Taking advantage of the exceptional English weather, the Wessex Military Society recently staged an outdoor Napoleonic wargame on a lawn 55' x 35', with seven or eight wargamers participating. With everyone contributing figures, the armies were large so that a most realistic battle ensued -- made even more enjoyable by large supplies of beer and food. Try it some time and experience the devastating effect of cavalry charge moves of 20' and artillery hitting your squares at 40'! I have been taken to task for making the odd crack in this page about ex-Prime Minister Harold Wilson. At the time it was done in a spirit of fun -- who was to know at that time that the influential voice of Wargamer's Newsletter would so tip the scales as to result in a surprising Conservative victory? On a more serious political note, it is with some concern that I notice the strong Left-Wing bias of recent board games described in the American magazine Strategy and Tactics. Coinciding with a defamatory remark about the American Vice President on the wrapper of yet another American magazine makes me wonder whether our hobby is to become yet another vehicle for the propaganda that is seeking to shake the fabric of our modern society. One hundred years ago the Franco-Prussian War was taking place and it is regretted that so little if anything is appearing in this magazine about that conflict. I have had my share of re-fighting Worth, Mars-la-Tour and Spicheren in the past but at the moment I know of nobody who is actively wargaming in this period. I wonder why, because it is most colourful and a comparatively "modern" Horse and Musket War. In the American wargames magazine Courier I notice that a correspondent, in describing the armies for a Colonial Campaign, is recommending and/or rejecting wargames figures made by various commercial makers. Believing it to be unfair to genuine commercial makers that amateurs, often young and inexperienced in the hobby, should go into print with often unsubstantiated criticisms of figures, Wargamer's Newsletter has never compared one maker's figures with another. Of course, I have my own views but will only say that the finest series of wargames figures ever to come on the market are no longer available. In their day, they were rather faultlessly produced in one army and period only without opposition but, through the generosity and wisdom of their distributor, they were available for a considerable period at half price through this magazine. The distributor knows about whom I am talking and I hope that he will take the hint and re-introduce these glorious figures. Finally, may I say how pleased I am to be able to offer wargamers yet another book on the subject of our wonderful hobby. Entitled "WARGAME CAMPAIGNS" it is this years book of mine published by Stanley Paul at 35s. -d. I can supply copies, personally inscribed and signed at 37s 6d. including postage and packing. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 101 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1970 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com