The War that 'no-one' wargames..will that change?

[Gribb]

https://www.goonhammer.com/goonhammer-historicals-the-war-no-one-wargames/

I came across what I think is a really interesting article. Despite gaining more attention in recent films, the Great War still seems to struggle when it comes to attracting interest among gamers. That might explain why so many miniature ranges have launched with great enthusiasm and stunning sculpts, only to fizzle out—presumably due to disappointing sales.

Personally, I believe more publications and games that reflect how the war was actually fought could go a long way—especially for the often-overlooked early war period, which is too often written off as hopelessly outdated. Its worth getting out there that all sides entered the war with tactics shaped by lessons from the Boer War, Russo-Japanese War, and the First Balkan War. It wasn’t just blind charges and outdated thinking—there’s plenty of scope for balanced and engaging gaming scenarios. Dismounted cavalry patrols clashing, for example, can make for particularly interesting skirmishes.


While we can't predict the future, do you think WWI could gain more popularity in the gaming community over time? And how?

[carlos marighela]

Call me nobody then. Friends and I were fighting the Great War in the late eighties, early nineties. We used the excellent Command Decision variant Over the Top for rules and the reasonably extensive Minifigs 15mm range back then. Didn't just stop at early war battles, we did a bit of late war Western Front as well as the Allied Intervention into Russia. OTT had a wide range of scenarios, including the Senussi Campaign and Tanga in East Africa. There's even an excellent bathtub campaign for 1914.

Due to it's sheer variety, the Great War is an excellent era to game. The variety of troops available now is unsupassed. Even formerly neglected armies like the Serbs and Bulgarians are represented in miniature.

[Belligerentparrot]

Was it just me, or did that article assume its readership knows nothing or very little about WWI? In that case, it has answered its own question in its starting assumption.

I enjoy reading the WWI threads on here, and it gives me the impression that it is a popular period and pretty widely supported with miniatures.  It is a shame that ranges fizzle out, as you say, but that is also true of lots of 40k-adjacent sci-fi ranges where demand is a lot higher. I think it is just pretty tough to run a miniatures business these days.

Off-topic, but can't resist: I clicked through the first link in that article to Empress's M?ori range, and am genuinely puzzled that they don't seem to know "Maoris" is not a word. The plural of M?ori is M?ori. They could easily have looked that one up.

Edit Oh, it seems the forum set-up allows me to put a macron over an "a" when writing a post but not when you're reading it. 

[Cubs]

I understand why few people want to game the trenches ... boring, depressing and just too bleak. But I've always been interested in Alanby's campaign in the Middle East with sweeping cavalry actions, early armoured cars, gunboats and Arab guerilla strikes. And Von Lettow's campaign in East Africa is equally fascinating and a endless source of gaming material.

[sultanbev]

I used to game the RCW and East African campaigns in 6mm, I even had random event/terrain rules for the latter where you might lose a man to a crocodile or hippo attack.

I admit I don't know a lot about WW1, but I get the impression that the actions on the Eastern front, Africa and in the Balkans were much more fluid with more variety of troop types and nationalities.

Have the miniature ranges that have failed all been 28mm? Not the best of scales for doing massed WW1 battles in I would have thought.

[Lasergrenadier]

For some reason I have been fascinated by the idea of doing early war Austro-Hungarians versus Russians. Peter Pig would meet my needs, but at this point in life I already have too many figures to paint. I get enthused and then the potential workload drives me away.

[Will Bailie]

WWI is interesting, and popular with at least some gamers, as noted before.  I have 28mm armies for early and late war on eastern and western fronts and the middle-east.  There's a group of gamers at the local club who host a WWI air battle almost every month, and the naval wargamers regularly include WWI fleet actions in their gaming rotation.  So based on my own very personal experience, there's plenty of interest in WWI wargaming!

However, I think it's unlikely that WWI gaming will overtake the more popular eras.  Historical wargaming is already a subset of tabletop gaming, and within that subset WWI is in competition with other popular eras like WWII, Napoleonics, early medieval, Wars of the Roses, ancients, and so on and so forth, to say nothing of other horse and musket eras, colonial wars, pirates (or Pirates!!), samurai and more. 

My experience with gamers is if you put in the work, set up a game, then others will join you.  Just remember that WWI is HUGE!  You will need to choose a facet that interests you and start with that.  Maybe cavalry actions on the eastern front, or Palestine, whichever gives you the incentive to get something started that will encourage others to join you. Best wishes, and we are all here to give you moral (and morale) support along the way! 

[carlos marighela]

Yep, it's all relative. I mean how popular is Vietnam gaming compared to the Great War? How popular is the Cold War? How does the War of the Austrian Succession/ Jenkins' Ear compare with WSS or the SYW? What's the uptake of War of the Triple Alliance compared to the ACW?

[fred]

That website is pretty much unreadable.

We play lots of WWI using 10mm figures. Of which there are extensive ranges from several manufacturers.

We've played 1914 in France, late war western front with trenches and tanks and artillery, and more recently Eastern front too. Haven't got to the Middle East and Africa yet.

[has.been]

Just remember that WWI is HUGE! 

So true, well it is a flipping WORLD war.

We play WW1:-

East Africa.  Blame Flatpack (aka Bob) as he wanted to do it & Paul Eaglestone (Empress miniatures) who recommended the book, 'Tip & run' (all about East Africa)

Air-planes.  Love those kites & snazzy colours. My original collection were metal kits which (thankfully) were assembled for me (2 & 3 wings!?!? ) by my
                  friend John Cunningham who recently passed.  Nowadays you can get 3D printed, no assembly required, & weird & wonderful (previously unacailable)
                 'Kites'. I have recently purchased an Italian BOMBER ! 

Naval .  Easier to play as fewer U-boats attacking surface ships and very few aircraft to worry abour. Lots of quirky ships too.
            My favourite is HMS Agincourt. EIGHT big turrets & something like a Lewis gun for AA protection. 

As already mentioned, if someone in the group starts, others will join. (see above & our East Africa)

[Gribb]

Yep, it's all relative. I mean how popular is Vietnam gaming compared to the Great War? How popular is the Cold War? How does the War of the Austrian Succession/ Jenkins' Ear compare with WSS or the SYW? What's the uptake of War of the Triple Alliance compared to the ACW?

I only care about popularity insofar as it ensures manufacturers earn enough income to stay motivated to complete their ranges. This has been a problem for the 28mm scale, which I prefer—both for gaming, but especially for painting. While smaller 10mm ranges may offer more complete factions, I just don’t see the appeal of painting such tiny figures.

[Gribb]

I used to game the RCW and East African campaigns in 6mm, I even had random event/terrain rules for the latter where you might lose a man to a crocodile or hippo attack.

I admit I don't know a lot about WW1, but I get the impression that the actions on the Eastern front, Africa and in the Balkans were much more fluid with more variety of troop types and nationalities.

Have the miniature ranges that have failed all been 28mm? Not the best of scales for doing massed WW1 battles in I would have thought.

Yes, in 28mm it has been a recurring problem: a manufacturer starts out boldly with new units and ambitious promises, only for the range to come to a crashing halt. The Great War Miniatures line offered through North Star is a good example of this—especially the 1914 factions. Reading older threads, there were grand plans for dismounted cavalry—even cavalry operating MGs! This was a real historical tactic and would be a huge bonus for skirmish scenarios involving French and/or British cavalry clashing with Germans.

Take this thread from when the French Cuirassiers were released back in 2013—there was a lot of enthusiasm, and the sculptor promised that dismounted figures would follow:
http://theminiaturespage.com/news/talk/msg.mv?id=1014114476

But it never happened.

The Belgians, meanwhile, have only a few basic unit packs—none of the dashing cavalry.
https://www.northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=20&cat=153&sub=202&page=1

[Rossco2]

I have been gaming WW1 in the middle east for many years, using 28mm figures from a variety of manufacturers. For me the main enabler was Eureka Miniatures bringing out a range of Ottoman Turks. My British Empire forces are a mix of Eureka, Woodbine, Brigade Games, Great War Miniatures, Hinchliffe, plus others.

The middle east theatre provides plenty of scenario variety with a good mix of troops. I'm not interested in gaming the western front.

I'm the only one at my club with WW1 land forces, but there are plenty of club members happy to join in when I run a game. I currently use the Xenos Rampant rules for the games. My WW1 games are most often run in the couple of weeks before ANZAC Day.

[Will Bailie]

The Belgians, meanwhile, have only a few basic unit packs—none of the dashing cavalry.
https://www.northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=20&cat=153&sub=202&page=1

Brigade Models (the UK company, not the US Brigade Games) have a nice range of WWI Belgians including lancers, chasseurs a cheval and guides:  https://brigademodels.co.uk/product-category/great-war-28mm/belgian-cavalry/

Meanwhile Gaddis Gaming has the venerable but still nice Battle Honours figures:
https://www.gaddisgaming.com/products/wwi-miniatures-belgium?_pos=1&_sid=e2eabd947&_ss=r&variant=7275946475579

[Gribb]

Brigade Models (the UK company, not the US Brigade Games) have a nice range of WWI Belgians including lancers, chasseurs a cheval and guides:  https://brigademodels.co.uk/product-category/great-war-28mm/belgian-cavalry/

Meanwhile Gaddis Gaming has the venerable but still nice Battle Honours figures:
https://www.gaddisgaming.com/products/wwi-miniatures-belgium?_pos=1&_sid=e2eabd947&_ss=r&variant=7275946475579

Thank you.
Rather nice figures, though they do feel a bit dated compared to newer releases. Ebor Miniatures used to have a great range of Belgian cavalry as well, but I believe it was discontinued due to the moulds being damaged. I particularly like Brigade's Guides and Chasseurs — might have to pick them up.