From Phil Wood I don't have as much contact with the hobby as I did in the past so MWAN has taken on a greater role in keeping me in touch with a hobby that I enjoy very much. This past year I have been busy rebasing Heroics 1/300 Ancients that I was able to get through Sutler's Wagon ads. The little beggars can tax my old eyes at times, but I find the end effect very pleasing. I want to thank you for the service you do for everyone with the Sutler's Wagon ads. I was also able to donate some of my unwanted figures to needy wargamers last year. This helped me clear out some room in my small hobby area and hopefully help out some fellow wargamers at the same time. I'm looking forward to finishing up on my Ancients project as far as rebasing goes and getting back to painting soon. I still need a few more figures though and I am thinking about conversions.
From Wayne Downey Tomorrow I'm running our first game of the new year. A 15mm colonial scenario featuring an Anglo-Egyptian punitive expedition against a recalcitrant Mullah. Gunboats, dhows, mosques, camels - the whole nine yards! None of the game participants are over 12 years old, so this should be interesting. My 12-year old daughter, Sarah, attended her first wargame convention last November (Fall In) in Gettysburg. She loved it. Although we've gained at home, this was her first experience with the hobby "at large" (take that anyway you want to!). Anyway, she's been asking me to host a game for her and her brother (Patrick ~ge 8) and a couple other youngsters whose interest I've piqued by visiting class. Hopefully, they'll like the scenario I've got planned - 'cause I'm running the same game next weekend for the regular gaming group! With a little luck, I'll have a few, new regular recruits!
From Paul Trapani Vince Clyant of the London War Room built a new shed and now has a gaming table. I played last Saturday and lost but had great fun. He has a beautiful table and you know his scenery is great. I am collecting 25mm's again-, trying to get some Moro's from Pass of the North; also some Chinese pirates and infantry. I am also scratch building some Chinese Pirate ships. Vince says that these Philippine and Chinese can be used in many battles - spans about 1500- early 1800's. I can also expand on these with Spanish and many other nationalities.
I am now collecting 54mm plastic figures and to top that off, I plan to cast my own armies in lead. Thanks to MWAN and Charles Elsden for articles on the subject. I recently had the pleasure of playing with some friends in Jackson, MS. This was a WWII game in 54mm plastic set up in a town in Europe. All the buildings, tanks and figures were very well painted and set up. Enjoyed a full day of gaming. Let me tell you that I am doing the Sudan. British vs Egyptians. My British are 54mm from Call to Arms; these are a bit smaller in size but will work well. The Egyptians are conversions. These were done the following way. I cut the kepis off the ACW figures and left a flat surface. Then I took small trimmed corks to make the hats. These were epoxyed to the heads. Epoxy to me is the way to go if you want things to stay attached. I then spray primed the figures after washing with flat white Epoxy enamel. I usually let things dry overnight as to assure good adhesion of paints.
After painting colors, I use a final sealer something called Mod Podge. Got it at a local craft store, For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it is a milky white substance that dries to a protective satin glaze. This method works well. I got ahold of some very nice 54mm camels from Stone Castle Imports. In fact, I ordered two big bags of what was left. You need to get their catalog - good stuff. I am using Union cavalty riders on the camels as Egyptians. Same conversion with hats as others. On ACW figures with hats, I just cut the brims off and shave the plastic until desired Egyptian hat is formed. Any of the artillery pieces from the ACW period with a little conversion work well.. This includes wagons and limbers also.
I am not sure at this point if I am going to single base or triple base foot figures. I have a 6'X 19' gaming table that varies in shape in my shed to play on. The terrain at the moment is a combination of Hoffinan's artificial potting soil, play sand and sprinkles of green scenic grass in areas where I wanted grass. Also some ground up spagnum moss for weedy affect. Plenty of variety for many a battle. Now in the middle of all of this, I am constructing an Egyptian fort. It measures 24" X 24" square. I am using cardboard to do this. To get the wall thickness I use about a 1/4" strip between wall layers to show some thickness. Remember that you have to cut two of everything. I use Elmers yellow wood glue and masking tape to hold it together. I have made all the appropriate towers, stairs, barracks and doors.
This project looks really good. For finish, I plan on using a wet wood putty for stone-like over the entire fort. I don't know how long the entire Sudan project will take at present scale to complete. I will add more figures, scenery, and equipment as I solo along. Send off for all the catalogs that you can so you will have a good stock source for your collections. It is nice to be able to see what I am painting again. As time goes on the old eyesight goes with it. I will write again to let you know how I am progressing with the Sudan project in 54mm. As I make discoveries, I will let you know about them. I would be happy to share my thoughts and ideas on gaming this scale. Let's promote more in 54mm; come on fellow gamers, move up with us!
From John Bertolini In January of 1997 1 visited the town of Bazeilles outside of Sedan in France. There I visited the Maison de la Derniere Cartouche which now serves as a sort of museum for the French Colonial infantry. While there I bought a pamphlet on the French Colonial infantry in the battles of Tintigny, Rossignol and Neufchateau on the 22nd of August, 1914. 1 am translating this pamphlet and hope to submit it as a two part article to MWAN. It is for the most part a grand tactical account and should be some interest to wargamers.
I purchased a large number of books while in France and one new book 'L'Armee Francaise vuc par Irs Printres 1870-1914 by Francois Robichon (The French Army as Seen by Painters 1870-1914). This is a great book; beautiful prints of Detaille, De Neuville, Georges Scott and many more. It is published, I think, by Herscher in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense. It cost 290 francs in a book store on Ave St. Germain so it is not cheap ($50 US) but is a beautiful book and great value!
So here is my question to MWANers - I collect tactical accounts of the 1914 battles and soldier's memoirs. The tactical accounts are disappearing fast, are long out of print, and have never been translated into English. I am very interested in the 1914 September battles because they represent the last of 19th century warfare. I have found that the reality of these battles as recounted in the books I've accumulated is not as simple as the Red trousers running at machine guns brush-stroke of more general histories. There was plenty of that to be certain (as well as feld-grau trousers running at machine guns too), but encounters were won and lost in some accidental, heroic, tragic and stupid ways as always (the food and terrain at Ethe and Virton, for example).
My point is that on a grand tactical level, it is perhaps a more interesting period than one has been led to believe. Having stated that opinion, I would like to know, is there any interest in English translations of grand tactical accounts of the encounter battles of 1914? And secondly, I would like to know what is involved, legally and commercially, in producing a small run of a translated version of a long out of print book? So I'll throw that out for discussion. Thanks. Next Question: Are Scruby 25min figures still in production (Editor's Note: Yes, Toy Soldier Factory in California). One more, I sculpt and cast my own figures at home, but as yet have not mastered the spoked wheel. Who are good suppliers of artillery for 25mm for the Franco- Prussian War, the RussoJapanese War and 1914 (field guns, light howitzers and machine guns?). Any recommendations in 25mm?
From Ead McConnell We've been gaming at my house for about 12 years now. Victoria is the mid-point between Houston (North), San Antonio (west) and Corpus Christi (South). We're about 125 miles or so from each, and friends come from each of these towns to game with us. Our main stay is 15mm ACW (Rally Round the Flag) with some Napoleonics, WWII, Naval, Medievals and Wester Gun Fight (Desparado) rounding out our list. We focus on the games - my friends - making sure everyone gets a good command (no off board reserves) and has a good time. We meet once a month. In South Texas, the conventions have all but vanished. So MWAN is letting us know what's going on in the gaming world. I believe gamers are a special breed-, We've been gaming for 12 years here, but some of us have gaming together for almost twenty years. Back in May of this year, my wife, myself and two of our three children were in a head-on crash on the highway putting us all in ICU for a week and my wife for almost two weeks, and in the hospital for another two weeks; my wife almost a month. I had fellow gamers come from out of town to see me and once I could get around, take me out to eat and to book stores. They are truly my friends. Thanks again!!!
<(Editor's Note: Glad YOU and your family are doing well, Earl)
From Steve Kowalewski I 1 believe it was in MWAN that you mentioned you had an interest in the Battle of Maiwand. A book you should try to get for yourself is "My God Maiwand! By Leigh Maxwell; Leo Cooper (pub), 1979, London. This book is an hour by hour account of the battle (including Ahmed Khel, too). It is 300 pages and is quite detailed. It would probably be worth your while to locate it. My edition is the UK edition; I do not know if it was ever published in the US.
(Editor's Note: 7hanksfor the tip, Steve. I have the book and it is very good)
From Jon Laughlin Several things have happened-, first I finished my Tang Dynasty Chinese and started my ancient Egyptians. I finally found a map in an old book on Roman history of a map of the peoples of ancient Italy with the political boundaries on it. I have also found a campaign map of ancient Sicily. I may just run a Sicilian campaign. I have also found the world wide web or Internet. It's not just Mag Web. There are a lot of other fabulous wargaming sites on the web. For starters, there is the Web Grognards. This site will provide you with links with many other great sites. DBM, DBA and HOTT have several good sites. One of my favorite sites is the Wrexham Wargaming Club. From them, I've gotten several good sets of wargaming rules. The HMGS South region also has a good web site. It's well done and that is where I got my Sicily map and the Magna Graecia campaign rules that go with it. There is also Armymen. This is for the plastic toy soldier Fort Apache fan and also has good wargame rules on it.
From Michael Wong This past year I was able to do some gaming every month. We played some colonial battles using The Sword and the Flame, mostly Zulus vs British but a few French Foreign Legion vs Arabs fights as well. Also did some ACW battles using Fire and Fury or On To Richmond. I play either side, but usually only win when playing Confederates! Also played some Medieval battles using either DBM or DBA. DBM was used mostly for our fights between crusaders and Syrians. I was always the Syrians and always lost. In DBM it is very hard to kill regular superior knights. The DBA fights have been mostly with late Medievals - French vs English or Germans,
From Mark Brown My research in black troops of early America has expanded; I then ran into a roadblock. Both a lack of materials and family life has curtailed my research. But two MWANers have offered me help. Tom Devoe and John Stafford. These offers of help just show how decent many gamers are, especially those associated with MWAN. Also, my brother-in-law is a Librarian at Tulane University in New Orleans. Over the Memorial Holidays around the pool he mentioned that Tulane may have some source material. Well, he called me and it appears the University has newspaper accounts from papers printed right after the battle, plus troves of other primary source material. My interest has turned to another new period. Moor campaign in Spain - El Cid's time. Two events pushed me over the edge. First was the Gripping Beast range - great figures. The second event occurred at my wife's parents home while on vacation.
While doing some cleaning we came across some old documents and a family history. A few phone calls to older Family members and a check with Spain confirmed the history. This history was a compilation of notes from Bibles, government records, etc. Appears my wife's family - or I should say the name Martrell - starts circa 12th C in Spain. The first time Martrell was used was given to a knight Juan Ferdinand for Faithful Service to Don Juan - King of Fastille; a "just reward" for dealing with two Moorish villages. This is what I was able to glean with my limited Spanish. I am having the document translated as a coat of am was found with the document. I have been able to have Juan Ferdinand de Martrell knight - lead the faithful in a holy crusade!
My 1812 data is growing though gentlemen such as Tom. Devoe are helping. I have just obtained three new books on the War of 1812 and I plan on reviewing them before starting an article.
From Hubert Klak I have received two issues of MWAN from Caliver Books the UK and I am very impressed. So many interesting and helpful articles (one about 20mm Napoleonics answered questions I was just researching), and splendid review section (especially useful in place over thousand kilometers from decent miniatures shops). In issues I received, I have found a lot of information about 20mm figures. These were very helpful - companies making them tend to be less well known, and probably smaller than 15mm-25mm companies. I am gaming mainly with 20mm (a lot of old plastic troops) but painted, so it isn't a good move to discard them. I have just finished Russian Cuirassiers from Newline Design. They are very nice with proper high Russian helmet. I have found only one mistake - all riders are made with sabertache - according to sources I have consulted, that wasn't the case, but still it was rather easy to correct. Also, their weapons need to be replaced, the blades look so fragile that I have replaced them with harnmered steel wire. The final result is very impressive so I will treat my Napoleonics with more Newline figures!
Another project I have just finished were Bavarians from Kennington Miniatures. They are just excellent! A friend of mine after one look at a finished unit, asked only one question. Where did you order them? He placed an order the same day! Well, I can hardly resist adding more Bavarians. Unfortunately, Kennington quality varies from line to line. I believe Bavarians are one of the last releases so probably future releases will stay on the same quality level. Another project I am just working on are Crusades. I still regret that Tumbling Dice have only knights for Crusades. But their Norman range can be used for servants, so my retinues are growing fast. There is also a lot of open possibilities: Tumbling Dice Hundred Years War range is so beautiful, that temptation can be so strong and I will end up starting another period!
(Editor's Note: Good to hear from you, Hubert. Maybe you can do an article on wargaming in Poland!)
From Harry Jarosak The last issue contained more discussion regarding plastic figures, specifically 54mm. Such are widely available (1/32 scale) and becoming more so from a variety of sources. I enjoy collecting them and setting them up, but I don't use them for wargaming. They can be very cheap or run to $1+ for each. That's the price of 25mm. Some odd Napoleonic figures are being produced: Austrians, etc., but at $4 each. But Waterlook Brunswick riflemen are 16/$8.95. These are available from Stads, 815 N. 12th St., Allentown, PA 18102 (610-770- 1140) and from other dealers. There is an interesting trend using metal figures. We have the plastic people using Metal figures - "Classic Toy Soldiers" German gun crew to complement their plastic 88mm gun are now in metal!
Undertaking the production of 54mm plastic for wargaming should do some serious research into costs, technology and technique. On more of note commanding wider interest, the October 2nd, 1998 Entertainment Weekly said that director Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon) is "obsessed" with making a gigantic movie on Napoleon as a wide-up to his career. WOW!
From Stuart Schoenberger I have been busy painting AIM's 10mm Gauls as supplied by Division After Division. Recently, AIM has released foot command sets for the Gauls and Republican Romans. I am hoping that they do the same for cavalry and especially for their counterparts, the Cathaginians. Even my wife says that they are some of the nicest figures I have painted to date. Modesty aside, I have to agree! I have truly gone to town with the padding (pleidiy?) of the trousers. The shields inspired by traditional Celtic designs, I must admit, are very wild, with the use of Picasso-like colors. With over 360 shields painted, not one is a duplicate of the other! As you can see, even though I truly enjoyed Tom Dye's article on painting for effect, I believe he would be horrified by the way I detail my figures and use white or grey primers.
The AIM figures have too many excellent details to waste, and my rules use a basing pattern that does not enhance the mass effect one might associate with phalanxes or cohorts. There have been several articles of which I have been especially interested in contact the authors thereof Unfortunately, even though they expressed interest in receiving feedback, you did not publish their addresses. (Editor's Note: I have stayed away from doing this thus far; if there is enough interest, and if authors agree, it would be possible). Although Mr. Elsden, the infamous author of "Interview With a Rules Vampire" wrote tongue in cheek, much of his real attitude towards wargaming came out. I hope no one was feeling personally hurt, but I too share many of his sentiments. Unfortunately for such a large population, wargammg in NYC is rather disorganized. One-off games are nice, but I would like to see a return to campaign and regular battles where both veterans and newcomers to the hobby could gain and share expertise in periods/rules and the like on a regular basis. Lastly, I appreciate the color covers, but hope we do not go the color glossy route. However, I am sort of surprised when articles are published with a map, especially when describing a battle to play.
From David North For the last year or so, I've been doing a lot of Sci-Fi and role playing, and haven't given much thought to historical gaming and so I haven't had much to write about. Lately, I find my thoughts moving back into the historical area so I thought I'd drop you a line and let you know some of the ideas I'm thinking about. I've pretty much given up on playing large scale battles in favor of skirmish gaining. I've always liked skirmish games, but I guess I've felt that I had to play big battles too, because that is what everyone else does. But I no longer feel that way. For me, skirmish gaming is the purest form of wargaming, and the most natural. It's also the most personal form of gaming. Instead of just being one of many figures in your army, the individual castings often take on a life of their own.
I am a member of the Army National Guard in an infantry unit, and so I suppose part of my interest in skirmish gaming comes from the fact that I train to fight at the skirmish level. I suppose another factor is my role- playing background. I've been a role player for as long as I have been a wargamer (about twenty years) and so it's natural that I think of my little soldiers as 'characters'. Right now I'm working on a WWII skirmish campaign. The idea is to put together a German infantry platoon and have them fight their way through the war. The reason I choose Germans is that I can fight battles on every European front. I'll start them out in France, 1940 I don't have any Polish figures so I'll skip the Polish campaign), then move to North Africa in 1941, Russian in 1942, Italy in 1943 and back to the western front in 1944/45. It should be interesting to see how many survive the war. It works like this; I'll start at the beginning in the French campaign and roll 2d6to determine the type of battle - attack, defense or patrol. Attack/defense battles are ftirther divided into assault, probe and breakthrough missions. Die roll modifiers can be added for certain periods. For example, in France 1940, the Germans will be attacking more often and in 1944 will be defending more often. In between battles, I will roll to see if casualties recover and if replacements are available. Naturally the number and qualities of replacements will decrease as the war goes on. As you can imagine, this is a pretty ambitious idea and realistically, I doubt I'll get anywhere near to finishing it. But I'm having fun with it for now, and that's all that really matters, isn't it.
From Roger Ince The last MWAN informed me of a club in Maine only seven hours drive from here! I'm still gaming with my group of youngsters Western gunfight and now Dark Ages Skirmish. My six year old son and a couple of his fiiends are now interested in miniatures. Any game with a task in it suits them fine! My wife and I are finally starting the house addition that we have talked about for so long. The addition will be a large games room with attached greenhouse. Everyone is happy this way!
From David Barnes In MWAN 94 (page 174) you ask what is the preoccupation Brits have with this HOME GUARD business? Well, it's all based on a TV series called "Dad's Army" - a sequence of series actually - so old that the whole thing began in black and white film and has blossomed into color, of course. In fact, a "big screen" film was made which most people think was not as good as the one-half hour episodes on TV. F.A.A. have used the characters from TV for their 20mm castings. Capt Mainwaring (pronounced Mannering!) with pistol and glasses. He's a bank manager. Sgt Wilson is his chief clerk and Private Pike (stupid boy!) is a clerk junior in the bank. The figure with the rifle and bayonet is probably Lance Corporal Jones, local butcher and veteran of the Sudan! "They don't like it up 'em sir! They don't like it up 'em!" The lady pointing with her hair in kerchief is Mrs. Pike Pvt Pike's mum and more dangerous than all Warmington on Sea's Home Guard! The only other character I recognize is Mr. Jakeman the verger of the local church. He wears a cassock, flat cap and glasses and runs the local sea scouts. "Stay behind party" was a group of specially trained home guards who were to hide in special strong points - often sited in municipal rubbish dumps!
Their duty was to come out once the Germans had invaded and mopped up the rest of the Home Guard, to blow up ammo dumps, put sugar in signal lorry petrol tanks and generally play merry hell with Jerry organization. They expected to die too. "Dad's Army" is the usual Brit way of laughing at something deadly serious. I have various old Home Guard Handbooks. I remember as a little boy watching them training in sentry killing methods. No one considered "impressional young minds" in those days. Still since then I've been trained to kill people myself - how constructive we all are! No lead widows and orphans with wargaming!! Mr E.T. Smith, my geography master in Grammar school, was Colonel of the local Home Guard. I discovered, when he died, he had three decorations for bravery in WWI!
From Jim Wormer Regarding your request for books on the Thirty Years War, here are some booksellers you might like to check out: On Military Matters (OMM), 33 Taylor Terrace' Hopewell, NJ 08525 and The Scholar's Bookshelf (TSB), 110 Melrich Rd., Cranbury, NJ 08512. OMM's 1998 catalog had four books listed on the TYW and about a dozen were on the ECW. If OMM is a little pricey, the service is prompt and professional. TSB; has numerous general, historical and military history catalogs and sales. TSB has traditionally carried academic works-, books written by and for other academics, but has expanded it's listings to include the Osprey series, WWII Naffier and Sharp titles and large listings on the ACW and WWII (not all discounted). With respect to the recent acquisition of the Avalon Hill Game Company (TAHGC) and the dismissal of it's employees by Toy Giant Hasbro, I have very mixed feelings. Some of my earliest gaming experiences were with AH's Gettysburg game - others with 30mm SAE Civil War figures and I did feel that boardgaming at it's best could make a contribution of a sort to wargamers at the strategic level, particularly when it came to some very large and very obscure wars. It's very difficult to get the War in the Pacific 1941-45 on a 8' X 6' table.
However, I would have to admit that I have been more often disappointed than satisfied when it comes to boardgames. Because I have not been interested in its games or promotions for more than a decade, I honestly can not say what TAHGC has been up to for sometime. A few other companies have produced designs which have caught my interest and perhaps that really says it all. TAHGC which nearly pioneered board wargaming, may have tried to do so many different things that the vision of what they were once about was lost. If my information is correct, Hasbro will drop the wargames in fitvor of promoting a trading card boardgame called "Civilization". Perhaps a somewhat sad but not inappropriate ending to what was once the industry leader, One can wonder what will become of Origins? Endless rounds or a Civilization tournament?!?
Perhaps we should just reflect on what can be learned from the mistakes of board wargaming and what we might do to avoid some of those mistakes for the betterment of our hobby. Those topics might profit from more reflection and expression in a longer format. While I would expect boardgaming's number to shrink again - TAHGC had the premier marketing establishment - I expect boardgaming to survive with smaller, more imaginative and more competitive firms. If boardgaming became more as a hobby and less a commercial enterprise, that might not be a bad thing.
From George Dullaghan: Have seen some wargaming things on TV lately. A Barbara Streisand and Gene Hackman old movie showed Barbara's movie husband as an insensitive clod who ignores her and plays Eastern Front battles at the Firehouse he works in. Just saw the second half of that masterpiece. History Channel had a history of Toys show that showed a brief Napoleonic battle. They said there are, I think, 20 million wargamers in the world. Edward Woodward was a private eye in another show I saw briefly on A&E and he seemed to collect 54mm troops.
My collection is up to a frightening 42,000 troops. I personally built a Darkest Africa Jungle about 4' X 8' using plastic flowers. Looks pretty good. Vince Clyant of The London War Room built me a kraal. My next project is slavers around 1650 hitting the African Coast and later going to Brazil and fighting Injuns and escaped slaves. I've also been playing NCAA football on the Playstation. My beloved University of Miami had their only losing season in twenty years the year before last and this handicaps my coaching. But I can see that computer games are the wave of the future when I compare "Electric Football" of childhood to this magnificent three dimensional game. No chance I would ever give up my troops though! Put together games for Tawara, 1745 Rebellion and Wild West for Hurricon Convention; trying to restrain myself and use less than 1,000 figures per game. Fred Bultman painted the Tawara Betio Island it certainly looks better than my home as does the wild west town. The 1745 campaign will start with Highlanders with a high fighting value and British with lower. Short battles campaign done if Highlanders lose any battle but last battle will be British Regulars with fighting value of "5" against Highlanders at "4" with no melee bonus due to new bayonet tactics.
From Wes Rogers I went to our local gaming shop "Fantastic Games and Toys" and bought a copy of Tod Kershner's and Dale Wood's WARFARE IN THE AGE OF DISCOVERY, and they look great. I'm going to try them out ASAP. The game mechanics are not like Warfare in the Age of Reason. They use a single table to determine morale, missile fire, and combat losses- the number just mean different things in different contexts. It looks clean and simple. Here is a snapshot of the game mechanics: (1) The game scale is 1:25 and 25 yards per inch, with a (nominal) 30 minutes or so turn. Most foot units are 20-40 figures but Spanish tercios can be up to 128 figures (!). Cavalry units seem a bit small - 6 to 8 figures - but there is nothing to stop you from increasing those sizes if you want. (2) The turn sequence is phased move countermove. 15mm infantry moves about six inches per turn and muskets shoot four inches close or eight inches far. 15mm cavalry moves about ten inches per turn; 25mm distances are a bit longer. (3) The rules per se are about 15 pages, with another 30 pages or so of organizational charts and such. The game is designed for 16th century battles, with minor modifications for the 17th century.
I have only one nit: The basing is not exactly the same as Gush's WRG rules (Which are sacred and shall not be disparaged, even if no one will actually play them anymore). Musketeers are mounted four to a base instead of three and most cavalry are mounted at 30mm per figure instead of 25mm (this is 25mm basing). With any luck, rules like these will pull gamers away from the Tactica/De Bellis camp and back toward REAL miniatures wargaming (are my prejudices showing?) But seriously, the 14501650 period has always been one of my favorites. I fell in love with it when my Father bought me a copy of The War Game by Peter Young, many years ago. When I first saw those photos of pike blocks surrounded by musketeers (Edgehill pp 35-38), 1 was hooked for fife. I have about 1,000 Renaissance figures in 15mm and about 500 ECW types (Ifinchliffe mostly) in 25mm. Now I can use them again.
After I put on a game, I'll send you a report. #97 was as good as ever. I am enjoying that cartoon strip you've been running, but remind me - is it a synopsis of an Europa game, or Axis and Allies or something? Rommel in India - sounds pretty wild. Doctor J's remarks about posterior displays remind me a plan a fellow gamer (who shall remain nameless as he is tasteless) once proposed. We were to hold a I reverse cleavage' contest each year at Historicon, with a grand prize of clean underwear for the winner. Ms plan fell apart when I asked: (1) What do you mean "we"? (2) Where will you find judges? (Editor's Note: The cartoon series was put together during the Second World War!)
From Kevin Readman The Third Annual Last Square Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin was another success. The event was held at the Radisson in Madison. We had fifty hardcore wargamers fighting either Auerstadt-Jena or Omdurman. The terrain for the 1806 game was particularly breath taking, with 1,000 square feet of flowing hills and valleys. Todd Fisher demonstrated his beta test rules (new Empire version) which offered a reasonable simulation of period action. The magnificent field of l5mm figures was cool to observe as the players pushed the lead around for two days.
For my part, I enjoying playing in the 1898 Omdurman game as the British/Sudanese/Egyptian troops got slaughtered in glorious style by 60,000 Madhist fanatics. The Field of Glory rules helped create a tremendously fun game. The random events table offered us a lot of laughs ... right Sergeant Major? In the end it was the combination of good company, pretty figures, scenic terrain and tasty food that made "Karl Con" a memorable event. Thanks to A] Muelling and Jim Stuht for putting on the Campaign of Omdurman. In my command, it was pretty fun on day one to blow up Madhist units with the river boat navy. You just had to love that 4.7 inch bow gun! Of course, the naval battle on two day was fim too, but, losing the British fleet to a swam of light boats won't be easy for me to live down (even if it was Man of War rules).
From Jason Burnett Have recently finished my first painting project - a 15mm DBA Viking army. I had a chance to test them out at the local gaining club and they won both battles they were involved in, beating the Ancient British twice, once with me as their commander and once under the able generalship of Guy Murphy. I am currently working on painting up an ancient British DBA army which Guy gave me for Christmas. I have recently become involved with a local warganfing group called MOW (Misfits of Wargaming). We meet every Wednesday at one of the local gaming shops for a variety of one-shot games, part of the group meets every other Friday at the other local shop for a SYW campaign, and right now everyone's getting geared up for an Age of Exploration campaign. The one-shot games since I have started have included Wild West skirmishes using Warpaint rules; WWII skirmish using At the Sharp End, Colonials (British vs German in SE Africa) using Brother vs Brother, and DBA. Next week we're going to try using The Rules With No Name for the first time. We'll play just about any period using just about any rules.
I have recently been bitten by the Napoleonics bug, and am making plans to put together some small units for skirmish gaming in the Peninsula using the rules in MWAN #68. While I'm bending your ear here, I think I'll throw out my opinion on figure scale and basing. I personally favor 15mm, as 25mm is just too expensive for me right now. I base them individually on 3/8" washers (cavalry on two washers) for use in skirmish gaming, then for games like DBA where I need multiple figures on a standardsized stand, I make a stand of the size I need out of magnetic sheeting and stick the required number of figures on it. This is a modification of the system most of the guys in MOW use (they generally use 25mm figures and 3/4" washers, with the 3/8" washer size chosen because it would enable three infantry to fit on a 1 1/8" by 1/2" stand as suggested for Shako.
From Dennis Popek I have a fun addition to THE SWORD AND THE FLAME gaming system. I didn't care much for the playing cards being used for hit resolution. So, I made my own card decks to augment this system. Now, you still use the 52 card playing deck for turn initiative, but for casualty resolution, you use a "Hit Location" deck and "Casualty Resolution deck. The way it works is, once you figure up the number of "hits" scored against your opponent, you then draw that number of "Hit Location" cards to see "who" is hit. Then you draw the same number of cards from the "Casualty Resolution" deck to see "what" kind of damage was inflicted to each casualty. The "Hit Location" cards are labeled Officer Leader, NCO Leader, Key Figure, Soldier, and Artillery. The number of each type of card in the deck can be varied to achieve your own percentage likelihood. The "Casualty Resolutiorf' cards are labeled Minor Wound, Major Wound, and Kill. The Minor Wound result causes the casualty to move at half rate, it can never close into contact, and will not return on a rout. The Major Wound is treated like regular TSATF rules (and Kill, of course, is DEAD!).
One additional oddity I've included is an Artillery card. If firing at artillery, and the Artillery card is drawn, you would then consult a 1D6 table for effect/damage results. These can vary based on artillery vs artillery or small arms vs artillery to get the desired outcome. In the even an Artillery card is drawn, and no artillery is involved, then the card transfers to a soldier. As a matter of fact, all cards will transfer to the next nearest level of troop, in the event the "named" member is not present. The deck is reshuffled for each unit firing. Usually for a game I'll have one Officer Leader card, two or three NCO Leader cards, three or four Key Figure cards, two Artillery cards, and 20+ Soldier cards.
So the deck is relatively smaller than the standard playing card deck. However, I have extra cards so percentages can be adjusted from game to game. I've also made up charts with more small arms and artillery types, and different troop ratings (morale, rally, etc). This is necessary because I game many different periods with the system. Lately, I've been playing Mexican-American War (25mm) and Maximilian in Mexico (I 5mm).1 know not everyone considers TSATF a 'worthy' gaming system, and it's by no means the Alpha and Omega for me. But it's always been a good system to have fun with. If anyone is interested in knowing more about this house-option, please feel free to contact me at the snail-mail address fisted or the e-mail address at: Popek@worldnet.att.net
From Craig Martelle I've been working on my Pirates! rules and my Handfuls of Dice wild west rules. Pirates! Appeared in #12 of 16 Gauntlet and HoD in the just released # 14. 1 will add some supplements to them both soon, to include scenarios, then formally publish them as separate rules sets. For Pirates! I've been using the Peter Pig line and what a bunch of superb figures, to include Pirate ships. I've had to make do over here in Seoul, Korea, for buildings though as I brought none with me. For wild west figures, I have the complete line of Peter Pig (don't ask) and I have about one hundred Foundry figures. Being a visual animal, I'm in love the Foundry figures! I have some very nice wild west/ACW buildings purchased from Modeler's Mart (highly recommended!) And painted by yours truly.
The buildings made it to HMGS South's Hurricon in September to assist in some games going on there, but of course, I was trapped in Seoul. We'll see how things turn out for both Pirate and Handfuls of Dice. What's up for my future? Well, Hal, how many subscribers do you have in Moscow, Russia? In May, I transfer from Seoul to Moscow for the next three years. I'll be working in the Embassy there. Surprised? Not all Marine Captains get the bevy of glory assignments I've had. Call it pure dumb luck and as all of us historical miniature wargamers know, pure dumb luck will beat your best maneuver every time. When I get to Moscow, one of my subscribers, Nikolai Setnibratov will be taking care of me and I'll do my best to get out as much on things like the Russian Civil War, Napoleon in Russia and the Eastern Front of WWII. I read and write Russian just fine, but will need Nikoai's assistance with the more obscure texts and the nuances, of course. By the time I leave Moscow, expect that I'll probably speak English as a second language!
Let's talk London War Room! I thought I would have enough time in the states to get with Vince and Sharon and hopefully ask Vince to make me a nice Wild West setup to take with me. Something like a good Wild West game will be a good time with some Russian players as an introduction to 'historical' wargaming. It'll be something to do between shots of Vodka. So, expect me to translate at least a couple of rules sets into Russian, although this may not necessarily be easy. For example, the word for dice is igral'nie kosti. So you see what I'm up against. I also have my WWII figures for skirmishing that I'll take with me, but all I have are Americans, British and Germans. I used to be a Normandy kind of guy, but I guess I better expand into some winter camo and Russian infantry. I have Scenic Effects' Tractor Factory with some extra buildings. These are currently unpainted and in storage in Florida, but will meet up with me in Moscow.
I also have a large collection of boardgarnes. Gasp! I know, I'm probably offending some folks, but imagine if you will, playing a game with a Russian General (maybe a Colonel during the Soviet Union days) and play the Fulda Gap scenario with him. How about a third World War scenario in Europe? My goal is to go head to head in a fair contest in order to see how the Russian commander really things. I'm a veteran of the Cold War and want to see how far off my analysis was. I hope they feel the same curiosity!
From Pat Condray For some time I have been aware that our appreciation of the tactics of the Age of Marlborough period have been influenced by a few incomplete works. Particularly striking, as an example, is the difference between wargame rules written when Chandler's Marlborough as a Military Commander was the latest thing, and those which came along after the same author's The Art of War in the Age of Marlborough. Both contain much useful information, but the second corrects crucial misimpressions from the first. Subsequently Nosworthy's very interesting work took things further. But even as I scanned these works in preparing the article I noticed what may be nrisimpressions in Nosworthy. At any rate, I hope the article is of interest. The limited Bibliography may be included or otherwise as you see fit. Sometimes accidents color our perceptions. Years ago I corrected Jim Arnold's reflections of column vs line at Maida because I had read the 1928 Fortescue, and he, the 1906. Subsequently EMPIRE, EAGLES and LIONS carried a running argument which developed the entire history of the errors. It vindicated my opinions, but mine had been arrived at by the simple expedient of reading the corrected version of Fortesque. One of these days I will be taking a shot at Guadalajara. Unfortunately it is a more complicated topic than IRUN, and not as amendable to the lick and a promise touch I gave the Marlborough subject matter.
Thus far I've consulted my thesis notes, Willoughby's analysis, an article for ARMOR MAGAZINE by two Italian officers studying at our Armor School, Curt Johnson's SCENARIOS FOR WARGAMERS article, and Curt has helped me pull up some additional material from Internet discussion of the subject. I have a pretty good idea of the subject, but it often resembles the story of the blind men and the elephant.
From Timothy Boyd For Christmas I was able to do a little reenacting of my childhood. I have a cousin whose 11 -year old son is interested in soldiers. I had sent him a complete 20mm ACW setup in the fall, which he seemed very much to enjoy, so I ordered from TSC (The Toy Soldier Company) a redone "Marx playset" for the American Revolution (nry favorite in 1956) to be sent to him in Phoenix for Christmas, then added Hessians and Indians in early January. If this is a success, I'll consider something else for Easter, perhaps. It's such a pleasure to encourage a beginner, especially when there are many more good figures available now than there were when we were his age.
The TSC catalog is full of good things and I'm having as much fun buying for him as I do ordering 15-25mm figures for myself. Among my own Christmas presents were two I'd underline especially. (1) the new Don Troiani book - wouldn't you like to live next door to him in Connecticut and be asked over to pose in period costume? (2) Volume 2 of Advance the Colors (Richard A. Sauers, Harrisburg, PA: Capitol Preservation Committee, 1991, 1st volume 1987) - this is a very specific book, the second of two devoted soley to the colors and standards of Pennsylvania troops in the ACW and it's amazing the thorough and firstrate research the author has done. Every color, with a brief unit history (including vivid anecdotes drawn from regimental and personal histories of the war) and a color photograph of the color, if it survives. It makes you hope that someone will do an equally careful job for the colors and standards of every state, north and south, using these volumes as a model. I recently bought a copy of Charles Miller, Be for the Bundu (NY, Macmillan, 1974) at an excellent local history bookshop and this inspired me to begin planning to campaign German East Africa, 1914-18. One of your advertisers, C&Q Equipment Company, has many of the figures necessary, with more to come, and you can flesh these out with stuff from B&B and Tumbling Dice (both British, but available from Brookhurst). The numbers needed are small, the landscape enormous, and you can include every kind of scenario, from TSATF-sized ambush and skirmish up to fullsized pitched battles, in which you might even include an airplane or two!
From Brian Lewis I managed to pick up a few MWANs at Historicon and read with great interest the recent material on the English Civil War. As it turns out, that particular period has been my main hobby obsession for the last two years! My current ECW figure collection consists of about 2,500 painted 15mm figures. The majority is of the "Matchlock" lineage, obtained through a variety of sources including the originating source Caliver Books/Partizan Press, On Military Matters, Soldiers & Swords and (most recently) Viking Forge. At this point in time, Viking Forge is the only reliable source for these figures, but they currently have only part or the range in production.
I choose Matchlock because they are far and away the most historically authentic l5mm figures I have seen. The figure detail and casting quality as pretty good as well. I've mixed in some Essex 15mm figures for officers, drummers, and so on, which are of comparable height and heft. A fairly high proportion of my Scots Covenanters are also Essex. My Montrose Scottish Highlanders and Irish are mostly Dixon. I've also used a few Museum, Minfigs and Gladiator figures for Generals and so on. Hallmark makes a great range of accessories in l5mm includihng Scottish Fram guns, peasants, and (my personal favorite) a gibbet set. Inspired from past MWAN basing discussions, I've been using "churk'bases for the infantry. Generally four to six figures per stand arranged two ranks deep. I quite like the look - especially for the Highlanders - and it is quite functional as well. I also put the stands for each regiment into a movement tray that features the regimental name on the back. Being lazy, but at the same time fussy about historical details, I've come up with a way to circumvent the need to paint up a command stand with the flag for every regiment of the war.
What I've been doing is gluing a small square green bead to the base, the hole running vertically. Into this bead I slide a length of piano wire with the Regimental standard glued to the top of it. My standards are all laid out on the computer, printed, and then painted over the black and white paper image. Let me know if this isn't making any sense and I'll try and draw a diagram of this for a future.note in MWAN, I've also succumbed to temptation and started collecting ECW figures in 25mm as well. It started as a small project (as if that was going to last!) aimed at Montrose's campaigns. Most of my initial purchase were Redoubt range, which are well-sculpted figures and phenomenal variety, albeit a bit large and quite expensive. I was supplementing this with a smattering of Dixon and Wargame Foundry figures. What really pushed me oer the 25mm edge were the new Old Glory figures. I was lucky enough to be given an opportunity to provide the company with some ideas on how to do the range, and they followed through in a BIG way! As it turns out, their sculptor, Andy Cooper did the Matchlock 15mm range years ago, so as a result the range consists of very nice figures with excellent historical accuracy that are reasonably priced as well. What more could you ask? I'm a bit intimidated at the idea of painting 25mm figures. I have not worked on any "big" figures in about twenty years, and they have come a long way! My work on the ECW has extended well beyond figure collecting and painting. I've now nearly finished developing the set of rules I've been working on for many years. The title is 'Tor God and the King!" and they should be published this spring. I'd characterize them as a tactically oriented set featuring fairly simple game mechanics that try to emphasize the correct choice of tactical options. A player in "For God and the King!" usually takes the role of a commander of a brigade of Horse or Foot, managing three to five regiments and possibly some nearby artillery light troops (Forlorn Hopes, Dragoons and so on). In addition to the basic and advanced game rules, the publication will contain four scenarios covering the 1642 "London" campaign, rules for storming a town or fortification, guidelines for both hsitorical and competition games, about 20 army fists, and a discussion of ECW tactics with associate playing tips. With the invaluable assistance of Chris Goldsmith I've run multi-player demos games of Edgehill, Cropredy Bridge and Marston Moor at the HMGS East Conventions over the last two years. Local playtests at the MIGS club in Hamilton, Ontario have included virtually every battle of the ECW. After spending so much time developing these rules over the past three years, I'm really looking forward to getting them out there!
A project related to the rules set is the plan to release a scenario book (or books) in the near future. I've worked out about thirty scenarios. Some are completely finalized, others are in rough draft form. The scenarios are split into five modeuls: Waller and Hopton in the South and the West, Charles vs Essex in Central England, Fairfax and Newcastle in Northern England, Montrose vs the government in Scotland, and the New Model Army. In addition to the wargarning nuts and bolts (OB's, initial deployment, terrain, victory conditions and so on), each scenario will include a discussion of the events leading up to the battle, how the battle progressed and what occurred as a result of the battle. By stringing the battles together in this manner, I am hoping to provide gamers with a good sense of how the war developed strategically, as well as providing a better context for the scenario games.
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© Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum
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