Category: wargaming

wargaming is everything from gaming on the table top with dice, painting figures, reading history, collecting figures, scenery and rules through to geography, politics, art, crafts and imaginative writing……..

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wargame rules wargaming

Scenario MO/01: The Observer

In my last post I described a small action in a narrative style.

I created the Scenario to try out some new figures. As I have no heavy weapons the challenge needed to be simple.

One box of Russian Summer dress Plastics Soldier Company 1/72 infantry plus one box of Early War US 1/72 infantry. Sadly the heavy weapons for the US figures get a very negative review on Plastic Soldier Review and from the photos I was inconvinced as well. It seems though that the Russians in all respects are dealt with better by PSC.

Also I game solo or rather ZERO. So the scenario had to meet certain specifics. The main one was that surprise or chance was needed to animate the game.

Most solo players are more than happy with rulesets that randomise outcomes far more than the norm for two player games. The reason is easy to see – deprived of your human opponent you need to substitute what would have been their random or unknown acts.

The following Scenario details will help you to apply this to your chosen rules and any number of players you chose.

RED v BLUE – for convenience I have used these terms. In the narrative the Azorians were RED and the Vossackians were BLUE.

RED objective: Place observer on hill to view valley below and call in an air strike against expected enemy concentrations.

BLUE objective: defender may or may not appear!

You can see immediately I have made this one sided in the sense that RED is the active party and BLUE the reactive party – well initially.

An abstraction of a Platoon – using 3 figures per section. Platoon leader has two rifleman. The observer team brought their own section with them. BAR’s and Garands are modelled by PSC. In the scenario Grabern split one section amongst his other three.

notable rules:

  • you should specify a distance for sighting or observing enemy units. This might look odd on the table when you can plainly see opponents in direct sight. This abstraction is fine – no different to the out of scale scenery versus figures or weapon ranges v movement. Distortion is the whole point of table top wargaming.
  • The defender throws each turn after RED has moved to find out if a part of its force has appeared
  • defenders appear at certain points (marked 1 to 8 on the map)
  • if RED pass through a marked point it ceases to be a point of entry for BLUE
  • to add variety troops can be of different qualities
  • movement was not hampered by the hills
  • movement was hampered by the woodland which covered all the hills anyway

I thought about which rules to use. Having returned only recently to the WW2 era I had previous rulesets to draw upon as well as new ones as yet untried.

  • Poor Bloody Infantry by Peter Pig
  • Chain of Command by TooFatLardies
  • One Hour Wargames by Neil Thomas
  • Various Featherstone rules – notably the set from Battles with Model Soldiers
  • “Battle” practical wargaming by Charles Grant Senior
  • “Operation Warboard” by Gavin and Bernard Lyall
  • Rapid Fire reloaded
played these and enjoyed them quite a few years ago
struggled to get into these rules despite liking TFL mechanisms/ideas
the go to ruleset – great for timepoor moments and even brain tired ones as well. A great antidote for “i am too busy to game”. They look like Vossackians to me…….and maybe both 28 and 25mm chaps on show – to be honest I had never noticed before?
A Classic ruleset (almost) – my first “bought” book – the “incomplete” ww2 rules were a fantastic technique of Donald Featherstone’s, to make you do some work yourself – definitely a Classic in that respect. Could you get away with half a product today?
discovered in a charity shop in Autumn 2021 – this book started a minor project and buying those Plastic Soldier Company figures, who fought this first WW2 wargame in many a long year!
In for a penny, in for a pound – having found the Grant book by accident I remembered an enticing blog post about “Warboard” being an often overlooked classic but more to the point definitely not typical. I have read it cover to cover – fascinating.
Just out in this format – Rapid Fire is now a veteran set – and with these quick play rules I will look again. Many years ago I dumped these in favour of Peter Pig before abandoning WW2 completely. Yes I have rebought Peter Pig PBI albeit secondhand.

To confound matters I remembered Neil Thomas published Wargaming an Introduction (WaI) that had a WW2 ruleset.

I cannot quite explain this – but I chose to run out these WW2 rules first. Well maybe I wanted a One Hour Wargames “feeling” with more detail?

I opted for this ruleset feeling that One Hour Wargames might be too “lite” for my needs.

WaI is maybe not familiar to many people. It has similar mechanisms to other rulesets.

Dice were always six sided except a 1d8 for defender unit location

Back to the Scenario the following were added to the rules

  • I permitted double moves at the start as my 6×4 or 1.8m x 1.2m table had a lot of distance to be covered for no response due to the sighting rules.
  • Essentially the units could sprint (double move) once followed by a minimum two moves at normal speed.
  • Sections comprised separate figures spaced up to 3cm apart
  • 3 Sections equalled a Platoon
  • I diced for observation distance on the day
    • 20cm on a 3
    • 30cm on a 4
    • 40cm on a 5
    • 50cm on a 6
  • After each RED move BLUE threw 1d6 to appear
    • 1= throw a 1d8 for location of defender appearing
    • throw 1d6 again to find out whats there
      • 1 nothing ! (this is logical confusion when solo gaming)
      • 2,3,4 means a rifle section
      • 5 means SMG section (could be another rifle section of course)
      • 6 means LMG or on a second check =6 again you get (1,2,3 HMG or 4,5,6 Heavy Mortar). In my game these would never have actually appeared – simply their effect being used.
    • I also tested units for grade/quality as WaI requires this info.
      • 1,2 2nd rate
      • 3,4,5 average
      • 6 elite

What Happened?

Lieutenant Grabern set off with his platoon and the observer team. The game lasted 17 turns including some double moves at the beginning. That also meant RED closed at a faster rate per BLUE chance of generating defenders.

On turn 2 a defender location (3) was generated but at this stage its type was not diced for

On turn 7 another location generated (5)

Location 1 was overrun early on so could never activate any defenders

On turn 8 location 4 was also neutralised by RED

Location (6) generated on move 9 along with (2)

On move 11 location (3) was discovered to be an LMG and an elite unit into the bargain. They quickly pinned White Section.

(5) produced elite riflemen and (2) became another LMG – also elite!!!!

Donovan wiped out the LMG at (3) on move 12.

But this was soon replaced by an average rifle section (6) generation

The Azorians were all average troops and once effectively surrounded started to withdraw from move 13 onwards. On move 15 White Section was destroyed while on move 16 the Platoon Leader (Grabern) Section was nearly wiped retreating to the enclosure.

The difference in the “Observers” moves forward and then back is due to the action ending for the Azorians at the enclosure and not behind Hill 90 which was still several moves away.

So there you have it. A simple scenario for a platoon type action.

I was surprised and pleased at the fun levels without heavy weapons or any armour present. They can wait their turn.

Finally the satisfaction is also in selecting, acquiring, painting and then gaming the figures.

Categories
Mythical Realms wargaming world war two

Fauxterre 1930+ The Observer

Lieutenant Kuznets replayed his orders – ascend the valley side to the small wooded hill south west of the 3rd companies position, securing it and then reporting on any activity observed to the west.

Hill 91 was more than wooded – there was “fight” in it. Lieutenant Kuznets cursed – ripe for ambush.

It seems there was concern about the presence of the enemy. So far the loose talk was that the Azorians were to the south east, so who or what else could be to the west? Rugians?

Meanwhile Lieutenant Grabern looked at his watch, then the sky and finally signalled Sergeant White forward. Grabern thought about his objective – escort the observer to hill 91, wait and protect him/them until they pull out.

The climb to hill 90 was far too wooded for Lieutenant Grabern’s taste. Ambush country….

Straightforward orders though. The whispers were that the enemy were in the valley beyond and that the hill was probably occupied already. It felt like trouble.

Grabern did not like the open ground east beyond Hill 90 – the most direct route to Hill 91.
Grabern having crested hill 90 directs his platoon south east to the building enclosure – here was some cover he could use
Sergeant White secured the buildings and then followed by Sergeant Donovan pushed on
Donovan’s Section held the enclosure
All was quiet and Grabern did not like it – the mist was not lifting which was good and bad – bad not least because the observer would have little to see – surely this mission would be a waste of time!
The observer team moved through the enclosure. Sergeant Bird looked at the sky or rather the mist – this was going to be a pointless task. But orders are orders and he needed to look into that valley.
White was now on top of Hill 91 and the valley drop would begin soon
Sergeant Bird had crested Hill 91 and without any trouble. Maybe this would be a quiet day all round after all? Sergeant Donovan circled round to the left of Whites section moving on the clearing near the very hill top. White then moved through a copse to the open clearing and some swampy ground……….
Too late White saw some furtive movement ahead, followed by a harsh sound of a machine gun opening up. Damn, the Vossackians really were here already………
An LMG team of Kuznets platoon commenced firing on the advancing Azorians
Having broken cover by the clearing both Donovan’s and White’s sections were an easy target. They returned fire as best they could but the target was difficult. At least there was only one of them……..
To their right the Azorians now received new fire from another Vossackian fire team. Donovan’s Section finished off the Vossackian LMG to their front.
To compound matters another LMG opened up to the north – this time on Sergeant Bird himself. Runners were everywhere as Bird told Grabern, Donovan and White he was pulling out.
White and Donovan were already locked in an unequal firefight
Grabern had just arrived on the hill 91 and quickly agreed with Bird that withdrawl was in order – the mission was now pointless as the fire fight heated up
His own section immediately took casualties from LMG fire
White was losing men fast as well
White and Donovan’s sections withdrew, firing as they went
The Vossackians now moved into the clearing to get better fire positions but they also took casualties
The Vossackian southern fire team took casualties as well………..
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Reluctantly Grabern pulled back to cover the observer team and get relief from the Vossackian LMG to the north. In the copse by the clearing White and Donovan were only slowly withdrawing. Grabern wanted them out faster.
It was then apparent that the remnants of White and Donovan’s sections were being overwhelmed.
The observer team had now retired to the enclosure closely followed by some of Grabern’s section sent to hold the enclosure itself. Grabern stayed on the edge of the woodland to give what cover he could to what was left of White and Donovan’s sections
Then as Grabern made it to the enclosure White and Donovan’s survivors broke clear of the woodland and retreated across the open ground for the safety of the enclosure.
Now though, the Vossackian firing died away – fortunately the Vossackians either lacked confidence in numbers, were wary of getting caught in the open themselves or had orders simply to hold the hill.

Lieutenant Grabern continued his retreat back to Hill 90 protecting his charge – the Observer. His platoon had suffered many casualties yet performed well under fire.

Later Lieutenant Kuznets crept amongst his men praising them and checking their condition. He was still wary of what the Azorian intentions were. He had already sent back a runner to report his success at clearing Hill 91. Also he had seen firsthand that these Azorians were well armed and disciplined under fire. Unlike in some of their previous encounters.

Categories
Mythical Realms wargaming world war two

Vossakia and Azoria

Fauxterre 1930+ Rugia is wracked by civil war and Azoria and Vossakia cannot resist getting involved. Their forces initially support the Rugian factions before eventually colliding and then embarking on an unofficial war of their own!

Neither Vossakia or Azoria want to annexe Rugia yet they want to influence the area which is rich in resources. Both sides treat the conflict as a sideshow with consequences for logistics, resources and planning.

Categories
new additions wargame shows wargaming

Operation High Street II

Pursuing my side game of buying “face to face” for my latest project, in the world war two era, means wargames shows count.

For decades wargamers have treated shows as their own very necessary High Street. Remember once upon a time visiting “fairs” were very much part of medieval life for whole areas of a country. And of course prior to the internet and ebay they were the dominant route to wargaming purchases.

Quite simply the hobby could not sustain even general hobby shops on the high street even with railway and broader modellers sharing the same sources.

In fact talking about fairs reminds me that there is an excellent book by Graham Robb called the “Discovery of France” which highlights the circularity of life in France right up to the 20th century where whole rakes of the population derived their living through moving around the country. Even if your not a Francophile this book is a fascinating insight into a country which has dominated European Military history. His book certainly gives, in my view, a different view of France.

And then for the wargame shows, Covid19 really did drive us all fully online which may have far reaching consequences. On the evidence I saw at Leeds I am not sure what they will be though. Yes traders down, gamers down but then again we now have a late year crowded calendar plus organisers still having an obligation to manage their events to minimise the effects of Covid19 spread.

I for one, was a happy customer of the face to face variety.

I had stored up some planned purchases and spending money so here is a run down of my acquisitions and of course a “thank you” to the “SUPPLY CHAIN” without which we would not have the hobby we all enjoy.

First up some basics from Pendraken – 40×40 mdf bases for my currently stopped MAIN 2021 Project of the Italian Wars of Unification 1848/1859.

Colonel Bills yielded some 20mm preloved WW2 metals in the shape of a British Universal Carrier by SHQ and Romanian 47mm Schneider AT gun by FAA.

Regular visit to Coritani aka Magnetic Displays bought me some much needed paintbrush replacements and I spoilt myself with a prepainted crossroads – yes it was one of those days.

Stonewall Figures had some interesting kits and BT7 Russian Tanks were on my shopping list so these two Pegasus models dropped into my hand. And well these T34/76 armourfasts fell in as well.

Next up is a venerable book published in 1973 by Donald Featherstone. No4 in the series this is a bit late for me (1943-1945) as I am focused on early war activity. But it does cover the Tunisian Front and apart from Egypt/Libya where the British main north african action was, there is not so much printed material on matters west of Tunis.

Having grown up with Donald Featherstone books I find them an easy read: I know what I am getting. A nice purchase from Dave Lanchester.

Now for something completely different and I mean different. In this blog I have recounted my “sanity line” being nothing more recent than 1730-ish or the end of Peter the Greats reign. I caved in to Wars of the Italian Unification for 1848/1859/1866/1870 and suddenly found an interest in naval actions as well. You can see the slippery slope here………….Gradually ironclads have been creeping into my wargaming thoughts. So this book at Dave Lanchesters store was shown to me by Dave when I asked innocently if he had anything on Lissa 1866. Thanks to Dave I have a very nice 244 page hardback covering the second half of the 19th century.

Next up in contrast Grubbys Tanks yielded a small booklet at just 16 pages offering Rapid Fire fast play. This ruleset started life in 1994 so if age is pedigree that will do. I will give it a shot.

Now the Peter Dennis paper soldier books always look attractive and I finally picked up one I had previously nearly purchased back in 2018. The Spanish Armada is completely off my gaming list but I just could not resist, what with my current naval gazing.

I also tipped gaslands into the shopping basket at Dave Lanchester’s – not for me but as a christmas present for someone else.

The next two books from Dave were pure indulgence. The Russian Army in the Great Northern War 1700-1721 and William III’s Italian Ally 1683-1697 both Helion publications. I am hoping they will be ok on typos but I am not holding my breath. even so as I have posted before Helion publish where others fear to tread. So I have to be grateful.

Finally this is a repurchase – in fact I think it may be the third time I have bought this ruleset. Careless ……..

I do like Peter Pigs ideas, especially the uncertainty of process, and this set offers something a little different on the WW2 front.

Well thats it. Quite a mix when I think about it: More books than expected and less models.

So apart from Rapid Fire from Grubbys Tanks, I bought all my books at Dave Lanchester’s, who I must say keeps his books in very good condition.

The ones that got away or rather failed to appear – Russians by Plastic Soldier Company (Grubby’s were not short on Germans or US boxes though) and maybe a BA10 armoured car yet Stonewall Figures have promised to look out for one of them and set one aside for next year when they head north again.

So thanks to all my suppliers at Fiasco 2021 may you all prosper.

Thanks to Leeds Wargames Club for a very enjoyable show, all the sweeter, after such a long break from this aspect of wargaming.

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Back to painting table………I wonder what will be up next?

Categories
wargame shows wargaming

Forward with Fiasco 2021

After almost 2 years absence, wargame shows once again became a reality and I was pleased to have visited Leeds Wargames Club’s show at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.

Fiasco sponsors Sue Ryder Charity and the Soldiers Charity – the Army’s National Charity as well as Models for Heroes and the Battlefields Trust.

Hicks Hall was again the venue with a reduced trader and gaming footprint which made circulation easier.

I felt people had come to buy, people came with a purpose – to trade. And to meet fellow gamers, talk, discuss, game and well – enjoy themselves!

This is the first show I have attended since Recon 2019 almost 2 years ago.

Mask wearing was evident as was no mask wearing, but numbers were down so crowding and congestion were not an issue.

Notable for me, were two games right at the entrance, The Battle of Stoke Field 1487 and The Italian Wars.

The Italian Wars was a great spectacle with colourful 15/16th century pike, arquebusiers and mailed knights not to mention artillery, bills, swordsmen and many flags by Petes Flags.

Bradford Battletech Battalion caught my eye as their hex game with these recent (2019ish!) kickstarter plastics robot warriors looked quite enticing even for someone like me, that normally struggles for gaming interest after Napoleon has hit the buffers. I say normally because today most of my purchases were World War Two themed!

On the The Italian Wars table the buildings are made in west yorkshire but I forget the name……….the Yarkshire Gamer knows and has probably mentioned them in his podcasts

A recent Yarkshire Gamers podcast about the Italian Wars.

And the Winner is…….

I did not get the name of the demonstrator at Breese and Hudson but I am guessing he was either Mr Breese or Mr Hudson of Mansfield or more specifically Radcliffe on Trent. He was lucid and measured in explaining Stoke Field, while being clearly very enthusiastic and showing his enduring interest in the battle. In fact absolutely everything you could wish for from a demonstrator when just strolling up to a demo game that catches your eye.

The rules they played to were never mind the billhooks expanded, and yes I forget to get a photo, but given it was 1487 you can guess the Wars of the Roses picture or rather can you?

Stoke Field is an outlier battle of the wars with King Henry VII already in power. The battle itself involves significantly, Irish soldiers as well as European mercenaries – notably pike. Like many interesting campaigns this battle ended quickly but that is no barrier to the gamer. Makes a change from Barnet, Tewkesbury and Towton.

So Stoke Field and Messrs Breese and Hudson win my vote as top show stand!

I hope to return to an invigorated Fiasco in 2022

In my next post I consider my purchases……

Categories
Mythical Realms Mythical Worlds wargaming

Gamers, Readers – Help save the Brontes ImagiNations manuscripts for the nation and the Bronte Parsonage – donate to save the Honresfield Library …

Photo by Emma Lyon on Pexels.com

Give now – https://justgiving.com/campaign/honresfield-library As a gamer with a love of toy soldiers and ImagiNations gaming, I have a lot of time …

Gamers, Readers – Help save the Brontes ImagiNations manuscripts for the nation and the Bronte Parsonage – donate to save the Honresfield Library …
Categories
1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures new additions wargaming world war two

Operation Highstreet

One of my latest side projects is World War Two, like most projects I soon reach for the online supply chain. Lockdown has driven this approach even more.

And to start me off my first purchases were from Hannants and Models Hobbies. These companies have given me great value especially for projects where I buy all I need in one go.

But hang on I was/would be buying mainstream stuff, not obscure or discontinued lines. And this was to be a side track slow burn project. So bulk buys would not be the order of the day.

Then it occurred to me that I could go out of my way, with lockdown easing, to visit real hobby shops.

I also decided my interest would be more early war, ideally more inter war era. Just to make life difficult again, this is not the popular end of WW2. Yet this was a fantasy ww2 happening on Fauxterre so anything goes and flexibility is the watchword.

Ok so far, but hobby shops tend to stock the popular, as in, that’s loads of late war armour with a preponderance of German kit.

And then I had another brainwave. After going through online availability I realised I had a massive choice. I would just buy the cheapest stock available in dribs and drabs.

This random approach really started to appeal. It would also make this project different again.

Such an approach interestingly is increasingly not online (and certainly not ebay) + white van man, despite Amazons best endeavours. Don’t get me wrong, online has been fantastic for choice and it still offers great value and even ebay can give you amazing bargains (the effort required though has changed).

So I decided – cut out the postal costs. I would buy piecemeal and when other activities had paid for my journey.

Then if a shop turned up I would go in and see what was available.

This actually fed my Fauxterre ideas. The opponents are both struggling to resource their forces. The parallel for WW2 is the Russians. They took various kit from the USA, France and Britain before getting their own plants working to meet demand. And the Germans reused thousands of captured kit. Probably the most useful panzer they had early on was actually the Czech built 38T? The Russians also benefited from the US inventions of Christie that ultimately led them to the T34 as I understand it.

So a bit of history bashing and Fauxterre sees two protaganists poorly armed going to war with essentially inter war/early war kit and with inter war mentalities.

Next up was – which forces to use – given I had decided no german kit.

I chose the Russians simply because this whole sidetrack project was started by Charles Grant and his Battle Gaming book from 1977 – a charity shop surprise discovery.

Airfix came up often as the low cost option online and seeing as they had made Russians, the very ones in Charles Grant’s book, so that was it. Only they don’t make them any more and old sets are now online and vintage and with a price to match!

In the shops its allied west or german it seems.

After some wrangling I decided I would stick with the Russians and that led me to The Plastic Soldier Company and their good value sets. The Russians kit would be opposed by American kit with splashes of any other kit I liked, while playing that “buy cheap in a real shop” game.

I have made some progress and here are my first kit builds.

ok the PSC gaz trucks work, venerable bren carrier + 6 pounder is cheap and the semovente by Italeri are good value. The jeep and gun was a failure – I assumed I was getting two jeeps not two build choices – look harder before you leap next time. The mountain gun – well the gun dates from 1920 so its just the carriage thats a bit modern.

Lets see how I get on with this slow burn side track project.

Categories
1/72 scale figures 20/25/28mm figures metal miniatures wargaming

Scaling the Heights

James Fisher has a fascinating blog on Napoleonics. James asked me about Warrior Miniatures. Now I will say at this point Warrior Miniatures and I go back to the mid 1970’s, however my association has only ever been as a paying customer. So any effusive comments about them is simply reflecting my enthusiasm for their products.

So James wondered about plastics and the metals from Warrior Miniatures which I would add, shown here, are from their advertised 25mm range.

Now I have chosen to show the figures randomly arranged. Previously I have posted with some attempt to show exact height difference. Yet I think that ultimately it is the opinion that matters not the maths. So do they look ok?

First up the plastics – L to R Hat Russian Militia, Waterloo1815 Austrian 1859 Artillery and then Strelets 1877 Russian Artillery. Note thin strelets bases probably make between 1-2 mm height difference. The austrians have been on short rations while the green russians look rather too well fed……….The blue strelets are slightly shorter and as they are furtherest from the camera this is enhanced. unless you game with all troops in one neat row view exactly side on then that comparison is false. So my slightly layered approach is more suited to judging if figures will “mix well”.
L-R Hat Russian Militia; Strelets Russian 1877 Artillery then Strelets ACW Union in attack converted with Hat stove pipe hats and finally Hat Napoleonic Austrian Landwehr
L-R strelets 1877 russians; converted strelets attacking union ACW infantry, Hat austrian landwehr and far right Waterloo1815 Austrian 1859 infantry, again thin strelets bases and they being shorter yet squatter mean they could be easily 2mm shorter. I think it will be fine.
Warrior Napoleonic 25mm range L-R irregular spanish, then a sole British Napoleonic Light Infantryman BN10 I think and finally spanish line troops (these are the standard 4 poses you get with Warrior along with a firing pose. To me they are active and uncomplicated – great for gaming pieces – not so good if you are producing perfect rembrandts
Warrior Napoleonics SN8, SN6, SN9, SN5 irregular spanish infantry
Warrior Napoleonics Spanish SN5; British Light Infantry BN10 – with shoulder pads!; Spanish Line Infantry SN1 and SN4
Warrior 25mm Napoleonics – 4 of the 5 standard poses – firing pose not shown
warrior and waterloo 1815 figures interposed
Warrior and Waterloo1815 figures interposed
Warrior and converted Hat figures interposed (conversion from kepi to stove pipe has added almost 2mm to top of figure)
Warrior and Hat Landwehr interposed
Warrior and Strelets 1877 russians interposed
Warrior and Russian Militia interposed

Just for fun here are some other figure comparisons – I think hinds and caliver books still run these “retro” minifig/hinchliffe lines. I have posted elsewhere the gross sculpture change Greenwood & Ball did between their Garrison Normans and Vikings. I think the bigger more detailed Vikings shown here sunk without trace – while the older G&B figures were rerun for a time into the 2000’s?

1970 era Hinchliffe persian, Greenwood and Ball Garrison Viking, Minifig ECW, Hinchliffe Assyrian and Minifig 7YW french musketeer – minifigs tended to be shorter and fatter
1970’s metals interposed with strelets russians
1970’s metals interposed with Austrain Landwehr Hat figures
1970’s metals interposed with Russian Militia Hat figures
1970’s metals interposed with strelets ACW conversions
1970’s metals interposed with Waterloo1815 Austrian 1859 infantry

Here is another oddity – again a short life production from Minifigs

a persian horseman for the Cyrus the Great era who dwarfs a standard 1970’s minifig horse which was all that was offered then! The figures were completely oversizing the existing ranges when they came out. again I think they sank without trace
I quite liked the figure at the time – but they never got beyond my by then favoured black undercoat and some block painting
magnificant helmet comb……….with skirts – they deserve painting one day……….

Now I have dug out a later 25mm 1700 grenadier – I think its a foundry chap with practically no base.

base starts at 10cm
eyes at 28mm and grenadier cap tops out at 34mm
so how does he match up?
Warrior examples with two 25/28mm figures – the chap on the left is more 25mm but still above 25mm foot to eye.
Bulk is one issue – warrior are campaign figures so half starved whereas most 28mm figures are obviously garrison based and well fed
warrior napoleonics alongside minifigs 7YW musketeer and 25/28mm grenadier
warrior napoleonics alongside hinchliffe assyrian and 25/28mm grenadier
warrior napoleonics alongside hinchliffe persian and 25/28mm grenadier
warrior napoleonics alongside Greenwood and Ball Garrison viking and 25/28mm grenadier. I actually think the vikings cut the mustard in the 25/28mm sector but 45 years too early!
warrior napoleonics alongside minifigs ECW and 25/28mm grenadier

Now some finished and based figures to compare against

Warrior Napoleonics and minifig austrian 7YW very very fat figures – the frei corps figure I hated even painted as it turns out and still don’t like even today. Yet they have done good service on the gaming table.
Warrior Napoleonics and Hinchliffe Bavarians who match well for campaign slightness while height is fine in my view
Warrior Napoleonics and Zvezda 1/72 Great Northern War Russian Infantry in some inexplicable uniform from the mythical world of Fauxterre of course. With thinner bases the Zvezda figures are physique wise taller. Zvezda have produced some significant variations in their historical ranges which puts certain figures in the 25/28mm category
ALL Warrior Napoleonics and their french counterparts with painting 45 years apart! clearly there is a very stiff breeze blowing……
Warrior Napoleonics and Tradition 25mm Russian Guard. Slender style matches and as guardsmen they are just a bit taller to eye level.
Warrior Napoleonics and early minifig french napoleonic line infantry

To sum up, when it comes to height, I have become ever more tolerant and actually it is anatomy which jarrs my view. This is why I struggle with Perry figures – they are just so perfect. Which shows you just can’t please some people.

Some beautiful plastic 28mm Perrys from my stalled Wars of the Roses project with a metal tumbling dice norman (1/72) thrown in

Finally a book which started my wargaming in earnest and is a celebration of fantasy gaming – I kid you not!

This books celebrates fantasy gaming

I leave you with this image from that book – published in 1967 – when it really probably was bad form not to have the correct facings or turnback colours etc. Lawford and Young said “play fantasy” and in the game photos they showed that scale was not a big issue. These look like 30mm figures rubbing shoulders with 45mm figures?????

The lancers smallness is offset by their horse size while the bearskin wearer looks almost 20th century parade dress with a decididly 18th century chap next to him…. who cares….the game was a cracker.

Above all if it looks right to you then it is fine – play* away.

*tournament players will not be so lucky methinks.

Categories
1/72 scale figures wargaming world war two

The Painting Pedestal: No smoke without fire

Fauxterre 1930 looks a possibility.

quick coat of cheap green acrylic – quite good I think
quick coat of cheap dark brown acrylic – oh!

Can you guess the manufacturers and vehicles modelled?

They are a work in progress but I don’t intend to be kind to them – they should look grubby and rough. And I am not happy about all this post Baroque malarkey………but thats the essence of erratic wargaming I guess.

Categories
metal miniatures miniatures painting wargaming

The late running 1800 from Oxted to Victoria has just arrived on Platform 1 – 45 years late!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Upper_Warlingham_station_%284VEP_3025%29.JPG
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A 1970’s 4VEP British Rail commuter train of slam door stock – what is going on?

A tenuous link I admit but I could not wrench it from my mind. I don’t think I have any older figures unpainted so this is my sort of painting record.

basing – using my current preferred style of 3 layers brown, ochre, cream highlights plus some foliage
I am basing these guys on 40mm square bases and normally have 4 bases to a unit. Perfect for Neil Thomas or Piquet – amongst my favoured rulesets
I always liked the Kleber dragoons as red coated French Dragoons are a not so common

These figures are by Warrior Miniatures and are sold as french dragoons in their 25 mm napoleonic range. They are a slim 25mm and contrast with their then contemporary overfed minifigs from the 1970’s. I guess they were more like early hinchliffe before those got taller and bulked out somewhat.

I still love them after all these years so I am pleased they finally got a coat of paint!

Funcken books have remained popular with me – the artwork seems more aligned to my painting ideas – I bought these 4 volumes in the 1970’s before I discovered Osprey. In a way Funckens have aged better than Ospreys to my mind. Maybe it is because the style is more simplistic

I painted them as kleber dragoon’s and my inspiration is from the Funcken 18th century to modern times volume.

tucked away on the Egyptian campaign page is the red coated french dragoon

My intention is to use them in early campaigns of my Fauxterre Mythical Realm which covers 1815 to 1870 at present. It is all because of Fauxterre and Faux Napoleonics that they got painted anyway!

Thats another thank you to Renaissance Troll and his fantasy napoleonics post.

image license info – the train pic is used under

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