The Lure o the Wild West
In the time of my childhood, the 1960s, vitually every Australian boy and many girls played 'cowboys and Indians'. Why did we not play 'bushrangers and police troopers'? We had our own outlaws, such as the Kelly gang and mad Dog Morgan and Australian films were made about them. The reality is that we most remember the westerns that filled our TV screens. There was Gunsmoke, The High Chapperal, Bonanza, F Troop and others. There was an endless stream of western movies like Shane and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and we loved them. Most of us had toy six shooters complete with holsters, cowboy hats and sheriff's badges. And of course there were toy cowboys and Indians. My passion for history developed from a love of the Old West.
I have never lost my interest in the American West. One reason I visited America fifteen years ago was to see it first hand. You can see in the photos of my western scenes that I still like toy cowboys and Indians, although most of the ones on display are ones I have painted and modified. My old friends the cereal/Cresent cowboys can be seen among them, painted up and converted. There are also converted Britains Detail. There are Britains Swoppets, Starlux and Commansi as well as various made in China items. On top of a building is a Timpo figure in black. I think he came only with the toy train and a medicine wagon but someone might correct me on this. The cowboy having a drink was on the end of a drink stirer. I made his hat taller with putty. The 'mammy' was a broken Timpo farm girl given a new arm and longer dress from tissue paper coated in liquid cement.
The houses I obtained many years ago from Brenton Hoffman, a fellow ACOTS founder who lives in Adelaide. I painted about fifty Accurate redcoats for two of his houses. He made them from joining made in Hong Kong Golden West buildings in to two stories and adding details from icypole sticks. They used to have outside steps but these have received 'battle damage'. The houses are a little small but they work well in a display and they have seen use in many western and ACW games. There are also Commansi and Timpo buildings.
Most of these figures have been used in wargames. What I like about western games is that you can have so many 'sides' - bank robbers, sheriff's posse, bounty hunters, rival sheriff's men- Lincoln County War, bystanders who may take sides, Commanches, Apaches, Sioux, Cheyanne, Mexicans, Confederates, US soldiers, gunfighters etc. I even set up a game for my students where a circus came to town with a mystery exhibition which turned into rampaging zombies! (Think Jonah Hex and Weird Western comics). When I play multi sided games I have a column tick sheet with points assigned for killing certain enemies and no points for others. A US soldier might get extra points for killing Confederates and Indians but less for killing bandits and none for killing the sheriff! Invariably players forget and fire on the wrong people, thus creating unnecessary enemies. The more that is going on the greater chance o the bank being robbed - so long as the explosive blows the safe and doesn't fizzle or blow up everything else, including the robbers. Hidden objectives add to the intrigue. One side's objective may just be to get from one end of the board to the other. An example would be a troop of Confederate cavalry, at the end of the ACW, merely wishes to get to Mexico to join up with Maximilian. Alliances are formed and betrayed and the players, themselves tend to get very excited when the latter happens!
I have never lost my interest in the American West. One reason I visited America fifteen years ago was to see it first hand. You can see in the photos of my western scenes that I still like toy cowboys and Indians, although most of the ones on display are ones I have painted and modified. My old friends the cereal/Cresent cowboys can be seen among them, painted up and converted. There are also converted Britains Detail. There are Britains Swoppets, Starlux and Commansi as well as various made in China items. On top of a building is a Timpo figure in black. I think he came only with the toy train and a medicine wagon but someone might correct me on this. The cowboy having a drink was on the end of a drink stirer. I made his hat taller with putty. The 'mammy' was a broken Timpo farm girl given a new arm and longer dress from tissue paper coated in liquid cement.
The houses I obtained many years ago from Brenton Hoffman, a fellow ACOTS founder who lives in Adelaide. I painted about fifty Accurate redcoats for two of his houses. He made them from joining made in Hong Kong Golden West buildings in to two stories and adding details from icypole sticks. They used to have outside steps but these have received 'battle damage'. The houses are a little small but they work well in a display and they have seen use in many western and ACW games. There are also Commansi and Timpo buildings.
Most of these figures have been used in wargames. What I like about western games is that you can have so many 'sides' - bank robbers, sheriff's posse, bounty hunters, rival sheriff's men- Lincoln County War, bystanders who may take sides, Commanches, Apaches, Sioux, Cheyanne, Mexicans, Confederates, US soldiers, gunfighters etc. I even set up a game for my students where a circus came to town with a mystery exhibition which turned into rampaging zombies! (Think Jonah Hex and Weird Western comics). When I play multi sided games I have a column tick sheet with points assigned for killing certain enemies and no points for others. A US soldier might get extra points for killing Confederates and Indians but less for killing bandits and none for killing the sheriff! Invariably players forget and fire on the wrong people, thus creating unnecessary enemies. The more that is going on the greater chance o the bank being robbed - so long as the explosive blows the safe and doesn't fizzle or blow up everything else, including the robbers. Hidden objectives add to the intrigue. One side's objective may just be to get from one end of the board to the other. An example would be a troop of Confederate cavalry, at the end of the ACW, merely wishes to get to Mexico to join up with Maximilian. Alliances are formed and betrayed and the players, themselves tend to get very excited when the latter happens!
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