20mm – Page 3 – The Wargaming Erratic

Garrison Vikings and Normans

Having got the 1/72 strelets Normans going, I decided to search out my old 20/25mm metal figures from long ago. The idea was to see whether they could be used alongside my plastics.

Specifically I was looking for some small Garrisons Normans. These were bought in the late 1970’s. At the time it was Garrisons new 25mm Viking’s which caught my eye. I bought the Normans at the same time all on impulse. They were actually for dungeons and dragons gaming as well as skirmish gaming. Big battles were in theory Macedonia versus Persia although the armies were never completed.

Garrison Vikings painted plus their Normans bought together in the late 1970’s

So it just happened that the Garrison Normans were shorter than their new Viking mates. I think this was the moment when 20mm, 1/72 and 25mm were going their separate ways. Well 20 mm had already stayed where it was while 1/72 and 25mm just about lived with each other yet 25mm was getting taller. But in these photos you can see the height, bulk and style difference within the same makers existing ranges. There is nothing new under sun – least of all scale creep!

The norman figures came with loose weapons and the design seemed to lend itself to less flash.

The vikings were more open although the Norman spearman was far less contrived yet still a classic stance.

The vikings did have one weakness – they were quite two dimensional – good as they rush forward but again probably designed to help the casting

For my money the garrison Vikings were up there with Citadel castings. Top notch on detail. And probably heading towards the few well painted skirmish figures collection or D&D idea.

Spot the citadel knight and yes mounted vikings – just what you need for D&D – our games ranged over the countryside fairly early on!

I really like the citadel horse, less so the Garrison one

As you can see I had primer confusion going on. Actually I painted my horses in artists gouche or washed out enamels over white. I used black for the predominantly armoured soldiers.

These have made it to a painting stick a mere 40 years late! I might even finish them although sadly the vikings will just not match up with the strelets plastics. I might do better with the normans.

The normans though were from the mid seventies figure style – a good wargame figure for army games.

ok so I can’t explain the soldiers being in different primer styles!

These chaps will make it into a unit as giants amongst their strelets cousins

ok these two axemen look classic 1970’s – slight bodies with large heads. And whats that monster on the right – yes its a Lamming Norman – but thats another story.

I really will have to sort out the priming………….

As it happened the Vikings never made the D&D games while the Normans were parked after undercoating. My wargaming days ended – well for about 15 years.

When I returned in the mid 1990’s it was all DBA, acrylics and 15mm.

Do bases matter that much?

Do bases matter that much when it comes to miniatures used in wargaming? By current standards they clearly do with plenty of trade offerings available and a wealth of DIY advice online.

Also the preference for elements without individual figure removal permits more imagination to be applied around a base. Perhaps the exception is skirmish gaming but even here you have the option of sabot bases providing the individual figure movement while retaining the convenience of the larger element base which can still be given varying levels of decoration.

My basing journey has been pretty basic. Back in the dim and distant past I painted desert or green paint onto cardboard bases. I still have them and they work after a fashion. The figures are 25mm. They look a bit tired though.

Then I started a 15mm phase and actually paid for painting including basing. The quality was good but somehow they did not grow on me. They look accurate but……

I did some of my own and I was even less happy!

And then I caught the plastic fantastic bug and returned to simple painted bases for some 1/72 scale figures.

In the middle of this phase I moved into 28mm figures and thought they needed something extra. As it happened despite all the wealth of offerings and advice in all the various magazines and books I had collected, I stumbled across the humble warhammer guide in one of their rulebooks – maybe shieldwall – where they recommended simply gritting the bases, basecoating and drybrushing once. Somewhere I found a suggestion to use budgie grit. I tried it and painted it up, except no dry brush, but added some static grass and…… I was still underwhelmed. There is no pleasing some people.

I then had another surge of plain painted bases when I reworked more of my old 25mm metals.

You can see them next to the Zvezda Russians above – Minifigs French circa 1972? and Tradition Russians from the mid 1970’s. The bases they replaced were very dark green painted airfix box card – the figures have been transformed in my view, although unbelievably garish – they cheer me up!

And then I decided to do some mediterranean normans. Coincidentally I had watched both British cycling, Le Tour and La Vuelta races and the penny dropped. All my scenic basing had generally used dark green/dark brown earth (or grey brown for 15mm) colours – and I had not recognised why I liked the bright green bases beyond their simplicity. British cyclists rode through dark earth countryside with bright greens but La Vuelta cyclists went through fantastically bright coloured soils of many hues and even with brighter green shrubs and trees on top. (well except in the picos mountains in the north).

So I got my paints out and started experimenting – and so I have now found what I want for my Normans. Well until the butterfly lands on the next flower…..

In my next post I will share the results.