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Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: vintagephreak on April 08, 2012, 11:50:54 AM

Title: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: vintagephreak on April 08, 2012, 11:50:54 AM
Hi! After years of fantasy wargaming I would like to try the non-fantasy versions...
So I need advice on which system or set of rules to use for games set in the era of either:

The earlier crusades
The hundred years' war
The thirty years' war

28mm is the scale I'd prefer, and I also need advice on miniature ranges/companies
that best suit the respective eras. I have been pointed toward Pike&Shotte and Foundry/Perrys miniatures which all look good.

Any input appreciated.

Cheers,
Martin
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 08, 2012, 11:55:41 AM
Cheapest army at the moment are an ECW/TYW army from Warlord, Maelstrom will do a cheap army box of them, after that is Perry's Wars of the Roses with a third plastic box due soon.  Perrys also have a nice range for the HYW and Crusades.

Rules are a bit more personal and often expensive.   There are a lot of free sets to get your teeth into out there.  In terms of getting a game, is there a local club that you could watch?

Take a look through the threads on this site, lots of advice and ideas.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: Calimero on April 08, 2012, 12:03:41 PM

Front Rank also have a nice selection of HYW figures 8)
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: traveller on April 08, 2012, 12:06:32 PM
The earlier crusades - Perry Miniatures
The hundred years' war - Perry and Front Rank
The thirty years' war - Perry, Warlord and some of the Old Glory packs. If you like a bit bigger figures, Renegade and Redoubt have fine ranges
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: Ragnar on April 08, 2012, 12:11:02 PM
Rules; agreed that there are many choices out there.  I would though vote for at least a look at the Black Powder/Hail Caesar family, with the ECW supplement almost out and presumably other periods in the pipe, I think the system is reasonably easy to pick up yet fun and challenging.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 08, 2012, 12:13:23 PM
I had thought of the BP sets, not just for the rules, but for the information and ideas.  They are available very cheaply from Amazon.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: H.M.Stanley on April 08, 2012, 12:19:40 PM
Such a huge topic really [even confined to those three periods] and entirely subjective. Depends on your budget, time available, how much you like painting etc

My advice, for what its worth, is just pick the army that interests you the most and try to do both sides unless you have a gaming-buddy who is as keen as you are on the same period.

I've been through the WAB process (incl the ECW variant) and would now recommend BP. As i said, its very subjective as to what you want out of a game [Warning: unless you can combine figures with others, you'd need quite a lot of figures for BP unless you used very small looking units]

Have fun whatever you chose
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 08, 2012, 12:24:59 PM
It is quite easy to play BP with a smaller army, you just need to lower the unit sizes.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: vintagephreak on April 08, 2012, 01:03:34 PM
Thanks for the advice! Btw, does BP gameplay and rules differ widely from Warhammer given its (GW) authors? And is it 100% playable with a smaller no. of models, or mainly meant for large-scale games?
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 08, 2012, 01:12:43 PM
They are very different games, but I have played BP with 6 or so 20 men units and they work well.  :D
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: H.M.Stanley on April 08, 2012, 01:47:04 PM
BP - i'd say you'd need 8 -12 units (per side) to have a decent game. Of course, the unit size is your choice while you're building up your armies. Its your game  :)

One of the nice things about BP imo is that you don't remove individual figures, unlike WAB and its spin offs

We're having a BP/Napoleonic bash at Maestrom tomo
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: Ragnar on April 08, 2012, 11:03:17 PM
I have played HC where 4 commanders had 4 units of 12 each plus skirmishers and I thought it still worked well and gave you some tactical challenges.

BP/HC do not count individual figures for combat, shooting or casualties, the unit is taken as a whole.  Movement is also more liberal.  Gameplay itself can be quite quick, I have played some BP games were a decision was reached surprisingly quickly.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: vintagephreak on April 09, 2012, 03:28:45 PM
Quote from: joroas on April 08, 2012, 11:55:41 AM
  In terms of getting a game, is there a local club that you could watch?


Local club is rubbish, just 40K players with no love for proper paint or scenery...
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 09, 2012, 03:39:46 PM
Martin,

Whereabouts are you, there is likely a member of the forum near who could give you a hand with rules, figures, uniforms, histories, etc.?

John
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: vintagephreak on April 09, 2012, 05:06:01 PM
Quote from: joroas on April 09, 2012, 03:39:46 PM
Martin,

Whereabouts are you, there is likely a member of the forum near who could give you a hand with rules, figures, uniforms, histories, etc.?

John

Hi John,

I live in Trondheim, Norway. Is there a member location search function on the forum?

Martin
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: joroas on April 09, 2012, 05:21:24 PM
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=23536.0

Not sure, but here are two members from Oslo and Lofoten you might try.

Also you could flag up in the new members section that you are looking for Norwegian gamers.
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: fastolfrus on April 09, 2012, 10:13:58 PM
Quote from: vintagephreak on April 09, 2012, 03:28:45 PM
Local club is rubbish, just 40K players with no love for proper paint or scenery...

Doesn't surprise me now we know you're from Trondheim.
Haugesund/Stavanger used to be similar.
But then again, so are quite a few UK clubs.

Maybe you could start a new club?
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: Arthur on April 10, 2012, 12:03:52 AM
Quote from: traveller on April 08, 2012, 12:06:32 PM
The earlier crusades - Perry Miniatures
The hundred years' war - Perry and Front Rank
The thirty years' war - Perry, Warlord and some of the Old Glory packs. If you like a bit bigger figures, Renegade and Redoubt have fine ranges

Don't forget TAG for the Thirty Years War : Nick Collier sculpted some very nice figures for the period. Emil Horky's Bohemian Troops range is also top notch (Paul Hicks sculpts) and surprisingly cheap for a private venture. Last year, I compiled a list of TYW links and posted it on the WD3 forum : click on the link below to get there.

http://wdlovesme.19.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=10366 (http://wdlovesme.19.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=10366) 
Title: Re: New to historicals, need advice on systems and figures
Post by: jackwrench on April 10, 2012, 02:20:37 AM
If you're looking for a rules set that's a skirmish-level game you can use in any time period, a new game just came out a little less than a month ago called Brink of Battle. You can play it with anywhere from 3 to 20 models per side and it comes with campaign rules.

Check it out at http://www.brinkofbattle.com/. Should be a great option for the time period you're going for.

-J