Miniature Service Center, 1525 Bridge Street, #163, Yuba City, California 95993, 530-673-5169. Redoubt Figures are offered by this company, including the recent releases of 25mm American Civil War figures. Many more castings are being released, including engineers. Two sets of figures from this line I have seen are the Union 20th Maine and the "Band of Brothers," the 1st Maryland Confederate figure set. ACX 17, Col. Chamberlaine and the 20' Maine, thirty figures representing the defenders of Little Round Top, $45.00 ACX 18 Col Goldsboro, Capt. Torsch and the Band of Brothers, the Confederate, 1st Maryland as they advance on Culp's Hill, a group of thirty speciality figures. $45.00. These figures come complete with their correct heads for assembly. The specialty figures are available only with the complete sets. I was fortunate to obtain both of these groups of figures and am very pleased with them. They do require some assembly, the heads must be glued to the 20' Maine firing figures, and the heads and the gun holding arms must be glued to the torsos of the 1st Maryland advance march figures. The shafts of the heads for the figures fit very well into the holes in the torso, with no trimming of the shaft length necessary. The castings are shape and very little flash is present. The Chamberlaine figure measures 28mm from the top of the base to the eyes, and 30mm to the top of his head. The figure is well animated in a pose drawing his sword with a discernible look of determination on the facial features. The detail of these castings is very good. The Chamberlaine figure is outfitted in cavalry style boots, holster and belt in a frock length coat, with epaulettes, a visible collar, and double rows of buttons. The spurs worn over the boots on this figure are well detailed. I have not painted any of these figures yet, but I am looking forward to working on them. The stripes along the pant legs of the other command figures are marked by a visible line. The rank markings (chevrons) are present on the sleeves of the Sergeant, and should detail paint very well. There is a sole line on the shoes of the figures, and concentric ridges of the metal canteen sides visible on the castings. The heads of the figures show facial features including moustaches and sideburns, and bandages, but the faces seem proportional to the figure size, and they are not as large as those of the Dixon ACW line of figures. Arquebus Military Miniatures and Toy Soldiers, 101 Fire Tower Road, Pomfret Center, CT06259, www.arquebus.com Though I have not done business with this company, I was interested by their web site. Arquebus offers figures from Traditions (ACW, Napoleonic and other Tradition items), Mulberry Miniatures (Napoleonic), and Whittlesey Miniatures (Romans, War of the Roses). They offer collectable toy soldiers and military miniatures from several English companies. The Roman toy soldiers are offered are produced by Whittlesey Miniatures, England. They are cast in metal at 54mm (1/32) scale, and painted in gloss colors. The sets depict troops of the Roman army circa 100 A.D. packaged in boxes. This site also contains an "External Toy Soldier Links" listing with short comments on each site. If you are interested in 54mm figures, this is a great resource for other web sites dealing with this type of figures. The list of links from this site is reproduced below: Toy Soldier Net - Includes useful and well organized links Toy Soldier and Model Figure Magazine- Great site, even better magazine. Win. Hocker - A must see; lots of valuable links and information. Toy Soldier On Line Gallery - An enthusiast's nicely done site; lots of great pictures and links. Histoire et Figurines/History and Miniatures- Impressive French site with miniatures, history, & wargaming. Valuenet- Military collectables/toy soldiers classifieds SagaLord's Toy Soldiers Page - A site with lots more links World Toy Soldier Directory and Compendium Site - for a useful hobby sourcebook. Toy Soldier Gallery - Nicely done site focusing on Hausser/Elastolin & Lineol composition figures. Confederate Resources - American Civil War, http://members.theglobe.com/batsonsmb/franklin.htmI - This site contains links to a wide collection of civil war unit specific sites, mostly re-enactors sites. I found that many of these sites contain information useful to wargamers on uniforms, flags, photos, unit histories, etc. This list of linked sites was reproduced from the above web site. If you would like to visit any ot these sites, go to the Confederate Resources site above, and then click on any of these links to visit the site of your choice. 16th South Carolina Unit Page 12th Georgia Volunteer Infantry 22 Alabama Company D in Austria Trans-Mississippi Rifles 2nd South Carolina in Austria 1st MD Cav. Battalion, CSA Archer's Brigade Newton's 8th Arkansas Cavalry 1st South Carolina Artillery 1st Kentucky Brigade, CSA Southern Guard Living History Association 8th Tennessee Cavalry, CSA 3rd Regiment CONFEDERATE ENG. 1st Confederate Division Company'E', 3rd Regiment 1st Maryland Infantry, Company H, CSA 12th Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment 1st South Carolina Cavalry 15th Regiment Virginia Volunteer Infantry Company 5th Texas Partisan Rangers A, "Henrico Grays" 7th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, Comp. B 20th South Carolina Vol. Infantry 7th Virginia Infantry, Company D 15th Arkansas 12th Texas Cavalry Terry's Texas Rangers 22nd Alabama Infantry, Company D The Texas Marine Department's CSN 27th South Carolina, Company G 1st KY Vol. CSA 33rd Alabama Infantry Second South Carolina String Band 44th Virginia Infantry 4th Alabama Co. F CSA Navy and Marines, S.C. Chapter 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA Lee's Light Horse Cavalry 48th Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA Newtons 8th Arkansas Cavalry 7th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry The Southern Legion 10th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry 10th South Carolina Ladies Auxiliary www.pointsouth.com/esanet/mil-trms.htm This web site contains a really useftil glossary from the 19th century period titled "Military Terms from the Late Unpleasantness (1861-1865)." This list was placed on this web site and evidently originally reproduced from a publication written by Thomas P. Kettell, History of the Great Rebellion, (Hartford, Conn: L. Stebbins, 1865) appendix. I am repeating the citation here to credit the work to the original author. ABATIS: An intrenchment of felled trees, with their branches sharpened so as to present a wall of pointed stakes to the enemy. ADJUTANT: A staff officer who transmits orders, details and mounts guards, &e. The Adjutant-General is the principal staff officer of the army; he supervises the camp, and is the organ of the general commanding. AIDE-DE-CAMP: Attendant of a general officer who receives and bears orders, &c. ALARM POST: Place of assembly in case of alarm. ALIGNMENT: Placing in line. APPROACHES: Trenches by which besiegers approach a fortified place; they are opposed by counter-approaches. APRON: The piece of leather or sheet lead which covers the vent of a cannon. ASSEMBLY: Signal to form by company. BANQUETTE: An elevation of earth within a fort, three or four feet wide, and less than five feet from the top of the parapet, to enable short men to fire over. BARBETTE: Guns stand on raised platforms and fire over the parapet, thus having a free range. BARRICADE: To block up, obstruct. BASTION: A work at one of the angles of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks. BERM: A narrow space between parapet and ditch. BIVOUAC: To camp round fires without the shelter of tents. CADENCE: Uniform time and step in marching. CAISSON: The arrinumition wagon accompanying a cannon. CALIBRE: Diameter of the bore of a piece. CANTONMENTS: Soldiers' quarters in towns and villages. CAPITULATE: To surrender on conditions. CARTEL: Agreement for an exchange of prisoners. CASOABEL: The knob at the breech of a gun. CASEMATE: Bomb-proof chambers in fortifications from which guns are fired through windows, called embrasures. CASHIER: To dismiss ignominiously. CAVALIER: A work in the interior of a bastion. CHASE OF A GUN: Its length from trunnions to muzzle. CHEEK: The timber side of a gun-carriage. CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE; Square beams, six to nine feet long, ftom which pointed stakes project at right angles; used to stop breaches, &c. CIRCUMVALLATION, LINE OF: A low parapet and trench of earthwork encircling a besieged place. CAMP COLORS: Flags eighteen inches square, to mark evolutions COMMISSARY: Provision purchaser. CONVOY: A detached guard to accompany supplies. CORPS: A body of troops under one commander. COUNTERSCARP: Outer wall or slope of the ditch of a fort. COUNTERSIGN: Password. CUIRASSIERS: Heavy cavalry with breastplates or cuirasses. CURTAIN: The line of flat wall between two bastions. DEPLOY: To manoeuvre troops from column into line of battle. DRAGOONS: Cavalry who sometimes serve on foot. ECHELON: An arrangement oftroops, by which front and flanks are alike protected. EMBRASURE: An opening in a wall or defence, through which to fire guns. ENFILADE: To rake the whole length of a work or line. EPROUVETTE: A small mortar for testing gunpowder. ESCALADE: An assault with scaling ladders. FALSE ATTACK: A strategic feint. FASCINES: Bound bundles of long twigs used for fortifications, &c. FIELD OFFICERS: Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Major. FILE: A line of men on behind the other. FLANKS: Sides. FLYING SAP: A line of gabions, behind which man approach a defence. FORAGE: Oats, hay and straw for horses. FORLORN HOPE: A party selected to begin an attack. FUGLE-MAN: A drilled soldier who acts as guide in the manual, &c. FUSE: The means by which a shell is exploded. GABION: A bottomless cylindrical basket, used in building intrenchments. GENERAL OFFICERS: All above the rank of colonel. GLACIS: Parapet of the covered way of fortifications. GRAPE: Large shot packed in bags by nines, and used for cannon. GRENADE: A shell thrown from the hand. GUIDONS: Small cavalry and light artillery flags. GUNPOWER: Composition of 76 parts saltpetre, 14 charcoal and 10 sulphur. HAVERSACK: A cotton or linen bag for a soldier's rations. HOLSTERS: Pistol cases on cavalry saddles. HOWITZER: Chambered cannon for firing canister, hollow shot &c. INTERVAL: Distance between platoons, companies, regiments, &c. INVEST: To shut up within a town or camp. KNAPSACK: Foot soldier's traveling bag, strapped on his back, and containing clothing and necessaries. LIGHT INFANTRY: Infantry scattered as skirmishers. LINKS: Thongs of leather to enchain cavalry horses. MAGAZINE: Chamber for arms, ammunition, provisions, &c. MINE: A passage dug under military works and stocked with powder to blow them up. MORTAR: A short chambered gun with large bore for throwing shell, &c. MUSTER: Parade of troops for inspection. ORDERLY: A soldier attendant upon an officer. ORDNANCE CORPS: A corps of officers in charge of arms and ammunition. OUT-POST: A body of troops posted beyond the regular lines. OUT-WORKS: Works outside the regular fortifications. PAIXHAN: A large howitzer. PARALLELS: The lines or trenches by which besiegers approach a fort. PARAPET: A barrier of earth to intercept the fire of an enemy. PARK: A number of cannon in close order. PARLEY: Conference. PAROLE: Word of honor given by a prisoner to his captor. PATROL: Small guard under a non-commissioned officer, whose duty it is to preserve order in the encampment. PICKET: A small out-post guard. PONTOONS: Small boats to aid in the formation of bridges. PORT-FIRE: A match for firing cannon. PROVOST-MARSHAL: Army-sheriff. QUARTERMASTER: Officer providing quarters and clothing. RANK: A line of men side by side. Rank and file include privates and non-commissioned officer. RATION: Daily allowance of food. RECONNOITER: To survey, examine. REDOUBT: A small fortification. RELIEF: One-third of a guard. Each third is on duty two hours and off four. RESERVE: Select body of troops retained in the rear. REVEILLE: Beat of the drum at daybreak. RICOCHET: Rebounding of shot from the ground at a very obtuse angle. RIFLE: Any fire-arm with a curved groove in the barrel. ROSTER: List of officers and men, by which to regulate their duties. ROUND: A general discharge of cannon and musketry. ROUNDS: Visiting or personal inspection of the guards and sentries. SAFEGUARD: A passport. SALIENT: An advanced angle. SALLY-PORT: Chief entrance to a fort. SAP: An excavation by which to approach a fort or between trenches. SHELLS: Hollow balls filled with explosive material, fired by a fuse. SKIRMISH: A loose, desultory kind of engagement between small detachments. SORTIES: Sally parties. SPHERICAL-CASE SHOT: Thin shells, loaded with musket-balls, for a howitzer. SQUADRON: Two troops of cavalry. STAFF: Officers attached to headquarters. SUBALTERN: Any commissioned officer below a captain. SURGEON: Army doctor, TACTICS: Knowledge of the order, disposition and formation of troops. TATTOO: Drum beat at 9 1/2 P.M., for retiring. TRAVERSES: Parapets of earth thrown up as a protection against ricochet shots. TRENCHES: Ditches. TROOP: Company of cavalry. VIDETTES: Out-post sentries on horseback. VENT: The passage of a gun or cannon which connects with the charges, -and through which the spark passes to discharge it. WINDAGE: Difference between the diameter of the shot and bore. WINGS: Right and left divisions of an army. ZOUAVES: Light infantry, originally Arabs and Moors. http://pioneer.cc.edu/97/sgutzke/battery_~b/history.html Battery B's History this is the site of the Battery B, 4' U.S. Light Artillery. There is a very good description of Civil War Cannon carriages, including line side views of cannons, carriages, a limbers, a caisson, a battery wagon, and a traveling forge, along with text information about the organization and operation of artillery batteries in the ACW. Other areas of information contained on this site are: History (of 4th U.S. Artillery), Battery B's Antietam, Battery B's Gettysburg, Battery B's Association with the Iron Brigade, The 1861 Army Pay Scale, The Medal of Honor, Cannon Carriages (mentioned above), Poems, Artillery Chain of Command, The Order of St. Barbara, Molly Pitcher, The Commanding Officers of Battery B, The True Story of "Taps", Iron Brigade Men who Served with Battery B (Under Construction.), Non-Iron Brigade Casualities from Battery B, The Library. A sample of the text from the "Cannon Carriages" section is reproduced below for your information: "An artillery carriage, whether wooden or metal, served three basic ftinctions. It held the piece for firing; dissipated the shock of recoil; and provided an efficient method of relatively rapid movement. Prior to 1835, the basic United States Field Artillery Carriages were patterned after the French Gribeauval dual stock system. The Ordnance Board, meeting in 1835, resolved that " the Ordnance Department would adopt the new French system consisting of single stock trail carriages." Minor modifications were required to adapt to the specific U.S. guns and to accommodate the existing roads. By 1841, Field Artillery Material consisted of three gun carriages and three support carriages, and by 1860 this had been expanded to four gun carriages and three support carriages." http://www.jps.net/minipage/index.html This site calls itself "A WWW magazine" and among many other things, has one of the most complete alphabetical listing of all the miniature manufactures I have seen. The editor of this www magazine is BILL ARMINTROUT. The manufacturer listing contains information about most all manufacturer including name, address, telephone, products, foreign distributors, payment terms, etc. Miniatures are indexed both by genre and (when applicable) by the game they are associated with. The site has sections titled: Hobby News, Workbench, On the Road, Rules, Magazines, Miniatures Library, Reference Corner, Manufacturers, Directory, Clubs, Ask the Experts, Painting Services Directory, and Web Shops. As you can see there is a great deal of information for the novice and the more experienced miniature enthusiast and wargamer. Visit this site and take advantage of the information that is here. This site is part of the Wargamer Ring" on the internet. This is a collection of sites concerned with wargaming, and one can move easily through the collection of these sites with the clearly marked (hyper)links to the next site in the series. This is a useful setup used in various sites to link together a collection of intemet locations for the individual browsing a particular subject area. This site also has information about "-Finding Local Hobby Shops -Ordering by Mail -Ordering from Overseas and -Contacting the Manufacturers Directly." 25mm scale model of Fort Duquesne - This model was constructed following a contemporary plan of this fort drawn by a Major Robert Stobo in 1754, a British officer who was a prisoner at Fort Duquesne, and contemporary descriptions of the fort by individuals in letters. The plan can be seen in the book Guns At The Forks by Walter O'Meara, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1965 &1979, page 128. The conjectural drawing of Fort Duquesne that was also used to construct this model appears in the same book on page 135. That drawing was made by Charles M. Stolz in 1958, and originally appeared in Drums In The Forest, The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 1958. The model of the fort is mounted on two mating 4x8'base pieces. Two additional 4x8" panels abut to the fort panels to provide hills, streams and forested approach terrain. This game was held at Prosek's Military Hobby Shop, located in Winfield, Illinois. In this game, the British under Braddock, and Virginians (including George Washington) reached the fort, having survived the historical ambush at the Monogehela. The British did not manage to have the cannons arrive with them (until the end of the game) and were forced to surround and storm the fort. A British unit came over the south bastion wall of the fort (at the right side of this photograph). Once this unit was able to storm the bastion, the fort interior was exposed to musket fire. The French and allied defenders were overrun and the fort was captured. The Indian allies of the French did not remain to participate in the battle, and the remainder of the French and allies (couer-de-bois) could not cover the walls deeply enough to repel the British and Virginians. (The torso wearing the t-shirt on the right side of the photo is a famous Chicago area wargamer, anybody know who?) Civil War Times Illustrated, Photographic History of The Civil War- Fort Sumter to Gettysburg, edited by William C. Davis, under the direction of the National Historical Society, Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, Compilation copyright 1994, ISBN 1-884822-08-8 - 1371 pages include nearly 2,000 black and white photographs with detailed captions, of the ACW period. This book was originally published as three volumes in 1981 titled The Image of War 1861 - 1865: Shadows of the Storm Vol. 1, The Guns of '62 Vol. 2, and The Embattled Confederacy Vol. 3. This is combination of these three volumes in to an outstanding collection of period photographs from various photographers, including buildings, trains, bridges, troops, balloons, signal towers, wagons, and more and more. It took me a long time to go through this book, but I found it fascinating to examine photograph after photograph and read the accompanying text and captions. This book can be found for approximately $35 to $40.00. 1 found this book and the one below at a Borders Bookstore. Civil War Times Illustrated, Photographic History of The Civil War- Vicksburg to Appomattox, edited by William C. Davis, under the direction of the National Historical Society, Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, Compilation copyright 1994, ISBN 1-884822-09-6 - 1366 pages and includes approximately 2,000 more black and white photographs. This book was originally published as three volumes in 1981 titled The Image of War 1861 - 1865: Fighting For Time Vol. 4, The South Besieged Vol. 5, and The End ofan Era Vol. 6 1 have not yet had the opportunity to page through this volume. I will do that as soon as I finish book listed above. If you have the time to use this book, and funds to pay approximately $35 to $40.00 for it I think you will enjoy looking through the window on the 1861 - 1865 period this volume provides. The Encyclopedia of Model Making Techniques, by Christopher Payne, Published by Chartwell Books, Edison, New Jersey, ISBN 0-7858-0614-8 - This is a fine book that covers Design, Tools, Materials, Scales, and has sections titled: Structures, Landscapes, Figures and Animals, and Vehicles and Machinery. This book has a lot of good photographs and drawings on the 192 pages. How to (nearly) step by step instructions are included for many projects. As a long time scenery and building maker and modeler, I found this book very interesting. It covers many of the time-honored techniques used in modeling of structures and scenery, as well as the other subjects for modeling. This book was also available at a Borders Bookstore. The Official Military Atlas of the CIVIL WAR, by Major General George B. Davis, Leslie J. Perry, Civilian Expert, Joseph W. Virkley, Civilian Expert, Compiled by Captain Calvin D. Cowles, 23' U.S. Infantry, published by Gramercy Books, New York, Avenel, ISBN 0517-41566-6, 1983 - This oversized volume contains 821 maps, 106 engravings, and 209 drawings of the civil war. The bound book measures 13.5 x 16.5 inches. This volume was made to accompany the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies" and was originally published in 1891 by the Government Printing Office. This facsimile edition is an exact reproduction of the original Atlas, except for a 10% reduction in size. This must be taken into account in relation to the scale measurements on the maps. Despite the reduction in size, I am thinking of just adding legs to this book and using it as a coffee table. Many of the documents in this volume were made during the war by engineers, draftsmen, and sometimes even generals themselves for actual military use. Only a few maps, drawn later by cartographers, were added for historical purposes. This volume also includes an index to campaigns, battles, rivers, creeks, lakes, bays, islands, bridges fords ferries, landings, roads, railroads, mountains, towns, churches, forts and much more. Tactical and strategic maps indicate troop dispositions, defense lines, redoubts, and fortifications of key sites and clearly shown. This volume was found "on-sale" at one of the "super" bookstores for the price of $39.95. 54mm Scale model of a Three Musketeers style tavern - ( The Fertile Puffin Tavern) This large project was made from drawings provided by Bill Koff, for skirmish style games with 54mm figures, in the tradition of the popular Three Musketeers of Alexandre Dumas, and the many following movies. I have heard he even has a fantastic figure of Milady DeWinter to use in games searching for the Cardinal's Warrant ("It is by my order and for the good of France that the bearer of this letter has done what he has done. December 1627. Richelieu"). This is a two story structure, with a round and a trapezoidal tower, and is surrounded by sculpted terrain panels that include a roadway vegetation, and a stone well. The second story lifts off to access the first. To ship this structure a plywood crate was built to protect it from the gorillas. This tavern is known as "The Fertile Puffin" and I am led to believe it has quite a sordid history. There is reputed to be a long story behind the colorful tavern name. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell any of the history in these pages, because the older kids just haven't related the stories to me yet. Suffice to say, if your 54mm figures are passing by the "Fertile Puffin" it might be wise for them to go on to the next town, unless they are accompanied by Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Michael York (D'Artagnan). The Fertile Puffin Tavern: The tavern is constructed of plywood, basswood, pine, cardboard, and some pieces of plastic materials including Grant Line windows. The interior tables are plywood and basswood. The exterior stonework is cardboard "bricks" painted in various layers. The trellis is of appropriate sized wire screening with artificial "grapevines." The ground floor of the tavern has a kitchen with a scratch built exterior "Dutch" door, and an interior door to the tavern great room. There is a curtained closet (to hide the Cardinal Richelieu's spies), a large fireplace, an entrance to the tavern basement (wine storage), and a staircase to the second floor. The first floor also has two large scratch built chandeliers (to swing from), several windows including a serving window in the kitchen, and three operating doors to the Puffin 2d story rooms outside. The round tower was constructed by cutting pieces for a sixteen sided polygon (almost a circle), building a segment for each floor. The floor of the tavern is tiled in "stone." The second floor of the tavern has eight sleeping rooms, all with operating scratch-built doors and plank floors. The largest room has a tower section and a large fireplace. There are seven windows in the upper story and two long hallways. A fringe of the roof surrounds the edge of the upper story to give the impression of the roof, which was omitted for access to move figures in the interior. I wonder if the "Fertile Puffin" is listed in the Conde Nast or AAA lodgings directory. Fencing To Win, by Professor A.T. Simmonds and E. D. Morton, published by The Sportsman's Press, London, copywrite 1994, 96 pages, ISBN 0-948253-69-X - "Yes dear I bought this book for research to build a Three Musketeers tavern." Everything you want to know about foil, epee and sabre, complete with sixteen illustrations. Back to MWAN #98 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com