From Alasdair Mc Intosh, Glasgow, G44 3BW. Scotland. Thanks for continuing to produce such an enjoyable and enthusiastic magazine. I had an enforced absence from wargaming about 18 months ago when I was diagnosed with Lymphoma and whisked off to hospital. As luck would have it I had ordered two back issues of MWAN which I had missed when transferring my subscription. Given the circumstances, there are few better ways to pass the time while lying in bed than consuming tea, hot buttered toast, and reading MWAN while doped to the eye balls with morphine. ( At least a +3 to morale. Thanks Hal. ) I did get out of hospital for one day to attend Claymore, the wargames show in Edinburgh, my wife entrusting me to my close gaming friends who did a good job of looking after me. I had thought about whether I should be spending any money on wargaming at all at a time like this. Audrey decided this issue by getting me my birthday present from Guernsey Foundry. She chatted to Bryan Ansell during the course of which she mentioned that I had worked for him years ago and why she was giving me this surprise present. He gave her very good advice on what to buy. When the parcel arrived it contained a birthday/get well card and a generous addition to the order. I know this is a friendly hobby but I also appreciate that people make their money from it too, and so I was very touched by Bryan's gesture. The miniatures were from the SYW range. I have also bought lots of the Wild West range as well. I am now in remission but have been made redundant recently. Still at least I am getting plenty of time with my children and lots of wargaming at the local club. We have just finished a SYW campaign using the excellent Sport of Kings system in AOR. A DBA campaign which I have sent with this letter, and have just started an ACW campaign using Shenandoah, published by the ACW Society. We are playing it with On to Richmond rules. Has anyone got the supplemental sheet for converting Shenandoah to OTR as it was not in the copy I bought? Stand alone gaming has included Wild West with various rules. Brother vs Brother. Armati for renaissance and 30YW. Crossfire. Also after two years of trying to get hold of Picket I finally saw someone else using them at our club. Why are these rules so hard to get in Britain? I have played a few games of Volley Fire. A bizarre set of abstract rules for 42mm miniatures produced by Irregular Miniatures. The whole thing has a very toy soldier look to it and is played on a board or cloth divided into 6" squares and 24 - 30 miniatures a side. An excellent article in a recent MWAN was the comparative review of the Vietnam rules. I would like to see this approach with other periods. Perhaps, Hal, you could nominate an issue for a specific period and people could send in rules review for that period only. You could then choose the best review if a rule set got multiple contributions. (Editor's Note: Thanks for letter and kind words re. MWAN, Alasdair; I hope you are doing well with your illness, Sir! Our best wishes to you! Appreciate you mentioning Bryan Ansell's kindness; we have many good people in this hobby, don't we. Re "supplemental sheet for conversion to OTR ", I checked my set and don't have it. Perhaps the new editor, Ivor Janci, 725 Ranch Rd, Wheaton, IL 60187-3656) has it; I'll drop him a line and ask him about it. Re Piquet rules, I think they have been hard to get in the states as well though I hope, for Bob Jones' sake, that is changing. Good to hear from you Alasdair and Good Luck!)
From Len Brewer of Decatur, IL: I have been painting some WWII figures and vehicles as of late. I'm working on the East front and Stan is working on the western front. Right now we are getting together and working on Operation Market- Garden. The British will have all paratroopers and only light equipment, while the Germans will have a hodgepodge of troops and equipment. Dave in Peoria has offered us the top billing when we get this complete. Every year he has as open game day at his shop for the public plus he sends out invitations to play. This looks like it might take off late summer or fall of 98. If and when we pull this off, I will give you a personal invitation to come to Washington and to play in a game. I will even give you some good troops to play with. All that I ask is that you don't lose your troops on the first turn. I have heard about the way you play with some figures. I will try to write something up about this and also have Stan write it up from his point of view.
From Marc Fluitt of KS 66223: I enjoyed issue #92 immensely. Congratulations again on a producing a fine publication. My purpose in writing is to ask if you or other subscribers would help with information on two periods I am interested in. I would like to know what's out there in 25mm ECW. Your article on 15mm in issue #92 was great but I would like information on this scale too. A follow-up article perhaps? I would also like to hear recommendations on figure availability, uniforms and general military history of the Boxer Rebellion? This issue's cover photos have me interested! Where do you recommend I go from here? (Editor's Note: Whew; big order, Marc! I'd considered, in MWAN #92, doing a piece on 25mm ECW though I don't know it as well as 15mm. Maybe in #94. Off the top of my head. Redoubt Enterprises has the most extensive line and would pretty much have to stand by itself sizewise. Dixon has a new line which looks very good and should fit in with Front Rank and Hinchliffe - available through The Colonial Connection - Minifigs is available: I think they also had TYW as well. Matchlock Miniatures had a few 25mm pikemen and musketeers which I thought were quite good Re Boxer Rebellion: Wargames Foundry has nice line of Chinese in 25mm; Frontier, available through Modeler's Mart - check their ad in this issue for address - has a fairly extensive line though it may well be smaller height-wise than WF Right now that's all I can think of Maybe someone else can tackle this one for Marc)
From Charles James Elsden of Brooklyn, NY 11231: By the way, thanks to your club listing I've become a regular at Metropolitan Wargamers, the local Brooklyn organization, and met some good folks there. They have a flexible setup, lots of room, and play all periods, including board games. They also run events at local conventions. I encourage all MWANers from the New York City area to contact them as I did. A couple of gainers have contacted me as a result of the first article, and I give them the info on the club as well as my own invitation to drop by and chat. I'm also circulating the magazine to friends--of the several publications I subscribed to from ON MILITARY MATTERS, yours is the one I intend to continue! I also mentioned the article you accepted to a few 54mm dealers (some noted in the article); so I hope you will be hearing from them as new advertisers in the future. Two miscellaneous comments on last issue (#90). Steve Dake on p. 10 with his wise comments on the graying of the hobby, notes that no "Last of the Mohicans playsets" are available, since the market is producing what younger folks want rather than the desires of us aging baby boomers. While he is correct in general, the new 54mm Last of the Mohicans playset is now available from Barzo playsets, 28 W. 177 Marion Rd., Winfield IL 60190. Just goes to show that the 54mm scene is worth watching, because us old duffers are still choosing what is being produced! Speaking of 54mm playsets, one of my callers asked about those very inexpensive playsets available everywhere at Toys R Us stores. They are by a company called BMC and include, in order of release, Alamo, Gettysburg, Yorktown (ARW), and Custer's Last Stand. A fifth is scheduled for the coming year. Although its topic is still top secret, I understand from my sources that its subject is 20th Century. Since the president of the company once told me at a convention that held "never do WWII," I'll be interested to see what it is he's up to this year. This unusual instance of the melding of the hobby with the mainstream economy became possible because (1) the president was a former high level employee of Toys R Us, and (2) the sets are produced in the Far East. While some businessmen say this is the future of toy production, others consider it immoral! on the other hand, in terms of practicability, one fellow suggested to me that with $20,000 he could start a factory "out there," another told me he hears nothing but problems from those who are out there trying it! It will also be interesting to see if Asian companies wake up to the toy soldier market; a few have started producing recently Asian figures like Ninjas, and Asian 19th-20th century military figures are still rare to nonexistent in plastic.
On page 63 The Very Rev'd. Aelred (now that's an historical name) Glidden speaks about how boring scenarios are when both sides are exactly even. I couldn't agree more, (although Avalon Hill's old Tactics II did not in fact feature matching terrain for both sides). However, I am just starting to learn about the English Civil War, and he states "there were no significant differences between the tactical systems of the opposing sides.,, Therefore he would rather game out The Thirty Years War battles.
My understanding as a Yank new to the period is that both sides during the ECW experimented with different tactical systems, with (in general) Parliamentarians favoring the Dutch and Royalists the Swedes/Spanish systems. I am asking a question here rather than contradicting him, but I note for example regarding cavalry the following quotes: from Soldiers of the English Civil War. #2 Cavalry by Tincey and McBride, (Osprey Elite, 1990) "Rupert consistently sought to take the initiative and carry the charge to his enemy, without pause for the use of firearms" (p 16), whereas the Roundheads "relied upon firepower" (p 17) . I would think that setting different tactics for both sides in a scenario would not be altogether ahistorical, and make for an interesting fight.
Although my grandfather was English and I am very much an Anglophile, I must agree with my fellow Americans that some English have rather odd ideas about the American Civil War! I'd hate to make the same mistake in reverse, and conceptually misunderstand theirs. Comments, anyone? Once again, the phone number for those who either want to talk or come play in the NYC area is (718) 596-8834. Good Gaming to all. (Editor's Note: Thanks, Charles, for letter/article; I have to admit that I never pass by any box of toy soldiers - plastic or metal - without taking a look at them and the 54mm plastics are very good looking! Would like to hear more about them from you in the future)
From Jim Bailey of TX 75356-0852: Work and family concerns have pretty much kept me from gaming lately, and probably will for the next couple of years. Also, as I begin to plan for retirement, it is becoming increasingly clear this mass of figures must, repeat must, be pared down to a more manageable level. Jim Davis (another MWAN'er) and I do get together every once and while and push lead figures around the table and generally complain about how everything was better when we were young! (Pushing fifty and beginning to feel it I guess.) Anyway, after looking at most of the collection over Christmas, and realizing most of what I do now is painting not playing, it's time to get rid of some of these figures. But I started doing this almost thirty years ago with 25mm Minifigs, some of which I still have. I know they're not as fancy as many of the figures available now, but not only are they sturdy little troops, they remind me of the Britains my grandfather used to buy for me back in the early 50's (some of which I also still have).
At the end of this letter is an ad for the "Sutler's Wagon" portion of MWAN, offering to buy or trade for SYW and AWI 25mm Minifigs. once that ad runs, and I see what kind of response there is, can we give away the rest of the unwanted figures through MWAN? I don't want to get into the complexities of sending lists back and forth through the mail, I just want to see that the figures get used by someone. Do you have a favorite club or clubs that might be able to use painted, unpainted and partly painted figures, ranging from WWII micro-armor to 15mm and 25mm?
Especially with the unpainted' and' partially painted figures it would be nice if I could send them to a club attracting younger players who may not be able to afford to buy an army of their own right now. I sure remember the first Napoleonic Brunswickers I painted up (tough paint job, but I've improved a little) and put the table. Proud as punch I was, until the French broke them with the first charge! Some of these figures could be parceled out to the kids to paint so they could have their own units on the board. which hopefully won't run away on the first dice roll. Does this sound at all feasible? Would it be best to run the ad first then send you another letter making the "giveaway" offer? (Editor's Note: Jim; thanks for letter and thoughtfulness re figures. If you still wish to give them to a group or young gamers and don't want to handle the exchange of letters, just send them to me and I'll take care of it. It' there are MWANers out there who can't afford figures, let me know; if you could please include a SASE, I'd appreciate it very much. Along this line, if you receive figures from an MWANer, please be kind enough to drop them a "thank you" note)
From Nick Stern of Pleasanton, CA 94566: I was referring to some rules from MWAN #89 at a local club meeting recently, and some gamers who hadn't seen MWAN for awhile were really impressed with, the new look, especially the color cover. Reading the "Cutting Out Party" rules by Henry Lubbers in MWAN #89 got me to pull out a bunch of Limeys and Slimeys ships and figures I bought second hand awhile back. We've had a couple of quick, fund and bloody games and I plan on running it at our next big convention in February. Thanks, Henry! Speaking of rules, a friend of mine put on a Rorke's Drift game using your rules at a Con in November. A splendid time was had by all. Never having written a set of rules myself, I'm pretty impressed by people who do. I read your editorial in MWAN #90 with great interest. The Northwest Frontier is one of my favorite periods too. The English glossy with the Maiwand scenario you're looking for is WARGAMES ILLUSTRATED #60. I tried running a Miawand game at a convention years ago. I decided to let the British players set up where they chose since it seemed like it would be too artificial to make them set up in the overextended way they did historically. But the game kind of flopped because the British players figured out that all they had to do was to stay in the main ravine and fortify the village of Khig and let the Afghans attack. In a way, the "Retreat from Maiwand" scenario in the same magazine (#77) caught more of the flavor of the battle for me. I wonder how many other gainers are frustrated by trying to replay historical battles? I find that gainers, either knowledgeable about the historical outcomes or using the wargamer's "god-like" view of the battlefield to their advantage make an historical outcome almost impossible. Ian Knight in his Osprey Campaign book of Rorke's Drift has some very good suggestions for making the battles of the Zulu War work. For example, he suggests disguising Isandhlwana as a road building exercise for the British in the face of an enemy well equipped with rifles. This, he reasons, will lead the British to over extend their forces and to fight in open order. Clever stuff, eh?
From Dave Petrowsky of Decatur, IL 62521: Hal, I greatly enjoy MWAN, and as I renew my subscription I thought I would make some comments. I have been wargaming for well over twenty years now, I started with 20mm Thomas/ K&L Civil war figures and Airfix plastic. If I had my way my entire collection today would be twenty mm. However 20's were hard to come by back then and I was forced to switch to 25's and some 15's. I now have over twenty thousand wargame figures. I feel the more the merrier. Figures not in use stand on shelves in my hobby room where they help provide inspiration to paint more. I enjoy painting them and I can move to a large number of different time periods. As a 'high school history teacher I often bring figures to class. They are great attention getters when we start a new chapter.
In our area we have gotten into World War One, with of course 20mm. Tumbling Dice from Wargames Foundry sells them and they produce a large line. Wargames has also come out with some of the best 20mm. WWI figures I've seen. They have Storm Troops, flamethrowers, and Trench raiders. The Tumbling Dice Figures fit well with Wargames, although the Wargame figures have better detail and animation. Tanks are also sold, with two British tanks and one German. As of yet, we have not played a WWI wargame, but I hoping I can get Leonard Brewer and his British to make the walk across no-man's land against my machine-guns.
From Rob Dean of Port Deposit, MD 21904: Well, here it is the beginning of another year, and my subscription check went in the mail last week. I am finally sitting down to compose this much delayed letter. It has been another great year for MWAN, and I look forward to each issue, pestering my wife every day when it is due. For me, it has been a busy year. and I have spent a good deal of it on the road for the Army, working with chemical weapons sites to prepare them for the start of international inspections to monitor US compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. As a result, I haven't painted nearly as many figures or played nearly as many games as I had hoped to.
I was very interested in the sequence of articles on Charge! projects this year, starting with Brian Carroll's excellent article back in #85. I have the good fortune to be a member of an active club at this time (the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielers), which is listed in the MWAN club list, and we have been working on a Charge! project of our own which we hope to show at Cold Wars this coming March. We are using homecast 40mm semiround figures from Prince August and Nuemberger Meisterzinn molds and the original Charge! rules. Painting has been slow, more due to distractions than to any inherent difficulty in working with the figures, so we are currently using companies and squadrons as regiments, and will expand as time permits. This has advantages, too. I enjoy working with larger figures, but they do eat up space. Our infantry figures are mounted on one inch fender washers, and a full 59 man Charge! regiment deployed in a two rank line would use about 32 inches of table width allowing for a small space between companies. Someday we'll have to restrict the project to convention games, where arrangements for extra large tables can be made. In the meantime, Charge! seems to work perfectly well for the reduced "regiments".
I have been working diligently this year to clear my workshop of unpainted lead, and have been making progress. My resolution for the year was to paint two figures for each figure bought, and I have stuck to it. I've also been giving away figures that would probably never have gotten painted, and satisfying the urge for new projects by filling out my collection of molds for future use. Joel Haas once wrote in MWAN that he kept all of his "someday" projects in the form of molds rather than unpainted figures, and this year it seemed like good advice. (Yes, I am careful about safety and ventilation when casting, and keep some lead free pewter around to make soldiers for the children.) I acquired molds for 25mm British and Zulus, 25mm Romans and barbarians, 54mm Trojan War, and completed my collection of Meisterzinn 40mm multi piece molds. These last are used for a couple of projects, and I also got several old Prince August 40mm frontiersman and Indian molds to allow me to cover the basics of the French and Indian War. For better or for worse, though, I still have a list of thirty-odd "projects" in various stages of completion from stacks of molds to boxes of completed figures with no intention to expand further. (Not to mention the projects like the Russian Civil War which only exist as a collection of research books .... ) Painting has been getting ahead of playing this year, since it is possible to make progress even though only small irregular blocks of time are available. I sold off two small skirmish game projects to other club members this year, since it didn't look like there would ever be time to play with the figures. Do other people have this problem? I need to find some space to leave something set up, and do some solo gaming instead of painting in those odd moments. I guess, I like to concentrate on painting one project each year, and this year the "centerpiece" project will be a 40mm French Revolution skirmish game, cast using Meisterzinn multipart molds. This is a great series of molds, though somewhat hard to find in the US since the one importer stopped carrying them, and consists of general purpose figures in turn back coats with a selection of separately cast heads, ranging from tricomes to shakos. I will have to convert some of the odder Austrian and Prussian headgear, but when you only need a dozen figures for a skirmish game, it isn't too bad. I'm also trying to round out 25mm ECW, getting started on a 54mm Iliad game (another homecast job), and painting up more Meisterzinn multi-parts to expand a friend's 40mm French and Indian War project. Our club has been very active this year. As mentioned above, we've been working on a Charge! project, and have been meeting for regular gaming every two weeks. It's been amazing to me how fast the club has grown. In 1994, we were six guys meeting in a basement, and now we have over twenty show up for a meeting, and have taken to renting a church hall to allow us to do two or three different games each night. I wish I could put a finger on the reason for our success, so that I could advise other clubs. We also put on enough games that we were able to fill a small gaming room at both Cold Wars and Historicon last year. Anyone who wants to show up and is within driving range of Aberdeen Maryland is welcome! Good luck on MWAN this year! Issue #100 is practically around the comer. Are you planning anything special? (Editor's Note: Enjoyed your "Charge" information and "projects"; your club sounds very successful, Rob; congratulations! Re #100; nothing solid at this time, but it is coming up, isn't it!)
From Duane Blocker of Austin, TX 78750: I've met a few gainers since our move to Texas, and one, who also moved from Colorado and was in the same club I was in. I have really missed MWAN but since we have moved three times since being here I put it off. We have a permanent address and I have a nice room set aside just for my gaming and some other areas we can use in a pinch. Thought I'd let you know I bought some ACW figures from GAJO and was very pleased. I also took a subscription to MagWeb and I'm enjoying that as well. Had a nice talk with Russ and want to try one of his Snappy Nappy games. I hope to make it to Historicon this year but will have to wait and see. The biggest disappointment with Austin is the lack of a good game shop, especially for miniatures. In the Denver area we had Attactix which was just outstanding (Hi Tom, Bill and Doug.
From Brent Oman of Highlands Ranch, CO 80126: My hobby activities have centered around Piquet. We've had more games than I can remember - all of them fun We've tended to play mostly Franco-Prussian War, Seven Years War, and French and Indian War. Occasionally we've played a WWII (Point of Attack) or colonial game. My current project is working on my 1859/66 Austrians (Battle Honors) to be used against my French and Prussians from my Franco-Prussian collection. I'm simultaneously also working on the occasional Napoleonic unit (early Austrians right now). Projects for the near future include starting on my ECW collection (25mm Redoubt figures for the ECW Piquet supplement, "Anchor of Faith") and adding some late war WWII German armor, Russians, and American forces for my "Point of Attack" collection. I've also picked up a few of the "deal" bags from Wargames Foundry of their new ACW line - beautiful figures! I'm looking forward to the upcoming convention season (Cold Wars, Historicon). I've come to the realization that its not the games or the dealer area that I get the most enjoyment from - its the people and friends I've made in the hobby that I look forward to seeing again. If not for the friends that give the hobby such depth, I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I do!
From Eric Ackerman of VA 24073: Am interested in the following projects: For Project 1, the unit organization is drawn from GDW`s Over the Top rules, which will be used with some modifications (of course!), since eventually I'd like to field a division of four brigades, plus attached cavalry and guns, per side, with each player to command a brigade. Each figure will be mounted on a 1" square base, and represent a 50 man platoon or mounted troop, or one field gun with crew. Machine gun platoons/troop will have two crew on a (probably) an 1.5" square base. A British/Imperial battalion would have 16 riflemen (4 companies), 1 machine gun platoon (2 crew), and an officer; cavalry, 12 mounted troopers (3 squadrons), 8 dismounted troopers, 4 horse holders w/1 standing horse each, 1 MG platoon (2 crew), and 1 officer; mounted infantry as cavalry, but with an additional company/squadron; field artillery, a battery with one gun model and 4 crew, 1 limber. Turkish infantry battalions, which were rarely up to strength, have 12 riflemen (4 companies), MG platoon (w/3 figures, or 2 w/2 figures), and 1 officer; cavalry, 9 mounted, 6 dismounted, 3 horse holders w/standing horse, 1 officer; field guns, 1 gun model with 3 crew, 1limber. Though GWF does make figures for this aspect of WWI (yet!), I am still using some of the German and British gunners and officers from GWF's Great War line. Others will come from their Second Boer War line. Many of the uniforms were the same, especially for the mounted infantry and cavalry. I'm also using figures from Frontier Miniatures, and perhaps Valiant, which does a line for this part of WWI. As for Project 2, 1 am still in the organizational stage. I'll be using Battle Honors new 25mm Austrians for the Hapsburgs; GWF FPW French and/or Old Glory Union figures for Le Petite Nappy's forces; GWF Crimean War Sardinians for Piedmont, the Garabaldini Old Glory ACW Confederates for the Garabaldini, and a mix of GWF FPW French/Crimean War Sardinians/Battle Honors Austrians for the Neapolitans. After a review published in MMAN 90, I subscribed to Clash of Empires magazine for this period, and highly recommend it. If you publish this letter, I'd be particularly interested in variants of Fire and Fury (or any other rules set) for Mid- 19th Century warfare, review of rules for same period, as well as figure reviews and other information. Comments and suggestions on either project are always welcomed.
From Peter Michels of San Jose. CA: I was just thinking back to when I got my first MWAN in a local hobby store. I fell in love with it and dutifully sent in my check for a subscription. That was some years ago. At the time, I remember thinking about the letters section and how many of the addresses of the members weren't located in states that I would call "Midwest". I have been very busy with a 1:20 scale plastics French Napoleonic army that I got started as a "couple of battalions". I should have known better. I have since evolved the original estimate and am now looking to complete the 1812 French IXth Corps. The current troops hot off the painting table are the 7 battalions of Berg Infantry (about 170 figures) and the 3rd Hussars. The Hussars are not part of IX Corps, but I also expanded the requirements, since I wanted at least I Heavy Cavalry Brigade. The Heavy Cav Brigade has now become parts of IIIrd Cavalry Corps. Well, I guess that's not all. One of the British opponents here fields 3 battalions of British Guard, so I painted 1 Battalion of Old Guard, for a surprise someday. There are now 3 battalions, with at least 4 more planned. And of course, I will need some Guard Artillery. The list goes on. I have done a number of conversions so I could field various troop types, in HO plastics, where possible. Some of the modifications I have done are: 1) used Revell SYW Hussars with heads replaced from Italieri Infantry (with Shako) for 2 squadrons of the 4th Hussars. 2) Revell British Life Guard with the sabretache and canteen removed and painted as the 2nd Baden Dragoons. 3) Italieri French Hussars with sabretache removed and the pelisse being worn over the dolman, painted as early Chasseurs a Cheval. 4) Airfix French artillery limbers with Revell British artillery limber horses and larger wheels, with some Italieri French Infantry, painted as artillery limbers and "Train" troops. 5) Revell Chasseurs of the Guard with busbys removed and shakos from Italieri infantry to make Baden Hussars. 6) Painted Italieri French Infantry as the 7th and 9th (and soon to include the 4th Regiment) Polish regiments (clothed with French equipment). 7) ESCI French Infantry posing as Berg Infantry. 8) Overcoat clothed Revell Old Guard infantry with bearskins and epaulettes removed and Shako-ed heads from the ESCI French line to replace them. 9) One of my future projects will be to remove the heads from ESCI or Airfix Cuirassier and replace the Revell Carabinier heads. The biggest problem is the fact that the Carabinier used rounded blanket rolls and the Cuirass used square ones. I will then use the Carabinier heads for Austrian Dragoons someday.
The last 2 years, we have had a huge game at a local convention, Pacificon. If we have another large game this year, and I plan to be prepared. The army will be around 35 to 45 battalions, 50 squadrons of cavalry and 10 to 12 batteries of artillery. I already had a very large collection of 15mm. Napoleonics before I started painting the HO figures, I have never lost my first love of plastic figures, I guess. The Revell and Italieri companies product lines piqued my interest in plastics again after many years. They have come out with a number of useful Napoleonic figure boxes. The most recent are Prussian Infantry from 1815 and British Rifles. Another manufacturer, Hat, has been producing some excellent additions to Napoleonic plastics, with Prussian and Russian artillery, and Prussian Advance Guard infantry. They have plans for French Line Lancers, Dragoons and Guard Grenadiers a Cheval. Cool. (Hat Web Page: www.hat.com)
Our method of writing down my production numbers for each month. It's fun to occasionally go through the book and see what I have painted in the past. I like to challenge myself to keep the monthly count growing from month to month. It's an impossible goal, but it keeps me motivated. The early months are more productive,painting wise, since the summers here are outstanding and the family travels more (meaning less painting). On a different topic, I am on the Volley and Bayonet electronic mailing list Greg Novak and Frank Chadwick have apparently finally lost their collective marbles and have fielded some 54mm. Seven Years War armies. I guess Frank started the V&B gaming with 54s. This was also fun for me, since I started collecting 54s (and 1/35 and 1/32) stuff for skirmish gaming many years ago with Chainmail. I then branched into WWII skirmish gaming using 54s. Now, I have started an AWI army of 54s. There were some new toy sets for the George Washington wars from Call to Arms. I am planning to field 6 or so battalions of British and German battalions.
I recently joined the Solo Wargamers Association, US chapter. I am pleasantly pleased to say that it was a very good decision. The Association newsletter, Lone Warrior, is similar in tone to MWAN, kind of earthy. The 2 issues that I have received have both been useful for me. I am not a solo gamer per se, so I find it all the more fascinating that the newsletter has information for me. I have been playing Chris Engle's matrix games for a couple of years and some of the solo gaming suggestions are in that genre. Which reminds me, tell Chris he should start publishing some more stuff about whatever he's getting his hands dirty with. I miss seeing his inputs to the hobby.
I recently revisited my SYW 15mm army, my first wargaming love (sigh). The last SYWA Journal and MWANs had reviews on the "Regimental Colors" flags and that got my blood flowing again. The lack of flags for the SYW has always been a problem, since I collect the western continental am-lies of British/German and French. Hand painting many of the French flags was easy, but many of them are beyond my painting skills (or patience). I have also decided to try my hand at ordering directly from FreiKorps "over the pond" since I have been regularly disappointed with the US suppliers of FreiKorps. I decided to trade off my Minifigs to a friend and replace the entire Brunswick and Hanoverian force with figures from FreiKorps. Hal, many years ago, you lent me the catalog for SpencerSmith plastics, but at the time, I wasn't interested in them. At the time, you sent me the example figures also. I was wondering if you still had a contact point for those in England, and if so, would you be kind enough to send me a post card with the address or FAX # so I might contact them? Thanks. (Editor's Note: Can't find address, Pete; however, contacted an WAN who is going to send it to me and I'll send it -off to you then).
From Kevin Readman of Iowa City, Iowa 52245: I just had a great weekend in Madison at the Last Square Invitational. Thanks Karl! Gainers had the choice of either a Command Decision (World War II) game or a Universal Soldier (Dark Age) game. For my taste, I prefer the hack and slash of Normans and Saxons with 25mm Old Glory figures. Either way participants enjoyed using an excellent collection of miniatures and wonderful terrain boards. Win or lose, everyone had a great time this weekend. Without a head count I think the banquet room had about 50 wargamers playing. Three people judged the Battle of Hastings, Al Muelling, Jim Stuht, and John Adams. Without their time, effort, and preparation we wouldn't of had the great fun on February 6-8. Thank you guys. Friday after work, Scott Zimmerlee, Derrick Nelson, and I drove from Rockford to the Radisson Inn for the warm up game- Strandhogg. The Viking Raid on a Saxon Village acquainted us with the Universal Soldier Rules. No one wanted rule surprises when we played the "real" game Saturday. Can you imagine losing the Battle of Hastings just because you misunderstood a rule? Ouch. Any way, the Viking players either ran around the board plundering and fighting or chasing sheep (you had to be there to understand). The Saxons had both hidden and exposed units. My favorite unit was a band of roaming monks that jumped out of the abbey ruins and set a number of Viking Ships on fire. Saturday we had a chance to play the Battle of Hastings twice. The Normans were able to breach the shield wall in both games and roll up the lines. Boy was it fun to be Norman. Grin. All kidding aside, the games were challenging. The company was great, add cold beer, prime rib, all the snacks you could want and you have my kind of weekend. In short, the Universal Soldier rule set was very straight forward and enjoyable. The only complaint about the rules worth mentioning is the archery fire. In all three games we played archers ruled. The saving grace was the limited number of arrows. If you use the rules we would suggest a lower dice ratio for bow fire. Karl, next year how about a French Foreign Legion Game? Or Zulus?
From Michael E. Banasik of Wentzville, Mo. 63385: In April sometime I should receive copies of my next Civil War book, entitled Missouri' Brothers in Grey. I'm not really sure what your Civil War interests are, but hopefully you'll enjoy the series or have someone you can sell or give the books too. The book is part of a series that I am doing for the Camp Pope Bookshop in Iowa City, Iowa. All the books will be original, previously unpublished soldier accounts of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. The series is meant to give Civil War patrons a look at the war in the Trans-Mississippi and will include a variety of subjects on both Union and Confederate interests. Accounts will include those who served in the guerrilla forces, the field armies, in the Trans-Mississippi political arena, in operations against western plains Indians, and even reporters who reported the war in the TM. I even have some possible volumes written by women of the period, but I'm not sure I will use them. Each volume will contain maps, photos, and several appendixes. (Editor's Note: Good to hear from you, Michael; am looking forward to your next book. Interested MWANers can contact Michael at the above address for details)
From David Smith of Ft. Bragg, CA 95437-
3329: Time for my yearly, somewhat
rambling, letter. Well, what can I say?
Another great copy of MWAN. Thank you
for publishing MWAN (and to your wife and
family); MWAN is unique in our hobby. In
some ways it's a throwback to the gaming
attitude of yesteryear, when people, I believed,
produced their own rules and garage companies
flourished. I've been looking at some older
magazines lately and thinking about how and
why I initially got into the hobby. I have been
trying to reinstate the thrill I felt when I read
my first Wargamer's Digest (July 1976). As I
look back, I realize
that my enthusiasm had very little to do the
quality of the figures. I still find well
painted Minifigs, Scruby's and McEwan's
quite charming. As for rules, I still use
Wesencraft's Practical Wargaming,
Featherstone's Skirmish Wargames and other
older rules sets often (along with many newer
sets). I also like it all - that is to say I enjoy
board games, roleplaying games and historical
miniature gaming, and that certainly was
reflected in early publications (though I'm not
suggesting that MWAN be anything else than
what it intends to be). Don't get me wrong,
Hal, it's not that I don't appreciate the quality
of the newer figures and the shear quantity and
variety of figures and rules sets. Just looking at
Old Glory's contribution to the hobby, I deeply
appreciate their effort to produce affordable
wargames figures. And I am "wowed" by what's
coming out of the Foundry and "The Beast." I
have just come to the realization that I'm a
social gamer, and that the size and quality of
the figures are secondary. I have also realized
that, like much of life, looks are secondary and
a personal manner. Much of the criticism in
the hobby today seems to focus around a great
deal of quibbling: which size of figures are best,
which rules are more realistic, etc.... Lighten
up, boys! It's just a HOBBY! What do you do if
no one makes the figures that you need? Is
that even possible these days? My love for
history led me into this hobby. My games tend
to reflect my personal interest in California
and Canadian History. (See Wargames
Illustrated Sept 97 and Jan 98.) 1 have always
wanted to game the Mexican American War in
California, but no one has ever made all the
figures necessary to do so. The advent of a new
convention to the San Francisco Bay Area
gave me an excuse to do something about this
gap in our wargame inventory. Lately, I have
been taken by an old set of rules which have
been reintroduced to me by Leland Erickson of
Federation Armory. Starguard is a set of rules
most old time gainers (like myself) will
remember as being one of the first Sci. Fi. rules
ever published. John McEwan, its author, also
made miniature for the game (as well as
historical and fantasy). The fact that the new
addition of the rules contained a section for
playing historical
themes on a "grand skirmish" level tipped me
off to the fact that McEwan still had an
affinity for the historical themes. I shot off a
letter to John, and within a month he had
produced all the figures I required for a most
reasonable sum of money. I had long thought
the McEwan line to be completely gone (as a
result of a warehouse fire), but I was wrong.
Leland Erickson's
Also speaking of Canada, I have a
recommendation for those who shop mail
order: The Sentry Box in Calgary; they have
mail order and a toll-free number to call.
They carry an impressive line of miniatures
and books and the staff is courteous and
helpful. One of the titles I recently
purchased from them was Rene Chartrand's
Canadian Military Heritage. More uniform
plates than you could ever wish for covered
in two volumes with a third volume
promised. Did you know that Canada sent a
battalion of Zouaves to the Papal States
during the Italian Revolution? It's in there
with other unusual conflicts from Canadian
History.
Now for a soap-box moment: I've written
quite a few articles over the past 15 years for
a variety of publications in this hobby. I've
never expected payment, but I always expect
at least a letter or hand written note of
thanks (like you so often do, Hal). Lately,
my works have been published in a glossy
British magazine without so much as a
"thank you." For those of you that publish
small newsletters or zines" in this hobby,
please acknowledge that a considerable
amount of time go into each article and that
time spent to give you something to publish
is worth something, if not a small "thank
you." OK, I'm off the box now. Living out in
the middle of no where, it's difficult to find
gainers. Since I live in a scenic spot, I've
decided to invite gainers from the "Big City"
to come up for a weekend of gaming and
sightseeing with their families. I'll let you
know what happens. Finally, I really enjoyed
reading the old Scruby and Featherstone
articles in MWAN. Please continue to
publish these. If anyone gets up to the
Mendocino Coast, give me a shout.
From Rob Westbrook of Three Rivers.
Texas, 78071-1403; I have included an
article on model trees. I hope you can use it. I
am wondering if you or another MWANer can
help me? I am looking for a copy of "The Blue
Light Manual." These were a set of tactical
ACW rules put out by Fantasy Games
Unlimited. As I understand it they have gone
out of business and the rules are therefore, out
of print. On another subject, I have recently
rediscovered plastic wargame figures. I started
out gaming with Airfix figures back in the
seventies. Back when rules were simple and my
income was low. Well my income is better, but
we all have bills. So I have been forced by
necessity and nostalgia to take a second look.
Was I ever surprised! The stuff that is out
there today is much better than the products I
was using in the seventies. Since I am a rabid
Civil War enthusiast I have several
manufacturers and sets to choose from. I feel
that I have found the link I have been missing
for several years in my gaming and modeling.
(Editor's Note: Haven't seen Blue Light Manual
in years, Rob, but I'll bet some MWANer will be
willing to help you in this area. Your plastics
project sounds interesting!)
From Dennis Popek, Jr. of ST. Louis.
MISSOURI 63114: I am preparing to
leave for Air Force training at Sheppard AFB,
TX I'll be back sometime in June. Anyway,
MWAN has been getting better and better, how
do you do it? I enjoy all of the editorials and
letters, as well as, the various scenarios and
rules sets. They have all given me many good
ideas for gaming material. My thanks to you
and your contributors. (Editor's Note:
Thanks for thoughts, Dennis; good to hear
from you and good luck re training!)
From Jon Freitag of Spokane, WA
99203: My SYW project has only
recently just begun. When Old Glory
began releasing their 15mm SYW range, I
quickly purchased a fair quantity (more
accurately described as a "life-time" supply) of
the figures. Boy, are they nice looking! I've
only managed to paint up about 300 of the
little devils thus far. My main period has been
Napoleonics. Been working on them in 15mm
for about three years. I've managed to field
2,000+ plus troops covering many of the
European nationalities. I host a Napoleonic
game roughly every six weeks using my own
grand tactical rules. Hal, I have you to thank
(or blame) for one of my latest periods. The
period? 25mm Colonials. Reading about your
colonial exploits has really heightened my
interest in the period. While I've only been
collecting Colonials for about six months. I
already have produced a number of units. I've
found that the 25mm's paint up almost as
quickly as the 15mm's with a lot less eye
strain. I was able to churn out 100+ figures in
December alone. Pretty good production by
my standards. By my calculation, I completed
about 400 25mm figures in the last six
months. What started as a passing interest in
Maximilian's Adventure (fostered by a terrific
skirmish game at Enflidade '97) has blossomed
into a colonial collection covering roughly the
1862-1882 period. Presently, I can field
combatants for Maximilian's Adventure, and
the Second Afghan War. We've been using
Fields of Honor for our colonial games. Most
of my colonials are Frontier and some of their
figure lines are quite nice. I especially like their
Franco-Prussian War French figures.
(Editor's Note: Thanks for letter, Jon!
Would like to see a review of FIELDS OF
HONOR rules set; I've heard of them, but not
seen them as of yet).
From Stephen Leopard of Canyon Lake,
TX 78133-5149: I have become
extremely interested in James Graham -
Montrose - Can you provide me with any
sources of information on his army? I am
mainly concerned with uniforms and flags. I
would deeply appreciate any help book titles or
magazine articles you can provide me with. I
am also looking for figures of Highland
chieftains. (Editor's Note: I'm sending you
some of the Partizan Press ECW publications
on the Scots; also check out Essex ]5mm
Highlanders; they are very 2 good!)
From David North of Bunker Hill, IN
46914: In reading over the recent issues of
MWAN, I've learned a lot about the new Piquet
rules. I haven't seen the actual rules themselves
yet, but have been able to piece together the
basics from various MWAN articles and I think
the concept is very interesting. I plan on
incorporating some of their ideas into my own
rules. I'm working on several projects -at the
moment. Awhile back one of those stores
where everything is a dollar went out of
business and they were selling off their stock at
ridiculous discounts (up to 70% off). I bought
up some toy plastic soldiers; cowboys and
Indians, Knights and modern soldiers. The best
buy was packages of 120 WWII era soldiers in
six different types. I bought three of these for
.30 cents each. 360 soldiers for .90 cents is a
pretty good deal and they actually are not
bad quality. They're slightly bigger than 1/72nd
scale figures but you don't notice unless you
stand them right next to each other. The
different types are Japanese, Australians,
British airborne, British North Africa (shorts
and short sleeve shirts), Germans, and Germans
in peaked caps (for N. Africa). I'm going to use
the British airborne troops for mercenaries for
my African Wars. They're wearing berets and
should look good painted up like the
mercenaries in the movie "The Wild Geese".
The rest of the figures will be used as is and
filled out with figures from ESCI and
REVELL. I'm working on rules for WWII and
Modem Africa at platoon scale to use with
these guys. Another project I'm working on
(actually two projects) is naval battles in the
ACW and Age of Sail. I'm building my own
ships from balsa wood. Interestingly enough, I
originally bought the balsa wood to build
spaceships for a "Full Thrust" space campaign
I'm playing by mail with my father. Yeh, you
read that right. My father, now in his sixties, is
a Sci Fi gamer. In fact, he spends much of his
free time (much to the chagrin of my mother)
playing a computer Sci-Fi game called "Reach
for the Stars". So much for the stereotype that
Sci Fi gamers are all teenagers or college kids.
I'm also working on something for the Buna.
Campaign, which I know you are interested
in. (Editor's Note.
What a bargain you picked up, David!
Anxious to see what you come up with re the
Buna Campaign!)
From Mike Huskgy of Fond du Lack, WI
54935: To answer your questions re my
Russian Civil War organization; I have no
historical precedent at 1:25 or 1:50; I just
winged it by the size of my collection and what
looked good on the table to me. A typical Red
Army battalion might be 5-7 infantry stands
with one MG stand. An artillery battery is one
gun stand with three crew; no limbers
(expensive and take up too much space). A
cavalry unit can be as small as two stands for a
few of my Makhnorist partisan units to six
stands for some White Cossack units. All foot
and cavalry are mounted two to a stand. Only
generals are mounted individually. By the way,
did you know PETER PIG out of England is
coming out with a Russian Civil War line in
15mm to augment their WWI range? Peter
Pig's are true 15mm with character and I like
them a lot. Boy, I'm really tempted to just sell
my whole 20mm collection and start over with
Peter Pig 15mm's. I think my problem is I've
been reading about this sort of madness in a
certain wargaming magazine!!! (Editor's
Note: Thanks for response re my question,
Michael: the RCW still is appealing to me in
many ways. Your mention of Peter Pig's 15mm
line is interesting; yes, I'd seen the listing and I
agree with you in that the figures are very well
done. Good luck infighting off the urge to go
to 15mm's!)
From Joe Walukonis of Berwyn Heights,
MD 20740: I recently purchased MWAN
89 and 91 in my local gaming store. Both
issues were outstanding. The gaming-related
articles, figure reviews, and manufacturer's
adverts are invaluable resources for any gamer.
I was especially intrigued by David Barnes'
review of Valiant Miniatures 25mm Design
Service and have already written Valiant for
more details. I also liked Charles Sharp's review
of Crossfire and article on painting WWII
figures. I've also ordered some of the London
War Room's 25mm Spanish Bourbons. I
envision some 18th century skirmishes in
Florida, Louisiana, and the Southwest. I already
have some Guernsey Foundry Plains Indians
and those
with flintlocks, spears and bows would make
excellent opponents. Thanks for such a useful
publication. (Editor's Note: Glad you find
MWAN of value, Joseph; hope you consider
writing something in the future!)
From Bill Widrick of Prescott Valley, AZ
86314: To update you on my pursuit of
collecting in the bottomless pit of
Napoleonics; I now have enough figures to
game with. 'Me painting shall now begin. My
dilemma in regard to rules systems continues. I
have researched Napoleon's Battles, Corps de
Army, General de Brigade, Le petite General,
and Playable Napoleonics. None are totally
satisfying (is there any rules set that is?) But
all have given me ideas and all have very good
qualities! (Editor's Note: Can't help you in
this area, Bill, but perhaps some MWANer can;
good luck!)
From Bill McHarg of Aurora, CO
80017: This last year my brother Geoff
and I have been playing a lot of COMMAND
DECISION III, using the playtest version on
the web. I can't wait to buy the finished
product. It takes a good set of rules and makes
them great.
From Wes Rogers of Seattle, WA
98117: I have been spending most of my
free time for the last six months working on a
Windows '95 program to generate wargame
campaign maps and battle diagrams. I've got
the program to the point where it can do the
following: (1) Generate hex, square,
rectangular, and "quarter" grids, either
numbered (two numbering styles) or
unnumbered. Any number/type of grids can be
generated. (2) Generate contour lines via
mouse drag (two styles), plus "closed shapes",
freehand lines, straight lines, polyons, rail
lines, and similar types of lines. (3) General
many types of symbols, including basic shapes
(circles, starts, etc), wargame counters, "force
markers" and flags, plus symbols such as
castles, walled cities, towers, ships, etc. These
symbols can have "notepads" attached to
them, which the map-keepers can use to keep
track of what is "inside" them. (4) Maps can be
from 3" x 3" up to 100" X 100". Any and all
parts of a map can be printed. The keeper can
change the map size at any time. (5) Text can
of course be added as well. (6) Map objects can
be cut/copied/pasted/moved.
around. (7) The program ("Game Maps") is an
"OLE Server" which means you can use Word
or Excel and insert a map into an article, a rule
set, or a spreadsheet. (8) A map can be seen in
several view windows, which can be "zoomed
out" to various magnifications, so the keeper
can see the "big picture". I still have several
more features to put in (rotated text, bmp file
support); then I think I'll go to some of the
wargaming websites, and see if they'd be willing
to offer the program for download, as freeware.
(Editor's Note: Your ideas sound great,
Wes; I'm looking forward to hearing from you
on this; good luck!)
From Greg Seefeldt of Rapid City, SD
57702: Through MWAN I have made
contact with two local gainers through Danny
Adams of DAKOTA MINIATURES. We are
currently in the process of setting up Jackson's
Valley campaign to replay it. Hopefully I will
be able to send in a report on it but don't hold
your breath too long. Through your
publication I had the chance to speak with and
do business with Howard Whitehouse who is a
true gentleman even to the point of letting his
dinner grow cold to discuss some things with
me. I fully recommend to anyone interested in
terrain to contact Howard. They will not be
disappointed.
From Chris Engle of 460 St Clair.
Mooresville, IN 46158: I've been doing
a lot of painting and terrain building this
winter. The big event is building a 3-D map of
downtown London (1900). 1 made two of
them (one 3' X 4' then another 3' X 3') I'll be
taking them out to conventions this year to do
Matrix games. Maybe next year I will make
Manhattan Island! I've been painting civilian
figures (25mm) for the matrix games but also
10mm Napoleonics and 25mm 1830-40's
figures. I really want to play post Napoleonic
periods and now can finally get to them. I've
been working on rules that allow players to roll
as many dice as they want for movement and
combat. Sixes are good but one's build up
'chaos" in the unit, Too much chaos causes the
"parts" of units to break. In the playtests, one
is always on the razor's edge of collapse! It
makes running a single unit interesting and
challenging. Of course I incorporate a matrix
game into the game - by giving players an
"argument" part., This allows players to tweak
the rules as they go. High levels of complexity
and depth without slow ponderous rules. My
wife and I are about ready to publish our first
mass market matrix game. "Dark Portals" is a
horror movie Matrix Game in which a group of
1950's teenagers (and Rex, the dog) go into a
haunted house. Definitely not historical but
fun. We hope to put out a second game later
this year. (Editor's Note: Very good to hear
from you again,- Chris; good luck with the
game!
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© Copyright 1998 Hal Thinglum
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