Ian Smith

I first met Ian in the mid 1980's at the old Claymore wargames show in Edinburgh. He was staging a 15mm game based around  beautiful German castle titled Falkenstein Castle. The game won best at show. After that I would bump into Ian at various shows around the country and being a cheeky chappie we would bait each other with quips about who had the better armies, the best painted figures etc. It was no contest because Ian always aimed for the best and always strove to produce the best games. 

As I got to know him I realised he had been a close friend of Peter Gilder through his friendship with the great Tony Runkee. Tony as is mentioned in this blog was one of Gilder's main painters and also general dogsbody where building terrain was concerned.

With Tony, Shaun Bryant and Ian the three were a very talented group of painters and wargamers who had gravitated to Peter Gilder , learned from the great man and then gone n to improve on his style. 

Ian was a big Sunderland supporter and we would have friendly arguments about the demise of a once great club. Sadly Ian died very suddenly last week, before he was taken he had been working on his latest 40mm masterpiece which he had hoped to display at some of the biggest shows. He had been determined to outdo his other games which was a huge ask.

As regards Peter Gilder, Ian had nothing but praise for the man who effectively had showed him what could be done with metal figures and a paintbrush. In return for unpainted castings Ian like so many other talented painters would create units for Peter.

In one of our conversations he had talked of the final game that Gilder's friends had created for Gilder after he was unable to hold a paint brush or sculpt. It was one of the few times one saw past the gruff exterior to witness a man who cared about wargaming and Peter Gilder in particular. 

There are many examples of Ian's beautiful games in the mainstream wargaming press. Each is testimony to his desire to produce the best. I would like to say thank you Ian for all the inspiration, banter and general chat we had over the years. A great wargamer.