For
a while I have been considering cultural Australiana in the context of the
programme Cleverman (Wayne Blair & Leah Purcell, AUS, 2016), a
nominally science fiction series broadcast on the ABC, a review of which can be
found on my blog (James Wright, “Superhero Media: Cleverman”, 2016). That the
pop-cultural ephemera produced in Australia is unique to the point often being
inaccessible is no new revelation, as evidenced by Mark Hartley (AUS, 2008),
but it is how said ephemera has translated into the hobby of miniature wargames
that has been occupying my thoughts as of late. This piece is not so much
intended to be a demand of “where are my Australian horror miniatures?”, but
rather, an attempt to puzzle out why this gap exists in the hobby.
From my perspective, Australian culture
has made two significant impacts on the global miniatures scene (in that
players outside of Australia play these games regularly); the Colonial era and
Post Apocalypse. Due to the unfortunate and ongoing nature of cultural genocide
and colonialism in Australia, the concept of “Australian Colonial” gaming
(beyond Bushrangers in some circumstances) is highly uncomfortable for me and,
I believe, best avoided. In contrast, whilst the Science Fiction sub-genre of
the “Post-Apocalypse” perhaps owes its birth to H.G. Wells’ The War of The
Worlds (1898) and John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids (1951), it
is practically undeniable that the semiotics of the genre were birthed by George
Miller (AUS, 1979) and Peter Weir (AUS, 1974). To create here even a brief list
of Post-Apocalypse miniature wargames and miniature producers would be a futile
exercise, a simple Google search will reveal dozens of each in a variety of
scales and game styles; even the gaming behemoth Games Workshop produced
“Gorkamorka” (Andy Chambers, Rick Priestley & Gavin Thorpe, 1997) which
combined the Miller aesthetic with that of the Warhammer 40,000
“universe” (Chambers & Priestley, 1987). Even media that attempts to
combine Post-Apocalypse with a sense of traditional Americana cannot help, it
seems, evoking elements of Australian “landscape horror”, used to great effect
in Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek (AUS, 2005). Given that Australian culture
has never been a world-leading standard to follow like that of the United
States of America or Great Britain before it, I contend that we’ve done pretty
well in terms of impact on a comparatively small and niche industry like
miniature wargames.
Much of what I’ve been discussing so
far, in terms of Australian media, falls into the broad categorisation of
“cult”; by implication sitting outside of mainstream tastes and affections
(regardless of the popularity of Miller’s “Mad Max” series). As demonstrated so
clearly by Mark Hartley (AUS, 2008), Australian cult cinema has a “flavour”
that is utterly unique in the world, though the classification of
“Ozploitation” as never enjoyed such international success as Wuxia, Kaiju or
Bollywood have. Now, to my knowledge, there are no Bollywood miniature wargames
in publication (though I’m happy to be proven wrong there), but there are
plenty of Wuxia and Kaiju systems to be found. Wizkids, who made their money
and name on the “Heroclix” collectable game, also produced “Horrorclix”, an
underrated collectable game of competing horror film monster tropes, including
nods to films such as Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (Nathan Juran, USA,
1958) and Firestarter (Mark Lester, USA, 1984). Neither of these films
are truly influential cultural tentpoles, yet Wizkids thought that a miniature
wargame that included similar elements was worth mass-producing in pre-painted
28mm plastics. My, somewhat-belaboured, point in all this is why has no one
produced a line of miniatures based on Ozploitation and Australian cult and
pulp? Sure, it wouldn’t be an industry-defining range like Minifigs, Citadel or
Wyrd, but in a world where multiple different versions of “Steampunk Batman”
are not only produced, but commercially viable, this seems a little bit of a
missed opportunity.
What I am imagining isn’t so much an
“Official Mad Max Miniatures Game” or new Ozploitation Horrorclix expansion,
but rather a small collection of uniquely Australian miniatures. Even leaving
aside cinema for a moment, how many people would probably buy one or two 28mm
“Drop Bears” or “Hoop Snakes”? What about a Bunyip or Yowie? I know that Mick
Taylor, Koen West and even Mick Dundee would be at home in many collections of
“not-“ miniatures. Unlike European horror, Australian horror grew up from the
1950s onward, giving it a truly postmodern sensibility that is not
present in other media, just look at Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, AUS,
1971), where the horror is derived merely from being separated from the
comforting familiarity of urban sprawl.
I doubt that a game or set of rules
would function well trying to encompass what I’m discussing here (other than
Horrorclix, but that’s a moot point), however, why not a small range based on
cult Australiana that isn’t derived from Miller? I’m sure there would be a
market for it with the loose collection of “lovable weirdos” that are
miniature wargamers. Food for thought and all that. So to any sculptors,
3D-designers, artists and casters out there, maybe give some Mutant Kangaroos, Razorbacks
or coma-bound psychic killers a go next time you break out the tools.
James
Wright, Nunawading Wargames Association Inc.
Bibliography
Attack of the 50 Foot
Woman,
Dir. Nathan H. Duran, Writ. Mark Hannah, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation,
USA, 1958
Firestarter, Dir. Mark Lester,
Writ. Stanley Mann, Dino de Laurentiis Company, Universal Pictures, USA,
Gorkamorka, Andy Chambers, Gavin
Thorpe & Rick Priestley, Games Workshop, Nottingham, 1997
Mad
Max,
Dir. George Miller, Writ. George Miller and Byron Kennedy, Kennedy Miller
Productions, 1979. DVD
Mad
Max 2,
Dir. George Miller, Writ. Terry Hayes, George Miller and Brian Hannant, Kennedy
Miller Productions, 1981. DVD
Not
Quite Hollywood,
Dir. Mark Hartley, Writ. Mark Hartley, City Films Worldwide, 2008. DVD
Superhero Media:
Cleverman – Season 1,
James Wright, http://leadcapes.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/superhero-media-cleverman-season-1.html,
2016. Web
The Cars That Ate
Paris,
Dir. Peter Weir, Writ. Peter Weir, The Australian Film Development Corporation,
Australia, 1974
The Day of the
Triffids,
John Wyndham, Penguin Modern Classics, London, 2001 (1951)
The
Proposition,
Dir. John Hillcoat, Writ. Nick Cave, Surefire 3 Film Production LLP, Pacific
Film and Television Commission, UK Film Council, 2006. DVD
The
Tracker,
Dir. Rolf de Heer, Writ. Rolf de Heer, Australian Film Finance Corporation,
2002. DVD
The War of the Worlds, H. G.Wells,
Penguin, London, 2005 (1989)
Wake in Fright, Dir. Ted Kotcheff,
Writ. Evan Jones, Madman Entertainment, Australia, 1971
Warhammer 40,000:
Rogue Trader,
Rick Priestley & Andy Chambers, Games Workshop, Nottingham, 1987
Wolf
Creek,
Dir. Greg McLean, Writ. Greg McLean, Dimension Films, Film Finance Corporation,
South Australian Film Corporation, Darclight Films, Mushroom Pictures, 403
Productions, 2005. DVD
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