"1970s Vintage Napoleonic Images" Topic

G'Day

Copied from my blog

"Something else from my recent trip to Townsville, these images are a collection of slides I discovered amongst my Dad's wargaming collection. I borrowed them and had them scanned and copied to a CD. I believe that the original photographs were taken about June 1974 and shows French and British armies facing each other across the tabletop during a display at a school fete. The display was made up from the collections of my Dad and the wargaming group he was part of at the time. The miniatures are 25mm Miniature Figurines (minifigs) and some Hinchliffe brand miniatures as well."

Follow the link to see the images – link

Cheers

Derek

Reminds me of typical games in that period – on similar terrain, with similar troops. Thanks for the memories.

Rick

Our only difference was we used Custom Cast Der Kreigspeilers. Nobody used washes then. :-D

Thanks for the pics.

John

Impressive collection.

Gawd life was simpler back then. No worrying about whether figures matched others in style/size – you were lucky to find anyone making what you wanted, and even luckier to be able to get a hold of them.

Thanks for the pix!

Thanks that was a blast from my past too.

We normally used table-tennis tables to play on which were pained green to start with but it was very similar.

I still have some of the elite voltigeurs featured in your dad's photos that are providing excellent service in my own armies. Did your dad pass on the figures to you are is he still pushing them around the table?

David

I like the red wheels on the British gun. "Imported" Minifig & Hinchliffe were the latest thing in the 70s-- much better than Scruby 25mm and flaking plastics.Several members of our group have large armies of them but the Airfix plastics have crumbled long ago--"ashes to ashes, earth to earth….".

Quite a few Les Higgins 25mms in there with the French too.

If you are interested in this kind of thing (but the earlier Hinton Hunt, Minifigs S Range, Alberken and Minifigs ho/oo 20mm figures, Les Higgins and others), can I point you at my three vintage figure blogs

The Hinton Hunter
findthatfigure.blogspot.com

The Lone S Ranger
minifigssrange.blogspot.com

The Old Metal Detector
link

and the Vintage Wargaming blog,
vintagewargaming.blogspot.com

which includes material reproduced with permission from early wargames magazines including Wargamer's newsletter, Miniature Warfare, and various Jack Scruby publications.

Those figures are excellent; thanks for sharing those photos.

And thanks to you too, Old Metal Detector.

@photocrinch; Unfortunately not. They were sold on some years ago. Which is why I was pleased to find these slides. But he is still around and pushing miniatures around though (and lurking somewhere around here too).

Cheers

Derek

Excellent stuff – and doesn't it mnake the point that with simpler figures people tended to get more painted.

Nothing against modern ultra-detail scuplts, but if you want a couple of hundred a side games then you need either simpler figures or a simpler painting method (dip).

My old wargame figures were made by Jack Scruby in Visalia, Calif. I still have my British and French Napoleonic Armies.

This was the era which got me into wargaming, and displays like this played a strong part in my induction. They are the sort of thing that make you want to charge at the enemy armed with nothing but a pointy stick. Jumpers for goal posts etc.

I'm painting a battalion of 36 old school 25mm Old Guard figures at the moment. I think they are Hinchcliffe.

Great pics, thanks for sharing. What rules were being used? I thought it might be CLS but not based for such. I still have all my 1970 figs and use them. Unflocked bases and ping pong table, the good old days.

"Several members of our group have large armies of them but the Airfix plastics have crumbled long ago--"ashes to ashes, earth to earth…."."

??? Some of my Airfix plastics are well over 30 years old. No crumbling here.

It depends on the batch of Airfix-some have lasted & others crumble at the barest touch.

"It depends on the batch of Airfix-some have lasted & others crumble at the barest touch."

On that basis, at least SOME of the hundreds of the little fellas I have should have crumbled. None have.

I too have many airfix figs that will snap off arms and legs, heads bases and crumble too. Mike is lucky to have kept his flexible. They do not just break down like lead rot. You need to handle them to notice.

@Bob and his dog – I spoke to Dad last night and the rules they were probably using were out one of those books written by Don Featherstone. I can remember colour coded'range sticks' been used for artillery fire and a temple for canister fire.

Cheers

Derek