Showing posts with label Wargames Digest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wargames Digest. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

WGD 1971: "The Doublecross"

This is the last of what I felt were the still interesting articles from the one issue revival of Jack's Wargames Digest. Interestingly, there is current thread on The Miniatures Page about when the respondents first played in a wargames campaign. In my case that was 1970, with quite a few more after that. Not surprisingly, Jack and the Old Guard had me beat by over a decade!




    All this reminds me that I have to prod my own country in the current slow motion, Covid inhibited campaign, Orbajosa, at least a little bit out of its torpor!


Friday, February 12, 2021

WGD 1971: The Story of Wargames Digest

 

The list of original subscribers is especially interesting, including as many well known names as completely unfamiliar ones! 


Many oftheideas discussed in tjhese4 early years are still evident today!

Although this appeared first on the pages of WGD, Volume 7 #1 I placed it second in this post, as likely of lesser interest to most. 

Sadly, there were no further issues after this one!


Wednesday, February 3, 2021

WGD 1971: The Senegal Revolt, 1878

    This account is actually itself a reprint of an article that appeared in an earlier Scruby Miniatures house organ, "Miniature Parade" in 1968. I've enjoyed re-reading this account by the little known historian, Joachim von Srubanwitz, several times over the decades. It tells the tale of a Native rebellion in Senegal, on the "Dark Content" of Mafrica, against the Europeans of the Imperium, their trading companies, and their native surrogates. I hope you enjoy it as well!


Although I would not learn of it until many decades after I first read this, there is connection between my Maternal Grandfather and Africa!  I never had the privilege of knowing him, as he died suddenly under very mysterious circumstances when my mother was only 16 years old. He was born in Wales but emigrated to the US early in his life. He volunteered and served as sergeant in the US Marines during World War 2. By all accounts (perhaps biased, as my mother adored him, and he her!) he was a very intelligent man, and during the short time he was stationed in France, he taught himself French. Indeed, he taught himself French so well, that after the Great War, he was employed as an interpreter at the French embassy in Senegal for several years. 


His time in Senegal doubtless accounted for the Rhinoceros tusks mounted on a plaque that graced the wall in the guest room of my parent's home.  As far as I know, they were lost in the rather hurried move of my parents from their home to a single level condominium in their late 80's. Given today's well justified wildlife conservation laws against the sale and possession of such things without proper documentation, perhaps that was for the best! It was accompanied by a late 1800's rifle of the kind that the Imperium may have used at the battle related by von Scrubanwitz, current whereabouts also unknown!


Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Wargames Digest 1971 - The 30 Years War

 The longest article in the 1971,  one issue revival of Jack Scruby's The Wargames Digest concerned the 30 Years War, and included some brief background on the tactics of the War, Wargame rules for the TYW, a very brief overview of the very complex history of the Thirty Tears War, a listing of the 1 inch scale figures Jack designed, cast, and sold, and some pictures of a TYW game in progress. I scanned these pages in rather than using my cell phone camera like the last posting, so hopefully the pages are clearer and easier to read.