Monday 7 August 2017

A Blast from the Past


Now that is something you don't see very often....


Another Sunday and another boot sale. This time I was able to acquire something very special indeed. I am sure that many wargamers of a certain age will remember the magazine Miniature Warfare published by John Tunstill. I can remember buying a copy of this with my pocket money from the shop that John ran near the Imperial War Museum and being mightily impressed - it seemed altogether a more polished and serious offering than the Wargamer's Newsletter. In retrospect one could argue that Miniature Warfare, with its mention of such things as national conventions and such like, was attempting to bring gaming to the masses and more in the mainstream. It is ironic that after the passage of some forty years my thoughts are more Featherstone-like than Tunstill but things change.

I was able to acquire the first three volumes of the magazine in binders from issue number one for the princely sum of £3 in total and will also be acquiring some later volumes gratis. The seller was disposing of the last of the collection belonging to a deceased distant relative and amongst the bits and pieces therein are a number of books and a lot of unpainted Spencer Smith plastic figures that I will be taking a closer look at later next week.

A quick glance through the contents has some rather interesting articles although naturally some of the adverts are a little on the 'quaint' side....

This is a wonderful piece of wargames history that I shall enjoy reading - I will also take a look at Discovering Wargames and the various spin offs that used to be available from Shire Publications - and it will be interesting to see how much of the content has stood the test of time.

19 comments:

The Good Soldier Svjek said...

Excellent find, I remember buying these in the early 70s , sadly long since disposed off , Tony

Conrad Kinch said...

Good googly moogly - now there's a find!

Graham C said...

You lucky lucky man.
I only have a handful of these magazines and am always on the look out for more, the ace articles fighting in Ireland - The Storming of Mullinger' got me into ACW big style.
Enjoy

David Crook said...

Hiya Good Soldier,

I only ever purchased a single copy of the magazine when it was around so it will be like reading them for the first time. The adverts are quite a revelation!

All the best,

DC

Jonathan Freitag said...

Never heard of this zine before but it would be fun to browse through. Enjoy!

David Crook said...

Good evening Mr Kinch,

I was delighted - and the fact that there are more to come at the best price ever is even more pleasurable! I am also keen to see the unpainted Spencer Smith and also Hinchliffe figures that are up for disposal.

On a separate note I will be attending Leipzig next month and will be taking up my Marshall's baton in the service of the L'Empereur.

Cant wait!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Graham C,

It is certainly a blast from the past and I am pleased to revisit this lot - especially as the set runs from issue number 1. All,of the ACW campaign using a map of Ireland are present.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Jonathan,

Originally published from the late 1960s and contemporary with Donald Featherstone's Wargamers Newsletter Miniature Warfare was an altogether different animal. I think it is fair to say that it offered a different take on the hobby.

Vive la difference I say though!

All the best,

DC

Paul O'G said...

Classics indeed! but where are you storing all these books?
You'll be holding your own boot sale soon! :-)

David Crook said...

Hi Paul,

My book collection recycles and rotates over time and as I write this I have a couple of crates full that will be for disposal. This keeps SWMBO happy as the netboutgoings are quite modest as a result.

I think I have found my niche (or rather niches) so I can focus on fewer things.....

All the best,

DC

Robert (Bob) Cordery said...

David,

I am extremely envious! I also bought some issues many years ago, and still have clippings from them. The latter include some wonderful illustrated articles by Bish Iwaszko and John Sandars.

Read and enjoy!

All the best,

Bob

David Crook said...

Hi Bob,

I am certainly looking forward to reading these and picking up the rest of the collection!

I have already seen.a couple of ideas that warrant further investigation....

All the best,

DC

Millsy said...

Holy cow! That's an amazing find and in such wonderful condition too!

David Crook said...

Hi Michael,

It was great find and is already proving to be useful.

All the best,

DC

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

..and he's still active...

http://www.soldierssoldiers.com/index.php

...living in Rugby now apparently...

Brian Carrick said...

A penny (or two) for your thoughts when you picked them up and realized what you'd found! Every now and again the car boots really do turn up gold.

David Crook said...

Hi Brian,

It was not quite a Howard Carter moment but I was very pleased indeed! There is some thought provoliking ideas contained therein which I hope to use in due course.

More to follow with this I think!

All the best,

DC

Terry said...

Hi!

I am fortunate enough to have the entire collection of this fine magazine in my loft. You have inspired me to go look for them again. I fondly remember my monthly trip to John Tunstill's shop in Kennington ('The Soldier'?) back in the 70's to pick up the latest copy. This was nearly always followed by a trip to the IWM around the corner in Lambeth.
Oh, happy days...

David Crook said...

Hi Terry,

Wow! Now that is a loft I would be very interested in seeing!

All the best,

DC