R.I.P. Duncan Macfarlane

Thanks,  Duncan

 

It's very sad to hear the news that Duncan Macfarlane has passed away, aged 73. Of course he was the founder of not one but two long-running magazines for our hobby; and current editors of both have paid tribute.  Dan Fauconbridge, current editor of Wargames Illustrated, says on their website 

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of Duncan Macfarlane. Duncan was the original owner and editor of Wargames Illustrated, creating and publishing the magazine for the first time in August 1987, after having previously been the editor of Miniature Wargames. Duncan passed away suddenly but peacefully on 28 May 2021, aged 73. He will be sadly missed by all those that knew him, and those within the hobby that didn’t have the good fortune to call him a friend will doubtless be aware of the debt of gratitude owed to him as both an innovator and stalwart of wargaming.

and John Treadaway  of Miniature Wargames, on theirs: 

It is with great sadness that we at Miniature Wargames have heard the news of the death of its original founder, Duncan Macfarlane.

Duncan – an ex-Games Workshop manager – started the magazine in 1983 and produced it for the first four years, acting as both photographer and editor, advertising manager and.. well everything else.

I came across him on more than one occasion delivering magazines in London by hand to a wargaming shop!

He introduced quality photography to the hobby with his shots of painting luminaries of the period and produced a magazine which – even from issue one with its ‘free sci-fi board game’ tag on the front cover – embraced the whole hobby. His talents even extended into appearances on TV to promote wargaming.

After parting ways with Miniature Wargames, he then went on to do something unheard of: he produced a new wargames magazine – Wargames Illustrated – and both now stand as testaments to his love of the hobby.

Both editors promise articles devoted to Duncan in their respective next issues. 

Also paying tribute, the inimitable Mike Siggins on Instagram  said 'worked with Duncan for a decade. Quirky, eccentric, photographer, editor and founder of the two best miniatures magazines. Top bloke. He never did pay me. R.I.P.'

I never properly 'met' Duncan,  though as a younger person I remember  rather shyly buying  the good old green binders for 'Wargames Illustrated' from him at his stall at SELWG or Salute in the 1990s. I'm very pleased to have have nearly all his issues of Miniature Wargames  close at hand ( anyone got a copy of issue 35 going spare? ) , along with the first year or two of Wargames Illustrated - and probably another 15 years worth of 'WI' in the loft.   I loved those magazines and still do; he combined superior illustration and classy design with the ability to persuade  fellow gamers to provide thoughtful and inspiring articles - even if he didn't necessarily ( allegedly ) pay very promptly.  

Two such articles stayed with me for years, decades even - Henry Hyde's splendid  'Fictitious Wars' (in 'MW' issue 47), which was both the launch of Henry's  writing career, I assume,  and later inspiration for a huge resurgence in 'Imagi-nations' gaming;  and Dave Hoyles'  'The Lazy Way'  in MW issue 7, to which I will devote a blog post some day.  And let's not forget Paddy Griffith's articles launching Wargames Developments,  and Duncan's emphasis on publishing new rules, which gave us Andy Callan and his 'Loose Files and American Scramble',  many a set from Arthur Harman and Chris Peers,  and introduced Graham 'Trebian'  Evans  with a Napoleonic Fox-Hunting game(!), among 'many, many more'. Just the  first 12 issues of MW also include articles from George Gush, Terry Wise, Phil Barker, Bob O'Brien, Peter Gilder, C.S. Grant and Don Featherstone -  anyone who was anyone in the hobby wrote for Duncan.

So it's time to settle down for an evening with some well-thumbed copies of his magazines, and raise a glass to the memory of the genius of  Duncan Macfarlane.Thanks, Duncan.   

Keep safe, and well, everyone.