Sunday 24 July 2011

CWJ Vol I issue 4

At last... it's ready, and will be posted out over the next few days. The PDF version will be sent Tuesday.


What's included?
  • Tales from the Frontline with readers' letters, project updates, and battle reports.
  • Bob Varga's WW2 take on the Vanguards Collide scenario from way back in the pilot issue.
  • "Floor Wars" by Paul Cutting
  • Trouble in Tranjapore - the Indian Mutiny project continues... by Daryl Haselton
  • Peter Verduyn continues in Search of Hyboria
  • Desert Isalnd Wargaming... another well-known wargamer is marooned.
  • The Shootists - Western Gunfighting with Phil Dutre
  • Arnold Stockade - Terry Preen describes an "old school" get together and fights an 18th century action.
  • Gary Phillips offers a WSS scenario
  • and Ian Allen regales us with another of his Tales of the Golden Head
  • Ian also provides templates for a Flatpack Bomber to accompany the fighter versions included in the previous issue.
  • There's also Conrad Kinch's twisted (!) look at the hobby in Conrad's Corner.
  • and of course sketches by Chris Gregg
Once again, apologies to those who have submitted articles yet to appear. There really is only so much room available!
Also, there's a small surprise in store - The Editorial explains all...

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Thanks and Homages

First a thank you to Jason Williams...
I returned from a few days away to find a parcel awaiting me. Now, I like parcels... and imagine my delight when inside was a box with a picture of a Nokkia mobile phone on the front. Nice one too. Had I ordered it? No. Was it therefore a prize in some competition or others? No. Or a scam? No.
So, why am I getting sundry gadgets sent to me in the post? Oh well... not complaining - must be a gift, and a nice one too. And then imagine my surprise when on opening the box, I found inside, not a phone/ gadget/ i-wotnot/ blue-blackberry thingy. Oh no! Better than that... deep joy! A pile of figures. Lots of them. And Jason explained in his note to the effect that they were merely the visible part of a lead iceberg, the summit of a mountain of metal, and as part of his clear-out he thought they would come in handy for my home-casting project. And, yes they definitely will!!! So thank you Jason! Much appreciated.

And now to an email received a while ago following CWJ issue 3 which you will remember included the first part of Daryl Haselton's series about building his Indian Mutiny project using the Irregular Miniatures Deutsche Homage 42mm range. This article actually has had quite a lot of feedback and seems to have stirred the butterflies amongst a number of readers (the prolific Ian Allen included), and this email from Stephen Cullen was typical of the enthusiasm uncovered... as well as a couple of nice photos:

"Dear Phil,

Many thanks for the latest CWJ, which continues to delight. It is a happy counterbalance to 'normal' daily, electronic, life. And this issue has solved a small puzzle for me. Daryl Haselton's 'The Trouble in Tanjapore', his highlighting of Irregular Miniatures' Deutsche Homage range, and the photographs illustrating the article, means that I am now pretty sure of the origin of some 42mm (foot to eye) figures I received from a friend in Denmark a few years ago. The figures came from a 90 year old Danish lady, and had belonged to her late husband who had played with them as a boy in the 1920s and early 1930s. Interestingly, although the figures are almost all British (with a few Frenchies) Imperial, the late owner had gone on to be a noted figure in the Danish Communist Party, and had been involved in the Danish resistance late in the war - perhaps the Imperial troops always came off worst in his boyhood battles. I had no idea of the source of the figures, and had wondered if they were of Danish manufacture, but it does look as if they were German - the Heyde and Haffner connection that Daryl highlights. I've attached a couple of photos of some of the figures that I have restored, and I'm now enthused enough to finish restoring the rest of the little hoard. In fact, I might even visit the Irregular Miniatiatures site...
All the best,
Stephen."




Thanks Stephen. And thank you for the photos.

All of which leads nicely into the announcement that CWJ is taking shape, and you can look forward to part 2 of Daryl's series, amongst other articles in the next couple of weeks.