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Friday 27 March 2020

Other people's Portable Wargames ... using 54mm figures

Whilst I've been concentrating on finishing my latest boo and getting the most recent issue of THE NUGGET distributed, other wargamers have been fighting tabletop battles using my rules. In the case of Tradgardmastare and Ross Macfarlane, these battles have been fought using 54mm-sized figures ... and mighty fine they looked!

Meanwhile in Maple Leaf Country... (Tradgardmastare)



I like the use of captions on the photographs. I's something that I've never tried myself with any success, but having seen these, I might have to think again.

Jazz Age Wargaming in Albion (Tradgardmastare)


I've always loved the interwar period, and the sight of the silver-finished fighter aircraft 'flying' over a battlefield filled with brown-clad soldiers reminded me just how long it is since I did any interwar wargaming.

Deeds Not Words! (Ross Macfarlane)


I actually had to look twice at the photographs of Ross Macfarlane's battle before I realised that he had used 54mm and not 20mm-sized figures. It shows that the rules can be used with larger scale figures on a normal tabletop ... something that I need to think about doing myself when the opportunity arises.

Please note that the photographs featured above are © Tradgardmastare and Ross Macfarlane.

20 comments:

  1. Bob,
    Obviously there's no reason someone why someone shouldn't use your rules for a wargame with 54mm figures - though such a game sound terribly 'portable'!
    I quite like the idea of creating a similar visual aesthetic, but using smaller figures on a chess board size area - that's what I call portable.
    Best wishes,
    Arthur

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    Replies
    1. Arthur1815,

      The rules have come a long way - and like Topsy, have grown - from a few spare figures and a redundant chessboard.

      I always thought of portable as having a dual meaning. Portable, as meaning easy to be carried about, and portable, as meaning the rules could be ‘carried’ from one historical period to another without too many difficulties arising.

      Like you, I tend to favour using smaller sized figures on as small a tabletop as possible ... but it doesn’t stop me getting inspiration from games like the ones featured in this blog entry.

      Say safe and stay well,

      Bob

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    2. I confess this was on a 4ftx4ft table but I do have a 54mm Portable game that plays on a 3'x3ft mat that will fit on a kitchen or garden table and can be carried in a plastic toolbox and has been ported 1,000 km to play a game.

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    3. Ross Mac,

      A truly portable 54mm game! It only goes to prove how portable the game can be, even if you are using larger scale figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. The Portable Wargame set up in the pictures from my blog are on a potting bench top from Aldi’s and is 37 inches by 19 inches. Although small it provides a good game and the ascetic achieved through using 54mm figures and smaller scale tanks and planes is something I really enjoy.

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    5. Tradgardmastare,

      I’d forgotten quite how small your potting bench wargame table was. It looks much bigger in the photographs.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    6. Frankly I was surprised when I measured it today. It seems much bigger when using it as a playing surface.

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    7. Tradgardmastare,

      It was not until I read your comment that I looked at the battles featured in my new book, and realised that one of them was fought on a 60cm x 60cm square of felt.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. My games have been almost all 54mm using a 3’ x 3’ table. I have experimented with larger layouts. I use a stylistic approach to both terrain and the models rather than worry about the scale. As long as an object has a designated presence on a grid it doesn’t matter what the scale is as long as it is all works, both aesthetically and logically. I really have to catch up with my blog though. Now I have time, it has only just dawned on me how many projects were on hold due to work.

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    Replies
    1. Steve8,

      Having seen your figures on your tabletop, I was put in mind of some of the photos I’ve seen of Joseph Morschauser’s games.

      It’s amazing how much work can get in the way of ones hobbies ... and I look forward with great interest to reading your forthcoming blog entries.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. I completely and utterly ripped off Morschauser.

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    3. Steve8,

      Haven’t we all!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. They are all very impressive - at first I thought the first was a 28mm skirmish but then I realised whose blog I was reading!
    Congratulations to all for taking an excellent set of rules and looking at them in a different way.

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    Replies
    1. Andyroo,

      I never cease to be impressed by the tabletop battles other wargamers stage ,.. and that they manage to use my rules in so many flexible ways.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. I look at examples like this and I wonder how a game like OGRE would play out using the PWG rules. In case you aren't familiar with it, OGRE was a sci-fi game that pitted one over powered, nuclear armed cyber-tank against a much larger force of weaker units. The OGRE was so tough there was little strategy in playing it so the game was more of a solo affair. The OGRE's goal was the destruction of the enemy command post while the opposing side simply had to stop the OGRE.
    I'll have to give it a go when I finish my PWG kit.

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    Replies
    1. Mr. Pavone,

      It should work. I understand that someone has used my rules to refight battles from the War of the Worlds, with the Martian tripods being the equivalent of heavily armoured and heavily armed tanks ... which isn’t all that different from OGRE.

      Give it a try ... and let me know how you get on.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. It struck me that a WW2 scenario using an oncoming BFT (Big Fluff Tank) could also fill in. Just increase its amount of hit points, make it harder to destroy and give it more firepower. Finally one can have that invulnerable Tiger tank.

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    3. Steve8,

      Thanks for the excellent suggestion.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. Two fine examples of PW with big figures Bob

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