Napoleonic Guest Gallery

[Anonymous]

...or Russian plumE either!

[Anonymous]

... You only have to look at Foundry´s push on Darkest Africa a few years back... I mean, what was that all about ...

Barry, like i said in another thread. There seems to be some interest in skirmish style games and periods. Mostly because it is much simpler to buy and paint about 50 miniatures than to paint a whole army. Darkest Africa benefits from these tendency. (Oh, and i like half naked women with spears and shields. )

[barr7430]

Yeah, I know people are in to skirmish gaming and I have nothing against it I was just being rather wicked at the expense of Darkest Africa So skirmish gaming is ok by me but..... back to Darkest Africa... There were more figures variants in this totally obscure, marginal period than most major manufacturers manage for a mainstream period!!!

I just thought it demonstrated how hungry Wargamers were for a diversion, any diversion from the mainstream. It could have been anything I suppose. It also happened around the time that Foundry appeared to be at the height of its influence, trotting out all sorts of nonsense.. Elfs with boobs, cherubs and so forth.... I found myself wondering WHO is buying this rubbish? OOOPs off on a rant again...

Did anyone out there buy those Elves and Cherubs, more to the point, will anyone admit to buying them???

Cheers and don´t spare the vitriol!

B

[azeroth]

Elves with boobs and cherubs?? You either spend too much time in garden centres or need to drink more water with the gin next time

IanB

Not found a suitable quote yet, but everyone else has one so i'm feeling left out

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I know people are in to skirmish gaming and I have nothing against it I was just being rather wicked at the expense of Darkest Africa So skirmish gaming is ok by me but..... back to Darkest Africa... There were more figures variants in this totally obscure, marginal period than most major manufacturers manage for a mainstream period!!!

Isnt that a new positive trend? Even the new Brunswick range of the Perrys has more different models than a usual napoleonic french range.

And we non-british players are used to the fact, that even if a theme is very unimportant, if it is a british or american theme it will have many models. Was the ACW more important than the german/french war? Maybe! Was the ECW more important than the TYW? Really not. Was the Pict-Arthurian clash more important than Charlesmagne? No. But as long the most manufacturers and customers are british, we will have a dominance of british ranges.

And those Darkest Africa models are very nice! (Its Copplestone, who wonders.)

I just thought it demonstrated how hungry Wargamers were for a diversion, any diversion from the mainstream. It could have been anything I suppose. It also happened around the time that Foundry appeared to be at the height of its influence, trotting out all sorts of nonsense.. Elfs with boobs, cherubs and so forth....

I think, that were two different trends. The one trend was skirmish orientated models for conflicts beyond big wars. Foundry produced Darkest Africa, Pirates, Old West, Copplestone now produces Back of Beyond. The other trend was for Foundry to try to make big money with fantasy models. AFAIK that was how they killed their success (the Perrys left etc. ...)

I found myself wondering WHO is buying this rubbish?...

For me the elves are rubbish, but Darkest Africa is not. I use those models like i would use LRDG models (Artizan): for skirmish games.

And the Africa rules of Chris Peers give a really nice, fast, fun game. (But like Barry said in a WI article, british rule writers have obviously problems to write clear rules.)

[barr7430]

Decebalus,

I truly welcome the remarks you have made in this last e mail. As you´ve probably gathered I spend most of my working life outside the UK and feel rather more international that British most of the time.

Many of your points I fully agree with :

As to the importance of the ACW in global terms, I am not sure but perhaps Condoleeza Rice would not be in the position she is in right now(maybe that would be better for all of us!!!!.. oops little bit of politics there, sorry ). Largely though, the outcomes were very positive for the social structure of the US and perhaps a rebalancing of opportunities on a wider global scale??

As for the ECW, I have always considered the TYW a far more interesting and significant conflict than the ECW. You have however hit the nail precisely on the head.. manufacturers will focus mostly on the history of their own country as that is what their core market will know a little about and buy. the $ or Pound or Euro is King!

The curious anomaly to the argument is that the army which probably has more models made, figures manufactured, rules written for, scenarios created for is in fact the German Army 1939-45. I know this is a very delicate subject and I am only able to talk about it in any real depth with my many friends in Germany when I have gotten to know them really well but the simple fact is that despite what happened during 1939-45 most UK WW2 wargamers I have met have a curious fascination for the achievements, equipment, campaigns and structure of the Wehrmacht. I guess more British gamers into WW2 have German stuff than British, American or Russian!!!! I would think the same is true of American gamers .

It truly is a funny old world!!!

If more European companies marketed their products actively in the UK I think the focus would be a little different. I know a lot of gamers in the UK. Predominantely their interests are not in British or American Wars. In my own extended circle of friends the following periods would be very near the top of the list of popularity: Thirty Years War, Great Northern War, Italian Wars, Seven Years War(emphasis on the Prussian-Austrian-Russian Theatre), Wars of the Grand Alliance(Minor British involvement until the appearance of Marlborough), Franco Prussian War, American Civil War, Ostfront 1941-45, Vietnam.

I am very curious about what German gamers like to play. I know several Italian, French and Spanish Gamers but have not come across too many from Germany.

I also wonder what other think on this point as for me it is an extremely interesting one.

Best regards

Barry

[lenin]

Here we go again! Ever since my first experience of wargaming (a long time ago) the same arguments have raised their heads with alarming regularity, which period of history is best? I personaly (and here I'm in firm agreement with PaulMc) think that the best period of history and therefore the best wargaming period is the one I'm currently involved with, and at the moment it is League of Augsburg. Allthough if anyone had asked me six months ago I would have said WWII, and six months before then some other period and so on.. I suppose the next area for dicussion is figure scales, should it be 25/28mm, 15mm or another?

Cheers, Andy

[quindia]

Go figure. I'm an American and I'm more interested in collecting for the ECW than the ACW.

I have often thought about an ACW skirmish project, but the larger scale battles don't appeal as much to me. The ACW lacks the combined arms aspects of many other periods as even the cavalry primarily fought dismounted.

The ACW also lacks the color of the European wars which is important to me as a painter since I'm easily distracted!

[Anonymous]

The curious anomaly to the argument is that the army which probably has more models made, figures manufactured, rules written for, scenarios created for is in fact the German Army 1939-45. I know this is a very delicate subject and I am only able to talk about it in any real depth with my many friends in Germany when I have gotten to know them really well but the simple fact is that despite what happened during 1939-45 most UK WW2 wargamers I have met have a curious fascination for the achievements, equipment, campaigns and structure of the Wehrmacht. I guess more British gamers into WW2 have German stuff than British, American or Russian!!!! I would think the same is true of American gamers .

You are right, but WW2 was a conflict where both, UK and US were involved. The attraction of the Germans to anglo-american players seems to me the same like the attraction of the French in Napoleonic Wargaming. It was the army with the best leadership, fighting against a world of enemies and losing in the end. And usually you need one of these armies for a fight (ottoman-russians 1810 or italian-british 1941 arent the best battles of the epoche).

It seems that it is simpler by playing the army of a foreign country to ignore the rest of its history. And in the case of Germany the Third Reich has made a break in our national identity. But I am still irritated that someone in New Zealand can wear a T-Shirt with the Afrika Corps symbol (including the swastika), like you see in the FoW Desert Fox book.

I am very curious about what German gamers like to play.

Historical wargaming was until now near dead in germany. It has got some activity the last time, mostly because of WAB and FoW. German players are still used to wargaming like it is presented by Games Workshop: rules, models and basing from one company, tournaments with point systems.

So Ancients (WAB and DBM) and WW2 (FoW) are the most played times in Germany.

German players usually buy the better but more expensive models, so Foundry, Copplestone, Renegade, Battle Front are dominant. The reason may be that its difficult to have access to many models here and these manufacturers are more present here. There are still some players who prefer plastics.

[barr7430]

I understand your irritation about the Afrika Korps thing(even though of all theatres the Desert was the one in which the least obvious Nazi overtones were apparent... my grandfather and father both fought in the desert and described it as a gentleman´s war..relatively, mutual respect very few if any atrocities etc ).
I came across a similar kind of situation when I was researching the GNW. I wrote to some friends in Sweden asking for some information and books on Karl XII in all innocence. They wrote back saying they´d like to help but they couldn´t because Karl XII is a Neo Fascist symbol in Sweden, associated with Neo Nazis, right wing extremists etc. I couldn´t believe it! In the UK he is seen as a young military genuis!!!!!

I think history is always raw when it is recent. A time will come when everyone associated with WW2 will have passed away and the emotion will subside. I am not apologising for anyone or anything, it is just a fact. Napoleon was the antichrist for many years after the Napoleonic Wars. Responsible for untold suffering and millions of deaths..how is he perceived now???? Fill in the blanks !!

[PaulMc]

Hiya folks,

Karl XII a Neo Fascist symbol? It's a sad situation when historical figures are hijacked by certain groups for their own nefarious purposes. He's not the first and won't be the last either.

On the subject of the FOW T-shirt, I wonder if they ever produce a supplement covering SS divisions, will they then release T-shirts with the SS runes or a Totenkopf on them? I'm thinking no somehow. The DAK shirt was not the best marketing ploy I've ever seen. Have they forgotten that the events in WWII really happened? They appear to be applying the same marketing strategies to FOW as other companies do to fantasy based tabletop games. Maybe we'll have Battlefront corned beef next, cunningly labelled as 'Alte Mann', but I'll look forward to maybe a souvenir mug with some witty saying on it, like 'Tommy Brewer' or perhaps a lighter with a Sherman on it (you know roughly what it would say).

I think I might contact their marketing department I'm on a roll here .


PaulMc

[azeroth]

I'll act as your agent Paul for shall we say 35% of your royalties?

IanB

[Churchill]

Hi all,

I came across this old thread and thought I would bring it back to life with some of my own photo's.My long and on-going wargame project is to recreate the Battle of Waterloo in 15mm using a scale of 1 figure equals 50 real men.I started my project in 1997 with the French using essex miniatures as they had a good range of figures, but on the completion of D'Erlon's corp I discovered A&B miniatures and the rest is history.I finished the French Army using A&B in 2004 and it comes to over 1,300 figures.
Again using A&B I then started buying the British on E-Bay and apart from the Guards Division I now have all the British Regiments which only need rebasing.I've recently brought the 17 battalions of Dutch/Belgians from a spanish company called "Campaign Game Miniatures" who's website is well worth a look.At the moment they only manufacture French and Dutch/Belgian Infantry, but the owner has told me he is about to add the Cavalry and Artillery.
The Prussian's that took part in the battle are A&B figures and are about to be started painted and based.
Hougoumont is almost finished, La Haye Sainte and Papelotte are finished and I recently brought a church and a few houses from Hovels Ltd to represent the village of Plancenoit.These can be seen on Tonyd thread 28mm Hougoumont which is excellent by the way.
I hope to have everything finished by 2010 and have the game on at Salute that year.


Napoleon

French Hussar Officer

French Guard Lancers

French Horse Artillery

The Duke of Wellington

General Picton

Kings German Legion Hussars

Belgian Line Infantry

Dutch Line Infantry

Dutch Militia Infantry

Nassau Line Infantry

Prussian Line Infantry and Skirmish Line

I hope you all like these.........Regards Ray.

[colbert]

15mm AB figures;
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[/img]

[Churchill]

Hi Colbert,

Very Nicely painted A&B French Cavalry they look impressive.
Have you had a look at my 15mm Napoleonic New Releases Thread by a company called "Campaign Game Miniatures" their very good and more are on the way.
News from Fighting 15's the release of British 1815 Life Guards "Blues & Royals" out soon.

Regards...........Ray.