5mm Napoleonic Troops "I am rather enthusiastic about the 5mm Napoleonic troops. They are perfect for my harried budget and limited space. Besides, they lead to excellent opportunities for manoeuvre. I judged a game using them at the Chicago, Mt Prospect and Lake Geneva Conventions and they were all well received. The painting isn't too hard actually and quite some detail can be achieved. My French Curaissiers have clearly visible (to those with good vision or eye ,,lasses, that is) the silver breastplate , blue sleeves, red epaulettes, gold and silver helmet with its horse hair plume. Of course, I did have some difficulty in painting tartan kilts on my Highlanders. I do draw the line, however, at painting on the buttons!" --John Bobek of U.S.A. Solo Wargamer "Since I am a solo wargamer, your latest effort in the literary field was more than welcome. I wargame in all periods and patch together rules that suit me from everybody. For example in my Napoleonic "rules", I use the movement system and firing ranges from my own firing tables for musketry, Scruby's rules for firing artillery, the Bulgin melee system, and the Miles "Rounders" for morale. Thhis is all in 25mm. In 30mm, it is based more or less on the organisation in Brigadier Young's be ok on a man-to-man personal level. "O" gauge is saved for grand factual, strategic warfare. I use many of the ideas about formations and movement from your book with, I think, some interesting variations. For example, each army has a formation and attack plan (Shusta) and each unit has a commander rated Exceptional, Average or Poor. Each Came move, each unit is diced and depending on what comes up, the unit either halts, proceeds with the battle plan, or exercises its option (does what seems best). This varies according to the ability of the commander (Exceptional ones get to exercise more options). This leads to all kinds of variations and is quite exciting. I also use the Warplan 5/5 system for campaigning. I hope you have this available to you in Enpland because I think it is just great." Thomas L. King of Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. Complaint "I would like to make one complaint, and that is the lack of continuity in the Newsletter from month to month. For instance the "Campaigns in Wargaming" series begun in July was interrupted in the September issue just as it was about to deal with the practical application of campaign theories on the table, or at least in wargame campaigns. Also the promised sequel to "Skirmish at la Cochaine" was missing and readers were kept in suspense yet another month." Murray Writtle of Walsall, Staffs Destructive Criticism "It is amazing how some of the wargamers around can only be shaken from their lethargy to write criticisms, usually destructive rather than constructive, and yet can never actually CONTRIBUTE anything -- whether to the Newsletter, any other publication, or the hobby in general! Take the Skirmish Line. My last effort called from response from readers -- so what do we get? NOTHING!*! Not even insulting letters -- just no letters at all. Hardly likely to encourage one, is it? We have all got figures to paint, rules to write, beer to drink, but surely we can all find 5-10 minutes just to keep in touch with other nuts who like playing with soldiers. Apparently not, if the Wargamer's Newsletter readership is anything to go on." Mike Blake of Bristol Buying and Collecting Habits "This will be about my sixth year as a subscriber and I still look forward to receiving it every month. I began life as a wargamer about six years ago when I was 15 or 16 when I found your book "Wargames" in the public library. I saved up and bought a copy and then saved up and bought my first subscription to Wargamer's Newsletter. My armies were unpainted Airfix World War II Germans and British or badly painted American Civil War figures. A Napoleonic army was only a dream as metal figures just could not be afforded on a 16 year olds income (I don't really think I can afford them even now). Then through an advert in the Newsletter I found Spencer-Smiths plastic Napoleonic range: 15s. for 60 infantry, 4s for 12 cavalry. Steadily I built up large Napoleonic armies fighting against friends I had introduced to wargaming and using your handbook "Rules for Napoleonic Wargemes" (I bought the complete set) and later the rules in "Charge!" by Brigadier Peter Young. I then gradually started buying metals from Miniature Figurines introduced to me by adverts in Wargamer's Newsletter. From then on my armies have got larger and larger, the rules I use more and more sophisticated. I have sold my "Spencer-Smiths" through the Newsletter, I have bought myself a World War II naval fleet of 1/1200 scale ships -- through the Newsletter -- playing Fletcher-Pratt rules taken from your book "Naval Wargames". I have found clubs and opponents through the Newsletter and I am still finding new ideas from the Newsletter. In fact my whole expansion as a wargamer has been closely linked with the Newsletter and I am grateful for all the work you have put into it and I hope you keep up the fine work." M. Ashton of Birkenhead, Cheshire Not As Good As It Was "My personal opinion is that the Wargamer's Newsletter is not as good as it was. Many of the battle reports leave a great deal to be desired, and "Firing Into The Brown"-type features, throwing out snippets of generalised information that could probably be found in any encyclopaedia or history book, ere, I feel, a waste of time. Why a deterioration? Because the readers seem to think that all they should do is read. They are supposed to write the things they want to read, not sit on their backsides and complain that there is not enough in the magazine about their particular period! What is the editor supposed to do, spirit articles out of the thin air? He hasn't got a staff of paid writers who will churn out Ancient, Napoleonic and Modern articles to order. He has himself, and the will to publish what people send him. On a slightly different tack: people who complain about the inclusion of articles on fantasy or S.F. wargaming - what right have they to determine what is or is not valid in wargames? I don't play fantasy games, and nor do I play Ancients, but I do not complain about Ancient articles in the Newsletter. Whatever its standard compared to earlier years, the Newsletter is still the only wargames magazine worth reading -- it keeps us in touch with the wargaming world rather then with the world of bigger and better commercialism. I would like to comment on your oft-quoted theory that "What happens on the table- top bears only the most coincidental resemblance to what happens on a battlefield" - aren't you going a bit far here?!! If this is really the case why do we bother to make 18th century rules different from Napoleonics, which are different from A.C.W., etc? If table-top games were really so far removed from real battle situations I do not think I would bother to play wargames!" Chris Beaumont of Exeter (Having a great respect for Chris Beaumont, who has been an enthusiastic wargamer almost since he learned to read, I treat his remarks with the attention they deserve. Of course he's right -- what I should say is ".... bears only the vaguest resemblance to what happens on a battlefield." D.F.) Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter #141 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1973 by Donald Featherstone. 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