Lympne Castle "If any of your readers are in the Kent or Sussex neighbourhood at any time I strongly recommend a visit to Lympne Castle. It has an interesting history and being close to Ashford (formerly Lympne) Airport it is a very good place for aeroplane spotting. We spent some time on the roof of the castle and I was taken back a good many years in time by the sight and sound of a Dakota taking off and passing by not very far above us. On the tarmac was the unusual sight for these days of no less than six of these aircraft at one time. They were all in immaculate condition and looked as though they had just emerged from the paint shops. On sale at the castle are some interesting replicas of old playing cards. I bought a pack commemorating Marlborough's campaigns against the French. The propaganda is lacking in subtlety and has almost a modern ring to it, but it is a fascinating task to work out the various allusions in the different cartoons. The wargame at my son's school fete was quite a success. It aroused a lot of interest and despite a charge to view the procedings, it was well attended. It was rather a blow that Neville was unable to come, but I quite understood his reasons. Luckily I had a very keen assistant, who knew nothing of wargames, but by the end of the afternoon he had such a --rasp of the principles, that he was explaining the action to people at his end of the table. I myself gave a continuous running commentary on the game, even to detailing the results of every dice throw. It meant repeating the rules over and over again, but with a continually changing audience it was the only way to maintain their interest. I decided to do this after seeing some wargames at a Model Engineer Exhibition, in which the players enjoyed themselves, to the utter mystification of the spectators. Even I found these actions difficult to follow and soon became bored. It was hard work at the fete and my throat was very dry at the end. I would like to draw our attention to an excellent series of books now bein., published in South Africa. It is called "South African Forces 'World War III' and is published by Purnell and Sons (S.A.) Pty. of Cape Town. The first two volumes have appeared and respectively cover the activities of the South African Army and S.A.A.F. in Abyssinia. The books contain many illustrations and numerous maps. At the present rate of exchange their prices should be around £ 4.50. I recommend these very highly. Also recommended for naval enthusiasts is "The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" published by the Navy Department in Washington. It should run to about seven massive volumes when complete and it includes the history of every, repeat every, ship that has been commissioned in the United States and Confederate States Navies. The latter are dealt with en bloc in Volume II." --John Risdon of London. Salamanca Recently you mentioned J. P. Lawford's and Peter Young's 'Wellington's Masterpiece: Salamanca". I have just rend it and another book which is strongly recommended by the author's Charles Oman's Wellington's Army. It's amde up of useful information that was not included in "The History of the 'Peninsular War. It was written in 1912 but has been re-published by Edward Arnold Ltd. It gives useful notes on organisation, personalitics and tactics, discipline and such divergent subjects as Ladies at the Front and the Spiritual Life of the Army. Its appendices are excellent, dealing in depth with the divisions and brigades over the whole Peninsula (1809-14) plus an extensive list of the diaries and memoirs of the War. All in all, a very lively and well written account of the facts vital to the wargamer and military historian but may have eluded him until now." --A. J. Hawker French Napoleonic Line Infantry "No doubt you have seen it but I have just got hold of 0 copy of "French Napoleonic Line Infantry" by Emir Bukhari, printed in Almark. It is one of the best reference sources I have obtained in a long time. It not only contains the usual uniform details, most unfortunately in black and white, and divisional breakdown of Line Infantry, but also such goodies as Notes on all Regiments and their location during the wars, which regiments lost eagles, etc." --Alec Duncan of Southampton. Slingshot "I have as yet hnd no success with a microfilm of "Slingshot" or any of the other magazines dealing with the Ancient-Mediaeval period. Perhaps the easiest thin, would be for one of you good wargamers to loan a file of as many issues as you can reach easily, sending them by insured seamail, and I would Xerox them over here and fire them right back. Any Good Samaritans of this nature over there? I have another question for you: I am a woodcarving hobbyist. When I was only ten years old I began to carve my own Ancients (Egyptians and related peoples, having a ferocious interest in Egyptology). I have recently started doing this again and have produced several figures with considerable detail in the 50mm range. But I very much doubt that I shall be able to carve the 800-1500 figures needed for a jolly battle! I thus need to expand my hobbying into lead casting and need advice on likely textbooks for this. I hope your "Military Modelling" will contain this sort of information in detail; otherwise can you suggest something handy in print? Some of my figurines are quite complex - e.g. a Roman Hastatus with two javelins, shield, one foot in the air, poised to throw, mouth open ... etc. Naturally, I am not a professional firm. I have just purchased a Roman catapult set, and the amount of detail on the uniforms, etc., was fantastic! What material do they carve their originals in? Wood allows for only a little detail and the to break-even though it is basswood, considered the best for such detailed pieces. Ideas, please. --Prof. M.A.R. Barker of University of Minnesota Percentage Card Systems "Percentage card systems, as suggested by Ian Graham, have been with us for many years. There are two reasons why they have not caught on. Firstly, you can get the same result with a pair of Bristol dice numbered 0 to 9, one counting tens, the other ones, and get it a lot quicker and without making up and shuffling decks of cards. Secondly, who needs that sort of accuracy? A single ordinary dice will enable you to have 15% probability steps, and I humbly suggest that a factor that only effects the outcome of an event by less than 15% probably is not worth taking into account. On Neville Dickinson's reconquest of America, our rebellious Colonial cousins need not fear. There are plenty of brave Continentals and prudent Militia over here, practising for the Bi-centenary. He may yet have to learn to whistle "The world turned upside down." --Phil Barker of the Wargames Research Group. 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