Objections and Answers To 54 or not 54? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous objections, or to take up answers against a sea of negativity, and by opposing, end them. OBJECTION: 54mm figures are just too big! All you can fight with them is skirmishies! ANSWER: I don't DO skirmishes (or windows). I just cut the movement and firing distances down far below the "correct" proportional scale, like Wells, Featherstone before us. While it helps to have more table space, significant actions can take place with a little planning. I had two thirds of Antietam on the tables once! OBJECTION: 54mm plastics only represent very limited subjects, mostly ACW, WWII, and the 54mm metals are too expensive to use in raising large bodies of troops. ANSWER: Not anymore. In the last ten years, many new subjects have been add d in plastic. Metals are great, but I have over 10,000 figures, and only use a few metal (ACW) generals and one metal unit, the CSA Louisiana Tigers. But everyone kno, ~s they are crazy--it must be the high lead content! I OBJECTION: 54mm WWII vehicles are not historically correct, many are made anachronistically in post-war or fantastical designs. ANSWER: Historical vehicles are available now. Several companies are filling in t e basic stuff you need, with tanks, halftracks, trucks, self-propelled guns, and moreill use tiny airplanes however, with the rationale that they're high up, so they look small! So sue me. OBJECTION: The storage space required is tremendous. ANSWER: Not for one or two periods. Of course, any major collection takes up sp~sce. Mine lives in a New York City apartment! OBJECTION: Transportation is difficult due to greater bulk.. ANSWER: With a standard two wheeled luggage cart and bungee cords, you can lug anything! A number of 54mm events are routinely run at every HMGS convention, for example, some if which are quite elaborate.. OBJECTION: It would be inefficient for me to start up in a different scale. This would require matching terrain, vehicles, etc. ANSWER: I couldn't agree more, that's why I ONLY collect in 54mm. But I'm happy to play with other people's toys in any scale. I seem to be the only person in the world who feels this way however, since everyone else I know in the hobby has a mishmash of different white metal scales. Frankly, I can't believe how the manufacturers keep coming out in new "intermediate" scales. Even more amazingly, people actually buy them, often knocking out their chance of ever covering their subjects with enough troops to field both sides at once by "invalidating" what they have so far, since it not compatible with their new purchases. But hey, as the French say: "Chacun a son gout" (Each to his own taste). At a fifty year old with receding eyesight, I can't even SEE some of these tiny scales. I'll visit a 5mm battle and wonder "Are those Franco- Prussian or Viet Cong?" OBJECTION: The Big Scale "feels" more like playing with toy soldiers than doing serious historical gaming simulations. ANSWER: And therein lies their charm. Many 54mm painters specifically use gloss paint for that "real" Toy Soldier look. Standard issue adults may think you are silly, but children of all ages will be even easier to attract. :). Note: Have some good objections to using 54mms of your own? Fee/ free to send them in to celsden@aol.com, and I'll give you my response in this column. You can also send in your short "testimonial" anecdotes about success with 54mm. Peace and good gaming to you all. Women and Children First! A recent lobbying effort on my part to request a set of Victorian civilians from one of the foremost producers of new 54mm plastics figures, had me thinking about how I've used civilians in scenarios, and just how many of this type of figure I've accumulated over the years. Not counting formed militia units, which usually appear as part of a side's Order of Battle at the start of a game, I guess I've used or considered using them in many different ways so far. Ranging from the least to the most active in a battle, we have: 1) As dioramic Window Dressing with no effect on the battle (My own examples: old Widow Henry trapped in bed at Bull Run, ACW gals waving to soldiers from building balconies, farmers in their fields, non-combat poses in camp or hospital. 2) As Movement Obstacles blocking roads through town until dispersed (haven't tried this yet, but I've got a nice Dulcop horse drawn fire engine which would be perfect! 3) As Victory Objectives to be captured or rescued. It can be even more interesting when they make random movement each turn, or are hidden at start and have to be found. (Court Figures are worth Victory Points always in my Medieval rules, American Indians at my Cold Wars 2002 Vikings vs Indians game "Swords Against the Skraelings," as Australian townspeople in a hypothetical Japanese WWII invasion). 4) In or out of uniform as actually effective Healers/Medical Teams (Medieval healers can actually make die rolls to return wounded figures to battle). 5) As Rioting Mobs (haven't done this one yet, but a new film probably out when you read this will depict the Draft Riots in 1860s New York City, and a projected Brooklyn 1900 campaign following revelations of Kaiser Bill's scenario for an invasion can give us ideas--and no, the campaign was not THIS Brooklynite's idea). 6) As Resistance Fighters to be contacted or captured and interrogated for intelligence. Or they might be civilians who turn randomly into active partisans (ACW Texans in Galveston resisting a Union landing, Greeks resisting WWII Italians in the mountains, and the classic French resisting the WWII Germans). 7) As unique and important Adventure Characters in a scenario with role playing elements. Such figures can act as plot driving spies, leaders, informants, recruiters (oh yeah, baby) or perform other special functions for role playing fun to drive the game into its next phase (In'Terry and the Pirates'WWII China, the Red Courtesan aka The Dragon Lady could do ALL of these things, and do them WELL: "Ah. Greetings, YellowHair. How surprised you must be to see this humble self once again ... and in such intimate circumstances! You have me at a momentary disadvantage. But I trust you realize that my momentary lack of garments will not deter my bandit forces from blocking your convoy's escape route down the road. Unless you choose to agree to certain ... requests). After moving a couple of years ago, one of the last containers I rediscovered, stuffed into a much larger unmarked box, was my "Bag O'Women," which includes most of the 54mm female figures from the 18th and 19th centuries. These include mostly Early Pioneers (made by Barzo), a Civil War Era cantiniere (Replicants), Old West figures (Atlantic, Auburn, Marx) and some farm women (Auburn, Marx, Starlux, and others). Miscellaneous female figures include some such as the Napoleonic Cannoneer from that old Sophia Loren movie (Reamsa). These I keep together for scenarios requiring them. Kept in separate places along with their menfolk are Medieval (various Maid Marions by Britain's, Dulcop, Marx etc., Court Figures (Auburn, Reamsa), peasant types, and so forth, North American Indians (Barzo, BMC, Disney's Pocahontas, etc.), Black Africans (with the Zulu Army, of course), Muslims (ironically from various Nativity sets), Chinese (Atlantic's Mao set and Disney's Mulan), European WWII Resistance fighters (Marx Untouchables, including that famous flapper figure representing actress Cloris Leachman--see PFPC magazine No. 15 article. Every One A Character'), plus various Science Fiction types, mostly characters from various media PVC collections, the old Marx Tom Corbett playset, the X-Men and X-Women (Pressman), Star Wars, Japanese anime figures from vending machines in Japan, Britain's Star Guards--Good Grief already! I probably left some folks out. Ch yes, the new fantasy Amazons made in Russia. Oops, sorry ladies, you're one group I really don't want to piss off (or as Bruce Campbell once said in Xena: "is anyone else concerned that we're being chased by a pack of crazed Amazons?"). Who can forget your dynamic severed Orc head pose, not to mention your Queen riding the Dragon (talk about "meaningful scale")? Then there are a few special regular units which have a female figure or two as soldiers. Hmmm ... let's see. There is Molly Pitcher in the ARW Continental State Militia (Shell Bicentennial), the WWII USSR Guards female sniper pose (Starlux) and doubtless one or two others I am forgetting. Looking back at this list, I realize how powerful sisterhood is in 54mm! How have I used civilians, including women and the occasional child figure so far in my own games, besides for the examples listed above? As Victory Objectives transformable to Resistance Fighters by the peasant rebels in William Walker's preCivil War filibuster expedition to Nicaragua! If the household women of the hacienda were rolled to be captured and "liberated" by the mercenaries, we just switched a non-fighting female pose for an armed and dangerous one! As Window Dressing in an ECW battle as Lady Twittington waving from the dollhouse window (Barzo bonneted pioneer) As Medieval healers including William Tell's wife (Reamsa) in the Siege of Castle Greystoke As two charismatic Adventure Characters in the British Indian Mutiny, rebel leaders male and female--see a previous issue of MWAN. So far we've been talking about groups of women or mixed civilians. What about their close companions, the animals? I've used them sparingly so far, but have acquired quite a few: Cattle as Victory Objectives in "A Viking Cattle Raid In Ireland" Cows as Victory Objectives in "Swords Against the Skraelings (Cold Wars 2002 again) Dogs as alarm givers in various scenarios I've also envisioned, but not tried out yet, Foraging Scenarios for the ACW ("Where's the Beef') with varying VPs as the animal is more valuable, be it cow, pig, chicken, or duck. This came about when I was inventing different non-standard troop formations such as Dismissed Detail. (This is an excellent way to simulate surprise without using any hidden movement. Just have one side start out Dismissed, and have to move to get back into a combat formation). Cattle or Buffalo of course have the widest animal range , working as Window Dressing, Movement Obstacles, Angry Mobs (stampede!) or Victory Objectives. I suppose in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy game they could also be Resistance Fighters or Adventure Characters! But let's get back to my wish for Victorian Civilians, which currently only appear in metal, or as plaster type Christmas figures in general stores. They could serve in ACW and Colonial games, as well as many others. The most traditional gaming use of women, children, and other civilian figures is as Victory Objectives, to be protected or rescued. In British India, Boxer China, the Frontier or Old West USA, and various other periods and places, they can make scenarios more interesting. In a defensive mode, especially in smaller scale games where every person counts, they can be recruited as informal militia to man the wall! The Victorian Fantasy Adventure games from the old Space 1889 role player to the new G.A.S.L. I.G.H.T. system easily allows for heroines as well as heroes. Women appeared in "The Sand Pebbles" era games run at conventions I've seen as well. And I am reminded of the time I, as Theodore Roosevelt, Wyatt Earp and friends, hunted dinosaurs in "The Lost World" by Howard Whitehouse. So the use of civilians is limited only by your imagination. Hang on to those 54mm civilian figures, paint'em up, and the next thing you know, they'll show up in a game. And why not? Egad. Napoleonic Artillery Corps A number of recent occurrences have oriented me towards Napoleonics, that period which I've never yet set up in 54mm. All I lacked now in figures was enough gun crews to make a creditable showing. Thanks to five (count'em, FIVE) new sets recently appearing, I have now created a new Artillery Corps for both British and French/US 1812. These new sets are: Call To Arms, British Royal Artillery in 4 poses--carrying bucket, with rammer, kneeling with cannonballs and touching off fire-, available in sets of 16 figures with separate cannon set *Armies In Plastic, 4 sets each with 5 poses and gun (2 variant barrels) 1. French Imperial Guard Artillery, (bearskins) officer pointing with map, extending gun trail pole, ramming, with cannonball, with hand extended 2. French Line, officer with telescope, with cannonball, ramming, with trail pole, touching off with match 3. British Royal Artillery, officer with telescope, ramming, with cannonball, with trail pole, touching off with match 4. British Horse Artillery (Tarleton helmet) similar but not identical poses There is also a variant "Kings German Legion," which is the same as the British Royal Artillery in a different shade. I have been asked about variant poses which can be used with the new ones.. Now that I've reboxed, labeled, and recatalogued both old and new figures, I by strange synchronicity find there are now exactly 13 gun crews per side in my collection! By Jove! So for those who are interested in variant 54mm figures, here is what I had put together before the new sets were out. Some were originally meant to be artillery and some not. Marx Mexicans (officer and pole/flag poses) Reamsa Infantry (cannonball and officer poses) Barzo Mike Fink flatboat polers (2 poses) plus Fink and Pipe Smoker as gun captains Classic Toy Soldiers Mexican Artillery (including some riders and that irregular sombrero and machete pose) Barzo Battle of New Orleans Pirates (2 poses in blue and brown, later in light blue) Classic Toy Soldiers Infantry Set Pose (with rammer and slow match in blue, red, and cream) Metals It comes to me as I write this that someone bought me a metal gun and crew that I've never used. Wonder where it is ... probably in "Msc. Artillery." Metals are a good alternative for artillery, it comes to me now, since it only takes a few figures to form a gun crew! And those Napoleonic uniforms really look good in metal. Many plastic pirate poses could also be used. There is a new company now making useful artillery pieces and limbers sold in historical parks in the ARW/1 812/ACW periods in a series called "Historic American Cannons" in white boxes, which is Americana Souvenirs & Gifts in Gettysburg PA (717) 334-6251. What do I mean by "labels" above? I use those round Avery office labels in various colors to mark each gun crew, as I did in my ACW artillery. On those I put them on the bases for instant recognition in light blue (Union) or tan (Confederate) with State and number regimental ID. For the new Napoleonic Corps I'm using red (British) and light blue (non-British) and placing the labels on the BOTTOMS of the figures. One side uses numbers, the other letters. Where I also marked the guns, horse teams, and limbers, in the Napoleonic case I'll be using unmarked guns from my "misc. artillery" box for now. Because of my ammo rules, its necessary to be able to identify each artillery piece! While crews are sometimes interchangeable, its good to know which figures go with which gun as well. For the ACW crew, since side was usually obvious by uniform, I used red for all artillery crew figures so they would not end up in the infantry boxes after clean up. But for Napoleonic, since they are mostly all in blue, I'll use the above mentioned red and blue National colors for identification. Especially since I've seen an Osprey illustration of US 1812 crews wearing actual British uniform jackets in service. Now THAT'S confusing! Hmmm ... will I need to use my ACW restricted recognition rule here? At least I can switch sides if one scenario needs more guns, without compromising historicity! Speaking of Things Napoleonic The first 54mm Napoleonic Russians are just appearing from several dealers. These are made in Russia (so the company name is kept a secret from you and me by the vendors who have them). They come in green or blue (as French?) in shakos. The set offers eight poses: standing firing, kneeling firing, advancing with bayonet, a second advancing with bayonet, officer in bicorne, drummer, fifer, and flag bearer, They'll probably show up to reinforce Wellington in the Peninsula on my table. Not so improbable as it seems--Russian troops once wintered in the Channel Islands (see my Borodino 02 event newsletter, THE GREAT REDOUBT, at jodiecon.org for about a hundred pages of free reading)! Two Napoleonic boardgames suitable for playing out campaigns on maps (and fighting the battles with figures) are just coming out. One is Eagle Games' Napoleon in Europe, the other an upcoming Mark McLaughlin design by GMT. Both should be interesting. The entire 14 cassette Sharpe's Rifles series is now being sold complete by various video houses in a boxed set. So if you never got out of Spain, you can now tour France, Naples, England, and of course Belgium (Waterloo) with the Chosen Men! I'll be appearing again as Kutuzov with my sideburns at Historicon 2002 (July) and JodieCon Borodino 02 (September). Since the theme of Historicon this year is 1812, there will be plenty of Napoleonic Era battles, even including the Battle of New Orleans. This interests me because I just visited the old Chalmette Battlefield itself. If you've managed to miss all these events by the time you are reading this, check out the after action reports on jocliecon.org and hmgs.org. We're Looking For A Few Good Men: April 2003 European Battlefields Tour Interested in joining a small, mainly WWII oriented group of gamers in a moderately priced, privately organized tour group to see sites, play board games with European clubs, go to Britain's largest gaming convention, and drive an actual tank? Check in with Bill Owen at wmowen@aol.com. A 1 week itinerary with another week of add-ons will include such sites as Anzio, the Bulge, Agincourt, Waterloo, Ypres, and Normandy in a special tour bus with tables. This is an unusual opportunity, as it is only the second time in many years that Bill is doing it. Tell Bill that Charley sent ya--and maybe I'll see you on the bus! Back to MWAN #119 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 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