the next period of interest. I no longer feel guilty about this as I get as much pleasure out of planning the project and purchasing figures as I do gaming. One thing I particularly enjoy from your editorial is learning of your various projects, in different periods and scales, all at different stages of completion. It makes me feel quite at home.
I think I've come to the conclusion that my projects never really end, as I tend to come back to them after a break of months or years, with some new ideas, a different variation, usually more figures, but always a renewed enthusiasm and interest. This wide diversity is what I enjoy about the hobby, a chance to move from one period to another, try out new ideas, without being constrained to one period, scale or ruleset.
(Editors Note: Thanks, Russ, for the letter; would love to hear more about your Cross of Iron project' I've got something like that in mind for the future for my 28mm WWII I've daydreamed about having a "running" scenari%ampaign where a group of German soldiers are attempting to make their way back to their own lines It would be fun to work out some solo gaming techniques/ideas where you could develop some tables of possible outcomes covering different situations they may run into while getting back.)
From Dr. Mark Stevens
I enjoyed your mention of a Sikh wargame. We did a game yesterday with my army - mostly Minifigs. I'm working on a variant of 800 Fighting Englishmen. We had a good game - seven brigades of British attacked six of Sikhs. The British moved their lighter guns about well and crumbled both Sikh flanks. You can use all those Sikh irregulars you have. Just give them very brittle morale - so that they run at the drop of a hat. I'm just now getting some of the fine Foundry figures but Old Glory is planning a Sikh War range. I'm planning a big game for Historicon. Check out the Jackson Garners website for our game in April at RECON in Tampa.
(Editors Note: Thanks, Mark; good to hear from you again! You are correct in your suggestion to keep the irregular units but just make their morale terrible. Just got another group of painted irregulars from Mark Brown so I have even more than I had before!)
From Donald Featherstone
Please publish this letter in your correspondence pages along with those from other wargamers. Now and then in Life something happens, or causes more than a casual raising of the eyebrows and it would seem to me that any such event should be commented upon, given the mention to show that whatever it is has caused a raising of the eyebrows, a surge of pride ... or sometimes irritation!
One such thing occurred recently in the May/June edition of MWAN #124 ... on page 187 where Hal used some mental wanderings to fill remaining pages of the issue. I am referring to his inspiring three pages under the heading "Personal Hobby Thoughts" and, in particular, to the two paragraphs two third's of the way down the first page, which refer to myself. Because I know Hal to be among the most sincere and genuine men I have ever met and because his fellow American countrymen came into my life in its later stages, to bring a new and wonderful dimension of friendship and liking to me, then I take Hal's two paragraphs to be among the most endearing and satisfying things ever connected with myself and which I will cherish for the rest of my life. It is very applicable that Hal's words arise from truly mutual pleasure my many American friends and myself have gained, over the years, from our mutual pleasure in the hobby of wargaming. Hal's words refer to me in that context and ... heaven forbid, it ignores any other sort of a b.... I might have become in any other part of my life. I have led a very full life and have reached the age of 85 years with the awareness that I have always done my best and tried to treat my fellow men with fairness and understanding. I learned a lot about the way to do those things from my six and a half years in the British Army during WWII, but the greatest credit must be given to that wonderful hobby of ours that has linked us together in its many aspects. So, I thank you all and would like to say that my life has been enriched by wargaming and those who take part in it. Many thanks, everyone!
(Editors Note: Thanks very much for your letter, Donald. It is, however, us who should be thanking you for doing what you've done for the hobby and as a consequence, for us! I don't know how many enjoyable hours I spent reading and rereading "Wargamer's Newsletter" and your many books on wargaming. It was always so exciting to run across back issues of your publication. At one time, Donald, I had all 216(?) of them although a few, not many, were photo copies. Whatever MWAN has become over twenty-one years, has been possible only because of what you did with your publication and the inspiration that emulated from it. Thank you!)
From Larrv Freeman
I am writing to say that the Combat Command website will be coming back up probably before this weekend. The domain name and web hosting have already been set up, but I have to wait for my name to register before I can transfer in the files. The new name is: httix//www.larrysgameroom.com The name came from my wife who had always referred to my wargame area as Larry's game room. She even crossstitched me a picture to hang above the area back when we were first married to warn unsuspecting family friends and guests that this place was a kind of playground so be prepared. It just made sense to transfer that image to the web. As she just volunteered to command a Soviet division in the upcoming campaign, I can assume she's pretty tolerant to the idea. I am very excited to bring the web presence back after such a long delay and my new host has graciously given me 300 mb of web space, so I plan to bring back the greater majority of the old web. In fact, until I get around to knocking the rust off and updating it, the new web will look suspiciously like the old web. There are some things that I do not plan to bring back and that is any items that my great friends and ardent fans in Texas have been hosting in the interim. To Dave and I all, I thank you for keeping the standard high while I got a chance to get my own house in order. I salute you.
In that regard, I will continue to point people towards the LSHM webpage and feed you updates as we go along. Well, what is different about the web will be a lot as well. First off, as you noticed, the URL had to change as LDT Gameworks is no more. In the financial aspect of things, we could never sell enough rules to justify keeping the name as a business expense. So how does this affect the web? In that manner, the site will not stress the business aspect as before. Sure, there will be a page hawking the rules, but not much more than that. The rest of the site will be more for the fans of the game as I plan to continue the scenarios and battle reports as well as keep the links section up. As we are still playtesting the 15mm supplements to Combat Command, I will be running battle reports on them as well. Tentatively, the 15mm supplements will be called "Fix Bayonets', but if anyone has a much more brilliant title, don't hesitate to email me if you like.
I do not plan to sell the supplement, just place it out on the net for CC owners to download and use. The rules changes, which there will be a few, but not many, will also be added as a page. I plan to keep Fix Bayonets pages as a separate web for now. Some of the older battle reports will not be coming back as they were not up to the later standards that I kept for battle reports, but by and large, the bulk of the web will be coming back. I am pretty happy to have taken this break and now I am ready to come back. There is a lot of exciting things going on here in the next year. In August, the Russo-Finnish campaign launches and I have no idea how that will go! BTs, Maxim machineguns and Boys Anti-tank rifles, oh my! In the wings is the Company campaign where we hyper-scope in on a US rifle company and follow their progress from Normandy to Germany. And if that doesn't work, then well just have to play the next campaign and put the Company Commander into the shoes of ArmeeGruppe Mitte in 1944, oh, just about the time the Soviets launched this little offensive called Operation Bagration... And I haven't even gotten into the multiple scenarios coming out either in the Yahoo group files or in MWAN!
From Simon Whitelaw
We have quite a few similar periods of interest, Hal. My major source of interest is anything to do with the colonial age, but my first major foray into historical wargaming was the WWII Eastern front. I have a large collection "Black Tree" Germans and Russians. Only rule set I have played with them has been Landser. A free set of skirmish rules I found on the Black tree site about two years ago. I am very interested in the NWF, as evident by a major purchase of about 160 assorted Sikhs and Pathans from Randy Fung a few months back. All are Foundry miniatures in 25mm, including 60 of each on foot, and 24 each of Calvary. I plan to play some kind of NWF campaign in the near future. I have painted about 20 of each so far. I haven't decided on a rule set yet, probably use a derivative of the "Darkest Africa rules."
Darkest Africa has been the colonial area of gaming I have done most in. I have built up a colonial German force of Seebattalion marines (Pulp figures) and native askari (Copplestone figures). I also have a small British force of Foundry DAF Sikhs and explorers. Latest fad, hence inquiry about your Perry Miniatures the other day is the AWIL in 25mm. I am currently working my way through 16 Foundry British Light Infantry. Once these are done I will work on 9 (Perry) 17th Light Dragoons. This small force is to be mustered to put down the rebellion in the colonies in the name of king George heheh.:-) A mate of mine is building the continental force. We hope to fight a few skirmishes in a few weekends time. Also looking into ACW having developed an great interest in the war after playing a couple of 15mm battles using "Fire and Fury" . My mate who is painting the Continentals is an American history nut, and has both a confederate and Union army in 15 mm. I have had great fun trying to change history with the Confederacy heheheh. Been motivated to build up my own confederate force. I just received some "AB" 15 mm figures in the post tonight. My brush has a lot of work to do.
(Editor's Note: Thanks, Simon; good to hear from you. Hope yowl consider writing again on what's happening to you per the hobby!! There is something amazingly fascinating about the WWII Eastern Front. Enjoyed your mention of Foundry 25mm NWF figures; check out the Old Glory line as well as J&T Miniatures figures and Eureka Miniatures for additional offerings for this period. You 'II be surprised to find out what is available. My friend, Len Brewer, just painted up a market set from J& T Miniatures and it can be used for the Sudan, NWF, etc., and is excellent)
From Joe Cairo
Hal, let me start off by saying how much I enjoy MWAN and I appreciate all of the hard work you put into it. MWAN is my favorite wargaming publication. I probably have about 24 armies in 14 or so time periods. Most of my figs are 25mm, but 15's are creeping in. I sold all of my 15's several years ago and intended only gaming in 25's, but the cost of figs plus the multitude of armies and time periods available is causing me to rethink my original plan. I really like 25's, but can't afford to do everything I want at this scale. It is something I am really struggling with. Part of me envies the guy who specializes in one time period and doesn't collect anything else. I am interested in just about everything and collect both sides because I don't like relying on other people to supply figures in order to run a game. My 25mm ACW collection is pretty near being done, as is my 25mm ancient Indians and Alexander Imperial troops.
Current temptations include the Chinese Civil War (as well as Sand Pebbles type scenarios) in 25mm, and the Russian Civil War. I can't decide what scale to do the RCW in, so am currently just doing some reading and planning. Like I said, I like 25's, but Peter Pig has a very comprehensive range in 15mm.
Again, I don't know what to do. I am also tempted to go back to my roots of gaming-HO scale plastics and Charles Grant's rules. 54mm plastics also sound interesting. As far as rules go, I am very taken at the moment by Volley and Bayonet and use them for colonials, ACW and AWL I am thinking about modifying them for the RCW. Back to figures for a minute, I have a lot of old Ral Partha, Minifigs, etc. from the 70's and 80's and am perfectly satisfied with them. Does anyone besides me think that new figures are too detailed? It takes much longer to paint a Foundry fig than a Scruby fig, and once the fig is on the tabletop you can't see the detail anyway. There are some beautiful figures out there, but I don't need that type of detail on my figs. I just want to play a game with them. I would like to close by thanking ALL of your various editors for thinking of something worthwhile to crank out on a regular basis. In particular I find Sam Mustafa to have some very thought provoking articles, especially the command and control issues raised several months back. Howard Whitehouse is amusing and writes as only Englishmen seem to know how to do (now, if he could only do something about that damn Foundry pricing). Before I forget, the 54mm plastics gracing the latest covers are fantastic.
(Editor's Note: Thanks for kind words, Joe; glad you enjoy MWAN! Your thoughts about your interests in many periods/scales mirror my own. Its so easy to get tempted by seeing new figures Thanks for writing, Joe!)
From Charles Eckart
Thanks for another great issue (#120) of MWAN. Haven't missed an issue for more years than I can remember. Consided subscribing but decided it would be best to support the local shop (ATTACTIX) which carries MWAN. I appreciate the effort that goes into MWAN but hope the printer mailings work well as it would be sorely missed if discontinued. I've read the comments concerning "wargaming" in several issues now. Before continuing, guess I should explain a little.
I'm ex-military and have seen more combat than many who are. I've worked with computers, military and civilian for over thirty-five years but make minimal use of them in personal affairs, hence the preference for "hard-copy" such as MWAN. Problem with computers is attitude; they speed up process, they do not replace human mental activity as too many seem to desire. I enjoy outdoor activities and the hobby is only part of my interests. I like miniatures but consider them mainly markers in a game. The history, rules, social activity and problem solving are the main attractions for me. Wargaming was still an infant when I was in school. No one "recruited" me. I "discovered" it because of my interest in history, different cultures, attitudes and current events. I found that the past has much to teach. Past events can impact on a group (family, clan, tribe, culture, nation, etc) even hundreds of years later. Attitudes and behavior are influenced. The present is the progeny of the past. I hesitated to write this letter (over several issues of MWAN) because I feel no need to apologize or explain my interests.
I don't try to "recruit" anyone into the hobby. If there's an interest, I will help if I can. If no real interest they won't understand regardless of the length of discussion. People are the dominant creature on the planet but despite our artificially created environments we are still part of a natural world which encourages individual and group survival and well being, generally at the expense of others. I have experienced war and don't wish to again. But people will do what they do. Robert Trout, about a year before he died, broadcast a statement which I think could stand repeating. "When the last time is forgotten, the next time could be just around the corner." In any event, history shows us that wars are frequently attempts to change conditions and resolve problems of differing interests. Just as rules and laws require enforcement, as do agreements need incentives to be upheld. Perhaps the Roman had it right; "If you would have peace, prepare for war." Games can be entertaining and fun (I have a great time with articles and rules by Howard Whitehouse who certainly deserves the "Humor" award. Congrats, Howard). They can also encourage us to learn and understand. Could go on but have problem said too much already! Besides, MWAN and Howard's "Pulp" rules are on the table calling me.
(Editor's Note: Thanks for your letter, Charles! Having the printer send MWAN out to subscribers has greatly reduced my workload and although it significantly increases the cost, I don't know how I could go back to doing it myself)
From Bev Kruger
It's been awhile since we've sent an update on what's happening at The Last Square. Hope it's OK to send in a letter about that and let folks know what's going on around here!! We just completed our 5th Annual Wargamer's Auction - where gamers can clean closets, basements and attics - and have some place to bring their stuff! We had over 20 consignors, with a record 150+ items in the auction. It was great - painted and unpainted minis, board games, scenery, rule sets - you name it. We stopped mid-point in the auction for lunch - Karl was out back cooking his famous brats - I kept the potato chips and soda pop going.
We had close to 200 people come through the store and enjoy the event - a grand day for sure. August 16 is our annual Painting Competition. By the time this goes to print I imagine it will be past history - but it's never too early to start painting for next year! We have several categories - historical, fantasy, individual, units, etc, plus an entry slot for our Young Guard - age 15 and under. Anyone in the adult ranges who wins a first prize in any year is automatically moved into the Master Class for all eternity. That class can contain some real eye-poppers. We'll be at Historicon - as always - wouldn't miss it. We went to Origins this year for the first time - and also will have a booth at the EAA in Oshkosh the week after Historicon. Our Young Guard group continues to grow. Every month we send out 135+ fliers to kids who are interested in learning how to paint and play games. The classes are free - kids and parents are thrilled. We typically have 5-10 events per month for the kids. I guess that's enough going on around here! No wonder the days aren't long enough. Take care and keep up the good job with MWAN!
From Jonathan Aird
I was prompted to write by your editorial in issue 123 of MWAN requesting a "bumper crop" of letters, which reminded me that I hadn't dropped you a line for some time. Hope this doesn't arrive too late to be useful. Having moved house last year gave me the opportunity to review my hobby holdings - still way too many unpainted figures and unassembled plastic kits. It was also a good way to decide that some of the peripherals (magazines, some books, etc) could be disposed of. I have been able to put together a permanent board - three sheets of hardboard, nailed onto a soft wood frame with metal corner angles for strength. This gives a 6' by 4' table, which is not huge but is something I've dreamt of having for a very long time. This can be stacked against the wall upright when not in use. I bought a cheap gatefold table second hand for the board to sit on, this can also double as a painting table (but I haven't had the chance to do much painting on it so far).
The game table is getting plenty of use though - I offered to run the Solo Wargamer's Association postal tournament for 2002 - 2003, and this has generated a number of games. The games are large skirmishes (up to about 100 figures a side) in a generic medieval setting (anything from about 1000AD - 1450AD), so it's pre-gunpowder. Each player gets shown a partial wargame board map, then deploys their troops and states how they will try and meet their objectives for the scenario. There are 1 or more updates of orders once the enemy becomes visible. It's fun seeing how different people deploy their armies - I, as umpire, look at the whole table, see both sides army lists and think "I'd put this here, and that there".
However, the players, with incomplete knowledge of their opponent's force, and sometimes quite limited information on the terrain ahead of them, make quite different decisions. Seeing how other people's plans survive contact with the enemy is also very entertaining - the only thing I don't like is having to write to someone and tell them that they lost! Once the tournament is complete, I'm planning to do some Middle Earth wargaming with the Games Workshop skirmish games that have been spun off from the Lord of the Rings films. I've already got some figures based for middle earth mass battles, but I've bought quite a few of the GW plastic figures, which I'm looking forward to painting.
In the UK there has been a part work called "Battle games in middle earth", written by GW staff but available (at least for the first 6 or so issues) through regular newsagents. This comes packaged with either a metal figure or one of the GW plastic figure sprues for the non-heroes (the elves, the goblins, etc). For the plastic sprues it's a cheap way to buy figures, especially the 1st issue which had a sprue of figures, some dice, some mini-pots of GW paint and a paintbrush all for £0.99 (about $1.50). The sight of grown men scouring the shops for these bargains can't have been edifying. Still, it's amazing to me that a wargames based part work should be available, aimed at the general public on a fortnightly basis. If just a few of the purchasers look along the shelves and find Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated then, very possibly, Games Workshop will have done the hobby a great service in finding new recruits. Time will tell. To go with this Middle Earth game I'm also planning on making some more terrain - I bought the GW Terrain building book some time ago and would really like to build some of the towers and buildings in that - the great thing is the base materials make it financially attractive. For a tower the base might be a Pringles can - so I've been stockpiling these. Although having written that, I saw at Salute 2003 a number of traders selling pre-made and pre-painted terrain features for really very reasonable prices. Sometimes I think that maybe I should save time and just buy some.
Well, for me, a big part of the hobby fun is modeling - buying kits, sorting through "scrap" items for things that will make unusual terrain features and so on. My modeling skill rarely meets my mind's eye image of what I want, but it's fun trying. I also want to get on with painting some DBA / Warhammer ancients forces from the dozens of boxes of plastic figures I've been purchasing over the last couple of years. I'm constantly amazed at how many different figure boxes seem to be released every year, if anything the rate of releases is getting faster, to the point where it's almost impossible to keep up. The nice thing about this is that I can try and be a bit more selective in what I purchase, rather than just getting everything new that I see.
For some reason I don't fully understand I have been buying the HaT WW1 figures as they come out. I suppose I might game the early war (1914) some day, but that doesn't really explain the Emhar and Airfix WW1 tank kits I've stashed away. I find the idea of the later war with mud, wire, and artillery to excess and gas doesn't really appeal, although a trench raid type game could be a possibility. I hope you won't mind if I say that your SYW in 15mm tale caused a bit of a chuckle - you bought figures, sold them, then bought them back again ! Well, if the planning and buying is half the fun then I guess that makes sense ! I find I generally hang onto figures, especially the painted ones - all that time spent painting them is too much to even think of having to do again. Although, with the standard of painting I used to reach, maybe it would be a better idea to start over again with some armies. Really, as ever, there are too many things I would like to do and since I don't want to dedicate my whole life to my hobby there's also too little time to do it in! I think the best thing I could do is to take a year off from visiting bookshops, wargame shows, game and model shops etc. Then I'd have to finish off something that I've started, but to be honest it isn't really very likely. I have to admit that I admire your ability to plan a project and carry it through to the last figure painted and the last piece of terrain built.
Or is this level of dedication just down to good editing of the tale? As always I've been enjoying MWAN over the last year, especially the series of articles on the Hungarian war - I really like obscure wars, even those I know I'll never get round to gaming. As well as getting some painting done in the next 12 months, I'd like to spend some time on hobby writing - so hopefully I'll have something to send in for MWAN in a few months time. Well, maybe.
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© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
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