By Hal Thinglum - 3-D CONTOURS STREAMS - I recently ordered some more items from Andrew Doyle of 3-D Contours, 4210 O'Ferrell St., Hattiesburg, MS 39401. I sent Andrew two 15mm bridges and a 15mm watermill and requested that he make stream sections (stream is 2" wide and entire section is 4" X 12") with the bridges on them, a third stream section with the watermill, and a fourth stream section going to a "Y". I would say that in less than three weeks time, I had my items back to me completed! Andrew painted all of the bridges and the watermill for me as well. The watermill section narrows down to about an inch wide where the waterwheel is; there is a swampy section on one side of the watermill and a raised mound across the river from it. Very nicely painted! In •the swampy section, there is some tall green grass - beautifully done! Andrew varied the width of the stream for my two bridge sections; one has a wider middle section as the bridge is longer and the other is more narrow. Bridge sections cost me $10 each; watermill was $20; and "Y" stream section $8.00. Highly recommended. I am checking with Andrew to get an estimate on an 18" X 24" section of swamp for French-Indian War 25mm and WWII 20mm gaming!
By Hal Thinglum - LIBERTY FALLS BUILDINGS - LIBERTY FALLS COLLECTOR'S CLUB, 707 Skokie Blvd., Suite 600, Northbrook, IL 60062, has a wonderful collection of 15mm-ish buildings entitled THE AMERICANA COLLECTION, which in my opinion, are great for 15mm ACW gaming. They have been available at CARSON, PRAIRIE & SCOTT, an Illinois department store, for several weeks at $5.00 each; they offer a new one each week and sell out very quickly. I missed the first week "Liberty Falls Train Station", but have picked up the General Store, Duffy's Mill, and Mrs. Applegate's Boarding House, all of which are excellent. next is Gold King mines, a great looking mining type factory, opera House(which I probably won't get), Gold Nugget Tavern, and First Congregational Church. All are nicely handpainted and have low bases; not the very tall bases we sometimes see on these types of buildings. This company offers a charter member application for $9.95 and I may take advantage of it as you receive "Clara's Bakery" and the picture looks very nice! It also allows you to receive a quarterly newsletter with news of each year's releases. Good deal, if you ask me!
By Hal Thinglum - DISCOUNT CARD SHOP BUILDINGS - I'm really sorry, guys; I bought these great painted buildings at FACTORY CARD SHOP, a local chain after drooling over them for several visits! I badgered the clerks to obtain the address of the distributor/company for me and they couldn't find it. What a shame! I have a very large three building complex with huge fireplaces on a base; might even be used as a factory ($13.99); again, bases are not that high and it is a lovely building which I plan on using for 15mm Franco-Prussian War. There is another three building factory complex with two tall chimneys ($9.99); 15mm ACW or Franco-Prussian War; WWI/WWII. Perhaps my favorite! There is a beautiful 15mm/20mm/25mm cottage with three chimneys, trees, sidewalks, etc ($14.99), and a tall cottage (15mm-20mm-25mm) with bushes and trees ($9.99) as well. There were quite a few others, but I thought these were the best for wargames use. There were others which would have fit well with 6mm or 10mm. Check out your local stores for items like these, especially after the holidays. Quality work already painted for inexpensive prices! Let us know what you find!
By Hal Thinglum - MODEL POWER HO SCALE RUINED BUILDINGS FOR 20MM - MODEL POWER, 200 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010 (2230 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6L 2X8) offers two excellent HO scale buildings which I will be using for WWII gaming. The Chester Urban Renewal Project is a three story building which has sections of the third floor remaining and one wall of an adjoining building with lots of rubble. Within the rubble pile is a basement opening which would be great to use with a machine gun team! BUILDING UNDER DEMOLITION is a three story building which is half destroyed with sections of two floors still standing. It also has a huge rubble pile and a portion of tall fence. Neither require painting; I may put a wash on the rubble piles as they are molded in up to 10 colors. The Building Under Demolition has wall paper which glues on easily. I, yes, I constructed them in less than 30 minutes each! They will be highly functional for my WWII town battles! Highly recommended, Gentlemen!
By Hal Thinglum - WARGAMES FOUNDRY PAINTING GUIDE FOR FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR - I obtained this four page painting guide from PENDRAGON, 1549 Marview Dr., Westlake, OHIO 44145 (216-871-4587) for $6.00 including postage. It consists of two full color pages with many figures for the Franco-Prussian War as well as two other single sheets (one is double-sided) with uniform information for Wurttemburg, Bavaria, Saxony, and more French & Prussian. Also gives information re gun colors and standards. I know this sounds expensive; however, it is, I think worthwhile because it is difficult to find information on this period.
By Hal Thinglum - SIGNIFER 15MM FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR COLOR FLAGS - SIGNIFER, 3419 Westminster, Ste. 243, Dallas, TX 75205 (214-821-7746), much to my surprise, offers an extensive collection of 15mm Franco-Prussian War flags. They have 13 sets ($3.29 per set) of French flags covering the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th corps, Imperial Guard, Turcos, and Line Zouaves. Each has eight flags, two divisions to a Corps. There are three sets of Prussian flags, two of cavalry and one of infantry ($3.29 each). Quality stuff and recommended highly; I plan on using them for my 15mm Franco-Prussian War project!
By Hal Thinglum - OLD GLORY 25MM FRENCH-INDIAN WAR/15MM ACW AND SYW LINES - OLD GLORY, Box 20, Acme, PA 15610 (distributed by Emperor's Headquarters - see ad in this issue for address) has released FIW25-19 Rangers and FIW25-15 British Light Infantry w/command ($21.00 for 30 figures); the Rangers (appear to be Rogers' Rangers) have two officers and 28 EM as do the British Light infantry. These are excellent figures with many different poses within each pack. You can't beat the price or the quality! I've been mounting them on fender washers and they are great painted up and grassed! Highly recommended. SYP-1 Musketeers w/command ($18.50 - 104 figures in my pack) has one mounted officer, 8 standard bearers, 16 foot officers, 8 drummers, one dead figure, and 70 march attack musketeers in a variety of poses which would look great in a unit. Remember how in my editorial of #66, I mentioned that if I only did one period, I would do SYW and do it in 25mm? Well, I am sorry, but I would do 15mm OLD GLORY figures! Geez! I've already got 1500 plus 25mm SYW and now I'm buying 15mm SYW! If you think that's bad, I picked up a pack of OLD GLORY 15mm ACW22 Texas Brigade (Hood's) ($18.50 for 101 figures( with 5 officers, 5 drummers, 5 standard bearers and 86 enlisted men advancing in various poses. I'm afraid that these figures and the rules set FIRE AND FURY have convinced me to do 15mm ACW; with these figures, the ACW painted buildings I've been buying, 3-D Contours 2" streams, and Flex-Terrain roads; gosh, I'll be cool! I can not imagine having wargaming items of this quality! HOW CAN I FORGET - my favorites! French-Indian War (AGE OF REASON) British Highlanders! Again 30 figures for $21.00 with command; two pipers, two standard bearers, two officers, two drummers, and 22 enlisted men of which, I believe, four are grenadiers. I love these suckers! Mufti-posed figures with one figure falling wounded! Excellent - I do love Highlanders! OLD GLORY has also released individual packs of British and French gunners (10) and guns (2) for the French-Indian War but I haven't seen them yet.
By Hal Thinglum - 20MM WWII FIGURES, ARMOUR & ARTILLERY - Figures, Armour & Artillery, 17 Oakfield Drive, Upton Heath, Chester, CH2 1LG, UK, sent along a bunch of 20mm WWII samples - hey, I love the figures from this company. They fit in very with PLATOON 20 and COMBAT MINIATURES which I also really like! Included were packs of U.S. Marines (43-45) USM7 Command Post; five figures (2.00 pounds) of which one is kneeling talking on a field phone, one standing talking on walkie-talkie, one standing with carbine pointing, another standing with hands on hips, and the fifth is standing with some sort of small box (this inability to identify the item is due more to my rapidly decreasing eyesight than poor detail of the figure!). Very nice figures! USM9 has four figures; a M1917 MMG with kneeling firer and prone loader - I love this gun! Another crewman is kneeling firing a rifle with a clip and the fourth figure is kneeling with a smg with round clip and pointing; he is the only figure without a helmet and is wearing a soft Marine cap. Great set(2 pounds)! I'll be adding these to my WWII Pacific collection! Also included was a pack of WWII Japanese JAP 5 - a three figure set consisting of a prone LMG figure, rifleman, and kneeling section leader with separate arm(1.05 pounds) The last two packs consisted of new releases from their "Classic German Infantry" (39-43) line (20 different packs!), CGI5 rifle section with MG34 team advancing, the gunner is running with a MG34 while the loader is marching carrying a box of ammo and (I think) several six-grenade packs. The third is marching with a rifle and box of ammo on his right shoulder. CG16 is a rifle section w/leader halted and consists of one infantry sort of at ease with rifle, one kneeling with submachinegun, and one on guard with rifle. Each of these last two packs are 1.05 pounds. Postage for USA/Canada is 35%. I tell you, these are great figures and I can't wait to start painting this period! Highly detailed, well animated, no (as in none!) flash. Good Stuff indeed!
By Hal Thinglum - OVID ENTERPRISES PAINTED BUILDINGS - OVID ENTERPRISES, 3325 E. 29th St., Des Moines, IA 50317-3832 was kind enough to send me a beautifully painted 25mm ACW barn (Hovels?) that they did; I think the price is $25.00 but I am not sure if this includes the price of the barn or not. Contact them for further information. This is very well done with effectively done shading techniques which result in a quality paint job! Even my wife commented on how well this building looked - "Hey, Barbara, what about mine?" Recommended! They also paint figures 1/300th, 15mm, 20mm and 25mm. Prices by quotation.
By Hal Thinglum - 25MM PASS OF THE NORTH CONQUISTADORS - PASS OF THE NORTH WARGAMES, PO Box 12831, El Paso, TX 79913 has released a new line of 25mm Spanish Steel Conquistadors packed three to a bag ($3.75 per bag) in lead free pewter. There are six conquistadors, three sword & buckler figures in armor swinging sword, studded brigandine attacking, and armored charging; one firing crossbowman, one arquebusier firing, and one sword and buckler lunging. Three sample figures came with separate weapons (crossbowman & two swordsmen) and one with separate shield. This last figure will have a nice fitting shield (one of my sore points are poor fitting shields) as the hand has a projection which will fit right through the shield - very nice! Good detail, no flash. The fourth sample is firing an arquebusier. There are also six Aztecs but I didn't see them. See their ad on page 17 for further information. Recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - 15MM MAINLY MILITARY MANOR HOUSE & BARN - MAINLY MILITARY, 103, Walsall Rd., Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK (Picked this up from Emperor's Headquarters in Chicago) has a great 15mm farm complex for $30.00. I'd seen this around for sometime, however, never had a chance to pick it up and I was at THE EMPEROR'S HEADQUARTERS looking for 15mm Franco-Prussian War buildings when I saw it! Very nice! A five section structure consisting of gate, two walls, barn, and two story manor house. I suspect this could be used from 1600 on for your wargames. I like it a lot. Also picked up two other MAINLY MILITARY buildings for the Franco-Prussian war, but don't recall name/price. One is a smaller cottage and the other is a barn for the cottage. Well done buildings! I'm going to mount this complex permanently on a 12" X 12" piece of tempered hardboard and add some French type trees along one side with perhaps a small garden.
By Hal Thinglum - COMBAT MINIATURES MODERN 20MM FIGURES - While I was at THE EMPEROR'S HEADQUARTERS several weeks ago, John Brewster gave me a bunch of Combat Miniatures modern 20mm figures but did not give me a listing or prices on them. These would be great figures, I would think, for the GDW game - can't recall name of it now - future warfare in Europe anyway. One is a well casted woman in dress, boots, and purse holding a pistol down with both hands. There are a number modern Afghans and I believe Russian infantry for the same period. No flash, well animated figures. I really like the Combat Miniatures figures! Write to EHQ for more information! There are six listings for Modern Russian figures and five for modern Afghans. Also listed are Modern Police & Terrorists (9), modern Elite US figures for Grenada (8), Cubans for Grenada (3), Modern Esraeli(3), Middle East (5), British(5) and Argentines (5) for Falklands. Also new from EHQ are WWII Russian Cavalry (previously known as MLR) consisting of mounted command, mounted cavalry, dismounted cavalry advancing, standing horses & horse holders and moving horses. Price for all of the above is $4.50 for six figures. They report there are five different poses in each pack.
By Hal Thinglum - FRONT RANK 25MM JACOBITE LINE - EHQ also provided me with a bunch of 25mm FRONT RANK figures from their redone Jacobite line. Outstanding figures! Look at the listing of page 46 in MWAN #66 for a complete is. Prices are $1.10 per foot figures. I bought a number of highlanders with muskets to be put in OLD GLORY Highlander French-Indian War units and they match up well as regards size and detail! FIB51 is a British officer with sword extended holding his tricorne in his right hand; exceedingly well done! GA18 is an officer bowing - another good figure! If you are into Jacobites, check this line out; if you want to add some different highlander poses to your French-Indian War units, use these figures! Highly recommended! JA17 is a dead highlander, JA15 highlander falling wounded, GA5 is British infantryman falling backward (very good figure which I am adding to my FIW collection), FIB18 British light infantryman loading, and FIB7 light infantry kneeling - British. There are Government musketeers & fusiliers, Command, highlanders, and gun crew as well as 17 Jacobite Highlanders, four lowlanders, and six Jacobite Command. I bought a great piper charging with broadsword, jacket & plaid which I will use for French-Indian War Highlander. Great Stuff.
By Hal Thinglum - WARGAMES FOUNDRY 25MM RELEASES - WARGAMES FOUNDRY, Mount Street, New Basford, Nottingham, NG7 7HX, UK (0602 792002 phone) sent a number of 25mm samples for mention. First of all are their Franks; two Nobles (both attacking w/francisca), one unarmoured Noble w/sword, a musician blowing a horn, and 8 warriors (4 advancing, three charging and one attacking). They come with separate shields and spears. Highly animated figures! I love the nobleman wearing what appears to be an animal cloak! Next are Arthurian Cavalry which, they say, can be used as western European cavalry of the 5th and 6th centuries. LRCav130 is "Arthur" in mail w/cloak; 131 is "Cador of Cornwall", 132 is "Kay" in mail, jewelled 'ridge' helmet; 133 is "Bedevere" in mail, sword above head; 134 is a musician blowing ituus, and 135-138 are warriors. All of these are mounted. Included were Arthurian/Frankish horses LRH9 rearing, 10 standing, and 11 trotting. Again, shields and most spears are separate. Arthur is a wing-dinger of a figure! Foot are .55 pence while horses, are .70 pence. Now, my favorites! Are you ready? NPV5 Napoleon and Staff (11.40 pounds) - a 12 figure pack of Napoleon seated with fold arms and foot on drum; Roustand w/telescope, Berthier w/telescope, Victor wearing cape w/telescope, Grouchy in greatcoat w/map, Ney pointing at map w/hat in hand, Mortier peering through telescope, Savary (Napoleon's ADC) w/message, Marquis of Vence (an Imperial Orderly), a Hussar ADC pointing, an assistant to staff w/document folder, and a Chasseur a Cheval of the Guard dismounted on guard duty. I would love to get these painted up for a small diorama! Excellent! My goodness, are we spoiled, or what!!! Unbelievable!
By Hal Thinglum - FEUDAL CASTINGS 15MM FIGURES FROM DIVISION AFTER DIVISION DIVISION AFTER DIVISION, C/O Roger Dostoevsky, 11107 Finchley Rd., Louisville, KY 40243 sent some sample 15mm Feudal Castings for mention in this column. First of all are Wild Scots with two-handed axe and two-handed sword. These figures have no flash and are well detailed - both are getting ready to strike. Also included were a number of Picts; archer, crossbowman, javelinman, and commander. Nice figures! Packs of 8 infantry, six command, or four cavalry are $2.90. There is a fairly good section; see ad on page 9. Roger is also offering 15mm TABLE TOP MINIATURES from the UK and sent two samples from their 15mm ECW line; armoured pikeman with upright pike and musketeer in plumed hat firing. He's not sure of US prices yet. The two samples were from the 15mm Renaissance line which is quite extensive. They are fairly well detailed figures and will fit in with Essex, Matchlock and Museum Miniatures ECW lines. The TABLE TOP MINIATURES catalog is very extensive with many periods offered.
By Hal Thinglum - MUSEUM MINIATURES 15MM ECW FROM MILITARY MINIATURES OF TX Military Miniatures of Texas, 925 S. Mason Rd., Suite 142, Katy, TX 77450 sent along some samples of the new MUSEUM MINIATURES 15mm English Civil War line which I have been anxious to see. Price first of all; $2.89 will get you a pack of 8 infantry, 4 cavalry, 3 cavalry command, or 6 foot command. Pikemen come with cast-on pike, which I guess I like - I didn't think I would, but I do! Included was an unarmoured pikeman in soft hat; musketeer in plumed hat firing, and Lifeguard cavalryman cast with horse - I like horse and rider cast together! I like these figures; they will match well with matchlock and Essex, both of which I like. The line looks fairly extensive with figures for both early Parliamentry and Royalist armies as well as "recruits" in civilian dress, some with farm implements. They report that the New model figures are next to be released. There is also a line of ECW equipment including cannon w/crew, demi cannon, culverin, saker, galloper gun, and four horse limber (each $3.29 each. There are three guns to a pack. I especially like the Lifeguard cavalryman on a "big" horse! I'm looking forward to seeing more of this fine line!
By Hal Thinglum - CHARIOT MINIATURES 10MM ZULU WAR LINE - Pharaoh's Arms, PO Box 32, Munster Hamlet, Ontario, Canada, KOA-3P0 )613-838-4818) is carrying Chariot Miniatures new 10mm Zulu War figures; two samples were sent along - British infantry advancing and Zulu advancing with shield and assegi. Prices not included. Hey, these are great(!) figures! Isandhlwana in 10mm? Would that be insane after doing it in 25mm? Boy, I am tempted with these figures! Check them out - you will be surprised with the quality. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them. They also will be releasing 10mm Franco-Prussian War figures soon! Boy, oh boy!
By Hal Thinglum - HALLMARK 15MM ENGLISH CIVIL WAR FIGURES - Hallmark Figures, 30 Haigh Wood Road, Cookridge, Leeds, LS16, 6PB, UK is a company which, I believe, produces an extensive line of 15mm wagons and accessories and perhaps, the quality AB line in the UK. Anyway, while at EHQ recently, I picked up a pack of GR1 ($2.50) which consists of eight of the best ECW gunners you'll find! There are four different poses and they are good! I wonder if they'll be making more 15mm ECW? I hope so! I'm very anxious to get some of their wagons as they are great. EHQ carries many of them!
By Hal Thinglum - 15MM RANK AND FILE FIGURES - Rank & File Figures, 140 Indiana Ave., Dayton, OH 45410 (513-253-1359) is a company I was not aware of until I started looking for Franco-Prussian War figures. I was very surprised to see the extent of what they offer the wargamer. They have 15mm Prussians & Allies 1866-70; French 1850-71; Austrians 1859-66; Piedmont-Sardinia & Italy 1859-66 and a growing 15mm line of the Crimean War. Chris Atkin was kind enough to send lots of samples - first of all, the Crimean War - IR01-Russian Infantry in helmet charging; IR04 Same but marching; and same in helmet & greatcoat firing. Each has 24 figures. Detail and casting are very good! IB01 British line infantry in coatee & Albert Shako advancing; IB09 Fusilier or light company in coatee/Albert Shako advancing; IB13 highlander in kilt & bonnet advancing; and IB17 Guardsman in coatee & bearskin advancing; again, packs of 24 figures; excellent figures! Nice job, Chris! These packs sell for $5.75 There are 11 packs of British infantry and one of gunners and three guns (6, 9 and 12 pounders). The Russians have 14 packs of foot, one of gunners, two guns, and four cavalry packs. Now, 15mm Franco-Prussian War figures! My new love! IF-1 French line infantry in kepi & Capote advancing; IF42 French lancer (eight figures w/horses); IE03 four mitrailleuse; IF02 French line infantry in kepi & capote firing; and IP03 Prussian infantry in pickelhaube marching. These figures are not up to the standard of the Crimean War figures; however, they are very good. I will have lots of them in my armies! The lancers are cast with their lances and pennants and cast separately from the horses. This line is very extensive although I would like to see Chris make cavalry command figures available. Highly recommended!
By Hal Thinglum - FALCON 15MM FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR LINE - Falcon, PO Box 444, Medford, MA 02155 has a wide range of 15mm Franco-Prussian War figures which I had never seen until recently. Prussia has 11 infantry packs including Prussians, Jagers, Wurtenburgers, and Bavarians; one of artillery, four of cavalrymen, one mounted general pack, 4 and 6 pound krupp guns, and a limber set. The French have 9 packs of infantry, including line, chasseur, garde mobile, zouaves, sailors, Imperial Guard; one of artillery, seven of cavalry, one mounted general, field gun, mitrailleuse, and limber set. I like these figures - I'd never seen any Falcon 15mm's previously. The horses are larger, yeh, but they are well done. Cavalry are cast separate from the horses. Guns may be a little large. The limber sets are great! Limber, unridden horse, ridden horse with rider, and limber rider. I really enjoy having limbers in my armies! There are 24 foot/8 cavalry/4 guns to a pack; cavalry packs are $5.00 while other packs are $6.00. No flash, good detail, and a wide range makes them an attractive package. They match up well size-wise with RANK & FILE. Recommended! I hope Jim of FALCON is feeling better; he has experienced some rather serious illnesses as of late which has made it difficult for him to work; good luck, Jim!
By Hal Thinglum - BULLETS & DIRT: SCENARIOS FOR THE ACW - Ryan Toews, Box 1392, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada, ROA 2A0 sent me a copy of this publication containing 14 scenarios for the American Civil War ($15.00 US including postage). The authors report that "although primarily written for wargamers who use 'Johnny Reb' the information contained within is of a general nature and can easily be transferred for use with any existing set of wargame rules." I have to agree with them as when they provide unit strengths, they list the number of men per regiment, how they are armed, and their morale grade, according to Johnny Reb. Scenarios include Wilson's Creek, Logan's Cross Roads, Ft. Donelson, Winchester, Pt Republic, Baton Rouge, Pt Gibson, Salem Church, McPherson's Ridge, Droop Mt., New Market, Monocacy, White Oak Rd., & Dinwiddle Ct House. Each scenario includes historical background, a section entitled "The Wargame" which provides special rules for the scenario; deployment, terrain, victory conditions, order of battle and very nice full page maps! I am impressed! I have to highly recommend this fine booklet and hope we see more of this type of thing from the authors (George Anderson & Ryan Toews) in the future! Good work, Gentlemen - a fine product!
By Hal Thinglum - IN THE AGE OF BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON III RULES SET - Rank & File Figures, 140 Indiana Ave., Dayton, OH 45410 offers this rules set ($24.95) in a very professional format. Consisting of 67 pages with color cover (the building on the cover is the MAINLY MILITARY MANOR COMPLEX reviewed in this issue), it covers the Franco-Prussian, Austro-Prussian & Italian Wars of 1859-71 and is written by Brian Phillips and published in 1992. There are also three cardstock charts. There is a four page historical introduction to the period; these rules are billed as "grand tactical"; each figure equals 100-125 real men; each turn is 30 minutes, and ground scale is 1" = 80-100 yards. There are 8 foot figures in a Prussian infantry battalion; four in a cavalry regiment, while the French have six per battalion and four for cavalry regiments. Sequence of play is movement (initiative dice roll), fire, melee, and command phase. Morale is checked when casualties are taken during the fire phase, during melee, and during "fear of disaster" situations - units check observing friendly units retreat. Movement is fairly liberal; 6" for infantry in line, 8" in column, and 10" for skirmish while light cavalry move 14" (18" if charging). Battalions must maintain brigade integrity by staying with a certain distance of each other. Many historical commanders are ranked for a number of game variables; there are four pages of special modifiers which are interesting; an extensive unit organization section; and several well presented pages concerning "tactical doctrine" - I always like this type of stuff! Interesting rules - if you like this period, check them out!
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