Idly browsing eBay, some coincidental finds prompted some nostalgic reminisces and a diversion into a project from the 1980s.......
At some stage I became interested in gaming a childhood obsession - the French and Indian war or the Seven Year's War in North America. I remember a TV drama of "Last of the Mohicans" which stayed with me. I had borrowed the odd book; one I recall described Braddock's massacre with a French officer dressed like an Indian......I was hooked!
What clinched it was finding a copy of Francis Parkman's "Montcalm and Wolfe" in a second hand bookshop for a bargain price at just the time I was looking for such a book. While dated by modern standards, it's a good read covering the whole war (despite the title).
My eBay browsing had revealed some old copies of Military Modelling; I'd had these but weeded them in a house move, they included one with a cover picture that has inspired others, notably Greg Horne at the Duchy of Alzheim:
http://mavisming.blogspot.com/2014/01/2014s-mystery-project-2.html
This coincided with the release of the Pax Britannica 30mm (now RSM miniatures) range as pictured on the cover...
I also came across some of the old Rafm Flint and Feather range at a very good price....
http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Flint_and_Feather_%28RAFM%29
I had started on a project using both ranges way back in the mid/late 1980s; a friend had British so I'd concentrated on the French and Native Americans. At some stage I'd become distracted and drifted into Europe, although did refight the Plains of Abraham unsuccessfully although with a historical outcome as well as some hypothetical engagements. My French line had spent more time in Germany than America....
My discoveries on eBay lead me to digging out the figures from the garage; I had remembered my painting as indifferent, but was pleasantly surprised to find they weren't that bad as I thought. The Rafm figures had been painted with washes which look very much like what would be achieved with Contrast paints........this got me thinking about how easy it would be to add some British infantry and American militia using Contrast paints......
Cue more digging into boxes in the garage for the unpainted figures I knew were lurking; I had vague ideas of what I had but was pleasantly surprised that I had some other bits. I also remembered I had a boardgame from around the same time.....
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17591/mohawk
I had forgotten how it resembled Soldier King in having point to point movement with battles being resolved on a separate "battle board" using the counters which represent roughly a battalion of 600 regulars or band of 500 indians; I'd been organising my figures into units of 12 or 10......obviously with a view to fighting a campaign......
Mohawk! Your time has come! It's only been waiting since 1982.......
You can unearth a lot just by digging.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly can in my garage!
ReplyDeleteNeil
What an excellent find. Good luck with building up the British opposition for some games.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. The rediscovery that I had switched to a wash method for the irregulars means less of a worry about matching paint styles.
ReplyDeleteNeil
New old projects are a lot of fun. Those figures are almost as old as I am. 😀
ReplyDeleteI had to dig through my collection recently for some stuff, it is cool to find things half remembered.
Stew, that is so depressing.....☺
ReplyDeleteI do at least still retain a memory of all the junk I have.....
Neil
Nice to see these - indeed, amazing what you can find in the garage! Donald Featherstone's pieces in various of his books (e.g. probably 'Wargame Campaigns') often made this period look interesting.
ReplyDeleteDavid, yes indeed. He did a campaign using Spencer Smiths (who also had Native Americans and woodsmen - probably more C19th than C18th) pitting the 37th regiments of Britain and France against each other - Hampshires v Royal Rousillon. IIRC it also involved the Airfix wild west fort. I'm sure that formed part of the inspiration. My interest goes back further. I have vague memories of discovering a F&I story in an old wild west comic book and playing games with 54mm Airfix French Old Guard supported by various "red indians" ( more plains than woodland) v British Napoleonic line (being French, indians and British in my childhood logic) all fighting over a Timpo Wild West fort.....
ReplyDeleteNeil