I was born in East Orange, raised in Bloomfield, and went to school somewhere around Newark until my parents launched an exodus across NJ. I have been lucky enough to travel abroad. I read, play a couple of musical instruments, like movies, and do what I can to improve a rapidly aging body and mind. I currently work in Texas and live in Florida. I have moved over two dozen times in my life. My tiny armies and navies have followed me on my march across the US. Eventually we hope to end our nomadic existence and settle in one place.
Currently, in production but there does not appear to be an active website. The Lost Minis website lists them as out of production though they are still readily available through The Last Square which indicates that items are cast to order, Noble Knights, and Magister Militum which offers some of their trucks.
The focus is on 10mm historical miniatures. Ranges listed are ACW, WWII, and on the more usual side, the Zulu wars and the Franco Prussian War. The figures look pretty clean and slender compared to Old Glory though the artillery pieces seem a bit petite. Officers and their mounts are a single piece.
The company lists an address in Wisconsin.
In progress Perrin 10mm tanks including the PzKw IV schurtzen and the JgPz IV
A lost labor of love from a couple who had apparently written novels about the fantasy world. Mike Gilbert also illustrated many of FGU’s earlier titles. The rules appear to strive for a simple medieval world combat system albeit with firearms and magic. There are also simple rules for ship battles.
During the early 70s, the lines between different forms of simulation gaming remained blurred. Here, one of the leading manufacturers of simulation board games, Simulations Publications, Inc. tosses out a miniatures version of their ground breaking Tactical Game 3. Tac 3 was later redone and repackaged by Avalon Hill as Panzerblitz triggering a new and innovative era of game design.
Redoing the game apparently satisfied neither miniatures gamers who sought more complexity or board gamers who looked for a more inclusive range of materials. In retrospect, it seems like counters would have worked more effectively than the paper figures included with the game.
The rules present a brief adaptation with little extra. There are no scenarios included and the unit list seems too limited. However, the rules note that there are mission cards for both sides listing forces and goals though they do not seem to be included. The design was written by Arnold Hendricks who has crafted both miniature rules (1944) and board games (Star Viking). Scale is 1 turn = 6 minutes, 1” = 85 yards. Of course, the problem at this scale is that tanks traveling on a road can move almost 4 ft along the game surface. Additionally, many weapons including static anti-tank guns have a range less than the distance traveled by a tank in that 6 minute time frame so are likely to fall easy prey to tanks swooping down on them since attacker fires first.
T-34 used to show up near the bottom of SPI reader polls. It was never a hugely popular game. Still, it seemed natural for SPI to try out miniatures and this would be neither the first or last time. I have looked without success for a review based on a play-through.
Some Union infantry figures hidden away in a small box purchased at a time when i was looking at different manufacturers’ products. The Scruby figures were simple and solid. These days they are surprisingly hard to find.
10mm Perrin Miniatures, the beginning of a rather massive body of figures representing armies of the American Civil War. The figures have a gray primed surface. White would brighten them up but I chose a dark grey to speed things along.
The Perrin figures are attractively sculpted and nicely detailed without any overkill. The poses are limited but sufficient. They offer a really nice range with a certain daintiness but seem to tower over GHQ while looking a bit like AIM figures on a diet. A nice choice though difficult to locate. The Last Square does offer the full range.
When I look at these, I feel like I owe Tom Meier an apology. Where is all that gorgeous facial detail now buried under a layer of poorly applied acrylic paints? Well, they are not quite done. Leonardo Da Vinci said art is not finished but abandoned. Though not art, it applies here. There is a point where you give up, where you have chased things far enough.
I have always wondered about the motivation for creating this line. It was certainly poorly represented at the time. Even now, the 15th century mercenaries and the wars they fought remain like some remote thing seldom mentioned. When I bought my first packs, I purchased arquebusiers thinking that anyone carrying a gun would hold a significant place in battle. Oops.
Meier had urged Ral Partha refocus on fantasy figures. The market for fantasy was considerable compared to the rather limited number of people who might even have heard of landsknects let alone were eager to buy a package of them. The Condottieri Range was never easy to find in the dark ages when there was no Internet. The Ral Partha booth at Historicon had an enormous box of them for $1 a piece at the time.
Sadly, the range was never expanded though it certainly cried out for a greater variety. Grenadiers in marching order might be indistinguishable as individuals but landsknects were much more varied.
Now, I look at the large group of figures and see it as a sign of misspent youth. Lots of figures but not enough. Lots of painting but hardly adequate. In fact, the figures remain unused while a set of Hinchliffe English Civil War figures purchased at roughly the same time have seen routine use with additions from Old Glory and Wargames Foundry. In some ways, the incredible detail and the limited variety has kept me away. Now, I am looking again and can hopefully offer something to showcase Meier’s brilliant achievement.
I think I understand why people play golf when they retire, not that it seems anymore meaningful to me but I like to think I understand, the way I think I understand why the blue head wrasse produces a super male. It is not relevant to my life but nice to know why people make these choices.
I reach retirement age shortly and, after years of avoiding staff reductions and hanging on through half a dozen, I will finally be set out to graze. Not that I can look back on a lifetime of work with considerable satisfaction.
My best moments are odd ones and few related to work. I recall an intense period of on-call overtime working through a charity event featuring Nell Carter. I went down to the abandoned service trays of food at 5 in the morning and ate what I pleased. It was not good but satisfying. Not much else stands out in my mind except a long history of working for people who wanted to make programmers superfluous. Moving IT centers to India seemed to be the next best thing.
But of course this is neither here nor there. People get what they expect to get. At one company, a programmer found a discarded printout showing all raises and ratings everyone was to receive at the end of the year. Somehow, we always lived up to their limited expectations.
Ok, so I will retire but I am not going to play golf.
Written by Sid Smith and Ken Smith published in 1974 by London Wargames Section and one of those ubiquitous little spiral bound volumes that seemed to dominate back in the mid 70s. An earlier staples version of the rules exist as well.
The rules cover skirmishes in Japan from 1100- 1500AD. Figure scale is 1 to 1, ground scale 1” = 2 1/2 ‘. One turn equals one minute. The game is designed for 25mm figures.
The game sequence is order writing, fire, move, melee, and morale tests. Hidden movement is simulated using real and dummy makers. There are limits on organization. Each player is represented by a figure on the board. Figures permitted are samurai, ashigaru, chugen, some of the latter two can be designated as missile troops. There are also rules for muskets. Terrain includes roads, houses, walls, marshes, and ‘vegetation’.
Easy to guess that Japanese warfare has a fascination but in 1974 figures would have been scarce. The actions presented here fall midway between chambara films of the time and larger battles but offers limited soldier types. The rules are very much in the style of early English rules. What orders can be given is decidedly ambiguous.
A playtest copy of a set of rules for skirmish level encounters in the American Civil War. The rules cover infantry only. There is no ground scale I can find though figure scale is 1 to 1. Rules are for 54mm figures but usable for 25mm.
Individual figures are provided action points which are used to determine the number of actions up to 4 available to a figure per turn with an asymmetrical sequence of play broken out according to actions. Number of action points is determined by morale level, which also determines actions available, and experience. Wounds impact action points and morale. There are additional rules for morale checks, fire combat, and melee.
The rules seem never to have been published. Though the author Greg Novak is listed in both Boardgamegeek and Wikipedia, these rules do not show up under his list of publications. An interesting old set.
Wargames Rules for Fifteenth through Seventeenth Century
Wargames Research Group dips into a period for gamers with a zeal for the esoteric. Phil Barker is nowhere in evidence. The author is George Gush founder of the Tunbridge Wells Wargaming Society and former head of history at West Kent College.
The rules follow the format of the old WRG Ancients Rules with of course more emphasis on the tactics peculiar to the period. Personnel range from infantry to elephants with everything from javelins to rockets with of course muskets and pikes. One figure represents 20 except for field pieces and elephants which represent 5. For 20-25mm, 1” equals 10 paces, 20 paces for 15mm, and 40 paces for 1:300.
I recall an interesting game set in Eastern Europe complete with winged hussars and other odd troop types. I do not recall the war being represented but was fascinated by the constant consultation of charts. Yes, it was a long time ago.
And of course there is a set of army lists available for use with the rules. The years do not match those of the rules and appear to cut off at the introduction of the plug bayonet.
