From Tom Barkalow

Was able to attend part of Little Wars 96. 1 haven't been able to attend this convention for several years in a row so I couldn't compare attendance, number of games, number of vendors, et cetera. I was surprised at the number of air and naval games offered. There also seemed to be fewer games than usual on the popular periods like WWII, Napoleonic Era, and ACW. I played in four games, two on Friday and two on Saturday. Each game was multiplayer, played quickly, and reached a resolution within 2-3 hours without being overly simple or heavily one-sided (i.e., nicely suited for a convention). The first game I played was an ARW scenario using the Age of Reason rules and was judged by Anthony Flores. It was based on the premise that the American advance guard at Monmonth was more aggressively commanded. I developed a strong respect for the initial volley modifier for the British. The Americans lost the fight, partially due to hot dice for British fire and partially due to a somewhat piecemeal assault.

The second game was a fictional 1709 engagement in Flanders using 25mm Minifig figures and the Volley & Bayonet rules. The French forces held a low ridge against an Anglo-Allied assault. John Holtz judged the game. The French deployed first and then the Anglo-Allies deployed, allowing them the advantage of picking their point of assault. In the ensuing struggle the left most wing of the French line was pierced and forced into exhaustion, but individual units held in long enough to force the assaulting force pass the exhaustion point. The assault had less luck in piercing the French line elsewhere and French far right wing reinforcements manage to turn the Anglo-Allied line's flank. The game ended with a French victory. I thoroughly enjoyed this game as I have an interest in this period and wanted to see how well V&B worked. It was a transitional period for fire and cavalry tactics and I was curious to see how Holtz would modify V&B to reflect this. His solution was to give the shock modifier for combat to the British and Dutch units to reflect the platoon firing system and better cavalry tactics; a simple and effective way of handling the differences.

The third game was based on the ECW battle of Edgehill and used homebrew rules developed by the judge, Rich Smethurst. I was on the Parliamentarian Side and it was not a pretty sight as both our cavalry flanks broke and ran under a furious Royalist assault. "Charles" rolled hot dice to rein in his cavalry from hotly pursuing the routed Parliamentarian horse and the game was essentially over before the infantry could meet in a push of pike. The rules covered four pages and were morale based in that hits caused a lowering of morale with the possibility of either a retreat or rout rather than figure removal. He called them "Declare Thee Sir!" I asked Rich if he planned on sending the rules in to MWAN and he assured me that was his intent so hopefully we'll see them in a future issue. The last game I played was a refight of Quatre Bras using V&B and judged by Frank Chadwick and Greg Novak. I was on the French side with two other players and we won. I was familiar with the battle situation and the need for the French to move quickly before all the Anglo-Allied reinforcements arrived. This proved an advantage as I was able to persuade the other two players to advance rapidly to engage the Anglo-Allies before they could fully deploy. The real novelty of this game were the figures. Chadwick had discovered that the new Risk game came with nearly 300 infantry figures, 120 cavalry figures, and 70 guns. He felt that for $20 this was a great bargain. He modified the figures as appropriate for special touches. 

They were somewhere between 5-10 mm in scale and painted up well. Everything was based on a ground scale of 1" = 300 yards which meant that both Quatre Bras and Ligny would fit on the same large table. Chadwick and Novak found that the playing area was a bit too tight for more than a few players for Ligny, but worked well with 2-3 on a side for Quatre Bras. I found this game to be particularly enjoyable as I was able to talk with them after the game and ask them questions about V&B, mostly their opinions on using it for the Marlborough Period. Other aspects of the convention I enjoyed was chatting wargaming buddies I hadn't seen in a while, looking at the figure lines I don't see often (those Thoroughbred 1/600 ACW ships are really nice), and checking out how people are doing terrain. All in all I enjoyed myself and was glad I was able to make it. I did find that I had to hold the game charts a little figures to examine them at close range only to suddenly shoved them away a few inches to really focus on them. It was a real life demonstration of the greying of the hobby.

From Brian Lewis

My enthusiasm for the hobby has been declining over the past two years. (I guess that's why I have not written anything for MWAN in some time.) Reading MWAN every two months always brought on a spark of renewed interest in wargaming. My hobby activities these days are mostly devoted towards rule writing. Sets for the Spanish Civil War, English Civil War and a British Isles Dark Ages campaign game are well on the way. I've also outlined some basic ideas for Ancients and Napoleonics, but these periods are pretty challenging to write rules for. I don't know if anything publishable will come out of it, but it has been an interesting experience. At the very least it has given me a better appreciation of how difficult it is to write a decent and comprehensible set of wargaming rules! I also took the time to paint a 15mm Feudal Spanish army. I've always liked the look of Military Orders, and the Essex and Gladiator figures for the 13th Century are great. The army seems to like me as well, since I have rolled great dice every time it has taken the field! My only administrative responsibility in the hobby these days is as MIGSCON Chairman. Our 1995 convention was a big success, and 1996 should be even better. We are moving to a new, larger venue that should suit our needs for years to come. Please send me the MWAN advertising rates and requirement again. I expect that we will be submitting a MIGSCON ad for an upcoming MWAN.

From David Sweet

In regard to the Sikh Wars, I suggest as one additional reference, Fauja Singh Bajwa, Military System of the Sikhs (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964). This may be the same as one of the books mentioned by Vince Rowe in MWAN #79, or possibly a different edition or printing--the publication information for mine seems a little different. In your MWAN #79 editorial, you expressed an interest in the Russian Civil War. I built 9MM Russian Civil War armies, "White" and "Red", in the 1970's. The figures were mainly 9MM Scrubies (with conversions when appropriate), although the armored cars were scratch-built atop toy car classes. The house rules included die rolls for armored car breakdowns and machine gun jams, and a special "desertion" phase in which a player would roll to see whether any of the player's non-elite troops deserted to the other side.

Enclosed for your fair use are copies of one of my prime sources for "White" uniforms--articles by Michael V. Hitrovo on Uniforms of the Volunteer Army, 1918-1921, that appeared in the Guidon of the Miniature Figure Collectors of America for 1973 and 1974. In regard to the various remarks concerning Piquet in the MWAN # 80 letters, a while ago I received a catalog from: Armada Enterprises, 2307 Tracy Street, Endwell NY 13760. Voice 607-754-0684,Fax 607-754-7712, (also Email and Web site addresses). I have not yet received anything from the catalog, but among the listings are Piquet, no author given. From the catalog description, there are apparently supposed to be a "Master Rules" set and some period-specific supplements, at least some of which would be on the market as of this date, according to the catalog's staggered release schedule. The catalog also includes, among other items, miniatures which are said to be the same miniatures formerly produced by Soldiers RC- Swords, reworked and repackaged. Listings include 15mm and 25mm Medieval, 15mm Washington's Wars (American Revolution) as well as the Washington's Wars rules, and 15mm 30 Years War.

From Patrick Wilson

Incidentally, I've heard of your expressed interest in the Sikh Wars. As you may already know, Bryan Ansell of the new Foundry Books out of Guernsey is going to publish John Company: The Conquest Of India, 1750-186'0 which my colleague Chris Feffee and I have been developing over the last two years. Originally intended to cover the Sikh Wars exclusively, the First War is well represented in the final ms which will also include historical OB's for the First Afghan War as well as the Mutiny. Chris (who designed the figures sold by Richard Houston) and I will be writing support articles on the rules and the many other campaigns of our period and certainly hope to provide material to the MWAN, if you would be interested. We have a far more extensive bibliography (printed in the rules) than you have as yet been given and much more hard data on the organization of the Khalsa. No one in the hobby has yet written a full or correct description of the Khalsa and this would be an easy first offering, if it would suit your needs.

From Ray Latkiewicz

The new format looks GREAT If I can remember back in the early 80"s when we were just glad to get those 'mimeographed' sheets in the mail. As somebody said in the LETTERS section a few issues back, it's really fun to go back issues 38 or 45 or someplace like that and glean a few nuggets which, back then, we proclaimed to "NEVER BE INTERESTED IN HUNDRED YEARS WAR" era, or something like that, and NOW, I find myself diving back into the archives to learn from those who have "been there - done that".

From Bruce McFarlane

We at the Canadian Wargamers Group are plodding along with our publications. We had hoped to publish two miniatures books. but with slow sales we are again looking at one booklet this summer. Whites of Their Eyes will complete the "trilogy" of North American horse and musket era wars, with a study of the American War of Independence. At first I was a little reticent at writing a book on American history. But then it was pointed out that it was a Canadian war too - Americans attacked Quebec and in return Bourgoyne led an attack on Saratoga. Close enough for me! Seriously, though, Whites will use the same rules as Habitants and Highlanders and Rocket's Red Glare. Two boardgames will be included; a colour map of Quebec and counters for Arnold's attack, and a colour map and counters for playing the campaign game from Habitant and Highlanders. Counters and rules will be provided to use the H&H map to play a campaign game of AWL In addition, the usual history, uniform and tactics chapters on the AWI will be included and 10 AWI scenarios. We hope to visit Enfilade '96, in Seattle, this May.

From Rob Maxwell

I'm sorry if my letter shocked you. I wrote my opinions on the graying of the hobby and pewter subject. I wanted to let you know how one more subscriber felt. On the pewter subject, some manufacturers went up quite a bit. Games Workshop increased prices from 30% to 60%. Many historical gamers play their games. Many more use their fantasy humans in historical armies. You can also look at GHQ. They increased prices 20%. None of these increases will break my bank. Yet they are big price increases. Anyone who must adhere to a budget. Either at home or at work would have to question such a large increase. I do agree with you that pewter is better. I don't agree that it is better across the board. Flash is nearly impossible to remove. Try removing flash from either of the previously mentioned manufacturers' figures. You can or will destroy most surrounding detail. Because you must file with more strokes and much more pressure. As to my concern with the graying of the hobby. I didn't mean Romper Room goes to Waterloo. I'm speaking of teenagers and young adults. I don't think anybody should have their own youth fair either. I fail to see the harm in running a game or two at your local convention. That has a place in it for entry level gamers. As opposed to the usual treating them as if they have a hideous infectious disease. Or running a game only for cronies. My friends and I would not be gaming today. If not for oldtimers letting us play as teens and young adults. Wizards of the Coast just completed what is probably the most costly and comprehensive survey of gaming ever. It found that gamers tend to stay with one type of gaming (Miniatures, Role-Playing, Etc.)over the course of their life. They set this course in junior high. If that survey is correct. No young historical gamers equals no future historical gamers. You might find it interesting, that the local responses to my previous letter were all favorable. Even from people that didn't know me. Thanks to Jeff Baumal and his Last Panzer group. Lets run that game soon. Also thanks to Jeff Stuckey and his Vulcan's Forge figures. If you couldn't tell I'm a sarcastic and critical reviewer. Yet these figures are fantastic. Incredible detail and a great variety of poses. Some even have separate arms and they're in 15mm. You can get them at Vulcan's Forge, P.O. Box 59608, Birmingham, AL, 35259 or JFSTUCKEY @ aol. com. Again Hal, thanks for your dedication. You do an incredible amount of work.

From Patrick Condray

Last month I was able to go to COLD WARS 96 as well as TROPICON 96. The first was plagued by bad weather, but still drew a reported crowd of over 1200. People were snowed in en route but persevered. Things have reached the point that not even a near blizzard can keep people away from an HMGS EAST convention. TROPICON 96 was harder hit by a variety of strange problems, not least of which was a date change three months before the event as a result of National Guard requirements on the Armory.

However, oddly enough, TROPICON 96 was a good convention for HPC, and one of the best ever for EB. Vince and Sharon Clyant came down from LONDON WAR ROOM and stayed over with us, commuting to Tampa from beautiful downtown Ozello. They also seemed to have a successful convention. I notice in the latest issue that there are more ruminations on the efficacy of rifled and smooth bore muskets. Such military historical hair splitting always interests me. In the latter part of the article there is reference to the skirmishers who were putting pistol and carbine fire on Captain Mercer at Waterloo. Not quite hitting him at 30-40 yards distance, but bringing down several of his gunners and drivers. It's been a long time, but from my readings of Captain Mercer the fact that he wasn't quite hit was not the most remarkable part of the incident. What struck me was the source of his problem. If I'm not mistaken he was under fire from mounted cuirassiers These fellows rode out between charges and tried to get him to waste his grape and canister so that when their regiments charged boot to boot they would face empty guns. Most of our musket period rules would pay no attention to the skirmisher fire of mounted heavy cavalry. Captain Mercer, it must be admitted, ignored them as best he could, but it wasn't easy.

From Milton Soong

I am writing this letter to inform you that I am back in Historical miniature gaming after a 2 year absence. The main reason I fell off the historical games wagon is because of one word - MAGIC. I am sure you have heard of this game and how it can suck people in like an addictive drug. I was dumping close to a thousands of dollars into the game. Well, now that the allure has worn off, and the cards been sold (I got into the game early enough that I can actually sell off some of my high power cards at a great profit), and I am back! (All it took was playing a game in our local monthly con to get the enthusiasm back) I am currently working on the following projects:

25mm Medieval - I had two large armies (Early Ottoman Turks,.and Timbered Mongols) mounted and ready for Medieval TACTICA before the Magic bug hit. I tried Armati and liked it, and now I am trying out DBM to see if I like the system. BTW, Do you know if anyone makes 25mm Late Medieval Eastern European folks? (Hungry, Serbia, Russian and the like?) I know some Western European Medieval figs can probably be used for Eastern Europe, but I would like to get my hands on some more exotic figs (Russian Boyar for example).

15mm Ancients - I am currently finishing a Tang Chinese army that I bought 5 years ago (Essex boxed armies). The plan is to eventually have all the armies that fought around central Asia (Tang, Central Asian Turks, Arabs, etc.) and be able to do a small campaign game.

25mm Colonial - By far the largest collection of figures I have is colonials (surprise). The first batch I am going to do is Wargames Foundry French Foreign Legionaries, painted for the Indo-China theater. The first game I am going to do with them is probably the Arrow War of 1860, where France fought along side Britain against the Chinese.

I recently changed the way I paint after I read Ed Allen's excellent web page on figure painting. My new preferred medium is Acrylic Ink, which probably sped up my painting by about 100%. If Acrylic ink is something you are not familiar, perhaps I will convince Ed to let you publish his article for MWAN! Another note: Got my wife to try miniature for the first time, we played Napoleon's Battle, a French vs. British Peninsula scenario. She got frustrated with the imprecise nature of measurement (Her target is always . 000 inch out of range). Many boardgame friend of mine (my wife included) just got turned off by this imprecision problem. I guess there really is no way around it unless you play on a hex grid superimposed terrain set (yeach!)

From Ken Cliffe

I've been a quiet reader of MWAN for about a year now, and I thought it about time to write. Russ Lockwood and Jonathan Keepers independently turned me on to your magazine, and I'm glad they did. It's more fun and informative than any professional wargame magazine on the market. I work for a publishing company, and it's refreshing to read something so relaxed yet enthusiastic. I've been watching your figure scale and army-size debates and find it relieving; I'm not the only one torn by these issues. I would love to field huge armies in 25mm, but don't have the time, money or patience. I've been doing HO plastic Napoleonics for years and have forced myself to stay true to them with only a few lapses in faith. I'm 27 and, like many readers, want to be finished painting by the time I'm 50, so I'm down-sizing my units. A standard infantry regiment used to be 24 figures; four to a stand. Now it's 12; three to a stand. I think I can have the five major armies covered in the next 23 years. Yet, I liked the look of the larger units better than I do the smaller. I'm glad to see that HO Napoleonics are making a comeback. I remember as a kid wishing that someone would release British Lifeguard cavalry, and now Revell has done it! Imagine my excitement when I found Hat's Mamelukes! I'm sure that anyone else who plays with these figures feels the same. Plastics aren't the only HO-scale that are booming right now, either. England is churning out the 20mm lead, and the RSM pieces are available again! The other passion that I've allowed myself is the War of 1812. I grew up in Canada near the Niagara Peninsula, so I was surrounded by historical sites. In fact, my grandmother is buried on the site of one of the British encampments, on Burlignton Heights, built when they were pushed back to London, Ontario. It's cool to see all the entrenchments thrown up and still standing. I guess it was inevitable that I got into the period. My only regret is that I went with 15mm. Since then I've learned of the 25s from WF and Frontier. Oh well, too late now.

The other downside is the number of figures I feel are necessary to represent a regiment. The battles were small by European standards. If I staged them at the 12 figure unit size, I would only be fielding about 30 to 40 pieces - not very satisfying. I kind of overcompensated, though: my single infantry units number about 40 figures! Again, too late to go back now; rebasing would be as much work as finishing the rest of the remaining units at the 40-figure size. My other confession is favortism for painting the British - well, the Canadian units, really. I've done them all and am only painting generic British units. A painted American army is a pipe dream right now. Anyone paint 15mm War of 1812 Americans cheap? Well, I've demanded enough of your time and perhaps column space. Before I go, however, I'd like invite anyone who games with plastic Napoleonics or is into the War of 1812 to drop me a line.

From Edgar Meyers

I am part of the "Old Guard", having "enlisted" in 1962. I had just started my teaching career and was substituting for a teacher who had Jack Sruby's rules amongst her books on her desk. You can imagine the joy I felt as I read these rules and realized that the little `toy soldiers' I had played with as a boy had an adult application to fun. I sent for a catalogue, got my first order of 30mm and a life-time hobby. Boy! Have we come a long way, baby, in 34 years. Total Overload! Bob Jones and I collaborated on a set of rules (Le Jen de la Guerre) in 1971. Modest run, but very innovative. His latest set of rules - PIQUET - is so revolutionary that it will set the hobby on its head. He has clearly moved the `gaming aspect' of toy-soldering from a flat two-dimensional plane to a threedimensional picture. The rules will appeal to the more imaginative and innovative gamer. I urge you to look them over very carefully. The nuances of the system will be explored for years to come.

(Editor's Note: Glad to have you with us, Edgar; of course, I've heard of the rules you and Bob Jones put together. What about an article/letter on those rules? Might be very interesting!)

From Lind Pratt

Went to the SYW Convention in South Bend last month and had a great time. This was one of the best shows I had been to in quite awhile. Friendly people, lots of fun, and meeting Christopher Duffy. I'm going to try to make it next year. I'm currently painting OLD GLORY 15mm SYW Prussians. I am black priming for the first time and it seems to allow me to get figures painted quicker, although I still think it takes me a lot longer to paint a figure than it should. I saw in #78 you painted 250 figures last November. When I see numbers like that, I just shake my head and wonder how you do it. At the SYW Convention, I also picked up a copy of the playtest edition of JOHNNY REB 3! John Hill decided to print up 300 copies and solicit input from players before he officially releases JR3 sometime this summer. The biggest changes are a regiment is now four stands instead of five and a gun model is now a battery instead of just one section. No more saving rolls! Instead, terrain and formation effects are die roll modifiers to the fire result. There are a whole host of other changes, but in my opinion, this is going to be well worth the wait. I can't wait to the see the final product. (Editor's Note: Thanks for your letter, Lind; good to hear from you again! Re my painting output - I'm sure your painting quality is much above mine, Lind. The 250 15mm ACW figures I black primed and painted were below my usual "wargames standard" paint job!)

From Jerry Lannigan

The new set of MWAN is tremendous. It is clear, well constructed, and continues to reflect your sense of what gaming is about. If and when you ever decide to stop your tremendous work, we will all be that much poorer. The magazine serves as a place for the rational sharing of ideas - civilized, gentlemanly and literate. In my opinion, it is simply the best in the field. Since last writing to you, my painting projects have taken a turn towards being completed. My 15mm armies for the Gettysburg campaign are in the home stretch with only two of Lee's cavalry brigades and the other Union cavalry (i.e. everything but Buford, Gamble and Devin) and the horse artillery needing work. I heartily recommend everyone using OLD GLORY. They make simply wonderful, animated figures (Anyone interested in a play by mail campaign?). I've also painted three brigades of 25mm French Napoleonic infantry based for a FIRE & FURY adaptation that Bill Gray of HMGS is continuing to develop. My partner, Mark, for whom I've painted these figures now has the means to fight an entire corps. Interestingly, the basing is also correct for PIQUET.

Additionally, my WWII stuff has taken on a life of its own. I recently commissioned the construction of the Ourstreham casino for a D-Day commando refight. OK - I know that the casino, in reality, had been ripped down to create a field of fire. So what - I don't fight battles, I play at battles and this building will be great for the refight of the movie! By the way, I also picked up some structures from VAC-U-CAST. They are nicely finished but are problematic for me in that their bases are clean (the ruins, that is) and the gamer is asked to supply the rubble. Yes, I can do that but at the current costs, why couldn't it simply be built into the mold? My favorite piece is the light flak bunker which really does look like things I've seen pictures of on the Atlantic Wall. My company of Poles is complete and will be supported by some AC's and light tanks. Does anyone know the specifics of Polish small units - squads and platoons? I've created generic units but would appreciate any further data you may have. Early war French and Italians also await on the company level. One thought does strike me about the period and that is for a very modest amount of money, a person can raise a rather nice "army" for the period. You see, the typical skirmish army doesn't need a lot of "density" on the modern battlefield. A platoon apiece, a couple of tanks and MG's (not the cars!) and a ping-pong table can be filled very nicely.

Just received MWAN #80; your editorial column sparked some thought - and fond memories - of many Hollywood efforts that sparked games and scenarios of many kinds. Most of your film collection has a parallel in my collection and I'd like to suggest some others than our friends in gaming might find helpful. THE VIKINGS - both the attack on the English cog ship and the climactic battle of the fort/castle are great. THE LONGEST DAY and A BRIDGE TOO FAR - two of my favorites with multiple opportunities to do things like Pegasus Bridge. STALINGRAD - the new German film has some outstanding combat sequences. BATTLEGROUND - still a quality film; good platoon level action. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE - three different type actions for gamers; the skirmish while moving the horse herd with the hill tribesmen, the attack on the British fort and lastly, the charge. Bad history, but great film making... SON OF THE MORNING STAR - "realistic" cavalry action speaking of which ... THE GLORY GUYS - just the last battle - finally a real skirmish line and a fighting retreat. IVANHOE - both versions have excellent siege type battles. WATERLOO - One of the first films I ever bought for my VCR. Well done uniforms, fairly good battles (even though the numbers were off). 55 DAYS AT PEKING - on the great colonial films. HENRY V - the new, Kenneth Branagh version should be seen by any literate. BATAAN - one of my favorites in both color and b/w. Robert Tayloer was one of my favorite actors and his final scene, sitting in front of his own grave, still causes a chill to run up my spine. THE NAVY COMES THROUGH - an early W WII propaganda film about an old four stacker (fictitious) protecting a convoy in the Pacific from a Japanese battleship (also fictitious) captained by Robert Taylor. WAR AND REMEMBRANCE - the Battle of Midway sequence is very well done and a lot different than the movie. CROMWELL - Bad history but the only film I know that has at least a "largish" battle scene from the ECW. BRAVEHEART - crazed Scotsmen (only kidding!) and crazy Englishmen (also only kidding!); great accurate looking battles, particularly Stirling. ATTACK - Jack Palance at his best - gritty and gut grinding; seldom seen on TV during the last 15 years.

Many of my inspiration sources are also yours it would seem, But what I haven't mentioned is my collection of "Best of tapes. I own several VCRs and was able to edit down my favorite battle scenes into a tightly edited film. For example, "Best of. ..#1" starts with the cavalry action at the end of Major Dundee, followed by the same scene in "Charge of the Light Brigade" and so on. One piece I really enjoyed it is seen so rarely is the Highland charge of the British in the Walt Disney version of "Rob Roy". Your book list and mine are almost clones. Actually, there are so very few books done in our hobby that is not surprising. CHARGE is still my favorite just from a readability stand point. Its tone and delivery remind us that this is a game, played with toys, for our overall amusement. Donald Featherstone's books have much the same flavor. I particularly enjoyed "Skirmish Wargaming", "Wargame Campaigns", and "Advanced Wargaming." The latter two are scarce and my library loan service really had to do some digging to get me a copy I could borrow. It is truly regrettable that outside of "Gettysburg in Miniature" almost nothing has appeared in Video about our hobby.

I find that amazing - truly astonishing - in the light of the relatively large numbers of model railroading videos that have been turned out over the years. Many times I watch them to get ideas about terrain design and construction. One tape actually shows a layout which is supposed to reflect a German rear area on the East Front. Besides the train cars and beautiful scenery, the layout contained over 1,000 HO scale AFV's of all sorts as well as least 1,000 beautifully done figures. I believe that it is from the PP&L series, Vol II... But I still find it hard to believe that we haven't availed ourselves of tape media. Has anyone done any thinking, at all, concerning what the future of our hobby will be like? The reason I ask this is that we seem to have reached a stasis point in the hobby's development. While computers have had some play, my impression from the convention scene and literature is that their use with toys continue to be sporadic. True, they have their own "gaming" world. Perhaps when lap top technology catches up with the needs of the common man - pricewise, at least - there will be more computer driver or, at least, assisted games.

Wouldn't it be great if someday we could play out the battle of Waterloo with holographic images? It would be interesting if some of the readership, knowledgeable in such matters, might contribute some thoughts about future directions for our hobby. Of concern is the fact that we seem to be almost in a position parallel to the Generalship of France prior to the outbreak of WWI. We know about new technology but seem to be stumbling around in our attempts to "get it right." I suppose that's why I'm using "snail mail" rather than E-mail and dearly love movies made in the '40's'. Do you think that there might be some correspondence between the rapidly advancing collective age of all of us and the way in which we "play" out our hobby (no pun intended!). It's my fond hope that my Gettysburg project will be over this summer. With the end of the semester at college and in my public school job, there's not a whole lot of time to paint or assemble 1:72 models for my WWII endeavors. Fortunately, many small projects can be done in a relatively limited period of time. For example, if I have ten or so minutes to kill, I can always find some figures to work on even if it means that I'm only doing some touch up. Also, if you are able to leave a plastic model out, there are always pieces that can be glued in placed, or dry brushing done, or decals applied, or spruce snipped ... you can get a lot done if you take advantage of what otherwise might be idle moments.

From David Reeves

WOW! MWAN in Technicolor. The change looks great! I remember joining the ranks at MWAN #23. We've come a long way! So how's the grammar software working out? I found that it got too good at finding my mistakes so, I used it to locate major Errors and ignored the rest. I enjoyed your list of military movies. Let me add to your list. MERRILL'S MARAUDERS: WWII Burma where the 5307th Composite Unit takes on the Japanese. MIDWAY. THE BIG RED ONE: Exploits the 1st Infantry Division throughout WWII (Hollywoodized). ANZIO. RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP: WWII submarine action in the Pacific. TOBRUK. THE BATTLE OF RUSSIA: Soviet newsreel footage of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). THE DESERT FOX : Rommel's career in Africa. THE DESERT RATS: Tobruk in WWII. BATTLE OF THE BULGE. WHERE EAGLES DARE: WWII Commando raid. FIREBALL FORWARD: Americans in 1944 European WWII. GUNS OF NAVARONE: WWII commando raid on German naval gun. FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE: More WWII commando stuff. OPERATION PETTICOAT: WWII Pacific submarine comedy/drama. BRIDGE AT REMAGEN: 1944 German and American slugout over a Rhine bridge. THE LONGEST DAY: Invasion of Normandy. Are there any other good WWII movies out there?

(Editor's Note: David, thanks for Grammatik software, however, it identified so many of my grammar errors that I was aft aid they would take my Ph.D. away from me! Took me hours to remove all the little symbols!)

From Ed Allen

If you go web surfing, come visit my page at http://genomewww.standford,edu/nallen. Among the pages on the site are a miniatures photo gallery, the DBM Page, and the Wargame Opponent Finder with approximately 1800 player listings at present, in 3/4 O.S., 1/4 worldwide. Though I've been in Berkeley for some years now, my gaming roots are Midwestern. I started playing miniatures as one of Greg Novak's students in the early 70's.

From Larrv Clowers

Thanks for ON TO RICHMOND rules; I wrote Paul Koch and he is sending me a listing of all his OTR writings. Paul also sent a copy of his Napoleonic variant for OTR. Looks interesting - will try them out in future and send you and Paul a copy of my comments. Right now I'm involved in OTR scenarios based on Paul's Prattville series of battles. We're using ACW plastic figures. I'll send you a copy of the battle report. My son and I (along with assistance from my wife) are having a great time with the battle and writing the report! Best fund I've had in wargaming in a lot time.

From Jonathan Keepers

Received MWAN #79 a week or so back. Hal, there is a color photo on the cover. Where will it end? Too cool, Hal! As I write, TWISTER CON is a few weeks off. I want top thank a few dealers for sending prize support. Roger Dospil of DIVISION AFTER DIVISIION has always come through. In fact he once tracked me down by phone to let me know an order was going to be a couple of days late. How's that for service? David Jackson of PHARAROH' S ARMS has what no other dealer has - no, not just CHARIOT'S great miniatures, but humor in his catalog. Order it and read about animal testing. Steven Quinn, THE QUARTERMASTER - new kid on the block. Steve imports Falcon Figures from the UK. I can't wait to see his Highland Rabble for the armye of William Wallace and Robert Bruce. Then from the "New" MINIFIGS Jeanne Hesselbrock, who has always helped out even when dealing with her husband's heart attack (He's OK but misses real meat). I order from and support all these folks because they all know some simple marketing truths. Be nice. Be Quick. Be honest. Without these qualities, it doesn't matter if your figures have been voted number one, are simply the best, or least expensive. So, my thanks to them. They don't just deserve our support, they have earned it!

(Editor's Note: Thanks for writing, Jonathan and especially for mentioning the quality dealers. I'd like to see more of this sort of thing within WAN. Let people know who gives you good service. I can't mention, within these pages, who doesn't give good service, because of potential law suits, but we can mention the good things!)

From John Mumby

We celebrated the 149th anniversary of the Battle of Buena Vista at our local convention, GENGHIS CON. We used Henry Lubber's CHAPULTAPEC rules out of the COURIER. I like them because of the differences in the rules between the two armies. On the first turn, one of the six American infantry units failed it's morale and routed. The remaining five units faced 23 Mexican infantry units. After several hours of tension filled gaming, four American units were falling back to Buena Vista after thrashing the Mexicans. What initially appeared to be a cakewalk for the Mexicans turned into a "Mexican Standoff" as one player put it (groan!). The four Mexican and two American cavalry units were ineffective. The US artillery dominated the field just like the real battle. I put the battlefield on four sheets of foamboard measuring 32" X 40" each. I am putting them on a wooden frame since they all warped after I painted them. The battlefield looked pretty good!

Jim McCarron of MUSKET MINIATURES released a beautiful line of Mexican-American War figures at this convention, so we now have plenty of figures to paint. I'm looking forward to next year to celebrate the 150th anniversary. Viva!

From Duane Blocker

I wanted to say how much I enjoy Chuck Vadun's WARGAMERS NOTEBOOK and was happy to hear of his successful surgery. I find his tips quite useful and often try them out. I also enjoy Brent Oman's articles. Additionally Russ Lockwood's article on his SNAPPY NAPPY campaign was very enjoyable. There are of course many more but these are the ones that come to mind.

From Rennie Baumstark

Like the new format; do you have plenty of material for cover photos? I have lots of color slides of several games played in my basement. Mostly Napoleonic but I don't know if color slides are useful to you. I also have a Napoleonic skirmish game based on one of the Richard Sharpe novels using the BATTLESYSTEM rules adjusted for the period which I can send you if you wish. You probably know that the British video series of eight videos based on the Richard Sharpe novels are available from BARNES & NOBLE catalog. They're quite good but don't follow the novels too closely. I could also do a review article on the BATTLESYSTEM rules if you wish. I like it because it's simple and can be used for fantasy or any historical period with minimal adjustment necessary. Usually only for armor (if any) and weapons.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Would like to see everything you mentioned. Can't take slides as I don't know how to do that. Thanks)

From Chris Nelson

Professor Douglas Porch has a new book out called THE FRENCH SECRET SERVICE in which he destroys the myth of the French Resistenance created by Hollywood and Charles DeGaul, according to an article in the newspaper. Griffith has a new The Corp series novel out BEHIND THE LINES and Bernard Cornwall has another ACW novel THE BLOODY GROUND and Richard Herman Jr has a new novel IRON GATE continuing his series. Clive Clusser has SHOCK WAVE out. I recently saw some of the REVELL 1/72nd scale plastic figures; French infantry WWI #2505 and German paratroopers #2500. The Germans were great and it included two open air dropped weapons containers. These figures look like they would fit in very well with the metal figures. Got to start saving my money!