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 Changing Back From Tiny Metal to Larger Plastic Figures


When I first read a set of wargame rules and realized that there were formal games that other people were playing, other than merely shooting the figures with a BB gun or blowing them up with firecrackers, the rules I selected were Grosstaktik, by Leon Tucker. These rules had 1 figure represent 12 men, and the units were battalions usually around 48 figures each, although that number could vary.

The first decisions on looking over a catalog of what periods I could order was which period to choose, and what figures I liked, and finally which figures could I afford. But this was not like walking two miles to the hobby shop with a week's lunch money: as a formal Mail Order, I had to get my Mom to write a Check, so I tried mightily to keep it under six dollars, but may have gone over with postage. She said I can't just tape together a bunch of quarters in the mail.

At that point I already had some Airfix men, and so between choices of period, manufacturer and scale, and affordability, I came up with 18th Century as my first period, Grosstaktik for the rules, and Airfix men for the American Revolution as the collection. I already had about one box of each type, American and British, and so when I became a serious wargamer I ordered two more boxes each, and the rules to go with them. After that I got a bunch more, and then branched off into other periods.



Now after some reading in Brigade Daendels blog (see blogroll) and the work that Paul's Bods has been doing, (see blogroll), plus the effect of reading Charlie Wesencraft's Practical Wargaming,  I have gone to the hobby store and picked up some plastic figures again.

I especially was taken by the idea that Christopher Duffy, Anthony Brett-James, David Chandler, Donald Featherstone and Charles Wesencraft all had a game at Sandhurst for Borodino with a ratio of 1 figure to 500 men, and considered that they were probably using Airfix men in that game. It was mainly Featherstone vs Wesencraft, with Chandler as the umpire. It must have really been something. It's in an article on Vintage Wargaming (see blogroll.)

 So Now

I got two ten-dollar bags of Imex American Revolutionary War. Thesebags have the equivalent of two of the Airfix boxes of old, so there are 50 Americans, and 50 British redcoats in a bag. And I got two bags. So 100 for each side. They look like they are between 21-22 mm tall from the soles to the eyes.

I already have from several years ago some other Imex and Airfix figures, but I'm not sure how many. I would guess a few hundred more, plus an odd Revell Frederick the Great's army or two that I find behind furniture sometimes.

This project will involve a different kind of painting than I am used to doing, because for the past few years I have only worked on 2mm figures, which are so tiny as to require a Jeweler's Loupe to see any details.

I Needed More Figures Because I Had Painted The Ones I Had On The Back Burner

I did just paint up my last batch of 2mm, which were the Irregular Logistics pack. There were some 75 wagons, including four covered wagons and five pontoon wagons, plus aound 60-70 large, medium and small tents for camps. I have a Stamp Collector's Loupe with 16x magnification, plus several sets of magnifying glasses and finally a 20-40X Microscope, for working with the extreme small miniatures. One thing I don't have is a digital camera with a nacro lens, so pics will have to wait and substitute with imagination.

Before the 2mm I had two projects with 6mm, Adlers for the larger and Heroics and Ros with some Irregular for the smaller type of 6mm. Many think 6mm are too small, but they are huge compared with 2mm.

It will be a big adjustment to paint these giants again, but it sort of feels like going home.