The 54mm madness of King George

[nathan]

One thing I'm figuring out since I started with 54mm is that you have to accept what is and not be too picky about figures with differing sculpting styles (or even scales) and painting conversions and head swaps and whatnot will go a long way if you let them.

I have some AIP artillery on the way.  I'm hoping the more toy soldier aesthetic of them will really work well with my high contrast black line approach.

I finished my dragoons:




I also have decided to change my basing scheme for my Napoleonics to something more bright.  Here is how they were before:



My inspiration is this entry on the Ilkley Old School blog

http://ilkleyoldschool.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/duchy-of-calvados.html

I want the game to be brighter and greener than my default approach of reddish brown/tan mud and yellow grass.

[Mike Blake]

...like I said, even these IMHO duff figures are transformed by a really excellent paint job! I doff my hat, sir.

[nathan]

...like I said, even these IMHO duff figures are transformed by a really excellent paint job! I doff my hat, sir.

Thank you.  My inner miser is willing to excuse a lot of faults given how cheap and easily available the ACTA stuff is.    I have come to agree though, that they are simply too small for heavy cavalry in 54mm.  The poses seems to be from a crazy swirling melee as well, so they look a bit chaotic when ranked up.  I guess I could have chopped them up and bent them with heat a bit more, but it just seems like a lot of work to fix them.  I'm sure they'll look the part when they're close in with some broken enemy infantry. 

The bases are 1-1/4" washers.  I doubled them up to give the figures a bit more height and heft.  I haven't figured out yet whether I'll be moving things around individually or making sabots/movement trays.  I'm definitely going to be going for a lower figure count game and think I'll probably be alright with individually based miniatures to start off.

I also don't really care for "base contact" as a wargaming convention.  So I'm alright if the bases are round, or strange shapes.  I like templates, sticks and rulers that can be laid right down on the table more than tape measures held above, so if the dragoons want to charge and turn out to be within range, they can just be moved reasonably close enough, like less than an inch away from the enemy.  So I'll probably keep going with the strange peanut shaped bases.

These are my first cavalry in 54mm-- what do you all think about attaching riders permanently or keeping them separate?  If you are transporting them, how do you go about doing it?  I'm probably going to leave the riders as separate parts and use plastic containers with microfibre cloths for transporting them.

[Mike Blake]

If I am going to or likely to use the figures in Skirmish game,s ie one to one, I keep horse and rider separate but if for Battle games I fix them on permanently (before priming and painting).

For transport I use boxfiles with seed trays in for individual foot figures and artillery etc (cutting the tray modules to fit) and Really Useful plastic boxes with magnetic bottoms added and metal strips on figure bases where needed for everything else, to get the required depth.

Single figures with mag strips go on movement trays to speed up movement in games but again provided for skimish use if wanted.

The rules we use, Black Powder, for battles do not require removal of casualties in play, only whole units when destroyed, so the game looks good for longer.

[black hat miniatures]

Nice looking cavalry - I have just started work on the French Dragoons.

I attach the rider to the horses and then put magnetic strip on the bases of the figures (I am basing my cavalry on 80mm x 40mm - which gives me 8 cavalry in a unit for the Neil Thomas rules we are using).  I then put steel sheet on the inside of a Really Useful 9-litre box and store the cavalry and infantry that way.

Next up for me is a conversion of the French Line Artillery to Bavarians with a head swap from the HAT Bavarian pack.

I wish more people actually produced command packs - the limitation with French Line Infantry at the moment is command figures.

Mike

[nathan]

Nice looking cavalry - I have just started work on the French Dragoons.

Thanks.  I'm planning on finishing a unit of artillery and four of infantry for my British before moving on to the French.  I'll probably end up getting the ACTA French Dragoons then.  ACTA are on the small side for 54mm, but the wide availability and price will probably keep me coming back.  I need to go check at the post office if my Armies in Plastic stuff has arrived.  If they blow me away once I see them in person, that may disrupt my ACTA purchasing plan.  

I attach the rider to the horses and then put magnetic strip on the bases of the figures (I am basing my cavalry on 80mm x 40mm - which gives me 8 cavalry in a unit for the Neil Thomas rules we are using).    I then put steel sheet on the inside of a Really Useful 9-litre box and store the cavalry and infantry that way.

I just did some tests and... my cheap ebay washers are completely non-ferrous.  Not even rare earth magnets stick to them.  Oops.  I had always thought that when the time came for movement trays that I'd put down some adhesive magnetic sheet as an added bonus.  Oh well.  I'll just have to go with the craft foam socket method instead.  Alternatively I could put a strong rare earth magnet into the hole of each washer that's on the underside of the figures.  There's a store a few blocks from me that sells them for cabinetry purposes.

Next up for me is a conversion of the French Line Artillery to Bavarians with a head swap from the HAT Bavarian pack.

I was thinking of turning some infantry into Dragons a pied at some point.  Hopefully some head swaps, adding sabres and paint will be sufficient.  Doing 54mm is not like 28mm where someone somewhere likely makes anything you could want.  I'm going to be extra flexible when it comes to paint conversions and the like.

I wish more people actually produced command packs - the limitation with French Line Infantry at the moment is command figures.

Yeah.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do for command stuff yet.  I want at least a few flags on the table, they're definitely part of the fun.  Officers and characters too.  I'll probably end up building my own out of parts places like Helmet sell.

If I am going to or likely to use the figures in Skirmish game,s ie one to one, I keep horse and rider separate but if for Battle games I fix them on permanently (before priming and painting).

I plan on doing a lot with my figures.  Some 1:1 skirmish games with things like Songs of Drums & Shakos or Sharpe Practice all the way up to 1 base = 1 brigade grand tactical type stuff.  I painted my riders separately and have been contemplating gluing them on, but I think I'll keep them separate.  It also drastically reduces the height of the figures for transport if I keep them separate.  While I'll be using them for some home games, I also have a monthly miniature and board game club I'll be taking them to.

seed trays in for individual foot figures and artillery etc (cutting the tray modules to fit)

Seed trays!  What a cool idea.  It's -25C or so here right now so I'm not sure how much gardening stuff will be readily available, but I'll take a look the next time I'm out.

The rules we use, Black Powder, for battles do not require removal of casualties in play, only whole units when destroyed, so the game looks good for longer.

For the larger scope games I'm definitely going to forgo casualty removal.

[Fighting15s]

Nice work, Nathan. I hope to finish my own dragoons soon - six more to go with the initial two trial figures.

I don't mind the slender ACTA figures. In fact, for me, figures such as Italeri are too chunky, as is what turns out to be a Supreme British drummer I picked up at the Plastic Soldier Show. The Supreme figure is probably my least favourite of all my initial samples.

But, and here's the big but, one point of this project was not to worry myself about the differences in size of the figures, nor about the supposedly useless poses in some boxes. I am approaching 54mm very much with the mindset that the figures are toys - and cheap toys, at that.

[nathan]

I definitely need to learn to relax about it.  I guess I just spent too long doing 28mm historicals and worrying about compatibility and whatnot.

I got my Armies in Plastic stuff today.  They are way, way more chunky and cartoony than ACTA.  My initial impressions on opening the package was very, very positive though.  They're so fun looking.  They look like they'll be perfect for my block painting, wash, blackline approach.  Compared to them, the ACTA figures look a lot more like historical modelling figures while the AiP stuff are definitely toy soldiers first and foremost.  So chunky!

[nathan]

I finished up the test figure for my Armies in Plastic Royal Horse Artillery.

I really like how they paint up.  It was a very pleasant experience with big wide areas to paint and deep detail where one area meets another, but the figure is not covered in extra folds and whatnot.  They're definitely toy soldiers.  I ordered some of their British infantry as well.





I'm being unconventional in my basing and putting anyone on foot on 24mm washers.  Whether I make sabot bases or just play with individually mounted figures, I'm pretty sure I can make that work.  I had to snip away the moulded on base to make it fit on the washer, but it works even for the super wide poses.  I also figured out why my washers don't stick to magnets.  Apparently stainless steel becomes a non-magnetic alloy when you add 8-10% nickel.  So even though it's mostly iron, magnets don't stick to it when it has that much nickel in it.

The cannon is amazing, but I'm making myself wait to paint it until after the crew are done.

EDIT:  Here's a comparison shot with the ACTA Zulu Wars British Infantry I painted up earlier.  I put a card protector under his base to make their feet level.  The AiP is significantly larger in terms of bulk and height, but the ACTA stuff is more realistically proportioned.

[Mike Blake]

Very nicely done!

[von Lucky]

Lovely stuff.

[nathan]

Thanks!  I just got back from a job site where I had to work up inside a false ceiling with decades worth of dust and whatnot and I'm not sure I'm up for painting tonight.  I was hoping to finish the other four, but I'll probably get to it tomorrow instead.  I'm trying to average a painted miniature per day for 2015, but 54mm is making that rough!  These AiP figures are definitely faster to paint than the ACTA ones though-- just because they have less detail and more flat open areas to block paint.

Lately I've been rethinking going with grand tactical games where a unit is a brigade and thinking I may want to dial it back a bit for 54mm.  Larger figures, smaller actions  I've been reading Henry Hyde's The Wargaming Compendium and his small section on "bathtubbing" really spoke to me.  I've had terrible, terrible experiences when I've tried games where battalions are a unit and you need to turn them into squares and whatever.  Like 4-6 hour games where maybe half the distance between the two forces is covered but nothing but some artillery fire actually happens and then everything gets packed up.  Since I'll be supplying both sides and figuring out the rules, I guess it's time I started looking at a wider variety of rules options.

[von Lucky]

My 40mm will be skirmish to begin with (which can be scaled up eventually).

[black hat miniatures]

Nice work on the figures.

We are using Neil Thomas's Napoleonic Rules which, in the basic form, use 8 units a side and it is an abstraction of an army level battle.  The 8 units a side provides a very achievable target - though we will eventually move up to 12 or so units in a game.

For English Civil War I am looking at Skirmish initially and then using File Leader which doesn't require too many figures.

Mike

[Mike Blake]

We (Skirmish Wargame Group) settled on Black Powder after trying various other sets. We just reduce the number of figures in a unit in each of the three size categories so the footprint on the table is about the same as it is for 28mm units, then you do not need to adjust ranges.
 
The rules are simple enough, but some players have trouble getting their heads round not being omnipotent and not being able to do everything they want to with every unit every game turn! But we love this aspect of the rules and the surprises, opportunities and challenges it presents during a game.
 
Mike B