The big sort out continues.
What I had hoped would take a couple of days, looks like taking quite a bit longer, but the end result will be worth the effort. I should end up with a number of slimmed down collections that I will be able to access when I want to use them, and more space in my toy/wargames room. I have already identified stuff that I am going to dispose of by sale (probably via eBay) or donation to various needy wargamers, and this process will begin once the sort out is concluded.
The process of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of has given me a lot of time to think about the future direction of my wargaming ... and plans are beginning to come together in my head. These plans include:
What I had hoped would take a couple of days, looks like taking quite a bit longer, but the end result will be worth the effort. I should end up with a number of slimmed down collections that I will be able to access when I want to use them, and more space in my toy/wargames room. I have already identified stuff that I am going to dispose of by sale (probably via eBay) or donation to various needy wargamers, and this process will begin once the sort out is concluded.
The process of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of has given me a lot of time to think about the future direction of my wargaming ... and plans are beginning to come together in my head. These plans include:
- Completing the renovation of my collection of pre-painted Del Prado 25/28mm-scale Napoleonic figures ... and writing a suitable set of PORTABLE WARGAME rules so that I can use them to fight campaigns and battles;
- Rationalising my Colonial and nineteenth century figure collections so that they are compatible with one another (i.e. they use the same basing system and are the same scale);
- Organising (and adding to) my rather eclectic World War II collection so that I can finally begin my long-planned for Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteBased on the three bullet points you have listed I think your approach is eminently sensible and more importantly, very achievable.
I also think that the 'multi scale' idea is perfect for what you looking to do the Eastern front. You have plenty of kit so why not use it?
Certainly mixing scales is something I shall be doing for my WW1/WW2 games.
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteI've come to realise that I can't do everything, and that rather than dissipate my efforts with a lot of projects, I'd be better off concentrating on three or four.
When compared with the Zvezda models, quite a lot of my Roskopt stuff is not that much bigger, and may actually be 1:96th-scale ... so the hybrid solution makes even more sense.
All the best,
Bob
Bob - I will be going through the same thing myself as I sort stuff out following our house move (but the good news is that subject to planning permission, I am getting a wargames room at last!).
ReplyDeleteAs regards the scales, I regularly use 1:87 with 20 mm figures and 1:100 with 15mm - but personally I think the 1:100 look too small with 20mm - especially if the figures are metal or the more recent ranges. Like you, I have managed to pick up quite a lot of the old 1:87 'Minitanks' range on e-Bay, usually at reasonable prices - and the Manchester Model shop stocks the currently available range
Ian Dury,
DeleteMy sort out is also partly preparation for a possible house move at some time in the future. I'd rather do it now (both the sort out and the house move) rather than when I have to.
Thanks to scale creep, quite a few so-called 20mm figures are closer to 25mm in size. I am therefore looking to use smaller 20mm figures that are closer in size to the original Airfix figures ... and some of the larger 15mm figures (which are really 18mm) are not that much smaller.
My preferred choice would be to use Peter Laing figures with Zvezda vehicles ... but as the latter are no longer available, I have to find a solution that works for me.
All the best,
Bob
I think scale fascist's are firing blanks as inevitably the ground rules scale distances in a ratio, as for different scales appearing on the battlefield I would almost go as far as saying it "more natural". I think most wargames are incorrect in not scaling out their figures. Smaller models being further away from the commander and harder to influence. Now there is a thought for you ;)
ReplyDeletePS Small Wars means I have to get some French Foreign Legion!
Geordie an Exile FoG,
DeleteOne of the reasons why I wargame solo (other than being -according to my wife - an unsocial s*d) is the way I was treated by a couple of 'accuracy' fascists I 'met' at a wargame club in the early 1970s. I took a small force of 25mm-scale ACW figures along to the club for a game ... and was subjected to a concentrated barrage of criticism of my figures because the light blue of the trousers was not the 'right' shade and that they were 'too small' (they were old, smaller Minifigs and not the new ones that had recently been introduced).
I never returned to the club ... and since then I've always tended to plough my own wargaming furrow.
All the best,
Bob
PS, I've never owned any French Foreign Legion figures ... although I do gave some Spanish Foreign Legionnaires!
Hmmm, how needy does one need to be? I'd be happy to carry on battles for you. They'd go to a loving home and family
ReplyDeleteIrishhighlander,
DeleteI'm thinking of preparing a list of stuff that I want to get rid of. If I do, I'll upload it as a page on this blog.
All the best,
Bob
Scale zealots are the same as rivet counters in other hobbies. All that they really achieve is to suck the fun out of a hobby. Someone complained to me, in the early 70s, when I was a schoolboy, that my airfix British hussars were painted the wrong shade of blue, and too "glossy". I killed him on the spot wi my bare hands obviously... But that's another story. My aim, have FUN! We are only here once Bob, and after attending Valnaftak at York recently, and realising I got in for fee because I turned 60 last December, I embraced the new opportunity to seek fun. More power to your eclectic elbow
ReplyDeleteKen H,
DeleteI wonder why some people are like that. Perhaps it is due to some deep-seated feeling of inferiority that they have a need to compensate for. I'm now of an age (I'm became 68 last week) where I can ignore such people, and - like you - concentrate on more important things ... like having fun!
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good plan! AS to discrepancies of scale, wargames have suffered from/compromised over them since Robert Louis Stevenson and HG Wells, so why worry? If it looks aesthetically pleasing to you,go with it and the devil with the naysayers/detail fascists. It is true of course, that some scale combinations work better than others - I don't see 1 54mm figure representing a battalion and 6mm trees and houses catching on...
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur Harman (Arthur),
DeleteIt's taken me a long time to realise that I had too many potential projects, and that I needed to rationalise matters.
I do find it interesting that some wargamers can happily use a single 25/28mm-scale figures to represent 33 or 50 'real' soldiers ... and then throw a wobbly when they see a 20mm figure alongside a 1:87th-scale vehicle.
I do agree some scale combinations work better than others. For example, 1:600th-scale aircraft look all right when seen alongside 1:1200th-scale ships, but OO-scale buildings look wrong when used with 54mm-scale figures.
All the best,
Bob
Bob
ReplyDeleteI had a very interesting education on a forum regarding the origin of the usual scales, which incorporated the first compromise of H0/O0. Sthg to do with model train engines being too large to fit in 1/87 housings, so they were uprated to 1/72 whilst the tracks remained 1/87. As far as I could tell that is still the case today.
Anyway, from my maths, it's everyone who uses 1/72 or 1/76 with 20mm who is more inaccurate. A 20mm figure becomes 4ft 8 inches or so high, whereas at 1/87 he would scale to a far more likely 5ft 8 inches. Wargamers have been doing it 'wrong', en masse, since Airfix and the 1/72 1/76 plastic kits became popular. Roco should always have been the ones to be used!
Not that I've ever seen a Roco model (very sheltered upbringing).
Cheers
Andrew
Rumblestrip (Andrew),
DeleteI had heard a similar story as to why OO and HO model railways use the same gauge track but the locomotives and rolling stock are slightly different scales.
I think that the original Airfix figures were smaller than the later ones, and were closer to being 20mm tall. The later ones were 25mm (or one-inch) tall ... and we're closer to 1:72nd/1:76th-scale.
I cannot fault your maths, and true 20mm figures are compatible with 1:87th-scale vehicles. It is interesting to note that Essex Miniatures used to state that their 'larger' 15mm-scale WW2 figures were compatible with ROCO Minitanks!
All the best,
Bob
PS. You have never seen a ROCO model? 'I don't believe it!'