David from Not by Appointment and I had a recent email exchange on game room aspirations. In one of the emails, David sent a copy of this whisky advertisement from the '70s embodying his vision of the essence of a proper game room (well, without the whisky and horse). So much to work with in this ad that I could not resist the temptation of making my own adaptation or meme.
While you may be able to take a White Horse anywhere, I wondered what the horse was thinking as it surveyed the battlefield below. I am sure the man and woman are having an interesting conversation or a few repressed thoughts but I focused on the horse, itself.
My meme attempts to conjure up memories of the Glory Days from battles passed.
Your turn...
Edit 25APR2023:
David from Not by Appointment sent me this one:
C'mon, fine beverages and proper props are all part of a well-appointed wargames room Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteI have a version saved in my 'Wargaming Humour' folder which seems to have originated from 'ADC Painting' in which the gentleman is saying,
"No. First you need to test to charge. Then I test to receive the charge and you test to charge home."
"Think I need a drink." the Lady replies.
You should share your graphic version, James, but I think you may have the dialog transposed between the two participants.
DeleteReminds me loosely of a cartoon (Ancients Society magazine I think).
ReplyDeleteWargamer has had a first time date with lady and at the end of the evening walks said lady home.
They get to the doorstep and wargamer says shall I come in for a coffee and lady says, no, I have found your discussion on 3rd century military tactics so fascinating, that I would just like some time on my own to think about that some more! :-)
In your caption, the lady might be saying “My horse, Copenhagen, plays a mean game on the battlefield”
More likely, she is thinking,
“When you said let’s go on somewhere and roll some dice, I was at least hoping for a casino”
All good, Norm! The woman looks completely bored.
Delete“No, white horses were 24th edition”
ReplyDeleteCorrect!
DeleteSurely the woman is thinking, "I don't need a white horse to puff me, by God!"
ReplyDeleteI think she is wondering where the smell is coming from.
DeleteStraight out of the seventies, from a time when you used to see characters playing wargames in mainstream television programs. Historical wargaming was almost fashionable back then.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts precisely, Lawrence...shades of the Callan movie with Edward Woodward trying to convince people, playing with toy soldiers was very cool and sophisticated ! There was actually an episode of Midsommer Murders that features quasi wargames, although in fact, they were really dioramas...
Delete“Almost fashionable”? Ah, those were the days…
DeleteThe series “House of Cards” featured Wargaming too.
Delete@rross: There was an episode of New Tricks with a wargame or two in it as well. I think John Treadaway can be seen in the background.
DeleteA yes, I remember that one too, now you mention it Graham!
DeleteI can recall two other instances. One was in the Avengers in the early 1970s where Steed and Emma Peel played first a land and then a naval game. The other was in Magnum PI in the late 1980s(the original one) when Higgins was preparing a lecture on Austerlitz for the Hawaiian Napoleonic Society.
DeleteGood, Mark! Having watched Magnum PI, in the '80s, I do not recall that episode. I may have to go looking for it.
DeleteVery clever Jonathan!
ReplyDeletemy contribution - Horse thinking "why is the only white horse on the table dead? I think I need a drink!"
Or Horse thinking "the colours of the bridles is completely wrong for this period."
Thanks, Ben!
DeleteGood contributions!
The game looks like Waterloo - that's La Haye Saint, isn't it? - can't read the name of the book. The woman looks like Catherine Schell, who was in the Callan movie.
ReplyDeleteCould be Waterloo. The complex does look like La Haye Sainte.
DeleteI'm pretty sure it is Waterloo; and I'm also pretty sure the book is the hardback version of David Howarth's A Near Run Thing on Waterloo too! (I have both the hardback and an ancient paperback version of the book, one of the first books I ever bought as a teenager on Waterloo...) :-)
DeleteGood sleuthing, David!
DeleteI had Near Run Thing in a paperback slipcase set with his Trafalgar book for my birthday in 1972.
DeleteI find it bad enough when the cat gets in the wargames room, let alone a horse.
ReplyDeleteI'm presuming these are Peter Gilder's figures and terrain, as in Callan and the Battleground series.
I agree! The time frame seems fitting for a Gilder display.
DeleteThe Battleground Napoleonic game was Waterloo, and did use Gilder's figures. The game in the Callan movie was Talavera, but they were Gilder figures too.
DeleteThe woman is thinking "This idiot says it's the battle of Corunna, but the British troops are wearing Belgic shakos! For Gods sake, give me another whisky!"
ReplyDeleteNo doubt she is thinking, “Give me another whisky.”
DeleteI think, she's saying, "Please God, don't let me get stuck with this one!"
ReplyDeleteThat is orobably closest to the truth, Ray!😝
DeleteIndeed!
DeleteHe's saying, "I did it last time; it's YOUR turn to shovel up after Trigger."
ReplyDeleteGood one! And what is she thinking?
Delete"Someone ain't gettin' any tonight."
DeleteYep!
DeleteI wonder if you had widely available figures for wargames in the USA half a century ago, or are these collectible miniatures? Is it possible to identify them at least approximately?
ReplyDeleteWargaming figures were widely available 50 years ago in the USA. I think this an English ad. Anthony, above, suggests they are Peter Gilder figures. I expect someone can answer if Gilder’s figures were commercially made or home spun.
DeleteThey are Hinton Hunt figures. Peter certainly had HH figures in his collection and indeed the early 20mm Minifigs/Alberken, designed by Peter Gilder, bear an uncanny resemblance to Hinton Hunt figures.
DeleteThanks, Mark!
DeleteThere are various HH figures said to be from PG's original Napoleonic armies posted by bloggers visible online. At what point he replaced these with Hinchliffe figures, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. You are a good researcher, Anthony.
DeleteI have an interest in old figures and wargames history is all. Anyone wanting to see more of PGs Napoleonics from this period en masse google the book The Wargame by Peter Young from 1972.
DeleteThe Wargame is in my library. I will pull it out for a look.
DeleteLady:
ReplyDelete"He'd better not be planning to throw me down on this table to ravage me with all the bayonets about this thing."
Horse:
"That litterbox wasn't large enough so there's a mess in the corner that needs to be cleaned."
Those are good ones, Dai.
DeleteWas this ad published in a game magazine, or was gaming/modeling well known enough at the time?
ReplyDeleteThere was a Columbo episode where the murderer was a toy soldier collector, in the late '80s...
I don’t know where this ad was published but maybe one of the UK readers knows?
DeleteI vaguely recall that Columbo espisode.
It appeared in Sunday papers colour supplement magazines and the like.
DeleteIt was in several Sunday supplements I seem to recall.
DeleteThere you go! The ad was available to the masses.
DeleteHe's saying: "It's always bloody Waterloo! Why in God's name can't we play something different."
ReplyDeleteAnother: "Playing length ways down the table leaves no room for manouevre."
Both good, Steve!
DeleteYou can lead a horse to the game table but you can’t make it roll 6s.
ReplyDeleteI like it!
DeleteI fear she may be telling him that the buttons on his line infantry should be silver rather than bronze and therefore as they are incorrectly painted they must be removed from the battlefield !
ReplyDeleteCould be. To me, she looks completely uninterested.
DeleteI vaguely remember the add, most representations of wargamers in screen are usually negative from Callan to House of Cards, although if you look out at the beginning of Othello from 1995 there's some model galleys, still that doesn't end well for anyone!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Are you suggesting that wargamers are stereotyped as an odd lot?
DeleteWe certainly appear to have an image problem!
DeleteBest Iain
We need better PR!
DeleteIt’s Her wargames room…
ReplyDeleteHe turned up with the whisky on the horse…
She is thinking…what a moron… I prefer a nice Single Malt and not this blended rubbish…
He had better take that unwanted terrain piece on the Axminster with him when he leaves…
All the best. Aly
Excellent stuff, Aly! ‘Her’ Wargame room is thinking outside the box.
Delete