I guess I've been sort of a sabbatical from the hobby for sometime now. Haven't felt like really doing anything except reading and I've pretty much exhausted my reading materials for the ECW/TYW. I did, however; pull out a British Colonial book from my personal library. The Road To Kabul: The Second Afghan War 1878-1881 by Brian Robson. I'm almost finished reading it and find it quite interesting. The author devotes a separate chapter to the Battle of Maiwand, which inspired me to build 25mm Wargames Foundry/Lyzard's Grin British and Afghan armies which are now complete and quite sizeable.

It's been awhile since I mentioned this period, but all infantry units are 24 figures strong with three figures to a stand, while cavalry units are 12, 18, or 24 figures, again with three figures per stand. Irregular foot have slightly larger bases than regular foot. Artillery has four crew to a gun with two horse (or bullock) limbers. One of the outstanding terrain features for Maiwand was a ravine which the Afghans used to outflank the British-Indian force. When I did Isandhlwana, I had difficulty representing the dongas, then I found a listing in the Village Green catalog for terrain pieces which were perfect. They are constructed of resin and come in irregular-sized sections as to length and they are also "winding". There are pieces of vegetation on them. I sent them off to Howard Whitehouse some years ago asking him to terrain them for me and he did a very good job and they will fit well for representing the ravines.

Maiwand was, as you may know, a British defeat which featured a rather small British-Anglo force (three battalions of foot, one of which was British), two batteries, and two units of native cavalry. The Afghan guns were far superior to the British and they had large numbers of irregular troops as well as Afghan regular units. As with many of the colonial actions, it is difficult to portray actions on the tabletop when small numbers of troops are pitted against large numbers of enemy, usually native irregulars with most wargames rules. Of course, the Afghans had a large number of "regular" troops as well. I'll be writing my own again, based, I am sure, upon what I did with the Zulu War and the Sudan. Just writing about it at this time sort of encourages me to get working on the rules!

"The Road to Kabul" provides more detailed information as to the make-up of the BritishAnglo force at Maiwand than I had seen before. They had a force assigned to the baggage train and I had never been able to determine how large this force was. The author reports that there were men from each of the three infantry battalions on the line as well as one hundred cavalrymen. Although everyone mentions that the baggage train was under attack as well, no one mentions any specifics about this portion of the battle.

I've gotten in the habit of turning on the History channel when I'm working on my computer and have enjoyed it greatly. If you haven't checked it out, do so if you get a chance, Ivor Janci released his first issue of THE ZOUAVE since he took it over from Dave Reynolds, who did a terrific job over the years. Ivor is a professional graphic designer and it shows in the publication. Excellent job, Ivor and my congratulations! If you are at all interested in the ACW period, you'll really enjoy THE ZOUAVE. Ivor Janci, 725 Ranch Road, Wheaton, IL 60187-3656 (US $24.00; Canada $28.00; overseas $32.00 payable to Marek/Janci Design. Amazing what talented people, such as Ivor, can do with a wargaming publication!

Spencer-Smith Miniatures are available from The Old Rectory, Wortham, Diss, Norfolk. IP22 1SL and made available by Peter Johnstone. Peter also offers the 30mm Tradition (also in 25mm), "Willie" as well as 30mm HE Holger Eriksson figures (which I've never seen). The Spencer-Smith figures have been around since the middle 60's, I believe, and were featured in Charles Grant's THE WAR GAME book - 30mm SYW figures. Peter also offers them in metal. It has been some years since I've seen them but they always appeal to me because of Charles Grant's book, I guess.

Brings to mind that I am somewhat surprised that no one ever produced a quality line of 25mm or 30mm plastic wargames figures. I wonder why that is? Maybe they couldn't be offered much cheaper than metal figures. I would assume that the price for sculpting and mold making would be pretty much the same for metal as well as plastic figures, but I could be wrong. I recall Greg Principato looking into this possibility some years ago. Perhaps Greg can share what he found out with us. Does anyone else have any ideas on the subject?

Have you ever thought about producing a wargames figure line? I think about this occasionally. though never seriously. What I enjoy thinking about is which period I would select to offer and how I would go about it. It would have to be, I think, in a scale which is not readily available. therefore, I would select 20mm. This decision is more easily made due to the fact that I have been taken up with this lovely little scale as of late! Cost of production would dictate that the line be rather limited as to extensiveness, thus, I would start with Prussians and Austrians, the main combatants of the Seven Years War. I would offer the following figures for each type of unit: officer, drummer, standard bearer, enlistedman at march attack, and perhaps a sergeant. Cavalry would have an officer, trumpeter, standard bearer, and enlisted man. Artillery would have four different poses including perhaps an officer. Guns (perhaps two or three different models per side) would have a limber and two limber horses. I would also have about three mounted generals. The Prussians would have musketeers, fusiliers, grenadiers, Jaegers, cuirassiers, dragoons, and hussars, while the Austrians would have German musketeers, Hungarian fusiliers, grenadiers, Croat light infantry, and the same three horse types as the Prussians. Figuring five foot poses per unit type times (actually, for the light infantry types, I'd have an officer and perhaps three light infantry poses), there would be approximately 33 foot figures, eight artillery, 18 cavalry poses, three to six generals, and perhaps three horse types. As to "style", I'd prefer the "chunky" figure approach such as the B&B figures. As to manufacturing, I'd make an arrangement with an already existing manufacturer to cast the figures for me. Then I'd sit back and wait for the thousands of orders to come pouring in, as I'm sure they would! Actually, a far better approach would be for a company, such as B&B to release such a line. Would save me a lot of money and personal grief, I am sure!

Along a similar line, another thought has crossed through my little brain, and that is to contact an already existing figure manufacturer and ask them how much it would cost me to have "them" produce such a line. Perhaps some sort of financial "arrangement" could be made whereas I provide some financial backing; they produce and offer the line; and I have access to a figure line and scale which I would really like. If anyone has ever done such a thing, I'd be very interested in hearing about it. I know of at least two companies; one is Bloodaxe Miniatures in the State of Washington, and the second is in the UK, who offer to produce "specially" requested figures at a price and then make them available to the general public.

Luckily, whenever I start thinking of such a project, I, at least thus far, remember that (1) if you wait long enough in this hobby, some company will release the period and scale you are desiring, and (2) whenever I finish up a period, no matter how excited I am about it, it tends to sit around while I move on to another "project!" The fact that I have over 4,000 beautiful 25mm castings for the Seven Years War should have some influence on my decision making as well!

If I may continue on a bit about the 20mm scale, I'd like to state a few more thoughts on the subject. First of all, "we" are getting "older" I'll be 52 by the time you read this(!) - and "our" eyes are no longer what they were. Not only that, but "we" may have reached, or are getting very close, to the maximum number of painted wargames figures "our" bodies are capable of painting in a single lifetime! I would estimate that over a twenty-four year period, I have painted perhaps in excess of 25,000 15mm and 25mm figures. I am personally convinced that I shall never paint another period in this hobby. I don't have the vision for it, nor do I have the interest. 20mm figures offer an "in between" scale between 15mm and 25mm as regards size how's that for an insight? - and for "tired" old eyes, they may be the answer, at least for some of us. Secondly, 20mm takes up less room on the wargames table yet you can still make out individual figures, far better than 15mm. Currently, 20mm terrain, outside of WWII, is not as readily available as for the 15mm and 25mm scales, although I suspect as more 20mm ranges are offered, this will be radically changed.

I do find my current fascination with 20mm somewhat interesting in that I traded off my 20mm WWII collection in favor of 25mm WWII in that I much preferred the larger scale. A large part of this may be the fact that I've always viewed WWII wargaming to be at a "skirmish" -- perhaps a large skirmish -- level and 25mm just looks better mounted individually. No doubt my "ideas" are just a further extension of my tendency to "bounce" around from period to period and scale to scale in this grand hobby!

With pleasure I noted that my good friend, Greg Novak, was the Guest of Honor at the recent HISTORICON Convention out cast. Very glad to see Greg be honored; he has given a great deal to this hobby and has always been an "innovative" thinker within the hobby. Congratulations, Mr. Novak!

I remember many years ago when I was a young teenager, I ran across a painting in a history book at the school library of the French, during the Franco-Prussian War, defending a farm complex from the Prussians. The same painting is in the They Died for Glory rules. You know how an impression such as that will stay with you for years? I've tried, over the years, to get into the FrancoPrussian War and even purchased quite a few 15mm figures some years ago from the UK and frequently drooled over the Wargames Foundry 25mm line. I've done a fair amount of reading about the period and must admit that I've never found a book that excited me about the period. I searched for the Howard book for some time as I was told that it was very good, however, upon purchasing it, I wasn't impressed with it. I am terribly taken by the B&B 20mm figures for this period. I have enjoyed the Osprey Campaign Series book #21 Gravelotte-St-Privat 1870 by Philipp Elliot-Wright and it is the Prussian Guard attack upon St-Privat which I find most inspiring and would love to see upon the wargames table.

I received a response from Peter Michels of San Jose, California re problems encountered with wargames suppliers and what to do about it, I'd like to share it with you here because it seems like good advice.

"I am writing in response to your editorial comments and question (in MWAN #94) about what to when an advertiser fails to meet his or her responsibilities in customer service. Over the years, I have had two problems ordering mail order products from advertisers in MWAN In the first case, the company was manipulated by personal intervention by you, and after months tardiness, I received my order. This was from an established firm and I was surprised. The problem was they didn't provide a phone number and failed to respond to any of my three follow up letters. I sent a letter to you outlining the problem and you replied that you were somewhat perplexed as to your appropriate action as editor, since it did not seem to be a habitual problem with this company. You told me you would give the owner a call and the problem went away. I have never ordered anything from that company since.

In the second case, I ordered a set of rules from an individual who advertised his product in MWAN. I sent you a letter on this problem also, but you replied he had moved and you did not have a current contact number or address. After two more letters to this person received no response, I contacted my local postal authority, the U.S. Postal Service. It turns out that they employ investigators to took into these matters. The next letter to this person contained a statement that I had not received the product, and that I was pursuing the matter with the Postal Fraud division of the USPS. The product arrived with a week of that threat.

In my letter, I mentioned that I would wait one more week and that he still had the chance to do the right thing. In both cases, the proprietors sent me letters of apology, explaining that they thought the product had been sent. In both cases, the company and the rules author are sole proprietorships and have no employees, meaning if they didn't send me the desired items, no one else there would have. In both cases, they had no problem cashing my checks promptly.

My suggestion to MWAN subscribers when encountering a problem is to contact the editor, which happens to be you. If you can not assist them by prodding the delinquent party into meeting their business responsibilities, then the customer should contact their local post office and ask about their options for mail fraud charges. It is illegal to advertise a product in a magazine (and other printed media that is sent via the U.S. Mail) and then renege on the implied contract of the ad. As far us our Australian co-subscriber goes, I am not sure what actions he can take, except maybe his local Postal Service can contact the US Postal Service? I would also suggest that you, Hal, should consider revoking advertising rights to those companies and individuals that have a history of this behavior. I know you abhor getting involved in this kind of thing, but it seems like the only option, rather than leave the subscriber community vulnerable to this kind of problem. "

Thanks, Peter, for taking the time to provide us with this information. I have taken your advice re "revoking advertising rights" for troublesome companies and have gone so far as to state within the editorial that so and so's advertising will no longer be accepted within MWAN. I like your idea about contacting the Postal Service. Let's remember that. If you do have a problem, and wish to contact me about it, I will continue to write a letter to the company, along with a copy of your letter to me stating what the problem is, and ask them to resolve the situation. I hope we don't have to resort to such approaches often! There are so many quality providers within this small hobby of ours; a very few don't fall into this category and it is unfortunate indeed.

If anyone is aware of any 20mm buildings which may be appropriate for Europe in the 1870's Franco-Prussian War I'd like to hear about it. I suspect that there are a number of HO scale plastic kits which would qualify for this period. Let me know.

With MWAN #100 coming up in 1999, it's time to start putting together some ideas for it. I'd like to request that MWANers consider putting together some articles for this special issue. Perhaps a subject such as your impressions of the hobby over the years would be an interesting topic. What do you think?

Also brings to mind that I could use more articles/rules sets/letters/etc., for MWAN. If you have any articles you'd like to submit. I'd sure appreciate receiving them. The length of any article is not a problem due to MWAN being 192 pages long. To be honest, it is difficult to meet my deadlines without an adequate supply of articles. This will not be a "strong-arm" or "emotional plea" for articles as I understand perfectly that people have lots of other things to do (I hope!) other than to write articles for any publication. Lately, I find myself without any additional articles after putting an issue together; 192 pages is a lot of space to fill up!

Let me give you some suggestions for possible articles:

(1) Extensive review of what's available for certain periods.

(2) Personal accounts of your view of the hobby.

(3) Scenarios

(4) Your favorite wargame periods/scales and why.

(5) Reviews of' rules sets; they don't necessarily have to be new sets to be valuable information. The same can be said for figure reviews.

(6) -Historical" articles with wargaming information added,

(7) Terrain/building/wargames accessories construction or availability.

(8) Your favorite figure line(s) and why.

(9) Collecting/gaming in different scales within the same period and your justification (to yourself) for doing so.

(10) Everyone reports they really enjoy the Letters section of MWAN; drop me a letter regarding what you are currently doing in the hobby. People find this fascinating!

(11) Bibliographies for your period(s) of interest.

(12) Your utilization of professional painting services and results/review.

(13) If you have "expanded" your hobby by producing some sort of product and offering it to the wargaming community, how have you carried this out and why. What would you do differently if you were to do it over again. What advice would you offer to others who may be thinking of doing something similiar?

(14) In-depth personal interviews with individuals within the hobby.

(15) Additional figure lines, scales, or accesssories you would personally like to see be made available by figure manufacturers.

(16) Reviews of historical books of interest to wargamers.

(17) Convention reports.

(18) Information on the organization of Wargames Club and hints on the successful conduction of such..

I find the subject of wargames rules publication to be one of interest. It used to be that a "professionally produced" effort meant that the author brought the set to the printer to be produced; now the meaning has changed considerably and we are talking color and glossy pages, both of which mean additional money to produce. Also, the easy availability of computer software/desktop publishing has dramatically changed the "game" as it has for wargaming magazines. Not only does computer software have a major effect, but the user's ability to utilize such software, Not all of us are "computer literate", nor do we wish to be, speaking from personal experience! Another factor is accessability to professional printing which can offer much more, at a comparatively "lower" cost than years ago. A third factor, to me, is the "distribution" plan for the rules set. This, I believe, plays a very major role in determining how successful the rules will be. Will the author distribute them himself or have a distributor (and which one?) handle it?

It would seem, based upon what shows up in my mailbox, as though there are many people nowadays who have the ability and interest to produce "quality" wargames rules. The ability to select a period or approach that will appeal to what people will purchase/use is another variable that requires some degree of skill. I would here draw a distinction between a rules set having the appeal to compel wargamers to "purchase" it, and the appeal to actually "use" the rules on the wargaming table. I rather suspect that a great many of us will purchase lots of rules sets which we have no intention of using. The rules may be within a period we are currently gaming in; be a period we are interested in getting into eventually; have a rules system which we feel we can "steal" from; be written in an interesting fashion thus being the type we can pick up and read from time to time; can possess a "different" approach to the mechanics of rules writing; be so visually appealing that we just plain enjoy "looking" at it and perhaps gain some basing/terrain ideas for our own approach to the hobby; or it can be something we are really going to use on the table, that is to say, we are going to "chuck" our currently used rules in favor of the new effort. Quite a continuum, wouldn't you say? You can probably think of a few more variables, couldn't you!

When I think of professionally done rules books that have had a major effect on the hobby, I first think of The Sword and The Flame; although it wasn't in color. It was an advancement in printing presentation for it's time. It also offered a change in focus within the wargames community in that it shifted interest to the "skirmish" level. One of the problems, I think, was that everyone enjoyed it so much that we built such large armies so as to make the single basing approach a "difficult" one to use on the tabletop, thus, we started looking for rules systems in which we could use these larger armies.

Secondly, Fire & Fury not only used quality color pictures, it again shifted focus from the regiment to the brigade. On To Richmond did the same but at a nonprofessional printing level. Which system do more wargamers use presently?

I'm wondering - has there been a nonprofessional rules set in the last twenty years which has altered the focus of the hobby? I can't think of any. Column, Line & Square did so prior to that time period, though I can remember ordering my copy for $20.00 and not feeling that it was a "non-professional" effort. You have to consider the times as CL&S was limited, I believe, by the printing limitations of the time. In more recent times, The Age of Reason didn't use the full color, glossy approach yet, it has been quite successful at being accepted within wargaming. It did, however, use a professional printing approach and perhaps, more importantly, utilized a quality distribution system.

Also, AOR used a simple gaming approach as "well as a reasonably sized "unit" sy stem of 12 figures, which held appeal for many painters. They also combined this with a "wellwritten campaign system, another plus for a rules book. If you look at Brother vs Brother, you see a very simple rules system for a popular period (ACW) which possesses great color photos and a good distribution system. They Died for Glory was printed as a complete rules within The Courier magazine as an insert prior to being professionally printed in full color with glossy pages.

I wonder if there have been rules set done professionally with full color and good distribution which haven't been successful? Perhaps someone has some ideas on this. Along the same line, can you think of "nonprofessional" efforts without color or quality distribution which. have been successful? Howard Whitehouse's Sudan and English Civil War rules make me wonder how they would have sold if Howard had used a professional printing approach with color and professional distribution? Beautifully written rules in a fascinating fashion - I frequently read them for enjoyment(!) - but printed by Howard himself. I rather suspect they may turned the wargaming community on it's ear with a different approach.

I also wonder what effect the selection of a period has upon appeal to us? Has to have a considerable effect, I would suppose. When you look at the quality of writing, it would seem, at least to me, that the level of writing ability has increased across the board. We are much better at making rules understandable. You do have authors, such as Howard Whitehouse, who are a level higher than the rest of us and possess the ability to manage to entertain us at the same time as he is presenting a rules set. However, for the vast majority of us, the playing field is fairly equal as regards this variable.

Command Decision utilized a professionally printed approach using the GDW approach, but didn't use color photos, yet it has been perhaps the most successful WWII rules effort. I've always felt that their publication Bayonet would have been much more appealing had they used color photos with quality figures and basing. I say this because I think this is a rules effort which offers a real change in focus for the hobby; an entire unit on a single base (for the most part) and allowing us to refight the really large battles of history. I don't know how many times I've sat down with this rules book and dreamed about starting a new collection based upon their approach. Give me the color photos and I may be "over the line." I'd like to ask what -pushes you over the edge" as regards a wargames rules set? What makes you "purchase" it as opposed to "use" it on the wargames table? Here's what I look for:

(1) The period itself is important, though not the most critical factor. It may be a period which I am a little bit interested in, but if it is presented well enough,. it will result in me purchasing it, though I may not use it.

(2) The availability of figures and scale for the period; I myself am heavily influenced in this area because my main interest in the hobby are the "toy soldiers" themselves. Tell me what the figure availability is, even though this information is "outdated" when I am reading it. We all love to know what figure companies produce figures for the period we are reading about.

(3) Color pictures of quality games influence me greatly in a publication. I love to look at the pictures and perhaps gain ideas regarding basing and terrain. Tell me where the figures come from and how you made/acquired the terrain and you've got me!

(4) Although not everyone possesses the writing ability of a Howard Whitehouse, if it is written in an interesting fashion which can "entertain" as well as give me the rules information, it is a real plus!

(5) Detailed information regarding organization; not only organization of the units, but army organization. (6) Well written "designer's notes" are gems. Why did the author write these rules; what was his purpose; why did he write them the way he did?

(7) A "simple" to "moderate" rules approach works for me. Whether this is true for a majority of wargamers is perhaps another question, though it would seem that we prefer rules "leaning" toward a more "simple" approach.

(8) An 8 1/2" X 11 " format just "looks" better to me.

(9) Detailed "basing" information for figures. Don't tell me merely that each figure occupies 1/2" ; tell me more about base sizes and number of figures occupying them.

(10) Inclusion of scenarios with quality maps, orders of battle, and historical information. (11) If the rules can be used for various figure scales, list them in detail. don't just state "increase movement and firing by 50% for 25mm". Take the time to develop charts for the various scales. Otherwise I think the author is just trying to convince me that it is possible to use the rules for another scale, but he fails to do so.

(12) Give me some information about period tactics and some historical background. If this is a new period to me, I appreciate information in this area. Inclusion of a bibliography is very helpful to a newcomer to the period.

Is there anything you would add? Let me know if you have any thoughts on the subject.

I guess this also raise the point of how does this affect authors who choose not to pursue a "professional" approach to printing their rules. Have we, as consumers. come to expect "more" as regards the "visual" aspect of wargames rules? Even if one utilizes a "non-professional" printing approach, the effort still requires the expenditure of more money than most of us can justify. I would assume that it is necessary to have a "run" of at least 500 to 1,000 copies. This represents somewhat of a financial risk to the majority of us, especially in view of the fact that it probably is an "extension" of our personal hobby and the financial return is certainly not great, by any means!

One could also expand this topic to wargame magazines: those which go for the professional glossy approach vs those which we put into the "amateur" category. Does it work the same for magazines as it does for rules sets or are we move motivated by "content?" I rather suspect that it does operate in a similar fashion. If this is true, then publications such as Old Glory's beautiful effort should be a best-seller without doubt. Loads of beautiful color photos, quality writing. The only doubt I have here is the fact that it is a "house organ" for Old Glory and to Russ Dunaway's credit. this is readily admitted up front. I look at what Ivor Janci did with The Zouave re "upgrading" the visual portion, as mentioned previously in this column. Ivor has the ability/experience within the graphics design field to "raise" the level of a publication from "amateur" to "professional." I would add that these remarks are not meant in any way to downgrade Dave Reynold's efforts with The Zouave whose efforts, I feel, were superior to mine with MWAN as regards visual appeal.

I've felt for some time that Russ Lockwood has an effect on the increase in "visual" upgrading of "amateur" wargaming publications via his rating system used in his Wargaming Publications column in MWAN. Prior to his efforts, there wasn't any source which rated a great many wargaming magazines in such a fashion. Thanks, Russ, for your efforts!

I've noted that there has been a major increase in "scenario" booklets on the market. I think this is a great idea and am glad to see it. Not everyone has the interest, time, or ability to develop quality scenarios and to be able to purchase a scenario booklet of perhaps a dozen scenarios for about $15.00 is a real plus for the hobby and the wargamer. I think we'll see much more of this; at least I hope so. I greatly enjoy reading them, even if they aren't for periods I am gaming in. Check out the increasing number of ACW scenario books available from The Last Square in their ad within this issue as well as the American Revolutionary War booklet in the review section, for instance.

Since mentioning my interest in 20mm SYW earlier in this column, Hap Jordan, 14 Parkview Ave., Jamestown, NY 14701, gave me a call to inform me he was sending samples of his line and is planning on greatly expanding the line. I don't recall having seen a listing of his SYW line and am anxious to do so. Hap, it would appear. as done exactly as I have dreamed of doing re producing his own figure line in a scale of his interest! If you have an interest, Hap, I'd love to have a lengthy article from you as to how and why you went about this! Also, if anyone else has done this, I think we'd all like to hear about it.

I can also use quality color photographs for use on MWAN's covers. Please add details as to the type of figures and terrain featured in the photos as we all enjoy knowing that information!

David Clayton, manufacturer of 20/25mm Hinton Hunt figures (for more than a decade) would like to inform his loyal customers of a shop re-location and address change. All $5.00 catalog requests, figure orders, and checks should be sent to: David Clayton/Elan, PO Box 7301, Hudson, FL 34674-7301. David reports that the workshop should be producing at full capacity by the end of June. He welcomes new customers to the "20mm Revival".

David's mention of a "20mm Revival" makes me wonder if any other MWANers have been "moved" by the 20mm scale in metal, as I have been as of late. We've been fortunate enough, over the last several years, to have a number of articles on 20mm plastic and metal figures but I wonder just how extensive this "movement" is becoming. Based on the increased availability of 20mm figure lines, including brand new 20min manfacturers, I have to think that these figures are being purchased by some 20mm converts.

It is my "intention" to include a detailed survey with MWAN #96 (October/November, 1998). I know this is short notice, but if you have any ideas as to what you would like to see included in a survey of MWANers, please let me know as soon as possible so it can be considered for inclusion. Please be as specific as possible with your suggestions and consider "ease of compiling" such information.

There seems to be an increase in the number of figure manufacturers offering wargaming rules in addition to their figure lines. I've long thought this would be a real advantage in attracting wargamers to their figure offerings. Peter Pig, for example, offers a number of rules sets, and if rumors are correct, Guernsey Foundry, has rather ambitious plans in this area. Redoubt Enterprises has also made some efforts to do so. I would think this would serve the wargaming community well in that potential rules writers may have an opportunity to have their efforts professionally printed and distributed! We'll see what else happens!