Battleground on YouTube

Ssssshhhhhhh....let's just keep this to ourselves, OK? More episodes to follow in due course.

What's that coming over the hill....

Dan Morgan and friends contemplate a career change as they spy a horde of shiny redcoat veterans on the march.

is it a monster Gilder AWI update? Could be.....

Fantastic Soldered Soldiers

The above are a sample of the British Legion dragoons Doug Mason created for me last year. Despite there being only 2 castings in the Hinchliffe range (an officer and trooper) Doug has created a unit of 24 figures where each is different. Of all the conversions i think the trooper with pistol and dangling sword is my favourite, and something of a Mason trademark.

All in all another great example of what is possible with fairly basic raw material, if you have the imagination (and a soldering iron).

Jager von Mason

AWI Hessian Jager by Doug Mason. If you're familiar with the Hinchliffe range then you'll know that the Jager (AW31) is only available in a single pose (the rather static 'cocking rifle' pose as seen above in the lower picture, third figure from the right), so all of the variation you see above is the result of Doug's imagination and soldering iron. Great stuff!

Gilder and Waterloo 150

1965 was a big year for Napoleonic enthusiasts, none more so than a young Peter Gilder who proved to be a pivotal figure in two of our hobby's major commemorative events - the British Model Soldier Society Waterloo Convention, and Wargamers Newsletter's Military Festival.

First up two reports, from the BMSS periodical 'THE BULLETIN' (No 6 December 1965), on the Waterloo Convention (staged at the Rembrandt Hotel, London on 18th June), where PG  starred in the final of the BMSS national Napoleonic wargame competition:

Next, also from THE BULLETIN (this time No 3 June 1965), Donald Featherstone's report on his Military Festival (staged on the 20th March at Chelsea Barracks), where PG contributed to a demonstration wargame of Waterloo itself:

It strikes me how quickly (within a couple of years of discovering the hobby) Gilder had become a major figure in British wargaming. Of course the hobby was much smaller then, but it is testament to his great enthusiasm and talent nevertheless (and getting on with Don Featherstone would have helped too!).