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Tuesday 10 November 2020

At least forty years on ...

Many, many years ago (at least forty!), I decided to refight the Chaco War (1932 to 1935) between Bolivia and Paraguay. To this end I amassed and painted two sizeable armies of 15mm-scale Peter Laing figures ... and they have been sitting in storage pretty well ever since!

Part of the problem was that I had very scant information to go on, and painted the armies in completely the wrong colours! As a result, they saw the light of day only once in a Chaco War battle (the Battle of Nanawa) that I put on at SALUTE in the early 1980s. The figures have been used to portray Russian and Japanese forces during the Russo-Japanese War ... for which their paint schemes were not too inaccurate. By the time I got married in 1982, the figures were in storage, and other than being culled very slightly some year ago, they have remained unused, but no unloved.

To give my regular blog readers some idea about how big the collection is, here are some photographs of it in its REALLY USEFUL BOXES storage trays:

You will not that the collection included three very badly scratch built Vickers 6-ton tanks. (They were made using the bottom half of Airfix Bren Gun carriers and bits of scrap plastic I had to hand.)

I 'found' the collection during a bit of a sort out over the weekend, and I've been mulling over what to do with it. I could put it all back into storage (which seems a bit of a pity) or I could sort some of the figures out and fight a campaign with them. The latter does appeal to me, and even though it is not currently on my list of short-term goals, it would be a waste not to use them. After all, they've been sitting in storage for the best part of forty years waiting for their big day to come ... and it would be a shame to disappoint them!

(I know that toy soldiers are inanimate objects with no feelings, but ...)

33 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,
    Very interesting to see your Peter Laing 15mm Collection- I wish I had some of my Collections from 40 years ago- over the years I've managed to sell everything I've ever had..alas. Presently waiting on my 15mm Laserburn figures from the UK- their arrival will please me greatly. I'd encourage you to do something with your Collection- perhaps a small Chaco Battle in 15mm or two- even a small skirmish would be good for you. Best Wishes. KEV.

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    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      Each of the infantry units comprises four to six bases - including two MG bases - and the artillery has two bases. They could easily be used with my PW rules, with 1 base per Strength Point.

      I’ve always been very reluctant to part with any of the figures in my collections ... but as I get older, I’m thinking about how to downsize.

      Good luck with your Laserburn project.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Hi Bob,
      I fell into the trap long ago to sell things so that new things could be bought...not a recommended way to support your hobby interests. Yes, very much looking forwards to the 15mm Laserburn Project. I've recently avoided moving to downsized accomodation- hoping we'll stay put for many more years to come - I couldn't give away not having a Games Shed nor go without a dedicated Study- it was all too much for me. Stay well there Bob. Regards. KEV.

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    3. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      I have sold stuff in the past, but usually only odds and ends of projects that were never going to be completed. I don’t have plans to start any new projects, although I might tidy up and/or add to some of my existing ones.

      If we do downsize - which depends on how my current health situation pans out - I will definitely want somewhere I can wargame and write. It might be a shed, a garage, or a bedroom ... but I don’t foresee being able to do without somewhere to wargame.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Release the Chaco War 849 (approx) from their REALLY USEFUL BOXES prison. Forty years starring at four plastic walls! They deserve the open spaces of your wargaming table Bob. Even if only to die ignominiously at the whims of the dice gods. All the best Airhead.

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    1. Airhead,

      It is certainly something that is rocketing up my ‘to do’ list! It seems such a waste to leave them languishing in their storage boxes.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Bob - 40 years beats my longest resurrection period, which I reckon is around 35 years, when I put on Old Charlie last Christmas. Like you, I find it hard to part with figures. I always end up thinking that as soon as I dispose of them, I'll have an idea for a game and they're just what I need.

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    1. Trebian,

      As the words of the song say ‘you don’t know what you’ve lost till it’s gone’ ... which is my excuse for not getting rid of them!

      I have ideas about how to use them whirling around in my head ... which is helping keep my mind of other things.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. You are lucky to have so many of your original figures. Like many wargamers, I sold off older figures to replace them with newer, and better (?) figures. Jan has never forgiven me for selling one of the very first figures, a Hinton Hunt Napoleonic guard lancer. He came with a separate arm, which I should have glued on before I painted him. I didn't, and the subsequent damage done by trying to attach it with araldite causes so much anguish that it remained a vivid memory of our first year together. How I wish I had kept him!

    regards

    Paul

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    1. Jan Leniston (Paul),

      I am by natural inclination a hoarder, which is why I still have some of my original (and very badly painted) Hinton Hunt Crimean War figures. They are pretty grim to look at ... but I have kept them for sentimental reasons, having travelled to Camden Passage to buy them from Marcus Hilton’s shop. I think that I paid one shilling for each figure ... which was a lot of money in 1968. (I was earning £650 per annum at the time!)

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. Go on Bob...they need their moment in the spotlight!!!

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  6. Definitely should be a campaign Bob. The tanks look excellent and there's plenty of artillery support for the infantry.

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    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      I certainly want to use them ... and if not in a campaign, then certainly in a battle or two.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. Whatever you game with them Bob, they definitely need to grace the wargames table. A campaign based upon the Chaco War seems appropriate, given this is what they were intended for. Here's hoping to see them in action soon.

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    1. Steve J.,

      I have something in mind, but I won’t say too much at present.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. Bob, We have feelings so they don't have to! But they do deserve an outing really, don't let it be an idea allowed to waste away, untested, unfulfilled!

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    1. Ross Mac,

      You can rest assured that some of these troops will be seeing service in the near future.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  9. Helion have published a book on the Chaco war I think , which might prove interesting . Peter Laing figures still have a draw to me even after all these years , pity they seem to be unavaiable nowadays .

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    1. The Good Soldier Svjek,

      Funnily enough, I have recently bought a copy of that very book!

      I know quite a few wargamers who would buy Peter Laing figures if they were still available. They had a unique charm ... and not too much detail!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  10. Hi Bob, I understand your un-willingness not to sell the collection. If you have spent hundreds of hours painting figures, it makes it hard to part with them. I still have figures I painted almost 30 years ago. I'm glad I had ran some convention games with them when new rulesets were published. For example, I ran Russo-Japanese Wargames when "Bloody Big battles" was published. Also ran a colonial Sudan game when "The Men Who Would Be Kings" was published.

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    1. Scott,

      I spent months acquiring and painting these Peter Laing figures, and although I’ve passed a few on to other wargamers, I’ve kept the bulk of the collection intact. In retrospect, I think that it was a wise move ... and it’s about time they had their day in the sun.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  11. Hi Bob, I think it's time your Peter Laing figures are given free rein to take part in the Chaco war or indeed a South American imaginations campaign, but I wouldn't feel to guilty about the time lapse , one of the "good"? things about lockdown is that I have finally finished painting my Peter Laing Indian Mutiny collection after a gap of about 30 years!

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    1. Derek Moore,

      My Peter Laing figures are definitely going to take their place on my tabletop in the very near future. They will certainly have their day in the sun ... forty years on!

      Congratulations on finishing your Indian Mutiny figures! I only wish that it was still possible to buy Peter Laing figures. I’d certainly buy them!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  12. Peter Laing figures - my first metal figures - are ones to treasure, especially now there is no sign of the moulds.
    For those interested in Peter Laing, and finding out what secondhand figures are available online etc or for swaps, there is on the MeWe platform a Peter Laing collectors group set up by Ian Dury to replace the old group on the now closed Google Plus pages. https://mewe.com/join/peterlaingfigures

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    1. Mark, Man of TIN,

      My first metal figures were Hinton Hunt figures ... and I still have them!

      Thanks for the link to the MeWe group. I’m sure that a lot of my regular readers will be interested in joining it.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. I vaguely recall reading articles on Pirate Games, SpCW and also on the Chaco War in Mil Mod or Miniature Wargames in the early 1980s with uniform drawings and Airfix WWI figure conversions, which is how I recognised the name Bob Cordery when I started reading blogs several however-many years ago. Was this you? Or is my memory playing tricks? I still have many Mil Mod articles cut out and saved and about the first fifteen Miniature Wargames intact.

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    3. Mark, Man of TIN,

      I plead guilty to writing magazine articles about the Chaco War and Spanish Civil War. Some were published in MW, and others were printed in WI and the short-lived WARGAMES WORLD.

      The late Robin Hunt wrote the articles about the SCW that were in MILITARY MODELLING (as did the military historian Charles Esdaile), and we frequently corresponded.

      I also have a clippings library dating back to the 1970s, and still look at it regularly.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. Mark, Man of TIN,

      Robin Hunt also wrote articles about the SCW for THE COURIER, which I seem to remember produced one issue that was almost entirely devoted to the war.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  13. I think your readers and I would love to see a Chaco War PWG campaign. Amiright everyone?

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    1. Mr, Pavone,

      I think that you are probably right ...

      All the best,

      Bob

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  14. I think after all these years, those old figures are begging to be used at last. I for one would love to see them in action on your blog.
    If I'm not mistaken I see German 77mm field guns, Russian Putilov 76mm field guns, British early war Infantry and Artillery crew, Russian Infantry and Artillery crew amongs others, all from Peter's extensive WW1 range. I am hoping that more pictures will let me identify more of these figures.
    PS - I think you're scratchbuilt tanks are actually rather good!

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    1. Ian Dury,

      I have plans in place for some of the to take part in a battle in the next few days.

      You are right about the figures I used for the bulk of the two armies. There are also some ACW figures in the collection, and these were used to represent militia and reserve units. As for the tanks ... well they seem to fit in with the style of Peter Laing’s figures, which is the look that I wanted to achieve.

      All the best,

      Bob

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