"Ship models made from beer mats" Topic

Long shot, but does anyone else remember a magazine article from a loooooong time ago (maybe c.40 years!) which I *think* was about a naval campaign, possibly involving the Emden cruise in 1914, which amongst other interesting things included suggestions and drawings for making model merchant vessels out of slices of beer mat? It's the Emden stuff I am looking for, but it would be nice to see the modelling hints again too …

My odds of finding it are poor--not a naval wargamer--but I remember the article. My first thought is Practical Wargamer, but the Courier would also be a possibility.

PW or maybe Battle might be a good bet – thanks! I didn't see it in the Courier myself, but doesn't mean it wasn't there too.

I have no recollection of the magazine, but I love the concept.

I don't recall the article, but it sounds like the sort of idea Andy Callan might come up with.

I do remember the article as well-- my recollection is that it appeared in an early issue of Miniature Wargames, but I haven't been able to locate it yet. Paul Hague's "Sea Battles in Miniature" has a chapter describing a similar procedure for scratchbuilding.

I know tastes will differ on this, but if I had to identify a wargaming philosophy or aesthetic which most appealed to me it would include Andy Callan and ships made out of beer mats, even if (sadly) I never had the patience or skill to do it myself. (I discovered though that I do still have a packet of beer mats, so I clearly thought about it!) And the Paul Hague book remains, in my view, simply the best wargaming book ever. I see Andy Callan has an article in the latest Wargames Illustrated in precisely this tradition too.

Very grateful for the confirmation that I haven't imagined it. Early MW sounds most plausible, on reflection – many thanks.

Yup. I lived in Manhattan Kansas 80-83 and I had Hague and Wesencraft's Practical Warhaming checked out of the library the whole time. The torpedo boat attack picture in the endsheets and the British/Not Russian ironclad battle were the genesis and inspiration for some of my earliest scratchbuilding.

I found this useful for tracking down old magazine articles. It may be of some help to you:

link

MW 33 – Beer Mats in Wargames. What a fantastic resource! Many thanks. And there's Andy Callan's Hair Roller Armies too!

Even better:

auction

Thanks again Jeffers. I actually have that one myself somewhere, so must try to locate it. I don't know if MW has an electronic resource available like the rather useful WI Prime?

Incidentally, for the avoidance of confusion, I should point out that the Callan article (on Napoleonic micro ships from cardboard, to go with his rules on signalling) is in April 2012 (no.294), not "the latest" WI!

Colkitto – I have it in paper and pdf form – the article is only a page and a half so if you can't locate your copy I could send you a screenshot. I also have an Access database listing articles from Miniature Wargames (1-407), Wargames Illustrated (1-286) and Wargames World (1-5) which makes finding articles much easier.

I would love to see that, too. I love simple scratch build stuff.

In fact, we had a contest on TMP many years ago and if you are willing to incorporate popsicle sticks and toothpicks we have this:

link

Thanks Billy. I think I know exactly where my copy is, but I won't be able to get access until next week. Disappointing to hear it's only a page and a half – it loomed much larger in the memory! I am not sure what I was thinking about in relation to the Emden, but I have since found some very nice little articles in WI for a campaign game around the exploits of the Konigsberg, with a later Emden supplement, so that'll do.

Andy Callan's praiseworthy rules for modeling the problems of signalling are in WI 2 if anyone is looking for them. I like his attempt to model the actual problems of handling a fleet. Paul Hague's second book has a good chapter on signalling and formation-keeping too. (This should probably be crossposted in the Napoleonic boards now!)