“And for the more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys games”

Famous or infamous quote from H.G. Wells https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/25/that-more-intelligent-sort-of-girl-who-likes-boys-games-and-books/

Female war gamers often describe themselves as legendary or mythical creatures.

Search around, there are now a fair number of female war gamers blogging (usually more fantasy than historical).

Other Mythical Creatures – https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/military-unicorns-of-the-world-in-colour/

Cards on the table: I am not a club war gamer or club board gamer, never have been and probably never will be. I have always been essentially an occasional solo gamer, but mostly a repairer, converter, painter, collector and general hack-abouter of toy soldiers.

However the ‘social history’ of gaming and war gaming is an interesting one to me as it spread out from a military training tool in the nineteenth century onwards via H.G. Wells’ Little Wars, avoiding a destructive swish of skirts on the nursery floor to a more diverse civilian audience in the 1960s and 1970s boom.

I was intrigued whilst casually researching ‘war games’ on the British Newspaper Archive to come across this curious snippet from The West Briton November 18, 1971 (interestingly around the Armistice / Remembrance period):

Wargame Society

“A meeting of wargaming societies from Truro School and Truro Girls Hugh School was held last week at Truro School to discuss the possibility of forming a Wargaming Society which would be open to members of the public of Truro.

About 20 attended the meeting, which was presided over by Mr. Derek Burrell, headmaster of Truro School.”

*************

What makes this noteworthy fifty years later is the words “and Truro Girls High School“.

Both schools are still in existence, both long established (nineteenth century) independent, fee-paying or private schools in Cornwall.

The time of the event is not surprising: 1971 was midway through the ‘first Wargames boom period’ from Featherstone’s War Games 1962 onwards with Airfix riding high: cue vintage wargaming sort of nostalgia.

A month or so later a further interview turns up in the West Briton, 20 December 1971: almost no mention of any girl gamers or female gamers.

Club spokeswoman sixth former Bob Aldridge on “Britain’s fastest growing hobby” West Briton, December 1971. (Bob Aldridge was still active on Facebook in the last few years.)

I can find no further trace of this Truro Wargames Society involving girls or female gamers.

As club members move on, it may not have lasted very long. Clubs schism over rules, scale and periods played.

A Fantasy and Wargames Society was announced in the same area in the 1983, according to the article, one particularly seeking female members to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Kevin Roke, organiser of a Fantasy and Wargames Society of Cornwall, (21 March 1983 West Briton) sought more members including women gamers. Keen to “attract some women, secretary Kevin Roke believes, the games being played have appeal not only for men.”

This type of press article is always fascinating, as bemused local journalists try to get their head round a quirky niche hobby and make it sound interesting to outsiders:

West Briton 15 December 1980 – Trevor Jones and Grant Pettit name checked – Grant is still active in the Cornwall Wargames Association Facebook group forty years later. Life-long lasting hobby!

An Armageddon Club of gamers also met in the Truro area in the 1980s, maybe not the most sensitive of naming in the Nuclear 80s when the phrase The War Game in the British Newspaper Archive ironically throws up multiple 1980s listings of the local CND groups showing ‘The War Game’ film in village halls.

Another West Briton newspaper snippet about a new Wargames West society was announced at a local boys club in Truro in 1993 suggesting the other 1971 Society or 1980s ones were no more?

As mentioned, the Cornwall Wargames Association and other SW games societies still exist, with a few outposts of Games Workshop stores down West and a declining number of local model shops.

Maybe other readers know more?

There may be some veteran Truro High School for Girls female war gamers in their sixties and seventies out there with vague memories in 1971 of pushing lead and plastic figures around a table

but sadly I somehow doubt this …

*************

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN, down far West, 2 October 2021.

Title Quote from H.G. Wells https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/25/that-more-intelligent-sort-of-girl-who-likes-boys-games-and-books/

Here is a bit of background research from early 2021 into the women around the Wells household when Little Wars was written.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2021/03/07/the-dread-broom-and-the-swish-of-skirts-jessie-allen-brooks-part-of-the-h-g-wells-household-floor-games-and-little-wars/

Stealth’s Take on Close Little Wars

.

Following up my post about Jen B’s version of Featherstone’s Close Wars Rules, fellow games blogger Stealth contacted me to say that he had been playing around with his own variant of Donald Featherstone’s simple Close Wars rules.

These were first published in Don’s appendix to War Games (1962) and Stealth had been looking at my variants Close Little Wars.

Here is Stealth’s variant are in detail for you to peruse: https://stealthswargaming.blogspot.com/2019/05/stealths-close-little-wars-variant-rules.html

and his classic first wargames minis are first version 1960s tiny Airfix figure conversions, always a charming joy to see

https://stealthswargaming.blogspot.com/2019/06/i-emerge-from-painting-cave-to-give-you.html

Stealth’s rules have a slight D & D influence or feel (see his other blogs) in that carrying or capturing crates forms part of the victory conditions, scoring and scenarios. Interesting idea for ambushing a supply column etc.

I hope you find something of rules variants interest here. I enjoy seeing how people adapt and tinker, go back to basics and then elaborate a bit more.

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN on 16 June 2019.

Restored corner of the house that is my Hex Boards of Joy

For a few months I have not done much gaming to write up.

Not since a short Mountie Skirmish in late November 2018 last year https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/11/30/mountie-ambush-game-15mm/

For a few months my gaming area and tabletop have been covered in broken Britain’s figures awaiting repair, Peter Laing 15mm figures awaiting paint, tools and useful bits of scrap for modelling.

54mm superheroes and tiny blocky Minecraft figures

I am as happy casting, repairing and painting figures as I am gaming with them, hence the quote on Man of TIN blog from Donald Featherstone:

The largest hex game board has hung on the wall being a former picture frame – a neat storage solution tucked away in the corner of a shared living room.

As part of the Scout Wide Games research and rules writing, I am not sure if my hex boards will be too small for the 42mm range Scout figures I have painted. Maybe I should have gone smaller, say OO/HO railway or my Pound Store figure conversions? Different size figures, different scale scenarios?

15mm Peter Laing figures for a different scale

I have been playing around with scale from 54mm superheroes and tiny blocky Minecraft blind bag figures (Heroscape hexes have a 3D landscape Minecraft feel) down to 15mm Peter Laing figures, which give a bigger playing space.

Set up for 42mm range STS Little Britons Scouts (Boy and Girl) …

Having a large enough landscape for the Wide Games scenarios is obviously harder with the larger Scout figures 42mm Shiny Toy Soldiers / Little Britons range (from Spencer Smith Miniatures), so the scale and ground space available may shape the scope of future scenarios.

My couple of quick paint conversions of Pound Store figures in a smaller scale may enlarge the territory available to my Scouting games – I can cheaply and quickly knock up a couple of patrols of these to try this out.

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2019/05/19/pound-store-plastic-boy-scout-32mm-conversions/

32mm Pound Store Scout conversions & the original penny plastic figures

Part of the Wide Games appeal is that tabletop Wide Games could equally function as Garden games especially with the largest, simplest 60mm semi-flat Scouts – as pointed by Alan the Tradgardmastre of the Duchy Of Tradgardland Blog.

http://tradgardland.blogspot.com/2019/05/scouts-for-wide-games.html

If only my ageing knees and back and the weather were up to it …

The rest of the space?

A column of Really Useful Boxes divides the playing space from the crafting space. More Really Useful Boxes and Shoe Boxes are stowed away below the gaming table and the chairs.

Acquiring job lots of broken toy soldiers to repair requires storage. The Peter Laing figures, both painted and awaiting paint, require storage. Scrap modelling materials, tools and paints require storage.

For the last few months, wriggling into the old crafting chair has felt like sliding into a narrow cockpit to focus down onto the hand tools, paintbrush and figures in front of me. It’s also meant that I had no gaming space. Shifting these about and restowing boxes has helped no end.

My flap-down desk with cardboard screen keeping paper contents and books safe from paint.

I understand more fully now the points about concentration and wellbeing made in the Models for Heroes videos. There is a mental craft zone that the world shrinks down to.

I am reminded of the ominous episode in Harry Pearson’s gaming memoir Achtung Schweinhund where Harry hears from his gaming best friend about an obsessive hoarder (stereotypically male, middle aged, single). This man’s decaying house is in danger of collapse from an Aladdin’s Cave of stored vintage unboxed figures, magazines and newspapers, yet eerily the paint table is immaculate and ordered. Harry and friend see a vision of their possible lonely futures.

My Crafting “Cockpit”: Phoenix 43 Trek Cart kit & washed-out Cath Kidston pink Guards mug

The cutting board and painting space that forms my crafting area has now transferred to the right of the board onto a flap down modern bureau desk, rather than than the traditional modeller’s Roll Top type desk. It fits into the rest of the family without sitting in a room apart. It’s stuffed full of toy soldier things and research notes and books for other work-related projects, protected from paint splatters by a removable cardboard screen. Reorganising the contents means that everything should be able to fold back up out of sight.

The desk top “display” space itself could also do with a tidy up as it is currently piled with figures and books that I have worked on in the last year. Inspiration but it’s also a jumble of what has been inside my head recently.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/the-domestic-modelling-joys-of-the-roll-top-desk/

Next to this sits a small bulging cupboard stuffed full with books, hollowcast figures and hoarded Airfix figures and kits from childhood onwards, again its top piled with this year’s projects. Again all of these could do with a sort through on another grey day.

More Really Useful storage boxes live in the garage for my metal casting kit, buildings, some other temperature proof gaming stuff and metal figures, whilst the indoor storage is reserved for the more vulnerable fragile vintage and childhood plastics figures and vehicles.

The painting above the desk is a recent acquisition, a framed Illustrated London News print of the Lancashire Rifle Volunteers parading at Knowsley Park. Britain’s Victorian Home Guard against another Napoleonic French invasion, and finely dressed at that. One for Marvin at Subterranean Militarism!

The Review of Lancashire Rifle Volunteers in Knowsley Park. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 15 September 1860.

So there you are, restored –

an experimental games lab to try out Wide Games or gaming scenarios indoors,

an encouragement to paint and base those Peter Laings stuck in the lead limbo of the ‘work in progress’ painting box,

hopefully a little more presentable part of the Living Room if we have visitors to the house!

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN, 9 June 2019.

Man of TIN Advent Calendar Day 3 – Vintage 1980s Polish Toy Soldier Airfix clones on Etsy

Man of TIN Advent Calendar Day 3 – Looking up “Toy Soldiers” on the Etsy website is an easy way to lose several hours of an evening (and hopefully not lose or spend too much money).

The Etsy prices are generally not cheap (it is a retro, vintage, crafty, antique sellers platform site) but you do see some fascinating metal and plastic Toy Soldier figures from all over the world including Eastern Europe and America.

Perfect for online “window shopping”.

Shipping sometimes obviously adds prohibitively to costs from outside the U.K.

Disclaimer: Man of TIN cannot be held responsible for the loss of your time or hard earned cash from mentioning toy soldiers and Etsy. Searching for ‘toy soldiers’ on Etsy also occasionally brings up ‘adult’ material / figures.

I have bought from Etsy several times from UK and overseas sellers with no problems.

One set that caught my eye but I didn’t buy (no longer available – ships from Bulgaria http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/RETROne?ref=si_shop ) are these interestingly blue uniformed versions of the Airfix 1:32 British paratroopers with very thick bases – Eastern European clones or copies?

I took a screen shot of these for my toy soldier scrapbook, so that now when they are sold and gone from Etsy, I still have the memory. All good reference and research.

Are these Airfix copies from Eastern Europe or an interesting paint job?

I’m thinking James Bond super villain defence of secret base forces …

Close up shot of Polish made  Airfix paratrooper clones from Etsy supplier  RetrOne 2018

Interesting Imagi-Nations colour scheme for these Airfix British paras?
I hope whoever bought them enjoys them.
I hope that all who see them on this blog or browsing on Etsy enjoy the looking!

Blogposted by Mark Man of TIN, Advent Calendar Day 3, Monday 3rd December 2019. 

Imagi-Seven Nation Army

Off in his own worlds, Donald Featherstone, visionary …

I am always surprised by how rich in ideas Donald Featherstone’s original 1962 War Games book proves to be.

Reading through it as I often do, as its my ‘Desert Island Discs’ sort of book, I came across this interesting paragraph on page 46:

On the other hand, a completely mythical campaign is often conducted, using fancifully uniformed troops of imaginary countries and with highly coloured reasons for fighting the war. 

What If? British Redcoats with flame throwers for Imagi-nation Victorian Sci Fi / Steampunk scenarios (work in progress paint conversions from Airfix WW1 Germans)

It’s what we would now call Imagi-Nations gaming:

This can be fascinating, as ruling houses, petty dukedoms, jealous heirs and dashing princes provide excuses for one state declaring war on another adjacent dukedom, or fir those gaily coloured Hussars to be sent to the distant frontier where they will due gallantly fighting off the hordes of savage tribesmen threatening their country. 

This seems almost Game of Thrones stuff!

Whatever the type of campaign, the first essential is a master map … (Page 46)

The only thing Donald Featherstone doesn’t quite describe in War Games is the 1970s  rise in science fiction / space / fantasy style gaming. Or does he? Arguably his Ancients rules  demonstration game the “Battle of Trimsos” based on Tony Bath’s Hyboria campaign is kind of fantasy wargaming there in embryo also.

Minus the orcs, of course …

This battle was fought in an undefined period of the chequered history of the mythical continent of Hyboria – a vast land mass dreamed up by Tony Bath of Southampton, which contains nations of almost every type of known warrior of our own world from its earliest times.

These countries fight each other on the slightest provocation, make pacts, break pacts, invade, repel and generally carry on much as did our own ancestors in the earliest recorded days of history… (Page 75)

Somebody else’s ‘found in a jumble bag’ blue coated paint jobs on British WW1 Airfix soldiers? Which nation are they? Why are they fighting?

And as Donald says in his opening chapter:

For the player who finds nothing of interest in this list [of wargames periods] there are imaginary campaigns that he may fight without limit. He can form his own imaginary world, with continents and countries each of which will make war on its neighbour on the slightest pretext.

The French find themselves involved in wars with America,the British take on the Russians in period 1900, and great wars take place between countries who, at the actual period in time when the campaign is deemed to be taking place, were the very best of friends in real life! 

Therein lies one of  the fascinations of war gaming – one can remake history to suit one’s ideas, can alter the complete trend of events by re fighting a major battle such as Waterloo and making the French win it …

Sketches for Imagi-native redesign of pound store figures …

Donald Featherstone’s books are always so enthusiastically written with assured knowledge that you will receive genuine pleasure and fulfilment in this solitary or shared hobby:

There is a great deal of satisfaction in making one’s own armies, either in entirety or by conversions …

It’s true what Don Featherstone says. Who could resist such conviction?

Who could resist that ‘Avuncular’ tone of a knowledgeable ‘Uncle’ Donald ?

My copy of War Games is the sold-off ex-library stock hardback copy that I used to borrow and read as a child. Thankfully War Games has been reprinted recently in paperback by John Curry.

I hope you have your own ‘desert island wargames book‘, the one you keep going back to and finding fresh ideas (despite the familiarity) for your own real world or imagi-nations gaming.

War Games is my ‘go (back) to’ book for ideas or just comfort reading. What’s yours?

Happy gaming! Leave comments, explore past blogposts or follow my blog.

Another work in progress: Some of my enemy troops from my Cakes of Death polymer clay Fimo forces from silicon cake decoration moulds.

More about Imagi-Nations on a previous ‘Tintin’ blogpost:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/tintin-and-imagi-nations-games/

And the Brontes got their first  …

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/the-brontes-games-scenarios/

I’m preparing a series of solo skirmish games this winter once I’ve worked out  the (confusing) imaginary kingdoms or Bronte 1820s/30s  Imagi-nations of Gondal, Gaaldine, Angria and Glass Town, for which a Bronte sketch map exists!

This along with my ‘Generic-an forces’, from my fictional country of Generica, should prove to be an interesting winter’s gaming.

The Coast of West Africa 1820s reimagined by the Bronte family as The Glass Town Federation and Angria (Wikipedia source).

And the Title of the blog post? Imagi – Seven Nation Army?

Check out the fabulous and irresistible sultry ’30s New Orleans sleaze’ / Jazz rendition by singer Haley Reinhart and the U.S. band Postmodern Jukebox of this modern White Stripes number, available on I-Tunes but to view free on YouTube! Just type in Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube and enjoy the many musical styles they play with in their ‘musical time machine’  … Or visit http://postmodernjukebox.com

Happy Listening! Happy Gaming!

Blog posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, September 2016.

 

Wellington on Battle Reports, Balls and History

Peter Laing 15mm M1 Wellington and M3 British Household Cavalry, painted c. 1983. 

The Duke of Wellington dismissively observed to William Siborne,  “You can as well write the history of a ball as of a battle.”

Siborne had asked for the Duke’s memories of the day amongst others to help accurately construct his diorama model of Waterloo, which now rests in the National Army Museum. Well worth visiting in its new restoration.

A short account of this model can be found in Harry Pearson’s autobiography  Achtung Schweinhund! featured as a warning against investing too much money in toy soldiers over the years (whoops!); a longer account can be found in a book by  Miniature Wargames games writer and historian Peter Hofschroer’s cleverly titled Wellington’s Smallest Victory (Faber, 2004).

Having just finished one longish games write up (the longer as sections of it wiped once), I find this Wellington quote interesting as the possible difference between ‘history’ and ‘fiction’ – the point of view (or continuously confusing shifting point of view if you are Virginia Woolf) that it’s written from. Is it an impersonal lab report? Is it the skeleton plot of historical fiction? A confused blend of both?

As I write up recent tabletop skirmishes, I have been thinking about the links between fiction and gaming. Writing  up games reports of past battles, I am reminded of Wellington’s (dismissive?) quote.  Commonly many games bloggers feel that their thrilling accounts can appear  somewhat tedious for other readers.

Some of the more interesting ones (insert your favourites here)  go further than a blow-by-blow account; they  reflect on the rule changes or  improvisations that crop up, being a form of playtesting.

Great photographs of figures and terrain also help, whilst some like the Wargames Hermit now have direction arrows in photos to help you follow the action more clearly.

Such blog write ups become demonstration games for rules, very much in the spirit of H.G. Wells in “The Battle of Hook’s Farm” section of Little Wars or Donald Featherstone’s classic battles in his 1962 War Games. Others like Robert Louis Stevenson’s Yallobelly Times newspaper style battle reports take on a life  of their own.

Games reports also hopefully share and remember the escapist “joy and forgetfulness” that gaming brings with itself.

The full Wellington quotes from the ever reliable WikiQuotes are:

“The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.” Letter to John Croker (8 August 1815), as quoted in The History of England from the Ascension of James II (1848)  by Macaulay, Volume 1 Chapter 5; and in The Waterloo Letters (1891) edited by H. T. Siborne.

“Just to show you how little reliance can be placed even on what are supposed the best accounts of a battle, I mention that there are some circumstances mentioned in General —’s account which did not occur as he relates them. It is impossible to say when each important occurrence took place, or in what order.” Wellington’s papers (17 August 1815), as quoted in The History of England from the Ascension of James II (1848) by Thomas Babington Macaulay.

Jane Austen (1775 – 1817), being Wellington’s shorter lived contemporary (Wellington lived 1769 – 1852), would have something to say about the value of writing the history of a ball, from many shifting viewpoints and many carefully observed details, especially if you want to point up character. The famous Brussels ball on the eve of Waterloo also features in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847/8).

There is an interesting  social history  book In These Times by Jenny Uglow on the Georgian / Regency background of Waterloo and the Napoleonic Wars https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/06/in-these-times-living-in-britain-through-napoleons-wars-1793-1815-jenny-uglow-review

Inside Peter Hofschroer’s book (page 178 ) is another version of the “writing a battle and ball” quote, when Wellington talked about his view the accuracy of Siborne’s Waterloo model (quoted by Hofschroer from Sir John R. Mowbray, “Seventy Years at Westminster”, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine July 1898):

“… If you want to know my opinion it’s all farce, fudge! They went to one gentleman and said “What did you do?” “I did so and so.” To another, “What did you do?” “I did such and such a thing.” One did it at ten and another at twelve, and they have mixed up the whole. The fact is, a battle is like a ball; they kept footing it all the day through.”

And to another, Francis Egerton in 1845 (Hofschroer, page 179):

” … of which beautiful work he [Siborne] has made a scene of confusion, such as would be a drawing or representation in one view of all the scenes and acts of a play in five acts.”

Wellington in his old age in his actions towards Siborne does not come out of this account by Peter Hofschroer  too well.

And now for some gratuitous photographs of the few Peter Laing 15mm Waterloo / Napoleonic figures I bought as a young teenager, still much as I painted them 30+ years ago. They are due for rebasing and some odd retouches of paint soon. I wished I had bought more and have since acquired a few additional ones for future small skirmish games.

A very thin red lead line … My smallest Wellington (M1) with M3 British household cavalry and other Peter Laing 15mm British Infantry with a mix of Belgian and stovepipe shako of the Napoloenic period.

 

The offending blue of too many tiny Prussians (if you were Wellington) … Peter Laing Napoleonic era Prussians.  F13 Prussian infantry drummer, F12 Prussian infantry advancing, F15 Prussian Landwehr advancing, F16 Prussian Landwehr firing.

Flower of Scotland … Painted c. 1983 and in need of a repaint, my Peter Laing 15mm Napoleonic / Crimean War Highlanders, from left these are F811 Highland drummer, F813 Highland standard bearer, F810 Highland private advancing, F812 Highland Officer.

“Pour L’Empereur Petit …” Painted c. 1983, these are my Peter Laing 15mm French Napoleonic infantry with shako plumes. F7 French infantry advancing with shake plume, F10 French standard bearer, F11 French infantry officer, F9 French infantry drummer, F8 French infantry firing.

L’Empereur petit … Peter Laing 15mm M2 Napoleon, along with F10 “eagle” standard bearer and F23 French imperial guardsman advancing.

Posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, 25 August 2016.

Simple ECW starter rules: a John Mitchell tribute

Rules for Beginners 15mm English Civil War (collection: Man of TIN)

As a tribute to the late John Mitchell, one of figure designer Peter Laing’s colleagues in early 15mm wargames products, who died in June 2016, I am posting my battered copy of what I believe are John’s typed English Civil War 15mm starter rules (with my childhood pencil additions).

Send no cash or stamps for samples as Peter Laing has now retired! 1982 Miniature Wargames no. 1 (Figures: Man of TIN)

As far as I can remember, these rules were bought from Peter Laing c. 1982/3 and are focussed around the figures and artillery (A501 Culverin, A502 Saker) in Peter’s English Civil War ranges.

As far as I know, the rules have probably not been sold for many years since Peter Laing and John Mitchell retired. They are posted here in tribute.

Authentically foxed, blotched and aged paper from these (JohnMitchell?) 15mm starter rules reprod(uced)and sold via Peter Laing?

John Mitchell sold starter sets of 15mm (hand painted?) Wargames armies.

The advert here does not mention ECW specifically …

John Mitchell starter 15mm sets advert (magazine and date unknown, c. 1982-3)

… but in this advert from Military Modelling October 1983 it gives more details:

Send no SAEs for details, as sadly John Mitchell has passed away but how many wargames enthusiasts started with one of these sets?

Hmm, If you could whizz back to 1983 in my Man of TIN Tiny Tin Time Machine, which starter army or armies would you choose?

Did you get figures for both sides, so both Roundhead and Cavalier?

I presume many of the starter set figures came from the Peter Laing range. The historic periods covered in the adverts match Peter Laing’s extensive 15mm catalogue well, including his trademark Marlburian figures, the unusual Crimean and Franco-Prussian War ranges and the smaller, almost half to a third of the cost for the WW2 starter set as Peter Laing only made a small WW2 infantry range which we have featured on another blogpost. The costs varied quite a lot in price!

If anyone was lucky enough to be bought or to buy one of these 15mm Starter Armies, I  would love to hear more about them in detail. Did they spark a lifelong gaming interest? Did it lead to a wider collection of Peter Laing figures? I hope that you liked them, although Peter Laing figures have both admirers and their detractors on many gaming and figure forums.

As a young gamer I could never afford a hand painted starter army – I hand painted my own choice of Peter Laing figures instead. I would have counted how many unpainted Peter Laing castings  at  6p or 7p per foot figure I could have bought for the cost of a starter army.

These rules were an interesting specific set for the ECW to supplement the simple rules for other periods available in early Donald Featherstone books. They served me well for my first few teenage years of English Civil War gaming.

The supportive business relationship between John Mitchell and Peter  Laing is hinted at often throughout Peter Laing’s catalogue:

More about John Mitchell’s 15mm card buildings and building sheets in my next Peter Laing related blogpost.

When Peter Laing retired, John Mitchell bought the Laing figure moulds whose whereabouts are currently unknown – probably.

Hopefully John Mitchell’s hand painted 15mm starter armies were the introduction to the scale and our hobby for many of today’s gamers.

John Mitchell, remembered wherever and whenever his hand-painted starter sets  of tiny 15mm metal soldiers fight for his card buildings, by  happy gamers across the world enjoy “a most satisfactory infantry action game.”

Tribute posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, 19 August 2016.

 

 

 

Peter Laing 15mm blog photographer

Following up my “favourite Peter Laing figure?” Blogpost,  I asked knowledgeable enthusiast  Ian Dury about 15mm Peter Laing figures  whether Peter Laing had ever made a 15mm photographer figure, knowing how much Ian and others liked his Victorian Parade Range.

As far as Ian was aware, Peter Laing hadn’t made such a figure, so the natural thing to do was a quick conversion.

Peter Laing tiny 15mm photographer conversion with Northern infantry in the background beyond the bridge. (Photograph / figures/ Man of TIN)

A colonial British infantry heliograph operator in pith or foreign service helmet  (A605) made a good basic figure for a photographer with his tripod. The addition of a tiny black plastic Qixel cube or square bead roughed in for the clunky camera or early cine film apparatus. Until I find a smaller cube, it’ll do.

I let this tiny ‘blogs of war’ photographer loose on the my portable game board  ‘battlefield’ of an impending North / South skirmish to take the combatant’s pictures. I think some time travel will be required if he is to document other such skirmishes.

Our tiny 15mm Peter Laing blog photographer focuses in on Southern troops (F3009) advancing, led by a scratch-built Fimo polymer clay standard bearer with his home spun Southern flag. (Pictures / figures: Man of TIN)

Our tiny photographer captures this image of Butternut Southern infantry (F3010) heading into action. The famous Peter Lang sheep can be seen in the background near the Northern infantry.  (Photograph: Man of TIN blog staff photographer)

 

And again in colour …

More pictures of my newly painted and based Northern and Southern / Blue and Grey infantry on my next blog post.

Posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, August 2016.

 

Maori Wars update

My Peter Laing Colonials and Blues and Greys versus the Generican Natives – Not quite the Maori Wars (Figure / Photos: Man of TIN)

As a follow up to my earlier Maori Wars and Peter Laing related blog posts, here are the Andy Callan rules in full – or so I thought!

John The Wargames Hermit blogger in the USA was interested in these Maori bush wars rules and as back copies of this issue of Military Modelling magazine are probably quite scarce (I have hacked most of my magazines to pieces), I have added the missing section.

The amended Maori Wars rules by Andy Callan in Military Modelling, December 1983.

However, flicking through my box file, I found that the above rules as printed in September 1983 Military Modelling had some errors – they were corrected by Andy Callan in a half page erratum page in Military Modelling December 1983.

I also noticed in the book list that the Ian Knight who wrote the excellent Osprey book on the New Zealand Wars had also written a couple of interesting articles called “Fire in the Bush” in Military Modelling  in April and November 1980, worth tracking down.

I also found some interesting articles on the New Zealand Wars in that most reliable of sources, Wikipedia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musket_Wars

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Wars featuring the unusual war memorial

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_New_Zealand

These entries also features some interesting pictures, including:

The Death of Von Tempsky 1868 by Kennett Watkins. Wikipedia Public Domain source

An atmospheric view of the terrain is shown  in “The Death of Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu o Te Manu”, a portrayal of an incident in the New Zealand wars on 7 September 1868. Apparently published in the New Zealand Mail, last produced in 1907, this Lithograph from 1893 by William Potts (1859-1947) was made from a painting by Kennett Watkins (1847-1933). Wikipedia image in public domain.

Utu is a New Zealand Maori Wars film from 1983/1984 (with director’s Utu – Redux  cut issued about 2013) that I have never yet seen, here described: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086497/ 

My Peter Laing Reenactment Society – the Maori Carpet Wars re-enacted in black and white  (Figures / photo: Man of TIN)

For my previous posts featuring the Maori Wars:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/peter-laing-figures-in-carpet-forests/  featuring the rest of Andy Callan’s article

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/23/close-little-wars-scenarios-and-inspiration/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/close-little-wars-featherstones-simplest-rules/

Happy (Maori War) Gaming.

Blog Postscript (B.P.S.)

I had an interesting email from Andy Callan last week about his Maori Wars rules, surprised to see his Maori rules and hair roller armies still in use.

Andy Callan: “Wow! That’s a real blast from the past. When I wrote these rules I saw them as a sort of Victorian assymetrical Vietnam equivalent – high tech westerners vs wily bunkered-down natives…
I’m still actively wargaming and writing new stuff. Have a look on Amazon for Peter Dennis’ Battle for Britain and you will see what I am currently up to … Good to hear from you. What a great hobby this is – it is still keeping me busy nearly fifty years after I started out!” 

Posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, August 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favourite Peter Laing figure?

 

Possibly my favourite of Peter Laing’s 15mm figures, this is the dismounted Dragoon firing (figure F515) from his English Civil War range.

I’m not entirely sure why it’s probably my favourite Peter Laing figure (at least of the non marching advancing figures). Is it the colour scheme or the slightly independent elite status of dragoons?

Anyone else got a favourite (Peter Laing)  gaming figure?

I’m not suggesting however that we start a Peter Laing “guess my  favourite figure” charades competition as some gamers allegedly do for Airfix figures, according to reliable sources in Harry Pearson’s autobiography  Achtung Schweinhund! That would be little too niche …

I have a few spare unpainted ones of these figures already destined to become 7th Cavalry or dismounted Union Cavalry in a very different Civil War, so will see how that paint conversion works out.

Happy gaming!

Posted by Mr. MIN, Man of TIN, 1st August 2016.

Peter Laing “PL P.S.” postscript

Lovely to hear from several Peter Laing fans and Bloggers on favourite figures – both John The Wargames Hermit and Ian Dury liked Peter’s Late Victorian Parade figures, bicyclists and goose stepping figures.

Ian Dury sent me this picture of his favourites. Thanks Ian for sharing these:

Peter Laing enthusiast Ian Dury’s favourite goose-stepping Prussian figures from his 19th Century collection, beautifully painted.  (Photo: Ian Dury)