Battlegames 3

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I’m sorry. You’ve waited a long time for this issue, and those of you

without access to the internet must have wondered what on earth had happened.

It’s at times like these that being a one-man-band editor/designer/publisher really becomes a torment. I’d like to have been able to sit down with each and every one of you and

explain precisely what was going on, but of course, real life isn’t like that, and constraints of time and resources (which translates as lack of money and staff) meant that the best I could do was broadcast the situation as widely as I could on various websites and hope that the message reached as many of you as possible. Clearly, those of you who don’t happen to frequent the right places on the Web, or who don’t have internet access at all (yes, there are indeed still some) will have felt left in the dark, and for that, I apologise.

So, what happened? A combination of things arose, which started with serious concerns about my elderly, disabled mother’s well being. Some aspects of her condition have been deteriorating in recent months, and so the ugly subject of potentially having to move her into full-time residential care arose. Anyone who has had to deal with such things knows that this can open the proverbial can of family worms and, quite apart from being faced with the practical problems of how such a move might be accomplished and afforded, there is also an emotional minefield that needs to be dealt with – not just one’s own, but also those of other family members.

My accountant then also popped up to remind me that the year end accounts for both Battlegames and my graphic design business were due, together with a host of ancillary business plan revisions and tedious ‘stuff’, and I realised that I would be kidding myself to imagine that I could cope with it all. Something had to give, and that something was, reluctantly, Battlegames.

But now, here we are, with fresh ink on paper, pixels on screens, and newsletters and podcasts to boot. Please sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t already done so – it will really help me to keep you all informed about just what is happening here at Battlegames HQ.

Finally, on a sad note, this summer saw the passing not only of Paddy Griffith, but also wargame pioneer and WRG stalwart Bob O’Brien. Our condolences to his family.

Editorial Contents

Cover: Baccus Wars of the Roses 6mm miniatures in the collection of Bob Barnetson. See his painting article on page 14

Editorial 3

Waiting in vine 4Diane Sutherland, UK

Forward Observer 6Mike Siggins, UK

The passing of Paddy Griffith 8John Drewienkiewicz and Richard Clarke, UK

Paddy’s last hurrah 10Paddy Griffith, UK

Painting the little blighters 14Bob Barnetson, Canada

Test flying Bag the Hun 2 17Tim Beresford, UK

Table top teaser 22C. S. Grant, UK

Simplicity in practice 26Neil Thomas, UK

Recce 29New goodies reviewed by our team

The Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal: update 38Our campaign to help support ex-service personnel continues

Events September/October 2010 39Richard Tyndall, UK

The Battlegames shop 40The place to order your subscription and much more

Competition and classified ads 42Win Area 9 15mm scenic items worth nearly £60!

In-depth interviews with hobby personalities and reviews of miniatures, strategy boardgames and wargaming rules

MNew! Miniatures Review VidcastsM

“View from the Veranda” specials with Henry HydeM

Available direct fromwww.meeplesandminiatures.co.uk

or subscribe via iTunes

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Waiting in vineThe continuing tales of a wargames widow

by Diane Sutherland

I have to admit my excitement when I spotted the wargamer looking at pictures of vineyards. Maybe we were in for a trip to the south of France? Tuscany

perhaps? Then, when he asked where my sewing box was hidden, I was brought back to stark reality again.

bWe wanted to make some Greek vineyards. This project is heavily reliant on our old friend Mr White Wood Glue.

You need:Mounting board•White wood glue or PVA•Sand and paint mix•White acrylic paint•Thread (black or brown)•Round wooden sticks (window blinds, •cocktail sticks or kebab skewers)Woodland Scenics Coarse Turf•We began by cutting strips of the mounting board, opting

for 10cm x 3cm. Our vineyards are designed for 20mm gaming, but they would do just as well for 25-28mm.

Next, we dropped three generous blobs of the glue on to the strips. One was roughly in the middle and the other two a little way from each end. You will need to let the glue get tacky, so leave it for ten minutes or so and concentrate on the poles to hold up your vines.

We cut 2cm sections of bamboo blind, three for each of the vineyard bases. You might want to make that 2.5-3cm for 25-28mm figures and perhaps 1.5 for 15mm figures. Bear in mind that most Mediterranean style vines are picked by hand, so the height of the vines should not be any taller than your figures.

Make sure that the 2cm sections of blind have one fairly flat end to push into the glue blobs. If you fail to do this you will find that the poles are constantly falling over until the glue takes hold. We used a small piece of sandpaper to take off any rough edges and make one end as level as possible. Now push the poles into the blobs of glue. Be patient and allow them to dry overnight.

By morning, the poles should be fairly secure. To save grief later, it is a good idea to do the base next. We used our tried and tested paint and sand mix (about 50/50). If you are feeling lazy and flush with cash, buy some Basetex instead. Liberally paint the bases, not forgetting the edges. Once dry, give the bases a good dry brush with white acrylic paint.

We did not bother painting the poles; you might want to, a simple two-shade colour would do it. Remember, the poles are likely to be sun-bleached, so a light highlight over the top of a darker shade will be sufficient.

This is the exciting part. Give each of the poles a good covering of glue. Then, starting with one of the end poles, wrap the thread around two or three times to get a tight fix. You are aiming to fix the thread about a quarter of the way up the pole. Now twist the thread around the centre

pole, then up to the pole at the other end. Twist the thread around this pole, gradually working up the pole until you are a quarter of the way from the top. Now repeat the process until you are back at the pole you started from, and make two or three last twists to secure the thread. Cut the thread and just push the end of the thread into the wet glue.

Give the poles another coat of the glue and brush glue on to the thread at the same time. Dunk the vineyard section upside down into the Woodland Scenics Coarse Turf. Shake off the excess and set aside to dry. It is a good idea to give it two or three hours.

From experience, it is a good plan to harden everything up to prevent moulting. We sprayed the sections with artist’s fixative and then gave it a precautionary coat of varnish. The net result should be fairly robust despite the fragile components used.

We made ninety sections of vineyard and they took around five minutes each.

bClack, clack, whoosh. I love those sounds. It brings a

smile to my face when I’m vacuuming around the wargamer’s “work station”. It’s my little bit of pleasure and pay-back for him transforming my front room into a garden shed. Little plastic soldiers are best. They swirl around inside the Dyson like a scene from The Time Tunnel. I do send in a rescue team to get them out. Well, sometimes I might. Imagine the horror of needing that tenth man for a unit? When I suggest that the squad could be a man short because he’s wounded, he just rolls his eyes and fumbles fruitlessly under the sofa.

Bamboo sticks glued into place. Note the generous blobs of glue to ensure a good bond. You may have to straighten leaning sticks, but if some are slightly

off true, then this just adds to the effect.

The vine sections with a thorough coat of sand and paint mix applied.

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Now apply another generous coat of PVA to the poles and thread to secure and harden it up. Don’t worry if you get some drips on to the base.

Dry brushing the bases with white acrylic craft paint, our favourite affordable brand is Cryla.

Applying a generous coat of PVA to the poles. Leave them for a few minutes to let the glue get tacky as it will really help with the next stage.

Begin winding the thread at one end of the vine section, starting about a quarter of the way up the pole. Hold the thread firmly as you apply tension.

Gently tap off any excess. It is still quite delicate, but as the PVA dries and hardens handling will be easier. Allow to dry or you’ll end up with bald vines.

The assembled collection of vines drying off and nearly ready for the final fixative and varnish. Mass production always means faster construction.

The thread, which needs to be as taut as possible, is now wound around the poles and secure. Always be generous with the thread.

Dunk the lengths of vine into the Woodland Scenics Coarse Turf. We used a 2:1 mix in favour of an olive shade to a darker green shade, but adjust to suit.

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Wish listOne of the more difficult problems I face in Forward Observer is making a list interesting. I am sure this says, a) don’t do the list, and b) no, really, don’t do it. But every time, I am faced with several products or developments I am moved to mention, but about which there is not that much to say – e.g. necessarily subjective views on figure releases. So, here is my solution. Consider it an experiment. I am calling it On Radar, or things I have seen this month that have ignited the enthusiasm.

A rock and a hard placeI vaguely remember from Physics ‘O’ Level something about equal and opposite forces. On one side I have the very strong desire not to start yet another period; on the other the ever increasing temptations of the AWI and A Very British Civil War. The latter seems to be quite a success based on the volume of pictures and posts on hobby fora, product releases, and from chatting to people at shows. I am not sure it is the Next Big Thing that many manufacturers have been waiting for, but it will fill that role until something better comes along. Bandwagon ho!

Intrigued, I dropped a line to Simon Douglas at Solway Crafts and Miniatures who gets the vast bulk of the credit for making this one such a popular period. They published 1938: A Very British Civil War in December 2008 which has gone on to sell over 1,000 copies, and three further supplements are also selling well. Simon advises that the publications are background focused source books, not rule sets – he hears that gamers are using Great War, Triumph and Tragedy and Rate of Fire among others. I would think that the Lardies’ rules could work as well. Simon thinks that the demographic, “seems to be forty plus, often nostalgic gentlemen, mainly but not exclusively in the UK. Sweden, Germany, the USA, Australia and New Zealand also have a following.”

So why the temptation for me? It largely comes down to the fact that there are no opportunities for British-based gaming after the seventeenth century. As I build my terrain based on England, and essentially see it as a model railway, I am seeing the chance to merge the two. I can see myself fighting among red brick, pantiled buildings, perhaps even some almshouses and cottages, big hedges, oaks and elms. Certainly a train running around in LNER livery (pre-grouping would be even better, but I can’t stretch reality that much), with countryside to match, would certainly make for some good gaming and imagery. But, in the back of my mind, there was always something not right about VBCW. It took a while to work it out. Not the fact that it is fiction, or skirmish level, or even that it is founded on counterfactuals. It was because I couldn’t bring myself to fight over the English countryside. You thought I was odd. Now you have the proof!

For all that I am no stranger to the period, in many ways it is a favourite, and when I get my finger out, my Between The Wars game should appear. The appeal is obvious: the chance to use some excellent figures from Musketeer, Empress (ex-Anglian), Gripping Beast, Copplestone, Great War, Artizan, Pulp, Brigade, Bolt Action and the rest. Not to mention the tempting, exotic and often downright barmy vehicles from Force of Arms, Empress, Copplestone

Forward observerCounterfactual: a boardgamer who makes things up?

by Mike Siggins

and BEF. There is the obvious Dad’s Army approach, the opportunity to deploy imaginative and esoteric forces, and not a single gamer can pull you up on uniform details.

Simon concludes, “Another important feature is the cooperative nature of 1938. From three writers on the first book to, now, more than twenty player-writers have been involved in developing the project. More is on the way – we now have the allied skills of Pete Barfield, a rather good artist who will be doing illustrations for a series of booklets giving more useful detail on the major factions. In January 2011 (22nd/23rd) we are teaming up with the Albanich show to provide the first 38 Fest, bringing together many of those involved. We have also hired the local arts cinema for a showing of Richard III, a film rather inspirational to the whole project. Although we have plenty more in store for 1938, in late 2011 we will be launching another and complementary project – A Very British Conquest of Space which ambitiously looks at developing an alternative British History from the 1870s to the 1980s”.

Return to the Tufty ClubI have, as regular readers know, been a user of grass tufts since the earliest releases from Silflor. Now it seems one can barely move for companies leaping on the flora bandwagon (Noch, Heki and Busch, not to mention several hobby companies including Realistic

On Radar CommentsCopplestone’s armoured cars Right product, right time.Elite’s 1796 Austrians Peter Morbey’s best work.Empress’ Colonials Ebob and Hicks continue to please.Eureka’s Suvorov Russians Tempting? Not ‘alf!Front Rank’s 40mm AWI Maximum appeal, maximum resistance!GW’s Swan Knights Irresistible.Gripping Beast’s 28mm Hirdmen Possibly the best plastics yet.Minden’s 30mm SYW Hussars Lovely stuff from Mr Ansell and The Guvnor.Musketeer’s VBCW Evocative stuff by Mr Hicks.Otherworld’s retro D&D figures Purestrain nostalgia. Superb!Perry French Hussars 28mm Historex. Too many ideas!Shapeway’s 3D printing service We are getting there, quicker than I thought.Spencer Smith Franco-Prussians A great blend of old and new styles.Steve Barber’s 42mm Aztecs Excellent figures. A new period?TerrainBoard’s, err, Terrain Boards Resin rivers! Looking good.Vallejo’s White Primer Thin, but very, very good.

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Modelling, Treemendus, Fredericus Rex and Kamizukuri), and a visit to even a small model shop reveals a host of second- and third-generation products clamouring for attention. In truth, one still has to be selective, as not all look quite right (some of the greens are hard to believe) and, let’s be honest, the high prices are sobering. Being a mad early adopter, I don’t think I ever worked out what each base was costing me. Now, with the Sterling devaluation and rip-off Britain doing its evil work, I think £15 for 60 tufts is, umm, ‘having a laugh’. But that seems true of much current hobby pricing, and indeed the wider economy.

That said, there are still bargains to be had and, in fairness, the standard is excellent and rising all the time. Multi-shade grass tufts, strips and mats, flowers, vegetables, corn stalks, crops, vines, cacti and a ready made swamp that pretty much nails that terrain feature. They even do tumbleweed. My favourites are Silflor’s ivy, which is just perfect for trees and walls, their Autumn Maple is also excellent. Busch do some amazing grapevines and Realistic Modelling have a superb wirewool foliage material that has many uses. I still have no idea how some of this stuff is made, and I dearly hope some poor soul isn’t sitting at home sticking on leaves. Have a look at Gaugemaster’s and Scenic Express’ web catalogues to see what is out there.

1866 (and all that)My gaming friends and I have a long list of rules and periods we want to try. I am sure many of you will be familiar with this predicament. In some periods we have upwards of ten rule sets for evaluation (which explains why reviews can take a while). Progress largely relies on acquiring/sorting the figures, compromising on basing, planning and organising game sessions, and waiting for the stars, or moon, to be correctly aligned. This, as you know, can take months or even years. Recently, three 1866 rule sets called louder than usual for attention – Real Time’s Wars of Empire I, Bruce Weigle’s 1866, and Repique’s Zouave which is reviewed elsewhere this issue – so I decided

to shortcut the process. In a burst of activity, I made Austrian and Prussian armies using topdown graphics on counters. This means creating each troop type and terrain features using a vector drawing package (or crayons, if you prefer), ‘basing’ them, printing them out in colour, sticking them onto card or MDF, and playing the game. (See below.) You can find loads of similar stuff at www.juniorgeneral.org.

I realise that a handful of you will be saying, “Mmm. A boardgame/miniatures hybrid. Sounds workable, if rather two dimensional,” while most will be wailing loudly and holding up crucifixes. Years ago, I would have been in the latter group but, as part of my mellowing process, I no longer mind. I love figures (obviously), but in some cases I would rather get to play the rules quickly and cheaply. As these squashed armies take me about 10 hours each from start to finish, cost fluppence, provide every single regiment, facing colour and literally unlimited forces (print me another division, Jeeves!), and (best case) we are playing a few days later. On this basis, they are hard to fault. No, obviously, I would not do it for every period, but those we are just trying out? Yessir! In the space of seven weeks (spooky) we have played all three rule sets several times, from a standing start. When was the last time that happened?

Our first game of Bruce Weigle’s 1866, also using counters, was quite an epic. We replayed Nachod, where typically the Austrians are counterattacking the Prussians in Bohemia. The Prussians hold a crest and wood thinly, and have reserves coming up. The Austrians have initial strength advantage and reserves, but not much command talent, yet must take the plateau quickly.

The game had a welcome, chaotic feel, very strong narrative and with some really memorable events: cavalry charges, massed artillery lines, a Pickett’s Charge (or two), Jäger brawling in the woods, at least five brigade assaults, a mêlée that was fought to a standstill, units halting at the most annoying times, a cavalry

force circumnavigating the enemy rear and charging twice without ever once fighting, columns of reinforcements jamming the approach roads, and a series of command choices – go left or right, attack immediately or delay. It was, if nothing else, bloody, and the Austrian storm columns suffered badly. Both sides felt under pressure, as we revealed in the post mortem, and it would be good to play it again to see how differently it panned out.

The rules must be pretty good to generate the excellent period feel, and to control a fast moving style of game. They also do a very credible job of simulating the Dreyse’s effect and Austrian doctrine, but I was surprised at how old style they are – not Old School. While there are large movement distances, there are lots of modifiers, morale checks, die rolls and quite a few tables. I think you would typically be looking at three to four hours upwards for a battle. Nevertheless, as you can tell, I liked them well enough and will return to these and the earlier titles – 1859 and 1870. Of course Mr Weigle’s rulebooks are famously more than just the rules. There is history, plenty of scenarios, tips on making his beautiful terrain, and a very good bibliography. This is, as they say, quite a package and an absolute delight overall.

EndpieceThree conversations with beginners this month. One in person, one by letter (yes, really), and one email. Despite being spread all over the country, they are all telling the same story: recent attendance for the first time at a wargame club, and in each case completely ignored. Now this would be hard to believe if I hadn’t written about it thirty, twenty and ten years ago, and experienced it myself on several occasions. Surely we can’t still be in that stupid position where some clubs advertise, presumably want new members and income, yet don’t have the common courtesy to break off from a game to make someone feel welcome? Unbelievable. I’ll leave you club types to ponder this, but there must be an answer.

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service in various guises, but unblemished by conversion or banana oil. The fact that they were figures at all was enough for him. Command teams were formed and the game played in one of the Sandhurst Lecture Halls with tiered seating. The more senior the position you played, the further from the battlefield you had to sit, with binoculars if you were lucky. Orders were written, then passed to Paddy, who stuffed them into his pocket and distributed them after a variable interlude, i.e. when he remembered.

Having produced his inspirational book Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun (at long last enjoying a reprint by John Curry Events, see www.wargaming.co/books/paddywargamingff/homepage.htm), he then concluded that gaming with figures was overly constraining. He decided that figures were a distraction that narrowed one’s imagination, and around 1980 founded Wargames Developments, dedicated to all forms of wargaming and crisis gaming that did not depend on figures. Had he taken everyone with him, he would have caused the miniature figure industry to collapse (I nearly said melt down!), but you needed imagination and flexibility to go where Paddy was taking us.

WD initially centred around the annual ‘Conference of Wargamers’ at Knuston Hall, where an anarchic crew met over an extended weekend and entertained one another. In helping the Times obituary writer, I attempted to explain the ‘flaming pig simulator’, but the view was that the Times’ readership was not ready for such innovative and dangerous thinking. It would have had to have been accompanied by that Blue Peter health warning: “Don’t try this at home”. Wargames Developments thrives to this day. Paddy had been due to attend its annual conference, but died just days before.

By 1989, the curriculum at Sandhurst had become constrained and Paddy bailed out, moved to Manchester and devoted himself to full-time writing. His output was prolific, and his Rally Once Again (ACW) and Battle Tactics of the Western Front (WWI) were, to me, his most thoughtful and readable books. His illustrated ‘cartoon’ book Battle in the American Civil War was a perfect primer for those who needed pictures as well as words, and perhaps

The passing of Paddy GriffithWargaming and military history mourn the loss of one of its great minds

by Major General John Drewienkiewicz and Rich Clarke

The well-known military historian and highly talented wargamer Paddy Griffith died on 25th June, after an operation for cancer. He was 63.

After gaining a First Class Honours degree in History at Oxford, his career began as a lecturer in the War Studies Department of Sandhurst. There, he rubbed shoulders with other names that resonate in the military history pantheon – Peter Young, Christopher Duffy, David Chandler, John Keegan and Richard Holmes.

During his time at Sandhurst, he founded and ran the Sandhurst Wargames Club in addition to his regular output of thoughtful books that challenged accepted theories. Those of us who knew him then have fond memories of his Committee Games, initially involving only a dozen or so people, but which expanded to become megagames run in the (sadly now defunct) premises of the Army Staff College, where teams could be installed in separate rooms, connected by a telephone exchange. Wellington in the Pyrenees, the opening moves of World War I, and the U-boat War in the Atlantic were all staged there. The U-boat game involved the German team sitting under the tables while Paddy whacked the table tops with a rubber mallet to simulate the depth charges going off.

At the same time, his ‘official’ crisis games brought him to the attention of a wider public and of the establishment. He famously ran Sealion in the mid 1970s with surviving protagonists, as well as running a Vietnam game with Soviet and American generals. His Death of Tito game examined the breakup of Yugoslavia, and he told me that he ran it about 25 times; the results were that the Soviets invaded in the majority of cases, with the Civil War that actually happened being the result only once, and therefore discounted as most unlikely!

In the 1970s, he ran several large games using figures. The games were usually Napoleonic, though the figures were Airfix French Foreign Legion and ACW pressed into

Paddy Griffith 1947-2010

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