Wargaming the Great Northern War

10mm Figures and Volley and Bayonet
Rules Modifications

by Scott Hansen



The Great Northern War (GNW, 1700-1721) resulted from Denmark, Saxony and Russia forming an alliance against the new king of Sweden, Charles the XII, to take back lost territory, Charles took the initiative knocking Denmark and Russia out of the war in 1700. Ignoring Russia, Charles got bogged down in Poland fighting Saxony allowing Peter the Great to rebuild his army. In 1707, Charles invaded Russia but was stopped at Poltava in 1709. He escaped to Turkey for five years and continued the war until killed during a siege in Norway in 1718.

I have always been interested in the Great Northern War but read little about it until a year ago. I think the period is gaining in popularity with a slight resurgence in wargame articles, figures, board wargames and books. I will cover figures, painting guides, basing, rules, Volley and Bayonet rules modifications, sources for wargame scenarios and books on the period. Addresses of companies follow this article.

Figures

I am a big fan of 6mm figures but I wanted something larger for this period to make it more visible. 15 mm figures were the next choice. Dixon figures are excellent but are too expensive at forty cents each. Editions Brokaw figures carried by Pat Condray are nice value for the money. Roundway and Essex have Great Northern War ranges too.

Being the oddball, I decided to try the 10mm 18th century lace war range by Conflict Miniatures in England. Every type of figure that is needed is carried. Infantry wearing tricorn, mitre, floppy mitre, fur cap, and pokalem hats are offered. Pikeman in tricorn and fur cap are carried too. For cavalry, cuirassiers, lobsters, dragoons in tricorn and pokalem, and cossacks are carried. There are other types of cavalry too. Figures retail for 1.2 pounds per pack and have twenty infantry, ten cavalry or field guns and generals. Army packs retail for twelve pounds and have about 100 infantry, thirty cavalry, and three guns. Figure a pound is worth about $1.50 to $1.60 U.S. but don't forget to add 50% for airmail postage! Even with airmail postage, the figures are quite cheap. Infantry are about ten cents and cavalry are about twenty cents per figure.

The figures are generic in the sense that they are used for any country. Countries did have their own cuff/coat styles, but at this scale, who's going tell the difference except the period expert? The tricorn infantry come in two poses, marching, carrying the rifle over the shoulder and carrying the rifle with two hands in front in an attacking pose. The karpus infantry is available in an advancing pose only. I wish there was a firing pose. The cavalry has two poses: extending an arm holding a sword or carrying the sword over the shoulder. The pikeman carry their attached pikes at a 45 degree angle.

The figures are very good and mostly free of flash. The animation, detail, and proportions are good. Most detail is raised to allow easy painting except on some equipment belts. On some figures, the belts are raised which is good but there is no belt molded on front. Some figures don't have a belt molded on back. The metal is nice and sturdy withstanding heavy abuse. I'm not that worried about breaking pikes. 10 mm figures paint up quickly, taking about twice as long to paint as a 6mm one.

Painting Guides

There are several painting guides readily available for painting your armies. Editions Brokaw carried by Pat Condray has several inexpensive painting guides for all of the countries involved. One focuses on the Swedish and Russian armies. There are also fiag guides.

A great source for Russians are "Peter the Great's Army" published by Osprey. One volume covers infantry, the other volume coves cavalry and artillery. Both volumes feature great color plates.

Basing

I used to base my figures on painted balsa wood not bothering to terrain the base. I think that looks terrible now and am rebasing my entire collection. If you're going spend time and effort on painting good looking figures, you might as well go 100% and have nice looking bases.

I decided to use pre-cut metal bases. Balsa wood is hard to cut straight and breaks easiiy. I know people use stryrene plastic but it doesn't stick to tackle boxes lined with adhesive magnetic tape I use to store my figures. You can buy the tape at a hardware store.

Originally when I was doing the period with a friend (he later backed out), he stated a two rank line would look nice. He then took a 40 by 20 mm base and mounted eight figures on it. We decided a sixteen man infantry unit looked good so we used two bases with the pikeman in the middle for a unit. At first I was skeptical but having seen battles with my figures, a two rank infantry line looks so much better. The two bases can represent a company, battalion or a regiment depending on the size of the battle. Two bases make up a cavalry unit with three figures per base.

Hal was wondering what adhesive to use for gluing figures to metal bases. I use a liberal amount of Elmer's white glue and don't have any problems. After the glue dries, I paint the base green and let it dry. Then, I apply a 50/50 white glue/water solution with a drop of dishwasher soap added. One of my friends states the soap prevents the glue from bulging. I dunk the base in a box filled with Woodland Scenics blended turf and let dry overnight. I then shake off the excess and spray on a final coat of sealer. Flocking bases greatly improves the look of miniatures.

While there are no specific rules specifically written for the Great Northern War, several Seven Year War and Marlburian rule sets do have sections on it. Forgive me if I forget to mention any rules. First, there is "Warfare In the Age of Marlborough" by Pat Condray. I don't plan on using this set but it did work OK when I played it. I feel you need to rewrite and summarize it.

Another old rule set with a Marlburian supplement is "Koenig Kreig" by Barry Gray. I have never tried it but it looks playable. It seems too dependent on figure counting, especially for smaller figures. Next, there is "Warfare in the Age of Reason." Though covering the Seven Years War, it does feature GNW army lists. I have played it several times and enjoy it. It seems too dependent on figure counting for 10 mm games and would need conversion to the sixteen men infantry units I'm using.

More promising rule sets for 10 mm games are "None Shall Pass" by Agema Publications, "Frederick the Great", published by Arofan Gregory, and "Volley and Bayonet" by GDW. I have not tried "None Shall Pass" but it has several unique concepts and there is no casualty removal. To hit a target, roll under the range on a six sided die. Then roll for the effect of the hit. Units can be in three states: normal, confused or routing. There's also an army list book available.

"Frederick the Great" uses DBA variant rules to resolve fire and melee combat. Though primarily for Seven Years War, there is a section on Marlborough but no specific modifications for GNW. However, it should be easy to modify. There are suggestions for Clive of India, American Revolution and the French and Indian War. The author also publishes Napoleonic and Mid 19th Century European Rules. I plan on using those rules for the Riel Rebellion of 1885 in Canada.

My favorite ruleset for the period is "Volley and Bayonet" by GDW. I've modified it for GNW. I know several of you probably put down Volley and Bayonet for looking too simple and being too "boardgamey" but just try it. I've tried it for the Crimean War and it works great. We did the whole battle of Alma in four hours. Complex enough to have "period feel" but simple enough for big games, especially at conventions. I've converted to this ruleset for other 19th century wars I plan to fight like the 1859 Franco-Austrian War, 1864 Prusso-Danish War and the 1866 Austro-Prussian War.

The main complaint about "Volley and Bayonet" is the number of figures required. Volley and Bayonet uses 3" square bases for brigades and 3" by 1.5" bases for regiments.

There are no formations (column, line, square). The rules do combat by bases so the number of figures mounted per base doesn't matter. These base sizes hold several 15 mm figures and even more 6 mm figures. I use reduced size bases without changing other measurements. I've read people using base sizes in centimeters and changing all measurements to centimeters. I feel some people get too hung up on unit frontages and time scales. If troops are based the same way, there shouldn't be any problem. The Poltava 1709 Osprey Campaign Book suggest using a modification of "File Leader" ECW rules by Partizan Press for fighting smaller battles. I think it would work. Partizan Press products are carried by On Military Matters.

Volley and Bayonet rules modifications for the Great Northern War

My friends were eager to game the Great Northern War once I got some figures painted. Being in a time pinch, I decided to modify Volley and Bayonet being familiar with it. We kept playing it adding modifications here and there. What follows is a quick reference chart with clarifications and historical justifications. If you don't agree with something, feel free to change it.

Related Great Northern War Articles

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© Copyright 1996 Hal Thinglum

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