Capítulo VII Del Tianguis artesanal
TÍTULO SEXTO De los espectáculos públicos
54
C O L U M NTHE IRREGULAR
A LABOUR OF LOVE OR A NECESSARY EVIL
I confess I am a model maker first, a figure painter sec-
ond and a gamer third! My hobby interests are varied,
most of my model making being scratch-built or heav-
ily modified from commercial products.
By Tony Harwood
© G e o r g i e H a r m a nT
his is probably due to my upbringing: a fa- ther who built flying balsa-wood models and placed miniature ships in bottles (which I don’t have the patience to do), a grandfather who had a huge HO/OO model railway layout in his back bedroom and an uncle who built beautiful post war jets which he displayed on his mantelpiece. The modelling bug didn’t just bite – it savaged me.I’ve built hundreds of Airfix plastic kits, built model rail- way layouts and collected model soldiers in dozens of different scales, but it was the introduction to wargam- ing and roleplay games like Dungeons and Dragons that has inspired me through the years.
I tend to build terrain from scratch to 28-30mm scale (or 1/56th), the themes for these models varying through An- cients, to Napoleonics, Modern, Sci-Fi and even Fantasy; I would suggest that the more unusual the more chance there is that I will be attracted to it. Given the above, why am I so passionate about building wargame terrain? It is the culmination of a lifetime’s interest in model mak- ing, in playing games, in building plastic kits and read- ing hundreds of model making articles – with this much pent-up knowledge it was obvious that I would eventu- ally come around to model making of some sort.
I scour the internet and magazine shelves in the hope of finding some piece of terrain or a scenic feature that inspires me to build a new model. I study drawings or photos trying to work out how I could build a reproduc- tion or use just one tiny part of the building or machine to add to my latest creation. I build models and write articles for myself; the fact that I am lucky enough to get paid for these articles is a bonus.
Making good looking terrain is an enjoyable skill that can be learnt by the hobbyist. Therefore, I find it difficult to accept those that talk about superbly modelled gaming boards acting as a barrier to newcomers to the hobby, as they appear unobtainable to the novice. I believe the exact opposite is true – these well modelled games are in fact the impetus for these newcomers to strive for. The model railway press doesn’t include simple or toy layouts
to inspire, it challenges modellers to improve their skills with bigger and better layouts. So why, when most seri- ous wargamers will spend years researching their chosen scale, army or uniform, are those same gamers not will- ing to spend the same amount of time and effort on their terrain? This is an anomaly that I find difficult to accept. If terrain does not inspire, then why not play with chess pieces on a chessboard?
Don’t get me wrong, my first wargames were played on green dyed bed sheets with chalked-on roads and green felt ovals to represent woods; the Airfix ACW plastic soldiers were glued down to Newcastle Brown Ale beermats and the rules were well-thumbed photo- copies. BUT – that was then, and today I would think nothing of spending weeks reproducing a cool centre- piece model for an ACW skirmish game.
I believe that the ‘spectacle’ of wargaming is just as im- portant as the rules, the research and the figure painting. Without the spectacle then we are just pushing toy sol- diers over the bedroom carpet, and yes I know H G Wells (the recognised father of modern wargaming) started out by doing just that. Similarly, if we are to attract ‘new blood’ to the hobby or produce a stunning well-remem- bered night of gaming, then this spectacle, this beautifully modelled and painted gaming table, is just as important as the soldiers moving across it. Thinking back to the ‘sis- ter’ hobby of railway modelling, I suggest that a superbly modelled and super-detailed railway engine would have much more impact if modelled and placed in a similarly super-detailed and working setting. Maybe this is why painted figures or models always appear better if mounted on scenic bases or included as part of a diorama?
I’m not saying that the rules are not important, or that you shouldn’t paint your troops to the best of your ability (I do believe that there is no place in the hobby for bare metal figures on the gaming table), but I do think that there is a real balance to be had between the three main parts of the wargame hobby – Figures, Rules and Terrain – with each of them acting in unison (and with equal importance) to one another. This is not rocket science, just common sense.
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Many years ago I was lucky enough to attend the orig- inal Wargames Holiday Centre, run by Peter Gilder. The group re-fought the Battle of Salamanca over a gaming board that was huge, and each and every part of that table was beautifully sculpted and modelled with rivers, hills, trees, and buildings. As the two ar- mies converged, the excitement rose. My memories of that weekend stay with me today. I believe that it was the spectacle of the whole event: while a similarly large Battle of Waterloo wargame fought over a car- peted meeting room with white polystyrene hills and partially painted figures was just as big an event, the spectacle (in my opinion) was missing.
When I visit a wargame show, my eye is not drawn sole- ly to the beautifully painted and based ranks of model soldiers, it is drawn to the spectacle of the whole gaming board. The figures are as actors on a lavishly decorated miniature battlefield - this is inspiration at its very best. This is the ‘whole picture’: finely painted miniatures on superbly painted and modelled bases, marching across realistic-looking fields of corn, across dry-stone walls and along dirt-track roads past miniature structures that portray as closely as possible the actual buildings as il- lustrated in contemporary paintings or illustrations (or photographs). The rules and various gaming parapher- nalia are kept in purpose-built and separate gaming ar- eas so as not to jar the eye of the viewer but to reinforce the illusion of a miniature battlefield. This, I maintain, is what gamers really want to see and what they should strive for. For proof, see the photographs in all gaming and modelling magazines. Some may call it ‘Gaming Porn’. To me this is the pinnacle, the perfect sculpture or piece or art, what we as gamers should at least be striving for. It is the goal and the closer we get to it the better the whole hobby will become.
My first step is not necessarily perfect figures on beau- tiful bases; this is my goal (and I admit something that I may never fully achieve), however if I look back at the hobby when I first started – at that green dyed bed sheet and the chalk roads, the green felt woods and the simply painted Airfix soldiers – I know that my skills have improved, that my figure painting is bet- ter, my trees look more realistic and my buildings look like what they are supposed to be. Then I know I have made strides in the right direction.
For me the building of scratch-built and detailed war- game terrain or scenery is a true ‘labour of love’, some- thing that I enjoy both researching and building. In truth I think it is my main or core hobby, with painting figures relegated to a side-line or add-on interest, while gaming is moved lower down the league table to be seen as an occasional activity. I still think of myself as a wargamer, but maybe not a traditional gamer. (If I were asked, I think I would describe myself as a model maker.) I find it difficult to see it as a necessary evil or a chore and find myself criticising other gamers or wargamers who play on plain or simple tables with little and sometimes no terrain. With these types of games, by definition gamers are missing out on one of the most creative parts of the hobby. My advice is, “Try it – you just might like it!” I’m not going to stop trying to improve these skills; on the contrary, I want to strive to improve all of these skills, and I would recommend this to every reader of this mag- azine. It is one of the main reasons that I write magazine articles – to try to pass on the steps that I use when build- ing terrain or structures and show that although some- times time consuming, this is a very satisfying (possibly the most satisfying) part of this great hobby. I love build- ing and painting my model terrain.WS&S
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