December 2Club NewsYou don't have to be interested in 25mm Napoleonics or Renaissance to be interested to know that Hal Hoge is back in San Jose after a two year sojourn to the Sacramento area. Dave Partak is now married. Aron Clark is now a father twice, with Lucas joining Emma. Hobby News The new Two Towers boxes of plastic figures for the Lord of the Rings series from Games Workshop is out now. The set is getting some good reviews primarily because it includes more generic combat figures (as opposed to special characters), especially Orcs. The best deal is the $40 box with multiple sets and rules, or you can get smaller groups, such as 8 (plastic) Riders of Rohan for $20. The Russian Federation has just decided that its military symbol will now be the red star, not the small tricolor. So all of you with vehicles for future battles will have to repaint them! The latest Courier is in. Gladiator combat has really caught on, and many companies are whipping up figures for these games. Also check ads in Wargames Illustrated. Fans of chariot racing will want to watch The Learning Channel Thursday night, Dec. 5. There is a two hour British show about a group of people who build 4 Roman chariots and a hippodrome and stage a chariot race. If you are not interesting in the training and construction, just tune in for the last 20 minutes. It won't be as dramatic as Ben Hur, because no one gets run over, but it is amazing to think that this is not a movie, it is real.
C and Q Equipment have a new address:
7326 S.E. 12th Circle Ocala, Florida 34480 UNITED STATES
Phone (352) 291-9412 What do they make? Death in the bush, Death on the sand - 20mm WWI figures for Africa and the Middle East. These figures were designed by Peter Rodgerson on the Isle of Man, and cast (under contract) by Pendraken Figures. These figures were done in the "chunky" style. Terry L. Gore of Saga Publications has put out a new Wars of the Roses scenario booklet. Even though it is aimed as his own rules, you can apply the scenarios to any rules.
Don Perrin of
From the Miniature Service Center:
New from Redoubt
F&IX9 - Six Sachems and war Chiefs, urging their
men on with wampum belt. $10.25
F&IX10 - Torch the settlement set. Six Warriors with
firebrands and torches. $10.25
F&IX11 Special Character Set from The Last of the
Mohicans: Alice and Cora Munro, Major Howard,
Hawkeye and his two Indian Friends. $22.95
New Early Roman Range from Redoubt
The first of a new range of 25mm figures for the early
wars in Italy, leading up to the growth and dominance of
Rome. This series will include figures from the
Etruscans, Romans and Samnites with their various
Gallic, Campanian, Apulian, Lucanian, and Bruttian allies.
ER 1 - Six Samnite unarmoured light infantry warriors
standing with assorted shields and spears. $10.25
The latest releases in Copplestone's Darkest Africa series:
This figure news and other hobby news can be found at
http://www.theminiaturespage.com/
Trivia
Which Union regiment is the Civil War was the only regiment
named after a city, not a state?
At the start of WWI, the German army had 83 trucks.
Model Maker
The consensus on whom to use as a model maker was Burt Takeuchi,
whose business and web site are "Ronin Craftworks". He pops in once
every few meetings with some finished models. You may have seen
them in a 1/72nd scale Aerodrome I game. The second most common
recommendation was to talk to the model guys at D&J Hobbies, some
of whom have won awards for their work.
Greek Shield Devices
We actually know what some of the colors were, so here
they are, plus the city states that use them.
DESIGN [city states]
3 LEGS RUNNING [Athenian Alkmaionid clan]
4 POINT PINWHEEL [ unknown ]
BIRD [ unknown ]
BULL [Marathon, Athenian Eteobotad]
CLUB [Theban, Arcadian Tegean]
SNAKE [Boetian]
TRIDENT (PSI) [Mantinea, Chalcis]
BOAR & TONGUE [Samian]
ALPHA CHI [Achaean League]
LAMBDA [Lakedaemon-Lakonia]
HYDRA (WATER SNAKE) [Argive-Argos]
ALPHA RHO [Arcadian]
ALPHA [Athenian]
Other shield designs and areas or meaning (colors unknown)
SIGMA [Sicyon]
A Little Bit About Farscape
The best science fiction TV show every will start with new episodes (the second half of the fourth season) on the Science Fiction Channel Friday, January 10, at 8 pm. For those who missed the first 11 episodes of season 4, there will be a Farscape marathon on Dec. 24.
The goal of the Save Farscape campaign is to raise the ratings for the rest of the season. If they are high enough, someone could be convinced to renew or pick up the show. Otherwise everything will end abruptly at episode 22 of season 4.
An excellent web site for reviewing episodes and characters and general show history is the BBC web site:
Advertisement
This month's ad is a set of packages of 25mm figures from Dave Partak. Dave was kind enough to send his ad to the newsletter editor, so that is could go out with the newsletter.
Here is the list of items I have for sale.
Revolting Peasant Mob w/scythes and pitchforks. RPM2
Revolting Peasant Mob w/ sticks and stones. RPM3
Revolting Peasant Mob middle eastern. RPM6
NAM2 USMC/USA Platoon HQ & Hvy Wpns. $20.00 Now $15.00
NAM3 USMC/USA 81mm mortars & crew. $15.00 Now $11.00
NAM5 USMA/USA seated crew for truck. $10.00 Now $7.00
NAM6 USMC/USA Jeep crew. $10.00 Now $7.00
NAM7 USMA/USA Tank/APC riders. $10.00 Now $7.00
NAM9 Chopper Gunners and press. $10.00 Now $7.00
NAM12 Montegnards. $20.00 Now $15.00
NAM15 VC Hvy. wpns. $15.00 Now $11.00
NAM16 NVA Regular platoon w/command $40.00 Now $30.00
NAM17 NVA Regular Hvy. Wpns. $15.00 Now $11.00
NAM18 Perimeter Defense Tower. $30.00 Now $22.00
Corgi Vietnam Vehicles
MUTT Jeep w/utility trailer $49.00 Now $36.00
Cossack Wars Skirmish Rules $20.00 Now $15.00
All items listed above are 25% off of regular prices.
David Partak
RPM have 30 each. NAM 5,6,7,9 - 8 each. NAM 16 - 30 or so. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
November 1Hobby News Some of you may have known Melanie, who worked at D & J Hobbies. A few of you may even have known that for the last couple of years she painted figures on the side for customers. Well, now she has left the store and with three other people has formed a figure painting company called Paint My Mini. Their web site is: http://www.paintmymini.com They offer three levels of painting, Basic, Detailed, and "Oh My God". The difference between Basic and Detailed is that Basic will not including shading, blacklining, or dry-brushing, and fewer details. Prices are on the web site. One particularly good feature of their web site is the Queue page, which shows exactly what they are working on and what is waiting and when a job might be done. As you can see from the list, you can check with John Cunningham to see what he thinks of their work. The list is short now, so get in quickly! I suppose if you are having them work on a particularly embarassing figure, you could have them use an alias on the queue list. They paint both historical and fantasy figures, with single figure and volume prices. You will need to work out what sort of painting guide will be used, otherwise they use their imaginations. They will even consider working on terrain. They hope to sell painted figures soon, and the Miniatures portion of the web site lists the brands they hope to carry. TV & Movies The highly acclaimed WWII series "Band of Brothers" from HBO will be available on video starting next week. Those of you who do not get HBO will want to at least rent this story of American paratroopers. Model Maker for Hire? Many of us rely on hired painters and terrain makers to put together everything that we need to put on a game of a particular battle. What I am wondering is whether there is anyone out there who will build a model for hire? I like to think that I can build a standard plastic model just as well as anyone, but I recently acquired a model from Czechosolvakia that has me stumped. It is a small-run resin 1/144 scale model of the French WWI Salmson 1 bomber. (A biplane with 2 engines and 3 crewmen.) The wings and fuselage and some small bits are made of plastic or resin, but for the wing struts and undercarriage the kit simply includes several pieces of straight wire. And there are no holes for the wire to fit into. Also, there are no assembly instructions, just a "3-view" of the airplane (a line drawing of the complete aircraft, viewed from 3 directions). So if anyone has tackled something like this, I would like to know. Moving Since we made just a short local move, I moved my figures myself; so I have little to report on this subject. I did make the mistake of letting the movers move my stack of drawers full of painting supplies. I assumed they would keep it upright. No, they tossed it onto its side. One thing I did learn from the move is that I have about two cubic yards of figures and terrain. These are mostly 20mm Napoleonics, which many of you have not seen yet. The Latin American War of Independence Someday I hope to host at least one battle from the Latin American War of Independence. What exactly would this be like? Well, it would be Napoleonic, with Napoleonic rules, with very modest sized forces. Most of the units would dress like the French and fight like the Spanish. The forces involved are the Latin American Republicans versus Spain and the Royalists or Loyalists. The war had its roots in the British seizure of Buenos Aires in 1806. The regular troops were not sufficient to defend the town but units of militia and civilians were able to expel the British. Then, in 1808, when the Spanish monarchy was imprisoned, and the government and military were paralyzed by the French invasion, the Argentines took control of their capital. A similar attempt in Venezula failed. Forces from the Province of the River Platte (Argentina, Uraguay, and Paraguay) under General San Martin advanced inland to fight Royalist forces from Alto Peru (Bolivia). General Bolivar continued to fail in Venezula until the British decided that even though they were now allied to the Spanish, an independent South America would be more valuable to them economically. With British supplies and training and even a few volunteers, the rebels took Caracas and began to move west toward modern Colombia. (Back then Panama, Colombia, and Venezula were Grand Colombia.) However, with the French withdrawal from much of Spain in 1812, and the defeat of the French at Vittoria in 1813, the Spanish government (the Junta) was able to start shipping soldiers to South America and Mexico to suppress the rebellions. The climax came when San Martin moved south and crossed the Andes into Chile. After defeating the Royalists in two battles, he advanced into Peru, the most conservative and pro-Spanish of the Latin colonies. With Bolivar advancing south through Equador into Peru, the last Spanish forces surrendered and Latin America was liberated. The best source in English for information on this war is El Dorado, the Journal of the South and Central American Military History Society, available on MagWeb. Osprey also has a good book out on the events and uniforms. And Richard Bergman has produced an inexpensive folio game of the battle of Maipo. Also, check: http://www.btinternet.com/~alan.catherine/wargames/liberat.htm This is a web site devoted to wargaming this war. It includes OBs, references, history, and even some uniform info. The rebellion in Mexico can be difficult to recreate, with large numbers of peasants without uniforms. But in South America, almost all battles were fought by organized and uniformed units. They had muskets and shakos. Hussars and lancers. Grenadiers and gauchos. Ad I am getting out of a period and scale that I only recently entered, and have not made any progress in. This is 1/144 WWII combat aircraft. I have already sold off almost all of my Pacific Theater airplanes. Now I am selling the models for the European theater. These are plastic models, almost all unassembled. All of the models except MiniCraft and ARII are out of production or hard to find. Their pricing reflects that. This is the scale normally used for Aerodrome II. Since this newsletter goes on the web site, I want to make it clear that I am giving absolute priority to club members. And club members who can come to the next meeting and pick up the airplanes there. Only after those sales are complete and the meeting is over will I open the sale up to e-mail purchases which require shipping. I will stay until 4:30 pm for those coming for the evening session.
$3 each I also have some Pacific theater aircraft models left. - Chris
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October 9SBGC Pseudo Newsletter The Latest Thing As you may have guessed from the list of games scheduled for the next meeting, GW has released a new WAB supplement called Shieldwall. It is focused on the battles of 1066, but it is spread out to before 600 AD, focusing on "Dark Ages" battles among the Scandinavian and Celtic peoples. Specifically, besides the "English" (Anglo-Saxons), the book covers the Vikings, the Irish, the Scots (although they weren't quite Scots then), the Welsh, and the Norman-Breton-Flemish types. Just think of it, six army lists, three of which were in a previous supplement, for only $30! Now no one can complain about buying a DBM supplement of a hundred army lists for $16. The Scenario Shoppe If you haven't been to the store yet, it is a little hard to spot from the street. It is a two story building (the public part of the store is only one story), that is perpendicular to the street. The window-less *side* of the store faces the street. More confusing still, the store carries Girl Scout supplies in one aisle, so the display case facing the street features these products. The store is the only thing in the building, which is surrounded by parking lot. As you step up to the door, look to your right and you will see another door. The two playing rooms we meet in are completely detached from the store. The outer room can get quite warm in the summer, but that should not be an issue for the next 6 months or so. There is a snack machine in the room. There is a KFC directly across the street. (The corporation has decided that "Fried" is a bad word that might scare off consumers.) Whatever you do, don't use the ATM in the KFC. It does not issue money. It issues script that is only good in the restaurant. If you run out of dice, or need to glue a figure, just walk over to the store and buy what you need. Playing Space at Last I will be moving to a bigger house next week. The house we live in right now has no garage, and my assigned hobby area is 5' x 4'. In the new we will have a garage and I will get a whole room for my hobby. Just watch, I will probably get laid off now that I have a bigger mortgage. For those of you dying to send me something here is the address: 3989 Casa Grande Way, San Jose, CA 95118. Since this goes up on a public web site, please e-mail me for my new telephone number. I figure I can get a ping pong table for a playing table, and fold it up when I am not using it. Rules for the English Civil War The burning issue here is cavalry pursuit. Many key battles of the war were decided by whose cavalry ran off the battlefield in pursuit of the enemy cavalry and the baggage, and whose cavalry stayed on the battle field and attacked the enemy in the rear. How would you feel about rules that force you to send your cavalry off the board if you win? But if you were not forced to, everyone of you would hit the infantry in the rear, right? And if you happened to have Cromwell's unit, well you are absolved from such behavior. A hard nut to crack. One approach may be to reward pursuits. Think about it. Lacquer? Here is a question to ponder. Acrylic paint is certainly thinner than enamel paint, and can show wear, so it benefits from a good coat of lacquer. But is it necessary to lacquer your figures if you use enamel? Many products other than military miniatures use just plain enamel as their surface coating. Personally, I lacquer my enamelled figures. But I don't do it to protect them. I use matt paints and a matt lacquer, so I use the lacquer to make sure I have eliminated those small glossy spots that show up here and there. Whither Farscape? The campaign to Save Farscape is going quite well. If you read the Foxtrot comic strip on Tuesday, you will have seen the show mentioned there. Rallies were held at half a dozen major cities on Oct. 5, as well as a small rally at Bagram air base in Afganistan. Fox News is preparing a piece on the protest, and people are collecting money. The next step in the process will be to watch the Farscape marathon on Dec. 24 (OK, record it and watch it later), which will replay the first 11 episodes of season 4 from earlier this year. Then we need everyone and their cousins and coworkers to watch the remaining 11 episodes of season 4 when it starts airing in January. (Science Fiction Channel, 10 pm Friday. Also 12 mid. OK, tape it!) If we can push the ratings up high enough, this will get people's attention and dramatically improve the chances of saving the show. If we don't the story arc will be cut off abruptly at the end of the last (22nd) episode of the 4th season. We want a fifth season to complete the story.
If you have trouble following the show because you haven't watched it before, or missed some episodes, don't hesitate to call me. The best resource for the Save Farscape campaign is this website:
http://farscape.wdsection.com/
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September 10Quick SBGC September 2002 Newsletter Follow-ups: The Littlefield Tank Museum Right now the Foundation is not giving any more tours. This is due to the theft of two small arms, and the attempted theft of an M-1 carbine. (They leave them laying around in the halftracks!) A decision on the situation will not be made until Littlefield comes back from his honeymoon, which is rumored to be lasting a month. When it is possible, to get a tour call 650-851-8645. They generally prefer at least 12-15 people for them to set up a tour. If fewer people go, they try to add you to someone else's tour that's already been scheduled. (Thanks for the info to Al Tapia.) The Movies Good News about Four Feathers from Joe Leighton. In case you could not find or read his "red letters": "Last week when I was Down in L.A. I saw on TV a 15 minutes trailer on the movie, and they covered the battle scenes, which are outstanding!. Especially the one scene shows a close up of a double line of British infantry, and a officer saying "steady!, steady! and steady!" The camera is pulling back and up until you see the an aerial view of the British square and 20,000 Muslims charging!" Also, there is a rumor that someone will make a movie of the Iliad (The Siege of Troy), starring Brad Pitt as Achilles. Oh Gawd. Just shoot me. What next? George Clooney as Agamemnon, and Jennifer Aniston as Helen? I need to lay down. The TV
You lay down for a minute or two and what happens? Some greedy TV execs cancelled your favorite TV show! The bastards at the Science Fiction channel have dropped the 5th season of the super fantastic, most excellent science fiction show _Farscape_. The remaining 11 episodes of the 4th season are almost done and will be shown starting in January.
However, the production company was told with only two days of shooting left, so there will be no final episode or sensible ending. If you watch this show and care that it should stay on the air, here is the information: "David Kemper, Richard Manning, and Ben Browder called a special chat in the SCI FI Channel's #Farscape chat room to announce that SCI FI had opted not to pick up Farscape's fifth season option. To send a telegram, use Western Union's online service. The cost is $14.99 and you must have a major credit card. The story so far: Anthony Simcoe spoke in an online chat (references abound on other sites), laying some blame on Henson's owners, EMTV. Rockne O'Bannon has weighed in, however, and says that while EM had some involvement, the main culprit is SCI FI. Late this afternoon (Sunday, 8 Sept), organizer Barbarella confirmed this information: basically, SCI FI wanted to pay less for Season 5, and EM TV refused to lower the price, so SCI FI cancelled. We must focus our efforts on SCI FI, although letters to EM, advertisers, and other media outlets to get the word out certainly help as well. Remember: snail mails and telegrams carry much more weight than emails and phone calls. Word has it that the voice mailboxes are all full at this time, anyway, and several fax machines aren't answering, either. We need to keep the pressure up. SCI FI will be hit with an avalanche on Monday, but it must continue on Tuesday, and every day after, until we get a definitive announcement about Farscape's fate. Pointers: INCLUDE YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC DATA: age, gender, education level, and most important, income level. Mention that you're saddened by this turn of events and ask them nicely to reconsider. Ask also that they consider selling their rights to the first four seasons so that another network might pick the show up. Check spelling, grammar, and presentation. SIGN YOUR REAL NAME. Angry letters ("flames") don't accomplish anything -- they hit the trash immediately. Remember to be reasonable and courteous. It also doesn't hurt to beg SCI FI to at least be willing to sell the rights to the first 4 seasons to another network so Henson could shop it around and try to find someone to pick it up to produce new episodes. SCI FI is notorious for hanging onto rights (ask any SLIDERS fan). To send a telegram: KEY CONTACT: If you only write/telegram one person, it should be this guy:
Of course it doesn't hurt to contact these folks as well: Bonnie Hammer, Executive Vice President and General Manager Tom Vitale, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, Scheduling, and Program Planning The SCIFI Channel 1230 Ave of the Americas, 20th floor New York, NY 10020 -1513
Barry Diller is now Chairman & CEO, Ron Meyer is President & COO." - Chris
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August 19Club NewsConQuest will be at Hyatt Rickey's again this year. Each year the Friday evening program for historical miniatures has gotten stronger and stronger. And this year the Sunday evening program is fairly strong too. You might want to buy a badge for the whole weekend for once! August 30 - September 2. Forlorn Hope A war for the hearts and minds of English Civil War wargamers has started. "Forlorn Hope" was the "last word" in ECW rules in England, but never caught on in the US. Now with the recent popularity of "1644" and the Warhammer "English Civil War" rules, Forlorn Hope (Partizan Press) is striking back. The first edition was a black & white pamphlet. The new (second) edition has been issued in a full size (A4 size) glossy form similar to its competitors. Unfortunately, it is still a fairly complex and hard-to-pick-up set of rules. Someone tried to run a convention game using these rules recently, and even though the GM had stripped out some rules and simplified some others, it was a struggle to learn and play the game in the time allotted. The contents are almost all the same. The main difference is the inclusion of some more addenda to explain the war and the reasons for certain rules. One rules change, involving the ratio of pike to shot, was not propagated throughout the whole rules set and has caused some problems for people starting with the second edition. That Hannibal (Movie News) It is a measure of the depths of depravity to which our entertainment industry has sunk that in some circles I cannot mention Hannibal, or Hannibal and a movie, without people thinking of a serial killer who eats his victims. The good news is that Vin Diesel, the star of the new spy movie "XXX", says that using the money and clout that he has obtained from XXX, he is going to produce and star in the movie that he *really* wants to make: "Hannibal the Conqueror". And that is the Correct, Real, Bane-of-Rome General. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope this project makes it through! This just in: Leonard di Caprio has signed a deal to star in a new movie about Alexander the Great. The good news is that the budget will be $140M and that the King of Morroco will provide his army for the film, including 5000 infantry and 1000 cavalry. Shooting starts early next year. (But LdC is too damn short, and too damn thin, and too damn young-looking. At least Richard Burton looked like a man.) Opening September 20: a remake of the British Colonial movie, The Four Feathers. Don't know how many battle scenes there are, but the original is one of the better colonial flicks, with lots of combat. The cast is mostly unknowns (which can be good). Military Music The Magweb.com web site, with its paid subscription access to a very large number of military history magazines, recently put up a military music CD for sale. It is called The Emperor Triumphant. You can play samples of it from the web site if you have the right software and have an enclosed office at work. I thought that perhaps someone had finally collected all the bits of nice military music that I have heard here and there in different movies and put them together into one rousing CD. However, I wasn't prepared to spend $20. But at Historicon they cut the price to $10, so I grabbed one. Alas, I was disappointed. It is an original composition, apparently relying heavily on a synthesizer, or a keyboard that can be programmed to sound like different instruments. If it were a project by a graduate Music major, I would give it an A- for melodies, mixing, and the quality of the overall composition. But it is not the romping, stomping, slam-bang, "let's go get the enemy" stuff I hoped for. In fact, what really killed it for me were the key passages where the performers resorted to something that sounded like an electric organ. Bleah! Shades of my rural relatives and small Protestant churches on Sunday. So, in compensation, I thought I would come up with a quick list of the 10 best military music pieces ever written. These are not pieces that sound good sitting on the sofa in the evening. These are more of the fix bayonet, present arms and advance, strident stuff that you may want to play during a game. Most of you should be familiar with most of them:
Crikey! I made a new find recently. It is that rare item, a fresh and somewhat interesting new TV show about World War II. People are always coming up with something, particularly if there is an anniversary or a new movie coming up. But it has been several years since something was produced for Basic Cable or Broadcast TV that was worth watching. (I am carefully excluding Pay-Through-The-Nose Cable, which would include HBO's "Band of Brothers". Before that it was the "Battlefield" series on PBS from Britain.) The new find is "Ghosts of the War" hosted by Steve Irwin. If you have been cooped up in a cave in Afghanistan for the last few years, Steve Irwin is the host of the outrageously popular Animal Planet TV Show "Crocodile Hunter." (My nephews love it.) And yes, there is a movie about the same out right now. Well, in Ghosts of the War, Steve goes to each of the little islands in the South Pacific that were fought over so viciously. He recreates the action, crawling up the beaches and assaulting the pillboxes. In many places the rusty weapons and vehicles still remain. Crikey! Look at the size of that Japanese gun! He does not hesitate to hop on or in a wreck and pretend to operate it. This includes snorkeling down to plane, ship, or sub wreck underwater. It is somewhat new and amusing, but I could do without his fascination with human remains. (He pokes through the bones of the Japanese who died where they fought.) I found it on the Discovery Channel (11A on San Jose cable), on Tuesday night at 9 and 10 pm. I am not sure how many episodes there are. A Good Book Previously, I have complained about how some military history books are pretty bad -- theses in disguise and so on. Well, I thought I should give three examples of VERY GOOD books. Must haves.
Tanks for the Memories You may not know it, but you probably live within 30 miles of the largest and most varied tank museum in the U.S. Jacques Littlefield, a venture capitalist worth $600 million, lives on a large estate in the hills above Portola Valley. On this estate he indulges in his hobby, which is collecting and restoring armored fighting vehicles. He has a full time staff of 7 mechanics and one translator and painter, who work in a workshop large enough to hold eight tanks, with an overhead crane that can lift 20 tons. Currently in the shop are a Soviet quad AA tank (ZSU-234?) and a Pershing M-26. Typically these tanks arrive as rusted out hulks and are completely restored to fully operational, running condition, with all parts present and working. (Except the breeches of the cannons, which US law requires must not be able to fire.) Recently arrived and parked in front of the shop are two NATO SP guns (a 155 and a 105mm), two modern German Jadgpanthers, a Churchhill AVRE, a modern German Leopard I, and the great new prize, a German Panther (Mk. V) that was dredged out of a swamp in Poland. (It took JL two years to get it here.) The Panther will require extensive work, since the Germans set off an explosive charge inside before abandoning it. Many tank parts are available on the open market, but if they cannot find what they need, the mechanics will place a custom order with a metal company. It can be a little startling to see brand new bogie wheels on a 55 year old tank. There are four warehouses with finished tanks on display, and three more warehouses with tanks waiting to be worked on, or finished tanks that don't have a display space yet. The list includes:
WWII There were more vehicles, but I cannot remember them all. There are field guns, machine guns, bazookas, many tank recovery vehicles, a tank mover, a couple of trucks, and some things I have forgotten. There are frequent but informal tours with small groups. You must know someone up at the facility to get in. If interested, contact the "tanknet" Internet discussion group for more information. - Chris
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August 5Club NewsAlthough the July club meeting had a little below average attendance, there were a lot of games to choose from. The Battlelines ACW game featured something that was very common in the real ACW, but rarely seen on a tabletop -- an amphibious assault of the Southern coast. The terrain was excellent, with a beach and forts and a seaside town. The Union troops got off of the beach, but then they had some trouble with some very unusual Confederate reinforcements. (I won't give it away; you'll have to play the game at the next Con.) There was a _Lord of the Rings_ game based on the situation at the end of the first movie, where the Uruk Hai attack the Fellowship. The usual small mob of Star Fleet Battles players was just a tiny discussion group this time. In a Warhammer Fantasy Battle the Scots (using the Empire army list) fought a Dwarf army. The Scots attacked, pressing forward on both flanks, but the dwarves were heavily armed with gunpowder weapons and many boys in blue bonnets died. The outcome was still in doubt when I left. The gladiator game was well attended. There wasn't quite as much shouting as when the game appeared at KublaCon, but it was entertaining to watch the "gladiators" get ready "outside" the arena for their next combat. In the battle of Zama, the Romans slogged forward and started grinding up the Carthaginian first line. But the Carthaginians diverted half of their elephants to the flanks, where they reversed history and defeated the Romans in both cavalry battles. The Romans then plowed into the second Carthaginian line but were hampered in their efforts by the phalanx of mercenary Macedonian pikement (AKA "The Meatgrinder"), which eliminated three maniples. By the time the Romans reached the third enemy line, they did not have the reserves to win, since the Triarii were busy defending the flanks. A Carthaginian victory. Local Hobby News BattleCon is a new games convention scheduled for July 20 and 21 in the Holiday Inn in Fairfield. It looks like a serious effort, with some money behind it, but they are getting the word out too late and their web site is quite pathetic. I only heard about it on July 6, and information about what games they will have is very sketchy. Simply not enough time or information to motivate one to go to Fairfield. Still, if they will contact us earlier in the future, we might be able to work with them and help them succeed. http://www.paladinsinc.com/battlecon Bashing Brookhurst Again Having had bad luck trying to order from Brookhurst Hobbies through the mail with a check, I gave them one more chance and placed an order on their web site, using a credit card. I received an e-mail acknowledging my order and I began to wait for it to arrive. I waited. And I waited. And I waited. Finally, after 45 days, I contacted Brookhurst and asked them what was the problem with my order. It turned out that the server for the order web site never forwarded my order to their "main server". They dug out my order and sent it to me right away. Except that they screwed up. I ordered 4 items and they got one wrong. I clearly, in writing, ordered a rules set and as a separate item, an supplement for that rules set. They sent me two supplements. Again, I have no paperwork to prove their mistake. At least this time I only lost 25% of the value of my order, not 30%. Buying from Britain I recently bought something from a private party in Britain. I have never done this before, and I have ordered from a company (with a credit card) only once before. Normally I rely on the US distributors. But given the behavior of the Bad Boys of Garden Grove, I had better learn how to deal directly with Britain fast. The problem with the purchase was that the seller insisted that he be paid in British Pounds Sterling. After overcoming the impulse to send him a few pieces of the family silver, I investigated my options. One choice would be PayPal. But unlike people I knew who joined PayPal early and were only required to provide a credit card number, when I joined the big P-P, they demanded withdrawal access to my bank account. No way! I had had a stock broker cause problems when I allowed that once before. And there are several web sites on the Internet that talk about people who were financially trashed by PayPal. So then I called my bank and asked what my options were. For $30 they would prepare an international money order for me, in British Pounds, or GBP for those of us who do not have European keyboards. Or, for $50 they would perform a wire transfer directly into the seller's bank account. Ouch! Too expensive. Next I called my credit union, which provides money orders and traveller's checks. Sorry, only in dollars, not pounds. In the past I have been able to get "international money orders" from the post office in dollars that the blokes in Canada would take. But the PO doesn't have them in anything other than dollars. I considered going to the American Express travel office, where I could get pounds in cash at their little bank office. But I decided it would be too risky to send the cash through the mail. Finally, I went to a little store in a corner mall near where I live. They have something called a "moneygram". Most of their business is from Mexican immigrants sending money to their families back home. But it turns out that they can send money to other countries too. I checked the web site and discovered that there were three offices that handled moneygrams in the seller's town in the UK. So, I sent him a moneygram. It cost me $14 to do it. (Plus, the way they figured the exchange rate cost me another $3.) I then e-mailed the seller and let him know the offices and their hours and addresses, and the reference number of the moneygram. Ta dah! 10mm Sources In the last article I should have included the web sites for the 10mm companies. Here they are, usually pointing to the WWII page.
WFC has a sort-of "one stop shopping" page for 20th C 10mm figures, including Chariot miniatures, and a more complete listing of Pendraken 20th C. figures than is on the Pendraken site! Also, I should have made clear that only the Skytrex 9mm vehicles are about $1.50 each. The more detailed 10mm figures provided by the above companies are about $3.00 per vehicle. What about Historicon? I could say a lot, but I need to keep it short. If you took any one game from the convention, it would be just like most of the games we have. However, there was a massive, massive number of games, all historical. Say you wanted to play a sailing ship game on Friday evening. You had your choice of AWI, War of 1812, or Napoleonic Wars, 1:1200 scale, 1:700 scale, homemade scale (~1:500), and 15mm. And each with a different set of rules. Most games were limited to 4 hours, so you could get in up to 3 games a day; 9 if you stayed for the whole convention. Of course, all the dealers are accessible by telephone or e-mail and catalog, but some of them were kind enough to give a 20% discount on some products purchased at Historicon. (And yes, I walked up to the Brookhurst booth, grabbed what I have needed for so long and simply said, "I want to buy this.") There was food in the lobby until midnight. There was a continuous flea market. The most common thing for sale was 20mm plastic vehicles. Warrior has replaced WRG in the Ancients tournaments in the basement. 10mm made a small appearance, in 2 ACW and 1 ECW games. GHQ has realized that many micro armor wargamers (including myself) won't touch their stupid "block of matchsticks" infantry castings, and they have now released new packs of "individual" infantry figures. They are also promoting their own platoon-level WWII rules (a la Spearhead and Command Decision). I snagged a copy at a discount, with great hopes, but was appalled to find that you must mark *every* unit that is going to move every turn, and you must make a morale test for every unit to do *anything*. (The author was a Marine sergeant.) The thing I liked best about Historicon was the sponsored games. Usually a store, a manufacturer or a publication would sponsored a particular game. In one game, everyone who participated got a small trophy with an unusual figure on it, and the two best players got a one year subscription to a magazine. In another game, every player got a chance to buy the rules for only $5. (A size, bound, glossy, commercially published $30 rules.) In a third game, every player was given a tube full of a variety of dice, and the two best players were give $10 coupons to a particular dealer. It was very helpful to talk to people who had gone before. Make sure you do that the first time you go. They can give you very specific and helpful advice about where to stay, when and how to register, and where to eat. I think my greatest accomplishment was bringing back intact six painted, mounted, and rigged sailing ship models in my luggage. Hurrah! Now I just have to remember to send in my free subscription and decide what to spend my coupon on. - Chris
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July 4Club NewsI missed the last meeting, so I don't have anything for this section, except to remind everyone that the August club meeting will take place at the Scenario Shoppe in Fremont. New Scales, New Vendors Sometimes I think that our club is a chapter of the 12 step program Figure Buyers Anonymous. (Notice how I came up with a name that doesn't use the unhealthy "Lead" word.) However, unlike AA or NA or OA, we don't keep our members from acting out and buying something, and, of course, we demand that they immediately bring what they bought to the next club meeting so that we can all share the experience. While I am still mainlining 20mm Napoleonics and WWI, I am becomming addicted to Napoleonic Battle Cry and have been experimenting with 10mm WWII. In case you did not see it a KublaCon, or at Milton Soong's house (AKA Madarin Manor), Napoleon Battle Cry is the AH/Hasbro ACW board game modified for battles of the Napoleonic era. It was created by Richard Borg, the designer of Battle Cry, but he put it out privately as a miniatures game, so as not to ruffle Hasbro's feathers. (They wouldn't do a Nappy version. Supposedly there is an Ancient version on the way, which I would be *very* interested in. (Especially if it has catapults and elephants, but I regress.)) Anyway, I have the game at home, and the GMs were giving out complete copies of the Nap. supplement, with some scenarios. So now I am making my own scenarios (fitting famous battles onto the BC board, using the available set of terrain pieces), and collecting some plastic figures for the armies. The Con game used 15mm figures, but I hope to use 1 20mm plastic figure in place of a stand of 4x 15mm. So just like in the board game, an infantry unit might be 4 plastic infantry, but this time they may be Italeri French Fusiliers, or HaT Prussian Landwehr. The rules used to be on the Internet, but I cannot find them anymore. I can give copies to anyone who is interested. Besides beefing up the cavalry and reducing the firepower of infantry, the rules also introduce many new troop types: militia, elite, guard, light, heavy, rifle. A few of the special cards change too. I hope to host some sample games soon. 10mm WWII I am getting sucked into this the same way many of you probably were. First, I played a game that went real well using similar figures, then someone offered up a painted and mounted batch for sale. I already have micro armor for the Western Front and the Eastern Front, but my first love has always been the desert war, and with its somewhat different set of equipment and very different paint, it is almost a world apart from the other fronts. So, I can do it in another scale! This scale seems to have taken off originally due to the WarMaster fantasy battle game. Many fantasy games are essentially skirmish rules, even when large numbers of figures are involved. Warmaster is truly a battle-level set of rules, similar to DBM. The game comes with some 10mm figures, and pretty much is always played at that scale. Some people have adapted it for historical games. Since then, 10mm has spread to other periods, including ACW, FPW, and WWII. Why 10mm? Compared to micro armor, you can see more detail, including what type of weapons the infantry are holding, and there is more of a model to grab hold of and pick up. For many people micro scale drops below the size which causes a thrill when you see a battle set up on a table. Compared to 15mm, 10mm tanks certainly have less detail, but they only cost $1.50 each, whereas Battleground and Command Decision vehicles are $6 each. Who makes 10mm? Perrin. Pendraken. Warrior. Chariot. Are these names unfamiliar? That is the explanation for what drives these new scales. If allows new, small companies to get into the miniatures business without competing directly against a large, established company. Since so many of us don't hesitate to try new scales, even though it means we have to buy both sides and give demo games, the small companies are usually sustained in this new scale. What is available is not completely clear cut. Outside of the explicitly 10mm figures is the 12mm MiniFigs line and the 1/200th scale Skytrex line. Both have WWII listings that are much more complete than all of the true 10 makers combined. Supposedly 1/200 scale is the scale favored for classes at European military academies. Much of the Skytrex line is from older Austrian, German, and English lines. If we do the math, we find that 1/200 is 9mm, which should be pretty close and compatible:
However, people I have talked to feel that the MiniFigs 12mm is not close enough to 10mm to fit in, nor is it close enough to 15mm to match. Some players have a higher tolerance for scale mismatch, putting MiniFig, Hinchliffe, Essex, Old Glory, and Ral Partha figures into the same army. (If they threw in Elite, Redoubt, and Connisseur, they are just plain crazy.) So people investing in MiniFigs 12s are on they own for WWII, but supposedly the line is so complete you should never have to contact another manufacturer. Where is Charles Li? I have been holding a box of 25mm Ral Partha Renaissance figures for a year and a half. (They are paid for.) If anyone knows where I can find Charles, please let me know. We may be moving to a new house soon, and each extra item can be quite a nuisance. This Month's Ad
For Sale: 150 painted 25mm Napoleonic Prussian Landwehr. $70
Rescuing Rapid Fire When I first saw Rapid Fire, with its beautiful photos and many scenarios and simple rules, it seemed to be just what I needed as a kid -- some fast and simple rules to put my 1/72nd scale tank models and infantry into battle. (I actually won the rules by stopping a German armor attack in Tunisia with a smaller US force at a convention. Winning certainly makes you like a set of rules.) However, after many people snatched up these rules, lots of problems were found with them. Also, they are infantry-centric rules, whereas most WWII rules sets are armor-centric. What I hope to do here is list some of the problems with the rules and offer some simple corrections. Click here for a good but short introduction. This Rapid Fire web site has rules for pre-game bombardment, close combat, and command and control. This web site has rules for using Rapid Fire in the Modern era. Here are some rules to use Rapid Fire for Vietnam.
WWII data An interesting web site on the Italian effort in WWII: http://www.comandosupremo.com (Believe! Obey! Fight!) Eagle Games (Product Release) - 1443 PST Discussion Long-anticipated, NAPOLEON IN EUROPE, the epic game of grand strategy and tactical battles during the age of Napoleon (1796 - 1815) is now shipping. Features include hundreds of detailed miniature pieces representing armies of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and leaders allow the players to recreate the look and feel of the battles of the era, including a gigantic, mounted 46" x 36" gameboard representing Europe of Napoleon's time. Price: $59.99. - Chris
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May 29Hobby News
Ulimate Miniatures, the company that took over the lines of Jack Scruby figures, will be closing their doors on July 1. If you have any partial Scruby units that you need to complete or you need some figures in a scale that only Scruby made, *order now!* Two of the three partners are too ill to continue. Expect the business to be put up for sale.
There is a new glossy military history magazine dedicated to just Italian military history. It is called "Coorte". I will let you figure out what that means. The good news is that it is in English and you can buy it with dollars. Their advertising claims that they feature maps and orders of battle, and the samples on their web site look pretty good.
If you want to see what MWAN (Midwestern Wargamers Association Newsletter) is like, just see me at a club meeting. (Don't forget to bring your dues with you!) I will be carrying extra issues. In the latest issue I particularly like the WarPigs article (Pigs at Sea?) for pre-dreadnaught naval combat. One of my gazillion pokers in the fire is a refight of the Battle of the Yalu, between the Chinese and Japanese in 1895. WarPigs should allow me to do that, as soon as I can figure out ramming damage. (The author left that out and his e-mail doesn't work.) People and Places in the News Bill Clark will be retiring in August and moving to Oregon. If he still owes you money, you'd better serve that subpoena quickly. He will be building a new house, starting with the wargame room. When you are driving in a bad situation sometimes, you've probably wished that you were driving a really big truck. Well, that didn't help Ken Winn when he was rear-ended by a tour bus. He is steadily recovering, but probably won't get behind the wheel again. The Gauntlet hobby shop in Modesto has gone out of business. Bob Orr, who was a partner in an earlier version of that shop will now be stocking games and figures in his Santa Fe hobby shop in Riverbank, which used to be trains only. Riverbank is just N. of Modesto. Recent meetings of the Monterey Club (Penisula Area Wargamers) at the YMCA have been very sparsely attended. Most of the action has moved to a game store downtown called "Game Habitat". Contact someone you know and arrange for a game there, or call the store and ask what the schedule is. 724 Abrego St. (831) 655-5240. If you are trying to e-mail Tom Rogers, forget it. He caught a virus, and the computer store had to delete his Internet software to kill it. Hopefully he will have something working soon. In the meantime, there is some sort of postal thing, involving stamps, I think. New Items in the Hobby Shop D&J is now carrying copies of "Mein Panzer", 1:1 WWII rules that are pushing hard to displace Battleground. They have the MP supplments too. A new set of rules from Britain are "Tafelblitz", designed to reproduce large WWII battles by making each stand represent a battalion. It looks a lot like Rapid Fire. A third newcomer to the rules rack is "Battlelines", which focuses on American wars from 1776 to 1865. I don't know anything about them, but there are several Battlelines games scheduled for Historicon. The latest issue of the Courier is in (#84). How Was KublaCon? It was bigger and more well attended than last year. Unfortunately, all of the growth was in fantasy events. The good news is that most of the new fantasy events were based on models and miniatures, and not cards or role-playing. There were at least two large tents put up outside the buildings to accomodate the new games. Next year KublaCon will be moving to the hotel in Burlingame where Celebrate History was held. The historical miniature games were very good and attracted a lot of players on Saturday. Sunday, however, was shaky. The selection was a little less in the morning, and almost nothing in the afternoon or evening. The board games event was swept over by the German family games, with almost no military games left. Avalanche Press tried to counter this with demos of its games, but to little avail. The dealer's room was a little better than last year, but was even more fantasy-oriented. There was a lot more open gaming. Each game had one prize donated by a dealer. Because of the imbalance, the best player in a historical game might recieve a fantasy prize. Advertisements The following ad is from Mark Hauck of Alameda. You can contact him at wintermute9@juno.com. He is willing to deal.
World War One BooksPrimary SourcesLewis Gun Manual. This is the field manual issued in 1917 to the troops. The cover and binding are in great shape but the pages are very dog-eared. Everything you wanted to know about the Lewis machine gun. $11.00
Tanks, Gas, Bombings, Liquid Gas by Captain S.A. Dion 1917.
Secondary Sources The German A7V Tank by Maxwell Hundleby (hardback with dustcover). The best WW1 tank book by the expert on the subject! $45.00 (79.95 retail) - Chris
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May 6Hobby NewsGary may have more information, but it looks as though SBGC will have its August meeting in the Scenario Game Shoppe in Fremont. And don't forget the KublaCon convention at the Oakland Hilton in 3 weeks. New Figures I do go on about 20mm; but someone has to. There are new 20mm figures coming out of Russia. The maker tried to get some attention by putting a few up for auction on eBay. Unfortunately, he appears to have taken plastic 1/72nd scale figures and made molds of them. Now it may be hard for the original manufacturers to go after this guy, but we don't have to buy from him. A more positive development is Irregular Miniatures continuing expansion of their 20mm line. They are now producing figures for ancient armies, the 18th century, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the ACW, and the Spanish CW. This will put pressure on Kennington, which is trying to expand into some of those areas, as well as the Boxer Rebellion. Kennington does not have a web site, and they don't mention their US distributor in their MWAN ad, but you can get them from Combined Arms, Inc. Combined Arms also carries a very interesting item for aerial gamers. It is an aerial photo that has been printed onto a 4 foot by 9 foot map, and has been overlaid with a hex grid. Hubba hubba! Oh, $280 first, please. (Aerial Terrain Concepts) Military History Trivia: Hiram Maxim, Howard Lewis, and Benjamin Hotchkiss were all Americans who could not persuade the US Army to buy their designs for machine guns. So they went to Europe, where they found a market. If you could not figure out last month's trivia question, you still have time. The club member is still putting up the same ad on Bartertown, still harassing the readers to buy his stuff, approximately every week. Even though many modern countries base their national tricolor flags on the French tricolor, the French were not the first to use a tricolor as a national flag. The Dutch did it first, around 1600. Before World War One, it was called a greatcoat. After WWI, it was called a trenchcoat. Games Readers of the old paper version of the club newsletter might remember a battle scenario I included in one issue -- a fight between British, French and Germans in the German African colony of Togo in 1914. Now you can buy and play a board game based on this campaign. It is called Togoland and it is available from Khyber Pass Games (http://www.isigames.com/kpg/kpg_main.html). They have several other games, mostly about colonial subject, such as the French conquest of Dahomey. But they also have a game on the Jewish revolt against the Romans. All their games are DeskTop Published, which means you have to mount the counters, but each game is only $10. Books Every now and then I fall into one of the hazards of buying books about the more obscure subjects of military history. You may have fallen into this trap yourself. It is the PhD dissertation or Master's thesis disguised as a book. Some eras and conflicts have so little written on them that publishers grab these tomes and slap them into hard covers. If you order your books by mail, you may get a surprise. Another form "turkey books" take is the collection of academic papers, usually given at some event honoring a dead professor. Why are these academic papers bad books? They have almost no illustrations whatsoever. Maybe a few tables, but almost no maps, orders of battle, or contemporary photos or paintings. Just pages and pages of dense text. And most of the text is worthless. The author will go on and on in detail about how much the average soldier was paid per week (two kroners, three farthings, a loaf of bread, and some salt) or document with painful accuracy just how much grain was shipped out of Antwerp in 1635 and how that affected the continental politics of the time which then had such and such an effect on the armies. One way to avoid these doorstops is took look at the illustration and map count in the advertisement for the book. Good book sellers will list these. Avoid ones with low numbers or no such numbers. Another clue to look for is that the publisher is a university, or the author is a Dr. or a PhD. The Renaissance era is still a little short of popular reading material, and here are some specific books to watch out for: "Sweden and Muscovy in the Thirty Years War" $65 "Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe" $18 "The Art of War in Italy, 1494 - 1529" (out of print) I am sure you can think of some others. For a good overview of Renaissance Warfare, try _The Renaissance at War_ by Arnold. It is part of the new Cassin military history series. The Most Important News of All The Der Weinerschnitzel restaurant across the street from D&J Hobbies has closed. It is shut down, out of business. For many of us, the practice of playing games is intricately linked to eating junk food; something we can obtain quickly and hold in our hands. And for nitrate fiends like myself, Der W is a particularly good fix. Well, there is always Jack in the Box, and the Restaurant of the Month at the end of the strip mall. Suspicious activities Someone put an auction up on eBay for all the master molds (9 inch centrifugal molds), for all the Frontier Miniatures figures, 15mm, 25mm, and micro armor. The poster was anonymous, with no bidding or selling history, and no one bid on the lot. Starting bid was $10K. No photos. And centrifugal was mis-spelled. I called Haus of Stuff in Florida, which makes and sells Frontier Miniatures. The owner said that he has not sold the molds and is still using them. He purchased them and the rights to sell the figures from Modeller's Mart, which originated the line about 20 years ago. Keep alert for any info related to this. Recently the Last Square advertised on Bartertown that they were having a clearance sale of It Figures 20mm WWI figures. Normally $2.99, now on sale for $1.79. Fortunately, before I jumped at the offer, I checked with the War Times Journal (www.wtj.com) that now markets It Figures. The same exact packages with the same number of figures in them normally retail for $1.85. So, $1.14 of the discount does not exist. Historicon For the first time ever, I may actually be able to go to Historicon. So, I need advice from those who have been there. I need to know practical things, like: is it worthwhile staying in the Lancaster Host itself, or is it too busy and noisy from the convention? Is it worth the trouble to rent a car? (Assume I have already been to Gettysburg and Hershey). Ads Nothing this month. Come visit my patch of ground at the KublaCon flea market. Bring lots of cash. - Chris
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April 2Club NewsThe bond measure for the new Cupertino library passed, so construction will begin this year, but the latest word is that we can use the Community Room through September. We are looking for a new site. Dave Love is selling his massive 20mm Vietnam collection. If you have ever had a burning desire to recreate Apocalypse Now, call the Lovemeister. The set even includes a Playboy helicopter with three playmates! New Old Ancient Rules A group of wargamers have formed a new publishing company called The Four Horsemen and they have revived the old WRG Ancient rules (7th edition). The "new" rules are called Warrior, and sell for $16. The first army list book covers the Biblical period, so it is called Biblical Warrior ($12). Miniature Games from Russia Zvezda, the Russian plastic miniature company, has come up with several new boxed games using its miniatures sets and terrain pieces, mounted maps and simple rules. Included are: 8201: Battle of Kulikov, 1380 AD. Russian Knights battle Mamai's Golden Horde at Kulikov. 8202: The Battle of Lake Peipus, 1242 AD - Russian Knights battle the Teuton Knights in old Russia. 8203: Marathon 490B.C. The Greeks unite against the Persians and the Asia Minor Army. Expect games based on the battles of Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar. They also have excellent seige equipment, in 1/72 scale. For more information, go to http://soccerfooty.com/Zvezda.htm#Hex. Conventions Cold Wars 2002 - almost as good as the Historicon convention 19 - 21 April 2002, Lancaster, PA. http://www.hmgs.org Don't forget KublaCon! May 24 - 27 Oakland Hilton http://www.kublacon.com Shops The Last Square, the only distributor of Realmwerkz's 1/144 scale metal WWII airplane models, has sold off their remaining stock. Contacting Realmwerkz and ordering these models has become very difficult since the owner entered divorce proceedings. Has the firm gone belly up? If anyone knows, please sound out.
Other News Dave, of D&J Hobbies, is due back to work soon. He's gonna live! Trivia question: What SBGC member keeps posting the same ad to Bartertown over and over and over again, even going so far as to harangue readers to buy his figures? If you don't subscribe to MWAN - Midwestern Wargamer's Association Newsletter - you *must*. It has become the de facto national magazine for American wargamers. It has ads with new product announcements from almost all major distributors and many manufacturers. It has rules sets, classified ads, a letters section. Recent issues are usually around 150 pages. Unlike the Courier, it arrives regularly and fairly frequently, and the editor is open to material from anyone. To subscribe for 1 year (6 issues), send $35 with your address to: Hal Thinglum 22554 Pleasant Drive Richton Park, IL 60471 Chris's personal ads - new stuff
- Chris
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