I have a strong interest in 'offbeat' early 20thC armies: the Anglo-Irish War (which I've done in 28mm), the Spanish Civil War (which I've done in 15mm for Crossfire), the Chaco War, and a whole host of wars that I've planned to do for Square Bashing including the First Balkan War, the Mexican Revolution, early WW1, the Russo-Polish War and the Chinese Warlord era. If I ever get round to doing any of the latter, it will almost certainly be in 10mm but I am put off by the number of bases I would need to paint up. That's one reason why I've been working on some Interwar rules of my own, but I will come back to that another time.
Despite Plan A (the blocks), I inevitably started fantasising about miniatures, particularly with regard to scales and basing options - Pendraken or Peter Pig? What size and shape bases? How many figures to put on them? RA requires rather less figures than Square Bashing, and in that case, for predominantly infantry armies, I would be inclined to go up to 15mm, particularly as the Peter Pig RCW range is so extensive. I think it would also be viable to do this conflict in 20mm plastics. I often find myself browsing the Plastic Soldier Review if only for nostalgic reasons, but I'm usually put off by the incompleteness of the ranges, the uncertainty of obtaining them, and their apparent lack of accuracy as reported by the PSR.
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| Late War Germans recycled as Freikorps with no paint spilt |
The Perfect Captain
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Pygmy Wars
I've had these on the 'to do' list for years. In fact, it was the PP figures and RA that got me back into wargaming about ten years 15 years ago. Needless to say, I have a leadpile of stuff for RA!
ReplyDeleteIf I can mix metaphor, the lead mountain has been a chain around my neck, but using counters has allowed me to be more adventurous in trying out new rules. And there also comes a time when you've accumulated so many armies that, at the risk of public ridicule, you have something that could be pressed into service for almost any game. If I do develop my Interwar hex rules, for example, I'll probably be testing them with my SCW figures but maybe in a Chaco War context.
DeleteRed Actions are a great set of rules for the ECW and the interwar period. My RCW armies are in 20mm., mainly with HaT figures along with some odds and ends picked up on eBay. I find its always tempting to field unfeasible amounts of tanks, just because I can! The other rules I've found good for this period are Triumph and Tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThe range and quality of 20mm plastics does get better and better. I expect to succumb some day, but I'm going for 10mm on this one.
DeleteHi doctorphalanx
ReplyDeleteSaw your postings on TMP and the Yahoo group. I use a modified Red Actions with a Lardies-style activation card system since I play solo usually. Many hours of fun. There are lots of possibilities in the Pendraken ranges for RCW and you could add in some Pithead North Koreans to RJW Japanese for Chinese northern warlord types as you also posted about. There are cards and stats done for Back of Beyond already - https://xa.yimg.com/df/perfect_captain/cards_chinese_mongols_warlords-new.pdf?token=9dHI67eDnXXA_-mApjkF5x2c6v29s8XahKOcIPiljR-zwn0TAGay6zOThQ3SCcwzu6Bml9rvdYMBORGb5Hj1GiGJ1gJgFPAf_yKNgFPBaGf6Zz2FJaBB_Ui3826CPzg6XkTKbMk&type=download. I've looked at this area and also expanded it down south with WW1 Rugga Rugga standing in as Malay pirates. We can chat on the Pendraken forum if you want more proxy ideas.
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
Hi Vic
DeleteThose Pithead Koreans look just the ticket, and thanks for the link to the Chinese Warlord Era cards. Things are looking better and better!
I'm trying to work out if any of the Pendraken Vietcong have the conical hat and bolt-action rifles for use as peasant conscripts.
Other than that I think the only thing missing are the Dare-to-Die units. I know we've discussed this before on the Pendraken forum at http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,6480.0.html
I don't really think the WW1 German stormtroopers look right, but I did think the SCW - Guardia de Asalto might do, possibly with swords added.
I'm all for reviving the Pendraken threads or starting a new one. I'm particularly encouraged by the Pithead figures. Maybe Pithead might be persuaded to do some Chinese stuff? They're great at filling gaps. (I bought a lot of tanks from them when they first started out and were casting in resin.)
Vic
DeleteI went to grab the Chinese cards but the link seems to have expired. Could you repost them or email them to me please? My email address is my blogger name @gmail.com.
Hi DP
ReplyDeleteToo many places to reply to you so I'll carry here :). Emailed the cards.
The Vietnamese that could be used are VM2 Tu Ve, rifle, shorts, hat, running (conical hat) and VM3 Tu Ve, rifle, scarf, bareheaded, walking. Pictures can be seen at http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/delta-highlands-or-dmz.html - last and third last pictures. I haven't seen it but there is RP6 ww1 Russian in fur hat and greatcoat that might be useful. Urban militia could use SCW and Boer figures.
For Dare to Die the only other figure that springs to mind is the WW2 Japanese officer with a head swap. Otherwise any peaked cap officer with pistol and added sword. Th eJapanese RJW officer has a sword on his shoulder, might be useful, especially for northern style troops - http://s1206.photobucket.com/user/alanmillicheap/media/RJW/Feng-Aoliu/P1120171_zpse9488ff6.jpg.html.
Pithead have had Chinese Nationalist infantry (German equipment) 1937 on their 'In the Pipeline' page for a while. There might be something there.
Cheers
Vic/GrumpyOldMan
Hi Vic
DeleteThanks for this which is all highly useful. I think Pendraken is missing a trick by not illustrating all their figures. The info from your good self, coupled with the potential of RA, has rekindled my interest in a number of Interwar projects.