All posts by Dana

I was born in East Orange, raised in Bloomfield, and went to school somewhere around Newark until my parents launched an exodus across NJ. I have been lucky enough to travel abroad. I read, play a couple of musical instruments, like movies, and do what I can to improve a rapidly aging body and mind. I currently work in Texas and live in Florida. I have moved over two dozen times in my life. My tiny armies and navies have followed me on my march across the US. Eventually we hope to end our nomadic existence and settle in one place.
Figures

Figurehead Napoleonic Fleet

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Slightly closer view of one model showing deck detail.
Slightly closer view of one model showing deck detail.

Probably the simplest and most colorful group of vehicles available to the gamer are the warships of the 18th and early 19th century. This period has the romance of faraway places and epic battles that has inspired more than one author. There are multiple rules sets to chose from and several manufacturers of lead miniatures in a variety of scales.

These particular ships are made by Figurehead, a British company. Because of this, American distribution can be spotty but the ships can usually be found. Ships can be purchased individually or as fleet sets. The ship designs are generic though the super large ships would clearly only belong in certain fleets. The scale is 1/2400, pretty small though reasonable and providing a reasonable match for common size hex mats either bridging two hexes or resting in one.

Painting is tricky. The ships include a reasonable amount of detail on the deck including ship’s guns but like most of the Figurehead output, there is not the precision that one associates with a manufacturer like GHQ who offer a similar but more expensive range in 1/1200 scale. The most interesting ships I have seen are produced by Langton Miniatures.

Some popular rules for this period include Close Action, Heart of Oak, and Ship o’ the Line. The beauty of these miniatures is that it is not necessary to own hundreds.

Catalog

Games Workshop Catalog

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There has never been a shortage of advertising material for Games Workshop. Marketing has clearly been a strong point. Even so, these catalog pages look surprisingly nondescript. Already there is a division based on region which certainly makes sense since Americans do not respond well to references to alternate currencies.

By the time this catalog was released, Warhammer and Warhammer 40K were in full swing. Games Workshop had also put out a series of games often incorporating figures including Blood Bowl and The Fury of Dracula. They also followed up with a collaboration with Milton Bradley producing Battle Masters and HeroQuest. If nothing else, all these efforts must have pointed the way towards a reliance on all inclusive boxed sets. I should at some point dig out my old copy of Advanced Space Crusade for a look.

Rules

Down Styphon!

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Pretty obscure musket and pike rules designed to recreate the battles in the novel Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H. Beam Piper. The rule book is pretty slender and even so, contains additional material on uniforms and the like.

For those unfamiliar with the novel, a Pennsylvania state trooper is accidentally transported to a parallel universe where he finds himself leading a pike and shot army in a world where supplies of gunpowder are controlled by a religious order.

The author H. Beam Piper was likely involved in wargaming himself. The battles in the novel are carefully drawn, one based on the Battle of Barnet from the War of the Roses.

The rules use a 1:20 ratio, the sequence of play is fairly standard move-fire-melee with written orders to allow simultaneous movement. Figures are based 3 per base for infantry, 3 to 4 for cavalry. Artillerymen are mounted individually. Troop types are varied especially cavalry. The ratio of musketeers to pikemen is 1 to 2.

The rulebook is slender but the rules are reasonably detailed. Point values for troops are provided as well as some notes on organization. Morale is included and has a WRG feel to it. The rules first published in 1977 make no reference to figure scale so was likely written for 25mm. Two insert pages are included that encapsulate rules and charts. The rules were written by Mike Gilbert, appear to be a labor of love, and were published by Fantasy Games Unlimited, Inc. for whom Mike Gilbert worked as illustrator.

Catalog

Miniature Figurines Catalog

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It may look nondescript but during the 70s, Miniature Figurines could offer a wider range of figures than any other company. These are true 25mm so by today’s standards will look small. Also apparent at this time would such oddities as awkward off balance poses and a tendency for characters not to have any necks. Facial detail was lacking which is very noticeable at this scale. Of course, things improved over time.

Rules

Battlewagon

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A board game suitable for miniatures as I suspect most naval games are. This covers WWI and WWII though detail for early Japanese ships seems weak. Another Task Force Game product.
Battlewagon

A board game Battlewagon is suitable for miniatures as I suspect most naval games are. This covers WWI and WWII though detail for early Japanese ships seems weak. Another Task Force Games product now produced by Amarillo Designs Bureau. I have read that the rules were originally an adaptation of the Star Trek battles rules which in turn were created from the rules for the Avalon Hill game Jutland.

Rules provide involved multi-phase movement. Ship scale is 1 to 1 with each ship provided a chart showing weapons, armor, speed, etc. which is also used to record damage received from hits. Air power is an element noticeably absent from the game though supposedly this was added in an article in Nexus magazine, a publication put out by Task Force Games to promote their products. The games provides an interesting simulation with less involved rules than some but the need for an individual rather complicated chart for each ship suggests that the number of ships involved will never be very large.

Rules

Warhammer 40,000

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Warhammer 40,000

This is not the first Warhammer 40K rulebook nor the last but it is handy. I had played the much older Rogue Trader rulebook at some point. I do have some Orks and a handful of Necron skulking about so this seems a likely candidate for play. Then, I also have some Space Squats and some compatible Russian figures.

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Teleport back to the 1980s when Games Workshop was refining its vision of Warhammer and that is when Rogue Trader made its appearance. With a heavy emphasis on background detail, the rules seem more like Warhammer with an SF veneer, psionics replace magic, squats replace dwarves, and orks are still orcs. There are extensive rules for such familiar things as robots, tyranids and genestealers but there are also oddities like Slann and Jokaero, bouncers and Psychneuin. An interesting book especially compared to what the whole thing has become.

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From the days of Rogue Trader, this pleasant little book was apparently just the first of a million such books providing army lists and scenarios for the futuristic Warhammer world.

Rules

Striker II

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Striker II
Striker II

A replacement for the original Traveller Striker rules, these rules are a kind of SF version of GDW’s Command Decision. I have heard there are many flaws in the rules but have yet to try them. The basing is different than original Striker and it is just difficult to work up the enthusiasm to rebase figures.