March 2023 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

Wargames

In a reflective mood today… must be early Spring…

What is the real purpose of wargames?… war? (not at all)… a friendly atmosphere is a cherished thing… games? (we do not really want to lose at all I guess…)… in a game there is always that possibility (we all agree)… so… it is really puzzling in a way…

I thought when I first wrote a book about my toy soldiers that History was the main propeller… not really so sure nowadays… I still do collect Toy Soldiers mind… even my wargames minis are more a “collection” than the real thing…

Why I did spent so many hours painting Napoleonic 25mm MINIFIGS in my middle years?… probably (read surely) it was more escapism from daily work than anything else… why Waterloo? (Tons of easy available info about it!)… nice uniforms?… maybe… with years and years I realized how much of it was British Propaganda!… I would have been mad (if a Prussian) the way the tale was told… no offense intended for the steadfast British Infantry mind!

As for the French… what do you want me to say?… a Military Machine that only “conquered” (as all conquerors) the land their soldiers walked through… their were a real nuisance for nearly a quarter of a Century across Europe (and even Egypt!)… Revolutionary ideas shocked the conservative monarchies… they will later adopt them matter of fact (the ideas not the revolution)… but using Force (brute) to spread “light and sweetness” (thank you P.G.Wodehouse) does not work at all… look at the silly intents to convert to democracy: theocratic or autocratic states or regions of the modern world… such nonsense!… It is very difficult to export ideas and make people (very different cultural people) to abide to your “superior knowledge” (LOL)…

It is a strange world we live in… thankfully we have the music!

I do not know if it is really apropiate to say Enjoy!

Maybe better REFLECT! (a bit at least)…

Another example of “secure flanks”… I hate the border of the tabletop!

Puzzling image of a wargamer reading his mobile…

ACW in 6mm.

It is refreshing…

I stumbled upon them in Facebook… it is always very satisfactory to find other people with the same objectives and/or obsessions.

Guess yo can see what I have explained tiresomely lots of times… this is the wargaming scale for excellence… 3mm and 2mm been really too small to see anything… and easily replaced by counters… God forbid! (Same logic applied in the early seventies to the 25mm versus 15mm debate… LOL).

The same stands that represents usually a Brigade can represent a Regiment in smaller affairs… seriously… recommended!

C’mon, be positive and…

Enjoy!

Probably difficult to see… but very practical for really BIG affairs…

Ancients at the WHC.

Somehow fascinating… but I could never seem to enjoy to the full “close combat” with edged weapons. I do not mind to be shot at if I can shoot back… quite proficient at shooting I was in my time… but cold steel? NO thank you!

I still own the METAURO (GREAT BATTLES OF THE WORLD series) map and battle set (by now with 6mm Baccus minis instead of the 54mm plastic minis completely gone forever…). And play that semiboardgame grid with Hasdrubal and the Romans… but not quite often…

I was never interested in collecting them or building “collections” of them.

But they look magnificent and you must admit they had stamina and courage in spades in Ancient times.

Myself, I need a musket, or a Minie, or a Martini-Henry, even a Lee-Metford would do up to 1900… but Ancient times make me shiver! Guess to rip or be ripped is not at all my taste… even bayonets are not at all my thing… and that is talking wargaming!… lol

You need all sorts you know…

Enjoy! (If you like those rude times!)

Zulu War Toy Soldiers Collection seen in FaceBook, by Alan Green.

Sometimes perusing FaceBook in search of original material to Post one finds gems of a sort… every Toy Soldier here is a small piece of imagination… the author confess he was influenced by the well known films ZULU and ZULU DAWN… of course I here you say! (aren’t we all?)… but actually he developped the subject out of the weel trodden way of Military Modeling or Wargaming.

There is a lot of work and customization on those Toy Soldiers… and I love the search of the “piece unique”.

So here you are… take your Martini-Henry and travel to the end of the world!

Enjoy!

Warriors of long time ago…

Not a bit of time today!… so I will just post two awesome examples of Military Modeling.

Awesome craftsmanship!

Enjoy!

Modeling the 17th Lancers (Zulu War)

It is quite difficult to publish everyday of the year something worthwhile… but lately this silly fixation of mine is getting easier by the sheer qualty of the pics that are published in Facebook.

I have already said a lot of times that I only have in my modest collection less than ten models like that.

But I do appreciate them enormously… after all they are the painting guide we all use in smaller scales and efforts.

So…

Enjoy!

You’ll pay your money and you’ll take your choice…

Got a bit of time today. So not intending to preach I just would show you the main differences in approach of two scales I have been involved with in the course (curse… lol) of my wargaming life.

Nowadays 28mm (no one in his right mind says 25mm anymore to MINIFIGS shame!) is the reference of the very big table boys!… meaning of course big Clubs or organizations fans of IN THE GRAN MANNER of the late Peter Gilder… see posts about the Wargames Holiday Center for instance… it is a scale where everything is “right”… you can paint as a master Military Modeler… even customize minis… indulge in fancy flags and whatever… whatever but one thing… room to maneuver… (meaning on the tabletop)… you can use fancy systems to simulate flank marches, reserves, and the like… but you NEED square meters surface to fully appreciate the scale.

Back in my time (middle seventies of the past century!)… oh! dear NO! reminiscences of an old man!… well, you can call them that I do not care at all… 15mm was a “new” eccentricity… and the only 6mm where not called even that (1/300 Heroic&Ros was their name… and I even painted a Cuirassiers Corps of Napoleonic French)… sadly they were mainly used in WWII affairs with plenty of Tanks… I failed miserably in that scale because there were not GOOD or AVERAGE RULES for them… and none had come with the notion of using 6mm in brigade stands (or regimental if you are truly megalomaniac)… obsessed with minor tactics like forming square, changing from column to line etc. I still based them in too small stands and that was impractical… if you want small tactics go 15mm or 25mm and skirmishing or Divisional Games would do you good… BUT..

BUT…

IF you want to play GETTYSBURG (after all 50% of my readers come from the USA) or WATERLOO… or even LEIPZIG… to name but a few… get yourself a copy of the rules POLEMOS (by BACCUS) RUSE DE GUERRE (by PEARCE) or ALTAR OF FREEDOM (by the LITTLE WARS TV team look for them in YouTube). The concept of wargaming strategically and brigade tactics instead of company tactics… will become clear and THEN and ONLY THEN you will make a rational choice about what you really really want!

Enjoy the pics!

PS: You can also go for “old fashioned Traditional Toy Soldiers games” or even Playmobils… keep your options open! LOL

Or why not 54mm Britain’s style? (Here REPLICA by Andrew Stevens)

Oh! What a lovely Wargame (IV)

I could have posted without any explanation at all… if you have followed this miniseries of Posts you knew what to expect!

The level of craftsmanship of the Flags is awesome… but there is also so much taste in the way the pics are done that I fell from them… an enjoyable passtime put in images.

All of those pics are from the same wargame… and I can only congratulate the group of wargamers for it.

Do like me.

Enjoy!

Oh! What a lovely Wargame (III)

I know it is a long series of pics… but nowadays you do not take this for granted!… probably tomorrow I will end with part IV.

Not original… The Sport of Kings it was called back then… there is something to say about “tricorne minis”… after all when I drastically reduced my collection of Playmobils the period I chosed for my grandchildren (as a gift) was those armies a la Charles Grant with TRICORNE… lol… so I am a fan in a way!

Enjoy!

Oh! What a lovely Wargame! (II)

I have been a long life fan of the Charles Grant (Senior & Junior) Armies and way of wargaming… bought a lot of books too!… but somehow I neglected the period due to my fascination with the American Civil War… I can not cope with ALL periods you know…

This is surly a beautifully set wargame, indeed more serious and elaborated… I think the pics are from The New Buckenham Historical Wargamers webpage and or Club (forgive me if I am mislead on the spelling), saw them in Facebook and was nonplussed!… probably the effort (collective) of a very good club is needed to achieve such a result… I can only say a word…

Enjoy!