Nice to see MWAN going from strength to strength and in a new and - once one adjusts to the smaller print - more readable format. I know its an old cliche, but I did sit down and read the first three issues of Volume IV through from cover to cover (honest). Hal and I have agreed to write on an informal basis for each other on wargaming on our respective sides of the Atlantic. Nothing too mind bending, just a few random notes on the way things are going, now developments, companies, and events, etc. However, this issue will be more concerned with observations on the U.S. historical miniatures hobby, as I'd like to kick-off with some thoughts on recent MWAN contributions. This may be misleading - I'm not sure how representative of U.S. gaming MWAN is (Editor's Note: Very good point). Over here, the term Mid-West America is usually an implied criticism of a narrow minded, almost reactionary, view of things. I'm sure this is exaggerated, and does not extend to the views of Mid-Western wargamers. And, of course, MWAN extends beyond the geographical limitations of its name. Nineteenth century gaming, especially British Colonial, ACW, and the US-Mexican War, seem to be very popular in the US, much more so than over here. This may reflect the MWAN editor's own preferences to some extent, but the support for the period seems much deeper than that. I can understand the popularity of the home-grown wars, but why British Colonials? Explanations from US readers appreciated. In the U.K. the Ancient and Napoleonic periods are undoubtedly the most popular. WWII is also common, especially amongst younger players. The Ancients period is of course vast, spanning 90% of recorded history, and to even lump it together as a single period is something of a misnomer. In recent years, it has become fashionable to subdivide it into three periods a la WRG army lists, and it is becoming less frequent to see New Kingdom Egyptians fighting Normans or similar. A couple of years back there was a marked fall in popularity of 25nm Napoleonics in favour of 15mm and 1/300. The larger scale has now made a comeback, inspired by the pretty pictures in MINIATURE WARGAMES and the grand scale of Peter Gilder-style set ups, and the arrival of new manufacturers and figure lines of outstanding quality (Essex, Elite, Bicorne, Gilder, etc). It seems that the old hands at 25mn Napoleonics have been inspired to bigger and better things. Some correspondents in MWAN seem to have a dislike for fantasy gaming hovering on hatred. Feelings are less strident here, though there are of course exceptions. I suppose the US gamer's dislike is to some extent one of insecurity, with fantasy being that much more dominant in the US than the UK. DbD and similar games seem to taking most of the flak. I must say I lean more towards the view of Tom Harris than Doug Carrocio (both in Vo1. 4, No. 3) on DbD, in that it is not the game but the player who may be at fault. D&D can no more turn a level-headed youngster into an occultist than wargaming can turn him into a rampant militarist, or Monopoly turn him into a slum landlord. Doug's view of wargaming as a parallel to the battles that take place in order to maintain self-control, decency and self-respect has its limitations. Is the wargamer who plays a Nazi SS commander playing in a "wholesome clean way"? I would find more to worry about in a gamer who relished the part than in the average D&D player. Ah, you say, but the SS commander is only playing a role, he doesn't really believe in the part. Exactly, so should all D&D players have the same attitude. Rather than be devisive we should make the boundaries of our hobby as wide as possible. Bring in the Role Players, the fantasy gamers and the Military Modellers. There aren't than many of us that we can afford to be so elitist in our approach. We should learn from these areas - a real approach to role playing in wargame command for example, could work wonders for the game. Why, it's even possible for someone to game with historical miniatures, play D&D and be a military modeller! Now, a quick look at whats happening in the U.K. Mergers and takeovers are in at present. Over the last year or so we have seen Essex take up Mike's Models, Skytrex take over Hinchliffe, Minifigs take Lamming under their wing, and Campaign Miniatures and Hovels (resin cast buildings) merge. Now Humbrol have taken over Airfix, giving them a huge percentage of the plastic kit & figure business. As new companies enter an already competitive market further raltionalisation must occur, and I see no reason for the merger trend to slow. Plastic figures in HO or 20mn scale are making a comeback. ESCI sets seem to be popular, and Airfix packs are much sought after. They have been hard to come by of late, so maybe Humbrol will market them sensibly. There is also a trend towards"designer wargaming'. That is, a gamer will pay to have an army assembled, organized, painted and based rather than do it himself, and even purchase off-the-shelf terrain modules and pre-painted buildings. It's a lazy way to get into the hobby and ideal if you are itching for a high quality game straight away, but surely half the fun is the research, the painting, and the scratch-building of terrain and houses? Pointless Footnote: Did you know that Howard Whitehouse is 16 days older than me, was born only thirty miles away and when he visited Lichfield was only a stones throw away from my home? It could help to explain the uncanny similarity in the way we got into wargaming. I too used to have the "Action Man" dolls, then discovered Airfix figures, which we used to line up and knock down. The 'great leap forward' was rolling a die for every man on your side, and when you threw a 6, you knocked one of the opponents men off. Then I read Terry Wise's INTRODUCTION TO BATTLE GAMING and have never been the same since. Back to MWAN # 23 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com