Mr. McFarlane at a Wargames Show | Tabletop Gaming.com
Mr. McFarlane was a major player in the hobby, but not for the usual reasons we associate with luminaries. We usually go crazy about the guys who are the great painters and rules designers, like Don Featherstone or John Hill. No, Duncan’s claim to fame is giving the historical miniatures hobby not just one forum for its development and discussion, but two of them.
Many credit one or both of McFarlane’s magazines as their reason for becoming part of the hobby. It’s fair to say, to quote one Facebook post I saw in reaction to the news of his passing, “Duncan was the cool uncle who introduced you to the fun aspects of the hobby.” And what an uncle he was.
He brought forward two magazines that have stood the test of time: Miniature Wargames (1983) and Wargames Illustrated (1987). When McFarlane left Miniature Wargames in 1987, he then established Wargames Illustrated and acted as its editor in chief until he sold the magazine to Battlefront Miniatures in 2009. By all accounts, Duncan was a hands-on sort of fellow, running Miniature Wargames all by himself as a photographer, editor, ad manager, layout guy, and everything else a magazine at the time needed. Keep in mind, this was before desktop publishing.
Duncan was even a bit of a barnstormer, being one of the first wargamers to actually be filmed on television playing a game. The conflict was the Battle of Edgehill, which he engaged in for the BBC series Battleground. (If you look at the cast list for Battleground on IMDb, there are more than a few luminaries of the hobby that appeared on that show. And it was hosted by Edward Woodward, of original Equalizer fame, himself a wargamer.)
Yet, every issue he supervised has some of the highest quality photos one could find for miniatures at the time. I have more than a few of the back issues for both magazines from the 80s, and while the painting techniques may be a bit dated, the photos are still some of the best out there. He certainly inspired this young man in the hobby to where I am today. And he will continue to do so as I find myself delving more into the written word side of the hobby.
It’s a credit to Duncan that he managed to run two magazines and build them into the forces they became in the hobby. Both magazines set a standard of high-quality articles, great photos, and all the while being a one-man-band.
Duncan brought wargaming to the British “High Street” and, eventually, to American newsstands. If you go to Barnes & Noble these days, you can still get copies of both magazines on their newsstand. It’s a true testament to the reach of both of his creations.
He encouraged the American growth of the hobby as well, often publishing American writers in the pages of both of his magazines. He was also the British reseller for MWAN and was a man who served as a great ambassador and journalist for our hobby, and that’s something in this age of social media and information overload we could use right now.
Duncan was a gracious, hard-working man who was a pleasure to know and game with. His photos inspired us all to do more and paint better figures (although I will admit a bit of jealousy in 12-year-old me seeing the photos and wishing “I had armies like that.”). Duncan also founded the Society of Ancients, which gave Ancient and Medieval wargaming a much-needed boost. When you see the ranks of who passed through that organization, you knew it was in good company.
Duncan boosted the hobby wherever he could, backing conventions, taking pictures of armies, and generally just boosting our hobby. The funny thing was? He once told a blogger that he had been “press-ganged” into being the editor of Miniature Wargames, having been asked by Peter Gilder because he had once worked in a library.
Duncan was, in many ways, a true luminary because he gave the hobby a forum when we had none. And he did so with grace, class, wit, and intelligence. He made the magazines a joy to read every month and brought the hobby’s message as far and as wide as one man could.
Duncan McFarlane, you will be missed. Requiesce in Pace.
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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)