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Post by macrossmartin on Aug 26, 2020 7:12:02 GMT
Greetings all!
I discovered the LWR forum just a week or so ago, and was inspired to re-start my 54mm Little Wars project.
I began buying and painting Dorset Soldiers castings in 2013, getting most of my 'Army Red' finished in quick-time, but like most wargamers I was distracted by other things miniature and military, and wondered into other armies, periods, etc for several years.
Anyway, now I'm back to doing proper toy soldiers, (although waiting with baited breath for Dorset Soldiers to re-open), and thought I'd document my progress here.
Soooo, here's some of my Army Red that I put in front of the camera today. I hope you enjoy them!
First up, being a native South Australian, I had to have a squadron of South Australian Lancers, didn't I? These are assembled from Dorset's Japanese cavalry, but with heads wearing foreign service helmets.
To correct the Australian's accents and faux par in the mess, the 16th Lancers have also answered the call to muster:
For the infantry, rugby and eisteddfods are the dominant interests when not on parade; They are the (24th) South Wales Borderers:
Lastly for now, here is a small contingent of the Medical Corps ready to bring comfort, succor, and cyanoacrylate to the wounded:
I aim to add some fairly simple casualty rules to my Little Wars games. The trick will be to do so without resorting to dice to determine outcomes. Wells didn't use dice, and I rather want to emulate his example. I'm also experimenting with morale rules, but again, I don't want dice to become involved. This is proving more challenging, but I think I have an idea...
Next time, I'll show off the other two foot regiments I've done so far, and hope to share some ideas I've had about suitably toy-like scenery, inspired in a large part by Mike Lewis's excellent Portable Wargame board.
See you all next time.  |
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Post by spiritofethandune on Aug 26, 2020 9:41:14 GMT
Welcome Macrossmartin! Your toy soldiers look wonderful. Regarding diceless outcomes, there was a set of wargames rules published by Shire Publications way back in the 1970s (I think) that had rules for different periods. The same casualty tables were used for all periods and were based on a set number of figures causing a set number of casualties modified by the tactical situation. No dice or any other chance factors were involved.
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Post by Mike Blake on Aug 26, 2020 10:15:18 GMT
Love the idea that one of the first requirement was some medical support!
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Post by macrossmartin on Aug 26, 2020 12:14:55 GMT
Spirit — Thank you for the tip-off about the Shire rules, I will have to investigate those. Certainly hadn't heard of them before now. Do you recall their name perchance?
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Post by spiritofethandune on Aug 26, 2020 13:03:00 GMT
Hi Macross,
I've just found my old copy. The title is 'Rules for Wargaming' and the author was Arthur Taylor. My revised edition was published in 1972 although the first edition was published in 1971. Mike and I keep meaning to try them out (it's been over 40 years since I last played them!) but haven't yet managed it. Casualties are in whole figures which makes it particularly good for toy soldier gaming.
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Post by macrossmartin on Aug 26, 2020 13:27:12 GMT
Thank you again, Spirit! I'm obliged to you. |
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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 26, 2020 16:44:56 GMT
Great looking figures, especially the lancers. I look forward to seeing this project move forward. Btw have you thought of using the Portable Wargame rules or Those by Ross Macfarlane on his Game of the month blog. Very toy soldier friendly rules which I use with 54mm figures and a grid.
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Post by spiritofethandune on Aug 27, 2020 7:26:26 GMT
Macross,
One other aspect of Taylor's rules that might entice you-the morale table is also 'luckless'. You cross-reference the class of unit with their tactical situation to get a morale result. No dice, no cards! Also I forgot to mention that the tactical factors that modify the combat tables (one for cavalry, one for infantry) vary with the period being played.
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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 27, 2020 9:59:39 GMT
I’ve just noticed I have the Taylor rules on the shelf ( forgotten I bought them some time ago and they were wedged behind some other pamphlets, so I have an excuse) in the John Curry reprint form. I will dig them out for a look.
Macross you can buy the book on amazon btw.
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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 27, 2020 10:03:37 GMT
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Post by 79thpa on Aug 27, 2020 14:11:55 GMT
Beautiful. I love the toy soldier look of your army.
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Post by macrossmartin on Aug 31, 2020 13:23:38 GMT
Thank you, everyone, for your responses and the information about various rule systems. Much research before me, into those writers who came before me!  More photos later this week, I hope. |
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Post by aducknamedjoe on Sept 2, 2020 3:33:39 GMT
These look great! Looking forward to your project. Do you have a blog as well?
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Post by Quantrilltoy on Sept 13, 2020 22:04:29 GMT
I hope you come to ACOTS in Adelaide next year (assuming Covid 19 doesn't shut it down again).
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Post by macrossmartin on Sept 14, 2020 10:15:22 GMT
These look great! Looking forward to your project. Do you have a blog as well? I've just re-started my wargaming blog, (my old blog was a Google Site, which is being royally nerfed later this year), so there's not much to see as yet, but here's the link:
There will be toy-soldier related content as it comes to hand. (No idea just when!)
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