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Tuesday 8 January 2013

How do you play-test Ancient rules when you don't own any relevant figures?

Having written a draft set of Ancients wargame rules, they need play-testing ... but how do I do that when I don't own any Ancients figures?

The answer is ... think laterally. What figures and other resources do I have that might be suitable?

I have quite a lot of spear-armed Sudanese infantry in my Colonial collection, but very little cavalry and no missile-armed troops ... thus making it possible to mount a limited play-test. I also have the ability to make some cardboard counter armies ... but I would prefer to use figures.

Looking along the shelves of my wargames/toy room I realised that I owned a possible sources of (almost) suitable figures ... LORD OF THE RINGS 'RISK'! A quick look inside the boxes showed that they contained enough relevant figures for a small play-test.

With a bit of luck I should be able to mount a play-test in the very near future ... and when I do I will write a blog entry about it.

8 comments:

  1. Please don't forget chariots, Bob.


    -- Jeff

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  2. I agree with Arthur, cardboard cut to the size of the base... or else, take a look to this page and download some paper armies!!

    http://www.juniorgeneral.org/load.php?Period=0

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  3. Bluebear Jeff,

    I will try to remember to incorporate them in a later draft ... along with elephants!

    All the best,

    Bob

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  4. Arthur,

    Too late I am afraid for my first play-test; I ended up using my LORD OF THE RINGS: RISK figures ... and they worked quite well.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Anibal Invictus,

    I used my plastic LORD OF THE RINGS: RISK figures for the first play-test ... but I may use cardboard counters for any future play-tests.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  6. I would never use cardboard as it just doesn't 'look right' to me. But it depends if the game or the look is the priority. I would prefer using Sudanese 3D plastic and metal figures for Persians etc than cut outs and bases. Aother source of figures is Red Indians, either unchanged or with their weapons and buckskin fringes removed. Of course I'm talking 54mm.
    One thing that annoys me with my other scale in Warhammer 40k is the player who uses unpainted figures or just bases. It just looks bad. James O

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  7. James O'Connell,

    As you will see from the battle report I wrote about the play-test, I opted for the unpainted (but different coloured) LORD OF THE RINGS: RISK figures. I felt that even unpainted, they were better than cardboard counters.

    All the best,

    Bob

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