My First Wargame Reports From 1970!

As I was cleaning up the garage, after the Great Inundation I came across numerous items from my childhood. Among them were these wargame reports I wrote when I was 11. I scanned them and loaded them here, complete with original writing and spelling errors!

On the 14. 7 .70 a war-party of two Comancheros and 22 Indians attacked Fort Jackson. 

A troop was sent out and battled the war party. The last Indian bit the dust. ? Palefaces were left out of 28.

'COMANCHEROS'

The Comancheros were a bandit society which lived close to or with the Comanches. They were mostly Mestizos but with some Anglos.

The cowboy head was, I think, a later version than the one at the time of the game.

 On the 19 . 9 .'70 two cars, one motorcycle and sidecar, 5 royal guards, two jeeps, three cannons, one rocket launcher, one ammunition limber, two tanks and 21, soldiers set off for their base. When the mission was almost complete they were attacked by 18 German snipers and a plane and fired at by 2 cannons and a tank. In the finish the Germans were wiped out but only one Royal Guard, six soldiers, one cannon and ammunition limber and the motorbike and sidecar survived. two cars that went were blown up.

  The British, American and Australian victory was largely due to an American plane that came to meet them. All German artillery was blown up in the fighting. The American planes' reward was a shell by the Germans.

BELOW:

I got out a bunch of my relevant figures, many that would have actually been in that game.
I didn't have access to the Crescent armored car and gun or the planes. There was also an oversized plastic jeep that I have somewhere. I suspect that the game I wrote an account of also included Lego made armored cars. I made them with revolving turrets, and they survived on the battlefield until forcefully thrown marbles dismembered them. (Tom bowlers were best). I remember a solo game with these. There was also at least one tinplate vintage car which supposedly held the Royals - the Queen in my mind, but of course the monarch would have been the King in that time. maybe that was the same game.

  I didn't have this cannon at the time, but the sand colored one which I still have somewhere. I think the Timpo Aussies were my favorites. The turned-up hats always look cool.

  Despite the Lone Star/Harvey Aussie having a bazooka I read somewhere that this was not used by Australian troops.

These Timpo Germans often lost their helmets. The game was played before the better shaped plug in helmets were made. I still like these, just the same. The Americans had the same pot helmets that fitted over the bare heads. I thought the faces on these figures quite nice. I also used to remove the helmets to use them as Confederates!

                            The German General always looked like he was in charge. The surrendering Germans could always be used as artillery crew.

  The Timpo Grenadiers also looked cool, but they would make easy targets in red!

   ......................................................................................................................................................

  Yes, it sounds cringeworthy, but I was just a little bloke. The Western game Comancheros were probably Timpo Mexicans. I watched the John Wayne movie, 'The Comancheros' which had a big influence on me. The other figures would have been Timpo 7th cavalry, cowboys and Indians plus cereal copies of Crescent western figures and the odd Britains Swoppet ACW figure. There were probably also some assorted Hong Kong and Timpo figures.

  The WW2 game involved the Lone Star Desert and a Crescent armored car and cannon set. Timpo Swoppet figures were Aussies, Brits and Germans, the ones with the pot shaped removable helmets. The eccentric bit was the inclusion of ceremonial British guardsmen who were Crescent and Timpo plastics. The planes I had completely forgotten about.

  The rules were moves of 6'' for infantry and 12'' for cavalry and vehicles. Firing involved shooting matchsticks from cannons and 'tanks' (armored cars) or rolled and thrown marbles with tombowlers thrown from cannons and armored cars' guns. Vehicles could also run over troops! Only one figure/ vehicle was moved each move and, if I recall rightly, one shot was taken from each big gun and one from troops.

  Those two games were, I think, solo ones, were played on my bedroom floor or on the wooden floor in the asbestos garage.

  I still have most of the figures but I dropped a box of my Lone Star today and a couple of figures, including a mine sweeper, broke.
BELOW, casualties of war:

Well acrually I dropped the box on a concrete floor and a handful of figures suffered. The broken swoppet happened today when I dropped the metal jeep on him! I could glue that one back easily but the others missing parts are proably gone with my garage sweep.