Probably with an eye towards Christmas, the model makers who advertise in this magazine have certainly been melting down the midnight metal (if one can coin a phrase) and turning out a host of new wargames figures. MINIATURE FIGURINES, HINCHLIFFE MODELS, GREENWOOD AND BALL, LAMMING MINIATURES and PETER LAING are all listing new items in their adverts contained elsewhere in this issue so that it is unnecessary to repeat them in detail. Suffice to say that GREENWOOD AND BALL have made my son's eyes light up with their Sassanid range (when he is not brooding about the forces of Light in his Middle Earth army, he is contemplating "a small Napoleonic army" or "the English Civil War in 15mm" and/or "a Colonial force"). At the moment he is on a Sassanid-jag -- well, things could be worse! Being a little bewildered by Tolkienism, Middle Earth and Sword and Sorcery, I am not quite sure whether the colourfully named range in the MINIFIGS advert will excite my Forces of Light-minded son but so far as I am concerned their multiplicity of titles makes me jolly glad my prime interest is plain straight-forward Victorian Colonial campaigns! In addition to their new listed figures, HINCHLIFFE MODELS, has turned out a very exciting range of Pike-and-Shot period Turks including Janissaries, Dellis, Fanatics and Turkish Standard Bearers. In addition they have some additions to their Ancient Range; more Renaissance figures (Russians) and some Russian Napoleonic cavalry. My son has also been toying with the idea of getting an Assyrian army and his mind will probably be made up (temporarily) by the HINCHLIFFE 25mm four-horse four-man chariot at £1.28p; said to be a beautiful piece of work with animal heads carved on the end of the pole and appropriately caparisoned horses, it is an outstanding piece of work. In their 1975 Autumn Supplement, ROSE MINIATURES list their latest 54mm figures which include French Napoleonic; Sapeurs du Genie de la Garde 1811-1815; British Coldstream Guards -- present day; German Waffen SS 1940-1945; French Napoleonic, Drummers of the Line and of the Guard, full dress; Dismounted cavalry -- full dress; French Napoleonic Gendarmerie d'Elite de la Garde 1805-1806 and Infantry of the Line and of the Guard -- full dress, And wargamers should remember that ROSE MINIATURES also have a small but rather nice line of 20mm; 25mm and 30mm wargames figures. In the October issue I mentioned buying some 20mm plastic soldiers made by the Italian firm ATLANTIC -- this has prompted Cesare A. Zanelli of Trieste to write me the following useful and informative letter: "I have read in the October issue of the Wargamer's Newsletter another mention about the model soldiers of the Italian firm Atlantic, and like two years ago I am now writing you 'to give you some news about them. Remembering my first letter on the subject, I think the most important changes in Atlantic productions are the following: 1. Their boxes are no longer Airfix-like -- which means, I guess, they feel they have no longer any need to try and fool anyone! 2. They have left Italian Army to venture in two new fields, that is World War II and Far West. 3. They are producing AFV's to go with their Italian Army soldiers. Point 1 is of little interest, I think. Point 2 -- on the contrary -- is going to please a lot of Italian modellers and wargamers (I mean those twelve persons interested in the hobby!) because the World War II figures are good and the Far West one ... very useful for us Ancients. The World War II range is formed so far by Panzergrenadiers, Royal Fusiliers and U.S. Marines. They are very finely sculptured -- at least as well as the last Airfix releases, and much better than the older ones (Guards and so on) -- but being a World War II ignoramus I cannot tell if the prototypes are faithfully reproduced or not. Besides, there are boxes of Kubelwagens and motorcycles, but I have not yet bought any of them. The Far West range consist in the following boxes : Buffalo Bill, Davy Crockett and Kit Carson (each box contains the "hero" in various positions, plus his fellows, enemies and equipment) Geronimo/Apache, Sitting Bull/Sioux and Camping Apaches (with 15 to 20 horses per box they are very good value for 35p!) and U.S. 7th Cavalry, Bison Hunting and U.S. Camp. Each box contains a lot of material and while the Sioux are someway strangely dressed they are ideal for conversions to half naked barbarians: as for trousered barbarians, the Apache lot is ideal. There is no possibility of listing all the things one may find in these boxes: there are packs, barrels tents, bears, canoes, torture poles, animal skins on wooden horses, wolves, bisons, rafts, pack mules, Redskins camouflaged under wolf skins, burning bivouac fires, a most inspiring trio of Alamo fighters which would do a great monument on any model square, and of course gunmen, trappers, soldiers and redskins galore! If you think you find some enthusiasm in my writing, well you are right! Imagine being an Ancient in Italy, with only Airfix at hand, or the dubious ways of order-by-mail, and at long last seeing something to work with -- something except Airfix Robin Hood I mean! For Skirmish fans I will add that most Atlantic models are available in 54mm too. As regards point 3, sadder tunes: their AFV's are absolutely childish -- I have just ended my military service as underlieutenant in a S.P. Artillery regiment so I should know! -- except perhaps the M113 Troop Carrier and Leopard tank, that are very sturdily built but should take a lot of work to become presentable on anyone's wargames table." Another correspondent, R.M.McGarry of Folkestone, has taken me to task for mentioning in the April edition of the Newsletter that George Van Tubergen of Command Post had ceased production (a fact which I obtained from quite a reliable source). He enclosed a letter from George himself saying -- "The Wargamer's Newsletter was incorrect I merely dropped all my odd lines (I sold the moulds to Dan Mitchell, Box 56, Franklin, Indiana and then had centrifugal moulds made to produce the best of my Napoleonic line. Hopefully, there will still be enough interest in 30mm figures to add more items. I would appreciate your passing the word along to the Editor of the Newsletter. I also carry Miniature Figurines and darn near every other line." Seemingly the old COMMAND POST figures can now be purchased from Dan Mitchell, PO Box 56, 55E Jefferson, Franklin, Indiana, U.S.A. Foot figures are 40 cents (17p) each and cavalry are 17p for the horse and 17p for the rider, both of which can be purchased separately. Accessories are 10 cents (4p each) except for the Flag which is 20 cents (8p). I am not quite clear as to what Dan Mitchell is actually selling but the original COMMAND POST list had many unique and fascinating figures, including some fine 30mm Colonial War natives, Boers, etc., 30mm Napoleonics; American Civil War; French and Indian Wars, etc -- all these are in 30mm range(or at least they used to be). Mr. McGarry brought a touch of nostalgia into my life by mentioning the famous Swedish African Engineers 30mm figures of which I have vast numbers and were the original figures with which I commenced wargaming. Apparently, although out of production for the last fifteen years or so, these figures can still be obtained from Ted Alexander, 7641 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland 20012, U.S.A. Painted and in boxes of 17 infantry or 9 cavalry, the range also includes artillery sets, band sets, staff sets and Hospital camp sets. Prices seem to be as follows -- Infantry charging or marching -- £ 3.92p ($8.00) per box; Cavalry charging or marching -- $9.00 per box; Band and, Staff sets -- $8.00 per box. If you are interested in these S.A.E. 30mm figures then I should get in quickly because there cannot be many of them around -- I wish I knew where the hundreds of moulds were! Once upon a time there was rarely any mention in this magazine of other than wargames figures but the advent of Individual Skirmish Wargames and a tendency for wargamers to branch out to make and paint larger figures, has changed all that. A firm prominent in this field is GREENWOOD AND BALL who have a new range of FALCON MINIATURES -- 54mm figures in kit form portraying warriors in combat poses, designed by John Braithwaite, all fields of history are to be covered in future series. Each kit is boxed and includes painting instructions. At present, the full list includes Group 1 -- Greek Hoplite 490 BC, Corinthian helmet, full Hoplite armour, using spear. Another pair of Hoplites, one with a Thracian helmet, full armour with spear and one similarly dressed but armed with a Kopis slashing sword; then there are two Persians -- an Immortal 490 BC and an Infantryman with bow, shield and spear. Group 2 includes two Gallic Warriors of the 1st Century AD, one with an axe and the other with a javelin; a Roman-Legionary, Lorica Segmentata, fencing with gladius, another legionary throwing pilum and a Roman Auxiliary with a mail shirt and armed with a javelin. I have some specimens of these kits in front of me as I write and, without claiming to be any sort of an authority on 54mm figures, I like what I like and these look very impressive in their silver state so that, made up and well painted, I imagine they will grace any show cabinet -- or Individual Skirmish terrain. The other day, in an American magazine I saw rather a harsh attack on GREENWOOD AND BALL Limited in which the writer complained of either non-delivery or long waiting periods. Having no knowledge of the circumstances under question I cannot comment upon them but, speaking as I find, I would just like to mention that I sent (by second-class post) an order to GREENWOOD AND BALL on a Thursday for some of their Lasset range of Sudanese warriors -- I received them back on the morning of the following Tuesday! I had been casting covetous eyes on these figures for some months but, being conscious that my painting was inadequate for such high-class figures I fought back the temptation to have a collection of them gracing my mantel shelf. Then my good friend John Cox (of the Hampshire Military Modellers Society) offered to paint them for me so I hastened to send an order before he changed his mind! Biased as I am towards Colonial figures (and to the Sudan Campaigns more than any other) I must say that these are really superb 54mm representations of the Mahdi's warriors who were such rabid foes in the 1880's at the time of the fall of Khartoum and later during Kitchener's Dongola Campaign. I bow to no one in my admiration for Kipling's poem Fuzzy Wuzzy. So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your tome in the Soudan; You're a pore benighted 'eathen but a first-class fightin' man; An' 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick lead of fair - You big black boundin' beggar -- for you broke a British square! Only last night during a most exciting Colonial wargame held in this house, Ken Chapman's Fuzzy Wuzzies actually DID break one British square composed of 42nd (Black Watch) Highlanders and a company of Egyptian infantry but victory was snatched from their grasp when the British Naval Landing Party square, together with rockets and Gatling guns, held and threw them back -- but the result of the game was in the balance until the very last minutes of the last move! And that's how a wargame should be. The 1:76 scale MATCHBOX plastic kits are making available many armoured fighting vehicles in variants which have been noticeably missing from this scale. Their latest offerings include the M16 U.S. half-track; the Puma armoured car and the Wesp self-propelled gun. These kits, being well produced and well detailed, compare most favourably with others on the market and are unique in supplying additional diorama accessories which turn the model into a complete little cameo. The novice kit maker will find these scale-moulded base parts to add a new depth to his efforts. He will also be aided by the clear instruction. sheet and lay-out of proposed battle displays, together with an abridged history of the subject plus full colouring notes of a basic but adequate nature. They are simple to build and, at 30p each are very inexpensive. There are far more (even if sometime short-lived) magazines dealing with board wargames than with table-top battles using miniature figures so that it is not the practice of this magazine to take up too much space in mentioning boardgames. Recently however, in a patriotic frame of mind, I wrote of a British produced game MERCENARY. As a result, its producers GAME TESTERS, 16 Narrow Lane, Harden, Bingley, West Yorks, U.K. BD16 1HX, have sent me a game to test. Lacking both time and inclination to do this, I have asked for opinions from more qualified people in this area who have come up with their views. Basically speaking they say it is a "fun" game that is historically accurate and with rules that although they need some work, are adequate. In this connection my untutored eye notes that there is a foolscap sheet of amendments to the rules enclosed with the rule book. Its makers describe MERCENARY as having been designed with the aim of filling two gaps in the field of wargaming as it is a game embodying diplomacy and intrigue, based on an important period of transformation from a mediaeval to a modern style of fighting. The game was designed to give the atmosphere of a corrupt, money-grabbing  Europe, torn by military strife when almost everyone's first thoughts were for self-interest in what was truly a mercenary age. The game, which can be played by as few as two people or even singlehanded, has the object of its players trying by bribery, terror or military conquest to amass the largest amount of money. The game map contains five major powers, twelve minor powers and two purely mercenary areas, with varying degrees of military strength, wealth and other characteristics. It comes in a tube with a board that needs to be re-mounted and the markers have to be mounted and cut out. One critic believed it to be lacking in finish and badly designed but then it is quite inexpensive in this day and age at £ 2.35P. In last month's Newsletter there was an advert for FLYING BUFFALO and this issue contains an article by its originator Chris Harvey. He has sent me a copy of his Newsletter OVERKILL which, so far as my inexperienced eye can tell seems to deal with science fiction boardgames. Also, I have received a copy of THE SPACE GAMER which sells at 35p a copy or 91025p for a years supply of six copies The introductory article claims that it is "METAGAMING CONCEPTS own magazine, devoted entirely to supporting an improving science fiction gaming." If this is your cup-of-tea then you can get a slice of the action by writing to TSG, Box 15346, Austin, Texas 78761, U.S.A., or I should imagine copies can he obtained from Chris Harvey of Flying Buffalo at 30 Gorway Road, Walsall, West Midlands. Stilt reeling from this written barrage of relatively unintelligible phrases, my sole comment must be -- it takes all sorts to make a world! Heinemann Educational Books (48 Charles Street, London W1X8AH) have produced a MILITARY ATLAS 0F THE FIRST WORLD WAR. With 282 pages of maps and diagrams, this encyclopaedia/atlas sells for £8.50p and presents both broad general surveys of political and military strategy and the most closely researched details of major individual campaigns and engagements, supplemented by comprehensive analyse of military strengths and command structures and illustrations of important guns, tanks, ships, aeroplanes and personal weapons. A specimen map is shown herewith. Another publication that will probably be of even greater interest to wargamers is a new set of rules for 15mm troops fighting in the Marlburian period, devised by Stephen Reed of 13 Le May Close, Horley, Surrey, and coining out shortly at 25p. Stephen says they are less complicated than his Napoleonic rules since with the 15mm figures a larger army can be fielded; he has acquired an army of Peter Laing's figures and claims that they are just as satisfactory as 25mm. Stephen Reed has a very high reputation in the wargaming world and, although I have not personally tested these rules, I am certain that they will be comprehensive and fully capable of realistically and authentically controlling any wargames fought in this period.- Taking up seven A4 size pages, with the exception of a casualty table, this set of rules does not contain any of those irritating charts that require constant consultation if the rules are to be followed. From the National Army Museum (Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HT) I have received five most attractively coloured postcards which are on sale at the Museum at 4p each; they also do a Christmas cover in which the cards can be inserted, with the National Army Museum embossed in gold with a greet ing on the third page, at 7p. I was particularly attracted by two of the cards which are reproductions of oils by Douglas Giles of the BATTLE OF TAMAAI 13 March 1884. The first depicts a desert square formed by the 1st Bn. of the Black Watch and the 1st Bn. The York and Lancaster Regiment surrounded by large numbers of Dervishes who have captured the Naval Brigade's guns, although not before they had been locked by their crews. The next card is a later development in the battle and shows the Black Watch and the York and Lancaster reforming and advancing to recapture the guns and turn them on the enemy -- a pair of most stimulating pictures to a Colonial fan like myself! Then there is The Band of the 2nd Life Guards 1832 by J.F.Tayler; a beautiful colour print of the 1st Life Guards 1850, lithograph by Day and Hague after R.R.Scanlon; finally a coloured lithograph of a Horse Guard Private of 1862, from a French series Types Militaires published in Paris in 1862. In case you do not already know, it is possible to buy large numbers of coloured cards, books, records, models, etc., at the National Army Museum and personally I find that sales stand in the entrance hall to be not the least of the stimulating items in the National Army Museum! From Ronald Spencer-Smith (66 Long Meadow, Frimley, Camberley, Surrey) have come his latest French and German infantry of the American Revolution -- a German musketeer at the "ready"; French fusilier in the same position; German officer with esponton; German grenadier and fusilier in firing position; and a French officer. These are good figures that will paint up well and represent worthy additions to this very cheap range of 30mm plastic figures. A bag of 40 figures, including 6 officer costs £ 1.OOp or 3p each (over £ 1.50p worth -- 22p each). Minimum order is £ 2.00p plus 42p postage and 7p insurance. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 165 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 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