The American Scene - Gary Gygax September 1971

 

Once again I was perusing Wargamer's Newsletter and noticed a couple of Gary Gygax's articles/letters in issue 114, September 1971. As I find them I post them although, once again, they are reproduced here purely for imformative purposes. Old magazines are a wonderful source of these titbits, often lost to general knowledge unfortunately.

THE AMERICAN SCENE

By Gary Gygax

 A couple of short comments on George Phillies and his "The Difference Between English and American Wargaming": The Avalon Hill GENERAL has not, I am certain, always printed 17,000 copies. In talking with Thomas Shaw, Marketing Director of that firm, he informed me that roughly one-third of a print went to subscribers, another third was used for advertising and sales promotion, and the remainder were sold as back issues. Board games certainly do not dominate the American scene, but they currently hold a more exposed position, simply because most wargamers here are introduced to the hobby through them and through the pages of the GENERAL, an organ designed to sell boardgames. Unlike the U.K., we do not have a publication aimed at miniaturists only, so communications between the advocates of the latter form of wargaming are almost non-existant. Only the conventions and gradual shift to more miniatures cover age in the club 'zines here has brought a channel for any communication at all, speaking for the bulk of miniaturists here. Most gatherings feature miniatures events, so to say that boardgames dominate is not true.

 Mr. Phillies comments regarding the painting of vehicles being anethma among the members of his group are interesting. Could it be that they fear being accused of "playing with toy soldiers"? From my observations it is the young wargamer, trying hard to be regarded as a mature adult, that fears being classed as a child because of indulging in miniature warfare. A boardgame can be cloaked with the dignity of chess, but miniature figures are more difficult to explain.

 George, by the way, is a most respected boardgamer, and certainly one of the most knowledgable writers and players, in my opinion. STALINGRAD happens to be one of my favourite boardgames, one that I play well, but I fear that I would meet with speedy defeat as either the Russian or the German commander against him.

 Finally, there can be no doubt that there are far more boardgame players here than there are miniaturists. However, many are merely occassional wargamers, and most have no idea of the existence of wargaming as an organised hobby. When the two aspects of the hobby are considered, we must then consider only those who are actually active enthusiasts.

YOU WRITE TO US

"I read George A. Lord's letter with interest - George is a very interesting fellow! I met him some four years ago, when he came down from the Canadian hinterland where he resides to attend the Lake Geneva Convention. He isn't going to be able to make it this year, due to family commitments, but he plans to stop in here for a day just for a "visit" (and I'll wager that we end up having a battle on the sand table). Anyway, George recently had an adventure more exciting than most. He is an ardent canoer, voyaging far back into the wilderness. Evidently, bad weather caught his party of three this Spring, and they were lost in raging blizzards and trackless forest for a number of days. I do know that he was in a pretty bad condition when they finally managed to get in. I do wish he would recount the experience, for it is like what one sees in the movies - at least like what one used to see in the movies - but believes never happens to people one knows.

Many thanks to W.T.Thurbon for his comments on bow ranges. We finally settled on 15" for wooden bows (short), 18" for light crossbows and composite horse bows, 21" for both the Longbow and the Turkish bow (although I suspect that 24" vould have been more realistic), and 24" for the heavy crossbow. I also read about Mahmoud Sffendi loosing an arrow for a distance of 482 yards, and the supposed shots of better than 700 yards, but I discount the latter as legend (at best), while the former was accom plished with a short, light flight arrow and groove, with the wind, as Mr.Thurbon mentioned. The really unfortunate part about this is that there is no for certain just what the capabilities of these weapons were, for no originals exist, and the method of making the Turk bow is lost.

Another interesting question pertains to the bow used by the Japanese Samurai, and it was indeed a long bow! From what I have been able to determine, the average length was from 7'-8', and arrows from 36"-45" were used. The warrior rested one end on the ground when shooting. There have been witnesses to these bows shooting over 120 yards without arching the arrow over 16’, for the shots were made down a corridor. Now, from that one must work out range ....  At least I won't have to worry about it for some time, as I am much too busy otherwise to start converting figures for Samurai. Then again, when I do I suppose that a rule for the Chinese repeting crossbow, with poisoned arrows, will have to be worked up.

George Gush's comments about using sheet lead on the base of Airfix figures sounds very helpful to those who do not employ a sand table - I have to carefully cut the blasted base off for more "realism". (They also fit in foxholes and trenches better then)."

Gary Gygax (of Lake Geneva, U.S.A.).

Jack Scruby - scale creep and miniature piracy, 1972

 This article is taken from the Wargamer's Newsletter issue 129, December 1972. It is reproduced here purely for informative purposes only. If I've mistyped something please let me know!

Jack Scruby gaming back in 1962.

Guest Writer Of The Month

JACK SCRUBY

(It is quite possible that wargaming, as we now it today, would not exist but for Jack Scruby, whose enthusiasm in producing range after range of wargaming figures and his immortal magazine “War Games Digest” gave the hobby its initial impetus. Jack and I have never met but we each hold a mutual respect for each other and I am proud to print what follows).

                Received Issue 126 of Wargamer’s Newsletter today and was very interested of course in your report about the doings if Scruby Miniatures in the “Must List” section. Our new project in “S” gauge (9mm scale) may be of interest to you. Orders for these new scale soldiers indicate they may become quite popular, and surprisingly a ½ inch figure is easy to paint and I find I can detail them out quite well even though a slip with the soldering iron is the end f a new original pattern figure!

Back to your story in the "Must List" regarding the various "scales" of model soldiers one finds these days. You may be interested in my own story about this, since no doubt it might reflect the other manufacturers own ideas.

First of all, in 20mm scale I was the first to start this scale in the U.S.A. At that time I was using original pattern figures supplied to me by John Greenwood and Kathleen Ball of Great Britain, with models they had made in this scale (¾" tall figures) for some of their famous dioramas. The figures actually stand ¾ of an inch tall from toe (top of stand) to head (not including hat). Back in the late 50's when Greenwood and Ball sent me these figures - and remember they were the FIRST commercial models offered anywhere for wargaming in this scale - (20mm) - I would assume that 20mm meant a figure was ¾ of an inch from toe to top of head. Since then, of course, many 20mm figures are now scaled at 25mm'.... But supposedly, the GB originals could be classed as a TRUE 20mm scale model soldier.

If you will carefully check the early Airfix models, you will find them really under - 25mm scale - and some of the later ones are really over - 25mm scale. However, when I first started with 25mm scale several years ago, I used the 25mm scale ruler (not an Airfix figure) and my first original figure (carved from balsa wood at an exact 25mm scale size) might be called an "in-between" under and over Airfix model soldier!

Recently, I will truthfully admit, my newer 25mm models are closer to 27mm ... and also my newer 30mm models are closer to 33mm .... But, let me go into this in depth.

Back in 1957 when I first came out with 30mm figures, I designed my originals to exactly match the SAE (Eriksson designed) 30mm scale soldiers on the market at that time. A careful check of these old SAE's (and the Eriksson models) show they were truly a 30mm scale model. When Tom Cox designed his famed Sudan War models for me, they were a TRUE 30mm scale, and in fact, some were under 30mm and some over 30mm, for Tom told me then that no two men were exactly the same height, and therefore some of his models were "short" and some "tall" men!

For quite a few years thereafter all my 300 designs were a true 30mm size. Later, other manufacturers entered the field .... competition set it, and their new "30mm" model, being bigger and more detailed, cut into my sales, even though their prices were much higher. As a consequence when I re-designed my 30mm soldier for the first time about 1963 or so, I made my 30mm soldiers bigger, so that I could compete. Now, in 1972, as I re-design my 30mm soldiers for about the fourth time since 1957, I find my models are at least 34mm as an average .... counting them from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head. (This measurement incidentally, is the "original" one started years ago by Britains on their 54 mm soldiers, and one I think, most "old time" manufacturers still use).

The same thing became true of my 20mm and 25mm designs .... competition by other manufacturers advertising their "true" (?) 20mm-25mm-30mm scale models ... which were in fact much larger than they advertised ... caused me, and no doubt others, to revise their models so as to give the customer what they wanted.

 The result of course is horrible. As you point out no collector knows exactly what he is getting until his models arrive from the manufacturer. Thus, a Mini-Fig 20mm scale is the same scale as a Scruby 25mm model .... a Hinchliffe 30mm is closer to 40mm, etc., etc., etc. And today a Scruby 25mm figure is closer to 27mm scale (which in fact is almost the same size as my old 1 inch figures used to be!). So, I cannot beg off as not being an offender of the scale problem ... but I can boast that at one time I began this whole mess when I came out with the Greenwood and Ball ¾ inch soldier. This originally was advertised as its scale ... ¾  of an inch tall. But eventually I made it 20mm instead so that model soldier people would know the actual size in the metric system that seems to have predominated in military miniatures since Britains 54mm scale .

This whole thing will undoubtedly round itself out in a few years as manufacturers re-design the models they are producing today. The first step in this direction seems to me to be the fact that after years of over-pricing their products, Stadden 30mm infantry are back in competition with my own prices for 30mm models. At one time it cost over $1.00 each here in the U.S.A. for a Stadden 30mm infantryman, where my own sold for around 25 cents. Frankly there was not that much difference in quality, and we both used expensive tin-alloy metal. So, a good sign for the model soldier buyer is the fact that Stadden has lowered his price downwards, and this may be the first step towards a more sensible solution to the "competition" problem that caused the "scale-race" in the beginning. If leading manufacturers begin to realise that their competition is producing a model soldier as good as their own, perhaps we will stop trying to out-scale each other and settle down to the market that is available without trying to corner it all with over-fancy advertising and over-fancy prices. In the long run, the tin-soldier business is like model railroading ... you find mightly little difference in prices and sizes between the major railroad manufacturers, and if you buy an engine from one maker, it generally will run on the same tracks that another manufacturer makes. So, perhaps, someday a Scruby 30mm scale model soldier will be the same size as a Stadden or a Hinchliffe or a Mini-Fig .... and the buyer can pick the one he wants for his wargame army without getting giants or midgets to fight with?

This brings up one other item I must talk about after reading your editorial in this same interesting issue of Wargamer's Newsletter. This is regarding the pirating of MiniFigs in England by "North of England" people as told in your editorial.

Now of course we have plenty of pirating in the U.S.A., and unfortunately for your British manufacturers, most of this pirating is of Minifigs or Hinton Hunt wargame models. I have seen stacks of so-called U.S.A. manufactured figures which are outright copies - with no changes - of soldiers of these manufacturers. I remember not too long ago when one dealer in California offered "Stadden" 54mm models - made by this pirate in California! I know of many pirated Scruby models that were never made in Visalia, California! It is outrageous as you indicate in your article that model soldier buyers - especially wargamers - would do such a thing. Like you, I always admire a wargame player, figuring he ia something special in this world ... but still in our hobby one finds the guy who likes to steal someone elses ideas, and then produce and sell these ideas at a profit to his buddies.

To try and bring these people to court is expensive and in the long run is probably not worth it, for if you lose a bunch of fellows in a wargame club to these "pirates" you may eventually get some of them back to buying your products after they get sick of the "forgeries" they are buying. For, in the long run, a casting must be painted by the owner, and in itself, this is much more time consuming than it is worth to save a few pennies on a pirated casting. And of course, in comparing a pirated figure with a casting from a legitimate manufacturer, even the untrained eye will pick out the pirated figure - to the detriment of the guy who is proudly showing off his paint job!

For what it is worth, no doubt pirates cause some monetary loss to the soldier manufacturer, but as you point out, the only one that is getting hurt is the member of the hobby itself. For no doubt, some manufacturers have gone out of business already, and with the time and expense involved in this business today, not everyone with a few dollars and a yen to cast soldiers, is going into the business. The over-head will soon eat them up. I have had 17 years or more at it, and only in the last few years have I been able to make it a full time business. Prior to that, I had a supporting business to help make my living. I am sure it is like yourself (or me!) ... I doubt if you will quit your regular business to make the publishing of Wargamer's Newsletter your full time business. It just isn't that lucrative.

And speaking of Wargamer's Newsletter. In the final analysis wargame magazines have come and gone also ... and still Wargamer's Newsletter keeps plugging along. There seems now to be a wargame magazine being put out 30 or 40 times a month. At last count I think I read somewhere there are over 40 magazines devoted to wargaming of one sort or another. Frankly, due to the nature of the editor of Wargamer's Newsletter, this remains still one of the best magazines in the hobby, and I for one, having at one time had an exciting encounter with Mr. Don Featherstone, still look forward each month to the editorial in Wargamer's Newsletter. For nowhere else can one find something NEW each month ... whether good, bad or indifferent ... as can be found or page one of Wargamer's Newsletter listed under the name of "Editorial". Keep up the good work and the excitement of your magazine.

On September 1^st I moved to e new and larger manufacturing plant - with a set up for a 24 foot (x 6') wargame table - huge display room, new manufacturing facilities, etc. Some day I’ll write another dispatch and tell you all about it!!

This took a long time typing it out, hope you appreciate me!

Qute a bunch of the old Scruby lines are available again;

https://historifigs.com/site/

Lot of info on Jack Scruby here;

https://hmgs.org/legionofhonor/jack-scruby/

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

PewterCraft Catalog - 1994

 

I picked up a few 1/300 scenic WWII pieces to get this catalog. I've not seen a physical one before although they had loads of listings all over the place. They produced various older ranges from 1988 to 2004? Any info appreciated.

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Acropolis Design Catalogue - 1991

 

Acropolis Design were a wonderfully imaginative little company that started in the late 80's. Paul Henni was the main sculptor with Colin Hamilton adding some (although I'm not sure where they split the work). Paul had earlier designed a bunch of Norwegian Dwarven for Citadel / Games Workshop (see Stunties for more detailed info; http://www.stunties.com/stunties/index.php?title=Citadel_-_The_Norwegian_Dwarves) before moving on to set up Acropolis (which were distributed by Bob Ferguson of Scotia Micromodels)... he's since left the world of sculpting after a short lived flurry as Zap Figures and, as Stunties states, has moved to pastures new as a Geoscience Information Manager... possibly an update needed by now of course! I think it was Paul that sent me this catalogue scan many year back and I just discovered it hiding in a folder so thought I'd share....

The Baggage Train still has most of the ranges up on their site although I'm not sure what the current arrangement is - I'd shoot them an email first to confirm as I think they were selling off ranges recently? Let me know if your hear please!

As usual, The Lost Minis WIKI has some information and images;

https://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Acropolis

Until next time!

David

Hinchliffe Models Ltd System 12 Napoleonics

 

Sometime around April 1975 Hinchliffe launched yet another new scale onto an unsuspecting public... 12mm. There were already well establied 1/285, 1/300, 5mm, 15mm, 20mm, 25mm and so on but it seems we needed another! The first mention I can find is from the ads in Military Modelling April and May of '75. Back in 2018 on TMP, SteveZodiac stated he'd heard from the owner (which one?) that the molds had been trashed. I do wonder, as always, if originals sculpts or masters exist in a drawer somewhere!

Edit 14th November 2025, ST18 added... should be STC as it's cavalry.

April '75 a glorious centrefold!

It was preceeded towards the front of the issue with a 'more usual' advert... including the pricing structure. Not sure what the designer was due to be recruited for...

May '75

Donald Featherstone discussed them in Wargamer's Newsletter 159 in June that year (remembering that copy was sent a while before publication back then...)

Followed by more detail in the ever useful 'Must List'

I have a few baggies, unfortunately multiples of no.13. Always open to trade!

The 1976 Hinchliffe Handbook (a veritable Bible!) gave a few illustrations. I can't find any actual detailed images of the range from the time.

May 1977 catalogue listings

In the '77 catalogue listing they also showed the imported Heritage 15mm.

I'm not sure when the range was pulled however I don't remember there being many major additions at the time (although I was primarily interested in fantasy at the time, I did follow the trends!). By the February 1983 catalogue listing the range was longer there although what apears to be their own 15mm was listed which included a number of scenics... did they repurpose the codes and hope to get away with the size difference or just use the System 12 listing as a guideline?

I have found some hedges up on eBay - if you live in Europe it would be a bargain, UK postage precludes me purchasing unfortunately... not my images, posted purely for research purposes.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154758822443

A few cavalry baggies via completed auctions, I don't know who the seller was.

Another addition to the '77  listing was the licened production of Heritage Models 'Fantasy Fantastics', totally up my street. I've still got loads of them that saw occassional action on the table.

If anyone has more information on the range please email me or leave a comment below!

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk