Late RSM Royal Hampshire Rgt., now at British Embassy, Warsaw. Recently I was re-reading Morris's "Washing of the Spears" and, on reflection, the Skirmish idea seems the best way to play that period as stand-up pitched battles are a bit one aided. I have always laid great stress on the scouting side of rules for my Zulu games as I reckon that surprise was the Zulu's best ally in attack; also ammunition re-supply for the Imperial troops I considered an important factor to be covered in the rules. I have actually got around to a spot of wargaming lately so that things are not quite as dull as a few months back. The accountant in the Embassy expressed an interest in the hobby so I invited him around for a trial game. The evening he was due to come another chap asked if he could come also just to watch. I had laid on a simple English Civil War battle set against a background of a Parliamentarian drive on Dorchester; the accountant being a Bournemouth man. Well, I ended up umpiring the game with these two moving the pieces: Both were fascinated by it all and as a consequence I now have a battle on my hands most Wednesday evenings. The accountant chap seems a real convert and does not hesitate to phone me up on Tuesdays if I haven't produced a little piece of background narrative for our next game! He is an ardent Royalist and loves the cavalry! As my rules were designed for solo games I had to do a quick rehash of our old Essex Civil War ones. The other chappie when he was last at my place seemed keenly interested in my Zulu figures that I had on display in our livin~! room. He is the one I am aiming to interest in a Zulu game when I have sorted out the rules. Over and above this break into actual wargaming, I have also been sketching out rules for my Russo-Japanese set up. I reckoned that the artillery guns that I had whilst okay for field games, were not really suitable for bombarding fortifications if I wanted to reproduce something like the fighting around Port Arthur. I happened to be in a toy shop looking for a present for the little daughter of one of my mates when I spied some little howitzers that I could easily convert into the 11 inch type the Japs used. They only had five in stock so I bought the lot much to the shop assistant's amusement. I can't speak Polish even now, but I was determined to have these howitzers regardless of how big a fool I made of myself to get them! I have also bought a couple of the modern 54mm figures I wrote you about and have re-painted them for my display cabinet. "They look quite good. They are made of a sort of polystyrene material and are very light in weight. The summer here has brought the usual crop of tourists and sightseeing groups that plague every capital nowadays. One of the things that they come to see in Warsaw is the changing of the Guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier every Sunday at midday. I went along to see it and was quite impressed. The Unknown Soldier dates from 1920 and the tomb was a larger and more elaborate building than now before the war. The Germans tried to blow it up but made a botch of it. After the war the Poles did not rebuild it but just cleaned it up and the result is much more impressive for them not having done so. The Soldier lies under an eternal flame and is surrounded with urns containing soil from all the battlefronts where Polish soldiers fought in World War II; even from England to represent the fine show the Polish flyers put up in the Battle of Britain. The parade consisted of four guards of some 36 men each and a band. It was an all khaki affair, the only colour being the Drum Major's sash of white and red and the Colour carried by the leading Guard which was also in the national colours. Three guards carried sub-machine guns in the Russian manner across the chest while the fourth were armed with rifle and bayonet. It was from this guard that the sentries for the tomb were drawn. I wasn't struck on the music as it had too much of a socialist ring about it, but the drill was good although the goose-stepping produced some really red faces as it was a very hot day. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter #146 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 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