I was in that state of despair known to all fervent wargamers: I was interested in lots of periods and ambitious to game in them; there were tons of figures for every period I could dream of (with the possible exception of the First Burma War--but I'm sure that Wargames Foundry already has them on the drawing table); I was a grownup with a much bigger allowance than ever before--but--and this was a major but--when those great little packages rolled in, and kept rolling in, I began to feel increasingly like the Sorcerer's Apprentice. In marched more and more brooms, in came more and more buckets, more and more water, and I was drowning--not in H20, but in lead!
It had all begun with one of wargaming's perennial discussions: "How big should my units be and, therefore, how big should my armies be'?" On the one hand, there was economy, painting time, articulation on the gaming table. On the other hand there was the feeling that 4 men and a flag would hardly give the fullblooded effect of the mass battalions of the Imperial Guard. And so I spent lots of time with a pad, pencil, and everybody's tables of organization, reusing math skills I had definitely lost many years ago.
You all know how this goes. "Let's see now, an infantry company in a battalion of a regiment of the army of Ferdinand VII had, on an average, 37 men. Each battalion had 6 companies so that makes ... uh ... over 200. Now, each regiment had 3 battalions, so that means 600 men for a regiment. There were at least 2 regiments in a brigade, 3 brigades in a division ... and, if I want any historical authenticity, I have to have at least 6 divisions and, if I have 6 divisions on one side, that means I have to have about the same on the other side and that means .... if I scale down each company ... 7,258 infantry. Now let's think about cavalry."
Out came those catalogues we all pour over. Out came the check book, the plastic. In came the figures, the figures, the figures. And there, as well, came what I call la malaise du p1omb ("leaden distress"). 7,258 infantry meant 7,258 figures to file the flash off (cursing' in particular, those best-left-unnamed companies who do not remove the little mound of tin from the undersides of the bottoms of their figures) ' glue together (when necessary), make flags and lances and pennons-for, prime, and then, GULP! paint.
It's not that I mind painting. In fact, there are days when it's a pleasure--especially those days when I'm finished and I can see an entire unit, colors waving, based with flock, lacquered, standing ready for action. It's just that slapping the paint on 7,258 figures--infantry figures--for one army--and then to know that I'll have to do it all over again for another army--and never mind the cavalry, artillery (including limber and team for every gun--I'm also a perfectionist), wagons, elephants, vivandieres, dhoolie-lifters, bhistis, journalists, and surrogate mothers--reminds me of those old films of people stranded in the desert. Their one water bag empty, their clothes in rags, their faces covered in sand, they crawl over that line of rocky red hills which promises salvation--only to find that there is another desert just beyond and another line of rocky red hills on the far side of that.
And then one day I was browsing through the latest issue of Practical Wargamer (we will now all snap to attention, while the bugler plays "Last Post" for the demise of a great magazine) when I happened upon an article by Charles Stewart Grant about the Monmouth Rebellion. It had a couple of really good photographs of the action and, looking closely at them, I noticed something odd. How many men were there in those infantry units? Magnifying glass in hand, I began to count: 2,4,6,8,10,12--maybe--at most--maybe--16--and throw in an officer or two, a drummer, an ensign or two with the colors, and a mounted officer. So small! And yet, moving forward on that bright green tabletop, they looked just fine.
For me, it was like the moment when Mr. Watson heard A. Graham Bell shout "Mrwapsumcumereiwanchu!" on the other end of that line. Revelation! I would cut down unit size. I would cut down army size. I would go for look, not perfect scale. I would go for not absolute authenticity.
I began with Grant's units as a model. A 25mm infantry batallion would be a dozen footsoldiers, plus drummer, sergeant (if available), officer on foot, ensigns with colors, and mounted officer. As a test, I painted up a late 17th century infantry unit (the Scots Guards)--and did it in about half the time it usually took for such a task. I tried it again. And again. Then I tried it on 15mm figures, with a slightly larger unit--16 infantry plus command, 8 cavalry plus command, 2 guns for a company/battery (yes, I know, this is undoubtedly really out of proportion, but I have Hal's authority here). To date, I've just about polished off an American Revolution in the South project (7 or 8 16-man 15mm infantry units, two 8-man cavalry units, a couple of guns per side) plus the British/Canadian side of a War of 1812 game (6 infantry units, one cavalry unit, four guns and a rocket detachment) in the time it used to take me to paint just one army.
Along with the sense of accomplishment at getting so much painted so fast, this scaling down has also brought back my ambition. I really can wargame in a number of periods without spending my declining years peering through stronger and stronger magnifying glasses, all the while completing I era (at most) per year, with no time left over for actual gaming.
"But," my old it's-got-to-be-scaled-and-accurateI self cries out, "where's that authenticity you used to worry about?"
To which my new, I'm-going-for-the-general-feel-and-appearance self replies: "Well, no, it's not 100% accurate, I'll admit, but it's really exciting to see so many finished units--smaller, yes, but bright-colored and complete--and ready-to-play-with. " To which this new, cool self might add, "Besides, what really got us started in all of this was the illustrations in Little Wars and Charge! and The War Game. You've always loved the look of the thing over being able to say with confidence that "My unit numbers are even more accurate and detailed than George Nafziger's!" My old self can only nod at this and pass the Howard's Hue "British Red" as we polish off another brigade and put them on the table for the real purpose of this: having fun with toys.
Back to MWAN #106 Table of Contents
Back to MWAN List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com