Starting A New Project: Part I: Or Am I Really This Compulsive? (MWAN 127)
One of the most striking things which seems to characterize my collecting habits is the ongoing nature of many of my projects. While projects like the Alamo reached a very definite conclusion, many others seem to have a life of their own. While that last remark may seem too familiar to some readers, the reality is that many projects seem to grow, change shape, and have a life span rivaling that of some redwood trees. But that story really follows some important considerations which need to be made when a gamer begins to consider starting a new period.
SO MANY CHOICES
The wargamer who decides to take on a new period in history is faced with a very broad range of choices. Not only does the actual selection of a period require some thought but the player has to select the level the collection will reflect. Will the collection be smallscaled, designed to play skirmish level combats? Or will it be something far more grand in scope? Will It be built with an eye to historical organizations or purchased and built as opportunity presents itself'?
Generally, my personal history with project building is to look to build armies capable of fighting large battles rather than smaller skirmishes. While I do have skirmish type forces, my collecting tends toward the "big" side - the really "big" side. And what that means is that in order to do a collection "right" a lot of pre-collecting work and thought needs to be done.
The first thing that needs to be thought about is what you want the collection to do? Should it be generic to a period to enable the play of a variety of scenarios with a little fudging of specific troops or specific to some event? Is it designed to reflect one's own understanding of a period or that of a rules writer? If the latter, are the rules you choose going to be widely accepted by other garners who will have their own collections to share or will you need to think about buying both sides in the struggle you intend to model? Or will you do what a few of us eventually do when nothing in the universe of rules systems works - write our own.
Some of those decisions are going to be driven by the amount of available cash to pay for the new toys. Metal figures are expensive with some fantasy range infantry figures going for $3.00 apiece with specific personality types costing three times as much. Many folks with modest budgets have done terrific projects building armies in plastic, where figures can cost as little as ten cents apiece. In addition to this, there are other costs which initially are hidden but sometimes can impact dramatically on one's gaming budget. The first reflects the cost of reference materials while the second reflects the cost of terrain, rules and accessories which can be quite considerable. And if your painting skills are weak and you consider using an outside painter, these costs can match the rest of the project costs in their entirety.
When the SYW collection was first considered, my best friend and I looked to do something rather modest. We liked Tod Kershner's rule set, Warfare in the Age of Reason, and thought that we'd like to collect a small force of some twelve or so units per side with the possibility of modest expansion. We examined a lot of possible figure selections and kept coming back to a basic issue: in 25-28 mm scale these were very expensive. As indicated before, we did have a cost effective choice available and selected Hap Jordan's Battalion Feuer range. We also chose to only do Austria and Prussia for the period in an effort to set limits to a project that, when tried in 15mm, had gotten out of control.
While I had done a considerable amount of research earlier on for the period and had collected several thousand fifteen millimeter figures, in fact, much of what I had learned was forgotten and some of my reference tools had been passed on to others. What I really needed was a "bible" that would, at least provide some reference base for my research. Fortunately, that was at hand in the form of Fred and Lillian Funcken's two volume set on the Lace Wars. It has the answers to most of my questions laid out in a very easy to follow series of pictures. Supplemented by the Mollo book on the Seven Year's War, a strong research base had been laid for the project.
Many rules sets gave some insight into period organizations and a few had useful bibliographies. These could be used straight away since the inter-library loan service in the area is exemplary. With access to the Stony Brook University Library as well there were few questions that could not be answered. And, of course, there's the ever present Internet. Often when there seems to be a brick wall staring my research efforts in the face, one of the folks in a period discussion group will ride to the rescue. And occasionally I do copy or clip relevant articles and put them into a folder. This is a trick picked up from Hal in his discussions of one of his many project planning sessions. Combining all these sources provides a rich informational tapestry upon which to construct toy armies for a period.
The choice of figures and scale really limited what has always been the next and possibly most entertaining part of the army building process with the exception of actually playing with the finished product. This of course is the construction of my units list - size, composition, and possible accessories - which set the stage for the actual purchases that will be made. More than a simple convention "git list" of the items I want to "git" for the collection, this is a plan. What will I buy? From what manufacturers? In what order? Are there less expensive alternatives to my initial plan? What are the most esthetically pleasing figures around for the period? Obviously this would not occur with my 20mm collection for one simple reason: no one else in the hobby was producing metal figures for this period in this scale.
However, one major decision needed to be made. My best friend and I were both investing some money in the project and we needed to decide just how far we'd go with our building of an "army." The Warfare in the Age of Reason rule set did provide some guidance to get us started and initially we planned to do a small collection. It was something I could quickly paint, something that would not cost a huge amount of money, and we would be able to play a small battle on the 5'X6' table Mark had decided to leave up in what was our gaming room. Unfortunately, none of the other garners with whom we regularly play have any interest in the period and we would do this venture by ourselves.
The rule set drove our purchases. One regiment each of hussars, dragoons and cuirassiers, nine battalions of Prussian infantry and an equivalent value of Austrians. One of the problems which immediately arose was that a substantial part of the Austrian infantry force had to be Croat irregulars. While useful in a forest or defending a wall, the rules gave them almost no chance at all in the open, particularly since the Prussians would have all formed infantry with a considerable percentage of grenadiers. In fact, unless the Austrians were given some sort of defensive position, the superior Prussian drill made it almost impossible for the Austrians to he victorious in the oven field.
The initial purchase rapidly escalated to a doubling of the force each side was capable of fielding. Hap was able to quickly supply figures and I do paint quickly. In addition, it was possible to trade for unpainted lead as well as for some 20 mm WWII figures. Eventually, there were some 32 battalions and 10 regiments of cavalry for the Prussians and a similar sized force available for the Prussians. However, the project seemed to lack focus which is when I began looking around for an objective as specific as that of the Alamo.
That's where the first of three project problems arose. The initial one was an abject lack of expertise on my part for the period. Whereas, I've read almost everything available in English on the Alamo, have read at least 1,000 books on WWII, and hundreds of books on the AWI and ACW. That simply was not the case with the Seven Years War. I needed to do some research to support my love of a period which has always seemed to me, at least, to be representative of the most "classic" period of playing with toy soldiers.
Professor Duffy's books on the armies of Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa were first stops. The initial decision to not collect the French or British in this scale was a very large help. Surprisingly, the internet was only of moderate help - very few sites were found which had the supporting data I wanted although there were some interesting `reads" related to the period. Magweb was my next stop and there were some excellent supporting articles in the Journal of the Seven Years War Association. Unfortunately, the decision to make space by disposing of large numbers of gaming magazines early last year definitely reduced the resources on hand and there are simply not that many texts in English that were helpful in pinning down a focus for this project.
That's when a visit into the attic to look for some paper products needed by my long-suffering, hobby-widow of a wife produced the most beneficial of results. I noticed the corner of a light blue box sticking out from under a pile of games and hobby materials. It was an almost mint copy of a game called Kolin and, serendipitously, seemed to respond to the need for a focus. The game was rescued from the attic-exile to which it had been sentenced and my project was given new life and focus.
The game contained a set up map with terrain marked reasonably well and, most importantly, contained a usable set of notes for the OOB for both sides. Additionally, Osprey released a book titled, Kolin. It was completely coincidental and completely supportive of the project. The project was on its way - well sort of, because that is when American foreign policy dealt my project an unexpected delay.
Hap Jordan had sold the rights as well as the molds to the line to Chris Von Fahnestock of Outland Games. Chris had sold me about a hundred cavalry figures, including some generic generals he had commissioned, two years ago at Historicon. I had contacted him last year wanting to pick up a couple of hundred infantry for both sides only to find out that he had been called up to military service but that he would send my figures along with a friend. I asked whether he would have additional figures available - I was still wrestling with making a final decision about where the project would go and hoped to fill in missing figures from his inventory. Unfortunately, what was available were just a very few packs and certainly not worth buying since almost every unit I would like to build at that point would have been incomplete. A smaller but related problem remained in that Chris' service obligations have shortcircuited whatever plans were afoot to create a matching line of Russians. However, since I do not currently plan to do anything additional until the Kolin project is complete, this remains less problematic.
One last problem remains concerning the Austrian ally, Saxony, at the field of Kolin. There really is no alternative to using the Prussian infantry, dragoons and kuirassiers painted appropriately. Of course, figuring out where to obtain appropriate flags for the Saxons remains, but I am certain that something will emerge in that area. Perhaps one of the current flag designers can be prevailed upon to shrink some 25 mm scale flags on their color copier.
One of the decision that needed to be made with this scale had to do with adapting the basing and ranges from Warfare in the Age of Reason to 20 mm scale. The solution was to use half inch bass wood strips for depth, with a half inch frontage for each infantry casting. Cavalry basing was also done as a compromise between 15mm and 25mm basing with each figure using a half inch frontage on a one and a half inch depth. Artillery was not based but left loose with the gunners mounted on small washers for added stability.
When Hal Thinglum decided to sell his remaining figures he had collected to game in this scale, it was possible to field the remaining Prussians, Austrians and Saxons. Now it is just a matter of time at the painting table to get the project totally finished. When the unfinished lead is completed, it will be possible to play any battle of the period or to experiment with double-sized units to represent my battalions and squadrons.
And now back to the painting table to look at working on the next group of figures waiting to be added to the next project. Anyone for a battalion of Mordor Orcs?
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© Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum
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