ARMATI 2 .. Edition

$27.95 From Corvus Belli 15mm NUMIDIANS

$24.95

15/0017 Numidian light cavalry I 1510046 Numidian light cavalry 2 1510053 Numidian cay. command 1510064 Elephant w/mahout - $6.99 1510065 Elephant w/mahout. tower, 2 archers , shields - $7.99 15/0066 Warriors I shields only - NEW! 15/0067 Warriors 2 shields only - NEW! 15/0068 Warriors 3 helmets/shields - NEW! 1510069 Archers - NEW! 1510070 Slingers - NEW!

From Essex Miniatures us or CS Infantry BG89 At ease, kepi and jacket S090 Firing, kepi and jacket BG91 Loading kepi and jacket BG92 Kneeling kept and jacket BG93 Command pack Iron Brigade BG95 Kneeling firing, loading etc. BG96 Standing firing, loading etc BG97 Command pack BG98 At attention fixed bayonets BG99 Assorted poses US or CS Infantry BO 100 At ease, hal and jacket BGIOI Firing, hat and jacket BG 102 Loading hat and jacket BG 103 Kneelinghat and jacket BG 104 Command pack

NEW ANCIENTS! MPA2a GreekIHellenistic Foot officers (6 per pack) MPA145 Pre-Islamic Arab Cameiry w/variants 3 per pack AGBI3 Celtic archers HSA14 Russ spearmen, assorted figures HSA15 Russ axemen, assorted figures RXE II a East Europe Med. or Reo 2 horse protected wagon HH NEW ACCESSORIES! CES7 Farm Gate (AA) CES8 Stone obelisk w/cross (AA) CES9 Wicker gabions (BB) MS 15 Kite shields - AA MS 16 Round shields with boss AA

Sam

ple

file

-iHE BEST RULES, iHE BEST REFERENCES, FOR THE BEST GAMES. ART9 Great War S arhead - WWI $24.99

ARTiO S arhead wwn $24.99

ARTil arhead Eastern Front Scenarios $19.99

ARTl2 arhead Desert Scenarios $19.99

ARTl3 arhead American Scenarios $19.99

ART14 Modem S arhead $24.99

ARTl5 Crossfrre - Low Level WWII $19.99

ARTl6 Crossfrre Scenarios - Hit the Dirt $19.99

Where tile

Iron Crosses Grow

REDUCTION IN QUICK REACTION FORCE PRICES! WARGAMES is pleased to announce that the vast majority of QRF vehicles, mainly tanks

and infantry fighting vehicles, have been reduced to $7.95 each!

The Quick Reaction Force line, already one of the finest lines of 20th and 21st century vehicles and figures on the market, will now be able to compete on price in U" U.S. market.

This is something that both QRF and WARGAMES are very excited about.

New from QUICK REACTION FORCE WORLD WAR II HUNGARIANS!!

tlFV I Thran I HFV2 Turan II HFV3 Toldi I HFV4 Toldi U a

$7.95 f7.95 $7.95 $7.95

HFV5 Toldi UI HFV6 Zyrini HAD 1 Nimrod AA Vehicle HCA I Csaba Annored Car

$7.95 $7.95 $7.95 $7.95

1\\f&IRK~&J~H~~. BOX 278, ROUTE 40 EAST TRIADELPHIA, WV 26059-0278 (304) 547·0000 hHp:/lwww.speartorl fle.com email: wargames @stratuswave.net

Sam

ple

file

EDITIONS BROKAW provides 15mm figures and related publications for the wars of Marlborough, Charles XII , and Frederick the Great. Shown above, Battle of Ramilles at RECON 02

From June to October

8 South Somerset Ave Crisfield . MO 21817 condrayp@dmv.com

Pat Condray From October to May

2225 S. Gulfwaler PI. Crystal River, FL 34429 pcondray@xtalwind.net

For EB and HPC listings send SASE or IRe to the addresses above.

Historical Products Company HISTORICAL PRODUCTS COMPANY provides one stop shopping for the most recent Spanish Civil War (1936-39) from rules to figures. Shown below: Guadalahara Game at Origins '02

Sam

ple

file

The Battfe of KurslIlI 13

Bllllker Hill

• e OUrler ARTICLES

CROSSING THE RUBICON- PART I Brent Nosworthy with New Vistas in Tactica l-Level Wargaming ....... 5

THE ZAPOROZHI AN COSSACK BA1TLEAT KORSUN MICHAEL MEUSZ describes the Cossack way of wag ing war ..... 13

THE WAR OF HIE SPANISH SUCCESSION U N CROXALL with the Amphibious Assault on Fort R.:'lIlde ................ 19

UNCLE HO'S BOYS PETE ENGLISH provides NVA & VC Small Un it Organization ............ 25

BUNKER HILL BILL ABRAMS with a scenario of the famous banle ............ .......................... 39

THEWARGAM E STEPHEN J. WALKER with a droll but all too familiar account.. ..... .43

PAINTING BUILDINGS MIKE REESE gives pointers ................................................................... .52

LAST TRA IN FROM GUN HILL MIKE BLAKE & JA N CHAD present a great Old West gamc ................... S3

DEPARTMENTS

INDEX - ISSUES #87 - #90 ...................................... ..................... ........ 29 TOM DESMOND

THE REVIEWI NG STAND ................................................. ........ .......... .3 1 Figures, Books,Rules and Accessories with GREG RICE

SAPPER'S REPORT ............................................................................... 41 Woods For Your Terrain with AL KARASA

TH E BEST OFTHE OLD COURIER. .................................................... 44

THE COURIER DISPATCH News of the hobby ................................... .4S

DISPATCHES FROM TH E FIELD Letters to (or at) the Editor ............ S8

VOLLEY FIRE Your opinions of Tile Couricr. ......................................... 58

Covcr :Sevcn yea rs War. PnJssian troops aHack an Austrian position. 25mm Hinchliffe figures painted by Mark Nichipor. Fortification by Bill Pritchard. PIloto by Neil Vall Zi lc.

Sam

ple

file

The Courier \ORm 41ftRIC4'S FQREI/OST I/"Hfl Rt (~41f"(.IIIG41I\E

M AN,\ GING .: 1)1T01{; Ridl:lru L. ary~'\l

IIUS' NESS MANAG.:R : L~o Cronltl

ART [lIIU:CTOI{: Joseph Mitch

CO;'\'TRI RUTING .: I)I"I'OIl;S Jim Amold; Ken Bun!,'ff: R"""" !kat1lC: Jim Smlscyc:

John Boc:hm; SalTy Fo~: Terry~; Jay U:ull"y; Robo:<1lbmpcr. !kou HoldeT. Palll Koch: Bob MBl")hall: Bruce Mil1igiln. Greg Ric,,:

13011 RUlhcrford. Sle>· ... Wmu:r

STAn' CARTOO NIST Jose Nicra

ST,\FF "UOTOGR,\I' ln: RS Bill Kcys.:r I Pat Condruy

Til l': CO URn: R IlISP,\TC U GIl!II Rice

STAFF IU. USTRATOKS Alan Atthamb,mlt. Palrio,:k COlsiau. AI Karasa.

Ott; Ri«. Joe Mauhc,,'s, TC'O)' ~bnton. MIle T)WIl.

I'RI i\"rl NG: ComrTl<:'l'r,al PnnlOnll S<:n~

Tin: COL'R1 ER l'UDL.lSIUNG CO~IP,\N \'. I NC. Rf<h;lrtl L. Bry~m. Pres,den!

OIRt:C roRS RIchard l. Bryan!. Leo Cromn. Joseph M,ceh

Tilt: COURI E I{( I SS;'~ I061-SJ71) IS publlshC\l qu;mcrly (UIIpfO~' m131cly Ik<;cmlxr. March. June. Scfllcmbcr) ~t W. IIndgcw.tcr MA 0237'1.

SUBSCIUJ>'nONS liSA SI9 (one Yc~rJ.S34(2 Years) S4S(3 Yc~rs)$. ,\ ,\ n :RJCA.

Surrace Rate S18 (U.S. Funds· IMO) for 4 ISSues; F.NGI.A,"':O & EUROPE: \\'nlt 10: P~l1lZ;m Press. 16 Clirr!oC3 (jrt)I"t. Ltlgll-on-Sca. Essc~. En,l~nd. SS\! I NQ. CANA 1),\ : Wnte 10 l ion Rampanl Impuns. S19 ConcessIOn SI. Hamilloo. Om., l8SILII.(I·SOO-992·7679) lIOn' ramp;onlrulnlcr\yn~.ncl. ,\USTRi\U,\ , N.: WZF.AI.AN I), Wme IU The Tin Sold,er. "'y .. LId .. 46 York S1. Sydney NSW 2000 AUSlr~ha. m311«, lIIuoidlcr.com.

O,\ CK ISSUF.S Currenl Issuc(unlil ne,I iss"" is 001) IS 56,50 USA: Bad ISSUCS arc

SH.OO c~. USA. Canada & S. Amcric~ ~dC.I S2 en .. Forel~n AimJail1Kld S4 ca. BlICk Issues arc DI'",lable for6 months uncI publicnlloo OI1 ly. Monies In US fu"lls drnwn on US banks or Intcm.l1lon,ll'ostal ~Ioncy Onkr.

No I"C'lpIl n. ibi lily i~ assumed fo r s la lcmCll b of f~el or opinio n madt b~' Ih, au chors.

No responsib->llIy is assumed for u"Whelled manUKnpts, but all wb->msslOllS an: "deo,"". "" query """='y All m:r"J.cd sub!mssions Jhould con~ln • Klf·addn:sscd STAMPED c,wdop, la'le <:rIOllgh IU rclurn the iummSllIOl1. Sec the AUTHOR'S GUH)I' LJNES at our Web SlIe hllp · ... ''''W .. hccouncrmagazlne.com

This MagazlIIc and other pubhc:mons of 'Ow: Couner Publish"'g Con~ny ~n:)01d "Ith the undcrstanoJing 1h:l1 e,~ rciL'lOrLlbk: "lIcmpt;, nlade IU !kiln,,. Ihcm safely through the OI"ils. 'I"hc Couner Publishin& Company i~ not rt'SflOOSiblc for items lost In the n","ls. RcplaccmClliS will be pro' Idcd al their usual COSI.

1,...:n:R,"':ET hIIP:!lw"w.t ll\. ... "01lJ;CrnuIJ>o~~1I1C.C"'"

F.-~IA II .

MGlutcusfll AOl.CO\l ,\OI)RESS CIIA '>;Gf.s

60 daYJ noIlCC of address chanb'C IS rc<]u",;d, 'Ow: U S I'UOiI Otrltt OOES NOT FORWARD THIRD CLASS MAIL You " '111 hechargcd for n:placClllC'1'II 1SSUC:s mi,.;cd due 10 umimely noIlCC of ~ dwIgc. If Issue IS rclum:d you " '111 be cllargro our COS! for rclunu!lI!lt 10 the corm:I

-~ All OOMESTIC Df:AlER INQUIRlr.s. AIWERTlS1NG COPY. A/IO n lNQUIRlf:S. SUBSCRIPTIONS !e"Ct"Jlla< '""""OIled aOOI'Cl AND ARTlClI:S to TIlE COURIER. PO Bo~ IM7H. Broc:ktoo. MA 02303. or [·m .. ,,1 a.< nbo,'c

1\ '0. 'II , Enli", Conic" " l(H)~ II\" T ilt C<) uricr I'ubl is hi "~ CU II111~ 'I .\·, ·In c.

RICHARD'S RUMBUNGS FIGURE PRI CES GOING UP

I have heard from a couple of very rcliuble sources thallhere is a shortage of the m(lterials Ihat goes into Ihe casting alloy, specifically ti n.

Manufacturers h ~t ve seen jumps in the base price of casting 1I110ys Ilml con­tain large pereenlages of tin within only Ihe pusl few months. We :tre talking huge jumps thaI will ultimately anect the price of;tlilhings cast in metal within OUT hobby: figures. tanks. horses, you name it.

The trend is world-wide and will deeply alTccl any trade having to do with white-metal casting items: wargaming. figure collccling. costume jewelry.

pewtcr knickknacks. tire weighlS. Some suppliers have mised base priccs a whopping 35% since j usl the end of February. Anolher is eUlTCntly holding at a raise of jus I over 140% ofwhallhc Sllnle Iype of metal was in the 3d quartcr of 2003. less tlmn 7 months ago. Thcse percentages are ll ll ba!!Cd 011

quotes received by Ihese sources in Ihe past s ix monlhs alone.

The cause seems 10 be two- fold. First, there has been a stccp d(.:crcase in world-wide tin pro­duction involving a period sp.1nning the paSI 18 months. 111e CUlTCnt production rate is llpproxi. mately one third the quantity mined and smelted

from the previous year. TIle second cause is the Chinese. For years the Chinese appllrenlly mined and sold tin at very low prices: enough so that metallraders in the USA have gone for years wilhout huving 10 Imde South Amcrican lin. Now the Chinese economy h:ts trended UpWlll,([ so grc,ttly in the paSI few years Ihm their own mllnufiteturing oulput is sucking up a ll (hul they used to provide the world market, plus they arc buying up addi tional :ttliounts on Ihe world market in order 10 maintllin thei r CUlTCnt output and fu ture growth demands. TIlis is a classic supply versus demand issue if I've ever secn one. This s itualion 11.15 the potential to shake things up in our hobby far more than the lead scare did yellrs ago.

Of course figure manufaclure is labor intcnsive, so the COSI of materials tends to be n smaller pcrcentnge of the cost of the figure. But manufacturers are going to have 10 buy much larger quantitics of metal than they have previously done to lock in lower prices, that risk must be passed on to the customer - Ihe rcsull can be no other than higher figure eOSls.

Lcsi Ihose who buy their figures oversellS be too eompilicent, note thrll the weak Americlln dollar has cause nn increase in the ~ t pparcnt cost of items man­ufactured overseas. In addi tion the postage costs nre simi larly afTecled. The U.S. supplierof Redoubl. Calpe and Front Rank figures. Miniature SeIViee center has announced a price increase due to the increase in cost of postage and Ihe exchange rate and i expect 10 sec a 101 more oflhal fairly soon.

ARTIC LES NEE DED Periodiclllly. editors have to solicit anicles from their readers. I am no

exception. The Courier is nothing ifnot a magazine written by its readers: most of whom have 1L lot of experience in the hobby. The lLrtic1cs llrc usually great because Ihese aUlhors are writing for their fellow hobbyists about a subject that Ihey lire excited about.

Go to our websitc al www.lhecourienllagazine.com and go to "authors notcs" to see a fitirly lengthy explanation of what is needed for an article. There is a 101 there. don't be discouraged as I had to covcr ll ll of the myriad programs, computers. etc. that our readers use. It is really quite s imple and [can work with anyone thllt mighl have a problem with gcnemting an article for us - jusl e-mail me al tng lu leu~aol.eom. We need Sapper's Reports. ·'how-to·' anicles on making terrain, playing aids. painting. ele. I especially likc liu lc-gamed periods that might introduce readers 10 nnew arell. Finally I could usc somelhing on Slllll l1 scale gHllling, 2-5mlll. where a lot of gamers have shown imerest.

PS. Tell us how you like Ihe new layout.

Sam

ple

file

TilE COURIER .lIA(iAZINE

New Vistas in Tactical­Level Wargaming

Part One

A numbcr of tactical-level miniature rules (i.e., multiple stands per battalion) for eighteenth ccntury warf.1re have appeared during the ast severnl years, such as Thomas AhmfeH's GA PA (Acedia Press,

2002), Tod Kershner's If'tllfill"e ill The Age 0/ Rem·oll (Emperor's Press Limited, 1998) and 1811i CellllllY Principles o/War (T. M. Penn 2002.) TIte primary design focus of this latest generation has been on more the sequence of play and a sophisticated simulation of command control capa­bilities. The mechanics of play on a purely tactical level have remained rel­atively unchanged, however. Once the attacking player has succeeded in positioning his baltle line ncar the defending units, there is little to do but to advance, choose the most propitious moment to fi re (as detemlined by the rules' fire resolution dynamics). Some rule sets allow opposing sides to close to contact: others foree onc side or the other to break before elosing. [n either case. both sides typical1y cheek morale at some point and the vic­torious side general1y is that which inmcted the most casualties and was

Ii

found to have the highest morale. This sequcnce of game dynamics appears to mesh nicely with our cur­

rent understanding of the eighteen century battlefield. After al1 , during the linear era of warfare, didn't opposing sides fonn line lengthy continuous lines? Once the anny was in position, wasn't there few tactical options but to advance directly toward the enemy? For the colonel. e\'en the brigadier

/1r,,"1 No,"Worl"J' "IIX Sp"'" ,",, III.w 17 r""r.; ,A'l·e/"pillg" ~lIper-.~"pili...,ic",,,d .'im-111"';011 "f'''c/ic"I-le,·1!! of "~'rjim! fmm Ille Agt' IIf TIlrt'J/Ire '" II,,' Fro" r,,.Pm.,,illll Wllr, " ",ork Ilrlll Hid lllni Berg d'lIrll<:lerh.eu ,·el)' eorly irr il.'· dm·t'lr'pmcIII I 19781 as ""lie of fl'I! .""''''" " .",de,.,. of lire ''''rglllllillg ,,~.rlif." Ho" ... ra, Mr. N,,~""OrrlrJ" i.,· "'"" klll''''" ji" .,.lrell I,e 1111.'· I«krll « re~p;lc fm'" fi."'iC "ff"'''· IIl1d publishc,' ,wen ·je", IIf "i.~ j i",/illg.' ill highly ocdll;m"u ... ." Ii.<, .,·"d, III TI" .. All"" "" )" lif !'howl)''- /1«flle TllrticIfmm 1689-1763, 11111, Mllskel. C,," orr lII.d S".mJ.- /1 11"le Tller;cs of f\'op" II!t'" "",/ hi.,· Hllelllie.'· ""'/ mo.·' ~(·t'IIII)", The l1IoIII/r Cm cible of c,mruge: Figllfillg MelllOu,. 11",1 Cllmblll £''P''r;ellcc oflhe O,·il li ar. TIlt' ji,l/o"''' ing fI' .I-/IIUI t1r1idc i.,· II di...,illll/;'m "f Mr. ,1I, 'II.""WrlltJ".~ e""dlls;,m.~ IIb"",I",,, •. ..,eI, fC!icllrrl. migh, "jfert f llillre r<llc.~ ue-';gll ji,r l"r/;r"lle,..,1 millill"'" rll/".-'/gll"'e .<)'lilelll.,·ji,r Ihe ftillllock pe,i,H!_

Sam

ple

file