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Duncan Macfarlane Wargames Publisher

The death of Duncan Macfarlane reminds me that he was probably the reason I stayed in the hobby.

The death of Duncan Macfarlane is a sad moment. His life though should be celebrated by wargamers as he delivered two great magazines into the hobby – giving pleasure to thousands of gamers. And his publishing enterprises probably did most to keep me from leaving the hobby altogether.

In the late 1970’s I left the hobby and at that time Battle was the wargamers magazine – kit bashers and painters had Military Modelling.

However I became an armchair wargamer through the next wargaming magazine – Miniature Wargames launched by Duncan in 1983. Later in that decade he started Wargames Illustrated as well.

Still the big head era – maybe some of these are by Bill Lamming?

I have binned my magazines over time simply because I have gutted them all for those articles I wanted to keep. Along the way I kept some of the covers.

Renaissance and Medieval periods are particularly photogenic
I recall the variety of covers – most importantly they were wargames figures painted to be fought with.

here are a few more

Horse and Musket shares the cover with a Wargames Holiday Centre scene?
I think it was also the era for 15mm and big armies at that – well before DBA?
Although clearly set up, the scenes depicted always felt within reach of the hobbyist in some way. There was always some purpose – not just an excuse for a photo.

By the late 1990’s Wargames Illustrated was mature and we still had Miniature Wargames. I re-entered the hobby by chance – finding a flier for the Solo Wargamers Association (which is still going strong) left in a library book as I recall.

I seem to have liked medieval covers!
This cover sowed seeds that only germinated in the late 1990’s when I bought into Museum Miniatures 15mm ranges – ironically not their Republican Romans though!

So it was Duncans two magazines that sustained my interest in the hobby during almost 2 decades of no table top battles or painting of any figures.

I will finish with probably one of my favorite magazine covers of that era

Medieval Magic again

Thank you Duncan.

lorenzoseventh's avatar

By lorenzoseventh

Wargaming in an erratic style

4 replies on “Duncan Macfarlane Wargames Publisher”

Hi John, I regard the covers as a form of wargamers art and apparently Duncan Macfarlane was a very good photographer. If I recall rightly I have a lot of Practical Wargames articles yet no covers – i think they avoided the staged scene beloved by Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated. However, never judge a book by its cover as they say. Stuart Asquith edited some very fine articles at the helm of what at the time was the third mainstream wargamers magazine.

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Duncan made a significant contribution to the hobby as well as being a nice guy. The Obituary on the Partizan site mentions that he never seemed to change – I met him last in Feb 2020 and he was just the same as when I first met him in the 1980s. I’m very pleased we had time for a good chat about the hobby and changes over the years. A sad loss.

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