My health appears to continue to improve, for which I am grateful, and I hope to get back to previous levels of activity on the wargaming front. However...
...my eyesight, though quite a lot better, is still not really up to figure-painting quality, so for a while my priorities should be things I can actually manage.
First off, I shall get myself better organised - for years my wargame scenery boxes have been in a big cupboard upstairs, so carrying the box with ALL the hills and the box with MOST OF the houses downstairs (and then back up again once the game is done) has become a ritual. It feels kind of worthy, since it is hard work, and it may even be useful exercise, but it seems to me that my Preston Grannie would have identified this sort of activity as daft. For a start, and most seriously, it is a glaring example of a Lazy Man's Load, which is wasteful and sinful for all sorts of reasons. Preston Grannie came from a background where a working man might spend his days carrying bricks up a ladder, one at a time. He could also carry a large hod, bearing many such bricks, which might seem quicker, but he might hurt himself or - more seriously - he might hurt someone else; also, his boss paid him to carry bricks in an approved manner, and to exceed that - especially if the boss made money out of it - was wicked. My Grannie would have pointed out that, since I don't need anything like all my hills and houses around to construct a battlefield, it would be sensible to remove the pieces I needed for a particular project from the box, and take just those downstairs.
Even better, I could organise myself so that the big boxes were stored downstairs (which requires swapping some boxes around, which is in itself worthwhile and may even encourage me to chuck some stuff out, for goodness sake). So that is already proceeding as a background project - it will take me a while to get used to this, but I see it as a positive step. These boxes do not get lighter as the years pass.
Next thing to think about is the basing of my ECW armies - yes - I, too, shudder at the sound of these words, but I shall at least think about it. Here is a little local wargaming history.
I started work on my ECW project around 2012, and the original plan was to base the units so they would work with a number of rulesets, especially Victory without Quarter, which seemed very promising. After much thought and fiddling about, I decided to use 60mm square as my main base size (the figures are 20mm). An infantry unit would comprise 3 such bases - one had pikes and colours - 8 figures in two ranks; the other two each had muskets (including 1 officer or drummer) - 6 figures in two ranks. The cavalry units had 4 stands, each with a single rank of 3 mounted figures. Then there were all sorts of specs for generals, guns - all that. Looked pretty good, in fact, just like the drawings out of the VwQ rules. So I got cracking with building up armies using this system.
I soon decided that VwQ was not what I was looking for - in particular there was an activation system which (a) used scabby playing cards and (b) didn't work very well. So - one time among many - I started again with a home-brewed game of my own, converted from C&C. That worked much better, but it pushed me back towards using hexes - the only snag being that the hex side of my table was adorned with hexes which measured 7 inches across the flats, which is pretty close to 180mm. Which all means that you could deploy one of my infantry units in line, 3 bases of 60 x 60mm, but there was no space between them and an adjacent unit, and certainly no room for any scenery. So I stuck with my basing system, and wished that I had used 50mm squares for the next 12 years or so. My experience encouraged me to do rather better for my WSS armies, for which the standard bases have been 50mm wide from the beginning.
What I've done in the ECW, in fact, is de-emphasise formations - an infantry unit with 2 bases of musketeers in front and the pike base behind is regarded as being in whatever formation the sergeants wish, so that works nicely, until some well-intentioned soul complains that they are not properly in line. Normally, of course, the correct response is to smile pityingly, but it's true, and it does hurt a little - also, I can develop cramp in my upper lip after a few years. So - quietly, and inwardly - I have thought now and then of what I could do without breaking either the bank or my heart.
* I could live with it - I've managed thus far.
* I could rebase my ECW armies using 50mm squares. Points in favour? - well, not much really, but the bases are not flocked, and as far as I can remember just about all the soldiers are glued to their bases with white PVA. With luck, an overnight soak in warm water should loosen them pretty cleanly, then it's just a question of tidying them up and scraping off any surplus - Hmm - that's possible, I guess, but it doesn't feel good as I think about it.
* There are compromise versions of this, too - just switching the muskets to 50 x 50 would work - a unit in battalia (or whatever it's called) would then be 160mm wide, which would be OK. Rebasing all infantry on 50 x 50 would be even better, but the pikes probably wouldn't fit the smaller bases. Cavalry usually work with 2 bases behind 2 bases - i.e. in line - so I could leave those alone.
All a bit tricky. I even thought about mad stuff like sawing the edges off the 60 x 60 bases without removing the figures, but we all know how that would work out.
So - what am I going to do?
Well, probably nothing at the moment, but at least I know what the possibilities might be, and I have a clearer idea what it is I'm not doing yet. That's OK - I am not short of quiet time, so I could work at this slowly (whatever it is), and I'm not scared - I've been miserable before. I shall see how this new clarity develops as I let it simmer. I would feel even better if I wasn't sure I've been through exactly this same process a year or so ago, and probably came up with the same answers.
A visitor to my house recently made the mistake of asking to look inside the Napoleonic Cupboard, and was obviously (though politely) shaken by the experience. "But it must have taken ages...".
I said to him what I always say: "That's what hobbies are for, I think; I'm sure I've neglected something else along the way to free up the time, but I'm not sure what it was."
That is probably me trying to reassure myself, I think. Anyway warm water and glue, a load of bases, a can of the house pea-soup paint and sheets and sheets of self-adhesive magnetic sheet from Trevor. I could do that. The thing to do is probably try a few units, see if I survive, see how it goes. In light of that, I could abandon, or I could revise my estimates as necessary. The worst that could happen is that I end up with a few units the right size.
You've not been doing nothing, you've been planning. Everyone knows that proper planning prevents p*ss poor performance.
ReplyDeleteQuite right too - I am swelling with pride.
DeleteOnly right to take your time with this. Yes, agree with Rob, planning is important and seldom a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim - the tricky bit now is just to remember what I was doing and how far I'd got. All under control.
DeleteNice and slowly does it unless it would be easier to change the size of the hexes on the boards?
ReplyDeleteI did think about that in 2013, but that would need a new table, and new scenery, including hills, roads, river sections - heavy…
DeleteSounds like a lot of work. Is the lack of space between units enough of a problem?
ReplyDeleteDon't know really - I'm moving ahead at blistering pace; I have already placed a ruler next to the ECW boxes, and before long I may have a look at a few units, to see if the toys would actually fit on 50 x 50 bases. At that point I am in some danger of having a fact to work with.
DeleteA real prevaricator (like me) can always identify the need for more facts before taking the plunge on deciding when a decision to act might need to be made.
DeleteI can see how useful that is.
DeleteIn my IT days, I had a team of senior system designers who had been known to spend a week calculating reasons not to proceed with a 3-day software repair.
DeleteAh, rebasing, every wargamers dream. I've lost count of how many times my poor Napoleonics have been rebased, and I'm afraid for some I did just cut down the existing bases with the figures in situ.
ReplyDeleteWrt the Lazy Man's Load, I have an empty box I put the buildings etc I need for a game into before taking them downstairs. It generally works well until I forget something.
The Empty Box trick is a good one. What I should really do is print off a few blank terrain charts, scribble on them with pencils and then shift only what's necessary into the war zone once the map exists. Having everything available and building a battlefield on the fly is quite good fun but unimpressive - Grannie would have disapproved, though no-one might have noticed, come to think of it. A more serious obstacle these days is I can't remember what terrain is available until I see it - maybe having the big boxes nearer the site would be a useful thing to do anyway.
DeleteI feel the 150mm formations on 180mm flat to flat hexes in your WSS set up lead to a very good overall effect in the photos of a clear line of battle articulated into distinct units. Have you considered going to 45+60+45 to get 150mm overall with a hefty central pike block and then seeing whether that and 4x60x60 cavalry gives a good ECW look? If standardisation still exerted its undoubted fascination you could enlarge 45mm bases to 50mm by gluing on a 2.5mm frame when you rebased the pike and cavalry to 50x50.
ReplyDelete45+60+45, as it happens, are the depths of the 50mm wide bases on my WSS infantry - the centre (command) block is 60mm deep to allow room for a mounted colonel and a minidice frame. When this was designed you could hear the electricity humming while I was thinking - these 3 base units are 150mm wide in line or 150mm long in column. I am still impressed by this, though my conceit has softened a little in the light of never - not even once - having deployed a unit into column. But I could... I should be nominated for the cleverest useless wargaming device award for 2019.
DeleteThe Higgins ECW musketeer figures have large (though elegant) bases, and a 2 x 3 block would not fit on a 45x45 MDF base, and may be a bit cramped on a 50x50. No-one said this was easy.
All that Preston logistics gives one a headache.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the lovely piccies for relief (and delight).
Best wishes, James
Yeah - you're right - sorry about that. For what it's worth, further measuring and pondering confirm that the amount of effort required to rebase my ECW collection would far outweigh the perceived benefit, so those who complain about my lack of straight lines had better get used to it.
DeleteWish you luck in whatever you decide Tony, I can see that the 150mm frontage in a 180 hex would work much better. This is the big issue with hex terrain isn't it? the need to fit a unit of troops in plus some sort of representative terrain. I'm resorting to single bass units of pike and shot with markers for formation and losses etc. I'm going to have to use 6mm scale buildings to represent villages etc, might look silly but no other option, we shall see when they arrive. Btw, I'm going with ramekin ECW now, been studying them and really like them :)
ReplyDeleteRebasing is horrible and messy but often worth the effort in my experience, even worse where flock or static grass is involved so I think you will be OK;
Best regards
Lee.
Hi Lee - initial assessment is that rebasing everything to optimum size would be a lot of work - so the first thing I'll do about it is have a long think.
DeleteJust a thought, but it would seem the units need not necessarily be in the hexes to get the benefit of the grid, but rather could just align with that grid consistently - eg the pike block sits astride the edge of a hex, with the musket wings projecting into neighbouring hexes. The ramifications for other rules would be manifold and quite likely unpalatable, but the visual effect might be good.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's possible - snags include that ranges and move distances and the layout of scenery systems and EVERYTHING is tied into the grid. I have in the past looked at hybrid systems (such as Der Kriegspieler) which had units occupying several hexes, which seemed to sort of work, but I haven't really thought through the advantages and implications.
Delete