"40 years a wargamer(ish)" Topic
76 Posts
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Fredloan | 17 Aug 2017 2:50 p.m. PST |
I think I stared at 8 years old with plastic figures, Cowboys, Indians, and cavalry mostly along with WWII. I was about 30 when I came across Napoleonic figures and they have been my passion the last 29 years. I wish I had more players around here in the Richmond, VA area to break out my almost 4,000 AB figures. |
18CTEXAN | 17 Aug 2017 4:39 p.m. PST |
I got my first Wargaming "stuff" in 1954..a Marx Fort Apache set. All the other kids wanted to be the US Cavalry so I was the Indians. I organized my figures into tribes…Sioux, Cheyenne, etc. and we played battles. I started earning money when I turned 8…as an Electrician "helper" for my father. So I bought more and more figures (but no more Forts…to heck with the US Cavalry!) Soon I had so many Indians no one wanted to play! So until I became an adult I just "soloed". Then I moved into lead figures…so now it has been 60+ years and besides my family it is still my passion…Even the grandkids say….don't mess with Papa's toy soldiers! |
AussieAndy | 18 Aug 2017 2:23 a.m. PST |
I've enjoyed all the posts on this thread, bu Le Breton's is simply wonderful. I started in the mid-1970s with Airfix and Matchbox figures and vehicles. There were several toy shops in my home town that sold them. Buying metal figures from the UK was a nightmare. Writing away for the catalogue. Wait several months. Order the figures. Wait several months. Had to use money orders from the post office. Now I order on-line and things appear a few weeks later. Some things do get better. When my mother bemoans the modern world, I ask her if she would like to go back to a world with children dying from polio, scarlet fever, etc. I would be dead and both my children would be dead without antibiotics. I had two long periods out of the hobby, but I've been back for ten years now and I intend to go on as long as I can. |
Brechtel198 | 18 Aug 2017 3:49 a.m. PST |
I was hooked on toy soldiers as a boy by both my parents and me eldest brother. I remember receiving a bag of Ideal War II American soldiers but the real hook was at Christmas when I was five. My parents bought me two double row sets of Britains toy soldiers, Union and Confederate and I quite literally played with them to death. Of those original 24 figures, I have one left, a Union infantryman kneeling firing. He's been repainted three or four times since, and when I bought the set on my own when I was in the 8th grade (1967) he was the figure that had been taken out of the set when Britains reduced the sets in 1960. So, I had a full set. My eldest brother and I began wargaming in 54mm about the time I received my first Britains, and we made up a set of functional rules. He had his Britains, and I had my growing collection of Britains and even after he went off to college and then West Point, we still had our 'wars' when he was on leave. He was killed in action in Vietnam in late 1967, and I inherited his collection which, of course, I still have along with my veterans. After going off to college myself (1972), the Britains 'lived' in their boxes until about 1984 when they were resurrected and began their travels with me and found an excellent home in a large case for display. When I was stationed in Washington DC I found some antique shops which had various old Britains (at a phenomenal increase in price) and the collection grew until today I have about 10,000 pieces in five cases through the house along with a work room upstairs where I paint and repair. About half or more of the collection is Old Britains, supplemented by new Britains and the Herald, Swoppet, and Eyes Right Britains plastic figures. I also have Staddens, Lassets, Historex, Segom, Marx and Ideal plastic War II figures and accessories, along with assorted flats and some wargame figures. Recent purchases from our recent trip to Europe include new Britains, old Britains, and German flats, with more of the latter incoming. To me, the old metal Britains are the most fascinating and I have about 30 sets still in the box and I have been fortunate in being able to replace those two original Civil War sets from the late 1950s. It's a great hobby and the figures tell a story all their own. If only they could talk! |
Le Breton | 18 Aug 2017 4:25 a.m. PST |
"10,000 pieces" – Wow! That is impressive! And I know from your posts that you have an extensive library too. Your wife must be much more tolerant than mine (actually, everyone's wife is likely more tolerant than mine). And for your brother, I thank you and your family for your sacrifice. It must have been a more than usually hellish war, made only worse by the divided nation at home. We did not lose anyone in Viet Nam in our family – although my cousin was wounded seriously twice (and only avoided being invalided out of the service because of his father's influence at the Pentagon). My father had already resigned his commisson and transferred to work for a government agency. I will pray for your brother, a fallen hero. |
4th Cuirassier | 18 Aug 2017 4:56 a.m. PST |
One of the reasons I was so quick to adopt Napeolonics was because before I started gaming with my miniatures, I used to set them up in battle scenes and then play the sound tracks from the battle scenes of war movies. I used to tape these off the TV. One such was The Longest Day whose opening voiceover is London broadcasting to the Resistance in French: …Priez ecouter d'abord quelques messages personnels… ..with a drumbeat. Still raised the hairs on the back of the neck. I associate warfare with French… Great stories all. Thank you so much. |
Jefthing | 18 Aug 2017 6:33 a.m. PST |
Hate to say this but the biggest selling artist of 1977 was David Soul…. Sounds similar to me. I was 11 in 77 and my mum worked in Radio Rentals. When she worked in the Staines office on Saturdays, and dad was working Saturday shift, she would often bring me in with her so I could spend my pocket money on toys. When I was finally skint, I would wander over to WE Sykes at midday when dad finished work to take me home. It was on one of these days that I wandered into WHSmith and bought a copy of Battle. I had been collecting and playing with soldiers since 1970 and getting to the age when I wanted to do more than lob pen tops at them. This completely bowled me over, but a few weeks later the same shop was flogging off Airfix PSL guides for 35p. I picked up Terry Wise's ACW rules because he wrote Observation Post so they must be good! It took me a while to get started because I only had one pack of Union Infantry, but after a chance find of the Blandford uniform book in a clearance bookshop I had all I needed. Judicious use of Christmas lists, birthday presents and pocket money enabled me to field two armies and fight my first battle just before Christmas 1978. And I was comprehensively defeated by my dad. For those who may know the area, the figures came from Gamleys in Staines and the small Ironmonger's over the road from Magna Karta Skool in Egham. Otherwise I emptied Streets in Ringwood of all its stock over the summer of 1978 (it peed down throughout the holiday and it was a good way of keeping me occupied) and a couple of packs from the toy shop in Swanage (the only shop on the list that still exists). And I remember painting artillery listening to Gary Numan… I had some great solo games with these and 1/32 figures in the garden using modified Recon rules. I had no other contact with wargamers until I joined Staines Wargamers in late 1983 (soon after Depeche Mode released Everything Counts) and started 'proper' wargaming (whatever that is). Jef XXX |
deadhead | 18 Aug 2017 6:55 a.m. PST |
I cannot believe how young you all are. As I was born they were finally settling down across that parallel, to stop fighting in Korea. Nearly 64 years later…..well, not a lot of progress there. best thread in ages this is……… |
Trajanus | 18 Aug 2017 9:42 a.m. PST |
Anyone of a certain age who has not read this should be drummed out of the Regiment in disgrace! link |
18CTEXAN | 18 Aug 2017 10:56 a.m. PST |
One of many great Wargaming memories occurred in 1963 in Houston, Texas at the Sakowitz Department store….a very high-end store that sold mink coats and other expensive non-"useful" stuff (in the 1960s you got to have "real money" to buy a mink coat…what with the temperature in May to November anywhere between 65 and 105). Anyway, it was a Wargame put on by members of the "Sandhurst Corp of Cadets"….or at least that is how I remember it. These were Brits in very smart outfits totally unsuited for Texas. But they looked very military and very professional. They were re-fighting the Battle of Waterloo in 54mm on a 6 by 24 ft. table. The figures were well painted and the sight was spectacular. However, it was almost impossible to understand the chap that was giving the "blow by blow" account. We needed someone to do an "English to Texan" translation. From that moment on I was hooked on Napoleonics! I wonder how those "chaps" ended up. They are bound to be out of the military 54 years later…unlike me who is still trying to refight/win the Napoleonic Wars! |
Brechtel198 | 18 Aug 2017 12:05 p.m. PST |
Deadhead, I turn 65 this December… Sincerely, K |
John Miller | 18 Aug 2017 3:01 p.m. PST |
I keep hoping that the comments will reveal someone who will be older then I am. No such luck so far. I used to receive Marx playsets for Christmas and birthdays as a kid. The Alamo, Fort Apache, some kind of ancient castle. I discovered a shop in Gettysburg that still carries them, to my amazement. Brechtel198: I share your fascination with Britains figures. I was quite enamored of them as a kid, (still am). Was fortunate to have saved a few dozen of them from the 50s & 60s. |
HappyHussar | 18 Aug 2017 10:51 p.m. PST |
I started playing more serious strategy games (post-Risk) at the age of 13 in 1974 when I picked up a copy of AH's Luftwaffe. My dad and I could not figure out how to play it so it sat for years. I played it one time after that against an opponent and a few times solo. Boardgames occupied most of my time until I saw folks playing Napoleonic miniatures at our club on a local Cal State campus. One of those guys that I played at our club (with my Scruby 25mm Russians) is on this forum and remains a profound influence on me – we still communicate to this day. 2.5 corps of Russians later I was solidly hooked on miniatures. You could play endless amounts of battles with them (once painted). I sold the Russians to a friend of mine – he still has them – and painted the X Corps (MacDonald's) in Napoleon's La Grande Armee' of 1812. I later went on to paint the Legion of the Vistula as well. I then sold off all of my 25mm Napoleonics and took up 15mm painting. An army of Trojans sneaked in there at one point. I also played the man to man miniature rules "Sword and Spear" – lots of fun and not much of a monetary investment too. Important for a youth of 15 ;) I painted a lot of the OB for the Battle of Little Round Top 1863. I really liked Johnny Reb rules – the only drawback being the complicated charge rules. But still I enjoyed them. During this time I learned the "black wash" method and am still a bigger fan of it than the "highlighting" method. It just seems more realistic. It revolutionized my painting experience. I also learned how to paint eyes. I became very good at it and it got comments from my fellow players. At one point I painted a battalion of 25mm French using the black wash method, took them to the home of an old friend who still has 16k castings and the guys were impressed. They remembered my droll looking Minifigs of the past. My new look was a tremendous leap from those teen days. Added to the Yanks and Rebs were Landsknechts of the REN period. I painted a rather large army of Burgundians. I had picked up Swedes and planed on painting most of the early 30 Years War Swedes until my eyes gave way. My eyes would be in severe pain after a session of painting. I was a tad under 30 and already done. In 2014 I returned to live in Los Angeles after 9 wonderful years in Idaho and got reacquainted with several of my miniatures players of the past. Two of them own very large collections – again, one of them is up on this forum from time to time. I find that because of a stroke condition I can no longer handle a miniatures battle. Its difficult to mentally focus on the rules, move to contact to avoid getting my troops run over, etc. Just too much. Since 1996 I have enjoyed playing the Talonsoft/John Tiller Software computer games. The interface is easy on my eyes, the battles are fun to play and I dont have to worry about a setup area either. Having worked on 10 computer projects (9 of them Napoleonic and 1 is WW2) I have become much more educated on the Napoleonic period as a result. The biggest honor I have had is to have the late Dr David Chandler respond to a letter I sent him via a friend that knew him and who still stays in touch with the family. I tucked the letter into my copy of "Campaign of Napoleon." Dr. Chandler got to see two of the computer wargames I worked on before he passed away. It was a joy to hear that. As a teen reading his books I never dreamed that I would be able to give back something to the community especially to someone that we all looked up to. I am glad I got the chance to play many many miniatures wargames as a youth. I was usually the youngest guy in the game. It was an honor to be accepted among adults like that. Dont forget to involve teens if you can in your games. They may drift over to Warhammer or some of the games the younger folks play these days but their involvement is important for the historical gaming community. Take them under your wing, help them be better players AND painters! |
VVV reply | 19 Aug 2017 2:09 a.m. PST |
"VVVreply: do you remember the wargaming store down the Pantiles in T. Wells?" Certainly do, downstairs in the basement. And Crowborough was where I was living at the time. We had a small wargames club there, playing in someones large house a chap called Paul Burtron I think. |
Elbow Mac | 19 Aug 2017 3:39 a.m. PST |
A group of us at school started with airfix and, I think it would be, Charles Grant's rules. Sometime around 1972 I would think. I recall it required a long roundshot stick to see where the shot bounced. We didn't have one long enough so joined two together, this was not straight so our shot made a significant curve to the left half way. Next was metal minifigs.(Russian) We then had a go at ancients (I was Carthage) and at some stage ECW. (Royalist). In fact while clearing out some boxes yesterday I found my ECW figures, A lot more than I remembered (several hundred) maybe I should get painting them at last, is this a record for unpainted minis? (Over 40 years). Maybe Hannibal will show up too. |
Garryowen | 19 Aug 2017 5:04 a.m. PST |
True wargaming began for me in 1959 or 1960 at the age of 13 or 14 with Scruby's 30mm figures. I started playing with toy soldiers by age five and had lots of plastic figures, mostly Marx. I did get some Britains, Heralds and a few others, but they were quite expensive for me then. I started painting with gloss enamels on my plastics around age 12 I think. Then I discovered Bussler Miniatures in 54mm. Through Bussler I discovered flat Floquil paint. Then through a friend of my father's, I discovered the Miami Valley Military Miniature Society in Dayton Ohio. That led to learning about Imrie, Stadden etc. I started seriously painting 54mm figures as collector pieces. But through the MVMMS at age 13 or maybe 14, I met Duke Seifried and that led to the 30mm Scruby's and Napoleonic wargaming. That led to everything else since then. I was a manufacturer of 30mm Custer figures and 54mm collector figures of various periods. This business, Bugle and Guidon, was started with my dear, now deceased, friend, Stan Glanzer. It got to be too much work for part time and not enough money by a long shot to be full time for both Stan and me, so I sold out to Stan who joined Duke. I am still very active in wargaming, but have not painted a collector figure for a number of years. Tom |
Legion 4 | 19 Aug 2017 6:11 a.m. PST |
I started war gaming in the '60s. Many things have changed since then. And all for the better IMO. As some have mentioned here, I too had a vast amount of the old Marx toy company's stuff. I had 2 older cousins who gave me their old Marx stuff as they grew up. I had like 3-4 of the Ft. Apache sets, as well the Marx ACW, AWI, WWII, etc., etc. |
donlowry | 19 Aug 2017 9:01 a.m. PST |
When I was born, Hitler's panzers were rampaging across Poland. I don't know if it was Marx or not, but I had a frontier fort of some kind, in the late '40s. I still have a few vinyl figures from that set, since painted and repainted as 54mm ACW figures. I also had scads of WW1 and WW2 metal soldiers, somewhat larger than 54mm. Had to give those up when my family moved to Detroit. I discovered Britains 54mm metal ACW figures in the early '50s -- bought a bunch on a visit to Windsor, Canada. Not long after that I discovered Bussler's 54mm minis, and eventually Imrie-Risley and others. But I was a collector, not a gamer. I got into board wargames in the mid-60s, but it wasn't until I got into the mail-order hobby business that I discovered wargaming with miniatures, through Gary Gygax's articles in the IW and Panzerfaust magazines. As for WW2 specifically, I remember painting a set of Airfix Germans while I still lived in Indiana, so probably 1972, but my first WW2 miniature game that I can recall was after I moved to Maine, in 1973 -- broke up a bunch of Rocco Minitanks boxes and had a battle in my front yard with Tom Wham and Pete Bennett, using Fast Rules. |
Legion 4 | 20 Aug 2017 7:46 a.m. PST |
As some also have mentioned, I too had huge stocks of Airfix and ROCO ! |
Rod MacArthur | 20 Aug 2017 11:50 p.m. PST |
Well I am 74 and had toy soldiers as a child, but proper wargaming started for me in about 1960, so I would say 57 years ago. I lived in Southampton and visited a model soldier exhibition in a department store. It was organised by Don Featherstone and Tony Bath, before Don had published War Games, and before Tony formed the Society of Ancients. As a result of that exhibition I became one of a group who met for wargaming, mainly at Don's house, but occasionally at Tony's, until I joined the British Army a couple of years later. One of the other new wargamers, and my main opponent, was Neville Dickinson, who later founded Minifigs. You can see my full wargaming history in the "about" page on my website: link I am still painting lots of figures (Jacobite Rebellion being my current obsession), but have not done much actual wargaming recently. I must get back to it at our local club in Tunbridge Wells. Rod |
Trajanus | 21 Aug 2017 1:25 a.m. PST |
Interesting the number of postings here from those of us who won't see 50 or even 60 again. OK that's defined buy the OP but might be some fuel to the "greying hobby" argument. |
legatushedlius | 22 Aug 2017 9:13 a.m. PST |
I still use enamels and have done since I started painting Airfix figures in 1970. Modern enamels dry very quickly: I can't think that I have ever had to wait for a colour to dry before doing the next bit. I find acrylics dry too fast and the colours are too bright. I only use acrylics for metallic parts. |
Dave Knight | 25 Aug 2017 12:27 p.m. PST |
I am a youngster, only 60, toy soldiers and airfix kits were a big part of my childhood and I played a few games at school in 74 and 75. I joined my first club in 1978, Washington Wargames Club (Durham UK) and have played regularly ever since. My current club is Falkirk and District – if any of you are ever in the area why don't you look us up I have always been a gamer first, with a strong interest in military history. I paint a bit but am afraid I find it a bit of a chore. These days what I like best is variety so I am always up for a new set of rules anywhere in real or imagined time and space. Great thread by the way – I have been a little disenchanted with TMP recently but this is it at its very best |
Andy ONeill | 27 Aug 2017 5:54 a.m. PST |
I used to really like enamels. Acquired an allergy to the thinner though. That seems to have gone. Maybe with most of my hair. I prefer acrylics now though. You can use extender to increase the open time. If you use Atelier interactive you can re-open them for a while after they're touch dry using just water. And of course you can mix paints so they're as bright or dull as you like. The modern humbrol enamels I tried a while back weren't anywhere near the quality I recall from way back. I heard that was because the original works burnt down. Did they bring manufacturing back from China or wherever they outsourced to? |
4th Cuirassier | 28 Aug 2017 11:18 a.m. PST |
I don't know if it applied to hobby enamels but a few years ago the specs of car paints were altered in a way that took all the body out of them. I had a Stag restored and the guys who did it reckoned they had to paint every car black first before they painted it any other colour. Some environmental neurosis no doubt. |
Teodoro de Reding | 28 Aug 2017 3:00 p.m. PST |
This has been a fascinating thread. I would have liked to join in earlier but somehow got de-verified. I still use the enamels of my youth. My gaming started at 7 or 8 (born 1950) with the advent of the Timpo "Battle of Waterloo" series: my granny gave my older brother Wellington (mounted, posh box) and 4 infantry and I got the Corsican ogre (mounted, posh box) with 4 guys in bearskins (was familiar with bearskins: Granny lived in Victoria so Trooping the Colours, Queen's birthday etc. were standard fare). Well I knew who these two gentlemen were from the way my Dad dried my hair (fore and aft then sideways with the towel) and I got the enemy! With better uniforms. (Even if wrong – actually Restoration Garde royale). My brother wasn't interested, but I was hooked. Step 2 was Day 1 (alone) at the junior library (aged 9?). The infant library had had nice displays; this just had alphabetical rows. I landed at Z none the wiser and started working backwards till a title caught my eye: "Captain of Foot," by Ronald Welch. Marvellous book about Captain Chris Carey of 43rd Foot (LI) in Spain. Bought and reread it a few years ago – amazingly accurate. Have quite seriously been addicted to the Peninsula War ever since that day in 1959 or 1960. But the BoW series was wound up. Tearful letters to Timpo were of no avail, tours of toyshops on holiday just rounded up Bluchers (Yes there were Prussians). Years of playing on the sitting room floor – neighbour delighted to discover this and gave me her dead brother's (killed in the War) Britains etc. Discovered new Britains (cuirassiers). Step 3, 1962: "Wargames" by Donald Featherstone. That was it. Real rules. At 14 I refought the Peninsula War with a campaign pin board map on the wall, horrible casualty rates – and then – discovering Oman – realised I had started it too early – or maybe I just decided that these "Corps of observation" were hostile and just fought them. Anyway, it seemed a bit lacking in respect with my motley crew of 54mm Grenadier Guardsmen, Timpos, Britains etc. I needed an Imagi-nation or two with a (for me) convincing scenario, presumably after reading "Charge: Pomerania was an island conveniently off Texas, the Northern half of this island was called Ruritania (I thought Pomerania was an imaginary place too) and – you've guessed it, Ruritania was on the Confederate side, Southern Pomerania on the Federal one. Another pin board on the wall, battles lovingly written up in a school exercise book, with maps (of course). Regiments repainted, 8th Army get pith helmets and (miniskirt) kilts thanks to plastic wood. But the Peninsula obsession remained (read Oman right through at least twice at 14-15). Reader's ticket for the Victoria & Albert Museum library at that time (best source of uniform details: the Reynolds manuscript). Brief flirt with Silicon rubber moulds and Waterloo period Hinton Hunt's, – but how could I abandon my 54mm collection, and who wanted British with sugar loaf hats? Then in any case, it was suddenly 1967, the Byrds, Sergeant Pepper – other pursuits – university (Did paint a model regiment of 50 for each side in the holidays: new Ruritanian uniform was 1805 Russians, converted from reissued Timpo Prussians. Then Step 4, which proved decisive. Bristol 1973: a shop with Minifigs. I made the switch to 25mm at the end of what I now know was the ‘S' range. No Peninsula British either so started with Spanish (filed from AWI). Got hooked on the Spanish. Got hooked on Minifigs. North London Wargames Club (late 1970s) with fiendishly complicated slow rules. Then the revelation of Duncan Macfarlane's "Miniature Wargames." That scenery, that yellow grass. And "In the Grand Manner." YES. After that, I'm afraid it's a case of ‘arrested development' (if the whole thing isn't). The rules develop constantly but reached their main form 10 years ago (after a very bloody Vimiero). I grafted on Variable Length Bounds, and saving throws. About 9,000 Minifigs, board, hills, bases and movement trays flocked yellow grass. Masses of homemade olive trees. Custom-built houses etc. (from photos). White undercoating and minimal highlighting on figures. Currently just finishing Ocaña with about 3,000 figures on the board which is 22' long and in places 10' wide (sections on wheels). The Spanish are fighting desperately well. (My girlfriend is convinced I cheat so that they can win). The fact my favourite cavalry regiment (Dragoons of Pavia, uniformed as Cazadores, armed as lancers) just threw 18 on 3 D6s for their first charge doesn't sway her – she thinks I rigged that too. The only wrinkle? Well, there are ‘good' regiments (e.g. Pavia, Reales Guardias Walonas, Battallon de Francfort, all Poles apparently) who always do well – but my 43rd Foot are just lousy. Maybe that's why I have 4,000 Spanish but only 1,000 Brits. But maybe it's just more romantic, with all those different uniforms and regimental names like Ronda, Sevilla, Cangas de Tineo, Cazadores Voluntaries de Valencia de Alcántara. The Peninsula was my first and only love. |
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