The weather gauge was included in Practical Wargaming, published in 1974, so this is an earlier public appearance. I recall mine was made from a Pocket Mastermind board (remember them?)
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
The Wesencraft Weather Gauge, from Wargamer's Newsletter 109, April 1971
I always think of Charlie Wesencraft (see other posts here) as one of the unsung heroes of early wargaming. It's good to see his books Practical Wargaming and With Pike and Shot made more easily accessible through their inclusion on John Curry's list of republished classics.
The weather gauge was included in Practical Wargaming, published in 1974, so this is an earlier public appearance. I recall mine was made from a Pocket Mastermind board (remember them?)
The weather gauge was included in Practical Wargaming, published in 1974, so this is an earlier public appearance. I recall mine was made from a Pocket Mastermind board (remember them?)
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Tribute to Charles Grant, 1979
In the Editorial to Wargamers Newsletter #208 of July 1979 Don Featherstone wrote this announcement and tribute to Charles Grant.
It is with the greatest regret and sorrow that I report the death of an old friend and veteran wargamer Charles Grant. Apparently it occurred recently and was very sudden but I have no details. Charles was perhaps the most experienced wargamer around, being in the hobby long before I ever became aware of wargaming and his contributions to it, both practical and literary, played a major part in the great advance to its present status. At various stages in my early acquaintance with wargaming, I had stimulating meetings and wargames with Charles, although in recent years we have not seen much of each other. This knowledgeable and experienced senior statesman of our hobby will be sadly missed and there are many of us who will remember him fondly for years to come.
D.F.F.
It is with the greatest regret and sorrow that I report the death of an old friend and veteran wargamer Charles Grant. Apparently it occurred recently and was very sudden but I have no details. Charles was perhaps the most experienced wargamer around, being in the hobby long before I ever became aware of wargaming and his contributions to it, both practical and literary, played a major part in the great advance to its present status. At various stages in my early acquaintance with wargaming, I had stimulating meetings and wargames with Charles, although in recent years we have not seen much of each other. This knowledgeable and experienced senior statesman of our hobby will be sadly missed and there are many of us who will remember him fondly for years to come.
D.F.F.
Monday, 2 August 2010
The Don Reviews Lachouque
from Wargamer's Newsletter # 204, March 1979
One of the pleasures of looking through old copies of Wargamer's Newsletter is browsing the book reviews, either for reviews of classic books, or mentions of books which have previously escaped you notice. With the advent of the interweb and sites like Abebooks (or even e-bay) it is much easier to track down and obtain some of these more obscure titles.
Falling firmly in the classic category is this review of Lachouuque's (or more properly perhaps Tranie and Carmigniani's) Napoleon's War in Spain.
My own copy is of the Arms and Armour Press English language edition of 1982. The format of the book is a little too wide for my scanner but hopefully the picture gives a good impression of the cover.
One of the pleasures of looking through old copies of Wargamer's Newsletter is browsing the book reviews, either for reviews of classic books, or mentions of books which have previously escaped you notice. With the advent of the interweb and sites like Abebooks (or even e-bay) it is much easier to track down and obtain some of these more obscure titles.
Falling firmly in the classic category is this review of Lachouuque's (or more properly perhaps Tranie and Carmigniani's) Napoleon's War in Spain.
My own copy is of the Arms and Armour Press English language edition of 1982. The format of the book is a little too wide for my scanner but hopefully the picture gives a good impression of the cover.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Charles Grant on Battles - Large and Small
When idly flicking through the labels on the right hand side of this blog, I was a little shocked to see how few posts there were related to Charles Grant. As a step towards remedying this, here is a short piece he wrote for the Wargamer's Annual 1965, Don Featherstone's follow-up to his Wargamer's Yearbook 1964. As this won't be widely available elsewhere I thought it would be good to post it here.
Incidentally, it has reminded me of my long standing quandary over DF's use of the Wargamer's apostrophe (as in the Wargamer's Newsletter or Wargamer's Annual). Had it been Wargamers' this would suggest it was intended for or belonged to more than one wargamer; as it is it suggests a single wargamer. Is this the Don himself, sharing his thoughts with others where he is the eponymous wargamer? If so surely this is the spiritual ancestor of every wargames blog. Or is it intended to be the newsletter of every wargamer - "the wargamer"? I just don't know, and short of asking him (and I really don't want to bother him with this) I don't think I ever really will - but interesting to speculate...
Incidentally, it has reminded me of my long standing quandary over DF's use of the Wargamer's apostrophe (as in the Wargamer's Newsletter or Wargamer's Annual). Had it been Wargamers' this would suggest it was intended for or belonged to more than one wargamer; as it is it suggests a single wargamer. Is this the Don himself, sharing his thoughts with others where he is the eponymous wargamer? If so surely this is the spiritual ancestor of every wargames blog. Or is it intended to be the newsletter of every wargamer - "the wargamer"? I just don't know, and short of asking him (and I really don't want to bother him with this) I don't think I ever really will - but interesting to speculate...
Wargamer's Newsletter Rules
Following the comment on the previous post, I dug out my copy of Athena's 1987's publication of the Wargamer's Newsletter Rules.
In my response to the comment, I relied on the contents given on Vintage 20mil, but once I dug out my copy I realised this was not comprehensive.
The rule sets included are:
1. Rules for Ancient Wargames 1000 BC - AD 900 by Tony Bath
2. Medieval Rules by Tony Bath
3. God for Harry! England and St George! Wargame Rules for the Medieval Period by Donald Featherstone
4. Rules for the English Civil War by Donald Featherstone
5. Rules for the 1750 period in Europe by Tony Bath
6. Napoleonic Rules by Donald Featherstone
7. American Civil War Rules by Donald Featherstone
8. Rules for late 19th Century wargames by Donald Featherstone
9. Rules for 1917 period wargames in German S.W. Africa (including rules for early tanks, armoured cars etc) by Donald Featherstone
10. Rules for 1944 (Normandy) Wargames by Phil Barker.
The Athena publication is a 124 page A4 perfect bound booklet with an orange colour.
The second two images are of the original issues of the Tony Bath ancient and Medieval Rules, as Wargamer's Newsletter Handbooks. These were available to order from Donald Featherstone. 8 of them (excluding the Don's medieval and English Civil War rules) are listed in a notice in Wargamer's Newsletter from December 1967 at 3s 6d each or the set of 8 for a guinea, including postage. Also listed is Wargames Terrain for 10s 6d, an illustrated booklet describing how to construct realistic battlefields. I'm not sure when the original sets were first made available, or the order they came out in.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
An English Civil War Encounter, by David Barnes, Wargamer's Newsletter #184 July 1977
The earlier posts about Bill Holmes' campaign diary and Ed Saunders' commissioning of water colours from his table top battles put me in mind of this lovingly illustrated battle report by David Barnes from Wargamer's Newsletter July 1977.
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Another Spanish Windmill...
This set of cut out buildings for the Peninsular War, a windmill, village church and large farm, identified as Sheet One, appeared in the inside back cover of Miniature Warfare & Model Soldiers of January 1974. Partly an advert and partly accessories for Heroics (later Heroics & Ros) 1/300 figures. The reference to individually cast Napoleonic figures is no doubt designed to contrast them with the Minifigs 5mm figure blocks.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Mystery Napoleonics take 2
I've dug my mystery horseman out from the loft and here he is - clearly of the same manufacture as the RHG figure in the previous post, again with wire reins and soldered on to a sheet metal base. The photo seems to have blanched out some of the colour of the uniform coat, which is sky blue.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Mystery Napoleonics
I've been sent this picture of two Napoleonic figures and I was wondering if anyone could help identify the manufacturers. The suspicion is that the Royal Horse Guards figure could be very early Greenwood and Ball - can anyone confirm this? or provide an alternative identification? Also struggling on the rocketeer. No visible markings on either figure.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Linka
Yes I know it's by George Erik again but actually this post is about Linka. The article "Now You Too Can Learn to Linka" was published in Wargamer's Newslett #208 in July 1979.
After a period when it was hard to find Linka is available again. The LinkaWorld web site contains information on supppliers for the UK, US, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Soutn Africa.
After a period when it was hard to find Linka is available again. The LinkaWorld web site contains information on supppliers for the UK, US, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Soutn Africa.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Spanish Windmill by George Erik, Wargamer's Newsletter #202 January 1979
Neatly making the connection between Bill Holmes and George Erik is this windmill, commissioned by Dick Tennant from the latter, featured on the cover and inside Wargamer's Newsletter from January 1979.
And now that's enough George Erik for now... (Ed).
Thursday, 1 July 2010
And then there was George Erik...
DC's comment on the last but one post anticipated the next character in this mini series, George Erik, who ran Miniature Warfare Ltd, out of 18b the Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells.
A heavy advartiser in Wargamer's Newsletter, he also penned the memorable two-part George Erik story for the magazine.
Bill Holmes: Don Featherstone's tribute in Wargamer's Newsletter 98 May 1970
I've now noticed Don Featherstone's Editorial from Wargamer's Newsletter 98 (the one with the pictorial tribute to Bill Holmes) also included this obituary.
I'm told by John Preece (see comment on previous post) that the BIll Holmes building pictured in Charge! is the octagonal roofed one, I assume from the Battle of Sittangbad - I hope these are the right pictures:
I'm told by John Preece (see comment on previous post) that the BIll Holmes building pictured in Charge! is the octagonal roofed one, I assume from the Battle of Sittangbad - I hope these are the right pictures:
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Before there was Ian Weekley - there was Bill Holmes and Deltorama
Before there was Ian Weekley, making marvellous buildings to order and having lavishly illustrated articles in the wargames press, there was Bill Holmes.
Bill Holmes set up Deltorama in 1967 as the first wargames construction service, making model buildings for Brigadier Peter Young, among others (as refereed to in Charge!)
Early Wargamer's Newsletters were studded with Deltorama advertisements with line drawings of completed commissions. Sadly Bill died around 1970. In May that year Don Featherstone posted a double page tribute made up of some of these line drawing images.
Before doing a little research for this post, I had never made the connection between Bill Holmes and the war journal featured in Don Featherstone's Solo-Wargaming book, the one with the inspirational North West Frontier campaign and pictures of Tradition 25mm figures.
Don Featherstone writing in Solo-Wargaming, Kaye & Ward 1973
“The late Bill Holmes of Deltorama had a series of such journals in which he recorded the activities of his troops, embellishing these accounts with drawings and photographs of their operations. Using as a background the wonderful buildings for which he was professionally renowned, Bill posed his figures most realistically as they attacked forts … or fought against ambushes in the rocky defiles of the North-West Frontier. There is no limit to the ingenuity that the wargamer can display in compiling a journal – Bill Holmes even went so far as to make his own army forms and letter-headings complete with rubber-stamped markings and so on, and inserted them into the journal to record when an order was received from a higher formation, for example. A journal is very much a personalized affair but the sample pages given on the opposite page (below) can serve as a guide.”
Bill Holmes set up Deltorama in 1967 as the first wargames construction service, making model buildings for Brigadier Peter Young, among others (as refereed to in Charge!)
Early Wargamer's Newsletters were studded with Deltorama advertisements with line drawings of completed commissions. Sadly Bill died around 1970. In May that year Don Featherstone posted a double page tribute made up of some of these line drawing images.
Before doing a little research for this post, I had never made the connection between Bill Holmes and the war journal featured in Don Featherstone's Solo-Wargaming book, the one with the inspirational North West Frontier campaign and pictures of Tradition 25mm figures.
Don Featherstone writing in Solo-Wargaming, Kaye & Ward 1973
“The late Bill Holmes of Deltorama had a series of such journals in which he recorded the activities of his troops, embellishing these accounts with drawings and photographs of their operations. Using as a background the wonderful buildings for which he was professionally renowned, Bill posed his figures most realistically as they attacked forts … or fought against ambushes in the rocky defiles of the North-West Frontier. There is no limit to the ingenuity that the wargamer can display in compiling a journal – Bill Holmes even went so far as to make his own army forms and letter-headings complete with rubber-stamped markings and so on, and inserted them into the journal to record when an order was received from a higher formation, for example. A journal is very much a personalized affair but the sample pages given on the opposite page (below) can serve as a guide.”
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Paddy Griffith: War, Wargames and Strong Drink, Wargamer's Newsletter 195, June 1978
I am indebted to the Unfashionably Shiny DC for pointing me to the right number of Wargamer's Newsletter for the Paddy Griffith article I really wanted to post.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Paddy Griffith: A Blast of Grapeshot, Wargamer's Newsletter
I have been wondering what would be an appropriate way to mark the sad passing of Paddy Griffith. There are on line obituaries from those who knew him, such as Bob Cordery's here, and personal memories on a number of fora.
I thought it might be appropriate to post some examples of his earlier articles, which people may not have seen before. In no particular order, the represent his scholarship, his robust line in argument, his wide ranging interests, his willingness to challenge and question established orthodoxy, and his innovation in wargaming.
Reading some of the personal reminiscences, I seemed to recall seeing an article by him on alcohol - the missing factor in wargaming. I have spent much of today looking for it without finding it, so I don't know if this was real or imagined. It would have made an appropriate tribute to an affable man, and would have achieved a pleasing symmetry with Jack Scruby's article on Smoking and Wargames, posted here.
In the first of a series of five posts, here is an energetic response to Fred Vietmeyer, writing in Wargamer's Newsletter. As my copy of this issue has lost it's cover and front page, I can't tell exactly when it was published.
I thought it might be appropriate to post some examples of his earlier articles, which people may not have seen before. In no particular order, the represent his scholarship, his robust line in argument, his wide ranging interests, his willingness to challenge and question established orthodoxy, and his innovation in wargaming.
Reading some of the personal reminiscences, I seemed to recall seeing an article by him on alcohol - the missing factor in wargaming. I have spent much of today looking for it without finding it, so I don't know if this was real or imagined. It would have made an appropriate tribute to an affable man, and would have achieved a pleasing symmetry with Jack Scruby's article on Smoking and Wargames, posted here.
In the first of a series of five posts, here is an energetic response to Fred Vietmeyer, writing in Wargamer's Newsletter. As my copy of this issue has lost it's cover and front page, I can't tell exactly when it was published.
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