Fighting a battle with miniatures. Part One

I am taking a short break from painting now that my 6 mm ACW project is complete. It is at times like this that being able to throw a few troops down on the table, make all that painting worthwhile. We often select, buy and then begin painting figures for a dream scenario we can picture in our head, rows of painted minis advancing to the enemy lines, cannon roaring etc.

But often, maybe after just a few weeks, with just a few units painted and a huge pile of lead still awaiting their turn, that initial enthusiasm begins to wane somewhat. That battle of Waterloo, Gettysburg, or whatever, seems just as far away as it always was, and that pile of lead just doesn't appear to be getting any smaller.

The project withers and dies, the offending lead is boxed up and hidden in a cupboard as a new, shiny and probably just as elusive project takes its place. What you ask is the solution?

Well a number of suggestions spring to mind, scale down the project. Paint up enough units for each side to be able to fight at least a skirmish game. Three or four infantry, a cannon and a cavalry unit per side, will at least get the troops on the table and allow you to see the potential of what you started, and may even rekindle the project and drive you on to increase your forces by a few more units for a slightly larger battle.

There are rule sets out there, for the gamer with only a few units available. OK it is not the Gettysburg of your initial dream, but it is a damn good start and allows you to actually put those painted figures to doing what they were designed for, as well as being a lot of fun. Just playing and actually seeing your figures in action, should be motivation enough.

I have done exactly that over the course of the last year or so that this project has lasted. Used a small amount of bases to fight on the tabletop. as a break from painting and to have a bit of fun. So as mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am about to set up and play a battle. I thought I would let you look into my thought processes and ideas.

First of all it the question of where to play, If you don't have a dedicated games room or table set aside, then like me you have to make do with what is available. For me it is this rather small dining table.

Total length.

Breadth.

Next is the layout of the table. I have a scenario in my mind, which calls for a road running between two quite steep ridges, there are gaps in the ridges where roads will branch off. My ridges, as can be seen, are a couple of tea towels and face flannels.

The gap in the ridge for the road at the Western end of the table. The face cloth will probably be a hill to break up the monotony of the ridge.

There is also a gap in the ridge line to the South side of the table.

Finally, a road will also enter at this Northern point at the East end of the table.

Cover with the Cigar Box Battle Mat, and we have some terrain going on.

Some soldiers eye level shots to get a feel for the terrain.

Next up is to place the roads, the main turnpike running the length of the table, with roads radiating off to pass through the gaps in the ridges.

Doesn't look too bad and pretty much what I had in mind.

Add a farm, walled church, split log fencing and trees, and a battlefield is born.

Looking down the table from East to West.

Perfect setting for the local church.

Looking down a couple of lanes from low level.

Finally, the table looking from East to West

The table is now ready, though I may well put down a couple of crop fields, just to create some difficult ground.

Next up is the location of this small piece of countryside, back story and the troops that will be involved. But I shall leave that for part two of this article.

Hobby Goals!

Following on from the excellent article by Kurtus on reassessing our hobby, I took some time out to do just that.

Do I use what I have?

Quite frankly, no! I have boxes and boxes of 1/72nd scale figures taking up storage space that are never going to be painted or used by me. Solution - get rid of them. Brutal but true. Some will be given away others possibly sold on that well know auction site.

Am I actually interested or inspired by what I have?

This time I can answer in the positive. I have 6mm American Civil War figures, large armies for both sides. They get used on the table a lot and I also enjoy the period immensely. I have big plans for them.

The recently completed 28mm Wars of the Roses armies, for my campaign game. Again a period that fascinates me and one that I enjoy playing, still a number of rule sets to experiment with too.

Wars of the Three Kingdoms or more commonly known as the English Civil War, again in 28mm, this project has just been resurrected after a year gathering dust. I have about seven more foot units to finish, plus some other odds and ends, such as casualty figures, civilians, dragoon horse holders. To finally complete the project. Once again a period that really interests me and has lots of gaming potential.

28mm Anglo-Saxons and Vikings for Saga. The former are painted, the latter are still in their box along with a scale version of a Viking long ship to create a diorama for use in the Saga games. Another fascinating period with lots of different rule sets available, plus of course other war bands that could be added.

Finally, 28mm Imperial Romans, Gauls and Britons. Only a few test legionaries have been painted up. The remainder sit untouched, definitely a future project that I am looking forward to.

Do I need any more armies?

Of course the standard answer is, 'you can never have too many model soldiers.' The problem is, I am fast running out of storage space for what I already have. Even getting rid of the 1/72 stuff, will only free up limited storage space. The 6mm are not a problem, they sit in a dozen plastic boxes and the whole lot would fit in a large holdall or suitcase. It is the 28mm that cause the problem. They look superb on the table, but each unit requires one or more storage containers, I use plastic tupperware type boxes to hold my figures, and boy, do they mount up. The yet to be painted figures listed above have also to be added to this growing mountain.

Staying focused.

I already have two scales and four periods in my collection. I enjoy all of them too, yes I would love to add a couple of Ancient armies and some American War of Independence armies, oh and I must try my hand at the Marlborough campaigns!!! See how easy it is to continue to grow the mountain.
So the solution is stick with what I have, only add to the existing four eras and forget about new and inviting periods.

The Plan.

I have ordered a couple of buildings and a number of small trees for use with the 6mm ACW. That is really all I need to add at this moment.

Wars of the Roses - I would like to add a couple of light artillery pieces eventually.

War of the Three Kingdoms - I have all I need, buildings, trees etc. are interchangeable with the WotR.

Imperial Rome - Some cavalry for both sides would be nice as well as a chariot or two, buildings for this period are also required.

So you can see, I will still be adding to my storage woes, but at least the few things I plan to purchase are to supplement the armies I already own, without starting off on a new course. The embryonic Roman/Gaul project is going to need the most additions, but even they are small compared to embarking on a new era and armies.

Will it work?

Of course, only time will tell. I am determined at the moment and of course I still have lots of minis to paint still. Maybe a little less painting and little more gaming is the solution, after all, isn't that why we paint them in the first place?