Sorting through boxes on Lockdown Day #whateveritis, I came across this 1987 Military Modelling A5 supplement on wargaming written by the late and sadly missed Stuart Asquith.
The colour front cover shows an enviable set up of a wargames room with shelves full of figures, a fine games table and some impressive pointing out of stuff by Stuart to the “younger generation”, youngsters who need such a free supplement explaining wargames. One day hopefully I will achieve this adult stage.
Being on furlough, I don’t have my usual office access to scanners so some rough photos will have to surfice for now.
One reason this booklet survived in my collection through my non-gaming busy years is the Peter Laing “Eye Candy” photographs.
These are presumably of Stuart’s collection of Laing, as it features the Boadicca figure that Peter made or converted especially for Stuart. This figure is mentioned in Stuart’s excellent Comfortable Wargaming article.
More Marlburians, the unusual period figures with which Peter Laing launched his 15mm range in the early 1970s.
The booklet photo caption mentions this fine resin building from Gallia with Laing figures.Some lovely Esci and Jacklex colonial figure mixes – Jacklex being easily available again through Mark Lodge’s relaunch. https://www.jacklexminiatures.com
Jacklex figures and gun conversions, including traction engine models and river launches built by Stuart Asquith.
Gramodels are still operating https://www.gramodels.co.uk. I wonder if these “Jacklex EFSI” vehicles will one day be available again or if they are conversions?
Finally, some of those range of scale pictures.
Part of my unpainted Peter Laing ECW / 1745 collection was preserved for decades of house moves by the sort of plastic box that I received as a present around this time – inspired no doubt by the photo in this supplement?
This box is still a time capsule or touchstone of my gaming activities c. 1986/7 with hair roller armies, Heroics and Ros / Skytrex 1:300, Platoon 20 and Peter Laing figures amongst the oddments. Worth an emptying out for a blog post one day as another fun “Unboxing” post?
Peter Laing 15mm collectors and fans can find those with similar interests on the MeWe Peter Laing site set up by Ian Dury when Google+ pages closed.
Blogpost by Mark Man of TIN 4 April 2020
Man of Tin blog 
Really enjoyed this post over coffee and porridge this morning. What a lovely booklet full of great pictures. Just the inspiration a young chap would pour over and dream to.
I had the very same drawer system,now sadly gone, which served me very well. Now I favour biscuit tins and sundry cardboard boxes/box files to store my treasure. Your system would work really well with moving house. I haven’t moved for years now and I recall Jan driving car loads of lead fellows carefully to their new barracks. I would enjoy seeing the contents of the plastic drawers as they seem a veritable box of delights by those exotic names of yesteryear so mention.
I still miss my Great War in Africa Peter Laing figures, not to mention armoured car. In my early teens I got the Funcken WW1 books for a present from my parents for my birthday and had flu on the day. Too miserable to even open the books I lay and looked at them lying there and looked forward to reading them. I was not disappointed. They are still on the shelves having made it through moves and paring downs. I read a book called “Battle for the Bundu” as a teenager and my fascination for WW1 in Africa remains…
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Alan – your reply about your enhanced breakfast pleasure makes the posting worthwhile. The nations needs such colourful distractions.
It is a great little book. The text was partly a sketchy outline of his Mil Mod book on Wargaming which is mentioned to published soon c. 1987. I was very pleased to find the colour picture of the exclusive Peter Laing figure of Boudicca, made for Stuart by Peter. I was sure I had seen it somewhere when writing an obituary tribute about Stuart Asquith. I have Stuart’s Peter Laing Pictish and Roman Army but not his chariots or his Boudicca.
I shall work today on the unboxing post, having done my ‘practical’ work of gardening yesterday, jury rigging up a makeshift netting frame over reclaimed raised beds with whatever we had to hand in isolation. I did look for more of these box types a couple of years ago before finally investing in Really Useful stackable boxes and inner trays, but could not find them online. To be fair they are around 35 years old. The box has handy screw holes at the back to put them on the wall as needed. Peter Laing is pictured in his workshop with entire walls of them to store castings.
Re: The Great War in East Africa (and West Africa Namibia railways – see my Sidetracked blog).
Donald Featherstone wrote in War Games in 1962: “Few collectors seem interested in WW1, although there is much of value to be found in the battles of 1914 and early 1915, before the warfare bogged down in a mass of trench warfare – a fascinating little campaign can be made of German East Africa fighting in which native troops can be used.”
This was obviously written before the attractive Airfix WW1 figures came out later in the 1960s. I don’t think I have ever knowingly seen the Funcken WW1 books – I have later bits of the WW2 set. Such gifted books have done well to stay in your library through the parings. Instead I borrowed the Blandford WW1 ones from the branch library or Preben Kannik’s Military Unicorns (sic) of The World.
The East Africa story of the gunboats Mimi and Toulouse Go Forth by Giles Milton is very good.
If you keep a look out online through eBay sellers like Nowisyourtimemaitland and Alec Green (couton23) or through the Me We Peter Laing collectors circle, I’m sure you could rebuild your Peter Laing WW1 army and your lost Roman legions. Enough exist or could be recast to rebuild them.
Best wishes to you and your family. Stay In. Stay Safe. Stay Well. Save Lives.
Mark Man of TIN
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A nice post mate
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IRO Thanks In these uncertain times, you need some colourful eye candy. The pictures may not be great without access to a scanner, but they serve to cheer the nation in isolation …
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Most enjoyable seeing the booklet of those old figures – truely wonderful.
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Attractive and stylish figures (or worthless shapeless blobs according to some on the TMP page of who has the vanished Laing moulds?). Glad you enjoyed them.
Working on my Laing bits box unboxing post today.
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Great post. That old booklet is charming- love the traction engine.
Cheers,
Pete.
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The traction engines are brilliant and I believe accurate to the time for gun carriages. Iron horsepower!
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